cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The effect of zinc deficiency on the metabolism of retinol-binding protein in the rat.

Abstract Zinc-deficient rats have very low plasma vitamin A levels in spite of adequate liver vitamin A stores. A study was conducted to explore the effects of zinc deficiency on the metabolism of retinol-binding protein (RBP), the plasma transport protein for vitamin A. The plasma RBP level of zinc-deficient rats was only 14 ± 2 μg per milliliter In contrast, the plasma RBP level was 50 ± 2 μg per milliliter in control rats fed ad libitum on a zinc-sufficient diet and 36 ± 1 μg per milliliter in a zinc-sufficient group pair-fed with the zinc-deficient rats. Moreover, the liver RBP levels of the zinc-deficient group were only about 55 to 60 per cent of the levels of either the ad libitum or pair-fed control animals. The data suggest that zinc deficiency interferes with the synthesis of RBP by the liver and probably with the synthesis of some other plasma proteins as well. The low plasma vitamin A levels seen in zinc deficiency can be attributed to an impaired ability of the deficient rat to mobilize vitamin A from its liver in the form of the retinol-RBP complex.
Query Processing and Optimization on the Web

The advent of the Internet and the Web and their subsequent ubiquity have brought forth opportunities to connect information sources across all types of boundaries (local, regional, organizational, etc.). Examples of such information sources include databases, XML documents, and other unstructured sources. Uniformly querying those information sources has been extensively investigated. A major challenge relates to query optimization. Indeed, querying multiple information sources scattered on the Web raises several barriers for achieving efficiency. This is due to the characteristics of Web information sources that include volatility, heterogeneity, and autonomy. Those characteristics impede a straightforward application of classical query optimization techniques. They add new dimensions to the optimization problem such as the choice of objective function, selection of relevant information sources, limited query capabilities, and unpredictable events. In this paper, we survey the current research on fundamental problems to efficiently process queries over Web data integration systems. We also outline a classification for optimization techniques and a framework for evaluating them.
Characterization and Solubilization of Kaurenoic Acid Hydroxylase from Gibberella fujikuroi.

A key step in gibberellin biosynthesis is the conversion of ent-kaurenoic acid to ent-7[alpha]-hydroxykaurenoic acid, mediated by the enzyme kaurenoic acid hydroxylase. A cell-free system obtained from Gibberella fujikuroi (Saw.) Wr. was used to characterize kaurenoic acid hydroxylase activity. Microsomal preparations from disrupted fungal cells, in the presence of O2 and NADPH, converted [17-14C]ent-kaurenoic acid to oxidation products that were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography and identified as ent-7[alpha]-hydroxykaurenoic acid and gibberellin A14 by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Flavin adenine dinucleotide and the chloride salts of several monovalent cations stimulated the conversion of ent-kaurenoic acid to these products, whereas CO and a number of known inhibitors of cytochrome P-450-dependent reactions, including paclobutrazol, tetcyclacis, BAS 111.W, flurprimidol, triarimol, metyrapone, and 1-phenylimida-zole, significantly reduced kaurenoic acid hydroxylase activity. Kaurenoic acid hydroxylase was solubilized from fungal microsomes by treatment with 1 M KCl. The properties of the enzyme noted above suggest that kaurenoic acid hydroxylase from G. fujikuroi is a cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase.
Recognition of negative mesoscale factors for severe-weather potential: A case study

Abstract The case of 7–8 June 1998 in eastern New Mexico and western Texas is used to illustrate the challenge of recognizing possible negative effects created by mesoscale processes. In this case, a region of cloud-covered cool air (which was associated with early thunderstorms) may have limited the tornadic potential of severe convection. Although the tornado potential in the synoptic situation was not highly portentous, supercell storms did eventually form, one of which was persistent for many hours. There were only relatively brief and weak tornadoes reported from this storm early in its life, despite its persistence as a long-lived supercell that produced a long swath of large hail. In this case, the development of thunderstorms east of the threat area early in the day maintained cloudiness that apparently inhibited the destabilization of the surface-based air mass over which the afternoon thunderstorms eventually moved. The persistent supercell formed on the dryline but overrode this mesoscale cool ...
Presynaptic modulation of ganglionic ACh release by muscarinic and nicotinic receptors

The present experiments were undertaken to investigate the effects of atropine and d-tubocurarine on acetylcholine (ACh) release and ganglionic synaptic transmission in the isolated cat stellate ganglion. Ganglionic release of picomole amounts of ACh was measured by radioenzymatic assay, and ganglionic transmission was estimated on the basis of the compound action potential recorded from the postganglionic stellate cardiac nerve. Atropine (5 microM) produced a significant increase in both spontaneous and evoked ACh release from the ganglion while depressing synaptic transmission. d-Tubocurarine (20 microM) also caused a significant, though smaller, increase in spontaneous release of ACh but had little effect on evoked release of ACh. These results suggest that ACh release and synaptic transmission in the cat stellate ganglion are subject to cholinergic feedback regulation, which appears to be mediated predominantly via muscarinic presynaptic receptors.
Digital immortality

Digital immortality, like ordinary immortality, is a continuum from enduring fame at one end to endless experience and learning at the other, stopping just short of endless life . Preserving and transmitting your ideas is one-way immortality : allowing communication with the future. Endless experience and leaning is two-way immortality : allowing “you,” or at least part of you, to communicate with the future in the sense that artifact continues to learn and evolve. Current technology can extend corporal life for a few decades. Both one-way and two-way immortality require part of a person to be converted to information ( Cyberized ), and stored in a more durable media. We believe that two-way immortality where one’s experiences are digitally preserved, and which then take on a life of their own will be possible within the this century.
What role do precrash driver actions play in work zone crashes? Application of hierarchical models to crash data

Highway infrastructure requires periodic maintenance, reconstruction, and rehabilitation. As a result, highway users have to deal with work zone activities such as lane closures and lane shifts or crossovers, and they must be aware of changes in road conditions to drive safely through work zones. A large-scale statewide crash database from the Virginia Department of Transportation was used in this study to examine correlations between precrash actions and the severity of the injuries of drivers involved in crashes. An innovative aspect of this study is that it accounts for the injury severity of each vehicle driver involved in a crash by estimating hierarchical models. The correlates of the severity of a driver’s injury are nested in crashes. Modeling revealed that for work zone crashes the chances of driver injury are 9.9% to 10.3% higher than for the base behavior (i.e., no improper actions by the driver) if the driver intentionally commits an improper action or a violation. For non–work zone crashes, t...
Studies on the relations between fetal growth and cord blood ACTH and crotisol

Objective:To investigate the relationship between fetal growth and cord blood adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH) and crotisol.Methods: The newborns were divided into three groups according to their born weight and gestational age,small for gestational age(SGA group,n = 30),lager for gestational age(LGA group,n = 30),appropriate gestational age(AGA group,n = 30).Born body length and body weight of three groups were measured respectively.The levels of ACTH and crotisol in cord blood were measured by radioimmunoassay(RIA).Results: The levels of ACTH in cord blood were(26.46 ± 7.73) ng/ml,(28.64 ± 7.12) ng/ml and(29.30 ± 8.33) ng/ml in LGA group,AGA group and SGA group respectively,and there were no significant differences among three groups(P = 0.336).The levels of crotisol in cord blood were(7.11 ± 2.70) ng/ml,(11.84 ± 3.88) ng/ml and(18.80 ± 5.27) ng/ml in LGA group,AGA group and SGA group respectively,and there were significant differences among three groups(P 0.01).Conclusion: Crotisol might play an important role in fetal growth.
Metabolic and endocrine responses of lambs fed Acremonium coenophialum-infected or noninfected tall fescue hay at equivalent nutrient intake.

Ten Hampshire x Western wether lambs (means weight = 30.1 kg) equipped with ruminal and abomasal cannulas were fed either low-Acremonium coenophialum (AC) Kentucky-31 (less than 1% infected) or high-AC G1-307 (greater than 95% infected) varieties of tall-fescue (TF) hay of similar nutrient composition in a completely randomized design. Lambs were housed in metabolism crates at 21 +/- 1 degrees C and fed 552 g DM/d of ground hay at 0800 and 2000. A 10-d adaptation preceded 7 d of sample collection. Levels of water and DM voluntarily consumed by the low-AC group during the adjustment period were held constant for both treatment groups throughout the collection period by intraruminal insertion of unconsumed DM and water. Fixed water intake markedly reduced voluntary water intake but it alleviated previous depressions in voluntary DM intake in lambs fed high-AC. Mean daily respiration and heart rates, rectal temperature and hematocrit were not affected (P greater than .10) by treatment. Compared with high-AC, lambs fed low-AC retained a greater (P less than .10) amount of N (1.8 vs 1.1 g/d) and a greater (P less than .10) percentage of their N intake (16.4 vs 9.9%). Abomasal total and bacterial N flow and ruminal digestion of cell wall components were not affected (P greater than .10) by treatment. Total tract digestion of DM, NDF and ADF was lower (P less than .01) for high- than for low-AC. Serum prolactin concentration was higher (P less than .10) for lambs fed low- than for those fed high-AC TF, but serum cortisol and thyroxine concentrations were not affected (P greater than .10) by treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Image-guided stereotactic body radiation therapy using a low-Z target imaging beam line and a high dose rate unflattened beam

Extension of hypofractionated stereotactic radiation therapy to extracranial sites is now possible due to the technological improvements in image guidance and immobilization devices. Treatment of non-small cell lung cancer using stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in particular shows very promising results. We will present our institution’s initial experience of SBRT treatment using a megavoltage conebeam computed tomography (MV-CBCT) imaging beam line (IBL) and a new enhanced stereotactic treatment (EST) mode. The IBL combines the effects of a low-Z carbon target, lower accelerating potential and removal of the flattening filter to lower the average photon energy, thereby increasing the image quality and lowering the imaging dose. During treatment delivery in EST mode, the flattening filter is removed, and monitoring equipment is modified, in order to increase the dose rate and reduce the treatment time, therefore decreasing the risk of patient movement.
Almost Periodic Functions and Their Time-Averages

We provide here some very basic information on real and complex-valued almost periodic functions.
Asthma (Wheezing and Shortness of Breath)

There are few, if any, ailments which have terrified children and their families more and more often than wheezing and asthma.*
Social Role Theory of Sex Differences

Social role theory is a social psychological theory that pertains to sex differences and similarities in social behavior. Its key principle is that differences and similarities arise primarily from the distribution of men and women into social roles within their society. Through socialization and the formation of gender roles, the behaviors of men and women generally support and sustain the division of labor. In industrialized economies, for example, social roles are organized so that women are more likely than men to be homemakers and primary caretakers of children and to hold caretaking jobs in the paid economy. In contrast, men are more likely than women to be primary family providers and to assume full-time roles in the paid economy, often ones that involve physical strength, assertiveness, or leadership skills. Keywords: gender; gender difference; gender analysis; gender division of labor; gender equality
Organization of Knowledge and Problem-Solving

How is the problem space organized? What is the role of knowledge in organizing problem space and how is it structured?How is text analytics performed?How would a Cognitive Thing generate alternatives? Are there different approaches to the generation of alternatives?Can new features be created? How are the profiles enriched?Does problem solving take place in batch or real-time?
Setting a gold standard for integrative evolutionary biology

Review of: Ketterson, E. D. and J. W. Atwell, eds. 2016. Snowbird: Integrative Biology and Evolutionary Diversity in the Junco. University of Chicago Press. 416 pp. ISBN 9780226330808; $60 CB. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Evolutionary Adaptation and Amyloid Formation: Does the Reduced Amyloidogenicity and Cytotoxicity of Ursine Amylin Contribute to the Metabolic Adaption of Bears and Polar Bears?

Much of our knowledge of diabetes is derived from studies of rodent models. An alternative approach explores evolutionary solutions to physiological stress by studying organisms that face challenging metabolic environments. Polar bears eat an enormously lipid-rich diet without deleterious metabolic consequences. In contrast, transgenic rodents expressing the human neuropancreatic polypeptide hormone amylin develop hyperglycemia and extensive pancreatic islet amyloid when fed a high-fat diet. The process of islet amyloid formation by human amylin contributes to β-cell dysfunction and loss of β-cell mass in type 2 diabetes. We show that ursine amylin is considerably less amyloidogenic and less toxic to β-cells than human amylin, consistent with the hypothesis that part of the adaptation of bears to metabolic challenges might include protection from islet amyloidosis-induced β-cell toxicity. Ursine and human amylin differ at four locations: H18R, S20G, F23L, and S29P. These are interesting from a biophysical perspective, since the S20G mutation accelerates amyloid formation, but the H18R slows it. An H18RS20G double mutant of human amylin behaves similarly to the H18R mutant, indicating that the substitution at position 18 dominates the S20G replacement. These data suggest one possible mechanism underpinning the protection of bears against metabolic challenges and provide insight into the design of soluble analogs of human amylin.
National infrastructure as complex interactive networks

The increasing complexity and interconnectedness of energy, telecommunications, transportation, and financial infrastructures pose new challenges for secure, reliable management and operation. No single entity has complete control of these multi-scale, distributed, highly interactive networks, or the ability to evaluate, monitor, and manage in real time. In addition, the conventional mathematical methodologies that underpin today's modeling, simulation, and control paradigm are unable to handle their complexity and interconnectedness. Complex interactive networks are omnipresent and critical to economic and social well-being. Many of our nation’s critical infrastructures are complex networked systems, including:
Quality and the Academic Library: Reviewing, Assessing and Enhancing Service Provision

Today, universities are focusing on quality assurance and enhancement more than before, and they expect all departments including the library to measure and improve the quality and effectiveness of...
Interacting User Generated Content Technologies: How Q&As Affect Ratings & Reviews

In this paper, we study the question and answer (Q&A) feature of electronic commerce platforms, an increasingly common form of user-generated content (UGC) that allows consumers to publicly ask product-specific questions and receive responses, either from the platform or from other customers. Using data from a major online retailer, we show that Q&As complement reviews and ratings: unlike reviews, Q&As primarily happen pre-purchase, focus on clarification of product attributes (rather than discussion of quality), and convey fit-specific information in a sentiment-free way. Our main hypothesis is that Q&As mitigate product fit uncertainty, leading to better matches between products and consumers, and therefore improved product ratings. We show that when low-rated products start receiving Q&As, their subsequent ratings improve by approximately 0.5 stars. We further show that the extent of the rating increase due to Q&As is moderated by the degree of ex-ante fit uncertainty. Overall, our findings suggest that, by resolving product fit uncertainty in an e-commerce setting, the addition of Q&As can be a viable way for retailers to improve ratings and sales of low-rated products, particularly those products that have incurred low ratings due to customer-product fit mismatch.
Optimizing New-Vehicle Inventory at General Motors

This paper describes how General Motors (GM) uses operations research to optimize its new-vehicle inventory. The solution answers two complementary questions: (1) what is the optimal number of vehicles to build? and (2) what are the optimal vehicle configurations? To answer the first question, for each vehicle model, we find the inventory that maximizes profit less inventory carrying costs, which differs from the standard approach of finding the inventory needed to satisfy a given fill rate. To answer the second question, we provide a decision support tool to help dealers order the best variations for each vehicle model using a set-covering philosophy, which differs from the standard approach of recommending the highest-selling variants. This paper describes the business processes surrounding these decisions, how the need for implementation and ongoing use guided our solution development, and the impact on the business.
Direct detection of carbon and nitrogen nuclei for high-resolution analysis of intrinsically disordered proteins using NMR spectroscopy.

Abstract Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a powerful technique for characterizing the structural and dynamic properties of intrinsically disordered proteins and protein regions (IDPs & IDRs). However, the application of NMR to IDPs has been limited by poor chemical shift dispersion in two-dimensional (2D) 1H-15N heteronuclear correlation spectra. Among the various detection schemes available for heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy, 13C direct-detection has become a mainstay for investigations of IDPs owing to the favorable chemical shift dispersion in 2D 13C′-15N correlation spectra. Recent advances in cryoprobe technology have enhanced the sensitivity for direct detection of both 13C and 15N resonances at high magnetic field strengths, thus prompting the development of 15N direct-detect experiments to complement established 13C-detection experiments. However, the application of 15N-detection has not been widely explored for IDPs. Here we compare 1H, 13C, and 15N detection schemes for a variety of 2D heteronuclear correlation spectra and evaluate their performance on the basis of resolution, chemical shift dispersion, and sensitivity. We performed experiments with a variety of disordered systems ranging in size and complexity; from a small IDR (99 amino acids), to a large low complexity IDR (185 amino acids), and finally a ∼73 kDa folded homopentameric protein that also contains disordered regions (133 amino acids/monomer). We conclude that, while requiring high sample concentration and long acquisition times, 15N-detection often offers enhanced resolution over other detection schemes in studies of disordered protein regions with low complexity sequences.
Convergent Mechanisms Underlying Rapid Antidepressant Action.

Traditional pharmacological treatments for depression have a delayed therapeutic onset, ranging from several weeks to months, and there is a high percentage of individuals who never respond to treatment. In contrast, ketamine produces rapid-onset antidepressant, anti-suicidal, and anti-anhedonic actions following a single administration to patients with depression. Proposed mechanisms of the antidepressant action of ketamine include N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) modulation, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic interneuron disinhibition, and direct actions of its hydroxynorketamine (HNK) metabolites. Downstream actions include activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), deactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 and eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2), enhanced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling, and activation of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptors (AMPARs). These putative mechanisms of ketamine action are not mutually exclusive and may complement each other to induce potentiation of excitatory synapses in affective-regulating brain circuits, which results in amelioration of depression symptoms. We review these proposed mechanisms of ketamine action in the context of how such mechanisms are informing the development of novel putative rapid-acting antidepressant drugs. Such drugs that have undergone pre-clinical, and in some cases clinical, testing include the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist scopolamine, GluN2B-NMDAR antagonists (i.e., CP-101,606, MK-0657), (2R,6R)-HNK, NMDAR glycine site modulators (i.e., 4-chlorokynurenine, pro-drug of the glycineB NMDAR antagonist 7-chlorokynurenic acid), NMDAR agonists [i.e., GLYX-13 (rapastinel)], metabotropic glutamate receptor 2/3 (mGluR2/3) antagonists, GABAA receptor modulators, and drugs acting on various serotonin receptor subtypes. These ongoing studies suggest that the future acute treatment of depression will typically occur within hours, rather than months, of treatment initiation.
The Art of Aquarium Keeping Communicates Science and Conservation

In technology-driven societies, scientists and educators alike flounder in making science interesting and applicable. Communicating science, defined as communicating scientific facts as well as teaching and using the scientific process, can also be done informally though leisure activities. In this qualitative study, I examined the leisure activity of aquarium keeping and its ability to communicate relative aquatic facts and processes. This study examined aquarium keepers across the United States via interviews, participant observation, and an ongoing analysis of aquarium hobby literature. Thus, this study indicates (1) caring for a home aquarium communicates science latently, (2) over time, latent science communication becomes activated, and (3) long-term aquarium keeping leads to a personal response in science, as well as conservation. In addition, artistic expression and innovation intersect with scientific knowledge and application to create beautiful, biodiverse, ecosystems. Through the process of successfully maintaining an aquarium, continued participation leads to a proficiency in applicable scientific facts, a better understanding of scientific processes, and an improved conservation ethic for aquatic resources. Further, this intersectionality motivates participation by providing new challenges and various forms of satisfaction. The human dimensions of the aquarium hobby and the values of aquarists are important to understand for many purposes, most notably because it encompasses an enormous sample of the American population and is extremely lucrative to those along most of the supply chain. Aquarium keeping is not only a hobby, but because of the relationship between science and art, it can communicate, as well as spark conservation efforts in
Argumentum ad Hominem with and without Self-Reference

In his splendid article “Self-Reference, Phenomenology, and Philosophy of Science”1 Professor Bartlett lucidly spells out his understanding of the use I make of self-reference in developing the thesis that there are valid ad hominem arguments in philosophy. That I did at times regard all such arguments as self-referential is strongly suggested in some of my writings.2 I see now, however, that my thinking on this issue has not been altogether clear or unambiguous. For I have also published accounts of argumentum ad hominem which it would be difficult to reconcile with the claim that all such arguments are self-referential.
Profiling the immune checkpoint pathway in acute myeloid leukemia.

7015Background: The immune checkpoint pathways in AML patients especially during the course of chemotherapy induction were seldom studied. This study was to characterize these pathways in AML patie...
Retinitis pigmentosa: recent advances and future directions in diagnosis and management.

Purpose of reviewRetinitis pigmentosa is a group of genetically diverse inherited blinding disorders for which there are no treatments. Owing to recent advances in imaging technology, DNA sequencing, gene therapy, and stem cell biology, clinical trials have multiplied and the landscape is rapidly ch
Synthetic Sensor Data Generation for Health Applications: A Supervised Deep Learning Approach

Recent advancements in mobile devices, data analysis, and wearable sensors render the capability of in-place health monitoring. Supervised machine learning algorithms, the core intelligence of these systems, learn from labeled training data. However, labeling vast amount of data is time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, sensor data often contains personal information that a user may not be comfortable sharing. Therefore, there is a strong need to develop methods for generating realistic labeled sensor data. In this paper, we propose a supervised generative adversarial network architecture that learns from feedback from both a discriminator and a classifier in order to create synthetic sensor data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the architecture on a publicly available human activity dataset. We show that our generator learns to output diverse samples that are similar but not identical to the training data.
Accelerated Distributed Energy Management for Microgrids

This paper considers the optimal energy management for a microgrid. The goal of optimal energy management is to minimize the total generation cost while meeting total demand and satisfying individual generator output limits. To achieve this goal, we develop a distributed algorithm based on the consensus theory and gradient estimation technique. Compared to the existing algorithms with diminishing step-sizes, the proposed algorithm enjoys a faster convergence speed due to the fixed step-size, and thus increases the computation speed, and reduces the computation and communication burden. The proposed distributed algorithm is applicable to both fixed and time-varying directed communication networks. We show that the convergence of the proposed distributed algorithm is achieved if the fixed communication network is strongly connected, or if the time-varying communication network is uniformly jointly strongly connected. Numerical simulation results are used to illustrate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Evidence, interpretation, and persuasion: Instructional decision making at the district central office

Background/ContextCalls for evidence-based decision making have become increasingly prominent on the educational landscape. School district central offices increasingly experience these demands. Ye...
Use of virtual reality for pre-surgical planning in separation of conjoined twins: A case report:

We describe the use of virtual reality technology for surgical planning in the successful separation of thoracopagus conjoined twins. Three-dimensional models were created from computed tomography angiograms to simulate the patient's anatomy on a virtual stereoscopic display. Members of the surgical teams reviewed the anatomical models to localize an interatrial communication that allowed blood to flow between the two hearts. The surgical plan to close the 1-mm interatrial communication was significantly modified based on the pre-procedural spatial awareness of the anatomy presented in the virtual visualization. The virtual stereoscopic display was critical for the surgical team to successfully separate the twins and provides a useful case study for the use of virtual reality technology in surgical planning. Both twins survived the operation and were subsequently discharged from the hospital.
Innate Lymphoid Cells for the Control of Mucosal Immunity

Abstract Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a recently described population of innate immune cells that integrate into a complex matrix of cellular pathways that regulate mucosal immunity. Although they are less well represented in circulating blood, ILCs are abundant in intestinal, pulmonary, and oropharyngeal mucosal tissues. The development and organization of the mucosal immune system depend on ILCs as both inducers and regulators of lymphoid tissue. At these barrier sites, ILCs are well positioned to serve as the first responders in orchestrating mucosal immunity at steady state and in response to barrier disruption. In lieu of the rearranged receptors of conventional adaptive lymphocytes, mucosal ILCs utilize tissue-specific spatial organization and local cytokine cues to regulate barrier immunity and tissue repair. This chapter will review the development and heterogeneity of ILCs in the mucosal tissue and their contribution to barrier protection and tissue repair. In particular, we will focus on the organizational structure and environmental regulators that afford tight control of ILC-dependent mucosal immunity. This chapter will also review the role for mucosal ILCs in cross-regulation of adaptive and innate mucosal immune cells, which highlight a central role for ILCs in mucosal tissue homeostasis.
Pedometers are perceived as useful tools for weight loss.

Pedometers are used as motivational tools to encourage physical activity through Extension educational contacts. In conjunction with a community campaign, subjects (N = 60) enrolled in a weight-loss study were provided with pedometers. Participants recorded steps and responded to an evaluation. Step counts increased from baseline through 9 weeks (P ≤ 0.018) and correlated with goals (P ≤ 0.038). Participants who reported that the pedometer helped them achieve goals had greater fat and less fat-free mass at baseline than those who did not find it helpful. Pedometers benefit individuals by increasing activity and being perceived as useful for weight-loss.
Long Short-Term Memory and Convolutional Neural Networks for Active Noise Control

Active noise control, or adaptive noise cancellation, techniques (ANC) attempt to reduce sound pressure level by generation and superposition of an anti-noise signal in order to improve human safety or comfort in noisy environments. The least mean squares (LMS) algorithm and variants as well as some architectures of neural networks have been employed successfully for active control of noise. This work presents the novel use of long short-term memory (LSTM) and convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures for this task. Testing on a selection of commonly used noises, improved results are demonstrated when compared to both the traditional LMS approach and previously published neural-network approaches.
Urban forests near municipal solid waste incinerators do not show elevated trace metal or rare earth element concentrations across three cities in the northeast USA

With the World Bank estimating global municipal solid waste MSW to increase to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050, municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) needs to be considered as part of sustainable waste management. In spite of major advancements in air pollution control systems and emission regulations, emissions of trace metals (TMs) (As, Cd, Cu, Ga, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, W, Zn) and rare earth elements (REEs) (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Yb) may occur. Here, leaves, wood, forest floor, and A horizons in urban forests were assessed to determine if TM and REE concentrations show enrichment near MSWI relative to other urban areas for three cities in the northeastern USA. Vegetation and soil concentrations measured were generally comparable to concentrations observed in previous studies in non-urban sites. Overall, higher TM and REE in forest floor, A horizons, leaves, and wood were not observed consistently for MSWI sites when compared to city sites. Although pooled forest floor Ni and V and A horizon La and Nd concentrations were significantly different, they were not consistent but driven by a large difference at one of the three cities. This indirect study suggests air pollution control systems have prevented or have reduced TM and REE emissions to local urban forests to negligible amounts. Further studies are needed to evaluate potential interferences from other urban air pollution sources, and conduct direct emission measurements to validate MSWIs are not emitting TMs and REEs.
Chapter 10 – Unbounded Operators

In this chapter the focus is on unbounded linear operators, especially differential operators. The notions of closed and closeable linear operator are presented, and illustrated with examples. The concept of adjoint operator is generalized to a suitable class of unbounded linear operators on a Hilbert space, and the significance of the adjoint operator for solvability of linear operator equations reexamined in this context. The existence of self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators is also discussed.
All on show: the circus in Irish literature and culture: by Eleanor Lybeck, Cork, Cork University Press, 2019, 229 pp., €39.00 (Hardback), ISBN 9781782052944

The circus is a space in which society’s tacit rules are regularly flaunted. From the glittering corset-clad figures of female performers to the chaotic clowns, the big top is a transitory and trav...
Diminished Health Returns of Own and Parental Education for Immigrants in the United States

Background: Educational attainment is a strong social determinant of health. Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDRs), however, refer to smaller health effects of socioeconomic status, particularly educational attainment for marginalized groups compared to mainstream populations. While multiple studies have documented MDRs of educational attainment for racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities, there are no previous studies on MDRs of education among immigrants. Aims: To understand if the MDRs phenomenon also applies to immigrants, we compared immigrant and non-immigrant American adults for the effects of their own and parental educational attainment on subjective health. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design and borrowed data from the General Social Survey (1972-2018). GSS is a series of nationally representative surveys in the U.S. Our analytical sample included 38,399 adults who were either non-immigrants (n = 34903; 90.9%) or immigrants (n = 3496; 9.1%). The main independent variables were own and parental educational attainment measured as four-level categorical variables. The dependent variable (DV) was poor subjective health, measured using a single item. Age, sex, marital status, and year of the survey were the covariates. Immigration status was the moderator. Results: Overall, individuals with higher educational attainment of own and parents reported better subjective health. We, however, found significant interactions between immigration status and both own and parental educational attainment on subjective health, which was suggestive of weaker protective effects of own and parental educational attainment against poor subjective health in immigrants than non-immigrant individuals. Conclusions: In the United States, immigrant adults experience poor subjective health disproportionate to their own and their parents educational attainment. That means we may observe worse than expected health of immigrants across all educational levels and social classes. Public policies should go beyond equal access to education by empowering marginalized people to leverage their education and secure better outcomes.
Broadly Reactive H2 Hemagglutinin Vaccines Elicit Cross-Reactive Antibodies in Ferrets Pre-Immune to Seasonal Influenza A Viruses

Influenza vaccines have traditionally been tested in naive mice and ferrets. However, humans are first exposed to influenza viruses within the first few years of their lives. Therefore, there is a pressing need to test influenza virus vaccines in animal models that have been previously exposed to influenza viruses before being vaccinated. In this manuscript, previously described H2 computationally optimized broadly reactive antigen (COBRA) HA vaccines (Z1, Z5) were tested in influenza virus pre-immune ferret models. Ferrets were infected with historical, seasonal influenza viruses to establish pre-immunity. These pre-immune ferrets were then vaccinated with either COBRA H2 HA recombinant proteins or WT H2 HA recombinant proteins in a prime-boost regimen. A set of naive pre-immune or non pre-immune ferrets were also vaccinated to control of the effects of the multiple different pre-immunities. All of the ferrets were then challenged with a swine H2N3 influenza virus. Ferrets with pre-existing immune responses influenced recombinant H2 HA elicited antibodies following vaccination as measured by HAI and classical neutralization assays. Having both H3N2 and H1N1 immunological memory regardless of the order of exposure significantly decreased viral nasal wash titers and completely protected all ferrets from both morbidity and mortality, including the mock vaccinated ferrets in the group. While the vast majority of the pre-immune ferrets were protected from both morbidity and mortality across all of the different pre-immunities, the Z1 COBRA HA vaccinated ferrets had significantly higher antibody titers and recognized the highest number H2 influenza viruses in a classical neutralization assay compared to the other H2 HA vaccines. ImportanceH1N1 and H3N2 influenza viruses have co-circulated in the human population since 1977. Nearly every human alive today has antibodies and memory B and T cells against these two subtypes of influenza viruses. H2N2 influenza viruses caused the 1957 global pandemic and people born after 1968 have never been exposed to H2 influenza viruses. It is quite likely that a future H2 influenza virus could transmit within the human population and start a new global pandemic, since the majority of people alive today are immunologically naive to viruses of this subtype. Therefore, an effective vaccine for H2 influenza viruses should be tested in an animal model with previous exposure to influenza viruses that have circulated in humans. Ferrets were infected with historical influenza A viruses to more accurately mimic the immune responses in people who have pre-existing immune responses to seasonal influenza viruses. In this study, pre-immune ferrets were vaccinated with WT and COBRA H2 recombinant HA proteins in order to examine the effects of pre-existing immunity to seasonal human influenza viruses have on the elicitation of broadly cross-reactive antibodies from heterologous vaccination.
Assessing environmental quality for the bovine from medical and engineering viewpoints

Programs dealing with animal care and disease prevention often employ medication, antibiotics, and vaccines as substitutes for suitable building design, construction and maintenance of proper environments. Design errors which lead to varying levels of economic loss for producers are common. Animal death losses are often used to evaluate building success or failure. Permanent lung damage however is a common sequelae following clinical or subclinical bouts of pneumonia. Limitations on genetic potential are incurred by lung damage with a resulting decrease in milk and / or beef production. A reliable evaluation of an animals environment may be performed using the senses of site, smell, hearing, and touch.
Effect of Femtosecond-Laser-Structured Injection Molding Tool on Mechanical Properties of the Manufactured Product

During the injection molding process, the melt travels with a flow due to friction. As the velocity of the layers next to the wall is less than that of those flowing in the middle of the channel, a fountain flow is formed at the melt front. The temperature of the polymer surface decreases from the melt temperature to the contact temperature after contacting the mold surface. Based on all this, a complex shell–core structure is formed in injection-molded products, which can be influenced by the processing parameters and the surface of the tool insert. This paper focuses on investigating the effect of the microstructures replicated from the insert to the polymer product on its mechanical properties. During the research, two microstructured surfaces were created, with different effects on the melt flow formed by the femtosecond laser. These were compared with a ground insert to analyze the effects. For examining the effect of technological variables on the mechanical properties, an experimental design was used. The structure created by the femtosecond laser on the surface of the tool influenced the mechanical properties of the polymer products. Recognizing the effect of microstructures on the melt front and, through this, the change in mechanical properties, a predefined polymer product property can be achieved.
Selection of brachytherapy applicators based on tumor size and shape for cervical cancer: simulation analysis of pear-shaped isodose dimensions

The purpose of study is to measure Point A pear-shaped isodose dimensions of the conventional intracavitary brachytherapy with various sizes of colpostats and analyze which size of tumor is the optimal for 3-D interstitial brachytherapy. CT simulation was performed with Fletcher type applicator using various sizes of colpostats (2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 cm diameter). The Manchester standard loading (dwell time) system was used to generate pear-shaped isodose envelopes with high-dose rate iridium-192 according to the colpostat sizes. The size of the pear-shaped envelope was measured at 5 different levels: A-level (center of the colpostats), B-level (top of the colpostats), C-level (between B and D), D-level (Point A), and E-level (1.0 cm above Point A). In this study, it was assumed that uterine tandem was located at the center of tumor. For width of pear-shape: At the A-level, 6.4, 7.3, and 8.0 cm for 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 cm colpostats, respectively. At the B-level, 5.8, 6.4, and 6.8 cm for 2, 2.5, and 3.0 cm colpostats, respectively. At the C-level, 4.6, 4.8, and 4.8 for 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 cm colpostats, respectively. At the D-level, 4.0 cm for all different size. At the E-level, 3.8 cm for all 3 different size colpostats. A-level was the largest dimension of pear-shape. However, it was located in the upper vagina below the main cervical mass. The center of the effective pear-shape size for tumor was between the C and D levels. For thickness, all 5 different levels were ranging 3.7 to 4.0 cm. For height, the length of height was dependent on the tandem length. Therefore, the pear-shape envelope was able to accommodate up to 4.0 cm diameter volume. According to our analysis of conventional pear-shape dimension, 3-D interstitial brachytherapy should be considered for tumors larger than 4.0 cm for symmetrical tumor.
Gravitational collision efficiencies of small viscous drops at finite Stokes numbers and low Reynolds numbers

Abstract Collision efficiencies are calculated for two sedimenting spherical drops of different radii with internal circulation under conditions such that drop inertia can be significant while the surrounding fluid inertia remains negligible. A trajectory analysis is employed with exact methods for determining the hydrodynamic forces. When the Reynolds number is small, fluid inertia is negligible, and the hydrodynamic forces are linear functions of the velocities of the drops. However, at nonzero Stokes numbers, drop inertia must be taken into account, and the hydrodynamic forces do not balance the applied forces. For drops in close approach, lubrication forces, slip and attractive molecular forces are considered. Comparison is made between the effects of unretarded and retarded van der Waals forces and Maxwell slip on collision efficiencies. Slip is calculated exactly for viscous drops using bispherical coordinates for motion along the drops’ line of centers. For water droplets in air, at drop radii between 10 and 30 μ m , drop inertia is important while the Reynolds based on the surrounding air is still small. The collision efficiency goes through a minimum and then approaches the Smoluchowski limit of no hydrodynamic interactions as the drop size and Stokes number become increasingly large. Viscous effects are most important at drop radii of about 15 μ m . For drops with a radius less than 10 μ m , the most significant factors are unretarded van der Waals forces, Maxwell slip, and retarded van der Waals forces, respectively. When van der Waals forces and slip are combined, the collision efficiencies for drops with radii of 10 μ m are significantly greater than the results of previous researchers. At an intermediate drop radius of 20 μ m , surrounding fluid inertia, as considered in earlier work, appears to lead to greater collision efficiencies at intermediate size ratios, while van der Waals forces, incorporated in the present study, cause larger values at smaller and larger size ratios. At a drop radius of 30 μ m , drop inertia dominates interactions, and similar results occur for both the current and prior investigations. Since temperature affects both density and viscosity, collision efficiencies can differ by a factor of two or more between 0 o C and 100 o C at certain drop radii. Change in the viscosity ratio itself leads to about a 7% difference in the collision efficiency between drops with internal circulation and solid spheres at room temperature.
Determination of the Mechanical Properties of Composites

Ultrasonic techniques to measure mechanical properties of composites are described. After a general introduction, detailed discussions are presented of two examples, measurements of anisotropic elastic constants and of porosity. The anisotropic elastic constants are inferred from the velocities of ultrasonic waves propagating in various directions. Porosity information is contained in attenuation or backscattered noise data, both a consequence of the scattering of ultrasound by the pores. Results of a variety of recent application studies are discussed.