cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
General Network Lifetime and Cost Models for Evaluating Sensor Network Deployment Strategies

In multihop wireless sensor networks that are often characterized by many-to-one (convergecast) traffic patterns, problems related to energy imbalance among sensors often appear. Sensors closer to a data sink are usually required to forward a large amount of traffic for sensors farther from the data sink. Therefore, these sensors tend to die early, leaving areas of the network completely unmonitored and reducing the functional network lifetime. In our study, we explore possible sensor network deployment strategies that maximize sensor network lifetime by mitigating the problem of the hot spot around the data sink. Strategies such as variable-range transmission power control with optimal traffic distribution, mobile-data-sink deployment, multiple-data-sink deployment, nonuniform initial energy assignment, and intelligent sensor/relay deployment are investigated. We suggest a general model to analyze and evaluate these strategies. In this model, we not only discover how to maximize the network lifetime given certain network constraints but also consider the factor of extra costs involved in more complex deployment strategies. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis on the maximum achievable sensor network lifetime for different deployment strategies, and it also provides practical cost-efficient sensor network deployment guidelines.
Simple multi-attribute rating technique for renewable energy deployment decisions (SMART REDD)

In the effort to provide electrical power service and the sustaining fuel required to run generators at forward-deployed bases in Afghanistan and Iraq over more than 10 years, the US military spent billions of dollars and a paid a heavy toll in terms of human casualties. The green energy linear program for optimizing deployments (GELPOD) proof-of-concept model showed that a linear program could be used to optimize combat deployment of energy generation systems to minimize cost and casualties. Results indicated that reduction in both cost and casualties for renewable energy sources was highly dependent on fuel cost and deployment length. Neglected in the decision making process, however, were factors that impact the operational success of the mission. When deploying combat units, commanders must not only consider potential costs and casualties, they must also contend with battlefield mobility requirements, maintenance capability (or lack thereof), weather, and anticipated hostile action that could affect o...
Meningo-Encephalitis Presenting as an Acute Paranoid Psychosis

A twenty-seven year old woman with meningo-encephalitis and paranoid symptoms is presented. The patient was admitted to a psychiatric unit where, two months previously, her brother had been under treatment for a paranoid schizophrenic episode. The diagnostic lumbar puncture was performed after several days of increasing periods of disorientation, stupor, incontinence, posturing, and perseveration. There was no fever, no signs of meningeal irritation, and no localizing neurologic deficit. The problem of recognizing organic brain disease presenting as an acute psychotic episode is discussed. In this case, the positive family history was given inappropriate emphasis, while the good pre-morbid adjustment of the patient and the symptoms of confusion and headache were inadequately considered. Viral meningo-encephalitis, particularly that due to herpes simplex, often presents with a picture of behavioral abnormalities and minimal physical signs, and is easily confused with a functional process.
Magnetic properties of dilute MgCe alloys

Abstract The magnetic susceptibility of monocrystalline dilute MgCe alloys has been investigated. An anisotropic susceptibility was found and explained as the consequence of a crystalline field splitting of the ground state of about 3.2 K.
Common Themes of Antibody Maturation to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, Simian-Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infections

Characterization of virus-specific immune responses to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is important to understanding the early virus-host interactions that may determine the course of virus infection and disease. Using a comprehensive panel of serological assays, we have previously demonstrated a complex and lengthy maturation of virus-specific antibody responses elicited by attenuated strains of SIV that was closely associated with the development of protective immunity. In the present study, we expand these analyses to address several questions regarding the nature of the virus-specific antibody responses to pathogenic SIV, SIV/HIV-1 (SHIV), and HIV-1 infections. The results demonstrate for the first time a common theme of antibody maturation to SIV, SHIV, and HIV-1 infections that is characterized by ongoing changes in antibody titer, conformational dependence, and antibody avidity during the first 6 to 10 months following virus infection. We demonstrate that this gradual evolution of virus-specific antibody responses is independent of the levels of virus replication and the pathogenicity of the infection viral strain. While the serological assays used in these studies were useful in discriminating between protective and nonprotective antibody responses during evaluation of vaccine efficacy with attenuated SIV, these same assays do not distinguish the clinical outcome of infection in pathogenic SIV, SHIV, or HIV-1 infections. These results likely reflect differences in the immune mechanisms involved in mediating protection from virus challenge compared to those that control an established viral infection, and they suggest that additional characteristics of both humoral and cellular responses evolve during this early immune maturation.
Phosphorylation of JAK2 in thrombin-stimulated human platelets

We show the presence of the tyrosine kinase JAK2 in human platelets and demonstrate that it undergoes phosphorylation on tyrosine residues on challenge with the G protein receptor stimulus, thrombin, or the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, peroxovanadate. Thrombin-induced phosphorylation of JAK2 is inhibited by two structurally distinct inhibitors of tyrosine kinases, staurosporine and the tyrphostin ST271. The protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, Ro 31-8220, and intracellular Ca2+ chelator, BAPTA-AM, also inhibit thrombin-induced phosphorylation of JAK2, while the phorbol ester, phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu), and Ca2+ ionophore, A23187, induce tyrosine phosphorylation of JAK2. These results suggest that tyrosine phosphorylation of JAK2 stimulated by thrombin may be mediated downstream of phosphoinositide metabolism.
The comorbidity of anger symptoms with personality disorders in psychiatric outpatients.

Objectives: Although many psychiatric disorders are ‘‘emotional’’ disorders, no disorders exist for which dysfunctional anger is a necessary feature. This study examined whether dysfunctional anger could be considered a diagnosis independent from Personality Disorders. Design: We analyzed data on 1,158 psychiatric outpatients who underwent a semi-structured interview for Axis II disorders and ascertained the co-occurrence of dysfunctional anger and Personality Disorders. Results: The overlap between dysfunctional anger and all Personality Disorders was low. Data analyses showed dysfunctional anger was not well accounted for by Axis II diagnoses. Conclusions: Dysfunctional anger can be viewed by researchers and clinicians as an independent diagnostic entity. The implications of these results for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with anger symptoms is
Urgent carotid endarterectomy in patients with acute neurological ischemic events within six hours after symptoms onset

To analyze the outcome of urgent carotid endarterectomy (CEA) performed within less than six hours in patients with crescendo transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke in progression. From January 1998 to December 2008, 58 urgent CEAs were done for acute neurological ischemic events--46 patients with crescendo TIA and 12 patients with stroke in progression. Brain computed tomography (CT) was done prior and after the surgery. Disability level was assessed prior to and after urgent CEA using modified Rankin scale. Median follow-up was 42.1 ± 16.6 months. In the early postoperative period stroke rate was 0% for the patients in crescendo TIA group while in patients with stroke in progression group 3 patients (25%) had positive postoperative brain CT, yet neurological status significantly improved. Mid-term stroke rate was 2.2% in crescendo TIA group and 8.3% in stroke in progression group. In the early postoperative period there were no lethal outcomes, mid-term mortality was 8.3% in stroke in progression while in crescendo TIA group lethal outcomes were not observed. In conclusion, based on our results urgent CEA is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with crescendo TIA and stroke in progression with acceptable rate of postoperative complications.
Extracting constraints on word usage from large text corpora

Our research focuses on the identification of word usage constraints from large text corpora. Such constraints are useful both for the problem of selecting vocabulary for language generation and for disambiguating lexical meaning in interpretation. We are developing systems that can automatically extract such constraints from corpora and empirical methods for analyzing text. Identified constraints will be represented in a lexicon that will be tested computationally as part of a natural language system. We are also identifying lexical constraints for machine translation using the aligned Hansard corpus as training data and are identifying many-to-many word alignments.
Sequence specificity, statistical potentials, and three-dimensional structure prediction with self-correcting distance geometry calculations of β-sheet formation in proteins

A statistical analysis of a representative data set of 169 known protein structures was used to analyze the specificity of residue interactions between spatial neighboring strands in beta-sheets. Pairwise potentials were derived from the frequency of residue pairs in nearest contact, second nearest and third nearest contacts across neighboring beta-strands compared to the expected frequency of residue pairs in a random model. A pseudo-energy function based on these statistical pairwise potentials recognized native beta-sheets among possible alternative pairings. The native pairing was found within the three lowest energies in 73% of the cases in the training data set and in 63% of beta-sheets in a test data set of 67 proteins, which were not part of the training set. The energy function was also used to detect tripeptides, which occur frequently in beta-sheets of native proteins. The majority of native partners of tripeptides were distributed in a low energy range. Self-correcting distance geometry (SECODG) calculations using distance constraints sets derived from possible low energy pairing of beta-strands uniquely identified the native pairing of the beta-sheet in pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI). These results will be useful for predicting the structure of proteins from their amino acid sequence as well as for the design of proteins containing beta-sheets.
Patterns of Intergenerational Assistance Within the Mexican American Family Is the Family Taking Care of the Older Generation's Needs?

A continuing debate exists in the family literature about the needs of the Mexican American elderly, a rapidly growing population. Supporters of one side of the argument indicate that the Mexican American family is available to care for the needs of the aging Mexican American population whereas the other argues that this is simply a romanticized and stereotypical view. Using a large national data set, this article demonstrates, that the Mexican American family is available for affective support of its elders but does not adequately provide for their instrumental needs. Consequently, it is recommended that policymakers and service providers quickly identify the needs of the older Mexican American population in an effort to provide assistance to them as they have done for other older populations in the United States.
Neuronal Populations in Normal and Abnormal Aging

During the course of development, both structure and function in any organ or cellular system increase at a rate that varies according to the particular function, species, or even individual. A plateau is reached and maintained, again for a variable time. Following this second phase, there is a decrease in structure and function, which again follows a differing slope. Under normal circumstances, death would occur somewhere along the course of this downward slope before most functions reach that decreased level at which symptoms might be displayed. With disease, however, the functional decrease is exaggerated. A disease occurring at maturity can be more severe without pushing the function down to that symptomatic threshold than would be the same disease occurring in old age, where the distance between the negative slope and the threshold of symptoms is narrowed. This concept can be applied to many circumstances in the human, as, for example, glomerular filtration, cardiac output, muscle strength, and some aspects of cognition. This presentation will illustrate the declining slope of several structural aspects of the central nervous system in health and in Alzheimer’s disease, and will illustrate the threshold concept by demonstrating the difference between Alzheimer’s disease in the younger adult as compared with that in the older. Mild cerebral decrements occur in normal aging without major cognitive losses, as exemplified by Picasso, Casals, Rebecca West, George Burns, and countless other wise and witty elderly people.
The recovery of sublethally injured Escherichia coli from frozen meat.

Sublethal injury to Escherichia coli, measured as the inability of surviving cells to grow on media containing bile salts, was monitored during frozen storage on meat at —5, —10 and —20° C. More rapid increases in injury occurred at the higher subzero temperatures and log phase cells were more susceptible than those in the stationary phase of growth. Repair of injury in non-selective liquid media took between 2 and 6 h at 25° and was often accompanied by an increase in total viable count. Incubation for a fixed period in broth was, therefore, unsuitable for the quantitative recovery of freeze-injured Esch. coli. Resuscitation on membrane filters avoided confusing repair of injury with multiplication of uninjured or repaired cells. The mean recovery of injured cells following incubation on membranes for 4 h at 35°C on tryptone soya agar, was 94%.
Statistical quality control methods in infection control and hospital epidemiology, part I: Introduction and basic theory

This article is the first in a two-part series discussing and illustrating the application of statistical process control (SPC) to processes often examined by hospital epidemiologists. The basic philosophical and theoretical foundations of statistical quality control and their relation to epidemiology are emphasized in order to expand mutual understanding and cross-fertilization between these two disciplines. Part I provides an overview of quality engineering and SPC, illustrates common types of control charts, and provides references for further information or statistical formulae. Part II discusses statistical properties of control charts, issues of chart design and optimal control limit widths, alternate possible SPC approaches to infection control, some common misunderstandings, and more advanced issues. The focus of both articles is mostly non-mathematical, emphasizing important concepts and practical examples rather than academic theory and exhaustive calculations.
H diffusion through partially internally oxidized Pd-alloy membranes

Abstract The H flux (J) has been measured through multilayer membranes of Pd and Pd–Al alloy prepared by internal oxidation of the alloy. A plot of 1/J against thickness of the Pd layers, 2dPd, is linear for a series of different 2dPd values. This justifies assumptions of the model used to derive the relation between 1/J and 2dPd. DH for Pd and the alloy can be obtained from intercepts of the plot using known p H 2 –H content isotherms. Since it has been shown that internal oxidation leads to more reproducible and poison-resistant Pd based membranes, the multilayer technique is an alternate way to obtain DH for Pd alloys.
Performance Measurement of Major League Baseball Teams Using Network DEA

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been extensively applied to measure the performance of individual athletes and teams in a variety of sports as well as to analyze nations competing in the Olympics. Most of the models presented in the literature are single-stage DEA models which treat the underlying process of converting inputs into outputs as a “black box.” In many situations, analysts are interested in investigating the sources of inefficiency within the organization in order to improve organizational performance. To accomplish this, researchers have developed two-stage and network DEA methodologies.
Numerical investigation on electromagnetism and heat transfer in electroslag remelting process with triple-electrode

A transient three-dimensional (3D) model is developed for understanding the electromagnetism, heat transfer and phase change in electroslag remelting (ESR) furnace with triple-electrode. The electromagnetic fields are solved by Maxwell’s equations using the finite element method. The temperature field and phase change are modeled by the enthalpy approach. A reasonable agreement is obtained between experiment and simulation. The electric current flows from one electrode into the slag and comes out from other two electrodes. Most electric current travels through the slag near the slag/ingot interface. A great amount of the Joule heating is generated by the slag and a higher value is found in the slag around the three electrodes. The highest temperature is located at the center of the slag layer. Increase in the current causes the increase in the Joule heating. A hotter slag and a deeper metal pool therefore are formed. The total Joule heating in the slag increases with more slag, while the average Joule heating density reduces. The metal pool depth increases and then decreases with the increasing slag thickness, and the deepest metal pool is obtained at the slag thickness of 200 mm. The power efficiency and the slag temperature reduce with the increasing electrode immersion depth. A shallower electrode immersion depth is a better choice for the ESR process with triple-electrode.
Masking Time-Delay Features in Multimode Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

Polarization resolved time-delay signatures are experimentally studied for a multimode VCSEL subject to double-cavity, polarization-rotated optical feedback. Concealment of time-delay signatures is observed in certain parameter regimes.
Predictions of Volume Relaxation in Glass Forming Materials Using a Stochastic Constitutive Model

In a previous publication (Macromolecules 2012, 45, 7237), a stochastic model of the glassy state that acknowledges dynamic heterogeneity was shown to describe the classic Kovacs poly(vinyl acetate) volume relaxation data set with the exception of the expansion gap and the pressure dependence of the glass transition temperature. This initial model included two assumptions–the relaxation time of the meso-domain was controlled by the specific volume and the fluctuations were isotropic. Recently, a fully tensorial stochastic constitutive model (SCM) was developed where (i) the relaxation time was a function of both the configurational entropy and the stress tensor and (ii) nonisotropic fluctuations were allowed. In the present work, the SCM is shown to predict the Kovacs data, including the expansion gap as well as the pressure dependence of the glass transition temperature.
Physical Modeling of Supported Excavations

As a result of the complexities associated with analyzing and evaluating supported excavations, numerical modeling techniques are often employed. Often, there is a great deal of uncertainty associated with the validity of the assumptions and approaches made regarding numerical modeling. Physical models can be used to evaluate complex geotechnical systems whose performances are highly dependent on construction techniques, nonlinear soil-structure interactions, and variable geometries. Physical model tests can be used as alternatives to numerical models or as supplements. Data from physical model tests is often used to verify the validity of the various assumptions and approaches of the numerical models. The data can also be used to calibrate numerical models to the anticipated loading conditions. This paper presents an evaluation of several efforts that utilized physical modeling to investigate the behavior of excavation support systems and the associated ground deformations. Model test results are compared to the state-of-the-practice ground deformation prediction methodologies and to field observations. The information presented herein shows that scale model test data can be reliably extrapolated to equivalent prototype data. Thus, small scale laboratory tests at normal gravity, centrifuge tests, and small scale field tests can all used to evaluate excavation support system behavior and soil response associated with deep excavations. These findings are particularly important in that often full-scale field test cannot be performed.
Na + -K + -2Cl − Cotransporter

The conceptual breakthrough that the energy of the Na+ gradient generated by the Na+/K+ pump could be used as the driving force for another membrane transport protein has led to the functional and molecular identification of multiple secondary active transporters. We have organized this chapter to address the expression, function, regulation, and evolutionary importance of the two isoforms of the electroneutral sodium-potassium-chloride cotransporter (NKCC). The combination of basolateral expression of the sodium-potassium pump and NKCC1 in various epithelia results in salt and water secretion, whereas basolateral expression of the pump with apical expression of NKCC2 in the thick ascending limb of Henle in the kidney nephron results in salt and water reabsorption. NKCCs are regulated by serine-threonine phosphorylation of specific residues in their amino-terminal domain, and the evolutionary conservation of these cotransporters from protists to humans confirms their vital role in cellular and whole-organism physiology.
On American Ideological and Political Education Method

Ideological and political education is an widespread activity with social mankind to exist in each nation in the world.To study another country ideological and political education,absorb and draw lessons from the international community ideology and politics to educate the excellent theories and practice the experience,to enrich our country thought political education theories and promote our country thought political education practice activity of scientific have important realistic meaning.This text from the ideological and political education method investigates the ideological and political education of the United States,discusses the United States ideological and political education methodology,the United States ideological and political educateion concrete practicemethod and the United States ideological and political educati-on method to our country of apocalypse.
A perspective on genomic tests for breast cancer: the need for progress.

In their review of multi-gene assays of breast cancer, Drs. Gokmen-Polar and Badve highlight the overall similarity of “first-generation” molecular assays that have been developed, using different strategies, to understand the relationship between gene expression within tumor samples and the outcomes of patients with breast cancer.
Is Maintenance Therapy for Everyone

Although myeloma remains an incurable disease among majority of myeloma patients, the prognosis has significantly improved after the introduction of novel agents. While more agents are being explored for their anti-myeloma activity, the more familiar agents with a better tolerability profile have been tested in the maintenance arena. Lenalidomide and bortezomib so far have shown promise as effective maintenance agents in prolonging PFS, and also OS in some studies. The current review aims at describing the clinical data supporting various maintenance therapies and also at providing some clarity to a few concerns associated with maintenance therapies.
Accuracy and Reproducibility of Instrumented Tibial Trial for Ligament Balancing in Total Knee Replacement

Balancing in total knee replacement is generally carried out using the feel and experience of the surgeon, using spacer blocks or distractors. However, such a method is not generally applicable to all surgeons and nor does it provide quantitative data of the balancing itself. One approach is the use of instrumented distractors, which have been used to monitor soft tissue releases or indicate a flexion cut for equal lateral and medial forces. More recently an instrumented tibial trial has been introduced which measures and displays the magnitude and location of the loads on the lateral and medial plateaus, during various manoeuvres carried out at surgery. The data set is then used by the surgeon to determine options, whether soft tissue releases or bone cut adjustments, to achieve lateral-medial equality. The testing method consisted of mounting the femoral component rigidly in a fixture on the vertical arm of an MTS machine. The tibial component was fixed on to a platform which allowed varus-valgus correction, and where the component could be displaced or rotated in a horizontal plane. Two of each size times 4 sizes of production components were tested. Compressive forces from 0–400N in steps of 50N were applied and the readings taken. There were strong correlations between applied and measured forces with mean Pearson9s Correlation Coefficient of 0.958. The special tests under different conditions did not have any effect on the output values. The output data proved to be repeatable under Central Loading with a maximum standard deviation of ± 15.36N at the highest applied force of 400N. “Low battery” did not adversely affect the data. Applying the load steadily to maximum versus load-unload-zero tests produced similar results. Lubrication versus no lubrication tests produced no changes to the results. There was no cross talk of the electronics within the device when loaded on one condyle. For both central and anterior-posterior loading, the contact points were centered medial-lateral on the GUI display, and tracked contact point translation appropriately. Anterior-posterior loading did create output load variance at the extremes. However, it enabled the validation of the relationship of the femur on the trial surface. In addition, malrotation would be indicated by the femur riding up on the anterior or posterior tibial edges, important for soft tissue tension in all flexion angles. In conclusion, the sensors provided data which was accurate to well within a practical range for surgical conditions. In our separate experiments on 10 cadaveric leg specimens, even the same test under controlled conditions could produce variations of up to ± 30N. Hence the sensor outputs indicated whether or not the knee was balanced to that level of tolerance, while the contact point data would indicate contacts too close to the anterior or posterior of the tibial surface.
Design and Management of Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrid Electrical Energy Storage Systems for Regulation Services

Regulation services (RS) play an important role in maintaining the stability of electric grids by correcting for short-term mismatches between electricity generation and demand. RS providers dynamically supply electricity to the grid or consume electricity from it, in response to regulation signals, in return for economic compensation. This capability is commonly realized through large-scale electrical energy storage (EES) systems based on batteries. However, the highly transient nature of the regulation signals implies that the batteries used for RS are subject to frequent charge and discharge cycles, leading to shortened battery life and thereby impacting the profitability of RS. In this work, we explore the use of hybrid EES (HEES) systems, which combine batteries and supercapacitors, to improve the profitability of RS. HEES systems have the potential to reduce the cost of providing RS by utilizing supercapacitors to respond to the high-frequency components of the regulation signal, prolonging battery life. However, realizing this potential presents several challenges. First, the benefits of HEES systems have a profound dependence on the type of hybrid topology (i.e., active or passive), which results in a tradeoff between the implementation cost and the utilization of the supercapacitor capacity. Second, the allocation of energy storage capacity to batteries and supercapacitors should be carefully determined in the design phase because the reduction in battery replacement cost due to the use of supercapacitors must be balanced against the increased upfront cost for supercapacitors. Third, active HEES systems involve the problem of managing the power flows to batteries and supercapacitors so as to realize maximum cost benefits. To address these challenges, we present a framework for the design and management of a HEES system, so as to maximize the profit from the perspective of an RS provider. This framework consists of i) a design-time capacity optimization phase that determines the best allocation of capacity to batteries and supercapacitors and ii) a run-time management scheme that selects how the different storage devices are orchestrated considering their characteristics and the incoming regulation signal. Our experiments show that, with the proposed capacity optimization and management framework, the use of a passive or an active HEES system can improve the profit of RS providers by 1.16 $\times$ or 5.44 $\times$ , respectively.
General Anesthetics Minimally affect Lipid Bilayer Properties at Clinical Concentrations

General anesthetics are widely used but their exact molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. One early model, known as the unitary lipid-based hypothesis of anesthetic action, proposed that nonspecific anesthetic interactions with the lipid bilayer altered neuronal function through effects on membrane properties. This model, which is based largely on the Meyer-Overton correlation between anesthetic potency and lipid solubility, has been challenged by more recent evidence supporting direct interactions of anesthetics with a range of proteins, in particular transmembrane ion channels. The available results, however, do not exclude anesthetic modulation of ion channel function through interactions with the lipid bilayer. We therefore tested the effects of a range of chemically diverse general anesthetics (diethyl ether, desflurane, sevoflurane, isoflurane, halothane, chloroform, bromoform, cyclopropane, F3, ketamine, etomidate and propofol) and related nonanesthetics (F6 and flurothyl, predicted to be anesthetic based on their lipid solubilities) on lipid bilayer properties using a sensitive gramicidin-based assay. We show that none of the anesthetics or nonanesthetics tested significantly altered lipid bilayer properties at clinically relevant concentrations. Even at supra-anesthetic concentrations, most anesthetics produced only minimal bilayer-mediated effects, though some were able to alter lipid bilayer properties at supra-therapeutic (toxic) concentrations. We conclude that the effects of general anesthetics at clinically relevant concentrations involve minimal changes in lipid bilayer properties. Therefore clinical anesthesia is likely to result from direct interactions of anesthetics with membrane proteins.Supported by GM058055 (HCH) and GM021347 (OSA).
Application for AI-OCR Module: Auto Detection of Emails/Letter Images

The purpose of this project is to provide instructions for teaching the Artificial Intelligence topic of supervised machine learning for the task of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) at various levels of a student’s undergraduate curriculum, such as basic knowledge, novice, and intermediate. The levels vary from beginner with a slight background in computing and computer science to intermediate with a better understanding of computer science fundamentals and algorithms.
Mitochondria-Targeting Polydopamine Nanoparticles To Deliver Doxorubicin for Overcoming Drug Resistance

Mitochondria play a critical role in diverse cellular processes, such as energy production and apoptosis regulation. The mitochondria-targeted drug delivery is becoming a potential novel strategy for overcoming drug resistance in cancer therapy. Herein, we synthesize nature-inspired dopamine-derived polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles. Using triphenylphosphonium (TPP) as the mitochondrial penetration molecule to improve the target efficiency, we synthesize poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified PDA (PDA-PEG) and TPP-functionalized PEG-modified PDA (PDA-PEG-TPP) nanoparticles. Then anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded on PDA-PEG and PDA-PEG-TPP (PDA-PEG-DOX and PDA-PEG-TPP-DOX) nanoparticles, which are apt to deliver DOX to cell nuclei and mitochondria, respectively. To mimic the repeated anticancer drug treatment in clinical cases, we repeatedly treated the MDA-MD-231 cancer cells for a long time using DOX-loaded nanoparticles and find that the mitochondria targeting PDA-PEG-TPP-DOX has higher potentia...
Microstructural evolution of neutron-irradiated T91 and NF616 to ∼4.3 dpa at 469 °C ☆

Abstract Ferritic-martensitic steels such as T91 and NF616 are candidate materials for several nuclear applications. This study evaluates radiation resistance of T91 and NF616 by examining their microstructural evolutions and hardening after the samples were irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor to ∼4.3 displacements per atom (dpa) at an as-run temperature of 469 °C. In general, this irradiation did not result in significant difference in the radiation-induced microstructures between the two steels. Compared to NF616, T91 had a higher number density of dislocation loops and a lower level of radiation-induced segregation, together with a slightly higher radiation-hardening. Unlike dislocation loops developed in both steels, radiation-induced cavities were only observed in T91 but remained small with sub-10 nm sizes. Other than the relatively stable M23C6, a new phase (likely Sigma phase) was observed in T91 and radiation-enhanced MX → Z phase transformation was identified in NF616. Laves phase was not observed in the samples.
Capacitive Sensing 3D-printed Wristband for Enriched Hand Gesture Recognition

In this work, we design a wearable-form hand gesture recognition system using capacitive sensing technique. Our proposed system includes a 3D printed wristband, capacitive sensors arrays in a flexible circuit board, a low-cost micro-controller unit and wireless communication module (BLE). In particular, the wristband manipulates the changes in capacitance from multiple capacitive sensors to recognize and detect users' hand gestures. The software stack translates the detected gestures into control command for application layer, together with an user-friendly web interface that supports both data communication and training between the wristband and the host PC. We also release an open API of our designed system for future applications. Lastly, we envision our system open API will be available for developers to customize vast range of hand gesture and integrate the wristband into various applications, from command on remote computer to video game controller.
Why Some Communities Are More Organized than Others

“Community organization in Narino (Antioquia) is pretty weak … Altruistic solidarity is scarce for collective needs like the construction of roads, schools, and health centers … the juntas are greatly decayed.” – Henao Delgado and Arcila Estrada (1993, translated) “Jerico (Antioquia) … sprung up in the 1850s and its founding fathers were picky. They didn't allow miners, cowboys and roughnecks to take up residence and allowed in only those considered decent, God-fearing people. Missionaries built convents and schools. The town is now home to four museums … a library, a cultural center, a botanical garden.” – Otis (2010) The previous chapter showed that different levels and forms of social organization can reduce levels of civil war violence suffered by civilians. Intertwined with this relationship are the questions of where social organizations come from and where they are likely to arise. This chapter addresses these questions and does so for three main reasons. First, knowing where social organizations arise in a developing country is itself an interesting question, with implications for social and economic development. I find that geographic, demographic, and social factors all play roles in the formation and spread of local junta councils (qualitatively, I also consider promotion efforts by government personnel and private actors). Second, understanding the causes of juntas helps deal with the threat to valid inference of reverse causality – that junta councils might only exist and survive in historically peaceful places. Introducing the indicator of the violence suffered during the La Violencia conflict of the 1950s shows that juntas were actually more likely to be formed later in the 1960s and 1970s in areas that suffered relatively more violence in the prior conflict, easing concerns of spurious correlation. These statistical tests along with a close reading of Colombian history between the period of La Violencia and when juntas are measured – both up to 1960 and from the 1960–1985 interim period – show that conflict conditions were low and relatively stable through most of the country. The tendency for juntas to be formed in historically conflicted areas was therefore not likely disrupted during this period. Third, with a better understanding of junta origins I am also able to unite the statistical analysis with the case studies to better rule out confounding explanations. An ideal research design to study this question would be an experiment that randomly assigns juntas to communities.
The combined relations of gender, enculturation, and depressive symptoms with health risk behaviors in Mexican-Americans: a moderated mediation analysis.

ABSTRACTObjectives: The present study investigated the relationships of enculturation and depressive symptoms with health risk behavior engagement in Mexican-American college students and examined ...
Community-Based Medical Student Nutrition Counseling Training for Low-Income Families.

Background and Objectives Physician nutrition counseling has become increasingly important due to increases in child and adult obesity. However, medical student education on nutrition counseling, especially for low-income families, is insufficient. Methods Eat Healthy, Stay Active! (EHSA) is a community-based child obesity program that provided experiential learning for medical students to counsel low-income Head Start families about nutrition. The authors conducted a focus group to explore medical students' opinions about the proficiency of their nutrition education skills, especially in low-income families, and the role of EHSA. The authors also surveyed students about their self-confidence in providing low-income families with nutrition counseling. Results Most students reported a favorable overall impression of EHSA with a mean score of 7 on a 10-point scale (1=poor experience, 10=very positive experience) and 70% reporting they would recommend EHSA to their classmates. They also reported a significant (80%, P< 0.0001) increase in their confidence of counseling patients about child obesity after participating in EHSA. In focus groups, students felt that EHSA improved their nutrition knowledge and helped them to understand barriers of low-income families for healthy nutrition. Conclusions Students participating in EHSA, a novel, community-based, experiential learning project, gained self-confidence in providing nutrition counseling to low-income families. The program also positively impacted medical student personal opinions of low-income families by providing a personal reference for low-income struggles.
Stratigraphy, paleotectonics and paleoenvironments of the Morrison Formation in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming and Montana

108 INTRODUCTION 110 LOWER MORRISON 112 Quartzarenite Lithofacies Association 112 Interbedded Silty Claystone and Sandstone Lithofacies Association 126 UPPER MORRISON 136 REGIONAL SYNTHESIS OF THE PALEOGEOGRAPHY AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS 150 CONCLUSIONS 154 REFERENCES 156 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 166 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 169
Lipoproteins, Macrophages and Atherosclerosis

The fatty streak, the earliest recognized gross lesion in the atherogenic process, is characterized by an accumulation of lipid-laden “foam cells”. Recent studies have established that this lesion can -- and usually does -- develop beneath an intact endothelium. Furthermore, it has been shown that most of these cells are derived from circulating monocytes that enter the arterial wall and take up residence there as tissue macrophages. Some of these cells are derived from medial smooth muscle cells, particularly in later lesions, but the majority are macrophages. Early attempts to convert macrophages to foam cells by incubation in the presence of high concentrations of LDL were unsuccessful and this was traced to the rather low number of receptors for native LDL they express. Studies by Goldstein, Brown and coworkers established that the macrophage expresses a unique receptor that can take up chemically acetylated LDL at a sufficiently high rate to generate foam cells in culture. However, there was no evidence that chemical acetylation occurs to any significant extent in vivo. Thus, there remained an unresolved paradox regarding the mechanism of foam cell formation and thus the initiation of the fatty streak.
Sex Differences in the Use of the Major Histocompatibility Complex for Mate Selection in Congenic Strains of Mice

Since the discoveries that mice can detect odors associated with genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and that these odors affect mate choice (Yamazaki et al., 1976, 1979), there has been speculation about the generality of these effects in other inbred strains of mice and in populations of wild mice. This interest in the effects of the MHC on behavior has arisen because it is possible that the observed disassortative mating could be maintaining, in part, the extensive genetic polymorphism found within this complex in natural populations (see Potts and Wakeland, 1990, for a more detailed discussion of hypotheses for MHC-disassortative mating). This polymorphism might also make the MHC an important tool in social contexts by providing unique labels for kin recognition and discrimination (Brown, 1983). It follows, then, that the significance of the MHC, particularly during mate selection, needs to be further investigated in diverse strains of mice, considering both intersexual and interstrain variation in strength and direction of preferences.
Cooperativity of E-prostanoid receptor subtypes in regulating signaling and growth inhibition in human airway smooth muscle

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is produced in the airway during allergic lung inflammation and both promotes and inhibits features of asthma pathology. These mixed effects relate to 4 E-prostanoid (EP) receptor subtypes (EP1, 2, 3 and 4) expressed at different levels on different resident and infiltrating airway cells. Although studies have asserted both EP2 and EP4 expression in human airway smooth muscle (HASM), a recent study asserted EP4 to be the functionally dominant EP subtype in HASM. Herein, we employ recently-developed subtype-selective ligands to investigate singular or combined EP2 and EP4 receptor activation in regulating HASM signaling and proliferation. The subtype specificity of ONO-AE1-259-01 (EP2 agonist) and ONO-AE1-329 (EP4 agonist) was first demonstrated in human embryonic kidney 293 cells stably expressing different EP receptor subtypes. EP receptor knockdown and subtype-selective antagonists demonstrated EP2 and EP4 receptor responsiveness in HASM cells to the specific ONO compounds, whereas PGE2 appeared to preferentially signal via the EP4 receptor. Both singular EP2 and EP4 receptor agonists inhibited HASM proliferation, and combined EP2 and EP4 receptor agonism exhibited positive cooperativity in both chronic Gs-mediated signaling and inhibiting HASM proliferation. These findings suggest both EP2 and EP4 are functionally important in HASM, and their combined targeting optimally inhibits airway smooth muscle proliferation.-Michael, J. V. Gavrila, A., Nayak, A. P., Pera, T., Liberato, J. R., Polischak, S. R., Shah, S. D., Deshpande, D. A., Penn, R. B. Cooperativity of E-prostanoid receptor subtypes in regulating signaling and growth inhibition in human airway smooth muscle.
A Periodic Array of Inhomogeneous Dielectric-Loaded Slots in an Infinite Thick Metallic Screen

Extraordinary transmission through a periodic array of inhomogeneous dielectric loaded slots in a an infinite metallic shield of finite thickness is demonstrated. We show that the intervals between those transmissions can be controlled by filled slots with inhomogeneous dielectric permittivity.
Be Aware of Intrapulmonary Percussive Ventilation

Many patients who need airway clearance therapies are also prescribed inhaled therapies. Different clinical scenarios include patients receiving invasive ventilatory support and others who are not. The latter group can use a positive expiratory pressure or oscillating positive expiratory pressure
Gregory Maertz. Literature and the Cult of Personality: Essays on Goethe and His Influence. Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag, 2017. 278 pp.

Gregory Maertz’s Literature and the Cult of Personality is an impressively researched reconsideration of the diaspora of the German literature and thought of the Goethezeit and early Romanticism, w...
Bridging sunitinib exposure to time-to-tumor progression in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with mathematical modeling of an angiogenic biomarker.

e14690 Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy with 250,000 new annual cases in the US. Sunitinib (SU), an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor, inhibits tu...
Young People, Shadow Carceral Innovations, and the Reproduction of Inequality

The rate of detention for juveniles in the United States (US) is half what it was 20 years ago, and arrest rates have declined as well. Scholars, however, have illuminated more subtle processes of criminalization, such as through school disciplinary practices and civil penalties for low-level infractions in the community. Recognizing the presence and importance of such “shadow measures” helps us to understand how the carceral state penetrates deeper into the lives of (young) people, even in the midst of emerging reforms that would seem to dull the sharpest edges of the US criminal justice system. In this article, we delineate some of the ways that “shadow measures” help to sustain and legitimate deep economic, social, and justice system inequalities in the present-day US. Specifically, we describe how several “shadow carceral innovations” in the school and community mark some young people as “dangerous,” “high-risk,” or “unsafe,” and show how these experiences are measured and judged across a variety of institutions. Ultimately, we argue that these “shadow measures” structure the day-to-day lives of youth outside the workforce and the cellblock, functioning as a key mechanism for maintaining inequality in the second decade of this century.