cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Binding free energy calculations for P450cam-substrate complexes

A recently proposed semi-empirical method for calculating binding free energies was used to examine the binding of a variety of substrates to cytochrome P450cam. For a set of 11 different potential substrates of cytochrome P450cam, both the absolute and relative binding free energies were generally well reproduced. The mean error in the calculated absolute binding free energy for all 11 compounds is 0.55 kcal/mol. Forty-eight out of 55 calculated relative binding free energies have the correct sign and the mean unsigned error between calculated and experimental relative binding free energies is 0.77 kcal/mol. For one substrate, thiocamphor, the effect of substrate orientation on the calculated binding free energy was examined. The ability of this method to predict the effect of active site mutations was also examined in two cases.
Leader Proteinase of Beet Yellows Virus Functions in Long-Distance Transport

The 66-kDa leader proteinase (L-Pro) of the Beet yellows virus (BYV) possesses a nonconserved N-terminal domain and a conserved, papain-like C-terminal domain. Previous work revealed that the N-terminal domain functions in RNA amplification, whereas the C-terminal domain is required for autoproteolysis. Alanine-scanning mutagenesis was applied to complete the functional analysis of L-Pro throughout the virus life cycle. This analysis indicated that the C-terminal domain of L-Pro, in addition to being required for proteolysis, also functions in RNA amplification and that these two functions are genetically separable. Examination of the role of L-Pro in BYV cell-to-cell movement revealed that none of the 20 examined replication-competent mutants was movement defective. In contrast, six of the L-Pro mutations affected the long-distance transport of BYV to various degrees, whereas three mutations completely abolished the transport. Because these mutations were located throughout the protein molecule, both domains of L-Pro function in virus transport. We conclude that in addition to previously identified functions of L-Pro, it also serves as the BYV long-distance transport factor.
The Future of Taxpayer Standing in Establishment Clause Tax Credit Cases

It is unusual for scholars and litigators who work in the Establishment Clause area to agree with what the Supreme Court has done to a doctrinal topic, particularly when that topic is standing. But that is what I do in this Article. While not the first piece to substantively address the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, it is the first to support that decision and its interpretation of the much-maligned Flast v. Cohen. Winn distinguished Flast and thus rejected taxpayer standing to challenge an Arizona law permitting taxpayers to claim a tax credit for donations made to school tuition organizations that provide scholarships to children attending private religious and non-religious schools. The decision has become fodder for those displeased with the narrow scope of the taxpayer standing exception, those numbering Flast’s days or already mourning its death, and those who believe the Roberts’ Court has invoked standing to avoid deciding Religion Clause cases because a new, more permissive jurisprudence in this area is afoot. Rejecting each of these assessments, this Article offers a more realistic appraisal of the taxpayer standing doctrine and what Winn portends for future Establishment Clause tax credit challenges. It advocates for Flast’s preservation, advancing a normative, conscience-based theory of taxpayer standing that recognizes government-compelled taxing and spending scenarios wherein a taxpayer’s pocketbook harm implicates the conscience injury protected by the Establishment Clause. When the Flast exception is viewed in this light, Winn presents an example of doctrinal stability, not unrest. Any article endorsing Winn would be incomplete without confronting Justice Kagan’s superbly written dissent, which predicts the complete demise of the taxpayer standing exception. I argue that Justice Kagan exaggerates the reach of Winn by ignoring the nub of the injury in Flast, conflating the legal incidence of tax credits and government expenditures in this area, overstating the potential for underenforcement of the Establishment Clause, and incorrectly assuming that the Flast exception applies to state taxpayers in federal court. More legitimate, however, is Justice Kagan’s larger fear that Winn encourages government(s) to launder direct financial aid to religion by using tax credits in lieu of direct appropriations. I acknowledge this policy-based failure and examine three potential legal solutions in the tax credit arena: abandoning the rule against taxpayer standing, creating taxpayer standing by statute, or allowing such actions to be brought in a non-Article III court. Ultimately, I conclude that the Judiciary remains the best protector of the purpose and consistency of the taxpayer standing doctrine, even if it is not a perfect guardian.
Hêgemonía: Hegemony, Classical and Modern

"Hegemony" is a term from the vocabulary of classical Greek history which was deliberately revived in the 19th century to describe a modern phenomenon. In its classical context, the clear denotation of hegemony is a military-political hierarchy, not one of wealth or cultural prestige; although both economic and cultural resources could serve to advance military-political hegemony, they were not at all of the essence. Hegemonic relations were conscious, and based upon complex motives and capacities. Individuals, peoples and states could desire, seek, struggle for, get, keep, lose and regain hegemony. Hegemony was sought or exercised over nations, over territories, over the land or the sea, or over ton holon, "the whole"; but "territories" turn out to be the states and nations thereon, "the land" and "the sea" actually meant "the mainland states" and "the island states," and ton holon was the world system, the whole system of interacting states. Hegemonic power relationships in the classical style are alive and well today; far from being time-bound, place-bound or culture-bound, hegemony in the classical sense is a transhistorical and transcultural fact that merits comparative-civilizational and comparative-world-systems study. While bilateral, alliance, and regional hegemonies are far more frequent both today and in the past, the most useful hegemony for study in a comparative civilizations/world systems context is systemwide hegemony: a unipolar influence structure that falls short of universal empire.
Challenges to Implementation of Global Translational Collaboration Platforms

Translational Collaboration Platforms connect clinical, genomics, and patient-reported data for the advancement of biomedical research, providing an opportunity to speed up the translating of basic science findings into clinical applications and new medicines. These platforms bring together data from both clinical and research databases and provide opportunities for multi-disciplinary research. Recent years have seen a significant growth of these platforms and some global collaborations research networks have been established using these platforms. In this brief summary of these platforms, we examine the challenges in implementation for global international research collaborations and challenges for the sustainability of research networks.
Divergent lineages and conserved niches: using ecological niche modeling to examine the evolutionary patterns of the Nile monitor ( Varanus niloticus )

Ecological niche modeling is a useful tool that can support phylogeographic analyses, offering insight into the evolutionary processes that have generated present-day patterns of biodiversity. Findings of ecological divergence across evolutionary lineages can be utilized to bolster inferences of parapatric or sympatric modes of speciation, and provide support for species-level classifications. Conversely, conserved ecological niches across evolutionary timescales are thought to have facilitated allopatric speciation. Here, we examined the climatic niche of three genetic lineages of the Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) to better understand the processes involved in generating patterns of genetic variation, and to potentially clarify their taxonomic status. We built ecological niche models using genetically confirmed occurrence points from the three evolutionary lineages of V. niloticus, occupying the western, northern, and southern regions of Africa. Pairwise comparisons of climatic niche overlap provided evidence in support of niche conservatism across all V. niloticus lineages. These findings are consistent with an allopatric mode of differentiation. Furthermore, climatic niche conservatism could have played a role in isolating V. niloticus populations during historic climate oscillations, generating the observed genetic patterns across Africa.
MOS materials

The materials most commonly used to make a metal-oxide-semiconductor device, namely Si, SiO/sub 2/ and Al, are discussed, focusing on what makes them so useful. The characteristics of the materials are described, and the ways in which these characteristics are used, and if necessary modified are indicated. >
Land cover influences boreal-forest fire responses to climate change: geospatial analysis of historical records from Alaska

Wildfire activity in boreal forests is projected to increase dramatically in response to anthropogenic climate change. By altering the spatial arrangement of fuels, land-cover configuration may interact with climate change to influence fire-regime dynamics at landscape and regional scales. We evaluate how land cover interacts with weather conditions to influence boreal-forest burning from 2012 to 2014 in Alaska. Using geospatial fire and land-cover data, we quantify relationships between area burned and land cover, and test whether observed patterns of burning differ from random under varying weather conditions and fire sizes. Mean summer moisture index was correlated with annual area burned (ρ = −0.78, p 500 km2; ρ = −0.58, p = 0.04). Area burned was related positively to percent cover of coniferous forest and woody wetlands, and negatively to percent cover of shrub scrub, dwarf scrub, and open water and barren areas. Fires preferentially burned coniferous forest, which represented 50.1 % of the area burned in warmer/drier summers and 40.3 % of area burned in cooler/wetter summers, compared to the 34.5 % (±4.2 %) expected by random selection of land-cover classes. Overall vegetation tended to burn more similarly to random in warmer/drier than cooler/wetter years. Land cover exerted greater influences on boreal fire regimes when weather conditions were less favorable for forest burning. Reliable projections of boreal fire-regime change thus require consideration of the interactions between climate and land cover, as well as feedbacks from land-cover change.
Electrochemical properties of spherical polyelectrolytes

Abstract The Poisson-Boltzmann equation was numerically solved to obtain the electrostatic potential in the vicinity of spherical polyelectrolyte particles at finite concentration and low ionic strength, using the cell model. The polyelectrolyte particles were treated as impermeable spheres having a uniform surface charge density. The electrostatic potential was studied as a function of surface charge density, concentration of added salt, and particle size. The osmotic coefficient, Δp K , and the local ion concentrations were computed from the electrostatic potential. The computational results were compared with experimental ionic activities and osmotic coefficients for micelles of ionic detergents. Excellent agreement was obtained between the experimental and computed osmotic coefficients for micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate and potassium laurate, but not for the cationic detergents dodecylpyridinium chloride and dodecylammonium chloride. The reason for the disagreement is unknown. The present calculations at finite particle concentration are compared with the electrostatic potential tables of Loeb et al. (“The Electrical Double Layer around a Spherical Colloid Particle,” M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1961), which were computed for the special case of infinite dilution or high ionic strength in order to show the range of applicability of those tables. Detailed comparison requires the specification of all parameters; for the particular parameters used in this paper it was found that for particles having the radius of detergent micelles (∼18 A), the presence of 0.1 M salt was required to give good agreement (within 1.5%) between the surface potential computed by the present method and the infinite-dilution method, whereas only 10 −4 M salt was needed to give similarly good agreement for particles having the radius of phospholipid vesicles (∼300 A).
Energy-Efficient Hybrid Perovskite Memristors and Synaptic Devices

New parallel computing architectures based on neuromorphic computing are needed due to their advantages over conventional computation with regards to real-time processing of unstructured sensory data such as image, video, or voice. However, developing artificial neuromorphic system remains a challenge due to the lack of electronic synaptic devices, which can mimic all the functions of biological synapses with low energy consumption. Here it is reported that two-terminal organometal trihalide perovskite (OTP) synaptic devices can mimic the neuromorphic learning and remembering process. Various functions known in biological synapses are demonstrated in OTP synaptic devices including four forms of spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), spike-rate-dependent plasticity (SRDP), short-term plasticity (STP) and long-term potentiation (LTP)), and learning-experience behavior. The excellent photovoltaic property of the OTP devices also enables photo-read synaptic functions. The perovskite synapse has the potential of low energy consumption of femto-Joule/(100 nm)2 per event, which is close to the energy consumption of biological synapses. The demonstration of energy-efficient OTP synaptic devices opens a new plausible application of OTP materials into neuromorphic devices, which offer the high connectivity and high density required for biomimic computing.
Observations on the Kinetics of Hemolytic Antibody Response by Localized Hemolysis in Gel over Frozen Sections of Mouse Spleen

SummaryThe kinetics of the hemolytic antibody response in mice to a single injection of sheep erythrocytes were determined by quantitating the number of hemolytic foci which appeared in an agar-erythrocyte over-lay on thin sections of mouse spleen. After immunization, the number of foci rose to a peak and then declined gradually to levels which persisted through 113 days. At 210 days after immunization, foci activity had merged with control levels. On the other hand, the plaque-forming cell method of Jerne showed an increase in the number of plaque-forming cells until a peak was reached with a subsequent rapid decline to control levels 70-80 days after immunization. It is concluded that the frozen section technique is a sensitive method for the discrimination and enumeration of cells containing specific antibody in tissues.
Results of surgical management of Peyronie's disease.

AbstractPeyronie’s disease is often managed surgically when medical management fails and sexual function is impaired due to residual curvature or loss of erectile function. In this study 63 patients were treated surgically, with 25 receiving a penile prosthesis, 25 undergoing a tunica vaginalis graft and 13 undergoing the Nesbit ellipse procedure. The long-term surgical outcome as determined by sexual function indicated that the penile prosthesis group remained the most sexually active, followed by the Nesbit ellipse group with the tunica vaginalis graft group being the least sexually active. Incision of curvature with placement of a penile prosthesis for the surgical management of Peyronie’s disease remains an approach that has excellent long-term functional results.
Cytokines and Cancer Vaccines

Since the late 1980s, tumor immunology has made truly revolutionary progress. Perhaps the two most significant contributing factors are the discovery of tumor antigens (TAs) and advances in cytokine-biotechnology. Molecular characterization of T-cell-epitopes within TAs led an evolution of tumor immunology from the rather empirical observation of tumor regressions into a sophisticated science established on a solid molecular basis (1,2). In addition, the availability of recombinant cytokines and their cDNAs promoted our understanding of the role of cytokines in tumor immunosurveillance, and allowed us to examine the administration of cytokines to facilitate anti-tumor inflammatory response within the tumor microenvironment.
The Evangelical Gospel: Its Socioreligious Influences in the Caribbean

Historian Jeffrey Cox states that the inhabitants of the West Indies and South Pacific were the first non-Christian peoples of the world who were Christianized relatively easily by Europeans specifically because these regions were outside the influence of non-Christian world religions (Cox 2008:249).
Challenges of CMP manufacturability in advanced nodes

Chemical Mechanical Polishing is wildly adopted in semiconductor manufacturing processes to achieve planarity requirements for 2D or 3D integrated circuit structures. The stringent requirements of precise process control and defect reduction in various CMP processes not only affect device performance and yield, but also post challenges in high volume manufacturing. Additionally, the complexity of materials polished drives the innovation on CMP consumable. The quality control of new consumables grows more important than ever to affect process window and production line robustness. Examples to illustrate these challenges in HVM environment in advanced nodes are addressed and possible solution paths are discussed. Close collaboration between users and vendors in the whole supply chain is required to tackle these challenges to enhance the CMP manufacturability in the new era.
Is self-deception an effective non-cooperative strategy?

Robert Trivers has proposed perhaps the only serious adaptationist account of self-deception—that the primary function of self-deception is to better deceive others. But this account covers only a subset of cases and needs further refinement. A better evolutionary account of self-deception and cognitive biases more generally will more rigorously recognize the various ways in which false beliefs affect both the self and others. This article offers formulas for determining the optimal doxastic orientation, giving special consideration to conflicted self-deception as an alternative to outright self-delusion. A novel taxonomy of self-deception, as it relates to the beliefs held by others, is also presented. While Trivers makes a plausible case for the adaptive value of certain cognitive biases, a more fragmented and nuanced account of the social forces impacting the evolution of self-deception is needed.
Is recovery possible outside the financial mainstream

As psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners, we have solid evidence that our field's services are effective in helping people become employed, participate in social and civic life, avoid restrictive and coercive psychiatric treatment, and thrive in stable and secure community residences. Yet, hundreds of thousands of people with psychiatric disabilities do not do these things. So we must ask ourselves, to what extent is this due to their location outside the financial mainstream, and if it is, what we can do as a field to address poverty among those we serve? This editorial addresses this question: Is recovery possible outside of the financial mainstream? (PsycINFO Database Record
Reading Tyndale's Obedience in Whole and in Part

Historians have long asserted that, within a year of its publication abroad, a copy of William Tyndale's The Obedience of a Christen Man (1528) made its way to the English court, where it was owned by Anne Boleyn and read with great enthusiasm by King Henry VIII. This essay first examines the lore surrounding Henry's encounter with the Obedience, and the related claims (made both in the sixteenth century and later) for the immediate religio-political instrumentality of the work. It then analyzes the contents of Tyndale's treatise, as well as its title and title page, to demonstrate that the Obedience pulls in many more directions than the scholarship has acknowledged to date — and that, given its compendious nature, it is unlikely that Henry, or any king of the time, would have read it in its entirety and found it praiseworthy. Next, it implements a thought experiment to test how each section of the Obedience speaks to the specific conditions of Henrician rule in the period. Finally, it examines the mater...
Indoor positioning using visual and inertial sensors

Indoor positioning system is a rapidly emerging technology. Unlike outdoor positioning, which uses triangulation from satellites in line-of-sight, current indoor positioning methods attempt triangulation using Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) from indoor transmitters, like WiFi and RFID. These methods, however, are not accurate and suffer from issues like multi-path and absorption by walls and other objects. In this paper we propose an alternate and novel approach to indoor positioning, that combines signals from multiple sensors. In particular, we focus on visual and inertial sensors that are ubiquitously found in mobile devices. We utilize a Building Information Model (BIM) of the indoor environment as a guideline for navigable paths. The sensor suite signals are processed to generate a trajectory of device moving through the indoor environment. We compute features on this trajectory in real-time and data mine pre-computed features on BIM's navigable paths to determine the location of the device in real-time. We demonstrate our approach on BIM in our university campus. The key benefit of our approach is that unlike previous methods that require installation of a wireless sensor network of several transmitters spanning the indoor environment, we only require a floor-plan BIM and cheap ubiquitous sensor suite on board a mobile device for indoor positioning.
Dense descriptor for visual tracking and robust update model strategy

Context analysis is a research field that is attracting growing interest in recent years, especially due to the encouraging results carried out by the semantic-based approach. Anyway, semantic strategies entail the use of trackers capable to show robustness to long-term occlusions, viewpoint changes and identity swap that represent the main problem of many tracking-by-detection solutions. This paper proposes a robust tracking-by-detection framework based on dense SIFT descriptors in combination with an ad-hoc target appearance model update able to overtake the discussed issues. The obtained performances show how our tracker competes with state-of-the-art results and manages occlusions, clutter, changes of scale, rotation and appearance, better than competing tracking methods.
The effect of the background medium in microsphere-assisted microscopy

Microsphere-assisted microscopy can be incorporated onto conventional light microscopes allowing wide-field and flourescence imaging with enhanced resolution. The refractive index of the background medium in which the microsphere is placed plays an important role in imaging. In this work, we investigated the effect of the background medium containing the microsphere on imaging properties of the microspheres. We used finite-difference timedomain numerical simulation to investigate the photonic nanojet formation in a microlens. We showed that by fine tuning the refractive index of the background medium, the nanojet properties of a microlens can be optimized for applications where sharp focusing of light is needed. Our results provide a guideline for design optimization of novel microparticle-embedded optical devices.
Syndication, Ability, and Price Equilibriums within Venture Capital Markets

Suppose entrepreneurs within venture capital markets accept 'lower than reservation prices' from reputable venture capitalists (VCs). This study shows negative relations between project prices and VCs' reputation ('reputation price discounts') are best explained by presence of an ability measure within populations of VCs. In presence of an ability measure, acceptance of financing from higher ability VCs induces return increments that always are larger than any opportunity costs implicit in lower than reservation prices. We have then that acceptance of reputation price discounts that violate entrepreneurs' reservation prices always are rational. Formal predictions show a negative relation between project prices and VCs' reputation is a general equilibrium property of venture capital markets, a property which ensures reputation is a function of portfolio performance, and a VC's demonstrated capacity for bringing of new innovations to exit markets. Consistent with the general equilibrium property, and the prediction that project innovativeness increases with demand for syndication, formal predictions and accompanying preliminary evidence obtain attenuation of reputation price discounts in context of syndicated financing of innovative projects.
Do nonmelanoma skin cancer survivors use tanning beds more often than the general public

e20017 Background: Tanning bed use increases the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), however utilization of indoor tanning after diagnosis in this population is not well-studied. We sought...
Paying for the Tolls: The High Cost of the Innate Immune System for the Cardiac Myocyte.

The cardiac myocyte differs strikingly from the specialized cells of the immune system, which has two different responses to invading organisms and tissue damage. Adaptive or acquired immunity generates highly specific antibodies in response to threats and is an essential component of immunity; however, adaptive immunity can take 4–7 days to mobilize, and a more primitive response, innate immunity, fills the gap. Innate immunity is expressed in complex and in primitive life forms. Specialized receptors, Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are widely distributed throughout different tissues recognize danger signals and rapidly respond with the release of noxious substances, such as TNFα. The problem is that many endogenous molecules have been found to act as ligands for specific TLRs, and when these molecules are released into the extracellular environment, they can cause problems by activating innate immunity and an inflammatory response. In cardiac myocytes heat shock protein (HSP)60 can activate TLR4, as can HMGB1, and this type of response can amplify the response to ischemia/reperfusion leading to increased cell and tissue injury. Activation of TLRs can potentially amplify chronic, inflammatory diseases, such as ischemic heart failure. Thus, it is important to understand the regulation of the TLRs and their downstream effects. This chapter will focus on the TLRs and cardiac myocytes.
Strong Right Abstract Fractional Calculus

We present here a strong right fractional calculus theory for Banach space valued functions of Caputo type.
Comparison of Survival After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Patients With Versus Without Diabetes Mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) increases the risk of sudden cardiac death, but the extent to which it influences survival after an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) remains unclear. We assessed the association of DM and survival after IHCA. The study included 1,009,073 patients aged ≥18 years who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation for IHCA between January 2003 and December 2013, recorded in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. The outcomes were survival to hospital discharge and discharge disposition assessed using multivariable logistic regression accounting for relevant covariates and clustering. Of the patients with IHCA, 30.8% (310,825) had DM and were more likely to be older and to have a higher prevalence of co-morbidities including hypertension, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease, and previous cardiovascular disease (all p
Upregulation and release of soluble fms‐like tyrosine kinase receptor 1 mediated by complement activation in human syncytiotrophoblast cells

Problem Antiangiogenic molecule soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase receptor 1 (sFLT1) released from trophoblast cells is associated with pregnancy-specific hypertensive disorder pre-eclampsia. Cause of elevated sFLT1 in pre-eclampsia patients is not well understood. Despite evidence of excess systemic and placental complement activation in pre-eclampsia patients, its role in pathophysiology is not clear. If the complement activation plays a role in upregulation and secretion of sFLT1 is not known. Method of study Human trophoblast cells were isolated from term placentas and allowed to syncytialize. Complement was activated in vitro at sublethal levels on syncytiotrophoblast cells. Effect of complement activation on expression and release of sFLT1 was assessed by comparing its levels in these cells with and without complement activation. Results Sublethal level of complement activation on syncytialized human trophoblast cells induced upregulation of sFLT1 mRNA and protein. Complement also induced secretion of sFLT1 in a manner depending on degree of activation. Anaphylatoxins C3a induced upregulation but not the release of sFLT1. Release of terminal membrane attack complex (MAC) was associated with sFLT1 secretion. Conclusion Complement activation plays a major role in both the expression and secretion of sFLT1 from syncytial trophoblast cells. The terminal MAC complex is involved in its secretion. Increased levels of sFLT1 in pre-eclampsia patients may be due to complement-induced upregulation and secretion.
Epistemic Uncertainties: Dealing with a Lack of Knowledge

This chapter attempts to assess the impact of uncertainties that do not have a known distribution. In Sect. 12.1 we introduce a metric for evaluating the agreement between simulation and experiments. We then extend our focus to the case of agreement between experiment and simulation when there are calibration parameters in the simulation. We treat these cases using horsetail plots and p-boxes. To make a prediction on a new experiment, we can use the p-box to adjust a prediction, as shown in Sect. 12.4. Section 12.5 introduces Dempster-Shafer evidence theory for including expert judgment to construct p-boxes, followed by Sect. 12.6 where Kolomogorov-Smirnov confidence bounds are presented and Sect. 12.7 on Cauchy deviates.
Upgraded Bioelectrocatalytic N2 Fixation: From N2 to Chiral Amine Intermediates.

Enantiomerically pure chiral amines are of increasing value in the preparation of bioactive compounds, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals. ω-Transaminase (ω-TA) is an ideal catalyst for asymmetric amination because of its excellent enantioselectivity and wide substrate scope. To shift the equilibrium of reactions catalyzed by ω-TA to the side of the amine product, an upgraded N2 fixation system based on bioelectrocatalysis was developed to realize the conversion from N2 to chiral amine intermediates. The produced NH3 was in situ reacted with l-alanine dehydrogenase to generate alanine with NADH as a coenzyme. ω-TA transferred the amino group from alanine to ketone substrates and finally produced the desired chiral amine intermediates. The cathode of the upgraded N2 fixation system supplied enough reducing power to synchronously realize the regeneration of reduced methyl viologen (MV•+) and NADH for the nitrogenase and l-alanine dehydrogenase. The coproduct, pyruvate, was consumed by l-alanine dehydrogenas...
SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes and renal disease: overview of current evidence

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a frequent complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and is associated with poor clinical outcomes, including an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, as well as adverse economic and social effects. Slowing the development and progression of CKD remains an unmet clinical need in patients with T2DM. Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are widely used for the management of T2DM and have effects beyond glucose lowering that include cardiovascular benefits and potential renoprotective effects. Although the glucose-lowering efficacy of these agents is dependent on renal function, the cardiovascular and renal benefits of SGLT2 inhibition appear to be maintained to estimated glomerular filtration levels as low as 30 mL/min/1.73 m2. Clinical evidence has indicated that these agents can reduce the risk of development or worsening of albuminuria, a marker of renal damage, through a range of mechanisms. These include blood pressure lowering, reduction of intraglomerular pressure and hyperfiltration, modification of inflammatory processes, reduction of ischemia-related renal injury, and increases in glucagon levels. The blood pressure-lowering effect of SGLT2 inhibitors is maintained in people with CKD and could further contribute to reduced renal burden, as well as potentially offering synergistic effects with antihypertensive therapies in these patients. Several cardiovascular outcomes trials (CVOTs) have included renal endpoints, adding to the growing evidence of the potential renoprotective effects of these agents in patients with T2DM. Several ongoing dedicated renal outcomes trials will provide further guidance on the potential clinical role of SGLT2 inhibitors in slowing the development and progression of renal impairment in individuals with T2DM.
#VegasStrong: Sport, Public Memorialization, and the Golden Knights:

This article examines the response to the 1 October, 2017, mass shooting in Las Vegas by both the city and its National Hockey League team, the Golden Knights. In analyzing these responses, we argu...
Differential regulation of select osmoregulatory genes and Na + /K + -ATPase paralogs may contribute to population differences in salinity tolerance in a semi-anadromous fish.

Abstract The Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus) is a species of special concern that is native to the San Francisco Estuary, USA. Two genetically distinct populations exist and differ in maximal salinity tolerances. We examined the expression of 12 genes representative of osmoregulatory functions in the gill over a 14 day time course at two different salinities [11 or 14 PSU (Practical Salinity Units)] and revealed that each population showed distinct patterns of gene expression consistent with population differences in response to osmotic regimes. The relatively more salinity-tolerant San Pablo population significantly upregulated nine out of the 12 transcripts investigated on day 1 of 11 PSU salinity exposure in comparison to the day zero freshwater control. Three transcripts (nka1a, nka1b, and mmp13) were differentially expressed between the populations at 7 and 14 days of salinity exposure, suggesting a reduced ability of the relatively salinity-intolerant Central Valley population to recover. Additionally, a phylogenetic analysis of several Sacramento splittail Na+/K+-ATPase α1 sequences resulted in grouping by proposed paralog rather than species, suggesting that different paralogs of this gene may exist. These findings, together with prior research conducted on the Sacramento splittail, suggest that the San Pablo population may be able to preferentially regulate select osmoregulatory genes, including different Na+/K+-ATPase α1 paralogs, to better cope with salinity challenges.
Fifty Years in Film I: Ripstein’s Early Years and His Place in Mexican Cinema

In this interview, Arturo Ripstein ruminates on his early career in filmmaking. Specifically, Ripstein discusses his relationship with the legendary film director Luis Bunuel (1900–1983), his experience directing his first movies, including Tiempo de morir/Time to die (1966) and El castillo de la pureza/The Castle of Purity (1972), and his collaboration with the well-known Latin American novelists Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927–1914), Carlos Fuentes (1928–2012), and Jose Emilio Pacheco (1939–2014).
OPTIMIZING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROGRAM FOR THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN IN REFORMING JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN UTAH

This study examine first, to what extent the fully restorative justice system could be implemented in the Utah’s JJS and supported by the legislations so that the minor can enjoy a special protection while they still have the opportunity to participate actively with accountability in solving the problem without destroy their freedom and dignity and can bring more benefit to their best interest. Second, to what extent the right to legal counsel could help the minor to enjoy their constitutional rights as well as to seek a better solution of their problem. The research done by observing the review hearing, pre-trial, petition, trial at the Fourth Judicial District Courthouse Provo and the detention hearing at Slate Canyon Youth Center. The data is also collected from various secondary resources such as the Utah Statutes, the international and regional instruments. There is an opportunity for the JJS Utah county to shift from applying the partly to the fully RJP specially for truancy or misdemeanor cases and the right to access public defender should be automatically granted to the minors.
Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Doppler Envelope Notching Predicts Pulmonary Hypertension and Outcomes in Lung Transplant Candidates

Purpose Hemodynamic variables have prognostic implications in lung transplant (LT) candidates, but it is unclear which echocardiographic (TTE) parameters predict outcomes in this population. Methods We retrospectively studied 149 LT candidates who underwent TTE and right heart catheterization (RHC) 2007-2014, with follow-up to 2018. TTE parameters included the pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP), pulmonary vascular resistance (ePVR), and notching of the right ventricular outflow tract Doppler flow velocity envelope (FVERVOT), which has been shown to correlate with invasive PVR. We used Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression to analyze the relationship between TTE parameters and pre- and post-LT outcomes. Results Most patients were from Lung Allocation Groups A (25%) and D (66%). Mean age was 55±12 years, 60% were men. The PASP was identifiable in 135 patients. FVERVOT was interpretable in all patients, and notching was present in 46 patients. Mid-systolic notching of the FVERVOT had perfect specificity for prediction of pulmonary hypertension (13% sensitivity). Of 149 patients, 127 underwent LT; there were 9 deaths prior to LT and 36 deaths after LT. Median post-transplant follow-up was 5.5 (IQR 3.7-7.0) years. Pre-LT, patients with FVERVOT notching had shorter transplant-free survival (Figure 1a) and increased likelihood of undergoing transplantation (HR 1.87, 95%CI 1.25-2.80). Neither the PASP nor ePVR were predictive of transplantation. Post-LT, none of the TTE parameters predicted mortality, although patients with notching trended towards worse survival (Figure 1b) and increased mortality (HR 1.88, 95%CI 0.91-3.91, p=0.09). Conclusion Unlike the PASP or ePVR, FVERVOT notching identified a group of LT candidates who had PH and were likely to undergo transplantation. Assessment of FVERVOT notching may help clinicians determine when repeat RHC is indicated to optimize the lung allocation score.
Radar-Camera Sensor Fusion for Joint Object Detection and Distance Estimation in Autonomous Vehicles

In this paper we present a novel radar-camera sensor fusion framework for accurate object detection and distance estimation in autonomous driving scenarios. The proposed architecture uses a middle-fusion approach to fuse the radar point clouds and RGB images. Our radar object proposal network uses radar point clouds to generate 3D proposals from a set of 3D prior boxes. These proposals are mapped to the image and fed into a Radar Proposal Refinement (RPR) network for objectness score prediction and box refinement. The RPR network utilizes both radar information and image feature maps to generate accurate object proposals and distance estimations. The radar-based proposals are combined with image-based proposals generated by a modified Region Proposal Network (RPN). The RPN has a distance regression layer for estimating distance for every generated proposal. The radar-based and image-based proposals are merged and used in the next stage for object classification. Experiments on the challenging nuScenes dataset show our method outperforms other existing radar-camera fusion methods in the 2D object detection task while at the same time accurately estimates objects' distances.
Market-based Co-optimization of Energy and Ancillary Services with Distributed Energy Resource Flexibilities

Energy storage systems and flexible loads have attracted significant interests due to their capabilities to provide various grid services. In this paper, the flexibilities are optimally allocated among multiple distributed energy resource aggregators with energy storage systems and flexible buildings by the utility coordinator through market-based co-optimization. An iterative market clearing algorithm is developed to determine the optimal energy and ancillary service prices, with consideration of both local dynamics and network constraints. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and the benefits of co-optimizing the energy and ancillary service markets.
Cognitive Impairment after Lacunar Stroke and the Risk of Recurrent Stroke and Death.

INTRODUCTION Patients with poststroke cognitive impairment appear to be at higher risk of recurrent stroke and death. However, whether cognitive impairment after lacunar stroke is associated with recurrent stroke and death remains unclear. We assessed whether global or domain-specific cognitive impairment after lacunar stroke is associated with recurrent stroke and death. METHODS We considered patients from the Secondary Prevention of Small Subcortical Strokes (SPS3) trial with a baseline cognitive exam administered in English by certified SPS3 personnel, 14-180 days after qualifying lacunar stroke. We considered a baseline score of ≤86 on the Cognitive Assessment Screening Instrument to indicate global cognitive impairment, <10 on the Clock Drawing on Command test to indicate executive function impairment, and domain-specific summary scores in the lowest quartile to indicate memory and nonmemory impairment. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the association between poststroke cognitive impairment and subsequent risk of recurrent stroke and death. RESULTS The study included 1,528 participants with a median enrollment time of 62 days after qualifying stroke. During a mean follow-up of 3.9 years, 11.4% of participants had recurrent stroke and 8.2% died. In the fully adjusted models, memory impairment was independently associated with an increased risk of recurrent stroke (hazard ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.04-2.09) and death (hazard ratio, 1.87; 95% CI: 1.25-2.79). Global impairment (hazard ratio, 1.66; 95% CI: 1.06-2.59) and nonmemory impairment (hazard ratio, 1.74; 95% CI: 1.14-2.67) were associated with an increased risk of death. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION After lacunar stroke, memory impairment was an independent predictor of recurrent stroke and death, while global and nonmemory impairment were associated with death. Cognitive screening in lacunar stroke may help identify populations at higher risk of recurrent stroke and death.
A longitudinal study of the adherence to PORTEC-2 based adjuvant radiotherapy in high-intermediate-risk endometrial adenocarcinoma and associated oncologic outcomes.

e17570Background: In 2010, Nout et al. reported on PORTEC-2, which randomized patients with high intermediate risk (HIR) endometrial cancer to adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy or pelvic radiotherapy ...
Progress toward a high-resolution single-photon camera based on superconducting single photon detector arrays and compressive sensing

We present our results on utilizing an SNSPD array and compressive imaging techniques to perform single photon imaging and present our progress toward a high-resolution single-photon camera for the mid-IR.
Activity-based Economics as Experimental Science

Recent papers emphasize moving beyond chalk and talk by using active learning strategies to teach principles of economics. Another literature emphasizes benefits of using active methods to teach economics at the high school level. A related literature, independently developed by 2002 Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith and others, formalizes experimental techniques for studying economic decision making, often using classrooms as laboratories. This paper analyzes active learning lessons designed for high schools against the criteria used in economics experiments designed by Smith and others. The conclusion is that activity-based lessons do a good job of satisfying the conditions sufficient for economic experiments. Those not satisfying the experimentalist conditions often require only modest revision to qualify or were never intended to be experiments in the first place.
For White Women: Your Blues Ain't Like Mine , but We All Hide Our Faces and Cry--Literary Illumination for White and Black Sister/Friends

This essay is an experiment, seeking to facilitate honest and less defensive discussion about race and gender. Generally, discussions of race, gender and the law are difficult, but perhaps, the discourse can be facilitated through the lens of literature. My theory is that women are unable to claim a position of power because of divisive racial conflicts. I approach these conflicts by examining the conflict between two literary characters (a black woman and a white woman) in Bebe Moore Campbell's novel, Your Blues Ain't Like Mine. Directly examining the characters illuminates the racial divide between black and white women existing in our real lives and systems. This experiment is essential because as long as women, potential sister/friends, remain alienated from one another-which is also an alienation from self-they will never fully actualize their power and reorder oppressive societal and legal orders.
The Employer Potential of MOOCs: A Mixed-Methods Study of Human Resource Professionals' Thinking on MOOCs

While press coverage of MOOCs (massive open online courses) has been considerable and major MOOC providers are beginning to realize that employers may be a market for their courses, research on employers’ receptivity to using MOOCs is scarce. To help fill this gap, the Finding and Developing Talent study surveyed 103 employers and interviewed a subset of 20 about their awareness of MOOCs and their receptivity to using MOOCs in recruiting, hiring, and professional development. Results showed that though awareness of MOOCs was relatively low (31% of the surveyed employers had heard of MOOCs), once they understood what they were, the employers perceived MOOCs positively in hiring decisions, viewing them mainly as indicating employees’ personal attributes like motivation and a desire to learn. A majority of employers (59%) were also receptive to using MOOCs for recruiting purposes—especially for staff with technical skills in high demand. Yet an even higher percentage (83%) were using, considering using, or could see their organization using MOOCs for professional development. Interviews with employers suggested that obtaining evidence about the quality of MOOCs, including the long-term learning and work performance gains that employees accrue from taking them, would increase employers’ use of MOOCs not just in professional development but also in recruiting and hiring.