cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and age at menarche in a prospective study of US girls

study question: Is sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption associated with age at menarche? summaryanswer: More frequent SSB consumption was associated with earlier menarche in a population of US girls. what is known already: SSB consumption is associated with metabolic changes that could potentially impact menarcheal timing, but direct associations with age at menarche have yet to be investigated. studydesign,size,duration: The Growing up Today Study, a prospective cohort study of 16 875 children of Nurses’ Health Study II participants residing in all 50 US states. This analysis followed 5583 girls, aged 9–14 years and premenarcheal at baseline, between 1996 and 2001. During 10 555 person-years of follow-up, 94% (n ¼ 5227) of girls reported their age at menarche, and 3% (n ¼ 159) remained premenarcheal in 2001; 4% (n ¼ 197) of eligible girls were censored, primarily for missing age at menarche. participants/materials, setting, methods: Cumulative updated SSB consumption (composed of non-carbonated fruit drinks, sugar-sweetened soda and iced tea) was calculated using annual Youth/Adolescent Food Frequency Questionnaires from 1996 to 1998. Age at menarche was self-reported annually. The association between SSB consumption and age at menarche was assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression. mainresultsandtheroleofchance: More frequent SSB consumption predicted earlier menarche. At any given age between 9 and 18.5 years, premenarcheal girls who reported consuming .1.5 servings of SSBs per day were, on average, 24% more likely [95% confidence interval (CI): 13, 36%; P-trend: ,0.001] to attain menarche in the next month relative to girls consuming ≤2 servings of SSBs weekly, adjusting for potential confounders including height, but not BMI (considered an intermediate). Correspondingly, girls consuming .1.5 SSBs daily had an estimated 2.7-month earlier menarche (95% CI: 24.1, 21.3 months) relative to those consuming ≤2 SSBs weekly. The frequency of non-carbonated fruit drink (P-trend: 0.03) and sugar-sweetened soda (P-trend: 0.001), but not iced tea (P-trend: 0.49), consumption also predicted earlier menarche. The effect of SSB consumption on age at menarche was observed in every tertile of baseline BMI. Diet soda and fruit juice consumption were not associated with age at menarche. limitations, reasons for caution: Although we adjusted for a variety of suspected confounders, residual confounding is possible. We did not measure SSB consumption during early childhood, which may be an important window of exposure. widerimplicationsofthefindings: More frequent SSB consumption may predict earlier menarche through mechanisms other than increased BMI. Our findings provide further support for public health efforts to reduce SSB consumption.
The Ubiquitin Proteome of Toxoplasma gondii Reveals Roles for Protein Ubiquitination in Cell-Cycle Transitions

Protein ubiquitination plays key roles in protein turnover, cellular signaling, and intracellular transport. The genome of Toxoplasma gondii encodes ubiquitination machinery, but the roles of this posttranslational modification (PTM) are unknown. To examine the prevalence and function of ubiquitination in T. gondii, we mapped the ubiquitin proteome of tachyzoites. Over 500 ubiquitin-modified proteins, with almost 1,000 sites, were identified on proteins with diverse localizations and functions. Enrichment analysis demonstrated that 35% of ubiquitinated proteins are cell-cycle regulated. Unexpectedly, most classic cell-cycle regulators conserved in T. gondii were not detected in the ubiquitinome. Furthermore, many ubiquitinated proteins localize to the cytoskeleton and inner membrane complex, a structure beneath the plasma membrane facilitating division and host invasion. Comparing the ubiquitinome with other PTM proteomes reveals waves of PTM enrichment during the cell cycle. Thus, T. gondii PTMs are implicated as critical regulators of cell division and cell-cycle transitions.
Dynamic Error Analysis of Ascension's Flock of Birds TM Electromagnetic Tracking Device Using a Pendulum Model

The use of magnetic tracking technology has become increasingly popular in recent years for human motion studies. However, there have been few independent evaluations of how these systems perform. The purpose of this study was to develop a dynamic pendulum calibration method to test the performance of magnetic tracking sensors. A nonmetallic pendulum was constructed and instrumented with a rotary potentiometer. A cube was attached to the distal end of the pendulum so that sensors could be mounted orthogonally. In this manner, it was possible to obtain simultaneous recordings of azimuth, elevation, and roll depending on the sensor mounting orientation relative to the axis of rotation of the pendulum. Sensor data, using Flock of Birds™ sensors, and potentiometer data were collected simultaneously during dynamic pendulum motion at two transmitter distances and then were compared. The results showed excellent trial-to-trial repeatability of 2% or better for the sensors, and high correlations between the senso...
Surface network construction from non-parallel cross-sections

Surface construction from incomplete data is a topic of wide interest in geometry processing. A common class of incomplete inputs that arises in several application domains, including bio-medicine and geology, is a stack of curves representing the planar cross-sections of a complete surface. In medical imaging, for example, these curves are typically hand-drawn by physicians to delineate contours of anatomical structures on 2D cross-sections of a 3D image volume generated by MRI, CT or ultrasound. Given a stack of planar cross-sections, a complete 3D surface is desired that connects the curves on each cross-section plane. In particular, such surface needs to be both topologically correct (i.e., closed and interpolating input curves) and geometrically smooth.
Abstract T P64: Change in UCSD Stroke Center IV tPA Treatment Patterns Over the Last Decade

Background: IV tPA has been approved since 1995, and treatment practices have changed over time. Especially in the last decade, the treatment has become more widely adopted and is offered to more patients. We explored the UCSD stroke center database specifically to assess changes in treatment patterns over time. These could affect clinical trial design, performance and outcomes as the prediction of such is often based on historical information. Methods: We included all patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from the UCSD Stroke Center Database between 2004 and 2014 (comparing 2004-2009 - Group 1 vs. 2010-2014 - Group 2). We assessed age, sex, race/ethnicity, pre-stroke disability, frequency of IV tPA use (<3 hours between 2004 and 2009; 25 stroke. Good outcomes were defined as discharge to home or acute rehabilitation. Results: We identified 1,816 patients with AIS from 2004 to 2014 (Group 1: 988, Group 2: 828) and found no difference in age, sex, diabetes, pre-stroke mRS and outcomes between the groups. Mean±SD NIHSS was lower in Group 2 (11.6±8.2 versus 3.6±13.3; p=0.0005) and overall IV tPA use more frequent (332/828 (36.3%) versus 328/988 (33.2%) - p=0.0024). More patients with mild (22.1% versus 12.3%; p=0.0009) and moderate (45.6% versus 41.3%; p=0.02) receive IV tPA. There was no difference in tPA use for patients with NIHSS >14. Discussion: IV tPA use increased over time, especially in mild and moderate stroke. This may in part be a function of increased treatment times (4.5 hours) or overall increased acceptance of this therapy. It is important to consider these treatment changes over time when planning for research protocols and use caution when comparing current data to historical controls.
Intraday Trading Patterns and Commonality in Liquidity

A common thread in literature that connects liquidity commonality and intraday trading patterns lies in the potential sources of these two phenomena: inventory risk and asymmetric information. There is ample evidence in literature on trading patterns to suggest that both volume and return volatility are highest during the first and last half hours of a trading day. Thus, one would expect that liquidity commonality would be most concentrated during the intraday trading periods when the trading volume and return volatility are most intense. Therefore, we hypothesize that the degree of liquidity commonality is highest during these two trading periods. We present evidence in support of this hypothesis.
Needleless and Sharp-Free Anaesthesia

Accidental occupational infection of anaesthetists from patient body fluids is a very real and potentially fatal risk that will be significantly reduced with the routine use of universal precautions and the adoption of specific safe work practices. Employers are required by law to provide a safe working environment and safe systems for work which anaesthetists should implement according to recommendations in this paper. A protocol should be available to be acted upon in the event of occupational parenteral, mucous membrane and non-intact skin exposure to infected patient body fluids. Recommendations are made in six major areas of clinical practice which anaesthetists should adopt to minimize risks to themselves and other healthcare workers: loading syringes, cannulating blood vessels, administering intramuscular (IM) or local anaesthetic injections, administering intravenous (IV) drugs, use of sutures and surgical instruments by anaesthetists and the safe disposal of needles, glass ampoules and other sharp materials. Despite the known risks and the development of these safe practices there is poor compliance by anaesthetists with measures to safeguard themselves and others.
Design of a Micro-Scale Magnetostrictive Asymmetric Thin Film Bimorph (µMAB) Microrobot

This paper presents the design, analysis, and performance results for a mobile microrobot that was designed for competing in the 2010 NIST Mobile Microrobot Challenge. Inspired by a crab-like microrobot driven by pulsating cardiomyocyte cells, an asymmetrically dimensioned magnetostrictive thin film bimorph microrobot has been designed. Utilizing the magnetostrictive principle, different bending and blocking forces occur under the robot’s feet due to the in-plane strain generated in the bimorphs by the application of external magnetic fields in the workspace of the microrobot. The differences in the resulting frictional forces drive the movement of the robot body. To calculate and simulate whether the feet of the robot can generate enough force for locomotion, the design was abstracted and translated into a piezoelectric cantilever FEM model. The results are consistent with the magnetostrictive theoretical equations. Microrobot fabrication and test-bed development based on this analysis is shown along with experimental results validating this approach. Finally, a discussion of the performance results and recommendations for future improvements are provided.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Temperature-Dependent Small Strain Plasticity Behavior of 304L Stainless Steel.

Glass-to-metal seals are used extensively to protect and isolate electronic components. Small strains of just a few percent are typical in the metal during processing of seals, but generate substantial tensile stresses in the glass during the solidification portion of the process. These tensile stresses can lead to glass cracking either immediately or over time, which results in a loss of hermiticity of the seal. Measurement of the metal in the small strain region needs to be very accurate as small differences in the evolving state of the metal have significant influence on the stress state in the glass and glass-metal interfaces. Small strain tensile experiments were conducted over the temperatures range of 25–800 °C. Experiments were designed to quantify stress relaxation and reloading combined with mid-test thermal changes. The effect of strain rate was measured by directly varying the applied strain rate during initial loading and reloading and by monitoring the material response during stress relaxation experiments. Coupled thermal mechanical experiments were developed to capture key features of glass-to-metal seal processing details such as synchronized thermal and mechanical loading, thermal excursions at various strain levels, and thermal cycling during stress relaxation or creep loadings. Small changes in the processing cycle parameters were found to have non-insignificant effect on the metal behavior. The resulting data and findings will be presented.
Biological engineering and systems biology - new opportunities for engineers in the pharmaceutical industry

Summary form only given. The consecutive life science revolutions of molecular biology and genomic biology have led to the promise for improving human health by molecular-level interventions - but the accompanying challenge of doing so in a rational, predictive manner. Addressing this challenge, and meeting this promise, requires understanding of complex biological processes with molecular detail but in integrative fashion; the emerging field aimed at this endeavor is now commonly termed 'systems biology'. In many ways, this field is an ideal application area for the biological engineering discipline, and offers tremendous opportunities for biology-based engineers. This talk will present a view of key aspects of this vision.
Did the beneficial renal outcomes with vasopressin VANISH

Sepsis is the most common cause of infection-related death and is increasing in incidence. This disease state has a high mortality rate and is costly, with annual costs in the United States exceeding $24 billion (1). Therefore, optimal treatment of patients with septic shock is paramount. After aggressive fluid resuscitation, vasoactive agents are the mainstay of therapy to ensure adequate end organ perfusion. However, there are limited data regarding the optimal approach to the utilization of these agents beyond initial therapy. The 2012 Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines (2) recommend norepinephrine (NE) as the first line vasoactive agent and epinephrine, vasopressin (AVP), or, in some circumstances, phenylephrine, as second line agents. However, data are not robust to guide the practitioner to the most appropriate second vasoactive agent to utilize and more information comparing outcomes between agents is needed.
Bayesian Posterior Integration for Classification of Mass Spectrometry Data

High-throughput technologies currently have the capability to capture information at both global and targeted scales for the transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome, as well as determining functional aspects of these biomolecules. The promise of data integration is that by utilizing these disparate data streams a more accurate predictive model of the phenotype of interest can be developed by identifying the best subset of molecules associated with the outcome. However, in a space of tens of thousands of variables (e.g., genes, proteins), feature selection approaches often yield over-trained models with poor predictive power. Moreover, feature selection algorithms are typically focused on a single source of data and do not evaluate the effect on downstream statistical integration models. The integration of Bayesian statistical outputs have been shown to be an effective approach that optimizes the outcome of interest in the context of the integrated posterior probability. This chapter demonstrates that this approach can improve sensitivity and specificity over simple selection routines based on individual high-throughput datasets generated via mass spectrometry.
A predictive model for diagnosis of lower extremity cellulitis: A cross-sectional study

Background Cellulitis has many clinical mimickers (pseudocellulitis), which leads to frequent misdiagnosis. Objective To create a model for predicting the likelihood of lower extremity cellulitis. Methods A cross-sectional review was performed of all patients admitted with a diagnosis of lower extremity cellulitis through the emergency department at a large hospital between 2010 and 2012. Patients discharged with diagnosis of cellulitis were categorized as having cellulitis, while those given an alternative diagnosis were considered to have pseudocellulitis. Bivariate associations between predictor variables and final diagnosis were assessed to develop a 4-variable model. Results In total, 79 (30.5%) of 259 patients were misdiagnosed with lower extremity cellulitis. Of the variables associated with true cellulitis, the 4 in the final model were asymmetry (unilateral involvement), leukocytosis (white blood cell count ≥10,000/uL), tachycardia (heart rate ≥90 bpm), and age ≥70 years. We converted these variables into a points system to create the ALT-70 cellulitis score as follows: Asymmetry (3 points), Leukocytosis (1 point), Tachycardia (1 point), and age ≥70 (2 points). With this score, 0-2 points indicate ≥83.3% likelihood of pseudocellulitis, and ≥5 points indicate ≥82.2% likelihood of true cellulitis. Limitations Prospective validation of this model is needed before widespread clinical use. Conclusion Asymmetry, leukocytosis, tachycardia, and age ≥70 are predictive of lower extremity cellulitis. This model might facilitate more accurate diagnosis and improve patient care.
Beyond Inclusion: Critical Race Theory and Participatory Budgeting

AbstractCritical Race Theory (CRT) researchers maintain that mainstream liberal discourses of neutrality and colorblindness inherently reify existing patterns of inequality, and that privileging the voices of people of color and the marginalized is essential to addressing issues of equity and equality. Participatory budgeting (PB) aims, too, to include the voices of the marginalized in substantive policy-making. Through a CRT lens, I examine the ways in which the New York City PB process has thus far worked to simultaneously disrupt and maintain racial hierarchies. I pay particular attention to how social constructions of the “good project” shape the discourses around community priorities and winning projects—especially in the areas of security/policing and education. While the New York PB process has successfully reached out to and effectively enfranchised traditionally marginalized constituents, including communities of color, its current focus on districts and the voting phase, alongside limited work o...
Prospects for Human Erythrocyte Skeleton-Bilayer Dissociation during Splenic Flow

Prospects of vesiculation occurring during splenic flow of erythrocytes are addressed via model simulations of RBC flow through the venous slits of the human spleen. Our model is multiscale and contains a thermally activated rate-dependent description of the entropic elasticity of the RBC spectrin cytoskeleton, including domain unfolding/refolding. Our model also includes detail of the skeleton attachment to the fluidlike lipid bilayer membrane, including a specific accounting for the expansion/contraction of the skeleton that may occur via anchor protein diffusive motion, that is, band 3 and glycophorin, through the membrane. This ability allows us to follow the change in anchor density and thereby the strength of the skeleton/membrane attachment. We define a negative pressure between the skeleton/membrane connection that promotes separation; critical levels for this are estimated using published data on the work of adhesion of this connection. By following the maximum range of negative pressure, along with the observed slight decrease in skeletal density, we conclude that there must be biochemical influences that probably include binding of degraded hemoglobin, among other things, that significantly reduce effective attachment density. These findings are consistent with reported trends in vesiculation that are believed to occur in cases of various hereditary anemias and during blood storage. Our findings also suggest pathways for further study of erythrocyte vesiculation that point to the criticality of understanding the biochemical phenomena involved with cytoskeleton/membrane attachment.
Employment Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial of Two Employment Interventions With Homeless Youth

AbstractObjective: Limited research exists on how employment interventions contribute to employment outcomes for homeless youth. This study examines the comparative efficacy of 2 interventions—Soci...
Automated segmentation of geographic atrophy using deep convolutional neural networks

Geographic atrophy (GA) is an end-stage manifestation of the advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in developed nations. Techniques to rapidly and precisely detect and quantify GA would appear to be of critical importance in advancing the understanding of its pathogenesis. In this study, we develop an automated supervised classification system using deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for segmenting GA in fundus autofluorescene (FAF) images. More specifically, to enhance the contrast of GA relative to the background, we apply the contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization. Blood vessels may cause GA segmentation errors due to similar intensity level to GA. A tensor-voting technique is performed to identify the blood vessels and a vessel inpainting technique is applied to suppress the GA segmentation errors due to the blood vessels. To handle the large variation of GA lesion sizes, three deep CNNs with three varying sized input image patches are applied. Fifty randomly chosen FAF images are obtained from fifty subjects with GA. The algorithm-defined GA regions are compared with manual delineation by a certified grader. A two-fold cross-validation is applied to evaluate the algorithm performance. The mean segmentation accuracy, true positive rate (i.e. sensitivity), true negative rate (i.e. specificity), positive predictive value, false discovery rate, and overlap ratio, between the algorithm- and manually-defined GA regions are 0.97 ± 0.02, 0.89 ± 0.08, 0.98 ± 0.02, 0.87 ± 0.12, 0.13 ± 0.12, and 0.79 ± 0.12 respectively, demonstrating a high level of agreement.
Photoinduced Controlled Radical Polymerizations Performed in Flow: Methods, Products, and Opportunities†

Photoinduced controlled radical polymerizations (CRPs) have provided a variety of approaches for the synthesis of polymers possessing targeted structures, compositions, and functionalities with the added capability for spatial and temporal control, presenting the potential for new materials development. However, the scalability and reliability of these systems can be limited as a consequence of dependence on uniform irradiation of the reaction to produce well-defined products. In this perspective, we highlight the utility and promise of photo-CRP approaches through an overview of the adaptation of these methodologies to photo-flow reactor systems. Special emphasis is placed on the current state-of-the-art in polymerization scalability, reactor design, and polymer scope.
TeamUNCC at SemEval-2018 Task 1: Emotion Detection in English and Arabic Tweets using Deep Learning.

Task 1 in the International Workshop SemEval 2018, Affect in Tweets, introduces five subtasks (El-reg, El-oc, V-reg, V-oc, and E-c) to detect the intensity of emotions in English, Arabic, and Spanish tweets. This paper describes TeamUNCC’s system to detect emotions in English and Arabic tweets. Our approach is novel in that we present the same architecture for all the five subtasks in both English and Arabic. The main input to the system is a combination of word2vec and doc2vec embeddings and a set of psycholinguistic features (e.g. from AffectTweets Weka-package). We apply a fully connected neural network architecture and obtain performance results that show substantial improvements in Spearman correlation scores over the baseline models provided by Task 1 organizers, (ranging from 0.03 to 0.23). TeamUNCC’s system ranks third in subtask El-oc and fourth in other subtasks for Arabic tweets.
Persisting gaps: Labor Market outcomes and numeracy skill levels of first-generation and multi-generation College graduates in the United States

Abstract While empirical research on American first-generation college students has tracked how students move into and through institutions, researchers rarely report on post-graduation outcomes of first-generation students. This project tests the assumption that first-generation and multi-generation college graduates are indistinguishable across numeracy skill and labor market outcomes. We analysed a nationally representative survey collected by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which includes a measure of numeracy skill as well as labor market outcomes. We find that first-generation college graduates enjoy access to many of the same labor market outcomes of their multi-generation college graduate peers. However, first-generation college graduates lag behind in measures of numeracy.
Differing approaches to congressional outreach: comparing Australia and New Zealand

Both Australia and New Zealand, in addition to engaging with the US executive branch, also protect and advance their bilateral relationship by engaging with the US Congress. Since 1987, Australia h...
Genomes, Maps and Sequences

In the second half of the twentieth century biology has progressed at breakneck speed. James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 proposed the now famous double helical structure for DNA. This structure gave a physical model for how one DNA molecule can divide and become two identical molecules. On this point they wrote one of the most famous sentences of science: “It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possibly copying mechanism for the genetic material.” And that copying mechanism based on the adenine (A)-thymine (T) and guanine (G)-cytosine (C) base pairing turned out to be correct and is the foundation of molecular genetics. While about 100 years earlier Mendel gave an abstract model of inheritance, Watson and Crick gave a specific molecular model that can be studied and manipulated. The last 50 years of molecular biology has been in large part based on the Watson-Crick discovery. See Lewin (1990) and Alberts et al. (1983) for excellent general accounts of the subject.
Neurological Lineages and Neurological Diseases

While neuroglial cells have been regarded as “support cells” for neurons since the beginning of this century, it has been only in recent years that the nature of such “support” has begun to be appreciated. It is now clear that neuroglial cells provide neurons with essential substrates such as glutamine and remove or inactivate such toxic metabolic products as NH4+ (46, 47, 97, 98), regulate activities of potassium and other ions in the extracellular space (56, 57), and permit saltatory conduction of nerve impulses by forming myelin. In addition to these metabolic support functions, Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) synthesize many proteins necessary for neuronal development and survival; these include extracellular matrix constituents such as type IV collagen, fibronectin and laminin (5, 6, 14), cell adhesion proteins such as N-CAM and myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) (51), and soluble proteins such as nerve growth factor (NGF) (2, 29, 30). Similar protein synthetic trophic functions are performed in central nervous system (CNS) by astroglia; these include the synthesis of extracellular matrix components and growth factors, for example insulin-like growth factor (1, 13, 20, 21, 58, 65). It is now thought likely, as well, that neuroglia regulate the properties of the blood-brain barrier. CNS neuroglia, probably astroglia, induce brain capillaries to express the tight junction phenotype that is required for a competent blood-brain barrier (89) and it is possible that astroglia participate in the regulation of regional cerebral blood flow by modulating perivascular potassium concentrations (62).
Strong Differential Subordination and Stochastic Integration

How does the size of a stochastic integral vary with the choice of the predictable integrand and the semimartingale integrator? One of our goals here is to throw new light on this question, especially in the case that the integrator is not necessarily a martingale but belongs to some other class of semimartingales.
What the People Want

What the People Want is a book (in-progress) which brings descriptive analysis to bear on the political dynamics currently taking place among the citizens of the United States. It uses an Integral Theory framework of analysis, which examines worldview value-systems as superimposed upon shifting “interalist” (economic conservative) and “externalist” (economic progressive) views about the economy and “political-moralistic” (social conservative) versus “political-secularistic” (liberal) views about social policy. The paper I submit for consideration in this conference panel is the combined Introduction and Chapter One of this book. I would love feedback from panel discussants and audience participants. It is my intent to write a descriptive book which is academically viable but which can be understood by the common American citizen. The hope is to bring more understanding across the various contentious views, in hopes of promoting “multi-perspectival” awareness and trans-partisan compromise, as opposed to “us against them” mentality.
Protein structure networks provide insight into active site flexibility in esterase/lipases from the carnivorous plant Drosera capensis

In plants, esterase/lipases perform transesterification reactions, playing an important role in the synthesis of useful molecules, such as those comprising the waxy coatings of leaf surfaces. Plant genomes and transcriptomes have provided a wealth of data about expression patterns and the circumstances under which these enzymes are upregulated, e.g. pathogen defense and response to drought; however, predicting their functional characteristics from genomic or transcriptome data is challenging due to weak sequence conservation among the diverse members of this group. Although functional sequence blocks mediating enzyme activity have been identified, progress to date has been hampered by the paucity of information on the structural relationships among these regions and how they affect substrate specificity. Here we present methodology for predicting overall protein flexibility and active site flexibility based on molecular modeling and analysis of protein structure networks (PSNs). We define two new types of specialized PSNs: sequence region networks (SRNs) and active site networks (ASNs), which provide parsimonious representations of molecular structure in reference to known features of interest. Our approach, intended as an aid to target selection for poorly characterized enzyme classes, is demonstrated for 26 previously uncharacterized esterase/lipases from the genome of the carnivorous plant Drosera capensis and validated using a case/control design. Analysis of the network relationships among functional blocks and among the chemical moieties making up the catalytic triad reveals potentially functionally significant differences that are not apparent from sequence analysis alone.
Chapter 21 – Affect, cognition, the immune system and health

A growing body of evidence in the field of psychoneuroimmunology documents the linkages between the mind, brain, and immune system. The central and autonomic nervous systems can engage in bidirectional communication with immunologic cells in the blood, tissue, and immune organs. It remains unclear whether immunologic changes observed in conjunction with stressors are responsible for observed relationships between stress and immunologically mediated or resisted diseases. This chapter discusses the linkages between the mind and the immune system, focusing on the newer evidence that cognitive states have immunological correlates. It begins by reviewing research linking exposure to stressful life experiences to immune system functioning, primarily in humans. It then reviews the research on affect, the regulation of affect, and the immune system including studies of affective disorders, such as major depression, mood states (such as depressed and anxious mood), and emotions such as sadness. It then turns to the research indicating that specific cognitive states, including beliefs, have immunological and health correlates.
Clonal hematopoiesis: Pre-cancer PLUS

Clonal hematopoiesis is a common, age-related process in which a somatically mutated hematopoietic precursor gives rise to a genetically distinct subpopulation in the blood. This phenomenon has been observed in populations across the globe and, while virtually non-existent in children is estimated to affect >10% of the 70-and-older age group. The mutations are thought to occur in stem cells, which makes them pre-cancerous, and precursors to cancer stem cells. Many of the genes most commonly mutated in clonal hematopoiesis are also recurrently mutated in leukemia, genes such as DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1, JAK2, and TP53. However, between 40% and 60% of cases arise from the accumulation of what appear to be random mutations outside of known driver genes. Clonal hematopoiesis is frequently present in otherwise healthy individuals and may persist for many years. Though largely asymptomatic, carrying these somatic mutations confers a small but significantly increased risk of leukemic transformation, affecting 0.5-1% carriers per year; although most genes confer an increased risk of transformation, mutations in TP53 and U2AF1 appear to carry a particularly high risk for transformation. Additionally, a patient's history of prior treatment with cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiation are correlated with the development of clonal hematopoiesis; in the setting of chemotherapy treatment of solid tumors, hematopoietic mutations in TP53 and PPM1D appear to contribute to outgrowth of clones that may lead to subsequent malignancy. The presence of a clone also imparts a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which in some cases appears to be due to increased inflammation and atherosclerosis. Clonal hematopoiesis is correlated with several other diseases as well, including diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease, and aplastic anemia, with other associations probably yet to be uncovered.
Harnessing Plasmon-Induced Hot Carriers at the Interfaces with Ferroelectrics

This article reviews the scientific understanding and progress of interfacing plasmonic particles with ferroelectrics in order to facilitate the absorption of low-energy photons and their conversion to chemical fuels. The fundamental principles of hot carrier generation and charge injection are described for semiconductors interfaced with metallic nanoparticles and immersed in aqueous solutions, forming a synergistic juncture between the growing fields of plasmonically-driven photochemistry and semiconductor photocatalysis. The underlying mechanistic advantages of a metal-ferroelectric vs. metal-nonferroelectric interface are presented with respect to achieving a more optimal and efficient control over the Schottky barrier height and charge separation. Notable recent examples of using ferroelectric-interfaced plasmonic particles have demonstrated their roles in yielding significantly enhanced photocurrents as well as in the photon-driven production of molecular hydrogen. Notably, plasmonically-driven photocatalysis has been shown to occur for photon wavelengths in the infrared range, which is at lower energies than typically possible for conventional semiconductor photocatalysts. Recent results thus demonstrate that integrated ferroelectric-plasmonic systems represent a potentially transformative concept for use in the field of solar energy conversion.
Lessons on dilation.

Mydriatics cause pupil dilation by blocking the responses to the sphincter muscle of the iris from cholinergic stimulation. Cycloplegics paralyze the action of the ciliary muscles thereby prohibiting accommodation of the lens.
A Modular Framework for Multiscale Spatial Modeling of Viral Infection and Immune Response in Epithelial Tissue

Development of predictive quantitative models of all aspects of COVID-19 is essential for rapidly understanding the causes of differing disease outcomes and vulnerabilities, suggesting drug and therapeutic targets, and designing optimized personalized interventions. Easy to implement, predictive multiscale modeling frameworks to integrate the wide variety of clinical and research datasets into actionable insights, which could inform therapeutic regime strategies are lacking. We present a multiscale, multicellular, spatiotemporal model of the infection of epithelial tissue by a generic virus, a simplified cellular immune response and viral and immune-induced tissue damage. Our initial model is built of modular components to allow it to be easily extended and adapted in a collaborative fashion to describe specific viral infections, tissue types and immune responses. The model allows us to define three parameter regimes: where viral infection coincides with a massive cytopathic effect, where the immune system rapidly controls the virus and where the immune system controls the virus but extensive tissue damage occurs. We use the model in a proof-of-concept application to evaluate a number of drug therapy concepts. Inhibition of viral internalization and faster immune-cell recruitment lead to containment of infection. Fast viral internalization and slower immune response lead to uncontrolled spread of infection. Simulation of a drug, whose mode of action is to reduce production of viral RNAs, shows that a relatively limited reduction of viral replication at the beginning of infection greatly decreases the total area of tissue damage and maximal viral load, while even a treatment that greatly reduces the rate of genomic replication rapidly loses efficacy as the infection progresses. A number of simulation conditions lead to stochastically variable outcomes, with some replicas clearing or controlling the virus, while others see virus-induced damage sweep the simulated lung patch. The model is open-source and modular, allowing rapid development and extension of its components by groups working in parallel.
Frequency Threshold for Ablation During Holmium Laser Lithotripsy: How High Can You Go?

Purpose: We performed in vitro studies to assess the relationship of pulse frequency on stone ablation during contact laser lithotripsy and determine if there is a threshold after which its effect ...
PROMIS physical function two weeks following orthopaedic surgery.

Abstract Many patients opt for elective orthopaedic procedures to regain physical function. However, little data exist about patient-reported early postoperative function. Purpose To characterize physical function two weeks postoperative from upper and lower extremity orthopaedic surgery and to determine pre-operative factors that are associated with physical function two weeks following surgery. Methods Patients 17 years and older undergoing elective orthopaedic surgery at one institution were enrolled prospectively and completed questionnaires prior to surgery and again two weeks postoperatively. The questionnaires included: six of the PROMIS computer adaptive questionnaires: Physical Function (PF), Pain Interference, Fatigue, Social Satisfaction, Anxiety, and Depression; a joint-specific function questionnaire, a joint numeric pain scale, and a body numeric pain scale. Physical activity levels were measured using Tegner, IPAQ, and Marx. Responses were analyzed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and multivariate linear stepwise regression with two-week PF as the dependent variable. Results 435 patients (47% female) with mean age 41.1 ± 15.7 were included in our final analysis. Mean baseline PF score was 42.1 and mean two-week PF score was 35.5 (p Conclusions Patients have a significant decline in physical function following orthopaedic surgery, with those undergoing lower extremity surgery having a significantly greater decline. Many factors are associated with activity levels, including mental health, pain, and satisfaction. This information can be used to help manage patients’ short-term expectations.
Association Between Youth Smoking, Electronic Cigarette Use, and COVID-19.

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to assess whether youth cigarette and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use are associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms, testing, and diagnosis. Methods An online national survey of adolescents and young adults (n = 4,351) aged 13–24 years was conducted in May 2020. Multivariable logistic regression assessed relationships among COVID-19–related symptoms, testing, and diagnosis and cigarettes only, e-cigarettes only and dual use, sociodemographic factors, obesity, and complying with shelter-in-place. Results COVID-19 diagnosis was five times more likely among ever-users of e-cigarettes only (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.82–13.96), seven times more likely among ever-dual-users (95% CI: 1.98–24.55), and 6.8 times more likely among past 30-day dual-users (95% CI: 2.40–19.55). Testing was nine times more likely among past 30-day dual-users (95% CI: 5.43–15.47) and 2.6 times more likely among past 30-day e-cigarette only users (95% CI: 1.33–4.87). Symptoms were 4.7 times more likely among past 30-day dual-users (95% CI: 3.07–7.16). Conclusions COVID-19 is associated with youth use of e-cigarettes only and dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes, suggesting the need for screening and education.
Start-Up and Sustaining 20 Years of STEM Outreach Research and Programming: The Food, Mathematics, and Science Teaching Enhancement Resource (FoodMASTER) Initiative.

Science and mathematics literacy are fundamental to the basic understanding of food and health and/or the pursuit of science-based careers. In 1999, the FoodMASTER Initiative (FMI) was created to provide an opportunity for youth to experience authentic, real-world health science activities in K-12 learning environments. FMI administrative locations have included Ohio University (1999-2005), East Carolina University (2006-2018) and Northern Illinois University (2018-current). The key programmatic elements for the FMI include: 1) curricular hands-on activities developed with teacher input, 2) free online access, 3) rigorous evaluation of program materials, and 4) robust partnerships with organizations that promote mathematics and science education. The purpose of this manuscript will be to 1) provide a rationale for the FMI programming, 2) share the curriculum and the process for developing curriculum and summarize the quantitative and qualitative findings of the 19 peer-reviewed articles, 3) discuss funding that was secured, 4) discuss strategies that lead to program sustainability, 5) discuss the mission and vision, and 6) summarize programmatic component sustainability.
Relationships between Race and Physical Fitness

Abstract This study identified statistically significant relationships between race and the measures of physical fitness included in the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test. Virtually the entire population of fifth- and sixth-grade pupils in a Central Texas county served as subjects. The statistical procedure employed was point biserial correlation analysis. Racial differences in physical fitness generally favored Negro pupils, especially among the boys. The findings of this research reveal that the Negro schoolboys studied exceeded the white boys significantly in five components of physical fitness as measured by the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test while there was no significant difference between their performances on the other two measures. The Negro girls surpassed the white girls significantly on four measures, the white girls surpassed the Negroes on two, and there was no signficant difference in the girls' performances on the one remaining test.
A Hybrid-Integrated Artificial Mechanoreceptor in 180nm CMOS

A low-power wireless chip for an implantable tactile sensor system is presented. The reported ASIC utilizes the low-loss magnetic human body communication channel for both wireless powering and data transfer. The chip is hybrid-integrated with an in-house fabricated MEMS capacitive force sensor to form an implantable artificial mechanoreceptor (IAM). An on-chip correlated double sampling capacitance-to-time converter consumes 3.9µW from a 1.2V on-chip regulated supply and achieves a resolution of 22.8fF over an input capacitance range of 100pF, while occupying an area of only 0.04mm2. A wireless power management feedback is used to ensure robust operation for different hand gestures and under process-voltage-temperature (PVT) variations. The IAM can operate in on-off keying (OOK) or frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulation formats, where the transmitter consumes only 15.6µW in OOK mode and is more immune to hand gesture variations in FSK mode. The 1.62mm2 chip is fabricated in a standard 180nm CMOS process and consumes 104.3µW.
DEMO: Trustworthy Cyberphysical Energy Systems: Time-Delay Attacks in a Real-Time Co-Simulation Environment

In this work, we present the impact of time-delay attacks in cyberphysical energy systems. The evaluation is performed in a real-time co-simulation environment that captures the interdependency between the system's cyber and physical models.
The Use of Particulate Bone Grafts as Barriers Eliminating the Use of Membranes in Guided Tissue Regeneration

Summary By taking advantage of the physiologic mechanism of osseous repair and remodeling and the response of bone to function, one can bring about guided bone regeneration and produce a barrier effect without the use of a membrane system. This technique involves an appropriate use of a bone conductor material with an inductive graft such as particulate marrow and cancellous bone. This system is recommended to clinicians and surgeons for the regeneration of one- and two-walled defects and even crestal defects that can be confined within a two-wall system. The ability of these two types of biologic materials to work together to exclude fibroblastic proliferation and stimulate osteoblastic activity is remarkable. It seems that this technique has been overlooked in the armamentarium of procedures that are available to clinicians. This article informs surgeons of the use of a readily available graft material without reaching for more exotic types of barrier membranes and biomaterials to produce an effect that can be accomplished simply by endogenous phenomena.