cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficient Gene Disruption in Diverse Strains of Toxoplasma gondii Using CRISPR/CAS9

ABSTRACT Toxoplasma gondii has become a model for studying the phylum Apicomplexa, in part due to the availability of excellent genetic tools. Although reverse genetic tools are available in a few widely utilized laboratory strains, they rely on special genetic backgrounds that are not easily implemented in natural isolates. Recent progress in modifying CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), a system of DNA recognition used as a defense mechanism in bacteria and archaea, has led to extremely efficient gene disruption in a variety of organisms. Here we utilized a CRISPR/CAS9-based system with single guide RNAs to disrupt genes in T. gondii. CRISPR/CAS9 provided an extremely efficient system for targeted gene disruption and for site-specific insertion of selectable markers through homologous recombination. CRISPR/CAS9 also facilitated site-specific insertion in the absence of homology, thus increasing the utility of this approach over existing technology. We then tested whether CRISPR/CAS9 would enable efficient transformation of a natural isolate. Using CRISPR/CAS9, we were able to rapidly generate both rop18 knockouts and complemented lines in the type I GT1 strain, which has been used for forward genetic crosses but which remains refractory to reverse genetic approaches. Assessment of their phenotypes in vivo revealed that ROP18 contributed a greater proportion to acute pathogenesis in GT1 than in the laboratory type I RH strain. Thus, CRISPR/CAS9 extends reverse genetic techniques to diverse isolates of T. gondii, allowing exploration of a much wider spectrum of biological diversity. IMPORTANCE Genetic approaches have proven very powerful for studying the biology of organisms, including microbes. However, ease of genetic manipulation varies widely among isolates, with common lab isolates often being the most amenable to such approaches. Unfortunately, such common lab isolates have also been passaged frequently in vitro and have thus lost many of the attributes of wild isolates, often affecting important traits, like virulence. On the other hand, wild isolates are often not amenable to standard genetic approaches, thus limiting inquiry about the genetic basis of biological diversity. Here we imported a new genetic system based on CRISPR/CAS9, which allows high efficiency of targeted gene disruption in natural isolates of T. gondii. This advance promises to bring the power of genetics to bear on the broad diversity of T. gondii strains that have been described recently.
Predictors of Phrase and Fluent Speech in Children With Autism and Severe Language Delay

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence and predictors of language attainment in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and severe language delay. We hypothesized greater autism symptomatology and lower intelligence among children who do not attain phrase/fluent speech, with nonverbal intelligence and social engagement emerging as the strongest predictors of outcome. METHODS: Data used for the current study were from 535 children with ASD who were at least 8 years of age (mean = 11.6 years, SD = 2.73 years) and who did not acquire phrase speech before age 4. Logistic and Cox proportionate hazards regression analyses examined predictors of phrase and fluent speech attainment and age at acquisition, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 372 children (70%) attained phrase speech and 253 children (47%) attained fluent speech at or after age 4. No demographic or child psychiatric characteristics were associated with phrase speech attainment after age 4, whereas slightly older age and increased internalizing symptoms were associated with fluent speech. In the multivariate analyses, higher nonverbal IQ and less social impairment were both independently associated with the acquisition of phrase and fluent speech, as well as earlier age at acquisition. Stereotyped behavior/repetitive interests and sensory interests were not associated with delayed speech acquisition. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that many severely language-delayed children in the present sample attained phrase or fluent speech at or after age 4 years. These data also implicate the importance of evaluating and considering nonverbal skills, both cognitive and social, when developing interventions and setting goals for language development.
Novel Therapeutic/Integrative Approaches for Celiac Disease and Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible individuals. Gluten is a protein component in wheat and other cereals like rye and barley. At present, the only available treatment is a strict gluten-free diet. Recent advances have increased our understanding of the molecular basis for this disorder. Last decade has seen new scientific developments in this disease and led to the formulation of new concepts of pathophysiology that offer possible targets for new treatments or interventions integrative to the gluten-free diet.
Curved and tapered waveguide mode-locked InGaAs/AlGaAs semiconductor lasers fabricated by impurity induced disordering

Summary form only given. Modelocking using curved waveguide devices for low facet reflectivity and using tapered waveguide devices for high output power has been demonstrated. Strong suppression of reflection-seeded secondary pulses was observed for curved waveguides, and increased output power for tapered waveguides. InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well semiconductor diode lasers were fabricated using impurity induced disordering. The waveguide has a linear taper from 2.5 mu m to 7.5 mu m width over a 150 mu m distance. The modelocked output pulse energy was increased to 4.1 pJ, compared to 1.8 pJ for a similar 2.5 mu m waveguide untapered device. >
Bidirectional Transepithelial Water Transport: Measurement and Governing Mechanisms

In the search for the mechanisms whereby water is transported across biological membranes, we hypothesized that in the airways, the hydration of the periciliary fluid layer is regulated by luminal-to-basolateral water transport coupled to active transepithelial sodium transport. The luminal-to-basolateral (JWL-->B) and the basolateral-to-luminal (JWB-->L) transepithelial water fluxes across ovine tracheal epithelia were measured simultaneously. The JWL-->B (6.1 microliter/min/cm2) was larger than JWB-->L (4.5 microliter/min/cm2, p B = 1.0 x 10(-4) cm/s and PdB-->L = 7.5 x 10(-5) cm/s. The activation energy (Ea) of JWL-->B (11.6 kcal/mol) was larger than the Ea of JWB-->L (6.5 kcal/mol, p B from 6.1 to 4.4 microliter/min/cm2 (p B from 5.7 to 3.7 microliter/min/cm2 (p L. These data indicate that in tracheal epithelia under homeostatic conditions, JWB-->L was dominated by diffusion (Ea = 4.6 kcal/mol), whereas approximately 30% of JWL-->B was coupled to the active Na+,K+-ATPase pump (Ea = 27 kcal/mol).
Context-dependent changes in visual sensitivity induced by Müller-Lyer stimuli.

We measured the detectability of a single line (target) flanked by high-contrast inward- or outward-pointing arrowheads (context). We show that as a function of target contrast, context angle, and context position there is a continuum of contextual modulations of target detectability that vary from strong inhibition (target detection is impaired) to strong excitation (target detection is facilitated), but target detection is not affected when the context is presented at low contrasts. The results show striking correlations with the perceived length distortions in the Muller-Lyer illusion, i.e. an inward-pointing arrowhead results in improved target detectability and increased perceived length of the bar, whereas an outward-pointing arrowhead results in diminished target detectability and decreased perceived length of the bar. Both suppressive and facilitatory effects diminish as target contrast, arrowhead angle, and line-arrowhead spatial disparity are increased. At larger distances between line and arrowhead the suppressive effects become facilitatory (the Muller-Lyer illusion reverses). When concurrent Muller-Lyer extent experiments are run, we found that the perceived length of the target stimulus is overestimated or underestimated as it is flanked by high-contrast inward or outward-pointing arrowheads, the magnitude of the length distortion effects diminishing as target contrast increases. To explain the nature of both context-induced suppression and facilitation in contrast detection we present a population model of orientation detectors in visual cortex that relies on short and long-range horizontal cortical connections, and suggest that that the same type of mechanism that accounts for contrast detection may account for perceived extent.
Use of IV fosphenytoin pharmacokinetics to determine the loading dose for a clinical trial of canine status epilepticus.

Summary Objective Canine status epilepticus (CSE) has potential as a translational platform to evaluate the safety and efficacy of novel compounds and inform human status epilepticus trials. The aim of this study was to determine the intravenous dose of fosphenytoin (FOS) needed for dogs in a CSE clinical trial to attain phenytoin (PHT) concentrations similar to those used for human status epilepticus and monitor PHT concentrations. Methods Four healthy dogs were used to characterize PHT pharmacokinetics. Each received either 15 mg/kg or 25 mg/kg of PHT equivalent intravenously. Blood samples were collected and FOS (total) and derived PHT (total and unbound) plasma concentrations were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Noncompartmental pharmacokinetics (PK) parameter values were determined and compartmental PK modeling and simulations were used to select the dose for the clinical trial with a target goal of 1–2 μg/ml unbound PHT at 30–60 min postinfusion. Predicted total and unbound PHT concentrations were compared with concentrations in blood collected from dogs treated for CSE in the clinical trial. Results Initial estimates suggested that a loading dose of 25 mg/kg would attain unbound concentrations of 1–2 μg/ml; however, this dose produced concentrations above 3–6 μg/ml, which resulted in clinically significant toxicity. A two-compartment model best fit the PHT concentration data with alpha-phase half-life of 2–5 min and elimination half-life of ~5 h. Based on the simulations, a dose of 15 mg/kg was selected and used in the clinical trial and 15 of 16 dogs randomized to the treatment arm had PHT plasma concentrations within the goal range. Significance This study demonstrates that characterization of pharmacokinetics in a small number of dogs is useful in determining dosage regimens designed to attain targeted concentrations in clinical trials. Using this approach, we were able to determine a safe and effective dose of FOS for a clinical trial of CSE.
A novel fault-dependent-time-settings algorithm for overcurrent relays

A typical structure of electric power distribution networks is radial or a normally open-loop structure with a single supply path between the high-voltage supply substation and the end-consumers. The selectivity of a protection scheme for the radial network is generally achieved through time-coordination of different protection devices (relays, reclosers and fuses). However, future distribution networks may become more meshed (normally closed-loop) in order to integrate distributed generators (DGs) and more active demand-side response. This will, in turn, require novel protection schemes since the current time-coordinated protection which assumes radial network structure may no longer be effective. Furthermore, it is also recognized that today's practice of automatically disconnecting DGs when a fault occurs in their vicinity may cause un-necessary generation shortages. It is, instead, desired to adjust protection so that a DG unit remains connected to the system when nearby faults occur as long as there are no related safety problems. This paper introduces a novel fault-dependent time settings algorithm for overcurrent relays which is capable of overcoming these problems. The implementation of the proposed algorithm on the existing protection scheme is enabled by using communications among the relays. The proposed algorithm ensured a reduced relay tripping time in the primary protection zone by enhancing the selectivity of the existing protection scheme. Consequently, it becomes possible to operate distributed generators during times when nearby faults occur. While the use of the proposed algorithm is illustrated in the distribution network, the same algorithm is also applicable to the transmission networks.
Dark side of the Higgs boson

Current limits from the Large Hadron Collider exclude a standard model-like Higgs mass above 150 GeV, by placing an upper bound on the Higgs production rate. We emphasize that, alternatively, the limit could be interpreted as a lower bound on the total decay width of the Higgs boson. If the invisible decay width of the Higgs is of the same order as the visible decay width, a heavy Higgs boson could be consistent with null results from current searches. We propose a method to infer the invisible decay of the Higgs by using the width of the measured h {yields} ZZ {yields} 4 {ell} line shape, and study the effect on the width extraction due to a reduced signal strength. Assuming the invisible decay product is the dark matter, we show that minimal models are tightly constrained by limits from Higgs searches at the LHC and direct detection experiments of dark matter, unless the relic density constraint is relaxed.
Resolution and Fidelity of Oxygen Isotopes as Paleotemperature Proxies in Bivalve Mollusk Shells: Models and Observations

Abstract Bivalve mollusks are biological chart recorders: their shells contain a record of environmental conditions in the form of geochemical variation. However, these records are often incomplete. Growth cessations and/or changing growth rates can reduce the range and resolution of the recorded environmental conditions. To investigate the effects of these variables on geochemical profiles, stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) profiles were modeled using several growth parameters. Two sets of profiles were calculated: one with constant daily increment widths, the other based on the annual pattern of daily increment width variation observed in the northern Gulf of California bivalve mollusk Chione cortezi. In both sets of models, multi-year δ18O profiles were calculated assuming that the bivalve shell grows continuously throughout its life. Other profiles were calculated to simulate an ontogenetic decrease in growth rate by decreasing the growth period, daily growth rate, or both. Altering the growth period simul...
Analysis of hematopoietic progenitors in the mouse embryo.

Abstract All mature blood cells are derived from hematopoietic progenitors that have been defined by their ability to generate colonies of cells in semisolid media. Investigation of the cellular components of these colonies has confirmed the existence of unilineage, bilineage, and multilineage progenitors. Furthermore, it has led to a better understanding of the relationships that exist among the erythroid, myeloid, and megakaryocyte lineages that compose much of the hematopoietic hierarchy in the adult. More recently, the development of hematopoietic progenitors has been investigated in the mammalian embryo. The first progenitors arise in the yolk sac and subsequently expand in the fetal liver before settling into the postnatal bone marrow. This chapter describes the methodologies for the culture and identification of unipotential and multipotential hematopoietic progenitors in the mouse embryo.
Re-Visiting Market Integration and Structural Change in Late 19th Century American Capital Markets

This paper draws on a variety of time series tools to more deeply explore issues surrounding the emergence of a national capital market in the late 19th century. Our focus is on the timing of the emergence of a national capital market. Rather than relying on the absolute narrowing of regional interest rate differentials, which is a common approach in this literature, we use Gregory and Hansen cointegration tests, which allow us not only to test for cointegrating relations in the interest rate series but to identify unknown structural change dates as a byproduct. We also use dynamic conditional correlations to determine the dates at which regional interest rate correlations began increasing. Our results suggest that structural changes are centered around the year 1900, which is consistent with Sylla's argument that the lowering of capital requirements by the Gold Standard Act of 1900 increased bank entry and competition and facilitated regional capital market convergence.
Response to single threshold stimuli following acute myocardial infarction.

SummarySingle threshold stimuli were delivered to the endocardium during early diastole in 11 dogs hourly following multistage balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. RVR could be evoked in all but one animal with a mean appearance time of 3.7 hr after coronary occlusion and preceding onset of spontaneous VT by an average of 2.5 hr. The RVR phenomenon may be helpful in unmasking electrical instability in the presence of coronary heart disease and in providing a simple technique for studying the effects of various interventions on the altered electrophysiologic properties of the ischemic heart.
Analysis on the Short-Circuit Failure in 2mm HM Connectors

The remnant particles between terminals was found to be one of the root causes for the short-circuit failure in 2mm HM connetors.Metal scraps were not completely removed in stamping process,and remained between the terminal and housing.During PCBA prossing,the metal scrap pierced the soldermask,and connected with the copper foil,thereby formed the short-circuit failure.Control the production process and strengthen the quality inspection,the short-circuit failure can be avoided.
Analysis of serotype distribution and drug resistance of foodborne salmonella in Liaoning province

Objective To monitor and understand the drug resistance and serological distribution of salmonella in food of Liaoning province,so as to provide reference data to prevent food-borne illness epidemic by Salmonella and control drug resistant strains. Methods According to GB 4789. 4-2010,the salmonella isolates were conducted serological identification. Micro-broth dilution method was used to determine the drug resistance of these isolates. Results Thirty-four salmonella isolates were identified as the same serotype,salmonella enterica,and most belonged to B group,followed by D group. The main serotypes were S. sendai,S. enteritidis,S. saint-paul. Forty-three salmonella isolates showed highest resistance to nalidixic acid( 74. 4%),followed by ampicillin,kanamycin and ampicillin( all were 37. 2%). Conclusion In Liaoning province,food-borne salmonella performed diverse serotypes. Part of the salmonella isolates had tolerance to multiple antibiotics. So the relevant departments should strengthen monitoring on drug resistance trend of salmonella and establish risk assessment mechanism of food-borne resistant strains.
Investigation on Eyesight Status of Primary and Middle School Students in Yuncheng County in 2010

[Objective]To analyze the eyesight status of some students in primary and middle schools in Yuncheng county of Shandong in 2010.[Methods]6 primary and middle schools were sampled randomly.The uncorrected visual acuity was tested with standard logarithm visual acuity chart,and the difference in visual acuity between boys and girls,urban and rural areas,and different age groups were compared.[Results]A total of 3367 students were investigated,1905 students had poor vision,and the incidence was 56.57%.985(51.71%) students had severe poor vision(below 4.5),534(28.03%) had moderate poor vision(4.6 ～ 4.8),and 386(20.26%) had slight poor vision(above 4.9).There were significant differences in visual acuity between boys and girls,urban and rural areas,and different age group(P 0.01).[Conclusion]The incidence of poor vision was high among primary and middle school students in Yuncheng county.The medical workers and teachers should pay attention to prevention of myopia among students.
Solvent Dynamics by Transient Holeburning: Nonpolar Versus Polar Solutes

Solvent interactions with the electronic states of a non-polar solute are measured with transient holeburning. Large interactions much more rapid than dielectric relaxation are observed.
The Contingency of Humanitarianism: Moral Authority in an African HIV Clinic

One consequence of the recent expansion of anthropological interest in humanitarianism is the seeming obviousness and conceptual stability of “humanitarianism” itself. In this article, I argue that, rather than being a stable concept and easily recognizable phenomenon, humanitarianism only becomes apparent in relation to other categories. In short, humanitarianism is contingent: it depends on circumstance and varies from one context to another. Furthermore, its perceptibility rests on individuals’ capacity to mobilize categorical similarities and distinctions. One cannot call a thing or person “humanitarian” without denying the humanitarian character of someone or something else. Drawing on research conducted in clinical spaces where Botswana's national HIV treatment program and private US institutions overlapped, I examine the processes by which individuals claimed people, spaces, and practices as humanitarian, the contrasts they drew to make these claims, and the moral positions they attempted to occupy in the process. More than questions of mere terminology, these processes of categorization and contradistinction serve as crucibles for the larger struggles over sovereignty, inequality, and the legacies of colonialism that haunt US-driven global health interventions. [humanitarianism, global health, expertise, semiotics, Botswana, HIV/AIDS]
Neurochemical and motor changes in mice with combined mutations linked to Parkinson’s disease

ABSTRACTConsiderable evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), the most prevalent neurodegenerative movement disorder. Reduced expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 (ALDH1) and glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPX1), enzymes that function to detoxify aldehydes and hydroxyl radicals, respectively, has been reported in the substantia nigra of patients who died with PD. To determine whether deficiency in these two genes contributes to the pathogenesis of PD, mice were generated with homozygous null mutations of both Aldh1a1 (the murine homolog of ALDH1) and Gpx1 genes [knockout (KO) mice]. At 6 and 18 months of age, KO mice showed a significantly decreased latency to fall in the automated accelerating rotarod test and increased time to complete the pole test opamine levels were not altered; however, the dopamine metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and the DOPAC/dopamine ratio were significantly reduced at 18 months of age. Proteins adducted ...
Full-duplex Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) compatible Backscatter communication system for mobile devices

We present the first demonstration of a monostatic full-duplex backscatter system having a carrier source co-located with a commercial Bluetooth chipset. The system permits the co-location and simultaneous operation of a commercial Bluetooth chipset with a carrier source, enabling the use of specially designed BLE-Backscatter tags to send data to the commercial Bluetooth chipset with no software modifications. This demonstration shows the potential for reusing the wireless chipsets in future full-duplex devices as readers for backscatter tags and other backscatter-based devices. Using a directional coupler-based carrier cancellation implementation, we achieve carrier suppression of 50 dB. In an over-the-air experiment using a dipole antenna with 2.1 dBi gain, we observe a read range of 3 meters with an 88% packet success rate at a carrier power of +33.9 dBm.
Mad Dogs and Microbiologists

Jean-Baptiste watched the powerful dog with unsteady gait approach and then attack a group of six of his friends. He picked up his whip and rushed to meet the animal, only to be savagely bitten on his left hand. In fierce hand-to-hand combat, Jean-Baptiste finally managed to throw the animal to the ground, pinning him to the ground under his knee. With his right hand he forced the dog’s jaws apart, sustaining new bites, then used his whip to tie the muzzle of his enemy and finally beat the beast to death with one of his wooden shoes.
Chloride alterations in hospitalized patients: Prevalence and outcome significance.

Serum Cl (sCl) alterations in hospitalized patients have not been comprehensively studied in recent years. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence and outcome significance of (1) sCl alterations on hospital admission, and (2) sCl evolution within the first 48 hr of hospital admission. We conducted a retrospective study of all hospital admissions in the years 2011-2013 at Mayo Clinic Rochester, a 2000-bed tertiary medical center. Outcome measures included hospital mortality, length of hospital stay and discharge disposition. 76,719 unique admissions (≥18 years old) were studied. Based on hospital mortality, sCl in the range of 105-108 mmol/L was found to be optimal. sCl 108 (n = 11,395) mmol/L independently predicted a higher risk of hospital mortality, longer hospital stay and being discharged to a care facility. 13,089 patients (17.1%) had serum anion gap >12 mmol/L; their hospital mortality, when compared to 63,630 patients (82.9%) with anion gap ≤12 mmol/L, was worse. Notably, patients with elevated anion gap displayed a progressively worsening mortality with rising sCl. sCl elevation within 48 hr of admission was associated with a higher proportion of 0.9% saline administration and was an independent predictor for hospital mortality. Moreover, the magnitude of sCl rise was inversely correlated to the days of patient survival. In conclusion, serum Cl alterations on admission predict poor clinical outcomes. Post-admission sCl increase, due to Cl-rich fluid infusion, independently predicts hospital mortality. These results raise a critical question of whether iatrogenic cause of hyperchloremia should be avoided, a question to be addressed by future prospective studies.
Proteomic analysis of six- and twelve-month hippocampus and cerebellum in a murine Down syndrome model

Abstract This study was designed to investigate the brain proteome of the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome. We profiled the cerebellum and hippocampus proteomes of 6- and 12-month-old trisomic and disomic mice by difference gel electrophoresis. We quantified levels of 2082 protein spots and identified 272 (170 unique UniProt accessions) by mass spectrometry. Four identified proteins are encoded by genes trisomic in the Ts65Dn mouse. Three of these (CRYZL11, EZR, and SOD1) were elevated with p-value
Speed-constrained three-axes attitude control using kinematic steering

Abstract Spacecraft attitude control solutions typically are torque-level algorithms that simultaneously control both the attitude and angular velocity tracking errors. In contrast, robotic control solutions are kinematic steering commands where rates are treated as the control variable, and a servo-tracking control subsystem is present to achieve the desired control rates. In this paper kinematic attitude steering controls are developed where an outer control loop establishes a desired angular response history to a tracking error, and an inner control loop tracks the commanded body angular rates. The overall stability relies on the separation principle of the inner and outer control loops which must have sufficiently different response time scales. The benefit is that the outer steering law response can be readily shaped to a desired behavior, such as limiting the approach angular velocity when a large tracking error is corrected. A Modified Rodrigues Parameters implementation is presented that smoothly saturates the speed response. A robust nonlinear body rate servo loop is developed which includes integral feedback. This approach provides a convenient modular framework that makes it simple to interchange outer and inner control loops to readily setup new control implementations. Numerical simulations illustrate the expected performance for an aggressive reorientation maneuver subject to an unknown external torque.
Hidden Linear Continuous Models

In this chapter we do violence to some problems to reveal their inner structure. The focus is on problems which, at first glance, may not seem to be of the continuous linear variety yet can be marshalled into that form with a handful of creative alterations. The key is to ensure a one-to-one correspondence between the original and the altered problems so that we can retrieve a solution to the original from a solution to the alteration.
Experience as Knowing: Utilizing Therapist Self-Awareness:

Awareness and empathy are processes central to client-worker interaction in productive therapeutic work. For the therapist, the processes involve experiencing, making meaning of experience, and mak...
Random Walk Mobility

The detail characteristics of the random walk mobility model are described including derivation of the analytical model. The analytical model of the RW has a close match with the simulation results. The limitations of the RW model in reflecting real-world MANET scenarios are explained. Some variations of the RW model such as MRW, SIMM, and GIMM, which improve on RW, are also described.
COMMON POLYPEPTIDE SECONDARY STRUCTURES

This chapter discusses common polypeptide secondary structures. The polypeptides may be considered as sequences of planar trans-peptide linkages connected through α-carbon atoms. The most stable configuration of these planes occurs when the carbonyl groups of adjacent planes are either aligned or opposed. For each of these possibilities, there are preferred ψ and φ torsion angles. If the carbonyls are aligned on one side of the chain, the N–H bonds are necessarily aligned on the opposite side of the chain. When these bonds are so aligned, the preferred torsional angles allow the polypeptide chain to coil on itself and form a helix. This conformation is stabilized by hydrogen bond formation between carbonyl oxygen atoms and the hydrogens of N–H bonds that are further along the polypeptide backbone. In the β-structure form, the carbonyls of adjacent planes point in opposite directions and the polypeptide chain conformation is an extended, pleated structure. Two or more chains with such conformations can form hydrogen bonds between chains. This can occur in two ways—with the chains going in the same direction or in opposite directions. All of these conformations can easily be constructed from these models by simply dialing the appropriate torsional angles typical of these structures while building the polypeptide backbone.
Localization of the central pattern generator for vocalization

Abstract The present chapter deals with the localization of the vocal pattern generator for species-specific vocalizations in the mammalian brain. First, a catalog is set, listing criteria which are necessary for a vocal pattern generator. According to this, a vocal pattern generator should show vocalization-correlated single unit activity, starting before vocal onset and reflecting specific acoustic features of the vocalization. Lesions should have an inhibitory or a deleterious effect on vocalization. Artificial electrical or pharmacological stimulation should yield artificial vocalization. In anatomical terms, a vocal pattern generator should have direct or, at least, oligo-synaptic connections with all motoneuron pools involved in vocalization. Based on the current literature, only one structure in the lower brainstem meets all these criteria, indicating that vocal pattern generation takes place there. This structure reaches from the parvocellular pontine reticular formation, just above the superior olivary complex, through the lateral reticular formation around the facial nucleus and nucleus ambiguus down to the caudalmost medulla, including the dorsal and ventral reticular nuclei and the nucleus retroambiguus. This vocal pattern generating system seems to consist of a network of dedicated pattern generators, one for each call type, suited to modulation during development and through experience.
Automated Acoustic Scanning of Concrete Bridge Decks and Delamination Identification

Chain drag testing is a common practice for bridge deck evaluation owing to its low cost and ease of use. Delaminations in bridge decks are identified by hollow sounds when steel chain is dragged on deck surface. However, this method is subjective, and result interpretation depends on the experience of the operators. Traffic noise also affects the test speed and accuracy of results. This paper presents an automated acoustic scanning system to detect delaminations in concrete structures, including bridge decks. The system consists of an array of ball-chain impactors, a noncontact MEMS microphone sensor array, multi-channel data acquisition device, RTK GPS positioning system, and signal processing schemes. A delamination identification algorithm was then developed to identify the positions and dimensions of delaminations. The acoustic scanning system and the delamination identification algorithm were validated in field tests of concrete bridge decks. The system can scan a concrete bridge deck at walking speed with half- or full-lane width coverage. Compared to the conventional manual chain drag test, the automated system provides improved efficiency, accuracy, repeatability, and practicality.
Acoustic emotion recognition using spectral and temporal features

In this paper, utility of different low- level, spectral and temporal features is evaluated for the task of emotion recognition. The aim of an ideal speech emotion recognition system is to extract features that are representative of the emotional state of speaker. Pitch, intensity, frequency formants, jitter, and zero crossing rate are five features proposed for characterizing four different emotions, anger, happy, sadness, and neutral. Low- level spectral and temporal features have ease of calculation and limit the complexity of emotion recognition systems since they are commonly single dimensional features. A decision-tree based algorithm is designed for characterizing emotions using these acoustic features. It has been proven that various aspects of a speaker’s physical and emotional state can be identified by speech alone. However, the accuracy of such analyses has not been optimized due to acoustic variabilities such as length and complexity of human speech utterance, gender, speaking styles, and speech rate. Since speech emotion recognition is a developing and challenging field, most powerful features for emotion recognition are not yet defined; hence, investigating the utility of selected features for emotion recognition is an important task.
CEA: A Service for Cognitive Event Automation

The IT service management is transforming or evolving with artificial intelligence. A data-driven and knowledge-based approach potentiates the IT service management optimization and automation with the goal of delivering better business outcomes. In this demo, we show our framework, cognitive event automation (CEA), that applies artificial intelligence to the automated resolution of incident tickets, and the methodology and technologies for creating knowledge by analyzing tickets, eliminating those that do not require action as well as auto-resolving those that do. The case study shows CEA can help the IT service management system to deliver better business outcomes.
Defining the Enemy: How Donald Trump Frames the News Media:

Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of the news media. This study content analyzes how Trump tweeted about the news media as the Republican nominee through his first year in office. Results reveal...
Acute Exercise on Memory Reconsolidation.

Background and Objective: Once a memory is reactivated, it enters a labile state and, thus, is vulnerable to memory decay and/or distortion. Recent research demonstrates that acute, high-intensity exercise is associated with enhanced episodic memory function. Very limited research, however, has evaluated whether acute exercise can attenuate memory distortion from memory reactivation, which was the purpose of this study. Methods: A between-subject randomized controlled intervention was employed. Participants (N = 80) were randomly assigned to one of four groups, including (1) reminder with exercise, (2) reminder, (3) no reminder, and (4) interference control. For the groups, participants completed three visits (Visit 1, 2, and 3), which all occurred 48 hours apart. An exception to this was the interference control group, which did not complete Visit 2. On Visit 2, the reminder with exercise group engaged in a 15 min bout of high-intensity exercise (80% of heart rate reserve) immediately after memory reactivation. On Visit 3, participants engaged in a free recall (4 trials) of the memory task encoded on Visit 1. Results: In a 4 (groups) × 4 (learning trials) mixed-measures ANOVA, with the group as the between-subjects variable and the learning trials (1–4) as the within-subject variable, there was a significant main effect group, F(3, 76) = 4.18, p = 0.008, η2p = 0.14, and a significant main effect for the learning trials, F(2.40, 182.59) = 49.25, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.39, but there was no group by learning trials interaction, F(7.20, 182.59) = 1.07, p = 0.38, η2p = 0.04. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that exercise may, potentially, attenuate memory distortion from memory reactivation. However, future work is needed to confirm these findings before any strong conclusions can be reached.
A survey of edge computing-based designs for IoT security

Abstract Pervasive IoT applications enable us to perceive, analyze, control, and optimize the traditional physical systems. Recently, security breaches in many IoT applications have indicated that IoT applications may put the physical systems at risk. Severe resource constraints and insufficient security design are two major causes of many security problems in IoT applications. As an extension of the cloud, the emerging edge computing with rich resources provides us a new venue to design and deploy novel security solutions for IoT applications. Although there are some research efforts in this area, edge-based security designs for IoT applications are still in its infancy. This paper aims to present a comprehensive survey of existing IoT security solutions at the edge layer as well as to inspire more edge-based IoT security designs. We first present an edge-centric IoT architecture. Then, we extensively review the edge-based IoT security research efforts in the context of security architecture designs, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, authentication and authorization protocols, and privacy-preserving mechanisms. Finally, we propose our insight into future research directions and open research issues.
Chapter 4 – Circulatory Adaptations

Publisher Summary The chapter discusses how air breathing has affected circulatory specializations of fishes. The independent origin of air breathing has resulted in a range of circulatory modifications. In total, about eight basic patterns of afferent and efferent air breathing organ (ABO) circulation are known. Some of these approaches are the ideal condition of separation as represented by the double circulatory loop of mammals and birds. No air-breathing fish has a completely separated left and right heart, nor can any species function totally without gills. Thus, the problems of enforced blood desaturation, gill-O2 loss, and vascular-pressure regulation present significant functional limitations for the circulation of most aquatic air-breathing species. This chapter catalogs the afferent and efferent blood conduits for different ABOs, and examines the influences that ABO position in the circulatory system may have on blood pressure, gill function, respiratory gas transport efficiency, and other physiological functions. The chapter also discusses the evidence for functional anatomic shunts in different species. It emphasizes the comparative phylogenetic approach and also discusses the primitive lunged air-breathers.
A Strategy for Forced Oscillation Suppression

Wide-area time-synchronized measurements have recently revealed troublesome forced oscillations (FOs) within modern synchronized power grids. In some cases, these FOs represent a dangerous hazard to the system. Recent research has focused on locating the source of FOs to provide operators with knowledge for mitigating their impact locally. This paper presents a complementary mitigation strategy, which is to purposely induce a second oscillation into the grid which cancels the impact of the FO. Such a strategy is complementary in that it may provide valuable time to operators attempting to locate the FOs source and to determine how to rectify it. This paper presents a suppression control strategy which modulates controllable devices to automatically cancel the impact of the FO without the need for locating the source of the original FO. The strategy is based upon tuned feedback control. The approach is demonstrated on a simulation system via modulation of inverter-based generation.
Reliable, Efficient Recovery for Complex Services with Replicated Subsystems

Applications with internal substructure are common in the cloud, where many systems are organized as independently logged and replicated subsystems that interact via flows of objects or some form of RPC. Restarting such an application is difficult: a restart algorithm needs to efficiently provision the subsystems by mapping them to nodes with needed data and compute resources, while simultaneously guaranteeing that replicas are in distinct failure domains. Additional failures can occur during recovery, hence the restart process must itself be a restartable procedure. In this paper we present an algorithm for efficiently restarting a service composed of sharded subsystems, each using a replicated state machine model, into a state that (1) has the same fault-tolerance guarantees as the running system, (2) satisfies resource constraints and has all needed data to restart into a consistent state, (3) makes safe decisions about which updates to preserve from the logged state, (4) ensures that the restarted state will be mutually consistent across all subsystems and shards, and (5) ensures that no committed updates will be lost. If restart is not currently possible, the algorithm will await additional resources, then retry.
The Search for Antifungal Prophylaxis After Artificial Corneal Surgery-An In Vitro Study.

Purpose To evaluate the antifungal properties of topical antibiotics (already being used successfully to prevent bacterial endophthalmitis) and some promising antiseptics for antifungal prophylaxis in the setting of artificial corneal implantation. Methods Several commonly used antibiotics for antimicrobial prophylaxis after artificial corneal implantation, in addition to antiseptics [benzalkonium chloride (BAK), povidone-iodine (PI), and some ionic liquids (ILs)], were tested in vitro against Candida albicans, Fusarium solani, and Aspergillus fumigatus. The time-kill activity was determined. Toxicity was assayed in vitro on human corneal epithelial cultures using trypan blue. Adhesion and tissue invasion experiments were also carried out on porcine corneas and commonly used contact lenses, with or without gamma irradiation, and by analysis with fluorescence microscopy. Results Polymyxin B (PMB)/trimethoprim/BAK (Polytrim), PMB alone, gatifloxacin with BAK (Zymaxid), and same-concentration BAK alone exhibited antifungal activity in vitro. Moxifloxacin (MOX) or gatifloxacin without BAK-as well as trimethoprim, vancomycin, and chloramphenicol-had no effect. 1% PI and ILs had the highest efficacy/toxicity ratios (>1), and Polytrim was species dependent. Subfungicidal concentrations of Polytrim reduced adhesion of C. albicans to Kontur contact lenses. Gamma-irradiated corneas showed enhanced resistance to fungal invasion. Conclusions Of antibiotic preparations already in use for bacterial prophylaxis after KPro surgery, Polytrim is a commonly used antibiotic with antifungal effects mediated by both PMB and BAK and may be sufficient for prophylaxis. PI as a 1% solution seems to be promising as a long-term antifungal agent. Choline-undecanoate IL is effective and virtually nontoxic and warrants further development.
Fallopian Tube Tumor Mimicking Primary Gastrointestinal Malignancy.

A 67-year-old female patient positive for a mismatch repair gene mutation and history of serous carcinoma of the fallopian tube presented with a lower gastrointestinal bleed. Clinical workup was suggestive of a primary gastrointestinal malignancy. Pathological review after right hemicolectomy revealed the primary tumor was a fallopian tube carcinoma. Over the next few years, she presented with upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeds from a recurrent metastatic disease, which was from the primary fallopian tube cancer. Although serous carcinoma of the fallopian tube is not an uncommon diagnosis, it is unusual for it to present with symptoms of recurrent gastrointestinal bleed mimicking a primary gastrointestinal malignancy.
Digital printing of hydrogel based diffractive optical elements

Soft biomaterials have been proposed as outstanding candidates for soft micro-optics and photonics applications due to their optical transparency and unique biocompatibility. However, there is still lacking a facile strategy that can rapidly and biofriendly prototype biomaterials into micro-optics. Here, we present a novel method, digital micromirror device (DMD) based rapid photopatterning that can fabricate microfeatures on hydrogel within seconds. Several diffractive optics including transmission 1D/2D gratings, beam splitter, Fresnel Zone Plate lenses and computer-generated holograms were produced. The optical performance of these optical devices was characterized and indicates that this method enables prototyping user-defined micro-optics with high fidelity. This versatile photopatterning technique can therefore be a potential route to develop precise soft optical microfeatures using any photosensitive biomaterials.
Principals’ severity affects teacher evaluation: statistical adjustments mitigate effects

Classroom observation is a common approach to teacher evaluation. Yet, concerns about differences in rater judgment are widespread. Despite this concern, few researchers have examined the practical...
The quest for an axiological reorientation of economic science

Abstract The article draws on the consideration that, especially after the Second World War, economics started favouring its alliance with technical reason, loosening its previous ties with practical reason. In so doing, the discipline has considerably developed its technical-analytical apparatus, but at the price of diminishing its capacity to come to grip grips with the most intriguing problems of present-day reality. It is a fact that technical advancements may offer answers, but are unable to ask the right questions. The reductionist stance of mainstream economics is put to a test in regard to two areas of inquiry: finance theory and the economics of happiness paradox. The thesis defended is that an axiological re-orientation of economic science is urgently required. To this end, the proposal of the civil economy paradigm, as an alternative to the political economy one, is put forward. The suggestion is that the civil economy perspective represents a viable route to overcome the serious aporias of the discipline, that jeopardize its scientific and social relevance.
Analysis of 56 physically unclonable silicon photonic moiré quasicrystal interferometers

We verify the uniqueness and unclonability of fifty-six optical devices of the exact same design, fabricated from silicon photonic moire quasicrystal interferometers. Such structures show promise for cryptographic applications such as hardware authentication and identification.