cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incidence of Concussion in Youth Ice Hockey Players

BACKGROUND: Ice hockey is a fast-paced collision sport that entails both intentional (ie, body checking) and incidental contact that may involve the head. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of concussions in relation to games/practices and age among competition-level youth ice hockey players (ages 12–18 years). METHODS: Participants included 397 youth ice hockey players from Western Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts; and Birmingham, Alabama, during the 2012–2013 and 2013–2014 youth ice hockey seasons. Incidence rates (IRs) and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of concussion were calculated for games/practices and age groups. RESULTS: A total of 23 369 (12 784 practice/10 585 game) athletic exposures (AEs) involving 37 medically diagnosed concussions occurred. More than 40% of concussions involved illegal contact. The combined IR for games and practices was 1.58 concussions per 1000 AEs. The IRR was 2.86 times (95% confidence interval 0.68–4.42) higher during games (2.49 per 1000 AEs) than practices (1.04 per 1000 AEs). CONCLUSIONS: The overall IR for concussion in youth ice hockey was comparable to those reported in other youth collision sports. The game-to-practice IRR was lower than previously reported in ice hockey and other youth sports, although more concussions per exposure occurred in games compared with practices. Younger players had a higher rate of concussions than older players.
The Right to Lie: How the First Amendment Protects Knowingly False Speech

In United States v. Alvarez, decided on the same day as the ACA decision in 2012, the Supreme Court proclaimed for the first time that knowingly false speech, aka lies, receive some degree of protection from the First Amendment. This article seeks to analyze what theories of freedom of speech supports this result and what theories are apparent in the various opinions in the case. From this analysis, the article proposes a method of analyzing future false speech cases.
Cellular Control of Interferon Production and Release After Treatment with Poly I:C Inducer

SummaryPrimary rabbit kidney cells released measurable quantities of extracellular interferon within 2 hr after initiation of induction by poly I:C. This occurrence was accompanied by slow uptake of inducer in minute quantity. There was no preferential uptake of poly I:C by primary rabbit kidney cells compared to that of noninducing polynucleotides and nucleotides. Induced cells produced high concentrations of apparently unbound intracellular interferon which appeared to be the source of extracellular interferon. The dynamics of interferon production in primary rabbit kidney cell cultures induced by poly I:C involved two separate steps, viz., the synthesis of intracellular interferon and the release of this interferon into the extracellular medium.The authors are indebted to Mary-Ellen Davies and Kersti Young for valuable technical assistance.
Role of DDK in Replication Initiation

DDK (Dbf4-dependent kinase) is a serine/threonine protein kinase conserved from yeast to humans. DDK is composed of two subunits, Cdc7 protein kinase and Dbf4 regulatory subunits in 1:1 stoichiometry. Both the CDC7 and DBF4 genes were discovered in budding yeast from the analysis of conditional mutants that were defective in the initiation of DNA replication. Cdc7 and Dbf4 homologues have been identified in many eukaryotes and are important in DNA replication, indicating the role of DDK was also conserved. This knowledge has been translated medically as oncogenic DDK overexpression is currently a target of therapeutic inhibitors. DDK activity is cell cycle regulated because it is inactive in G1 phase cells due to the absence of the essential Dbf4 protein as a result of APC-dependent proteolysis. It is clear from both genetic and biochemical studies that several subunits of the hexameric MCM2–7 DNA helicase/ATPase are substrates of DDK. In an allosteric model of DDK function, DDK phosphorylates the Mcm4 protein in the misaligned MCM2–7 double hexamer bound to origins of replication to align the important catalytic residues of the enzyme and to load other proteins to form a CMG (Cdc45-MCM-GINS) holoenzyme. To complete the initiation reaction, the loading of several other replication proteins is also needed, which requires ensuing CDK (cyclin-dependent kinase) phosphorylation. DDK has other substrates important for mutagenesis by TLS (translesion synthesis), meiotic recombination, and chromosome cohesion. Because all these processes are chromatin-based, DDK may have evolved to regulate chromatin-bound proteins in DNA metabolism.
Control of pain in the cancer patient by subarachnoid alcohol block.

Subarachnoid alcohol block has given gratifying results in managing pain in selected patients with advanced cancer and appears to be a useful alternative to surgical division of pain pathways. Any skilled anesthesiologist or neurosurgeon can perform the procedure. In the series discussed here, almost 85 percent of patients treated with alcohol block had significant or partial pain relief. Only two of 322 patients had permanent complications.
Study on Effect of Environment Temperature and Setting Position in the Horizontal Direction on the Alarm Response Time of Smoke Detectors

The article uses FDS to study the effect of environment temperature and setting position on the alarm time of smoke detectors.The differences and laws of alarm response time of smoke detectors set in different positions with environment temperature of 0℃、10℃ and 30℃ respectively are analyzed by using several groups of smoke detectors set in the horizontal direction.Research shows that the smoke detectors which are affected mainly by the plume smoke above the fire or the regurgitation smoke from farther wall have a trend of earlier alarming with the environment temperature going up;the smoke detectors which are affected mainly by the regurgitation smoke from nearer wall have a trend of later alarming with the environment temperature going up;the smoke detector above the fire alarms earliest and has the same alarm time no matter which environmental temperature of that three is present.
A Historical Cohort Study and An Analysis of An Outbreak of Norwalk Virus Gastroenteritis

Objective To investigate and analyze the cause of an outbreak of Norwalk virus gastroenteritis in a village.Methods A historical cohort study was conducted and the specimens were analyzed by ELISA method.Results There were 34 patients in this cohort study.The cause of the disease was significantly correlated with the contact with the patients(X2=6.51,P=0.00) ,foods exposure to flies(X2=4.61,P=0.00) and exposure to vomit or diarrhea wastes within 1 meter(X2=3.09,P=0.00) .However,the source of drinking water was not a risk factor(X2=1.68,P=0.14) .Among the 8 rectal swabs,1 was positive for Norwalk viral antigen and the positive rate was 12.5%.Among the 4 fecal samples,2 were positive for the Norwalk viral antigen and the positive rate was 50%.Conclusion The incident of an acute gastroenteritis was caused by Norwalk virus infection.Closed contact was the major route of transmission of Norwalk virus gastroenteritis.
Temperature modulation of calcium channel function in GH3 cells

The effect of temperature on calcium channel function was studied in GH3 cells, using the whole cell patch-clamp methodology. Specific parameters examined were peak current amplitude, activation time, and inactivation time. Over the temperature range studied (22-37 degree C), the peak current amplitude was found to be a non-linear function of temperature, with low-threshold currents more temperature dependent than high-threshold currents. Both activation time and inactivation time were faster at higher temperatures, but, whereas inactivation was a continuous function of temperature, activation was not, with a distinct discontinuity between 27 and 32 degrees C. These findings suggest that caution must be exercised in extrapolating data on channel function obtained at room temperature to physiological temperatures.
Neddylation requires glycyl-tRNA synthetase to protect activated E2

Neddylation is a post-translational modification that controls the cell cycle and proliferation by conjugating the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 to specific targets. Here we report that glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GlyRS), an essential enzyme in protein synthesis, also plays a critical role in neddylation. In human cells, knockdown of GlyRS, but not knockdown of a different tRNA synthetase, decreased the global level of neddylation and caused cell-cycle abnormality. This function of GlyRS is achieved through direct interactions with multiple components of the neddylation pathway, including NEDD8, E1, and E2 (Ubc12). Using various structural and functional approaches, we show that GlyRS binds the APPBP1 subunit of E1 and captures and protects activated E2 (NEDD8-conjugated Ubc12) before the activated E2 reaches a downstream target. Therefore, GlyRS functions as a chaperone that critically supports neddylation. This function is probably conserved in all eukaryotic GlyRS enzymes and may contribute to the strong association of GlyRS with cancer progression.
The grammar of meaning: Realism and factuality

The questions “What is length?”, “What is meaning?”, “What is the number one?”, etc., produce in us a mental cramp. We feel that we can't point to anything in reply to them and yet ought to point to something. (We are up against one of the great sources of philosophical bewilderment: a substantive makes us look for a thing that corresponds to it.) Ludwig Wittgenstein, The Blue Book , p. 1 REALISM AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE We have argued that a certain sort of metaphysical project – that of discovering what naturalistically constitutes truths about meaning – is almost certainly doomed to fail. Relatedly, we have urged in Part I of this book that both the conjecturalist and the descriptivist picture of meaning discourse are misleading. Our emphasis in the rejection of these pictures is rather different from that of our predecessors, however. While the most famous critics of this historical tradition – Quine in his critique of the myth of the museum, Sellars on the myth of the given, and Rorty on the mirror of nature – emphasize the notion of description as it functions primarily in the context of broad philosophical theory, we focus our critique on more workaday, more immanent notions. That is, while we certainly agree that language should not be understood in general in terms of some special relation to reality articulated by some correspondence-like term of philosophical art, we do not deny that there is some less haughty sense in which, say, description is a genuine linguistic phenomenon worthy of study.
Caregiver Burdens and Preventive Dental Care for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Disability and/or Mental Health Conditions: National Survey of CSHCN, 2009-2010.

Objective The purpose of this study is to examine the burdens of caregivers on perception of the need and receipt of preventive dental care for a subset of children with special health care needs-children with Autism Spectrum disorder, developmental disability and/or mental health conditions (CASD/DD/MHC). Methods The authors used the 2009-2010 National Survey of CSHCN. The survey included questions addressing preventive dental care and caregivers' financial, employment, and time-related burdens. The associations of these burdens on perceptions and receipt of preventive dental care use were analyzed with bivariate Chi square analyses and multinomial logistic regressions for CASD/DD/MHC (N = 16,323). Results Overall, 16.3 % of CASD/DD/MHC had an unmet preventive dental care need. There were 40.0 % of caregivers who reported financial burden, 20.3 % who reported employment burden, and 10.8 % who reported time burden. A higher percentage of caregivers with financial burden, employment burden, and time-related burden reported that their CASD/DD/MHC did not receive needed preventive dental care (14.1, 16.5, 17.7 % respectively) compared to caregivers without financial, employment, or time burdens (9.0, 9.6 %, 11.0 % respectively). Caregivers with financial burden (adjusted multinomial odds ratio, 1.38 [95 % CI 1.02, 1.86] and employment burden (adjusted multinomial odds ratio, 1.45 [95 % CI 1.02, 2.06] were more likely to report that their child did not receive preventive dental care despite perceived need compared to caregivers without financial or employment burdens. Conclusions for practice Unmet needs for preventive dental care were associated with employment and financial burdens of the caregivers of CASD/DD/MHC.
NMR and structural data for Connexin 32 and Connexin 26 N-terminal peptides.

In this article we present 1H and 13C chemical shift assignments, secondary structural propensity data and normalized temperature coefficient data for N-terminal peptides of Connexin 26 (Cx26), Cx26G12R and Cx32G12R mutants seen in syndromic deafness and Charcot Marie Tooth Disease respectively, published in “Structural Studies of N-Terminal Mutants of Connexin 26 and Connexin 32 Using 1H NMR Spectroscopy” (Y. Batir, T.A. Bargiello, T.L. Dowd, 2016) [1]. The mutation G12R affects the structure of both Cx26 and Cx32 peptides differently. We present data from secondary structure propensity chemical shift analysis which calculates a secondary structure propensity (SSP) score for both disordered or folded peptides and proteins using the difference between the 13C secondary chemical shifts of the Cα and Cβ protons. This data supplements the calculated NMR structures from NOESY data [1]. We present and compare the SSP data for the Cx26 vs Cx26G12R peptides and the Cx32 and Cx32G12R peptides. In addition, we present plots of temperature coefficients obtained for Cx26, Cx26G12R and Cx32G12R peptides collected previously [1] and normalized to their random coil temperature coefficients, “Random coil 1H chemical shifts obtained as a function of temperature and trifluoroethanol concentration for the peptide series GGXGG” (G. Merutka, H.J. Dyson, P.E. Wright, 1995) [2]. Reductions in these normalized temperature coefficients are directly observable for residues in different segments of the peptide and this data informs on solvent accessibility of the NH protons and NH protons which may be more constrained due to the formation of H bonds.
Report from the Planning Workshop for the Fusion Energy Sciences Program

Sixty representatives of the fusion community and the Department of Energy met October 22-24, 1996 in a workshop to chart the short and medium term future of the nation's fusion energy science program. The fusion scientists represented nearly all the institutions and scientific areas covered by the fusion program. Plans were crafted to implement the goals of the restructuring recommended last winter by the Fusion Energy Advisory Committee. The workshop refined the vision of the fusion program, articulated the accomplishments expected over the next 5 years, suggested changes in organizational methodology, reaffirmed the U.S. community's commitment to ITER and agreed to participate in the international collaborative process beyond the Engineering Design Activities toward construction, described future roles for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory as a national laboratory, and produced the beginning of plans for education and outreach to the larger scientific community and public. Each of these items is discussed below: Taken as a whole, they represent a sea change for the U.S. fusion program. This change was embraced by the workshop attendees. It forms the basis for a fusion and plasma science program which will continue to reap far-reaching benefits to the nation in the near term, and progress toward a renewable and attractive energy source for mankind in the long term. It is expected that the new program will be enduring. It is based upon principles which will evolve, but not be overturned, as the nation's energy and science needs evolve.
Air leakage in multiple compartments after endoscopy.

An attempt to cannulate the common bile duct led to abdominal pain and distention and crepitus of the right chest wall.
Silencing EGFRvIII as a therapeutic strategy against glioma

B148 Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) undergoes a well-characterized deletion resulting in the creation of a constitutively active mutant receptor, named EGFR variant-III (EGFRvIII). EGFRvIII is expressed in several malignancies, including those of the brain, prostate, lung and breast. We designed a siRNA molecule against the junction point created by a deletion in the mRNA of EGFRvIII with the intention of specifically silencing EGFRvIII and evaluating its influence on brain tumor cells as a model. Anti-EGFRvIII siRNA was introduced into EGFRvIII expressing glioma cells (U87Δ) by electroporation, resulting in complete inhibition of expression of EGFRvIII as early as 96 hours post-treatment. During the window in which EGFRvIII was silenced, the proliferation rate of glioma cells decreased to ~20% of control levels. SiRNA treatment had no perceptible effect on the proliferation of glioma cells that do not express EGFRvIII (U87 cells). The invasiveness of siRNA-treated U87Δ cells was reduced (p
Supraspinatus tendon overuse results in degenerative changes to tendon insertion region and adjacent humeral cartilage in a rat model

The etiology of rotator cuff tendon overuse injuries is still not well understood. Furthermore, how this overuse injury impacts other components of the glenohumeral joint, including nearby articular cartilage, is also unclear. Therefore, this study sought to better understand the time course of tendon protease activity in a rat model of supraspinatus overuse, as well as determine effects of 10 weeks of overuse on humeral head articular cartilage. For these studies, multiplex gelatin zymography was used to characterize protease activity profiles in tendon and cartilage, while histological scoring/mechanical testing and micro-computed tomography (μCT) imaging were used to quantify structural damage in the supraspinatus tendon insertion and humeral articular cartilage, respectively. Histological scoring of supraspinatus tendon insertions revealed tendinopathic cellular and collagen fiber changes after 10 weeks of overuse when compared to controls, while mechanical testing revealed no significant differences between tensile moduli (overuse: 24.5 ± 11.5 MPa; control: 16.3 ± 8.7 MPa). EPIC-μCT imaging on humeral articular cartilage demonstrated significant cartilage thinning (overuse: 119.6 ± 6.34 μm; control: 195.4 ± 13.4μm), decreased proteoglycan content (overuse: 2.1 ± 0.18 cm-1 ; control: 1.65 ± 0.14 cm-1 ), and increased subchondral bone thickness (overuse: 216.2 ± 10.9 μm; control: 192 ± 17.8μm) in the overuse animals. Zymography results showed no significant upregulation of cathepsins or matrix metalloproteinases in tendon or cartilage at 2 or 10 weeks of overuse compared to controls. These results have further elucidated timing of protease activity over 10 weeks and suggest that damage occurs to other tissues in addition to the supraspinatus tendon in this overuse injury model. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:1910-1918, 2017.
NFAT1 in Adult and Cord Blood-Derived Human CD4 + T-Cells: Regulatory Implications for Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD).

Clinical benefits of umbilical cord blood (UCB) grafts include the lower incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) following allogeneic transplantation. We have previously demonstrated dramatically lower expression of the Nuclear Factor of Activated T-Cells 1 (NFAT1) protein, its associated transcripts and known binding partners, but not NFAT1 transcripts in UCB CD4 + cells following primary stimulation when compared to T-cells obtained from adult blood (AB). As NFAT1 is a key transcriptional regulator of immune responses, we hypothesize that NFAT1 and NFAT1-dependent factors play a critical role in the increased proliferation and decreased cytokine production seen in UCB, which may contribute to the lower incidence of aGVHD following UCB transplantation observed clinically. We have now demonstrated in vitro via siRNA-mediated knockdown and subsequent analysis of adult-derived primary T-cells with RT-PCR and Cytometric Bead Assay (CBA) that expression of a GVHD-promoting, Th 1 -type cytokine profile is dependent on expression of NFAT1, and that knockdown of NFAT1 results in a transcriptional and cytokine secretion profile similar to that seen in UCB T-cells with respect to key immunoregulatory cytokines and signal transducers following stimulation. Specifically, siRNA-mediated reduction of NFAT1 by at least 68% results in 93% and 28% reduction of IFN-γ, and TNF-αrespectively, as well as a 55% reduction in CTLA4 measured by RT-PCR. Additionally, short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated stable knockdown of NFAT1 results in an enhanced and prolonged reduction of IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-αsecretion over transient siRNA transfection in both the Jurkat cell line and adult primary CD4 + T-cells. However, microarray and RT-PCR time point analyses indicate NFAT1 transcripts are not changed in UCB versus AB CD4 + cells. Under siRNA knockdown conditions, we observed at least a 24-hour delayed decrease in NFAT1 protein levels following mRNA reduction and an eventual rebound of both NFAT1 and its associated cytokines following transient transfection at 48 hours. This suggests a crucial regulatory role for post-translational events which may preferentially occur in UCB-derived T-cells in vivo . Indeed, we have observed ubiquitination of NFAT1 and rapid rescue of NFAT1 expression following treatment with the calpain-proteasome inhibitor Acetyl-L-Leucyl-L-Leucyl-L-Norleucinal (ALLN) in UCB-derived T-cells in vitro by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) in a dose-dependent manner. NFAT1 in unstimulated UCB CD4 + cells is shown by co-IP to be significantly more ubiquitinated than in AB-derived cells. Overall, our data indicates that regulation of NFAT1 through ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation, and its subsequent downstream effects may constitute a key difference between T-cells of adult and neonatal origin; specifically that this post-translational modification may serve as a method by which UCB-derived T-cells may prevent NFAT1 activity, impacting their allogeneic response.
Working Toward Everyday Social Justice Action: Exploring Liquid Modernity, Material Feminisms, Care of the Self, and Parrhesia

The purpose of this paper is to explore the difficulty many critically prepared educators and leaders experience when wanting to translate their social justice knowledge into everyday social justice practices. Even though these individuals are critically conscious and want to critically act, many become overwhelmed with the enormity of the neoliberal crisis, tend to fear actually acting against or speaking up in the face of injustice, and may become cynical in terms of even believing in the possibility of any type of educational and social transformation. To address this reticence, the postmodern and posthuman concepts of liquid modernity (Bauman, 2006, 2007) material feminisms (Barad, 2007,2008), care of the self and parrhesia (Foucault, 2001, 2005, 2011) were presented to educational leadership doctoral students as ideas to explicitly challenge their issues of fear and cynicism. Findings suggest these are important concepts that may assist critical educators in extending their critical knowledge into everyday social justice action.
Epigenomic Disruption of Cardiovascular Care: What It Will Take

Hypothesis-driven research, while indispensable for generating new knowledge, is often not the source of new clinical advances. Omics technologies can theoretically provide a more quantitative and precise understanding of human health. However, this requires revaluation of some of the central assumptions of basic research: that rodents faithfully model human physiology, that better understanding of biological mechanism is the fastest way to new therapies, and that patients are healthcare customers, rather than participants. Article, see p 1754 Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The largest population on earth, combined with rapid industrialization in recent decades, make China’s CHD epidemic particularly large and dynamic. Estimates attribute 22% of cardiovascular deaths and 9% of total deaths to CHD in urban populations (13% and 4% for rural populations, respectively).1 In the United States, CHD accounts for 45% of cardiovascular and 14% of total deaths.2 What is the goal of precision health in CHD, a disease in which the risk factors are well known and largely modifiable? Unlike genetic markers, epigenetic markers have the potential to change behavior because they are themselves the result of environmental factors interacting with the genome. DNA methylation is a proven marker for and therapeutic target in cancer.3 Methylation arrays have enabled investigation of large cohorts across a range of common diseases.4 DNA methylation signatures lurking in blood have been shown to correlate with …
Range And Roosting Ecology of the Little Brown Bat, Myotis lucifugus, In Interior and Northern Alaska

Very little is known about the range and ecology of the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) in Alaska and how the species continues to persist in a region where temperatures fall below their predicted threshold for winter survival. Establishing a baseline of current distribution is critical to monitoring potential population shifts. We hypothesized that persistence of the Little Brown Bat in interior and northern Alaska is dependent on the ability of bats to gain sufficient mass over a short summer with limited darkness, and on the availability of human structures for roosting in areas where temperatures are likely too low for roosting in natural structures. To describe the roosting ecology of bats in interior and northern Alaska, we combined traditional ecological knowledge, outreach through citizen science, and sampling using roost studies and telemetry. Activity outside of the roost was positively related to length of time between sunset and sunrise. Fat gained through summer in interior Alaska constituted 21% of body mass in fall prior to dispersal. Radio-tracked bats migrated short distances (<100 km) to areas where human structures were the most likely hibernacula. We conclude that Little Brown Bats use human structures to offset the constraints of cold temperatures and short foraging seasons in interior Alaska.
Autophagy promotes escape from phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibition in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer

Hyperactivation of the PI3K pathway has been implicated in resistance to antiestrogen therapies in estrogen receptor α (ER)-positive breast cancer, prompting the development of therapeutic strategies to inhibit this pathway. Autophagy has tumor-promoting and -suppressing roles and has been broadly implicated in resistance to anticancer therapies, including antiestrogens. Chloroquine (CQ) is an antimalarial and amebicidal drug that inhibits autophagy in mammalian cells and human tumors. Herein, we observed that CQ inhibited proliferation and autophagy in ER+ breast cancer cells. PI3K inhibition with GDC-0941 (pictilisib) induced autophagy. Inhibition of autophagy using CQ or RNA interference potentiated PI3K inhibitor-induced apoptosis. Combined inhibition of PI3K and autophagy effectively induced mitochondrial membrane depolarization, which required the BH3-only proapoptotic proteins Bim and PUMA. Treatment with GDC-0941, CQ, or the combination, significantly suppressed the growth of ER+ breast cancer xenografts in mice. In an antiestrogen-resistant xenograft model, GDC-0941 synergized with CQ to provide partial, but durable, tumor regression. These findings warrant clinical evaluation of therapeutic strategies to target ER, PI3K, and autophagy for the treatment of ER+ breast cancer.-Yang, W., Hosford, S. R., Traphagen, N. A., Shee, K., Demidenko, E., Liu, S., Miller, T. W. Autophagy promotes escape from phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibition in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.
Foreward: Reintroducing a Classic Study of the Legal Profession

This Foreward introduces the re-issue (in print and ebook formats) of Jerome E. Carlin, Lawyers on Their Own (Quid Pro Books, Classics of Law & Society Series, 2011). The Foreward highlights the main contributions of Carlin's classic empirical study of urban solo-practice lawyers and identifies some of the contemporary scholarship on the legal profession that Carlin's book has influenced.
Ultrasound elastography of the patellar tendon in young, asymptomatic sedentary and moderately active individuals

Abstract Background The recent use of ultrasound elastography to study patellar tendon softness has demonstrated increased tendon softness in high-level athletes. We hypothesized that measurable alterations in patellar tendon softness may be present in young asymptomatic subjects engaging in moderate levels of physical activity. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. Gray-scale ultrasound and ultrasound elastography of the right and left patellar tendons were performed in young asymptomatic sedentary subjects and moderately active subjects who engaged in at least 30 min of physical activity 4–5 times weekly. The distribution of soft, intermediate and stiff tissue within each tendon was analyzed. Tendon softness was correlated with subject age, gender and level of athletic activity. Results Sixty patellar tendons in 30 subjects were evaluated (18 males, 12 females, mean age 22.5 years). Seventeen subjects were defined as “active” and 13 as “sedentary.” All tendons had a normal gray-scale sonographic appearance. Tendon softness was significantly higher in active subjects (P = 0.01) and decreased with age (P = 0.04). In sedentary individuals there was no significant correlation between age and tendon softness (P = 0.404). Similarly, gender showed no correlation with tendon softness (P > 0.05). Conclusions Patellar tendon softness is higher in young subjects and in those engaging in moderate physical activity. This may reflect an adaptation to increased tendon load. Tendon softness in active subjects decreases with age, while it remains at a constant value in sedentary individuals. Level of evidence: Level 3.
Even bees know zero is less than one

Across three elegant experiments, Howard, Avargues-Weber, Garcia, Greentree, & Dyer (2018) demonstrate that honey bees spontaneously generalize an ordinal rule to empty sets, treating zero as less than other whole numbers. Their findings provide strong evidence that bees have a nonsymbolic concept of zero similar to that found in monkeys and human children, suggesting that this capacity may have important evolutionary significance.
Hiring People With Criminal Records in South Carolina: Examining Businesses’ Hiring Practices and Views on Incentives:

The stigma of a criminal history has well-documented adverse effects on the efforts of ex-offenders to secure employment. What is less well understood is whether interventions or educational effort...
Public Health Genomics

This volume has provided a broad and comprehensive review of psychosocial and behavioral concerns of children, adolescents, and their families in the context of genomic medicine and health care. In addition to considering current applications for genomics in this population, including prenatal and newborn screening and carrier testing, it also tackled the major issues involved in the future translation of genomics to primary prevention among young and healthy individuals.
Anther culture for the production of haploid and doubled haploids in Jatropha curcas L. and its hybrids

Jatropha curcas L. has recently received considerable attention for the production of sustainable and affordable biofuels. Large scale cultivation of Jatropha requires homozygous parental genotypes to develop sustainable high yielding hybrids. Doubled haploid culture has been shown to offer the shortest method of producing homozygous plants and to permit greater selection efficiency since all the genes are fixed in a homozygous stage. In the present study, an efficient in vitro method for plant regeneration via anther culture of Jatropha was developed. Efforts were taken to induce callus from anthers of immature buds of seven elite genotypes and hybrids of Jatropha. Highest percent callus (77%) induction was achieved from anthers cultured on MS medium supplemented with BA (1.0 mg/l) and Picloram (1.0 mg/l), but callus obtained on media with BA (1.0 mg/l) and 2,4-D (1.0 mg/l), Kinetin (0.5 mg/l) and 2,4-D (2.0 mg/l), and BA (0.5 mg/l) and NAA (2.0 mg/l) showed regeneration of plants on medium containing BA (2.0 mg/l), Kinetin (0.5 mg/l) and NAA (0.5 mg/l). Rooting was achieved in 90% of the elongated shoots on half-strength MS medium with IBA (2.0 mg/l). All in vitro anther-derived plants were transferred to a greenhouse with 100% success in primary hardening and around 85% in secondary hardening. Plants established in the field are growing well as normal plants. Molecular and flow cytometry analyses of embryogenic callus revealed 5.7% and 3% samples are haploid and doubled haploid, respectively. Anther culture protocol is developed for generation of haploids and doubled haploids in Jatropha curcas and its hybrids.
'Linguistic Authority' in State-Society Interaction: Cultural Politics of Tibetan Education in China.

Situated in the contemporary contexts of Tibetan language movement and development in the education field, this article draws attention to the interactional nature of state-society relations and dy...
Correction to: Against Philosophical Anarchism

In the original publication of the article, the corresponding author name was published incorrectly as “And Fabian Wendt”. The correct author name is “Fabian Wendt”. The original article has been corrected.
Continuous in-line homogenization process for scale-up production of naltrexone-loaded PLGA microparticles.

Abstract Injectable, long-acting drug delivery systems provide effective drug concentrations in the blood for up to 6 months. Naltrexone-loaded poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles were prepared using an in-line homogenization method. It allows the transition from a laboratory scale to scale-up production. This research was designed to understand how the processing parameters affect the properties of the microparticles, such as microparticle size distributions, surface and internal morphologies, drug loadings, and drug release kinetics, and thus, to control them. The in-line homogenization system was used at high flow rates for the oil- and water-phases, e.g., 100 mL/min and 400 mL/min, respectively, to continuously generate microparticles. A high molecular weight (148 kDa) PLGA at various concentrations was used to generate oil-phases with a range of viscosities and also to compare with a 64 and 79 kDa at a single, high concentration. The uniformity of the microparticles was found to be related to the viscosity of the oil-phase. As the viscosity of the oil-phase increased from 52.6 mPa∙s to 4046 mPa∙s, the span value (a measure of uniformity) increased from 1.24 to 3.1 for the microparticles generated at the homogenization speed of 2000 RPM. Increasing the PLGA concentration from 5.58% to 16.85% showed a corresponding rise in the encapsulation efficiency from 74.0% to 85.8% and drug loading (DL) from 27.4% to 31.7% for the microparticles made with the homogenization speed of 2000 RPM. These increases may be due to a faster shell formulation, enabling PLGA microparticles to entrap more naltrexone into the structure. A higher DL, however, shortened the drug release duration from 56 to 42 days. The changes in morphology of the microparticles during different phases of the in vitro release study were also studied for three types of microparticles made with different PLGA concentrations and molecular weights. As PLGA microparticles went through structural changes, the surface showed raisin-like wrinkled morphologies within the first 10 days. Then, the microparticles swelled to form smooth surfaces. The in-line approach produced PLGA microparticles with a highly reproducible size distribution, DL, and naltrexone release rate.
Does Universal Health Coverage at Early Age Reduce Medical Needs at Later Age? Evidence from Vietnam

This study examines the impacts of exposure to a universal health coverage policy at early age on utilization of health services at later age. Our empirical strategy identifies the effects of the program by exploiting cross-cohort variation in exposure, generated by the age eligibility of the policy, and cross-province variation in the policy's intensity, generated by differences in provincial geographic characteristics. We find that exposure to the program at early age reduces probability of visit for treatment, mainly hospitalization, but does not affect preventive care and outpatient treatment at later age. Our results are robust to various controls for cohort-varying factors and ongoing poverty-reduction policies. We document larger impacts among individuals from low-income and low-education households, and those living in areas with higher risks from natural disasters. These results imply that the program benefited the most vulnerable population. Exploring potential mechanisms, we find no substantial change in household's financial well-being and household's labor market decisions associated with exposure at early age. Combining with results from previous studies, these findings suggest that the main mechanism is through increases in utilization at early age.
Fully Integrated Fault-tolerance for PMSMs in Aviation Applications

An open-circuit fault-tolerant system implementation is presented for sensorless three-phase PMSM drives. The fault-tolerant system uses a fourth inverter leg connected to the motor neutral point, allowing for post-fault two-phase operation. Since the control is sensorless and fault detection is performed by the controller, no additional sensors are required beyond three phase current sensors. Hence, the fault-tolerant system is particularly suitable for highly integrated or compact drive systems. Whilst fault detection and sensorless two-phase control are well documented in existing literature, often little attention is given to the transitional behavior between a fault occurring and post-fault operation. Hence we focus on experimentally testing the fault-tolerant system in its entirety. An open-circuit fault is created during sensorless three-phase operation, causing a transient in the motor torque and speed. The controller rapidly detects the fault, and switches to post-fault control with the faulty leg disabled and the 4th leg connected to the motor neutral. In the test system the fault caused only a 5% dip in motor speed before the speed was smoothly regulated back to the commanded pre-fault speed under the post-fault two-phase control scheme. This fast recovery from a fault condition is particularly beneficial to aviation applications, where even a brief loss of the motor drive may be unacceptable.
Layered seawater intrusion and melt under grounded ice

Abstract. Increasing melt of ice sheets at their floating or vertical interface with the ocean is a major driver of marine ice sheet retreat and sea level rise. However, the extent to which warm, salty seawater may drive melting under the grounded portions of ice sheets is still not well understood. Previous work has explored the possibility that dense seawater intrudes beneath relatively light subglacial freshwater discharge, similar to the salt wedge observed in many estuarine systems. In this study, we develop a generalized theory of layered seawater intrusion under grounded ice, including where subglacial hydrology occurs as a macroporous water sheet over impermeable beds or as microporous Darcy flow through permeable till. Using predictions from this theory, we show that seawater intrusion over hard beds may feasibly occur up to tens of kilometers upstream of a glacier terminus or grounding line. On the other hand, seawater is unlikely to intrude more than tens of meters through subglacial till. High-resolution simulations using the Ice-Sheet and Sea-Level System Model (ISSM) show that even just a few hundred meters of basal melt caused by seawater intrusion upstream of marine ice sheet grounding lines can cause projections of marine ice sheet volume loss to be 10–50 % higher or 100 % higher for kilometers of intrusion-induced basal melt. These results suggest that further observational, experimental and numerical investigations are needed to determine whether the conditions under which extensive seawater intrusion occurs and whether it will indeed drive rapid marine ice sheet retreat and sea level rise in the future.
Improving peer review with ACORN: ACO algorithm for reviewer's network

Peer review, our current system for determining which papers to accept for journals and conferences, has limitations that impair the quality of scientific communication. Under the current system, each paper receives an equal amount of attention regardless of how good the paper is. We propose to implement a new system for conference peer review based on ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms. In our model, each reviewer has a set of ants that goes out and finds articles. The reviewer assesses the paper that the ant brings and the reviewer's ants deposit pheromone that is proportional to the quality of the review. Subsequent ants select the next article based on pheromone strength. We used an agent-based model to determine that an ACO-based paper selection system will direct reviewers' attention to the best articles and correctly rank them based on the papers' quality.
On the Security of One-Witness Blind Signature Schemes

Blind signatures have proved an essential building block for applications that protect privacy while ensuring unforgeability, i.e., electronic cash and electronic voting. One of the oldest, and most efficient blind signature schemes is the one due to Schnorr that is based on his famous identification scheme. Although it was proposed over twenty years ago, its unforgeability remains an open problem, even in the random-oracle model. In this paper, we show that current techniques for proving security in the random oracle model do not work for the Schnorr blind signature by providing a meta-reduction which we call “personal nemesis adversary”. Our meta-reduction is the first one that does not need to reset the adversary and can also rule out reductions to interactive assumptions. Our results generalize to other important blind signatures, such as the one due to Brands. Brands’ blind signature is at the heart of Microsoft’s newly implemented UProve system, which makes this work relevant to cryptographic practice as well.
Local renormalization group functions from quantum renormalization group and holographic bulk locality

The bulk locality in the constructive holographic renormalization group requires miraculous cancellations among various local renormalization group functions. The cancellation is not only from the properties of the spectrum but from more detailed aspects of operator product expansions in relation to conformal anomaly. It is remarkable that one-loop computation of the universal local renormalization group functions in the weakly coupled limit of the N=4 super Yang-Mills theory fulfils the necessary condition for the cancellation in the strongly coupled limit in its SL(2,Z) duality invariant form. From the consistency between the quantum renormalization group and the holographic renormalization group, we determine some unexplored local renormalization group functions (e.g. diffusive term in the beta function for the gauge coupling constant) in the strongly coupled limit of the planar N=4 super Yang-Mills theory.
MESOSCALE METEOROLOGY | Mesoscale Convective Systems

Mesoscale convective systems are organized, multicellular thunderstorm systems that have a strong impact on heavy rainfall, severe weather, and vertical transport in the atmosphere. The significant types in terms of those impacts range from bow echoes at smaller scales, which cause damaging surface winds, to mesoscale convective complexes with mesoscale convective vortices at larger scales, which can produce persistent, widespread heavy rainfall and flash flooding. This article describes their structure, life cycle, large-scale environments, global distribution, impact on heat and moisture transport, chemical transport, and electricity.
Assessment of the risk of HIV spread via non-steady heterosexual partners in the U.S. population

We evaluate the conditions for the initial spread of HIV infection via non-steady heterosexual partners in the U.S. population. The main source of data is a 1988 U.S. survey on sexual partners in the 12 months prior to the survey. The behavioral data are coupled with a multi-state life table constructed from 1985 U.S. rates of marriage, divorce and mortality. The life table allows for projections that take age, sex and marital status into account.
Improving gradient estimation by incorporating sensor data

An efficient policy search algorithm should estimate the local gradient of the objective function, with respect to the policy parameters, from as few trials as possible. Whereas most policy search methods estimate this gradient by observing the rewards obtained during policy trials, we show, both theoretically and empirically, that taking into account the sensor data as well gives better gradient estimates and hence faster learning. The reason is that rewards obtained during policy execution vary from trial to trial due to noise in the environment; sensor data, which correlates with the noise, can be used to partially correct for this variation, resulting in an estimator with lower variance.
An Efficient Nonlinear Regression Approach for Genome-wide Detection of Marginal and Interacting Genetic Variations.

Abstract Genome-wide association studies have revealed individual genetic variants associated with phenotypic traits such as disease risk and gene expressions. However, detecting pairwise interaction effects of genetic variants on traits still remains a challenge due to a large number of combinations of variants (∼1011 SNP pairs in the human genome), and relatively small sample sizes (typically <104). Despite recent breakthroughs in detecting interaction effects, there are still several open problems, including: (1) how to quickly process a large number of SNP pairs, (2) how to distinguish between true signals and SNPs/SNP pairs merely correlated with true signals, (3) how to detect nonlinear associations between SNP pairs and traits given small sample sizes, and (4) how to control false positives. In this article, we present a unified framework, called SPHINX, which addresses the aforementioned challenges. We first propose a piecewise linear model for interaction detection, because it is simple enough to...
The Impact of Current Policy and Regulation on Future Stem Cell Human Health Applications

This article summarizes the history of embryonic and stem cell research in the United States from a law and policy perspective. More importantly, the article probes the roles of federal and state government in the enterprise of biomedical research funding and technology transfer and development. The history of government funding of research in the United States from the 20th Century forward is presented, but the discussion focuses on the contemporary enterprise of technology transfer and development in an age of integration among academia, industry and government.
Insider Trading, Selective Disclosure, and Prompt Disclosure: A Comparative Analysis

This article focuses on regulation of insider trading and company affirmative disclosure in developed securities markets. First, the U.S. regime is discussed. Thereafter, the securities laws of selected developed markets are addressed in order to provide contrasts to the U.S. approach. Last, the article focuses on a number of significant issues that merit exploration.