cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ground-state and low-excited properties of liquid 3He calculated with a two-body potential

Abstract Although scattering phase shifts reveal that the interaction of two free 3He atoms with the momenta and spins of quasi-particles in liquid 3He is attractive, the experimental spin-averaged effective quasi-particle interaction (Fs) defined in Landau's Fermi-liquid theory is repulsive in liquid 3He. To understand the role of many-body effects in the repulsive interaction, we have calculated the bulk properties of liquid 3He using the Bethe-Goldstone method and using Goldstone perturbation theory. The compressibility yields a value for F0s, the angular average of Fs. The potential used in our calculations is a hard-core square-well potential adjusted to approximate the phase shifts of the de Boer 6–12 potential. The properties we computed with the Bethe-Goldstone method give good agreement with experiment for effective masses m B ∗ between 1.0 and 1.4 times the true mass. We were unable to determine m B ∗ self-consistently. In liquid 3He three-body correlations are expected to be important. Using techniques developed for nuclear matter by Bethe and his co-workers, we estimated all two and three-body Goldstone diagrams. The properties we computed are in very good agreement with experiment. Since the net three-body energy is obtained in our calculation by adding repulsive and attractive contributions much larger in absolute value than their sum, these numbers should not be taken too seriously. Three-body diagrams contribute most of the binding energy in our calculation. The three-body repulsive energy is about 60% of the two-body repulsive energy. We describe qualitatively how the Pauli principle helps suppress the contributions of higher clusters. As particles are added to a self-bound many-body system or a system under pressure, the binding energy per particle decreases. Those particles originally present are rearranged into an “excited” state. In both the Bethe-Goldstone and Goldstone-perturbation-theory calculations, the rearrangement contributions are large enough to make the calculated effective quasi-particle interaction repulsive.
A Droplet-Based, Composite PDMS/Glass Capillary Microfluidic System for Evaluating Protein Crystallization Conditions by Microbatch and Vapor-Diffusion Methods with On-Chip X-Ray Diffraction

On-chip protein crystallization and diffraction: Proteins can be crystallized in nanoliter volumes by using both microbatch and vapor-diffusion techniques inside composite PDMS/glass microfluidic devices (PDMS=polydimethylsiloxane). The quality of crystals can be assessed directly by on-chip X-ray diffraction.
Hydrogeological Investigations and Radionuclide Migration in Groundwater at the Nevada Test Site

Although the United States stopped nuclear testing in 1992, in the preceding three decades more than 800 nuclear devices were detonated underground at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) in southern Nevada. The majority of the detonation points of those tests are located above the water table, primarily in alluvium and volcanic rocks. In the main testing areas, the water table is 450-700 m below the surface. Pre-and post-event geologic investigations were conducted for each test and longer-term studies are underway to assess the regional environmental impact. Studies now in progress have not identified any impact on the regional groundwater flow system from testing, but local effects have been discovered.
Thoracic outlet syndrome: supraclavicular approach

Controversy has surrounded the aetiology and treatment of choice of the thoracic outlet syndrome. Mechanical compression of the brachial plexus or post-traumatic inflammation has been thought to be the cause. Operative treatment includes scalenotomy or scalenectomy, with or without excision of a cervical and/or first rib, depending on which anatomical structures are regarded by the surgeon to be the cause of compressive symptoms. Four operative approaches are generally adopted: supraclavicular, transaxillary, infraclavicular and posterior parascapular.
Backward Profiling of Male Innovators

Male innovative behavior is examined from the perspective of a multidimensional conceptualization of the innovator. The analysis suggests that the simultaneous study of innovative behavior for seve...
Evidence for the role of holes in blinking: negative and oxidized CdSe/CdS dots.

Thin shell CdSe/CdS colloidal quantum dots with a small 3 nm core diameter exhibit typical blinking and a binary PL intensity distribution. Electrochemical charging with one electron suppresses the...
The Iron Health Educator Competition

(2006). The Iron Health Educator Competition. American Journal of Health Education: Vol. 37, No. 6, pp. 366-369.
Broadband infrared imaging spectroscopy for standoff detection of trace explosives

This manuscript describes advancements toward a mobile platform for standoff detection of trace explosives on relevant substrates using broadband infrared spectroscopic imaging. In conjunction with this, we are developing a technology for detection based on photo-thermal infrared (IR) imaging spectroscopy (PT-IRIS). PT-IRIS leverages one or more IR quantum cascade lasers (QCL), tuned to strong absorption bands in the analytes and directed to illuminate an area on a surface of interest. An IR focal plane array is used to image the surface thermal emission upon laser illumination. The PT-IRIS signal is processed as a hyperspectral image cube comprised of spatial, spectral and temporal dimensions as vectors within a detection algorithm. Here we describe methods to increase both sensitivity to trace explosives and selectivity between different analyte types by exploiting a broader spectral range than in previous configurations. Previously we demonstrated PT-IRIS at several meters of standoff distance indoors and in field tests, while operating the lasers below the infrared eye-safe intensity limit (100 mW/cm2). Sensitivity to explosive traces as small as a single 10 μm diameter particle (~1 ng) has been demonstrated.
Protection of myocardial function not enhanced by high concentrations of potassium during cardioplegic arrest.

Myocardial performance was evaluated intraoperatively in 20 patients undergoing myocardial revascularization when hypothermic potassium cardioplegic arrest was used. High concentrations of potassium (20 mEq/L) were compared to normal concentrations of potassium (5 mEq/L) in hypothermic cardioplegic solutions. The cardioplegic arrest period averaged 53 +/- 3 minutes in the high potassium group and 54 +/- 4 minutes in the low potassium group, Intraoperative calculation of ejection fraction and end-diastolic volume was accomplished by the technique of radiocardiography. All data were grouped according to end-diastolic volume index (EDVI) for both high (HK) and low (LK) potassium comparisons. Comparisons between high and low potassium groups demonstrated no significant differences in ejection fraction (HK = 66%, LK = 61%), cardiac index (HK = 2.74 L/min/m2, LK = 3.0 L/min/m2), stroke work (HK = 36 gm.m/m2, LK = 30 gm.m/m2), oxygen consumption as measured by left heart double product (HK = 9,438; LK = 9,209), and myocardial compliance (HK = 2.8 cc/torr, LK = 4.2 cc/torr at the post-cardioplegic arrest period). The role potassium plays in producing a rapid cardiac arrest is well accepted. Its protective effect on the preservation of high-energy phosphate stores is postulated, but its addition to perfusion hypothermia does not appear to enhance the protective effect observed with perfusion hypothermia alone.
Characterization of a New Epitope of IRBP That Induces Moderate to Severe Uveoretinitis in Mice With H-2b Haplotype.

Autoimmune uveitis encompasses a group of diseases that affect 2 million Americans annually and is estimated to be responsible for 10% to 15% of cases of severe visual handicap.1,2 Experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) induced in mice by immunization with the retinal antigen interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) is an animal model used to represent these diseases and has been extremely useful to define basic mechanisms of disease as well as a template to evaluate new therapies. Susceptible animal strains are B10.RIII and C57BL/6. Although the former strain reproducibly develops high disease scores with native bovine IRBP or with its major uveitogenic peptide amino acid residues 161 to 180 of human IRBP (hIRBP161-180), the latter strain develops moderate disease scores when immunized with native bovine IRBP but only mild disease when immunized with its uveitogenic peptide hIRBP1-20, which was identified 15 years ago.3 Because C57BL/6 is the background on which most gene-manipulated mice are made and because native IRBP is difficult to obtain for many investigators, hIRBP1-20 is used by many laboratories out of necessity, for lack of a better epitope. However, in many laboratories, including our own, data generated in C57BL/6 mice using hIRBP1-20 are often uninterpretable due to low disease scores and low incidence. Crossing the genetically altered strains already available on the C57BL/6 background onto the more susceptible B10.RIII background requires considerable time and resources. Therefore, we recognized an urgent need to define an epitope that induced a more consistent disease in the C57BL/6 strain. A recent study from our laboratory revealed several additional epitopes that were uveitogenic in C57BL/6 mice.4 In the present study, we characterized one of these new uveitogenic epitopes and compared it to the previously characterized epitope hIRBP1-20.3,5 This epitope, encoded by amino acid residues 651 to 670 of human IRBP (LAQGAYRTAVDLESLASQLT [hIRBP651-670]), is completely conserved across human, mouse, and bovine species, although in bovine and mouse IRBPs the identical residues are in positions 666 through 685, due to amino acid changes that occurred in IRBP N-terminally to this peptide (Supplementary Fig. S1). We report that immunization with hIRBP651-670 in complete Freund's adjuvant followed by injection of pertussis toxin (PTX) resulted in EAU with consistently higher scores and incidence than that induced by hIRBP1-20. This new epitope should prove useful for basic studies of uveitis in addition to, or instead of, hIRBP1-20.
A Practical Scale for Estimating Suicide Risk

This report details an effort to devise a scale applicable to adults who are hospitalized due to a depressive or suicidal state.
Reconciling Smooth Muscle Cell Oligoclonality and Proliferative Capacity in Experimental Atherosclerosis

Despite decades of research, the relative contribution of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis has remained unclear and controversial. Most of the controversy came from the lack of rigorous lineage tracing studies to unequivocally identify the cellular origins of lesion cells. Indeed, as extensively described in recent reviews,1,2 the plasticity of multiple lesion cell types (SMC, myeloid cells, and endothelial cells), including their ability to downregulate their lineage-specific markers and to express markers of alternative cell types during atherosclerotic plaque progression, makes their identification using traditional immunostaining for such markers highly inconclusive and greatly confounds attempts to understand the functional roles of these cells within lesions. With respect to SMC, tremendous progress has been made since the development of rigorous and unambiguous murine lineage tracing systems allowing conditional, inducible, definitive, and efficient labeling of medial Myh11+ SMC and tracking of their fate in atherosclerosis and simultaneous SMC-specific conditional knockout (KO) of genes postulated to control SMC phenotype and overall lesion pathogenesis. Using these capabilities, our laboratory3,4 recently demonstrated that (1) >80% of SMC-derived cells within advanced lesions of atheroprone ApoE−/− mice fed a western diet for 18 weeks lacked detectable expression of SMC markers such as Acta2 or Myh11 typically used to identify them, (2) Myh11+ medial SMC can undergo multiple phenotypic transitions characterized by activation of markers of macrophages, mesenchymal stem cells, and myofibroblasts, and (3) contrary to the long-standing dogma that SMC play a beneficial role in lesion pathogenesis by contributing to the formation of a protective fibrous cap, results from our recent studies in which we performed SMC-specific conditional KO of the pluripotency factors Klf4 and Oct4 demonstrated that SMC can play either an atheroprotective or atheropromoting role depending on the nature of …
Autonomy, conscience, and professional obligation.

When patient autonomy became a closely held value in medical ethics in the 1960s and '70s, the physician's conscience-based right to refuse to deliver a given service began to be contested.
Political Identity and Economists’ Perceptions of Capitalist Crises:

Radical critics have long impugned conventional economists as ideologically committed to capitalism and blind to its historical dynamics and crisis tendencies. This report evaluates this longstandi...
Self-reported health and behavioral factors are associated with metabolic syndrome in Americans aged 40 and over.

Abstract To determine whether behavioral factors differ among metabolic conditions and self-reported health, and to determine whether self-reported health is a valid predictor of metabolic syndrome (MetS). A total of 2997 individuals (≥ 40 years old) were selected from four biennial U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2007–2014). A set of weighted logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)Individuals with light physical activity are more likely to have MetS and report poor health than those with vigorous physical activity with OR = 3.22 (95% CI: 2.23, 4.66) and 4.52 (95% CI: 2.78, 7.33), respectively. Individuals eating poor diet have greater odds of developing MetS and reporting poor health with OR = 1.32 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.66) and 3.13 (95% CI: 2.46, 3.98). The aforementioned relationships remained significant after adjustment for demographic and socio-economic status. A potential intervention strategy will be needed to encourage individuals to aggressively improve their lifestyle to reduce MetS and improve quality of life. Despite the significant association between self-reported health with MetS, a low sensitivity indicated that better screening tools for MetS, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are essential.
Finalist—2017 M&SOM Practice-Based Research Competition—The Hurricane Decision Simulator: A Tool for Marine Forces in New Orleans to Practice Operations Management in Advance of a Hurricane

The U.S. Marine Forces Reserve (MFR) in New Orleans is frequently threatened by hurricanes. To protect the safety of personnel and their families while maintaining mission capability, the Commander must make timely decisions to set up an alternate headquarters and allow for an orderly evacuation. The MFR relies on forecasts from the National Hurricane Center, but these forecasts are uncertain, are updated frequently, and can be difficult to interpret in the context of the MFR’s decision timeline. In addition, there are few opportunities to learn from experience. We developed the Hurricane Decision Simulator (HDS) to allow MFR personnel to practice making preparation decisions in the context of many realistic simulated storms and forecasts, and to develop a better understanding of the decision sequence, the forecast products, and their relationship. The HDS has improved the MFR’s training and readiness for hurricane preparation operations and decision making by enabling more and better focused training and...
Composition and Regulation of the Cellular Repertoire of SCF Ubiquitin Ligases

SCF (Skp1-Cullin-F-box) ubiquitin ligases comprise several dozen modular enzymes that have diverse roles in biological regulation. SCF enzymes share a common catalytic core containing Cul1⋅Rbx1, which is directed toward different substrates by a variable substrate receptor (SR) module comprising 1 of 69 F-box proteins bound to Skp1. Despite the broad cellular impact of SCF enzymes, important questions remain about the architecture and regulation of the SCF repertoire, including whether SRs compete for Cul1 and, if so, how this competition is managed. Here, we devise methods that preserve the in vivo assemblages of SCF complexes and apply quantitative mass spectrometry to perform a census of these complexes (the “SCFome”) in various states. We show that Nedd8 conjugation and the SR exchange factor Cand1 have a profound effect on shaping the SCFome. Together, these factors enable rapid remodeling of SCF complexes to promote biased assembly of SR modules bound to substrate.
Laser-Induced Ion Emission from Si and Ge Surfaces

We discuss a possible mechanism for the recent observations of ion emission from Si and Ge surfaces under low flux UV laser irradiation. The mechanism is based on the Phillips’ bond charge model and hole stimulated desorption.
Does Europeanization stick? National policies and sustained Europeanization strategies by domestic migrant and refugee organizations

How domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) “Europeanize” their political activities has become a popular area of research. Most Europeanization research has focused on how groups Europeanize, or why some choose to Europeanize and others do not. Although these are important questions, scholars have not thoroughly investigated what drives the Europeanization of organizations’ political activity in the first place, or how enduring it tends to be. Using survey data of CSOs across Europe working in the area of migrant and refugee rights, along with domestic policy data, this study aims to fill this gap by analyzing how domestic policies facilitate or constrain sustained interactions with European Union (EU) officials and EU organizations. It contributes to research that aims to determine whether Europeanization tends to resemble sporadic interactions, or regular patterns that endure over time. This study goes beyond past research in two main ways: First, it broadens the empirical lens by including CSOs across every EU Member State, and secondly, it adds a precise temporal dimension in evaluating the frequency of interaction with specific EU actors over given periods of time, allowing for an assessment of how enduring (or sporadic) Europeanization tends to be on a larger scale and with more precision than previous studies have been able to achieve.
S -Adenosylmethionine and Iron–Sulfur Clusters in Biological Radical Reactions: The Radical SAM Superfamily

Enzymes in the radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM or AdoMet) superfamily are remarkably diverse in their functions and ubiquitous in biology. Among the characterized members of the superfamily are enzymes that repair DNA, that modify tRNA, that activate other enzymes by generation of glycyl radicals or formylglycine, and that participate in the synthesis of complex organic and inorganic cofactors such as the lipoyl cofactor, biotin, thiamine, molybdopterin, and the iron–molybdenum cofactor of nitrogenase. The radical SAM enzymes have in common the use of a site-differentiated [4Fe–4S] cluster and SAM to initiate diverse radical-mediated transformations in biology. This chapter discusses the structures and properties of iron–sulfur clusters, the early developments in the study of the emerging radical SAM superfamily members, properties of radical SAM iron–sulfur clusters and how these relate to catalytic activity, and a proposed mechanism for the initial steps thought to be common to all radical SAM enzymes. Radical SAM enzymes for which significant mechanistic and/or structural studies have been published are then discussed, and structural and mechanistic comparisons are made.
Increase of manganese superoxide dismutase, but not of Cu/Zn-SOD, in experimental optic neuritis.

Purpose. To evaluate the role of manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) and copper/ zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) in cellular protection of the optic nerve against the oxidative injury that contributes to demyelination in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Methods. Immunocytochemistry for Mn-SOD and Cu/Zn-SOD and ultracytochemical localization of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) were performed on the optic nerves of guinea pigs with EAE and normal guinea pigs. Cell-specific enzyme expression of SOD was quantitated by computerized morphometric analysis. Results. Light microscopy showed a perivascular distribution of Mn-SOD-positive cells in the optic nerves of animals with EAE. Electron microscopy showed that the Mn-SOD immunogold was confined exclusively to mitochondria, whereas Cu/Zn-SOD immunogold was found in the cytoplasmic matrix and nucleus of cells of the optic nerve in both animals with EAE and normal animals. Results of quantitative analysis of the optic nerves of animals with EAE showed an 8-fold increase in Mn-SOD immunogold in astroglial cells and a 13-fold increase in microglial/phagocytic cells in comparison with that of normal animals. Increases in Mn-SOD immunogold were contiguous to H 2 O 2 -derived reaction product. No increases in Cu/ Zn-SOD immunogold were detected in EAE. Conclusions. Increases in Mn-SOD activity in astroglial cells and microglial/phagocytic cells may contribute to the relative sparing of these cells from injury in EAE, whereas the low level of Mn-SOD in oligodendroglial cells and axons may increase their vulnerability to the effects of superoxide-induced oxidative injury that results in demyelination.
Learning Adaptation to Solve Constraint Satisfaction Problems

Constraint-based problems are hard combinatorial problems and are usually solved by heuristic search methods. In this paper, we consider applying a machine learning approach to improve the performance of these search-based solvers. We apply reinforcement learning in the context of Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP) to learn a value function, which results in a novel solving strategy. The motivation underlying this approach is to solve previously unsolvable instances.
A survey of retaining faculty at a new medical school: opportunities, challenges and solutions

At well-established academic university settings, retaining faculty remains a pressing challenge due to competing market forces, decreasing institutional support, and changing personal expectations. There is a paucity of information about the difficulties faced by new medical schools to maintain their academic workforce. The objective of this study was to determine the challenges facing the faculty at a newly developed medical school. Twelve founding faculty were surveyed anonymously by a 32-item questionnaire. Their responses were independently analyzed by three researchers. The views of the faculty were categorized into in four inter-related themes: personal, support, institutional, and environmental. The constant sources of satisfaction among faculty were higher academic rank (75%), harmonious inter-collegial relationships (74%), healthy pecuniary rewards (58%), better professional growth (58%) along with greater autonomy, administrative independence, minimum groupism and excellent team work. Poor opportunities for promotion (68%), reduced support for scholarly activities (67%) and unsatisfactory support from the administration (55%) were detrimental to retaining faculty. By addressing specific issues facing its staff, every new medical school will not only manage to retain its academic faculty but also be able to attract well qualified academic staff from established medical institutions worldwide.
A Case of Mesial Temporal Lobe Sclerosis Following Temporal Bone Encephalocele Repair for Medically Refractory Seizures

The aim of this report is to present a case of mesial temporal lobe sclerosis (MTS) causing medically refractory seizures, which was initially disguised as temporal lobe encephalocele secondary to prior otologic surgery. Temporal lobe encephaloceles are characterized by a defect within the middle cranial fossa that results in the abnormal communication of the meninges into the pneumatized skull base. After the temporal lobe encephalocele repair, the patient continued to have seizures and was subsequently diagnosed with mesial temporal lobe sclerosis. Imaging revealed the serial progression of hippocampal atrophy and loss of internal architecture. Differentiation between mesial temporal sclerosis and encephalocele as the underlying epileptic etiology is critical. While repairing encephaloceles is necessary to address other potential sequelae, patients with mesial temporal lobe sclerosis will require additional interventions.
Efficacy of Fresh Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation in the Knee for Adults 40 Years and Older

Background:Osteochondral allograft (OCA) transplantation has become a standard therapy for cartilage restoration in young patients.Purpose:To determine the efficacy of fresh OCA transplantation for...
Perceptual Encoding of Natural Speech Sounds Revealed by the N1 Event-Related Potential Response

Recent work has demonstrated that the auditory N1 event-related potential (ERP) component tracks continuous changes in voice onset time (an acoustic cue distinguishing word-initial voicing categori...
Inhaled Nitrous Oxide Analgesia for Labor

This paper reviews the history, efficacy, safety, and administrative concerns for nitrous oxide analgesia during labor. While pain relief is inferior to that provided by neuraxial analgesia, maternal satisfaction is equivalent to that of neuraxial techniques, and better if analgesia is reported to be poor. A recent systematic review reports good safety for mother and child, that some women report excellent pain relief and others not, and that minor side effects are infrequent. Qualitative research summarizing patient comments on their experience suggests that numerous factors other than pain relief affect maternal satisfaction with their analgesia for labor. Only one study has examined patient factors that predict conversion from nitrous oxide to neuraxial analgesia for labor. Inhaled nitrous oxide offers a safe and effective means for labor analgesia for many women. Maternal satisfaction is not as dependent on effective pain relief as with neuraxial analgesia.
The Microbiome Associated with Lung Cancer

Recent studies on the lung microbiome have renewed the interest in understanding the relationship between microbes and lung diseases. The complex symbiotic relationship between microbiota and host have led researchers to postulate that many host diseases, including cancer, are directly associated with the commensal microbiome. Evidence suggests that the lung microbiome may contribute to local host inflammatory changes, which include the Th17 response. In lung cancer, studies suggest that lung dysbiosis may affect different stages of carcinogenesis. In this article, we review the latest knowledge gained from microbiome studies and explore possible mechanisms of microbe-host interaction that may have relevance to lung cancer pathogenesis.
A phase II randomized controlled trial of tiopronin for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Objective Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a significant contributor to poor outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). The neurotoxin 3-aminopropanal (3-AP) is upregulated in cerebral ischemia. This phase II clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of tiopronin in reducing CSF 3-AP levels in patients with aSAH. Methods In this prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial, 60 patients were assigned to receive tiopronin or placebo in a 1:1 ratio. Treatment was commenced within 96 hours after aSAH onset, administered at a dose of 3 g daily, and continued until 14 days after aSAH or hospital discharge, whichever occurred earlier. The primary efficacy outcome was the CSF 3-AP level at 7 ± 1 days after aSAH. Results Of the 60 enrolled patients, 29 (97%) and 27 (93%) in the tiopronin and placebo arms, respectively, received more than one dose of the study drug or placebo. At post-aSAH day 7 ± 1, CSF samples were available in 41% (n = 12/29) and 48% (n = 13/27) of patients in the tiopronin and placebo arms, respectively. No difference in CSF 3-AP levels at post-aSAH day 7 ± 1 was observed between the study arms (11 ± 12 nmol/mL vs 13 ± 18 nmol/mL; p = 0.766). Prespecified adverse events led to early treatment cessation for 4 patients in the tiopronin arm and 2 in the placebo arm. Conclusions The power of this study was affected by missing data. Therefore, the authors could not establish or refute an effect of tiopronin on CSF 3-AP levels. Additional observational studies investigating the role of 3-AP as a biomarker for DCI may be warranted prior to its use as a molecular target in future clinical trials.Clinical trial registration no.: NCT01095731 (ClinicalTrials.gov).
The literary critic as political sociologist: Abiola Irele and the postcolonial state in Africa

Abiola Irele’s universal distinction as an accomplished literary scholar has had the unintended effect of occluding his important scholarly engagements with the sociopolitical genre known as the po...
A Strategy Toward Bridging a Complete Spinal Cord Lesion Using Stretch-Grown Axons

In this study, we evaluated the ability of stretch-grown tissue-engineered nerve grafts (TENGs) to perform as a living scaffold for axonal regeneration across a severed spinal cord lesion. TENGs, c...
Exploring S-wave threshold effects in QCD: A heavy-light approach

Abstract QCD exhibits complex dynamics near S-wave two-body thresholds. For light mesons, we see this in the failure of quark models to explain the f 0 ( 500 ) and K 0 ⁎ ( 700 ) masses. For charmonium, an unexpected X ( 3872 ) state appears at the open charm threshold. In heavy-light systems, analogous threshold effects appear for the lowest J P = 0 + and 1 + states in the D s and B s systems. Here we describe how lattice QCD can be used to understand these threshold dynamics by smoothly varying the strange-quark mass when studying the heavy-light systems. Small perturbations around the physical strange quark mass are used so to always remain near the physical QCD dynamics. This calculation is a straightforward extension of those already in the literature and can be undertaken by multiple lattice QCD collaborations with minimal computational cost.
Data will Drive the Healthcare Revolution

In medicine, a physician's goal is to evaluate a patient's physical condition, perform tests to obtain information, synthesize that information, and, based on experience and standard medical practice, arrive at a course of treatment for that patient. Medical research tests health and medical interventions in a controlled fashion, comparing matched treatment and control groups, with the goal of identifying those interventions that provide a robust and statistically significant improvement in patient outcomes. But despite a commitment to “evidence-based medicine,” most patient care remains anecdotal at best. Even therapies certified through clinical trials often fail to perform as well outside of the initial study population and ae used “off label” in groups in which the therapy has not been rigorously tested.
The Early Effects of Uninephrectomy on Rat Kidney Metabolic State Using Optical Imaging

Uninephrectomy (UNX) is known to result in structural and metabolic changes to the remaining kidney, although it is uncertain if this alters the mitochondrial redox state and how soon such changes may occur. A custom-designed fluorescence cryo-imaging technique was used to quantitatively assess the effect of UNX by measuring the levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) in the remaining kidney. Kidneys were snap-frozen 3 days following UNX, and the intrinsic fluorescence of NADH and FAD were optically acquired. The 3D images were created to characterize the NADH/FAD redox ratios (RR) of the right kidneys, which underwent UNX and the remaining kidneys 3 days following UNX. Both the NADPH-oxidases (Nox2 and Nox4) and the mitochondria are the main sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in tubular epithelial cells. Responses to the UNX were obtained in kidneys of normal Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rats and SS rats in which NADPH-oxidase isoform 4 (Nox4) was knocked out (SSNox4-/- ). The results found that each of the strains exhibited similar increase in kidney weights averaging 17% after 3 days of UNX. SD and SSNox4-/- rats both exhibited global reductions of the RR (P < .05) with a similar tendency observed in SS rats (P < .08), indicating increased ROS production. The unexpected reduction of the RR in the remnant kidneys of SSNox4-/- rats indicates that mechanisms independent of H2 O2 produced from Nox4 may be responsible for this global increase of ROS. We propose that the reduced RR was largely a consequence of enhanced mitochondrial bioenergetics due to increased tubular workload of the remaining kidney. The data indicate that mitochondria become the dominant source of increased ROS following UNX and could represent an important hypertrophic signaling mechanism.
Learn on the Fly

In this study, we explore the biologically-inspired Learn-On-The-Fly (LOTF) method that actively learns and discovers patterns with improvisation and sensory intelligence, including pheromone trails, structure from motion, sensory fusion, sensory inhibition, and spontaneous alternation. LOTF is related to classic online modeling and adaptive modeling methods. However, it aims to solve more comprehensive, ill-structured problems such as human activity recognition from a drone video in a disastrous environment. It helps to build explainable AI models that enable human-machine teaming with visual representation, visual reasoning, and machine vision. It is anticipated that LOTF would have an impact on Artificial Intelligence, video analytics for searching and tracking survivors’ activities for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), field augmented reality, and field robotic swarms.
Gender Differences in Upper Elementary Students' Regulation of Learning while Pair Programming

Collaborative learning has demonstrated benefits for girls in computer science [7] and this may be a way to help address the gender gap in CS. Research indicates that while collaborating, boys often express more individualistic ideas whereas girls tend to be more supportive [1]. It is important for students to regulate their learning in collaborative learning environments because they need to negotiate group goals and diverse approaches to the task [3], and the use of open-ended tasks with multiple solution paths are common [4]. There is minimal research in CS education on regulation of learning (e.g., [5,6,]). Co-regulated learning is the process in which an other helps regulate the learning of a student [2] self such as by asking questions that prompt the student to monitor and evaluate (e.g., "What do you already know about 'if' blocks that would help here?''). In this way, thinking and reasoning through the problem is shared by the group members [2] self. Our work lies in the context of upper elementary students pair programming. We investigated how four 5th grade dyads differentially regulated their learning and explored the co-occurrence of students' coded discourse by gender. Initial findings indicate that boys monitored their learning and engaged in individualistic, disagreement, and collaborative-coded statements. Girls engaged in all three components of the regulation cycle, while offering collaborative, disagreement, confusion, and tutoring-coded statements. Confusion was often expressed as not understanding the partner or the task such as "Wait! What are you talking about?'' Individualistic utterances reflect no clear attempt to involve the partner, such as "You can trust me to handle it.'' Both occur far more than desired for collaborative work. Our findings can be used to inform the personalization of human and AI support in ways that will help both groups of students co-regulate and reduce the gender gap in computer science.
Toxicity of Carbon Dioxide to Freshwater Fishes: Implications for Aquatic Invasive Species Management.

Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a new aquatic pesticide to control invasive Asian carps and other aquatic nuisance species in the United States. However, limited CO2 toxicity data could make it challenging for resource managers to characterize the potential risk to nontarget species during CO2 applications. The present study quantified the toxicity of CO2 to 2 native riverine fishes, bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), using 12-h continuous flow-through CO2 exposure at 5, 15, and 25 °C water temperatures. Resulting survival indicated that bluegill (median lethal concentration [LC50] range 91-140 mg/L CO2 ) were more sensitive to CO2 than fathead minnow (LC50 range 235-306 mg/L CO2 ) across all water temperatures. Bluegill were also more sensitive to CO2 at 5 °C (LC50 91 mg/L CO2 , 95% CI 85-96 mg/L CO2 ) than at 25 °C (LC50 140 mg/L CO2 , 95% CI 135-146 mg/L CO2 ). Fathead minnow showed an opposite response and were less sensitive at 5 °C (LC50 306 mg/L CO2 , 95% CI 286-327 mg/L CO2 ) relative to 25 °C (LC50 235 mg/L CO2 , 95% CI 224-246 mg/L CO2 ). Our results show that CO2 toxicity can differ by species and water temperature. Data from the present study may inform decisions related to the use of CO2 as a control tool. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:2247-2255. Published 2020. This article is a U.S. government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Mechanisms of meiotic drive in symmetric and asymmetric meiosis

Meiotic drive, the non-Mendelian transmission of chromosomes to the next generation, functions in asymmetric or symmetric meiosis across unicellular and multicellular organisms. In asymmetric meiosis, meiotic drivers act to alter a chromosome's spatial position in a single egg. In symmetric meiosis, meiotic drivers cause phenotypic differences between gametes with and without the driver. Here we discuss existing models of meiotic drive, highlighting the underlying mechanisms and regulation governing systems for which the most is known. We focus on outstanding questions surrounding these examples and speculate on how new meiotic drive systems evolve and how to detect them.
Screening for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in child abuse evaluations: Twelve years of data.

Abstract Background Laboratory evaluation is commonly integrated into evaluation of children with suspected physical abuse to identify occult injury and potential mimics of abuse, including hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). We evaluated the utility of ferritin in laboratory screening panels for physical abuse. Objective(s) To determine if hyperferritinemia is a useful screening marker of HLH in physical abuse diagnostic evaluations. Participants and setting Children being evaluated for physical abuse at a quaternary pediatric referral and level one trauma center in Houston, Texas. Methods We conducted a 12-year (2003 – 2015) retrospective descriptive analysis of all ferritin values obtained as part of routine screening panels for physical child abuse. Medical records were abstracted for patients with ferritin > 500 ng/mL. Results 2954 ferritin levels were obtained in 3091 encounters for suspected physical abuse (median age 6.5 months, interquartile range 2.3–23.5 months). Elevated ferritin was found in 82/2954 (2.8 %); no child evaluated for physical abuse was found to have HLH (95 % CI: 0–4.5%). The child abuse team was consulted in 48/82 (58.5 %) of cases, with the final impression being physical abuse in 33/48 (68.8 %). Conclusions We found no instances where HLH was identified by institutional screening panels. The inclusion of ferritin in the screening panel was not beneficial. The presence of hyperferritinemia should not cast medical or legal doubt on physical abuse diagnoses when there is a high index of clinical suspicion. Novel hypotheses from case reports and case series should be studied more rigorously before affecting system change.
Providence and the sacred womb: La estirpe de la mariposa and women’s place in Spanish national historiography

Within the last quarter of the twentieth century and now well into the twenty-first, the historical novel has been a prolific and popular form in Spain for commentary on the dictatorship, the Trans...
Residential energy trading with blockchain technology

Blockchain technology is a peer-to-peer value transfer technology that guarantees the safety and correctness of transactions between parties who do not trust each other without a universally trusted entity. Because of this characteristic, we study possible integration of blockchain technology with a local neighborhood power grid, to design a truly decentralized energy trading market. The proposed design allows energy producers within the local power networks to safely transact with neighborhood households. In other words, the users who have a redundant amount of power can sell it to users who need power at a fairer price, than is offered by a utility company. We show that such local trades provide benefits to both electricity buyers and sellers. This paper does two things: (1) establishes a mathematical game theory model for the users’ decision to buy or sell power in the peer-to-peer energy market and (2) discuss blockchain software stack for deploying such a system. For the first part, we use a smart algorithm built upon KKT conditions to solve the multi-level game theory model. Secondly, we show how the electricity price offered by the central company is influenced by the introduction of the blockchain to the power transaction system. As supporting evidence we provide experimental data—the simulation of the market and its infrastructure using blockchain Hyperledger’s Fabric framework. Finally, we found that the electricity price can decrease dramatically by allowing peer-to-peer transactions among prosumers and consumers unless the amount of generating power from prosumers is much lower than their demand. We foresee a great future for the applications of blockchain technology in this area with the increasing mass adoption of solar and renewable generation at the consumer level. However, these processes will enact more discussions on power delivery grid ownership and its public access, usage, and management.
Hematologic and clinical characteristics of dogs with circulating macrophage-like cells.

BACKGROUND Macrophage-like (ML) cells are rarely observed on blood smear examinations, and the significance of these cells has been poorly described. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to retrospectively describe selected hematologic and clinical characteristics of dogs with ML cells in peripheral blood. MATERIALS AND METHODS Complete blood count (CBC) reports with blood smear evaluations from the clinical pathology laboratory records at North Carolina University College of Veterinary Medicine were retrospectively reviewed. Data were collected over a 10-year-period. Dogs were defined as having circulating ML cells if three or more ML cells were present on a single blood smear. Hematologic and clinical data of dogs with circulating ML cells were compared with age-matched hospital-derived control dogs. RESULTS Of 61,631 CBC records, 87 reports (0.14%) described the presence of ML cells. Thirty-nine dogs met the inclusion criteria. The hemogram of dogs with circulating ML cells was characterized by a pronounced inflammatory and stress leukogram, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. Of the 39 dogs, 19 (49%) had systemic or severe localized inflammatory/necrotic diseases. Eighteen (46%) dogs were diagnosed with neoplasia of histiocytic (5) and non-histiocytic origins (13). Dogs with circulating ML cells had a shorter median survival time (34 days) than the control dogs (595 days, P < .0001), with an increased occurrence of death/euthanasia within 1 month (3.89-fold). However, the presence of circulating ML cells was not found to be an independent prognostic factor in a multivariable model. CONCLUSIONS The hemograms and diagnoses of dogs with ML cells suggest that severe inflammatory conditions or histiocytic and non-histiocytic neoplasia are common causes for circulating ML cells.
The role of trajectories of stress and social support in underrepresented students’ educational outcomes

The current study examined the potential impact of trajectories of perceived stress and social support from parents, friends, romantic partners, and natural mentors (i.e., supportive adults from yo...
Experiences in Groups as a key to “late” Bion

In order to understand the 'late' Bion, i.e. his production from Learning from Experience onwards, the most difficult and controversial, it is worth re-reading not only the essays in Second Thoughts, but also Experiences in Groups. The hypothesis of this work is that Bion spent his life as a scholar - probably without even being fully aware of it, since he never talks about it - to transpose his theory of groups into his theory of individual psycho-analysis. To illustrate this thesis, the author systematically compares some of the principles of both. Going back to Experiences in Groups, then, is also useful for another reason. Bion revolutionises theory but still works as a Kleinian. Despite brilliant suggestions, he does not fully develop a new technique. To have a tool box that anyone can use, we have to wait the analytic field theory, which is an original development of his thought. In this model the analyst sees in the analytical pair not two isolated subjects that interact, but a group. There is no 'fact' of analysis that cannot be heard as unconsciously co-created. Here then, highlighting the group inspiration of late Bion's helps us to grasp the meaning of this technical principle, so easily misunderstood, and vice versa.
An Artificial Intelligence-Based Algorithm for Predicting Pregnancy Success Using Static Images Captured by Optical Light Microscopy during Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection.

Context (Background): Analysis of embryos for in vitro fertilization (IVF) involves manual grading of human embryos through light microscopy. Recent research shows that artificial intelligence techniques applied to time lapse embryo images can successfully ascertain embryo quality. However, laboratories often capture static images and cannot apply this research in a real-world setting. Further, current models do not predict the outcome of pregnancy. Aims: To create and assess a convolutional neural network to predict embryo quality using static images from a limited dataset. We considered two classification problems: predicting whether an embryo will lead to a pregnancy or not and predicting the outcome of that pregnancy. Settings and Design: We utilized transfer learning techniques using a pretrained Inception V1 network. All models were built using the Tensorflow software package. Methods: We utilized a total of 361 randomly sampled static images collected from four South Florida IVF clinics. Data were collected between 2016 and 2019. Statistical Analysis Used: We utilized deep-learning techniques, including data augmentation to reduce model variance and transfer learning to bolster our limited dataset. We used a standard train/validation/test dataset split to avoid model overfitting. Results: Our algorithm achieved 0.657 area under the curve for predicting pregnancy versus nonpregnancy. However, our model was unable to meaningfully predict whether a pregnancy led a to live birth. Conclusions: Despite the limited dataset that achieved somewhat of a lower accuracy than conventional embryo selection, this is the first study that has successfully made IVF predictions from static images alone. Future availability of more data may allow for prospective validation and further generalisability of results.