cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Note on Some Drawings of Fungi by Cecilia Jane Berkeley in the Farlow Reference Library

In an age before photography was a tool used to store and exchange information about fleshy fungi, paintings and drawings had a special role communicating concepts about fungi. For example, W. G. Farlow had several mycologists look at and annotate the original illustrations he had prepared for his Icones Farlowianae. Peck, Patouillard, Boudier, and Lange all annotated originals at Farlow's behest. The paintings became a mode of communication and were used to pass on information about concepts. This information often goes unnoticed or is lost completely. When exchanges and annotations are documented, we not only get a better view of the communication and consensus of the times but we may also develop a reliance on certain of the species concepts that we see expressed in remote and sometimes seemingly superficial publications. In this brief note I want to document the exchange of paintings between two of the 19th century mycological greats, E. M. Fries and M. J. Berkeley. The specific subject is a set of paintings of fungi in the Farlow Library that is attributed to Berkeley's daughter, Cecilia Jane Berkeley (1836-1876). This set of watercolor illustrations was purchased by W. G. Farlow in the late 1890s or in the early 1900s. Originally, it had been purchased from the Berkeley Library after Berkeley's death by Philip B. Mason. It was sold by Wesley in England and was advertised as follows:
29Si MAS NMR systematics of calcic and sodic-calcic amphiboles

We report the compositional systematics of the 29 Si MAS NMR spectra of richterite, (super [A]) (Na,K,Rb) 1 (Na,Ca,Sr) 2 Mg 5 Si 8 O 22 (OH,F) 2 ; pargasite, NaCa 2 Mg 4 AlSi 6 Al 2 O 22 (OH) 2 ; and fluor-edenite, NaCa 2 Mg 5 Si 7 AlO 22 F 2 . (super [A]) Na causes (1) splitting of T1 into two sites, while leaving T2 unsplit, and (2) the Q 3 chemical shift to be 2.5 to 3 ppm less negative than Q 3 when the A site is empty as in tremolite and magnesiohornblende. The preferential splitting of T1 is explained in terms of ordering of the A cation at Am. The effects of M4 and A-site chemistry upon the richterite spectra aid the assignment of peaks for pargasite and fluor-edenite. The long-range ordering of Al and Si over T1 and T2 sites in fluor-edenite synthesized at 2 kbar, and 1000 degrees C and pargasite synthesized at 1 kbar, and 930 degrees C has been calculated from their 29 Si MAS NMR spectra assuming that Al avoidance operates. The extent of long-range order is calculated from the intensities of the Q 2 (2Al), Q 2 (1Al), and Q 2 (0Al) peaks. An equation is derived that allows the extent of long-range Al-Si order to be calculated from 29 Si MAS NMR spectra of amphiboles. The spectrum of fluor-edenite is consistent with all (super [4]) Al being at T1 with maximal short-range disorder within the constraints of Al avoidance. The pargasite spectrum is more complex, because there is a probable peak coincidence of Q 2 (1Al) and Q 3 (2Al) at -82 ppm that must be considered. The presence of a Q 3 (0Al) peak in the pargasite spectrum indicates unambiguously that some long-range disorder exists, and this implies that Q 3 (2Al) groupings also occur. The calculated extent of long-range disorder in pargasite is 55 = 10%. This value is consistent with the single-crystal X-ray data of Oberti et al. (1995a) for natural amphiboles extrapolated to (super [4]) Al = 2 apfu at 900 degrees C. The different long-range Al-Si ordering behavior of flour-edenite and pargasite is explained in terms of the bond-valence requirements of O4. At high temperatures, configurational entropy becomes an important stabilizing factor, and structural distortion around O4 in pargasite and hornblende allows Al into T2, provided that O4 is coupled to Al at an adjacent M2 site, as in pargasite. The results for fluoredenite, which has no (super [6]) Al, show that the low O4 bond-strength sum of the T2 Al M2 Mg M4 Ca configuration cannot be accommodated by sufficient structural relaxation, even at 1000 degrees C. Coupling between Al at M2 and T2 is an important control on Al-Si long-range order-disorder.
Recursive RANSAC: Multiple Signal Estimation with Outliers

The random sample consensus (RANSAC) algorithm is frequently used in computer vision to estimate the parameters of a signal in the presence of noisy and even spurious observations called gross errors. Instead of just one signal, we desire to estimate the parameters of multiple signals, where at each time step a set of observations of generated from the underlying signals and gross errors are received. In this paper, we develop the recursive RANSAC (RRANSAC) algorithm to solve the inherent data association problem and recursively estimate the parameters of multiple signals without prior knowledge of the number of true signals. We compare the performance of RRANSAC with several existing algorithms, and also demonstrate the capabilities of RRANSAC in an aerial geolocation problem.
Ovalbumin increases macromolecular efflux from the in situ nasal mucosa of allergic hamsters.

Gao, Xiao-Pei, Syed R. Akhter, and Israel Rubinstein.Ovalbumin increases macromolecular efflux from the in situ nasal mucosa of allergic hamsters. J. Appl. Physiol. 84(1): 169–176, 1998.—The purpos...
Hybrid Biological Nanomachines

Publisher Summary The incredible novelty and complexity of natural biological mechanical systems are inspiring to the nanobiotechnologist. Mechanical parts that are manufacturable in huge quantities, operate at high efficiency, and are available having a wide variety of functions form an attractive toolset with which to work. The road ahead for hybrid bionanodevices includes the development of environmental control and feedback, self-replicating systems, and autonomous devices operating in vivo, in vitro, and ex vitro. Exciting developments in this field occur almost weekly, as advances in basic science, instrumentation, and fabrication techniques combine to make ever smaller, faster, and more efficient devices in increasing numbers.
Key software architecture decisions for the automated planet finder

The Automated Planet Finder (APF) at Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton is a modern 2.4 meter computer controlled telescope. At one Nasmyth focus is the Levy Spectrometer, at present the sole instrument used with the APF. The primary research mission of the APF and the Levy Spectrometer is high-precision Doppler spectroscopy. Observing at the APF is unattended; custom software written by diverse authors in diverse languages manage all aspects of a night’s observing. This paper will cover some of the key software architecture decisions made in the development of autonomous observing at the APF. The relevance to future projects of these decisions will be emphasized throughout.
We Now Interrupt this Program: Pre-Empting the Apocalypse in ABC’s Miracles

The short-lived ABC network television series Miracles (2003) not only provided viewers with criticism of US military might but also delivered a prophetic envisioning of the visual iconography of post-9/11 terror. The show's pre-emption for “prime time” military engagements, or direct beaming of the War on Terror vis-a-vis “free” network television, was aimed at demonstrating US military dominance and offered, as Slavoj Žižek argues, a sublime representation of the role of faith in negotiating the cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001. These highly critical, anti-Patriot Act stances complicate ABC/Disney’s position as America’s “family friendly” network. This essay argues that Miracles clearly marked the beginning of network television’s censorship of post-9/11 apocalyptic scenarios—a decision that would later manifest itself in the creation of 9/11 visual reimaginings, particularly in movie posters and television advertisements.
Detection of Side Chain Rearrangements Mediating the Motions of Transmembrane Helices in Molecular Dynamics Simulations of G Protein-Coupled Receptors

Structure and dynamics are essential elements of protein function. Protein structure is constantly fluctuating and undergoing conformational changes, which are captured by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We introduce a computational framework that provides a compact representation of the dynamic conformational space of biomolecular simulations. This method presents a systematic approach designed to reduce the large MD simulation spatiotemporal datasets into a manageable set in order to guide our understanding of how protein mechanics emerge from side chain organization and dynamic reorganization. We focus on the detection of side chain interactions that undergo rearrangements mediating global domain motions and vice versa. Side chain rearrangements are extracted from side chain interactions that undergo well-defined abrupt and persistent changes in distance time series using Gaussian mixture models, whereas global domain motions are detected using dynamic cross-correlation. Both side chain rearrangements and global domain motions represent the dynamic components of the protein MD simulation, and are both mapped into a network where they are connected based on their degree of coupling. This method allows for the study of allosteric communication in proteins by mapping out the protein dynamics into an intramolecular network to reduce the large simulation data into a manageable set of communities composed of coupled side chain rearrangements and global domain motions. This computational framework is suitable for the study of tightly packed proteins, such as G protein-coupled receptors, and we present an application on a seven microseconds MD trajectory of CC chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) bound to its ligand CCL21.
Trait Correlations in the Genomics Era

Thinking about the evolutionary causes and consequences of trait correlations has been dominated by quantitative genetics theory that is focused on hypothetical loci. Since this theory was initially developed, technology has enabled the identification of specific genetic variants that contribute to trait correlations. Here, we review studies of the genetic basis of trait correlations to ask: What has this new information taught us? We find that causal variants can be pleiotropic and/or linked in different ways, indicating that pleiotropy and linkage are not alternative genetic mechanisms. Further, many trait correlations have a polygenic basis, suggesting that both pleiotropy and linkage likely contribute. We discuss implications of these findings for the evolutionary causes and consequences of trait correlations.
Comparisons of human amniotic mesenchymal stem cell viability in FDA-approved collagen-based scaffolds: Implications for engineered diaphragmatic replacement.

Abstract Background/purpose We sought to examine amniotic fluid mesenchymal stem cell (afMSC) viability within two FDA-approved collagen-based scaffolds, as a prerequisite to clinical translation of afMSC-based engineered diaphragmatic repair. Methods Human afMSCs were seeded in a human-derived collagen hydrogel and in a bovine-derived collagen sheet at 3 matching densities. Cell viability was analyzed at 1, 3, and 5days using an ATP-based 3D bioluminescence assay. Statistical comparisons were by ANOVA ( P Results There was a highly significant 3-way interaction between scaffold type, seeding density, and time in 3D culture as determinants of cell viability, clearly favoring the human hydrogel ( P P P =0.05) with no significant effect in the bovine sheet ( P =0.39–0.96). Conclusions Among clinically-approved cell delivery vehicles, mesenchymal stem cell viability is significantly enhanced in a collagen hydrogel when compared with a collagen sheet. Cell viability can be further optimized by seeding density and time in 3D culture. These data further support the regulatory viability of clinical trials of engineered diaphragmatic repair. Level of evidence N/A (animal and laboratory study).
Specific subcortical structures are activated during seizure-induced death in a model of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP): A manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging study

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a major concern for patients with epilepsy. In most witnessed cases of SUDEP generalized seizures and respiratory failure preceded death, and pre-mortem neuroimaging studies in SUDEP patients observed changes in specific subcortical structures. Our study examined the role of subcortical structures in the DBA/1 mouse model of SUDEP using manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI). These mice exhibit acoustically-evoked generalized seizures leading to seizure-induced respiratory arrest (S-IRA) that results in sudden death unless resuscitation is rapidly instituted. MEMRI data in the DBA/1 mouse brain immediately after acoustically-induced S-IRA were compared to data in C57 (control) mice that were exposed to the same acoustic stimulus that did not trigger seizures. The animals were anesthetized and decapitated immediately after seizure in DBA/1 mice and after an equivalent time in control mice. Comparative T1 weighted MEMRI images were evaluated using a 14T MRI scanner and quantified. We observed significant increases in activity in DBA/1 mice as compared to controls at previously-implicated auditory (superior olivary complex) and sensorimotor-limbic [periaqueductal gray (PAG) and amygdala] networks and also in structures in the respiratory network. The activity at certain raphe nuclei was also increased, suggesting activation of serotonergic mechanisms. These data are consistent with previous findings that enhancing the action of serotonin prevents S-IRA in this SUDEP model. Increased activity in the PAG and the respiratory and raphe nuclei suggest that compensatory mechanisms for apnea may have been activated by S-IRA, but they were not sufficient to prevent death. The present findings indicate that changes induced by S-IRA in specific subcortical structures in DBA/1 mice are consistent with human SUDEP findings. Understanding the changes in brain activity during seizure-induced death in animals may lead to improved approaches directed at prevention of human SUDEP.
And, not or: Quality, quantity in scientific publishing.

Scientists often perceive a trade-off between quantity and quality in scientific publishing: finite amounts of time and effort can be spent to produce few high-quality papers or subdivided to produce many papers of lower quality. Despite this perception, previous studies have indicated the opposite relationship, in which productivity (publishing more papers) is associated with increased paper quality (usually measured by citation accumulation). We examine this question in a novel way, comparing members of the National Academy of Sciences with themselves across years, and using a much larger dataset than previously analyzed. We find that a member’s most highly cited paper in a given year has more citations in more productive years than in in less productive years. Their lowest cited paper each year, on the other hand, has fewer citations in more productive years. To disentangle the effect of the underlying distributions of citations and productivities, we repeat the analysis for hypothetical publication records generated by scrambling each author’s citation counts among their publications. Surprisingly, these artificial histories re-create the above trends almost exactly. Put another way, the observed positive relationship between quantity and quality can be interpreted as a consequence of randomly drawing citation counts for each publication: more productive years yield higher-cited papers because they have more chances to draw a large value. This suggests that citation counts, and the rewards that have come to be associated with them, may be more stochastic than previously appreciated.
HULIS Enhancement of Hydroxyl Radical Formation from Fe(II): Kinetics of Fulvic Acid-Fe(II) Complexes in the Presence of Lung Antioxidants.

Oxidative stress mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a hypothesized mechanism for particulate-matter related health effects. Fe(II) is a key player in ROS formation in surrogate lung fluid (SLF) containing antioxidants. Humic-like substances (HULIS) in particulate matter such as biomass burning aerosol chelate Fe(II), but the effect on ROS formation in the presence of lung antioxidants is not known. We use Suwanee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA) as a surrogate for HULIS and investigate its effect on OH formation from Fe(II). For the first time, a chemical kinetics model was developed to explain behavior of Fe(II) and SRFA in SLF. Model and experimental results are used to find best-fit rate coefficients for key reactions. Modeling results indicate SRFA enhances Fe-mediated reduction of O2 to O2– and destruction of H2O2 to OH to 5.1 ± 1.5 and (4.3 ± 1.4) × 103 M–1 s–1 respectively. Best-fit rates for Citrate–Fe(II) mediated O2 to O2– and H2O2 to OH were 3.0 ± 0.7 and (4.2 ± 1.7) × 103 M–1 s–1 respectivel...
Radioligand binding using 125I-labeled peptides.

The radioligand binding assay is a useful tool to characterize peptide receptors and to study the interaction of endogenous and synthetic peptides with those receptors. The most commonly used method is the membrane filtration technique that involves binding of the radioligand to membranes that contain the receptor of interest. The bound and free radioligand are then separated by rapid filtration through glass fiber filters. This technique can be used for many different peptides as long as a high-affinity radioligand is available.
Mechanistic studies on the formation and metabolism of nitrosamines

SS05-03 Despite 50 years of research, human exposure to potent carcinogenic nitrosamines is still common. Mechanistic analysis and investigation of both their routes of formation and their metabolic pathways of activation are important in cancer prevention. Two examples from our research will be presented to illustrate these points. In the first case the mechanism of metabolic activation of N-nitrosodiethanolamine (NDELA), an environmentally ubiquitous nitrosamine, will be discussed. NDELA and structurally related β-hydroxynitrosamines are bident carcinogens because two fragments from the same molecule, glyoxal and a diazonium derived alkylating agent, bind DNA. The metabolism of NDELA involves competitive oxidation of the 2-hydroxyethyl side chain at both the α-, and β-positions. The latter process gives N-nitroso-2-hydroxymorpholine (NHMOR) through intramolecular hemiacetal formation from the immediately produced aldehyde. In vitro metabolism studies reveal competitive P450 2E1 mediated oxidation of NDELA to give NHMOR or the unstable 2-hydroxyethyldiazonium ion and glycoladehyde, which is further metabolized to glyoxal. Glyoxal and the diazonium ion are also metabolites of NHMOR. The α-acetate of NDELA, and the two α-acetates of NHMOR have been prepared and their mechanisms of decomposition determined as models of the enzymatic α-oxidation process. Extensive molecular rearrangement and “chemical detoxification” of the 5-acetoxy-NHMOR occurs. NDELA produces both glyoxal-guanine and O6-hydroxyethylguanine adducts in rat liver DNA following oral administration. Reports of the occurrence of O6-carboxyethyguanine residues in DNA prompted our explorations of the mechanisms by which this glycine derived adduct could arise. α-Amino acids reversibly form imines (Schiff bases) with dietary aldehydes. Nitrosation of the imine (C=N-) bond in these compounds under gastric conditions leads to the formation of an unexplored group of heterocyclic nitrosamines, N-nitroso-1,3-oxazolidin-5-ones (NOZ), through ring closure via the carboxyl group. These nitrosamino lactones, also independently synthesized, generate reactive diazonium ion alkylating agents upon hydrolysis. Decomposition rates very markedly with structure and pH. N-Nitroso-1,3-oxazolidin-5-one (5-NOZ), derived from glycine, formaldehyde, and nitrite, has a t½ of 9.1 min at pH 7, 37 °C, but ring substitution increases stability. 5-NOZ exhibits activity similar to a direct mutagen in the Comet and related assays. In the case of cysteine, serine and threonine, aldehyde-nitrite NOZ formation competes with the formation of N-nitroso-1,3-thiazolidine- or N-nitroso-1,3-oxazolidine-4-carboxylic acids, respectively. The heating of these compounds under conditions of cooking leads to the vinylation of acids. Under similar conditions, N-nitrosoproline, a common non-carcinogenic food contaminant, produces a set of complex hydrazine derivatives of possible toxicological significance. The nitrosation of other C=N containing compounds will also be discussed.
A System Identification Based Framework for Genome-Scale Metabolic Model Validation and Refinement

Abstract Due to the scale and complexity of genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs), it has been recognized that one of the major challenges of metabolic network modeling is the evaluation and refinement of GEMs. Currently, besides assessing its size and connectivity, the standard approach for GEM validation is to compare model predictions with experimental data under different conditions. For well-characterized organisms, this point-matching approach works well, because their metabolic network structures have been well-studied and well-defined. However, we show in this work that, for a less studied organism, such an approach did not work well as the combination of multiple model errors resulted in good agreement between the model predictions and experimental data over multiple points. To address it, we propose a system identification (SID) based framework for GEM validation and refinement. The validation and refinement of GEMs for a model yeast Scheffersomyces stipitis is used as the case study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SID framework.
Surgical sterilization among US men and women with employer-based insurance: A claims data analysis.

Abstract Objective To assess variability in the use of surgical sterilization among privately insured U.S. men and women. Study design We queried the MarketScan Commercial Claims database using CPT, ICD9, and HCPCS codes to identify 658,509 individuals between 18–65 years old (0.37% of total) who underwent male or female sterilization between 2009–2014. We examined annual trends using Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel test. We analyzed differences in age, geographic distribution, and family size using Wilcoxon sum-rank and generalized chi-squared tests. Results Between 2009–2014, 422,290 men (0.55% of total men) and 236,219 women (0.24% of total women) with employer-sponsored insurance underwent male and female sterilization, respectively. Annual male sterilizations decreased from 77,565 (0.60%) in 2009 to 61,436 (0.51%) in 2014 (p Conclusion Male sterilization was twice as common as female sterilization in this privately insured cohort. Use of surgical sterilization was associated with increased age and larger family size. There was a decline in the annual number of male and female sterilizations during the study period. Implications Male sterilization is more common among US men with employer-based insurance than among the general population. The decline in sterilization may reflect cultural factors and the rise of long-acting reversible contraception. Analyzing the sociodemographic factors impacting sterilization may provide insight into contraceptive choice and improve reproductive health services.
Mechanical Effects of Prominent Structure Elements

The prominent structure elements under consideration are (1) grain and phase separation boundaries and (2) minority phase inclusions. The influence of boundary sliding on gross mechanical behavior and on local stress distributions will be discussed theoretically with special attention to creep behavior. Inclusions will be examined for similar influences when the inclusions are either very strong or very weak.
A Tool for Fiscal Policy Planning in a Medium-Term Fiscal Framework: The FMM-MTFF Model

Abstract This paper describes the FMM-MTFF model, a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model developed to support the implementation of a Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) in emerging market and developing economies. The model exhibits the following features. First, fiscal policy is defined in terms of multi-year fiscal plans, instead of restricting attention to univariate, single-period fiscal shocks. Second, the model temporarily deactivates the fiscal rule to avoid forcing fiscal policy to be mechanically countercyclical and sustainable. Third, the model is calibrated to match a three-sector, stylized version of a country’s input-output table, and finally, the model uses a chain-weighted procedure to measure GDP, a method consistent with what national account compilers do. The model is calibrated to Colombian and Peruvian data to illustrate the use of the model as a tool to quantify the scale of the fiscal challenges, to provide consistent medium-term macro fiscal projections and to assess the quantitative implications of past reforms and alternative fiscal policy plans on the economies, i.e., the typical questions of interest to an MTFF.
Skyline Queries Constrained by Multi-cost Transportation Networks

Skyline queries are used to find the Pareto optimal solution from datasets containing multi-dimensional data points. In this paper, we propose a new type of skyline queries whose evaluation is constrained by a multi-cost transportation network (MCTN) and whose answers are off the network. This type of skyline queries is useful in many applications. For example, a person wants to find an apartment by considering not only the price and the surrounding area of the apartment, but also the transportation cost, time, and distance between the apartment and his/her work place. Most existing works that evaluate skyline queries on multi-cost networks (MCNs), which are either MCTNs or road networks, find interesting objects that locate on edges of the networks. Formally, our new type of skyline queries takes as input an MCTN, a query point q, and a set of objects of interest D with spatial information, where q and the objects in D are off the network. The answers to such queries are objects in D that are not dominated by other D objects when considering the multiple attributes of these objects and the multiple network cost from q to the solution objects. To evaluate such queries, we propose an exact search algorithm and its improved version by implementing several properties. The space of the exact skyline solutions is huge and can easily reach the order of thousands and incur long evaluation time. We further design much more efficient heuristic methods to find approximate solutions. We run extensive experiments using both real and synthetic datasets to test the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed approaches. The results show that the exact search algorithm can be dramatically improved by utilizing several properties. The heuristic approaches to find approximate answers can largely reduce the query time and retrieve results that are comparable to the exact solutions.
The Competencies, Roles, Supervision, and Training Needs of Paraeducators Working with Students with Visual Impairments in Local and Residential Schools.

Paraeducators who were employed by local school districts and residential schools for students with visual impairments were surveyed to determine if there are differences in their roles, training n...
Agroecology and the reconstruction of a post-COVID-19 agriculture

The COVID-19 crisis has created a moment where existing calls for agroecology acquire new relevance. Agroecology provides a path to reconstruct a post-COVID-19 agriculture, one that is able to avoi...
261 The impact of histology and adjuvant therapy on survival and recurrence patterns among high-grade endometrial cancer with retroperitoneal metastases

Objectives To evaluate the difference in recurrence patterns and survival among stage IIIC high-grade endometrial cancer (HGEC) treated with surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, radiation (RT) or both (chemoradiation). Methods A multicenter retrospective analysis of surgically-staged IIIC HGEC was conducted from 2000 to 2018, including grade-3 endometrioid (G3), serous, clear cell (CC) and carcinosarcoma. Differences in the frequency of recurrence sites and treatment delays were identified using Pearson’s χ2-test. PFS and OS were calculated using Kaplan-Meier estimates. Results A total of 155 patients were evaluable; 41.9% carcinosarcoma, 36.8% serous, 17.4% G3 and 3.9% CC; 67.1% received chemoradiation, 25.8% received chemotherapy-alone and 7.1% received RT-alone. Adjuvant therapy regimens were well-balanced between different histologies (p=0.351). There was no difference in the frequency of treatment delays between regimens (p=0.571). G3 tumors recurred less frequently (66.7%) versus serous (80.7%), CC (83.3%) and carcinosarcoma (84.6%)(p=0.269). Abdominal recurrence occurred most often in CC and serous. Carcinosarcoma was most likely to recur in the lung. There was a trend towards greater retroperitoneal recurrence with chemotherapy-alone (25.9%) versus chemoradiation (8.4%) and RT-alone (7.7%)(p=0.252). G3 tumors demonstrated improved PFS and OS (26 and 42-months, respectively) versus serous (17 and 30-months, respectively), carcinosarcoma (14 and 24-months, respectively) and CC (24 and 30-months respectively)(p=0.002, p Conclusion The majority of stage IIIC HGEC recurs. Chemoradiation was associated with improved survival and less retroperitoneal recurrence versus chemotherapy-alone. G3 tumors demonstrated improved survival compared other histologies regardless of adjuvant treatment modality.
American Mosques and Their Various Approaches in Understanding Islam

American mosques are divided by moderate and conservative approaches in understanding Islam. The US Mosque Survey 2020 demonstrates that mosques that follow the moderate approach are significantly ...
AI-Assisted Security Controls Mapping for Clouds Built for Regulated Workloads

Data privacy, security and compliance concerns prevent many enterprises from migrating their critical applications to public cloud infrastructure. To address this, cloud providers offer specialized clouds for heavily regulated industries, which implement prescribed security standards. A critical step in the migration process is to ensure that the customer's security requirements are fully met by the cloud provider. With a few hundreds of services in a typical cloud provider's infrastructure, this becomes a non-trivial task. Few tens to hundreds of security checks exposed by each applicable service need to be matched with several hundreds to thousands of security controls from the customer. Mapping customer's controls to cloud provider's control set is done manually by experts, a process that often takes months to complete, and needs to be repeated with every new customer. Moreover, these mappings have to be re-evaluated following regulatory or business changes, as well as cloud infrastructure upgrades. We present an AI-assisted system for mapping security controls, which drastically reduces the number of candidates a human expert needs to consider, allowing substantial speed-up of the mapping process. We empirically compare several controls mapping models, and show that hierarchical classification using fine-tuned Transformer networks works best. Overall, our empirical results demonstrate that the system performs well on real-world data.
A denial-of-service-resistant IP traceback approach

Identifying the origins of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is among the hardest research topics in the Internet security area, due to the stateless nature of IP networks and to the confusing and diffusing effect of DDoS attacks. We select ten essential factors to analyze a newly-designed DoS-resistant ICMP messaging scheme and demonstrate its feasibility, effectiveness, security, and immunity to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Lower-limb muscle activity when walking on different slippery surfaces

Falls initiated by slipping are a major cause for concern for lower-limb amputees, due to their lacking the distal musculature that aids in avoiding the initiation of a slip. It has been previously demonstrated that able-bodied individuals can interact safely with slippery surfaces by adapting limb kinematics and altering muscle activity to minimize slipping. Newly developed prosthetic devices have the potential to restore specific gait modes to the user, such as walking on a slippery surface, if only more was known about how the mechanical properties should be regulated in each mode. As a first step towards understanding the mechanics relevant to slip prevention, this study sought to quantify lower-limb muscle activity during steady state walking on a range of slippery surfaces. A specific goal was to quantify how people walk on moderately slippery surfaces that pose a hazard, but are more likely to be found on an everyday basis than some of the surfaces previously studied. Our results showed a significant trend (p<0.001) towards decreasing the level of activity used at the ankle as the floor becomes more slippery. In contrast, there is a significant trend (p<0.001) towards increasing the level of activity used at the knee. These findings suggest a strategy in which the ankle becomes increasingly compliant to maximize the surface area in contact with the floor, while increased activity in proximal muscles is used to help stabilize the legs and trunk for increased safety.
Concordance & Conflict in Intuitions of Justice

The common wisdom among criminal law theorists and policy makers is that the notion of desert is vague and the subject to wide disagreement. Yet the empirical evidence in available studies, including new studies reported here, paints a dramatically different picture. While moral philosophers may disagree on some aspects of moral blameworthiness, people's intuitions of justice are commonly specific, nuanced, and widely shared. Indeed, with regard to the core harms and evils to which criminal law addresses itself - physical aggression, takings without consent, and deception in transactions - people's shared intuitions cut across demographics and cultures. The findings raise interesting questions - such as, what could explain this striking result? - and hint at intriguing implications for criminal law and criminal justice policy.
A trial of drug-induced sleep endoscopy in the surgical management of sleep-disordered breathing.

Objectives/Hypothesis: To determine the reliability and validity of drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) for patients undergoing surgery for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Study Design: Non-randomized, prospective clinical trial. Methods: Patients with sleep-disordered breathing were evaluated for multi-level upper airway surgery by awake and drug-induced sleep endoscopy to identify levels and degree of airway collapse. The reliability of a drug-induced sleep endoscopy rating index was assessed by comparing scores of three blinded investigators. The validity was assessed by comparison of drug-induced sleep endoscopy index scores from awake and drug-induced sleep endoscopy; correlation between drug-induced sleep endoscopy scores and Apnea-Hypopnea Index; and determination whether drug-induced sleep endoscopy affected the original surgical plan. Results: Thirty-eight patients (22 M, 16 F) underwent preoperative assessment with awake and drug-induced sleep endoscopy. Drug-induced sleep endoscopy was successfully performed in all but one patient (97%) who became combative during propofol infusion. Using an internal airway grading scale, drug-induced sleep endoscopy demonstrated more severity of collapse than awake endoscopy (P = 0.0001). The surgical plan was changed after drug-induced sleep endoscopy in 23 (62%) cases and unchanged in 14 (38%). The majority (73%) had multi-segmental airway collapse with fewer having single-level palatal (16%) or tongue base (11%) collapse. Scoring of drug-induced sleep endoscopy videos demonstrated good intrarater (κ 0.61) and interrater (κ 0.65) correlation. Conclusions: Drug-induced sleep endoscopy provides more clinical information to assess airway function and collapse than awake endoscopy alone and assists in the surgical planning. Additional investigation is needed to standardize drug-induced sleep endoscopy techniques, training, and interpretation. Laryngoscope, 2013
Behavior of Sputter‐Deposited Alumina Thin Films Under Subcritical Hydrothermal Conditions

Subcritical aqueous solutions have recently received much attention because of their promising properties such as a lower dielectric constant and high dissolvability. They are an integral part of PWR nuclear reactor systems. Therefore, many materials and surface modifications have been studied for the application to the reactor protection in subcritical conditions. In this study, we investigated the behavior of amorphous alumina thin films deposited on Zircaloy substrates by rf magnetron sputtering in nuclear reactor condition of subcritical water at 350°C and 20.1 MPa (3000 psi). When uniformly deposited alumina coatings were exposed to subcritical hydrothermal condition, hydrothermal crystallites formation was observed. Surface morphology was characterized by field emission secondary electron microscopy (SEM) and compositional analyses were performed using auger electron spectroscopy (AES), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) and EDX line scan. Hydrothermally grown well-faceted particulates after exposure to autoclave was observed and identified to be aluminum hydroxide, boehmite (γ-AlOOH) by x-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra and peak shift in x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
Biologically Inspired Recognition Chemistry for Biosensors

The nature of the interactions between biomolecules, like proteins and enzymes, and smaller molecules or ligands has prompted the development of novel recognition elements for ion-selective electrodes. This article will focus on biomimetic ionophore design and polymer imprinting as approaches to incorporate biorecognition elements into ISEs. From the interaction of arginine residues in proteins with oxoanions, guanidinium functionalities were incorporated in simpler and sturdier organic compounds to result in ionophores selective to hydrogen sulfite and to salicylate. The preparation of an imprinted polymer complimentary in size, shape and charge to the analyte resulted in the development of polypyrrole-based nitrate-selective electrodes that were later incorporated in a gas sensor for NOx.
Exploring multiple ontologies of drought in agro-pastoral regions of Northern Tanzania: a topological approach

There has been increased focus within the human dimensions of climate change on understanding the complex and multiple ways of ‘knowing’ climate. While these discussions are important in recognising different ways of knowing the climate and climate change processes already underway, we argue that this epistemological approach is limited and challenging. It begins with an assumption that there is one world (climate) out there that can just be known differently, and that knowledge can be isolated from ways of being and acting in the world. This often results in a distilling of complex knowledge practices into information for the purposes of integration. Drawing from a material-semiotic approach from Science and Technology Studies (STS), we propose a shift of focus to ontology, with an emphasis on the enactment of knowledge and reality (climate) simultaneously. We present ethnographic data from two drought events (2008/2009 and 2010/2011) among Maasai pastoralists in Northern Tanzania in East Africa to illustrate the value of such an approach, using multiple topologies (regional, network, fluid) for thinking through and following multiple enactments of drought in practice.
Yersinia pestis YopM: thrombin binding and overexpression.

Abstract In previous studies, Yersinia pestis YopM has been shown through mutational analysis to be necessary for virulence in mice and found to have homology with the thrombin-binding domain of the platelet receptor GPIb alpha. In this study, YopM was purified and shown by dot blot and chemical cross-linking tests to bind to human alpha-thrombin. No cross-linked product could be detected when human prothrombin was incubated with YopM. As a functional test of thrombin binding, it was shown that native but not boiled YopM inhibits thrombin-induced aggregation of human platelets. Control tests showed that YopM did not inactivate the platelets themselves, nor was its effect a nonspecific consequence of its very acidic isoelectric point. Microsequencing of YopM revealed an intact N terminus, indicating that functional YopM is not processed at the N terminus or secreted by a mechanism involving a cleavable signal sequence. Further characterization was made of an interesting effect on yopM expression that had been noticed in a previous study. A 1.5-kb HaeIII subclone overexpressed YopM in both Y. pestis and Escherichia coli compared with a larger clone containing the 5.3-kb HindIII-F fragment. To search for a possible regulator of YopM expression, the HindIII-F fragment was sequenced, revealing several open reading frames and three large repeated sequences. Deletional analysis showed that these were not involved in regulation of yopM. The data implicated a DNA structure 5' to yopM in moderating yopM expression.
EU ETS Aviation Discriminates Against Developing Countries

The EU did not assess the implications for developing and developed countries’ airlines before extending the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to all foreign airlines. It decided to apply the regulation to all airlines flying from and to airports situated in the EU with an exception written in a very technical language. This paper aims to show how the negligence of the EU to assess the implications for developing and developed countries’ airlines contributed in adopting a discriminatory policy and, therefore, constitutes a violation to the World Trade Organization (WTO) discrimination principles. The paper concludes that the EU Directive 2008/101/EC of 19 November 2008, as currently written, can be successfully challenged by developing countries under the WTO law. It does not call on the European Parliament to remove the Directive but to amend it accordingly so that developing and developed countries' airlines benefit equally and inequality not perpetuated.
Mobilization of manufactured gas plant tar with alkaline flushing solutions.

This experimental study investigates the use of alkaline and alkaline-polymer solutions for the mobilization of former manufactured gas plant (FMGP) tars. Tar-aqueous interfacial tensions (IFTs) and contact angles were measured, and column flushing experiments were conducted. NaOH solutions (0.01–1 wt.%) were found to significantly reduce tar-aqueous IFT. Contact angles indicated a shift to strongly water-wet, then to tar-wet conditions as NaOH concentration increased. Column experiments were conducted with flushing solutions containing 0.2, 0.35, and 0.5% NaOH, both with and without xanthan gum (XG). Between 10 and 44% of the residual tar was removed by solutions containing only NaOH, while solutions containing both NaOH and XG removed 81–93% of the tar with final tar saturations as low as 0.018. The mechanism responsible for the tar removal is likely a combination of reduced IFT, a favorable viscosity ratio, and tar bank formation. Such an approach may have practical applications and would be significantly less expensive than surfactant-based methods.
Fracture faces and other interfaces as ice nucleation sites

It has been recognized for many years that much of the ice formation injuring vitrified biological samples occurs during warming rather than cooling. Since the solutions in which this phenomenon occurs are quite viscous, it has frequently been assumed that heterogeneous or homogeneous nuclei do form during cooling, but that their growth is inhibited until the solution is again warm and fluid enough. In the aqueous sucrose solutions that we have been examining, the temperature of homogeneous nucleation as a function of concentration was investigated in Professor Luyet’s laboratory by Rasmussen and MacKenzie [cf. (Z)]. More recently, heterogeneous nucleation was systematically studied by Charoenrein and Reid (1). These data are summarized in Fig. 1. At low concentrations, the freezing (nucleation) points can be studied during cooling, and devitrification is observed only in rapidly cooled samples. Above the concentrations at which the nucleation and devitrification curves intersect, about 60% (w/w) for samples without and about 70% for samples with heterogeneous nuclei, ice formation is only seen at the devitrification temperature after warming from the nucleation temperature. If these observations are correct, no nuclei should form above the concentrations at which the nucleation temperatures inter-
Consensus-Based Auction Approaches for Decentralized Task Assignment

This paper addresses task assignment in the coordination of a fleet of unmanned vehicles by presenting two decentralized algorithms: consensus-based auction algorithm (CBAA) and its generalization to the multi-assignment problem, consensus-based bundle algorithm (CBBA). These algorithms utilize a market-based decision strategy as the mechanism for decentralized task selection, and use a consensus routine based on local communication as the conflict resolution mechanism by achieving agreement on the winning bid values. The conflict resolution process of CBBA is further enhanced to address the dependency of the score value on the previously selected tasks in the multi-assignment setting. This work shows that the proposed algorithms, under reasonable assumptions on the scoring scheme and network connectivity, guarantee convergence to a conflict-free assignment. Also, the converged solutions are shown to guarantee 50% optimality in the worst-case and to exhibit provably good performance on average. Moreover, the proposed algorithms produce a feasible assignment even in the presence of inconsistency in situational awareness across the fleet, and even when the score functions varies with time in some standard manner. Numerical experiments verify quick convergence and good performance of the presented methods for both static and dynamic assignment problems.
Temporary stabilization of avulsed or luxated teeth

Materials and procedures are described for the temporary stabilization of dental trauma seen in the emergency department.
Operability Analysis and Design of a Reverse-Flow Microreactor for Hydrogen Generation via Methane Partial Oxidation

We present an operability analysis and a design of a microreactor for hydrogen generation via methane partial oxidation used in unidirectional (UD) and reverse-flow (RF) modes of operation. We show that the reverse-flow operation is more robust with respect to a wide range of changes in reaction parameters. Furthermore, we demonstrate that autothermal operation can be maintained only in the RF mode and not in the UD mode at higher hydrogen throughput or with partial deactivation of the catalyst. On the other hand, increasing the catalyst loading and using the reactor with a higher thermal diffusivity of the solid structure expands the region of stable autothermal UD operation. An analysis of model sensitivity to the kinetic parameters is also performed. On the basis of this, a rational scheme for improved catalyst placement in the RF reactor is proposed.