cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mathematical models of tubular transport

Mathematical models of the renal tubule are classified as epithelial, tubular, or multitubular. The simplest epithelial models are single equations that represent the overall transepitheiiai solute and water fluxes as functions of the luminal and peritubular bath conditions. More detailed models represent both luminal and peritubular cell membranes, in parallel with a tight junction, all in series with an epithelial basement membrane. In these models, the presence of transport components in series renders the cell and interspace concentrations unknown variables that must be determined via solution of a set of conservation equations. The tubular models allow prediction of the effect of epithelial transport to modify the luminal solution and, conversely, the effect of altered luminal composition on transepithelial fluxes. Here the conservation equations constitute a set of ordinary differential equations, with initial data that must be integrated along the tubule length. The lining epithelium may be represented by single flux equations, or by a compart­ ) "
Management of advanced and/or metastatic carcinoid tumors: historical perspectives and emerging therapies

Introduction: Carcinoid tumors are uncommon neoplasms that offer unique therapeutic challenges to practicing physicians. Several chemotherapy combinations and IFN-α have been used for the treatment of unresectable carcinoid tumors over the last decades, but they have shown variable clinical results. Given the heterogeneity of these tumors, there is no clear therapeutic agent or combination that confers a significant advantage over others. Areas covered: The authors provide a comprehensive evaluation of the existing therapies for advanced carcinoid tumors such as traditional agents, combination therapies and newer drugs. Expert opinion: Somatostatin analogs are known to provide symptomatic relief in patients with carcinoid syndrome, but their antiproliferative effect has not been proven beyond the reasonable doubt. Traditional streptozocin-based regimens may offer a survival benefit in patients with advanced carcinoids, yet their toxicity is not negligible. Temozolomide has shown efficacy alone and in comb...
The Effects of Extroversion on Influence in Ambiguous Group Tasks

Although the generic patterns that groups follow in reaching consensus on problem-solving tasks have been examined in detail, little attention has been given to the role of personality in group decision making. One personality variable that would seem to be especially relevant to group decision making is the extroversion levels of the group members. This study examines the effects that member extroversion has on the group decision-making process. As predicted, it was found that participants with the highest level of extroversion in their group were more influential than other group members under certain conditions. Three factors were found to suppress the influence of extroverts: the existence of a dominant faction within the group, a lack of relevant task information, and an excess of task ambiguity. These results indicate that examining groups at a social permutation level may improve our knowledge of the group decision-making process.
Two-dimensional low-pass filtering codes

We describe a framework for designing encoders that transform arbitrary data sequences into two-dimensional arrays satisfying certain constraints, in particular, constraints that guarantee arrays with limited high spatial frequency content. We also exhibit specific codes that produce such arrays. Such codes are useful for holographic recording systems.
Perioperative diastolic dysfunction during vascular surgery and its association with postoperative outcome

Objective To assess the association of perioperative cardiac dysfunction during elective vascular surgery with postoperative outcome. Background Patients with normal systolic function can have isolated diastolic dysfunction. Routine preoperative evaluation of left ventricular (LV) function does not include an assessment of diastolic function for risk stratification. We hypothesized that perioperative assessment of both diastolic and systolic function with transesophageal echo (TEE) may improve our ability to predict postoperative outcome. Methods Perioperative TEE examinations were carried out on patients undergoing elective vascular surgery under general anesthesia. Abnormal systolic function was defined as LV ejection fraction (LVEF) Results Three hundred thirteen patients undergoing vascular surgery were studied. We found that 8% (n = 24) of patients had isolated systolic dysfunction, 43% (n = 134) had isolated diastolic dysfunction, and 24% (n = 75) both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. The most common postoperative adverse outcome was CHF 20% (n = 62). By multivariate logistic regression, we found that patient age, Vp, type of surgery, female gender, and renal failure were predictive of postoperative adverse outcome. Conclusion The presence of perioperative diastolic dysfunction as assessed with Vp is an independent predictor of postoperative CHF and prolonged length of stay after major vascular surgery. Patient age, gender, type of surgery, and renal failure were also predictors of outcome. Perioperative systolic function was not a predictor of postoperative outcome in our patients.
Response to Susilo and Duchaine: beyond neuropsychological dissociations in understanding face and word representations

We welcome the opportunity to clarify our theoretical position in light of comments by Susilo and Duchaine. Our central claim is that face and word processing are carried out by a distributed network of partially specialized cortical regions, with the degree of specialization varying across individuals (partly as a function of language lateralization). Thus, and perhaps not surprisingly, Susilo and Duchaine are adopting an overly all-or-none perspective when they mischaracterize our views as implying that cortical regions are ‘not specialized for particular categories’ or that ‘individuals with prosopagnosia will always have some deficits in word recognition while individuals with alexia will always have some deficits in face recognition’ (emphasis added). Rather, on our view, cortical regions are not dedicated to categories, and patients with severe face or word impairments will, as a population, tend to be more moderately impaired in the other domain, as well.
Steady-state chlorophyll a fluorescence detection from canopy derivative reflectance and double-peak red-edge effects

Abstract A series of experiments carried out in a controlled environment facility to induce steady-state chlorophyll a fluorescence variation demonstrate that natural fluorescence emission is observable on the derivative reflectance spectra as a double-peak feature in the 690–710 nm spectral region. This work describes that the unexplained double-peak feature previously seen on canopy derivative reflectance is due entirely to chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) effects, demonstrating the importance of derivative methods for fluorescence detection in vegetation. Measurements were made in a controlled environmental chamber where temperature and humidity were varied through the time course of the experiments in both short- and long-term trials using Acer negundo ssp. californium canopies. Continuous canopy reflectance measurements were made with a spectrometer on healthy and stressed vegetation, along with leaf-level steady-state fluorescence measurements with the PAM-2000 Fluorometer during both temperature–stress induction and recovery stages. In 9-h trials, temperatures were ramped from 10 to 35 °C and relative humidity adjusted from 92% to 42% during stress induction, returning gradually to initial conditions during the recovery stage. Canopy reflectance difference calculations and derivative analysis of reflectance spectra demonstrate that a double-peak feature created between 688, 697 and 710 nm on the derivative reflectance is a function of natural steady-state fluorescence emission, which gradually diminished with induction of maximum stress. Derivative reflectance indices based on this double-peak feature are demonstrated to track natural steady-state fluorescence emission as quantified by two indices, the double-peak index (DPi) and the area of the double peak (Adp). Results obtained employing these double-peak indices from canopy derivative reflectance suggest a potential for natural steady-state fluorescence detection with hyperspectral data. Short- and long-term stress effects on the observed double-peak derivative indices due to pigment degradation and canopy structure changes were studied, showing that both indices are capable of tracking steady-state fluorescence changes from canopy remote sensing reflectance.
Wideband array signal processing with alpha-stable distributions

The importance of extending the statistical array signal processing methodology to what we call the alpha-stable framework is apparent. First, scientists and engineers have started to appreciate infinite moments and the elegant scaling and self-similarity properties of stable distributions. Additionally, real life applications exist in which impulsive channels tend to produce large-amplitude, short-duration interference more frequently than Gaussian channels do. The stable law has been shown to successfully model noise over certain impulsive channels. We propose new robust techniques for wideband source detection and localization in the presence of noise modeled as a complex isotropic stable process.
Substrate Specificity And Peptide Bond Selectivity In Rhomboid Intramembrane Proteases

Rhomboid intramembrane proteases catalyze the transmembrane domain cleavage of single-pass membrane proteins. This activity is crucial for the activation of epidermic growth factor receptor ligands Gurken, Keren and Spitz in D. melanogaster. How rhomboids recognize their substrates and select which peptide bond to cleave is not understood. We have studied the substrate specificity and peptide bond selectivity of purified rhomboids from E. coli, P. aeruginosa, D melanogaster and H. sapiens using chimeric substrates containing the transmembrane domains of Gurken, Keren and Spitz. Analysis of the proteolytic products by mass spectrometry reveals that cleavage occurs in the membrane water interface at sites that are shared by both eukaryotic and prokaryotic rhomboids. Mutagenesis of the substrates reveals a helical amino acid motif that is crucial for substrate recognition and peptide bond selection. With insight from computational data a model for the substrate-enzyme complex will be presented.
Non-scanning motionless fluorescence three-dimensional holographic microscopy

Holography is an attractive imaging technique as it offers the ability to view a complete three-dimensional volume from one image. However, holography is not widely applied to the field of three-dimensional fluorescence microscopic imaging, because fluorescence is incoherent and creating holograms requires a coherent interferometer system. Although scanning one beam of an interferometer pattern across the rear aperture of an objective to excite fluorescence in a specimen overcomes the coherence limitation, the mechanical scanning is complicated, which makes the image capturing slow, and the process is limited to low-numerical-aperture objectives. Here we present the first demonstration of a motionless microscopy system (FINCHSCOPE) based on Fresnel incoherent correlation holography, and its use in recording high-resolution three-dimensional fluorescent images of biological specimens. By using high-numerical-aperture objectives, a spatial light modulator, a CCD camera and some simple filters, FINCHSCOPE enables the acquisition of three-dimensional microscopic images without the need for scanning. Demonstration of an imaging system that can capture high-resolution 3D fluorescent images of biological speciments without the need for any moving parts.
Desaturation of Stearate Is Insufficient to Increase the Concentrations of Oleate in Cultured Rat Hepatocytes

Desaturation of stearate and palmitate and its effect on cellular accumulation of oleate were determined in primary culture of rat hepatocytes. The rate of oleate synthesis as measured by the formation of monounsaturated fatty acids from stearate was significantly higher than that from palmitate. The rate of [1-(14)C]stearate incorporation into oleate [1208 +/- 195 pmol/(mg protein x 4 h)] was 80% higher than that of [1-(14)C]palmitate [(672 +/- 82 pmol/(mg protein x 4 h)]. Despite the different rates of desaturation, the cellular oleate concentrations did not differ in the cells treated with stearate and palmitate (i.e., 42.5 +/- 4.5 vs. 40.8 +/- 5.2 nmol/mg protein). On the other hand, oleate concentration in the cells incubated with exogenous oleate was 198.1 +/- 9.5 nmol/mg protein. There was a dose-dependent increase in cellular stearate concentration by increasing stearate concentrations from 0.5 mmol/L to 4.0 mmol/L in culture medium. A linear increase in cellular stearate concentration was also achieved by increasing the duration of incubation with 1.0 mmol/L stearate from 2 to 24 h. Despite the marked increases in stearate concentrations under these conditions, oleate concentrations remained unchanged in the cells. These results do not support the contention that the hypocholesterolemic effect of stearate may be mediated by its conversion to oleate, although stearate is a more favorable substrate for desaturation than palmitate.
MULTI-MODAL DIAGNOSTICS FOR VEHICLE FAULT DETECTION

On-board vehicle diagnostic systems must have low development and hardware costs in order to be viable. Modelbased methods have shown promise since they use analytical redundancy to reduce costly physical redundancy. However, these methods must also be computationally efficient and function accurately even with simple, low-cost models. The approach presented in this paper uses multiple simple models to analyze dissimilar observable modes of a system. Residuals generated using the models are related and interpreted in a Bayesian network to determine fault probabilities and yield a diagnosis. The technique is demonstrated with a diagnostic system for automobile handling.
Mechanism of the Apparent Inhibitory Effect of Mg2+ and Ca2+ on the Actomyosin MgATPase in Relation to the L2 Light Chain

In the past, several laboratories had observed that the actomyosin MgATPase activity was inhibited by micromolar concentrations of either Mg2+ or Ca2+ (Bullard et al, 1973; Murray, 1973; Lehman et al, 1974; Bremel and Weber, 1975; Pemrick, 1976). Although the L2 light chain was implicated (Pemrick, 1976), no mechanism was ever proposed for this cation sensitivity. The study reported in this chapter demonstrates that the “apparent” inhibitory effect of either Mg2+ or Ca2+ can be explained by an activating effect of free ATP, which requires a critical concentration of L2-containing actomyosin complexes.
The Credit/Welfare State Tradeoff

Until recently, the U.S. had stricter banking regulations than all European countries. This was one reason for the American deregulations of the 1990s. But when the U.S. attempted to imitate the looser regulations of Europe, the consequences were much worse than in Europe. Our theories of comparative political economy cannot explain either the heavier regulation in the supposedly liberal U.S., or the different consequences of deregulation in the U.S. To make sense of these phenomena I sketch a “demand side” theory of comparative political economy. I show that there is a tradeoff between reliance on credit and reliance on the welfare state across the industrial countries, that the divergence stems from political economic patterns laid down at the turn of the twentieth century, and that under deregulation less well developed welfare states see an explosion in household indebtedness, while more developed welfare states do not.
Disproportionate micromelia (Dmm): an incomplete dominant mouse dwarfism with abnormal cartilage matrix.

This paper describes a new autosomal incomplete dominant dwarfism, disproportionate micromelia, which has been characterized genetically and phenotypically, and the cartilage of homozygotes, and heterozygotes has been examined by histochemical, immunofluorescence and biochemical methods. Homozygotes, which die at birth, are disproportionately short and have cleft palates. The heterozygotes appear normal at birth but beginning at 1 week of age dwarfism is apparent and increases during growth. Histochemical and biochemical analyses of the cartilage rudiments of homozygotes at day 18 of gestation demonstrate that the cartilage growth plate is disorganized and that the matrix components, collagen and proteoglycan, are altered. Total collagen synthesis is reduced by approximately 30% and the amount of type II collagen is greatly reduced. By immunofluorescence staining with collagen antibodies, it appears that type II collagen is located primarily near the cell surface of chondrocytes but is poorly distributed throughout the remainder of the matrix. The amount of proteoglycan in the cartilage matrix is reduced by approximately 70% as determined by chemical analysis of hexosamines and by [35S]sulfate incorporation. Although the proteoglycans synthesized by the mutant are normal in size and in glycosaminoglycan composition, they were more easily extractable from the matrix than were normal cartilage proteoglycans. Heterozygotes had reduced cartilage matrix proteoglycan by histochemical methods, but the organization of the epiphyseal cartilage was not abnormal. These data suggest that a reduced or abnormal cartilage matrix is the cause of the dwarfism.
Minimum Wage and Mexican and Central American Influx

In the 1990s, thirteen American states raised their minimum wage above the federal level, while the other thirty-five contiguous states retained the lower federal standard. An increased minimum wag...
Do Stimulants Reduce the Risk for Alcohol and Substance Use in Youth With ADHD? A Secondary Analysis of a Prospective, 24-Month Open-Label Study of Osmotic-Release Methylphenidate.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of stimulant treatment on risk for alcohol and illicit drug use in adolescents with ADHD. Method: Analysis of data derived from a prospective open-label treatment study of adolescent ADHD (n = 115, 76% male), and a historical, naturalistic sample of ADHD (n = 44, 68% male) and non-ADHD youth (n = 52, 73% male) of similar age and sex. Treatment consisted of extended-release methylphenidate in the clinical trial or naturalistic stimulant treatment. Self-report of alcohol and drug use was derived from a modified version of the Drug Use Screening Inventory. Results: Rates of alcohol and drug use in the past year were significantly lower in the clinical trial compared with untreated and treated naturalistic ADHD comparators, and similar to rates in non-ADHD comparators. Conclusion: Well-monitored stimulant treatment may reduce the risk for alcohol and substance use in adolescent ADHD.
Further properties of isoglutamine-oxytocin; inhibition of pressor activity of vasopressin.

Summary1) The isoglutamine isomer of oxytocin has been found to inhibit significantly the pressor activity of administered vasopressin in the anesthetized rat. 2) Various data suggest that acetic acid is lost when the polypeptide acetate is rigorously dried. Isoglutamine-oxytocin forms a crystalline flavianate salt.
Enhancement of Vascular Permeability by Mixtures of C'l Esterase and Normal Serum.∗

SummaryConcentrations of human C'1 esterase which are below threshold for direct enhancement of vascular permeability in guinea pig skin have been shown capable of generating a partially heat stable (56†C, 30 minutes) permeability factor from normal guinea pig serum in vitro. The action of this factor was blocked by treatment of test animals with an anti-histaminic drug, tripolidine. Generation of the factor from serum was prevented by inactivation of the enzymatic activity of C'l esterase with DFP or human serum inhibitor of C'l esterase. SBTI, without effect on C'l esterase, did not inhibit generation. Concentrations of C'l esterase which elaborated permeability activity in guinea pig serum also produced marked depression of the hemolytic complement titer of the serum. A relationship was also observed between the residual complement titers of heated sera and their capacity to produce a permeability factor upon mixture with C'l esterase. The data are consistent with, but do not prove, the hypothesis that...
Synthesis and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Amixicile-Based Inhibitors of the Pyruvate-Ferredoxin Oxidoreductases of Anaerobic Bacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria

Amixicile is a promising derivative of nitazoxanide (an antiparasitic therapeutic) developed to treat systemic infections caused by anaerobic bacteria, anaerobic parasites, and members of the Epsilonproteobacteria (Campylobacter and Helicobacter). Amixicile selectively inhibits pyruvate-ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) and related enzymes by inhibiting the function of the vitamin B1 cofactor (thiamine pyrophosphate) by a novel mechanism. Here, we interrogate the amixicile scaffold, guided by docking simulations, direct PFOR inhibition assays, and MIC tests against Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter jejuni, and Helicobacter pylori Docking simulations revealed that the nitro group present in nitazoxanide interacts with the protonated N4'-aminopyrimidine of thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP). The ortho-propylamine on the benzene ring formed an electrostatic interaction with an aspartic acid moiety (B456) of PFOR that correlated with improved PFOR-inhibitory activity and potency by MIC tests. Aryl substitution with electron-withdrawing groups and substitutions of the propylamine with other alkyl amines or nitrogen-containing heterocycles both improved PFOR inhibition and, in many cases, biological activity against C. difficile Docking simulation results correlate well with mechanistic enzymology and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies that show members of this class of antimicrobials to be specific inhibitors of vitamin B1 function by proton abstraction, which is both novel and likely to limit mutation-based drug resistance.
Coking Coal Resources Protection of Inner Mongolia and Sustainable Development of Coking Industry

The coking coal resources, coking industry sustainable development foreground and market demand were analyzed. Coking coal resources protection and coking industry sustainable development measures are put forward including coking coal resources strengthen management, implement protective mining, reasonable utilization scarce coking coal resource, transformation present coking enterprise by using high and new technologies, adjustment coking industry overall arrangement, establishment brand consciousness, extension coking chemical products, strengthen environment protection, accomplishment clean production, system innovation, accomplishment production scale and intensive farming etc.
A review on perspectives of social epidemiology used in AIDS research.

艾滋病已有近30年的历史.1981年6月5日艾滋病病例被首次报道.3年后艾滋病的元凶人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)被发现~([1]).2007年,全球估计有超过3000万人感染HIV,非洲和亚洲的感染人数增长惊人~([2-5])。
Gastrointestinal Health in Classic Galactosemia

Classic galactosemia (CG) is an autosomal recessive disorder of galactose metabolism that affects approximately 1/50,000 live births in the USA. Following exposure to milk, which contains large quantities of galactose, affected infants may become seriously ill. Early identification by newborn screening with immediate dietary galactose restriction minimizes or prevents the potentially lethal acute symptoms of CG. However, more than half of individuals with CG still experience long-term complications including cognitive disability, behavioral problems, and speech impairment. Anecdotal reports have also suggested frequent gastrointestinal (GI) problems, but this outcome has not been systematically addressed. In this study we explored the prevalence of GI symptoms among 183 children and adults with CG (cases) and 190 controls. Cases reported 4.5 times more frequent constipation (95% CI 1.8–11.5) and 4.2 times more frequent nausea (95% CI 1.2–15.5) than controls. Cases with genotypes predicting residual GALT activity reported less frequent constipation than cases without predicted GALT activity but this difference was not statistically significant. Because the rigor of dietary galactose restriction varies among individuals with galactosemia, we further tested whether GI symptoms associated with diet in infancy. Though constipation was almost four times as common among cases reporting a more restrictive diet in infancy, this difference was not statistically significant. These data confirm that certain GI symptoms are more common in classic galactosemia compared to controls and suggest that future studies should investigate associations with residual GALT activity and dietary galactose restriction in early life.
“Nobody Expects The Spanish Revolution”: memoria indignada e imaginarios de la historia en la narrativa gráfica española contemporánea

En este articulo se abordan las tensiones y engarces de la memoria entre el denominado “clima” 15M y un genero en ocasiones marginado como el de la narrativa grafica. Tambien discuto, a traves de la “ficcion politica”, el imaginario de la historia en pleno proceso de politizacion de la sociedad espanola, en particular me centro en autores como Pablo Sanchez Leon, Luis Moreno-Caballud, German Labrador, Amador Fernandez-Savater o Jacques Ranciere, para tratar de articular el ideario del 15M y sus representaciones graficas frente a problematicas como la “Cultura de la Transicion” o la democratizacion del saber y la crisis de representacion y de los expertos. Argumento que en la narrativa grafica permea el ciclo de movilizaciones, y el Movimiento Indignado en particular, a traves del desarrollo de procedimientos literarios y dispositivos vinculados a la memoria, asi como se conectan de forma multiple estos tres aspectos. Y utilizo diversos ejemplos de narrativa grafica, como Cuerda de Presas (2005) de Jorge Garcia y Fidel Martinez, El arte de volar de Altarriba y Kim (2009), los volumenes colectivos Yes, we camp! Trazos para una revolucion (2011) y Revolution Complex (2011), Fagocitosis (2011) de Marcos Prior y Danide o Los surcos del azar (2012) de Paco Roca.
Genetics of ADHD

Advances in the genetics of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders over the past decade were reviewed in the literature and reported from Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Neuronal and hemodynamic source modeling of optogenetic BOLD signals

An approach to model the hidden neuronal and hemodynamic sources of the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal observed in optogenetic functional MRI experiments is presented. In these experiments, genetically modified light-sensitive neurons are directly stimulated by laser light. A proof-of-principle demonstration is provided by estimating hidden hemodynamic and neuronal states in the Buxton-Mandeville-Friston BOLD model applied to simulated and experimental optogenetic fMRI data of the mouse. The estimation procedure is based on the continuous unscented Kalman filter. In simulations, under a given model, unobserved BOLD source signals such as cerebral blood flow and deoxygenation could be estimated with good accuracy, although neuronal signal sources appeared lagged in time. In experimental data, this approach was able to describe positive and negative BOLD signals. Translated into human applications, it could have the potential to provide novel functional markers for imaging cerebrovascular accidents or altered vascularity of brain tumors in a more specific way than standard clinical MRI protocols.
Optimal experiment design for magnetic resonance fingerprinting

Magnetic resonance (MR) fingerprinting is an emerging quantitative MR imaging technique that simultaneously acquires multiple tissue parameters in an efficient experiment. In this work, we present an estimation-theoretic framework to evaluate and design MR fingerprinting experiments. More specifically, we derive the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB), a lower bound on the covariance of any unbiased estimator, to characterize parameter estimation for MR fingerprinting. We then formulate an optimal experiment design problem based on the CRB to choose a set of acquisition parameters (e.g., flip angles and/or repetition times) that maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio efficiency of the resulting experiment. The utility of the proposed approach is validated by numerical studies. Representative results demonstrate that the optimized experiments allow for substantial reduction in the length of an MR fingerprinting acquisition, and substantial improvement in parameter estimation performance.
Psychometric Evaluation of a New Instrument to Evaluate School Nurses’ Perceptions on Concussion Care Management:

The rate of concussions in adolescents has risen over the last decade, resulting in cognitive and emotional problems. Neurologists recommend cognitive and physical rest during the recovery period, ...
Investigation of Domains in Mixtures of High-Melting Phospholipids, POPC, and Cholesterol

We used fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements of large unilamellar vesicles to investigate domain formation in lipid mixtures composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) and equimolar portions of cholesterol (Chol) and an ordered, high-melting phospholipid: N-palmitoyl-sphingomyelin (SM), porcine brain sphingomyelin (BSM) or 1,2-dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC). Mixtures with different concentrations of POPC were examined as a function of temperature. The FRET results are interpreted to indicate that at 25°C ordered and disordered lipid domains exist. As the temperature is increased to 40°C the area of domains of liquid ordered phase appears to decrease. When the temperature increases to 60°C the liquid disordered phase is the primary phase of the entire vesicle. All three mixtures show the same trends in domain size between the liquid disordered and liquid ordered phases. These FRET measurements are used for comparison when performing Monte Carlo simulations of these mixtures. This work has been supported by NSF grant CHE-1464769.
Reproductive Complications and Sexual Dysfunction in Cancer Survivors

This chapter will review risk factors and management for three types of reproductive complications of cancer treatment: infertility, menopausal symptoms, and sexual dysfunction. Each problem area affects unique, albeit overlapping, populations of cancer patients and survivors.
Investigation of pore water residence times and drainage velocities in salt marshes using short-lived radium isotopes

Abstract Pore water residence times and drainage velocities were investigated in Jamaica Bay (NY, USA), a highly urbanized estuary in New York City where salt marsh degradation and loss has accelerated in recent years. Five different marshes were sampled for shallow (25 cm) and deep (≥ 50 cm) dissolved 224 Ra over a several year period. Pore water residence times were estimated using a one-dimensional advective transport model, assuming that the pore water 224 Ra grows into an equilibrium 224 Ra activity, and that flow is vertical. Equilibrium between dissolved 224 Ra and the marsh sediment was assessed with respect to solid-phase 228 Th, 228 Ra, reactive solid-phase Fe and Mn, all of which except Mn scaled as a function of grain size. Pore water 224 Ra and estimated residence times did not display any seasonality between the marshes. The shortest residence times were estimated for the highest elevation, fine-grained-sand marsh (1.4 ± 0.9 d at 25 cm), which has the highest percent vegetation cover. We hypothesize that the faster drainage velocity (25.9 ± 17.8 cm d − 1 at 25 cm) of this marsh, combined with a higher mean elevation above sea-level, together limit exposure of the marsh plants to the build-up of H 2 S, a phytotoxin, in the pore fluid from the spring through summer. In contrast, shallow pore water residence times were greater for marshes with a lower elevation above sea-level, from (3.9 ± 1.8) d to (9.2 ± 3.6) d, where sediments were finer-grained, and throughput fluxes of Fe and H 2 S were higher throughout spring and summer seasons. This work demonstrates the utility of 224 Ra as a tracer of salt marsh flow dynamics, and highlights the importance of sediment heterogeneity and marsh platform elevation on the dynamic geochemistry of salt marshes.
Solute stabilization of nanocrystalline tungsten against abnormal grain growth

Microstructure and phase evolution in magnetron sputtered nanocrystalline tungsten and tungsten alloy thin films are explored through in situ TEM annealing experiments at temperatures up to 1000 °C. Grain growth in unalloyed nanocrystalline tungsten transpires through a discontinuous process at temperatures up to 550 °C, which is coupled to an allotropic phase transformation of metastable β-tungsten with the A-15 cubic structure to stable body centered cubic (BCC) α-tungsten. Complete transformation to the BCC α-phase is accompanied by the convergence to a unimodal nanocrystalline structure at 650 °C, signaling a transition to continuous grain growth. Alloy films synthesized with compositions of W–20 at.% Ti and W–15 at.% Cr exhibit only the BCC α-phase in the as-deposited state, which indicate the addition of solute stabilizes the films against the formation of metastable β-tungsten. Thermal stability of the alloy films is significantly improved over their unalloyed counterpart up to 1000 °C, and grain coarsening occurs solely through a continuous growth process. The contrasting thermal stability between W–Ti and W–Cr is attributed to different grain boundary segregation states, thus demonstrating the critical role of grain boundary chemistry in the design of solute-stabilized nanocrystalline alloys.
Timing and Risk Factors Associated With Venous Thromboembolism After Lung Cancer Resection.

Background Few studies have examined the risk factors for and timing of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing surgical procedures for lung cancer, and there are limited data to formulate guidelines for extended VTE prophylaxis after hospital discharge. This study sought to identify risk factors for postdischarge VTE after lung resection. Methods Patients undergoing anatomic resection for lung cancer were identified in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database from 2005 to 2015. Patients' demographic and clinical characteristics were evaluated for any association with postdischarge VTE. Predictors of postdischarge VTE were identified using multivariable analysis. Results VTE occurred in 1.6% (234) of the 14,308 patients identified; 44% (102) VTE events occurred after hospital discharge. Undergoing pneumonectomy was associated with a threefold increased risk for postdischarge VTE compared with lobectomy (2.0% versus 0.6%, p p 75th percentile) was also associated with an increased risk for postdischarge VTE compared with shorter operative time. Multivariable analysis identified older age, obesity, pneumonectomy, and prolonged operative time as independent predictors of postdischarge VTE. Conclusions Significant proportions of VTE events occur after hospital discharge. Although there are data to suggest that the risk for VTE extends beyond this period, few patients are managed with postdischarge prophylaxis. These data suggest that postdischarge prophylaxis should be considered for those patients at high risk for VTE, particularly for older patients, those who are obese, and after extended or lengthy resections.
Dollar Unilateralism: The New Frontline of National Security

This Article makes three points. First, it draws attention to a profound shift toward “dollar unilateralism” by the U.S. government as it advances core national security goals. Relying on the special status of the U.S. dollar, the government has enlisted foreign banks to isolate targeted entities and track illicit financial flows. Second, drawing on examples such as Iran’s nuclear program, the Article identifies three formal and informal legal tactics the government has used to implement dollar unilateralism: financial sticks, high-profile blacklists, and direct diplomacy. Finally, the Article discusses the efficacy of dollar unilateralism and its implications for U.S. accountability. Dollar unilateralism challenges a conventional view about the inevitability of multilateral cooperation, and is a compelling strategy under three conditions. It also, however, presents new gaps in U.S. political accountability.
Design of the State Estimation System in the Advanced Driver Assistance System

The development of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) is emphasized in road transportation research. Reliability and safety is one of the most important issues in the design process of ADAS. In general, the system must fuse information from multiple sensors to obtain more complete and accurate information about the world. In this chapter, a novel loose coupling sensor fusion strategy is designed, which uses the Extended Kalman filtering (EKF) to fuse the sensor measurements from odometers, accelerometers, gyroscope, and GPS. By using a novel four-wheel vehicle model, the EKF is able to conduct a multi-output rate sensor fusion, compensate the latency for GPS signals, and increase the accuracy of vehicle state estimation even if there exist sensor errors, such as GPS outage, odometer reading error due to wheel slippage. From the road test, it is proved that the designed EKF has achieved good results for vehicle state estimation.
Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Grant Proposals.

This paper discusses the contrasting perspectives of academic prose versus grant writing, and lists strategies grant specialists can use to help researchers break old habits and replace them with techniques better suited to the world of competitive grant proposals.
Optical Evaluation of PERC Cell Reflectance for Thermal Management

We discuss optical modeling of aluminum back surface field (Al-BSF) and passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cells extending into the infrared wavelength range. Total reflectance of pyramidical textured cells with and without encapsulation is simulated. This approach focusing on the encapsulated and bare cell reflectance serve as input for evaluating thermal management strategies for solar cells.
Environmental Safety Assessment of New Materials

A need exists to devise systematic procedures to evaluate the hazard to aquatic organisms of new materials prior to their commercialization. Assessment of hazard implies decision making and risk taking. Now, more than ever before, companies must incorporate environmental safety considerations into that decision-making process of new product development. A tentative procedure is presented which utilizes environmental fate and aquatic organism toxicity data in the sequential phases of screening, predictive, confirmative, and monitoring studies to arrive at a decision either to continue the toxicity testing, terminate the project because of unacceptable risk, or cease testing because of an acceptable risk. Application of the procedure to a number of potential new products in the past few years has verified the utility of the approach. The procedure was also tested on three hypothetical materials that varied widely in their use, chemical, physical, and toxicological properties. This analysis demonstrated the flexibility of the system for aquatic hazard evaluation and decision making.
Give predators a complement: Conserving natural enemy biodiversity to improve biocontrol

Abstract Natural enemy biodiversity reflects both the number of species attacking pests (species richness) and their relative abundances (species evenness). Recent experimental work suggests that greater enemy biodiversity might lead to stronger pest suppression when natural enemies occupy different, complementary feeding niches. Complementarity can arise from natural enemy species attacking different pest species or stages located in different places or at different times, and/or when enemies use different hunting strategies. However, these benefits can be weakened when predators in diverse predator communities kill one another, which is more likely in simple foraging environments including few prey species. Here, I review our growing understanding of natural enemy biodiversity in agroecosystems while suggesting a range of approaches that conservation biological control (CBC) practitioners might deploy to specifically encourage complementarity and dampen interference. For example, mixing different crop species or allowing crop residue to remain in fields increases prey diversity and the complexity of the foraging environment, both of which are likely to increase partitioning of diet- and spatial-niches among natural enemy species, making intraguild predation less likely. Habitat management alongside fields likewise might be designed to include elements attractive to different natural enemy taxa that fill different feeding niches, explicitly engineering fields to bring together complementary natural enemies. For example, refuge strips could include both bunch grasses that provide refuge to predatory beetles and spiders that forage on the ground, and flowers attractive to generalist predators and parasitoids that forage in plant foliage. Caution is warranted however, as a general enrichment of prey communities might build trophic complexity that dampens overall herbivore suppression. Altogether, the approach suggested here is consistent with a growing realization that CBC efforts that simultaneously encourage multiple ecosystem services will be most likely to be adopted by growers. Furthermore, CBC projects provide an opportunity to examine whether predator biodiversity effects demonstrated in cages or other experimental arenas lead to real-world benefits for biological control, advancing our understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem services relationships more generally. Perhaps the clearest challenges remain in extending what is known about enemy biodiversity effects, and their enhancement through CBC, to species-rich tropical agroecosystems.
The relationship between maximum tolerance and motor activation during transcutaneous spinal stimulation is unaffected by the carrier frequency or vibration.

Transcutaneous spinal stimulation (TSS) is a useful tool to modulate spinal sensorimotor circuits and has emerged as a potential treatment for motor disorders in neurologically impaired populations. One major limitation of TSS is the discomfort associated with high levels of stimulation during the experimental procedure. The objective of this study was to examine if the discomfort caused by TSS can be alleviated using different stimulation paradigms in a neurologically intact population. Tolerance to TSS delivered using conventional biphasic balanced rectangular pulses was compared to two alternative stimulation paradigms: a 5 kHz carrier frequency and biphasic balanced rectangular pulses combined with vibrotactile stimulation. In ten healthy participants, tolerance to TSS was examined using both single-pulse (0.2 Hz) and continuous (30 Hz) stimulation protocols. In both the single-pulse and continuous stimulation protocols, participants tolerated significantly higher levels of stimulation with the carrier frequency paradigm compared to the other stimulation paradigms. However, when the maximum tolerable stimulation intensity of each stimulation paradigm was normalized to the intensity required to evoke a lower limb muscle response, there were no statistical differences between the stimulation paradigms. Our results suggest that, when considering the intensity of stimulation required to obtain spinally evoked motor potentials, neither alternative stimulation paradigm is more effective at reducing discomfort than the conventional, unmodulated pulse configuration.
Bridging the Gap between Engineering and Construction 3D Models in Support of Advanced Work Packaging

AbstractProject failures and disputes are not uncommon in the construction industry. Advanced work packaging (AWP) is a planning and execution approach popular for capital and industrial projects. ...
Reactive, Agentic, Apathetic, or Challenged? Aging, Emotion, and Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Advanced age is generally associated with improved emotional well-being, but the coronavirus 2019 pandemic unleashed a global stressor that gravely threatened the physical well-being and ostensibly challenged the emotional well-being of older adults disproportionately. The current study investigated differences in emotional experiences and coping strategies between younger and older adults during the pandemic, and whether these differences were accounted for by age differences in appraisal of the pandemic. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We asked younger (n = 181) and older (n = 176) adult participants to report their stress, appraisals of the pandemic, emotions, and the ways in which they were coping with the pandemic. RESULTS Results indicated that older adults experienced less stress and less negative affect and used greater problem-focused coping and less avoidant coping in response to the pandemic than younger adults. Furthermore, age differences in affect and coping were partially accounted for by age differences in appraisals of the pandemic. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS Despite their objectively higher risk of illness and death due to the pandemic, older adults experienced less negative affect and used more agentic coping strategies than younger adults.
Abstract NS6: Family History of Stroke: Invisibility of a Key Stroke Risk Factor among High Risk African Americans

Background & Purpose: Young to middle aged African Americans (AA) are at greater risk for a first-ever stroke, severe neurologic disability, and stroke-related mortality, than Caucasians of similar...
Regulation of fat synthesis and adipose differentiation

Adipocytes have highly specialized function of accumulating fat as stored energy that can be used during periods of food deprivation. The process of fat synthesis and development of adipose tissue are under hormonal and nutritional control. This review first describes transcription of the two critical enzymes involved in fat synthesis, fatty acid synthase and mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, is decreased to an undetectable level during fasting. Food intake, especially a high carbohydrate, fat-free diet, subsequent to fasting causes dramatic increase in transcription of these genes. Insulin secretion is increased during feeding, having a positive effect, whereas cAMP, which mediates the effect of glucagon which increases during fasting, has a negative effect on transcription of these genes. Using adipocytes in culture and in transgenic mice that express liciferase driven by the fatty acid synthase promoter, cis-acting and trans-acting factors that may mediate the transcriptional regulation were examined. Upstream stimulatory factors (USFs) that bind to -65 E-box are required for insulin-mediated transcriptional activation of the fatty acid synthase gene. This review next describes how pref-1 is a novel inhibitor of adipose differentiation and is a plasma membrane protein containing six EGF-repeats in the extracellular domain. Pref-1 is highly expressed in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, but is not detectable in mature fat cells. Down regulation of pref-1 is required for adipose differentiation, and constitutive expression of pref-1 inhibits adipogenesis. Moreover, the ectodomain of pref-1 is cleaved to generate a biologically active 50 kDa soluble form. There are four major forms of membrane pref-1 resulting from alternate splicing, but two of the forms with a larger deletion do not produce biologically active soluble form, indicating that alternate splicing determines the range of action, juxtacrine or paracrine, of the pref-1.