cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rapid succession within the Veillonella population of a developing human oral biofilm in situ

Streptococci are the primary component of the multispecies oral biofilm known as supragingival dental plaque; they grow by fermentation of sugars to organic acids, e.g., lactic acid. Veillonellae, a ubiquitous component of early plaque, are unable to use sugars; they ferment organic acids, such as lactate, to a mixture of shorter-chain-length acids, CO(2), and hydrogen. Certain veillonellae bind to (coaggregate with) streptococci in vitro. We show that, between 4 and 8 hours into plaque development, the dominant strains of Veillonella change in their phenotypic characteristics (coaggregation and antibody reactivity) as well as in their genotypic characteristics (16S RNA gene sequences as well as strain level fingerprint patterns). This succession is coordinated with the development of mixed-species bacterial colonies. Changes in community structure can occur very rapidly in natural biofilm development, and we suggest that this process may influence evolution within this ecosystem.
ELECTROSTATIC EFFECTS ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF PARTICULATE WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE GELS

Physical properties of particulate whey protein isolate gels formed under varying electrostatic conditions were investigated using large strain rheological and microstructural techniques. The two treatment ranges evaluated were adjusting pH (5.2-5.8) with no added NaCl and adjusting the NaCI (0.2-0.6 M) at pH 7. Gels (10% protein w/v) were formed by heating at 80C for 30 min. The large strain properties of fracture strain (γ f ), fracture stress (σ f ), and a measure of strain hardening (R 0.3 ) were determined using a torsion method. Gel microstructure was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gel permeability (B gel ). Overlaying σ f and γ f curves for pH and NaCI treatments demonstrated an overlap where gels of equal σ f and γ f could be formed by adjusting pH or NaCI concentration. The high fracture stress (σ f 23 kPa and γ f 1.86) pair conditions were pH 5.47 and 0.25 M NaCI, pH 7.0. The low fracture stress (σ f 13 kPa and γ f 1.90) pair conditions were pH 5. 68 and 0. 6 M NaCI, pH 7.0. The 0.25 M NaCl, pH 7 treatment demonstrated higher R 0.3 values than the pH 5.47 treatment. When the sulfhydryl blocker n-ethylmaleimide was added at 2 mM to the 0.25 M NaCI, pH 7 gel treatment, its rheological behavior was NSD (p > 0.05) to the pH 5.47 gel treatment, indicating disulfide bond formation regulated strain hardening. Altering surface charge or counterions, and disulfide bonding, was required to produce gels with similar large strain rheological properties. An increase in gel permeability coincided with an increase in pore size as observed by SEM, independent of rheological properties. This demonstrated that at the length scales investigated, microstructure was not linked to changes in large strain rheological properties. L'objectif de cette etude est de comparer les proprietes physiques de gels d'isolats de proteines de lactoserum particulaires, formes par addition de NaCl a pH neutre et en abaissant le pH vers le point isoelectrique. L'approche est de determiner si des gels ayant les memes proprietes de fractures peuvent etre produits par 2 traitements differents et si les mecanismes de formation sont similaires.
Use of conventional tomography to evaluate changes in the nasal cavity with rapid palatal expansion

Introduction: The relationship between nasal airway resistance and the use of rapid palatal expansion appliances remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to use conventional tomography to determine the anatomical changes in the nasal cavity after maxillary expansion. Methods: Nineteen patients (aged 8–15 years) were included in the study. Tomograms were taken before expansion (T1), immediately after expansion (T2), and 3 months after expansion (T3). Areas for the left and right anterior, middle, and posterior nasal cavity and total volume were calculated by using the computer software, AutoCAD LT 2005. Data were analyzed with paired t tests. Results: Significant increases in area were found in the anterior nasal cavity from T1 to T2 (0.85 ± 1.19 cm 2 , 11.7% increase), T2 to T3 (1.18 ± 1.2 cm 2 , 22.2% increase), and T1 to T3 (2.6 ± 1.7 cm2, 35.7% increase) (P 3 , 10.7% increase), T2 to T3 (4.9 ± 2.3 cm 3 , 22.6% increase), and T1 to T3 (6.99 ± 2.45 cm 3 , 27.8% increase). No significant differences were found in the area or the volume of the left and right sides of the nasal cavity. Individual variations in response to maxillary expansion were large for most of the parameters tested. Conclusions: These data suggest that rapid palatal expansion is usually accompanied by increases in area and volume of the nasal cavity, and these changes remain stable 3 months after maxillary expansion.
Infection, incest, and iniquity: Investigating the neural correlates of disgust and morality

Disgust, an emotion related to avoiding harmful substances, has been linked to moral judgments in many behavioral studies. However, the fact that participants report feelings of disgust when thinking about feces and a heinous crime does not necessarily indicate that the same mechanisms mediate these reactions. Humans might instead have separate neural and physiological systems guiding aversive behaviors and judgments across different domains. The present interdisciplinary study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (n = 50) and behavioral assessment to investigate the biological homology of pathogen-related and moral disgust. We provide evidence that pathogen-related and sociomoral acts entrain many common as well as unique brain networks. We also investigated whether morality itself is composed of distinct neural and behavioral subdomains. We provide evidence that, despite their tendency to elicit similar ratings of moral wrongness, incestuous and nonsexual immoral acts entrain dramatically separate, while still overlapping, brain networks. These results (i) provide support for the view that the biological response of disgust is intimately tied to immorality, (ii) demonstrate that there are at least three separate domains of disgust, and (iii) suggest strongly that morality, like disgust, is not a unified psychological or neurological phenomenon.
Race and gender equality in health care: are we there yet?

regarding the use of implantable cardiac devices—a sophisticated therapy for preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) and relieving heart failure symptoms in patients with moderately to severely decreased left ventricular systolic function. The study systemically evaluates the effect of race and gender on implantation of cardiac devices using a large cohort of over 25,000 patients enrolled in ADVANCENT registry (National Registry to Advance Heart Health). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to assess the impact of clinical and sociodemographic factors on rates of device implantation. The results showed a significant difference in implantation of cardiac devices: ethnic minorities were 14% less likely to receive any device compared with white subjects, and women were 30% less likely to receive any device compared with men. As a function of race and gender combined, nonwhite women were found almost 60% less likely to receive an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) compared with white men. Multivariate analysis showed that clinical factors such as age, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF),
Subsychronous Resonance Zones in the IEEE "Bench Mark" Power System

Studies of subsynchronous resonance (SSR) phenomena are conducted in a power system composed of a turbo-generator set connected to an infinite bus via series capacitor-compensated transmission lines. The analysis is applied to a "bench mark" model proposed by the special IEEE Power Engineering Society Task Force on Subsynchronous Resonance.
The principle of least action and two-point boundary value problems in orbital mechanics

We consider a two-point boundary value problem (TPBVP) in orbital mechanics involving a small body (e.g., a spacecraft or asteroid) and N larger bodies. The least action principle TPBVP formulation is converted into an initial value problem via the addition of an appropriate terminal cost to the action functional. The latter formulation is used to obtain a fundamental solution, which may be used to solve the TPBVP for a variety of boundary conditions within a certain class. In particular, the method of convex duality allows one to interpret the least action principle as a differential game, where an opposing player maximizes over an indexed set of quadratics to yield the gravitational potential. The fundamental solution is obtained as a set of solutions of associated Riccati equations.
Specific Surface Area of Barrier Mixtures at Various Outgas Temperatures

Specific surface area (SSA) values for Fe–smectite alone and mixtures comprising varying proportions of glacial till were determined by nitrogen-adsorption Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis under different outgassing temperatures. Additionally, the extent to which the SSA of a mixture was related to the SSA of its components was investigated. A theoretical value for mixture SSA can be computed by summing the products of component SSA and the corresponding weight fraction. This theoretical estimate may not always yield the same value as measured because of a variety of physical and chemical interactions that can lead to either aggregation or dispersion of the constituent matrix. The results are explained in terms of these interactions and within the context of SSA relevance to barrier performance. For mixtures comprising 90% glacial till and 10% Fe–smectite, measured specific surface areas were consistently higher than predicted values for outgassing temperatures beyond 100°C, with a maximum departure of 4 m...
Accurate transcription initiation on a purified mouse β-globin DNA fragment in a cell-free system

Abstract A cloned mouse β-globin major gene fragment has been transcribed in the cell-free system, containing purified RNA polymerase II and a crude extract from cultured human cells, that directs accurate transcription at the major late promotor of purified Ad2 DNA templates. With a template comprising a mouse β-globin DNA fragment which contains 330 bp of mouse sequences upstream of the "cap" site (the presumptive initiation site in vivo) and 468 bp of the 3′ distal transcribed region, transcription is initiated selectively and accurately at the cap site. The lengths of the discrete-sized run-off transcripts observed with a series of templates cut at various known distances 3′ distal to the "cap" site are very close to those lengths predicted for transcripts initiated at the "cap" site. RNAase T1 digests of a 468 base run-off product contained all of the four large oligonucleotides predicted from the DNA sequence. The RNAase T1 digests also contained a capped oligonucleotide whose mobility upon finger-printing and nearest-neighbor analyses were those anticipated for the 5′ oligonucleotide of a transcript initiated at the "cap" site. Although the parameters for optimum transcription at the globin and adenovirus late promotors are similar, the initial rate and duration of globin transcription are considerably lower.
The 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: A successful lift-off for breast immunotherapy?

Therapeutic immune checkpoint antibodies promote potentially durable cancer control by modulating key regulatory factors of the endogenous anti-tumor immune response. The first clinical trial data of these agents in breast cancer were presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, with seemingly modest response rates compared with metastatic melanoma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In this article, we review the San Antonio immunotherapy data, drawing key analogies to historical experiences in metastatic melanoma that support an enthusiastic outlook for immunotherapy in breast cancer.
Deterministic Bounding Systems for Stochastic Compartmental Spreading Processes

This paper studies a novel approach for approximating the behavior of compartmental spreading processes. In contrast to prior work, the methods developed describe a dynamics which bound the exact moment dynamics, without explicitly requiring a priori knowledge of non-negative (or non-positive) covariance between pairs of system variables. Moreover, we provide systems which provide both upper- and lower- bounds on the process moments. We then show that when system variables are shown to be non-negatively (or non-positively) correlated for all time in the system's evolution, we may leverage the knowledge to create better approximating systems. We then apply the technique to several previously studied compartmental spreading processes, and compare the bounding systems' performance to the standard approximations studied in prior literature.
The Value of Portably Recorded Blood Pressures in the Initiation of Treatment of Moderate Hypertension

1. The value of making portable-recorder measurements of blood pressure has been studied. 2. The danger associated with mild arterial pressure elevation is not immediate, but almost any reduction in pressure is likely to reduce risk. 3. Patient and doctor together must decide what burden of side effects of hypotensive therapy is tolerable. 4. Such decisions will become rational only when the probability of vascular involvement can be accurately assessed in a given patient. 5. The likelihood of arresting the disease through antihypertensive therapy must similarly be assessed.
Modeling an Organizational Buyer's Product Evaluation Strategy: Validity and Procedural Considerations:

The subjective weights an organizational buyer gave to different cues were estimated by regression procedures with data from an in-office product-concept evaluation task. Multiple validity tests of the estimated weighting coefficients were performed including cross-validations, comparisons with a “known-groups” model, and comparisons with self-reports. The effects on the estimated models of variations in the product-concept profiles used in the task also were examined. The results provide insight on the validity of cue-weighting evidence gathered under field conditions.
Terrorism as Persuasion: Possibilities and Trends

Abstract Although terrorism has often been portrayed as low intensity warfare, it also can be visualized as a form of persuasion, one frequently ineffective due to logical fallacies. Successful persuasion is dependent on the interaction of four elements: speakers, arguments, situations, and audiences. Terrorism constitutes a type of rhetoric in which terrorist speakers communicate with media audiences, using symbolic violence as a means of argument. Terrorists lacking “rhetorical” ability fail to persuade their audiences to engage in behavior desired by the terrorist group. Successful terrorists elicit actions which contribute to a movement's mobilization. The model focuses attention on the progression toward mass destruction events and the restrictions on individual liberties that tend to occur during terrorist waves. The terrorism-as-persuasion model encourages simulating terrorist waves within game situations in order that the persuasion processes can be observed experimentally.
Magnetic resonance imaging is the future of transcatheter aortic valve replacement implantation … and always will be

During its short time in the medical lexicon, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been as disruptive a medical technology as we have seen since the heart-lung machine.Ithasbecometheidealtreatmentofaortic stenosis in patients with native and prosthetic aortic valve stenosis who are considered to be at high risk and are not considered to be operative candidates. It is being studied in patients at intermediate risk. It has been a gateway technology to the future treatment of valvular heart disease. TAVR is performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory (CL) or the hybrid operating room, and fluoroscopy is the primary method of imaging used to guide implantation. Early challenges facing TAVR include accurate sizing, vascular access, precise deployment, perivalvular leaking (PVL), and, oh yes, cost. Engineering has and will continue to work to make the devices smaller, more accessible, and less prone to PVL. The use of computed tomography to size the aortic annulus accurately has been a huge leap forward in and of itself, and echocardiography has become a procedural adjunct. 1,2 In this issue of the Journal, Miller and colleagues, 3 work
Series reactions A → B → C on successive spheres

Abstract The twin spherical harmonic expansion method with iterative solution of the coefficient equations is used to generate a rigorous analytical solution for the rate of series reaction, A → B → C, occurring, respectively, on two successive spheres of radius a1 and a2, a center-to-center distance d apart. To investigate the influences of the intersphere diffusion and geometry, diffusion-controlled reactions are considered. Results are presented as a series expansion of the dimensionless reaction rate R in terms of the dimensionless center-to-center sphere separation d ¯ ( = d / ( a 1 + a 2 ) ) reciprocals, and for various sphere radius ratios γ ( = a 1 / a 2 ) . When the sphere radius ratio γ is less than unity, a maximum in the series reaction rate is found for a d ¯ of about 1.05. Also an exact value of the series dimensionless reaction rate of ln2 is obtained in the limit γ → 0 (very large a2 or very small a1) for spheres in contact. Results suggest that the plots of reaction rates for contacting spheres can be extrapolated versus γ to the ln2 limit at γ → 0, and that the rate maximum effect is large in the γ → 0 limit.
Acute Cellular Rejection and C4d Positivity in Heart Transplantation : A Manifestation of Asymptomatic Antibody-Mediated Rejection?

Objectives: The role of routine C4d staining in endomyocardial biopsy specimens is uncertain. The implications of a diagnosis of acute cellular rejection (ACR) with a positive C4d with or without any evidence of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) are unclear. This study sought to evaluate a distinct phenotype of ACR+/C4d+ in AMR– patients. Methods: Data on C4d, ACR, and AMR were collected. Donor-specific antibody (DSA), panel-reactive antibody (PRA), flow crossmatch, and data on ACR and AMR episodes were also reviewed. Results: Thirty-five patients were followed. Group I with C4d+ biopsy specimens was compared with group II with C4d– biopsy specimens. ACR greater than 1R was higher in group I compared with group II (50% vs 7.4%; P = .01). Clinical suspicion of AMR, positive retrospective crossmatches, and detection of de novo DSA were also higher in group I. Conclusions: Our result indicate that C4d and ACR positivity in posttransplant patients may be a harbinger of a subclinical form of asymptomatic AMR.
Mechanism of Action of Leptin in Rats With Diabetes

Objective To investigate the mechanism of action of leptin in rats with experimental typeⅡdiabetes by intervention of conjugated linoleic acids(CLA) to these rats and observation of their level of glucose and insulin in serum and the expression of leptin in islet cell and fatty tissue.Methods Thirty five female Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups(1 normal control group,1 type II diabetes control group,3 CLA intervention groups).The rats in 4 groups were fed with high fat and glucose diets for 1 month,and injected with streptozoticin(STZ,25 mg/ kg·bw) to induce hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes(glucose10 mmol/L).After intervened by CLA with different dosage for 1 month,serum glucose was detected with GOD-PAP and insulin level was detected with radio immunoassay,leptin expression in islet cell was detected with immunohistochemistry assay and leptin expression in fat tissue was detected with Western blotting.Results After intervened by CLA,the level of glucose in serum decreased in dose dependent manner and the level of insulin increased in dose dependent manner too.The expression of leptin in fatty tissue and islet cell was increased in dose dependent manner in CLA intervened group compared with diabetes group(P 0.05),Conclusion After intervened by CLA,ileptin expression in fatty tissue was decreased,so the leptin level in islet cells was decreased,the insulin secretion was increased,and the serum glucose was controlled.
Power Electronices and Advanced Manufacture Industries

The basic model taken up the material productions by the human is the acting on the material folw with the energy flow, in order to change the form of composition of raw materials, to achieve the required functions. Because of the injuction of the information flow into the material productions, the progress of their energy-savelization, automation and intellisentlization will be accelerated. The power electronics just is the important interface for the achievement of the three together flows of energy, material and information. It is one of the important technology bases promoted comprehensively the traditional industries by the modern information technology. To develop the advanced manufacture industries is the needs for strengthen comprehensive national power, the power electronics is giving full play very important part in this connection.
Colonial New Jersey's provincial fiscal structure, 1704–1775: spending obligations, revenue sources, and tax burdens during peace and war

I reconstitute the spending obligations and revenue sources of colonial New Jersey's provincial government for the years 1704 through 1775 from primary sources using forensic accounting techniques. I identify and analyze the methods for raising revenue to meet normal peacetime and emergency wartime expenses. I calculate the provincial tax burdens imposed on New Jersey's citizens. I identify how Britain interfered with New Jersey's fiscal structure. I estimate what the revenues and tax burdens would have been without this interference. New Jersey paid for war expenses by issuing bills of credit, spreading the tax burden of redeeming these bills into the future. New Jersey paid its yearly administrative costs with current property taxes and with current interest earnings from loaning paper money. In the absence of British interference and wars, New Jersey could have driven tax burdens to zero by using interest earnings to pay for all its provincial administrative costs.
Fine Hall in its Golden Age

Our faith in mathematics is not likely to wane if we openly acknowledge that the personalities of even the greatest mathematicians may be as flawed as those of anyone else. The greater a mathematician, the more important it is to bring out the contradictions in his or her personality Psychologists of the future, if they should ever read such accounts, may better succeed in explaining what we, blinded by prejudice, would rather not face up to.
Autonomous Formation Switching for Multiple, Mobile Robots

Abstract In this paper we investigate the question concerning what multi-agent formations to use in a given situation. In particular, we show how it is possible to produce a control strategy for teams of mobile robots that switches between different formations as a reaction to environmental changes. The feasibility of the approach is verified in simulation, where a steepest descent algorithm is combined with standard reactive behaviors that ensure that the individual robots avoid neighboring obstacles and robots, while approaching a desired target location
Challenges in Representing Human-Robot Teams in Combat Simulations

Unmanned systems are changing the nature of future warfare. Combat simulations attempt to represent essential elements of warfare to support training, analysis, and testing. While combat simulations have rapidly incorporated representations of unmanned systems into their capabilities, little has been done to distinguish unmanned systems from human systems in these simulations. This is making it difficult to impossible to consider questions of future manned/unmanned system mix, levels of unmanned system autonomy required for most effective operational success, and other relevant questions. One might think that replacing humans with fully autonomous unmanned systems, such as in unmanned convoys, results in identical mission performance with the added benefit of a decrease in loss of human life. However, this is a naive line of reasoning when one considers that unmanned systems cannot react to the battlespace environment with the same level of flexibility as humans. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to capture such distinctions in combat models. This paper discusses the challenges we face in developing improved models of human systems, robotic systems, and human-robot teams in combat simulations, with examples posed in the context of the Combined Arms Analysis Tool for the 21st Century COMBATXXI, a discrete-event simulation developed and employed by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps to address analytical questions about future warfighting capabilities.
The influence of processing on the structure of poly(ethylene terephthalate) film

Structural motions have been shown to influence such important polymer use properties as impact strength1 and time-dependent fracture.2 Processing is sometimes used to intentionally modify a polymer's structure and, thus, influence the motions the structure gives rise to. An example of this is poly(ethylene terephthalate) film, which is oriented during manufacture.3 While the oriented, commercial film is one of the most useful polymers available, the unoriented film is too brittle to handle and has no known uses.
Heat-Inactivation of Streptococcus faecium var. casseliflavus in Skim Milk Cultures with Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Thermal destruction of Streptococcus faecium var. casseliflavus (SFC) at 57°C in autoclaved skim milk was determined at several pH values, and when skim milk was inoculated with Pseudomonas fluorescens and incubated 3 d at 10°C plus 4 d at room temperature before SFC was added. The pH values between 6.4 and 6.6 had little effect on heat resistance of SFC. At pH 5.6, however, accelerated thermal destruction occurred in sterile skim milk as compared to skim milk at pH 6.5. (D-values were 4.8 min and 10.2 min, respectively). Presence of large populations (log10 bacterial count = 9.8 to 9.9/ml) of P. fluorescens had a protective effect on SFC (D = 7.6 ± .7 min in skim milk preincubated with P. fluorescens and 6.2 min in skim milk without P. fluorescens).
625. RNAi Therapy for Dominant Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 1A

Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) refers to a group of disorders characterized by progressive wasting and weakness of pelvic and shoulder girdle muscles. Patients commonly require wheelchair assistance, and individuals with some forms of LGMD may have cardiac and respiratory muscle involvement. Modest improvements in a limited set of muscles may dramatically improve patients’ quality of life, but currently no effective treatment exists. There are 8 dominant forms of LGMD (LGMD1) that would benefit from gene therapy strategies to reduce their pathogenic alleles. We previously showed the first RNAi-based pre-clinical treatment for LGMD1A, which is caused by dominant mutations in one allele of the myotilin (MYOT) gene. Our strategy involved delivering MYOT targeted artificial microRNAs (miMYOT) to muscles of the T57I transgenic mouse model of LGMD1A using AAV6 vectors. Both 3 months (short-term) and 9 months (long-term) time points showed significant reduction of mutant myotilin mRNA and soluble protein expression. MYOT gene silencing resulted in histological improvements that were accompanied by significant functional correction including increased muscle weight and improved specific force. While the initial study showed proof-of-principle for this therapy, translation of miMYOT requires additional work. Mouse knockout studies suggested MYOT is a non-essential gene, as animals lacking MYOT develop normally. In the case of LGMD1A this would suggest the mutation is harmful but complete loss would be tolerated. However, we do not currently know if haploinsufficiency of wild-type MYOT is tolerated in other organisms, including humans. To address this question, we delivered morpholinos or AAV.miRNAs to multiple species. We found knockdown of endogenous MYOT to be safe in developing Xenopus, adult mice and non-human primates, suggesting that a non-allele-specific silencing approach for MYOT would be tolerated in LGMD1A-targeted treatments. We also performed dose escalations to assess the safety parameters of AAV.miMYOT vectors and utilized microarray data to identify potential biomarkers for clinical outcome measures. We then validated that some of our lead biomarkers were significantly normalized in miMYOT-treated T57I mice. Together these data provide additional data to support the further translation of miMYOT therapy for LGMD1A.
MNase-Sensitive Complexes in Yeast: Nucleosomes and Non-histone Barriers

Summary Micrococcal nuclease (MNase) is commonly used to map nucleosomes genome-wide, but nucleosome maps are affected by the degree of digestion. It has been proposed that many yeast promoters are not nucleosome-free but instead occupied by easily digested, unstable, "fragile" nucleosomes. We analyzed the histone content of all MNase-sensitive complexes by MNase-ChIP-seq and sonication-ChIP-seq. We find that yeast promoters are predominantly bound by non-histone protein complexes, with little evidence for fragile nucleosomes. We do detect MNase-sensitive nucleosomes elsewhere in the genome, including at transcription termination sites. However, they have high A/T content, suggesting that MNase sensitivity does not indicate instability, but rather the preference of MNase for A/T-rich DNA, such that A/T-rich nucleosomes are digested faster than G/C-rich nucleosomes. We confirm our observations by analyzing ChIP-exo, chemical mapping, and ATAC-seq data from other laboratories. Thus, histone ChIP-seq experiments are essential to distinguish nucleosomes from other DNA-binding proteins that protect against MNase.
Promising technological innovations in cognitive training to treat eating-related behavior

One potential reason for the suboptimal outcomes of treatments targeting appetitive behavior, such as eating and alcohol consumption, is that they do not target the implicit cognitive processes that may be driving these behaviors. Two groups of related neurocognitive processes that are robustly associated with dysregulated eating and drinking are attention bias (AB; selective attention to specific stimuli) and executive function (EF; a set of cognitive control processes such as inhibitory control, working memory, set shifting, that govern goal-directed behaviors). An increasing body of work suggests that EF and AB training programs improve regulation of appetitive behaviors, especially if trainings are frequent and sustained. However, several key challenges, such as adherence to the trainings in the long term, and overall potency of the training, remain. The current manuscript describes five technological innovations that have the potential to address difficulties related to the effectiveness and feasibility of EF and AB trainings: (1) deployment of training in the home, (2) training via smartphone, (3) gamification, (4) virtual reality, and (5) personalization. The drawbacks of these innovations, as well as areas for future research, are also discussed. The above-mentioned innovations are likely to be instrumental in the future empirical work to develop and evaluate effective EF and AB trainings for appetitive behaviors.
Analysis of Null Subjects

Before proceeding to a simulation of bilingual learning, it is important to present a pivotal feature of this inquiry. While I am examining Spanish-English and Chinese-English grammars acquire of the current theories of parameter-setting within the UG framework d by bilingual children, the key focus is on the Null Subject Parameter (NSP).57
Trustworthiness perception is disrupted in artificial faces

Abstract Computer-generated faces are increasingly prevalent in a range of settings. While the quality of synthetic face appearance has increased dramatically, participants can usually distinguish between real and artificial faces accurately, and artificial faces carry high-level information regarding categories like gender, species, and agency differently than real faces. Artificial faces are also more poorly remembered than real faces, which is consistent with an “out-group” disadvantage for artificial faces that are probably seen less frequently than real ones. In the current study, we asked if the differences in how real and artificial faces are perceived extended to how trustworthiness is estimated in images of real and computer-generated faces. In two experiments, we examined how absolute ratings of trustworthiness (Exp. 1) and relative trustworthiness judgments (Exp. 2) were affected by whether we presented participants with real faces or artificial faces created using the real faces as models. We found in both tasks that trustworthiness was perceived differently in artificial faces: Absolute trustworthiness ratings were lower for artificial faces, and relative trustworthiness judgments were less accurate for artificial faces as well. Computer-generated faces thus do not signal trustworthiness in the same way that real faces do, which has important practical and theoretical implications for future social cognition research.
Authenticity on “Black Twitter”: Reading Racial Performance and Social Networking:

This article investigates the complex rhetorics of racial authenticity online, intermixing ethnography and critical technocultural discourse analysis (CTDA) to understand African American users’ in...
Cervical Traumatic Deformity (Bilateral Facet Dislocation) Complication

Traumatic bilateral facet dislocation is rare but is associated with high-grade neurological injuries. The typical mechanism is isolated hyperflexion without rotation and results in disruption of the posterior ligamentous complex but can also be accompanied by anterior longitudinal ligament disruption with grossly unstable motion segment. Closed reduction with Gardner-Wells tongs and traction is the most common first-line intervention in the United States. MRI is not needed prior to closed reduction unless the patient cannot be examined because of altered mental status or when closed reduction has failed prior to either anterior or posterior surgical procedures. Potential options and precautions to treat and prevent complications associated with inadequate resuscitation and manual reduction are described.
The Geist of Hegel Past and Present

This essay appreciates Taylor’s qualitative (rather than quantitative) approach to secularization, which has revolutionized recent discussions of this topic. Taylor’s earlier work on Hegel provides a context for interpreting his proposal in A Secular Age that Western societies are secularly religious or religiously secular—neither devoid of concern with transcendence, nor committed to theologically definite accounts of transcendence. Two major points of critique follow— first , that Hegelianism with its “immanent frame” excludes a distinctive Christian claim regarding Jesus’s incarnation; and, second , that Taylor’s hypothesis of faith “fragilized” by the “revisability” of contemporary religion needs empirical support to be fully credible. Taylor often represents religion as a lowest-common-denominator aspiration for something higher, rather than God coming to us incarnationally (John 1:14). Deism-with-transcendence is not Christianity. Taylor’s “fragilization” theory might mean that secularity, too, is “fragilized,” and it ought to provoke pastoral reflection on how “fragilized” faith might be stabilized.
P-ADIC Properties of Modular Schemes and Modular Forms

This expose represents an attempt to understand some of the recent work of Atkin, Swinnerton-Dyer, and Serre on the congruence properties of the q-expansion coefficients of modular forms from the point of view of the theory of moduli of elliptic curves, as developed abstractly by Igusa and recently reconsidered by Deligne. In this optic, a modular form of weight k and level n becomes a section of a certain line bundle \( \underset{\raise0.3em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle-}$}}{\omega } ^{ \otimes k} \) on the modular variety Mn which “classifies” elliptic curves with level n structure (the level n structure is introduced for purely technical reasons). The modular variety Mn is a smooth curve over ℤ[l/n], whose “physical appearance” is the same whether we view it over ℂ (where it becomes ϕ(n) copies of the quotient of the upper half plane by the principal congruence subgroup Г(n) of SL(2,ℤ)) or over the algebraic closure of ℤ/pℤ, (by “reduction modulo p”) for primes p not dividing n. This very fact rules out the possibility of obtaining p-adic properties of modular forms simply by studying the geometry of Mn ⊗ℤ/pℤ and its line bundles \( \underset{\raise0.3em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle-}$}}{\omega } ^{ \otimes k} \); we can only obtain the reductions modulo p of identical relations which hold over ℂ.
New treatment options in COPD.

OBJECTIVE: To review the role of long-acting bronchodilators in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including the importance of treatment adherence. SUMMARY: Overall, clinical trials show that compared with placebo and ipratropium, tiotropium significantly improves spirometric measures, increases quality-of-life scores, and is associated with fewer exacerbations. In addition, compared with salmeterol, tiotropium is associated with greater improvements in spirometric measures and clinically meaningful increases in quality-of-life measures. In comparison with either fluticasone or salmeterol alone, the fluticasone/salmeterol combination is associated with statistically greater improvement in spirometric and dyspnea measures; however, the combination is not associated with fewer exacerbations than either fluticasone or salmeterol used by itself. CONCLUSIONS: The 2003 update to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines recommends regular treatment with long-acting bronchodilators for maintenance COPD therapy because of superior effectiveness and convenience compared with short-acting bronchodilators. The results from trials presented in this article demonstrate that inhaled tiotropium is effective in treating COPD and might be considered as a first-line agent for maintenance therapy in view of its outcomes data. The convenience of once-daily administration would probably contribute to patient adherence and thus to the overall efficacy of this agent.
Rubrics for Teaching Culture. Implications for CALL

Rather than presenting any one example of the multifarious uses of multimedia for teaching cultural studies in the language curriculum, I want to raise some questions about the meta-level purposes for which we undertake to “teach culture”, and the implications of those purposes for the design of CALL and multimedia.
Intergovernmental Relations and Energy Policy: What We Know and What We Still Need to Learn:

Although energy has become a key political issue in recent decades, a comprehensive national policy is lacking, and state and local governments are playing increasingly important and diverse roles....
Sweet Confinement: Glucose and Carbohydrate Osmolytes in Reverse Micelles

The research presented here reports the surprising observation that adding glucose and other carbohydrate osmolytes to the polar phase of water-containing reverse micelles causes the particles to s...
Intergenerational financial exchange and cognitive impairment among older adults in China

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between intergenerational financial exchange patterns and cognitive impairment among older Chinese adults. The study also explored potential pathways linking financial exchanges to cognitive health. Method: Data were taken from the 2005 and 2008 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Three patterns of financial exchange (i.e., low receiving, high receiving, and reciprocity) based on a latent profile analysis were examined as predictors. Logistic regression models were employed to analyze variation in the Chinese version of the mini-mental status exam, taking into consideration the financial exchange patterns and a set of covariates. Results: Older adults with a reciprocity exchange pattern with their adult children had a lower likelihood of being cognitively impaired, supporting our hypotheses drawn from social exchange theory. Nutrition was found to mediate the relationship between financial exchange and cognition. Discussion: The inclusion of adequate nutrition intake as a means of maintaining cognitive well-being may help communities and families, as well as older Chinese adults, promote well-being and live a higher quality of life.
Abstract P279: Marijuana Use, Multiple Sleep Characteristics, and Hypertension Among White, Black, and Hispanic Adults in the United States

Introduction: Prior studies have found an association between marijuana use and hypertension. However, few consider the role of sleep as an explanatory factor or race/ethnicity as a moderator. Our ...
Epsilon-near-zero and metasurface optics in extreme optical fiber platforms (Conference Presentation)

Metasurfaces that can refract and focus light in unique ways provide the opportunity for advanced light manipulation and development of novel applications. Due to the flat nature of metasurfaces (typical thickness < 100nm), conventional three-dimensional optical elements such as prisms or lenses could be replaced by flat, low-profile, and low-cost versions. In addition, the optical response of near-zero refractive index metasurface systems, i.e., vanishing permittivity and permeability values, have been shown to exhibit unique optical properties. Those features can be exploited in various optical applications such as wavefront engineering, radiation pattern tailoring, non-reciprocal magneto-optical effects, nonlinear ultrafast optical switching, and broadband perfect absorption. However, most of the studies on epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) optical properties are limited to the excitation of ENZ mode in the planar structures or meta-surfaces with short interaction length, restricting the excitation platform for novel optical device applications. In this talk, I will report a novel optical waveguide design of a hollow step index fiber modified with a thin layer of conducting oxide epsilon-near-zero materials. We show an excitation of highly confined waveguide mode in the proposed fiber near the wavelength where permittivity of conducting oxide material approaches zero [1]. I will present our study on “meta”-optical fiber by integrating metasurfaces with optical fibers to develop novel and ultracompact in-fiber optical devices such as an optical fiber metalens and color filter [2,3]. These advanced “meta”/ENZ-optical fibers open the path to revolutionary in-fiber optical imaging and communication devices. 1. K. Minn, A. Anopchenko, J. Yang, H. W. Lee, “Excitation of epsilon-near-zero resonance in ultra-thin indium tin oxide shell embedded nanostructured optical fiber,” Nature Scientific Reports 8, 2342 (2018). 2. J. Yang, I Ghirmire, P. C. Wu, S. Gurung, C. Arndt, D. P. Tsai, H. W. Lee, “Photonic crystal fiber metalens”, submitted (2018). 3. Indra Ghimire, Jingyi Yang, Sudip Gurung, Satyendra K. Mishra and Ho Wai Howard Lee,” Polarization dependent photonic crystal fiber color filter using asymmetric metasurfaces,” Submitted (2018)
Innovative applications of combined PET/MRI modality in diagnosis and follow-up of Multiple Sclerosis

1220 Objectives: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease of the brain and spinal cord characterized by neuro-inflammation, demyelination, gliosis, axonal degeneration, and neuronal loss. As such, several pathologic processes can be selected as a marker for diagnosis and follow-up of MS. Today, the diagnosis and follow-up of MS is usually based on clinical assessment, especially the relapses or exacerbations. In the case of inconclusiveness, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) would be helpful but this structural imaging modality is not specific for a particular MS hallmark, as the detected lesions can be due to several underlying pathologies like edema, inflammation, gliosis, demyelination, or axonal loss. Positron emission tomography (PET) as a non-invasive and quantitative functional imaging technique can be highly specific for a disease related process, so the combined modality of PET/MRI could enable a better understanding of the disease pathophysiology, characterization of disease phenotypes, monitoring of disease progression and therapy evaluation provided that a suitable PET tracer is available. Currently, the number of applications for PET/MRI imaging in multiple sclerosis is still limited. Clinical studies using PET are basically focused on monitoring changes in glucose metabolism and the presence of activated microglia/macrophages in sclerotic lesions. PET imaging of targets for processes like demyelination and re-myelination has been investigated in the lesions identified by MRI in preclinical studies, and may be translated to clinical applications shortly by PET/MRI combined modality. Moreover, more PET tracers that could be relevant for MS are available now, and can be studied in this context using PET/MRI protocols. Therefore, novel MRI and PET techniques can improve in-vivo visualization and quantification of the pleomorphic aspects of the disease, providing us with a unique insight into its pathogenesis, clinical relevance, and therapy responsiveness. In this exhibit, we will review: 1) The novel PET and MRI imaging markers for MS diagnosis and follow-up 2) Potential applications of combined PET/MRI imaging modality based on the markers that are relevant to MS diagnosis and follow-up. 3) The novel and pre-existing PET tracers applied in MS imaging 4) Review the combined PET/MRI imaging studies performed in MS patients to date
Teaching ACEs in Pediatrics: Resident-led Curriculum in the Pediatric Clerkship

Background: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study clearly demonstrated an association between ACEs and excessive morbidity and mortality in the adult population. However, instruction about ACEs has not yet been integrated into most medical core curricula. In 2015 a novel curriculum was created by pediatric residents for third year medical students during their pediatric clerkship. The curriculum focused on issues of child abuse and neglect, poverty, food insecurity, and preventable illnesses. Although anecdotally the lectures seemed to be well-received, little was known about their impact on medical students’ knowledge, …