cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Molecular dynamics simulations of HIV-1 protease with peptide substrate

Molecular dynamics simulations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 protease with a model substrate were used to test if there is a stable energy minimum for a proton that is equidistant from the four delta oxygen atoms of the two catalytic aspartic acids. The crystal structure of HIV-1 protease with a peptidic inhibitor was modified to model the peptide substrate Ser-Gln-Asn-Tyr-Pro-Ile-Val-Gln for the starting geometry. A proton was positioned between the two closet oxygen atoms of the two catalytic aspartic acids, and close to the carbonyl oxygen of the scissile bond in the substrate. All crystallographic water molecules were included. Two molecular dynamics simulations were run: 30 ps with united-atom potentials and 40 ps using the more accurate all-atom potentials. The molecular dynamics used a new algorithm that increased the speed and allowed the elimination of a cut-off for non-bonded interactions and the inclusion of an 8 A shell of water molecules in the calculations. The overall structure of the protease dimer, including the catalytic aspartic acids, was stable during the course of the molecular dynamics simulations. The substrate and a water molecule, that is an important component of the binding site, were stable during the simulation using all-atom potentials, but more mobile when united-atom potentials were used. A Poincare map representation showed that the positions of the proton and its coordinating oxygen atoms were stable for 93% of both simulations, although many of the buried and poorly accessible water molecules exchanged with solvent. The proton has a stable minimum energy position and maintains coordination with all four delta oxygen atoms of the two catalytic aspartic acids and the carbonyl oxygen of the scissile bond of the substrate. Therefore, a loosely bound hydrogen ion at this position will not be rapidly exchanged with solvent, and will rebond to either a catalytic aspartic acid or possibly the substrate. The implications for the reaction mechanism are discussed.
Differential effects of simvastatin on IL-13-induced cytokine gene expression in primary mouse tracheal epithelial cells.

Background: Asthma causes significant morbidity worldwide in adults and children alike, and incurs large healthcare costs. The statin drugs, which treat hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases, have pleiotropic effects beyond lowering cholesterol, including immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fibrotic properties which may benefit lung health. Using an allergic mouse model of asthma, we previously demonstrated a benefit of statins in reducing peribronchiolar eosinophilic inflammation, airway hyperreactivity, goblet cell hyperplasia, and lung IL-4 and IL-13 production. Objectives: In this study, we evaluated whether simvastatin inhibits IL-13-induced pro-inflammatory gene expression of asthma-related cytokines in well-differentiated primary mouse tracheal epithelial (MTE) cell cultures. We hypothesized that simvastatin reduces the expression of IL-13-inducible genes in MTE cells. Methods: We harvested tracheal epithelial cells from naive BALB/c mice, grew them under air-liquid interface (ALI) cell culture conditions, then assessed IL-13-induced gene expression in MTE cells using a quantitative real-time PCR mouse gene array kit. Results: We found that simvastatin had differential effects on IL-13-mediated gene expression (inhibited eotaxin-1; MCP-1,-2,-3; and osteopontin (SPP1), while it induced caspase-1 and CCL20 (MIP-3α)) in MTE cells. For other asthmarelevant genes such as TNF, IL-4, IL-10, CCL12 (MCP-5), CCL5 (RANTES), and CCR3, there were no significant IL-13inducible or statin effects on gene expression. Conclusions: Simvastatin modulates the gene expression of selected IL-13-inducible pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in primary mouse tracheal epithelial cells. The airway epithelium may be a viable target tissue for the statin drugs. Further research is needed to assess the mechanisms of how statins modulate epithelial gene expression.
Concurrent test for digital linear systems

Invariant-based concurrent test schemes can provide economical solutions to the problem of concurrent error detection. An invariant-based concurrent error-detection scheme for linear digital systems is proposed. The cost of concurrent error-detection hardware is appreciably reduced due to utilization of a time-extended invariant, which extends the error-checking computation over time and, thus, reduces hardware requirements. Error-detection capabilities of the scheme proposed in this work are analyzed and conditions on the implementation for achieving complete fault coverage are outlined. Implementations fulfilling such conditions have been shown through experiments to provide 100% concurrent fault detection.
TRANSFORMATIONS IN PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS

Public health systems are undergoing major changes. Historically, population-oriented services framed the responsibilities of the public health system. Yet over time, clinical services, particularly maternal and child health care, became an important component. More recently, many public health agencies have begun to refocus on traditional services, largely in response to Medicaid managed care and an associated decline in clients. This paper examines such transformations in thirteen states.
On the Costs and Benefits of Faces and Words: Process Characteristics of Feature Search in Highly Meaningful Stimuli

The authors present a comprehensive consideration of the process characteristics of visual search in contexts that vary in their meaningfulness. The authors frame hypotheses regarding process architecture, stopping rule, capacity, and channel independence, using analytic results and a rigorously specified dynamic system to characterize a set of alternative hypotheses that vary along all of these dimensions. Results of the tests of these hypotheses suggest that process architecture and the stopping rule do not distinguish the processing of meaningful and meaningless forms. The major distinction between configural and nonconfigural processing was with regard to processing capacity, potentially implicating channel interdependencies. All of these conclusions hold for both faces and words.
Molecular phylogenetics of the giant genus Croton and tribe Crotoneae (Euphorbiaceae sensu stricto) using ITS and TRNL-TRNF DNA sequence data

Parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian analyses of nuclear ITS and plastid trnL-F DNA sequence data are presented for the giant genus Croton (Euphorbiaceae s.s.) and related taxa. Sampling comprises 88 taxa, including 78 of the estimated 1223 species and 29 of the 40 sections previously recognized of Croton. It also includes the satellite genus Moacroton and genera formerly placed in tribe Crotoneae. Croton and all sampled segregate genera form a monophyletic group sister to Brasiliocroton, with the exception of Croton sect. Astraea, which is reinstated to the genus Astraea. A small clade including Moacroton, Croton alabamensis, and C. olivaceus is sister to all other Croton species sampled. The remaining Croton species fall into three major clades. One of these is entirely New World, corresponding to sections Cyclostigma, Cascarilla, and Velamea sensu Webster. The second is entirely Old World and is sister to a third, also entirely New World clade, which is composed of at least 13 of Webster's sections of Croton. This study establishes a phylogenetic framework for future studies in the hyper-diverse genus Croton, indicates a New World origin for the genus, and will soon be used to evaluate wood anatomical, cytological, and morphological data in the Crotoneae tribe.
Broadband frequency conversion and shaping of single photons emitted from a nonlinear cavity

Much recent effort has focused on coupling individual quantum emitters to optical microcavities in order to produce single photons on demand, enable single-photon optical switching, and implement functional nodes of a quantum network. Techniques to control the bandwidth and frequency of the outgoing single photons are of practical importance, allowing direct emission into telecommunications wavelengths and “hybrid” quantum networks incorporating different emitters. Here, we describe an integrated approach involving a quantum emitter coupled to a nonlinear optical resonator, in which the emission wavelength and pulse shape are controlled using the intra-cavity nonlinearity. Our scheme is general in nature, and demonstrates how the photonic environment of a quantum emitter can be tailored to determine the emission properties. As specific examples, we discuss a high Q-factor, TE-TM double-mode photonic crystal avity design that allows for direct generation of single photons at telecom wavelengths (1425 nm) starting from an InAs/GaAs quantum dot with a 950 nm transition wavelength, and a scheme for direct optical coupling between such a quantum dot and a diamond nitrogen-vacancy center at 637 nm.
Monte Carlo study of a compressible Ising antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice

We have studied the compressible antiferromagnetic Ising Model on a triangular lattice using Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that the coupling to the strain removes the frustration of the rigid model and the simulations show a transition from the disordered to an ordered, striped phase at low temperatures. This transition involves two broken symmetries: the Ising symmetry and a three-state Potts symmetry characteristic of the triangular lattice. In the absence of bond fluctuations, this transition is always strongly first order. Using finite-size scaling analysis, we find evidence that, in the presence of fluctuations, the transition becomes weakly first order and possibly second order when the coupling to the lattice is increased. We discuss the relevance of this model to certain phase transitions in alloys. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
A universal semigroup

J.H. Michael recently proved that there exists a metric semigroup U such that every compact metric semigroup with property P is topologically isomorphic to a subsemigroup of U ; where a semigroup S has property P if and only if for each x, y in S , x ≠ y , there is a z in S such that xs ≠ yz or zx ≠ zy A stronger result is proved here more simply. It is shown that for any set A of metric semigroups there exists a metric semigroup U such that each S in A is topologically isomorphic to a subsemigroup of U . In particular this is the case when A is the class of all separable metric semigroups, or more particularly the class of all compact metric semigroups.
Atherosclerotic plaque rupture: a fatigue process?

The mechanism of atherosclerotic plaque rupture is not known. Current theories focus on the acute triggers of plaque rupture and myocardial infarction such as increased shear or circumferential stress, rupture of the vasa vasorum and vasospasm. We hypothesize that a critical mechanism causing plaque rupture is fatigue failure, the catastrophic rupture of a material following exposure to high-cycle, low-amplitude repetitive stress. Comparisons between material fatigue and plaque rupture demonstrate that this hypothesis is consistent with known physiologic and epidemiologic data on plaque rupture.
Deep Learning for Real-Time Atari Game Play Using Offline Monte-Carlo Tree Search Planning

The combination of modern Reinforcement Learning and Deep Learning approaches holds the promise of making significant progress on challenging applications requiring both rich perception and policy-selection. The Arcade Learning Environment (ALE) provides a set of Atari games that represent a useful benchmark set of such applications. A recent breakthrough in combining model-free reinforcement learning with deep learning, called DQN, achieves the best real-time agents thus far. Planning-based approaches achieve far higher scores than the best model-free approaches, but they exploit information that is not available to human players, and they are orders of magnitude slower than needed for real-time play. Our main goal in this work is to build a better real-time Atari game playing agent than DQN. The central idea is to use the slow planning-based agents to provide training data for a deep-learning architecture capable of real-time play. We proposed new agents based on this idea and show that they outperform DQN.
Geochemical evidence for exhumation of eclogite via serpentinite channels in ocean-continent subduction zones

Retrograde eclogites (ranging from un altered eclogite to retrograde blueschist and greenschist mantling the eclogite boulders) from Ring Mountain on the Tiburon Peninsula, near San Francisco, California, were examined for whole-rock major and trace elements to assess protolith compositions and the geochemical signature of fl associated with retrogression. High fi eld strength elements are highly correlated, indicating relatively immobile and conservative behavior during retrogression. These immobile elements were used to assess the relative losses or gains of other elements during retrogression. Rare earth elements and FeO content show only minimal opensystem behavior. The rare earth abundance patterns, FeO contents, and Nb/Ta and Nb/La ratios show that the proto liths of these rocks were most likely normal to enriched mid-oceanic ridge basalts. Massbalance considerations reveal two independent styles of metasomatic enrichment during retrogression. One style involves coupled enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (Cs, Rb, Ba, K, and Tl), likely caused by fl uids from sediments or reaction with sediments. Another style involves coupled enrichment in Cr, Mg, Ni, and Pb, which may refl ect overprinting by reaction of eclogite boulders with serpentinite, the latter of which are highly enriched in these elements. Pb is shown here and elsewhere to be nearly universally enriched in serpentinites and is likely to be selectively mobilized into eclogite-serpentinite reaction zones. Because all retrograde lithologies show reaction with serpentinites and sediments, exhumation of the eclogite must have been accompanied by chemical interaction with serpentinites along the entire retrograde path. The simplest interpretation is that the eclogites were transported within a deeply rooted serpentinite channel, presumably formed along the slab-mantle interface by infi ltration of slab-derived fl uids into the overlying mantle wedge. Physical models of channel fl ow show that the rapid exhumation rates required to preserve eclogites in a hydrous carrier matrix, such as serpentinite, are possible due to the buoyant and low-viscosity nature of serpentinite. However, the most rapid ascent rates occur during oblique subduction, suggesting that eclogite exhumation could be favored by, but not confi ned to, oblique subduction zones.
Epigenetic signatures distinguish multiple classes of enhancers with distinct cellular functions

Epigenetic regulation of gene enhancer elements is important for establishing and maintaining the identity of cells. Gene enhancer elements are thought to exist in either active or poised states distinguishable by chromatin features, but a complete understanding of the regulation of enhancers is lacking. Here, by using mouse embryonic stem cells and their differentiated derivatives, as well as terminally differentiated cells, we report the coexistence of multiple, defined classes of enhancers that serve distinct cellular functions. Specifically, we found that active enhancers can be subclassified based on varying levels of H3K4me1, H3K27ac, and H3K36me3 and the pSer2/5 forms of RNA polymerase II. The abundance of these histone modifications positively correlates with the expression of associated genes and cellular functions consistent with the identity of the cell type. Poised enhancers can also be subclassified based on presence or absence of H3K27me3 and H3K9me3, conservation, genomic location, expression levels of associated genes, and predicted function of associated genes. These findings not only refine the repertoire of histone modifications at both active and poised gene enhancer elements but also raise the possibility that enhancers associated with distinct cellular functions are partitioned based on specific combinations of histone modifications.
Disease transmission of aspergillosis in sea fans: Inferring process from spatial pattern

Despite recent high impacts of disease in the ocean, quantitative studies of diseases in natural marine populations lag far behind terrestrial systems. Transmission processes are poorly known in relatively open marine systems. We studied infection of sea fans Gorgonia ventalina by the fungus Aspergillus sydowii. To assess detectability and mechanisms of secondary transmission of the fungus, we analyzed the spatial distribution of disease among the fans, using Ripley's K as a measure of disease aggregation. Coral populations and disease were mapped at three reefs in the Florida Keys. Where disease prevalence was low, the disease was distributed randomly among sea fans. This is consistent with disease transmission by input of infectious fungal material from terrestrial sources only. However, where disease prevalence was high, the disease was significantly aggregated among sea fans at the 2-8 m scale, consistent with secondary disease trans- mission. Such transmission could take place by physical contact between neighboring fans, or infected fans might shed fungal material into the water column, and other fans become infected by these fomites. Our results suggest that water-borne transmission occurs, but secondary transmission by physical contact is also likely. We cannot falsify the hypothesis that small-scale local environmental conditions also contribute to disease aggregation.
Stripper models for CO2 capture by aqueous solvents

Publisher Summary Aqueous absorption/stripping is a technology for CO2 capture from a flue gas. Aqueous amines have been the conventional method for CO2 removal in ammonia, natural gas and refinery streams for decades. The growing interest in CO2 capture from large point sources, offers another opportunity for the use of this technology. The steam requirement for stripping is estimated to be about 20% –40 % of the power plant output. This chapter presents a study in which a model was developed to estimate the steam requirements for stripping CO2 from two aqueous solvents, 7m monoethanolamine (MEA) and 5m K+/2.5m piperazine (PZ). This model can be used to simulate stripper performance for a variety of solvents and operating conditions (e.g., pressure, approach temperature, rich and lean loading). The results show that energy savings of 29%-33% can be achieved by using 5m K+/2.5m PZ over MEA at a stripper pressure of 160 kPa with a 5°C temperature approach. The reboiler duty has also been expressed in terms of equivalent work that can calculate the output from the turbines in the power plant. The stripper can be operated at any convenient pressure at which steam can be extracted from the power plant.
Thermal transport in graphene nanoribbons supported on SiO2

We present a theoretical model for thermal transport in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) on SiO${}_{2}$ based on solving the phonon Boltzmann transport equation. Thermal transport in supported GNRs is characterized by a complex interplay between line edge roughness (LER) and internal scattering, as captured through an effective LER scattering rate that depends not only on the surface roughness features, but also on the strength of internal scattering mechanisms (substrate, isotope, and umklapp phonon scattering). Substrate scattering is the dominant internal mechanism, with a mean free path (mfp) of approximately 67 nm. In narrow supported GNRs ($Wl130$ nm, i.e., roughly twice the mfp due to substrate scattering), phonon transport is limited by LER and spatially anisotropic. For intermediate widths ($130\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}lWl1$ $\ensuremath{\mu}$m) a competition between LER and substrate scattering governs transport, while thermal transport in wide GNRs ($Wg1\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}$m) is dominated by substrate scattering and spatially isotropic. Thermal transport in supported GNRs can be tailored by controlling the ribbon width and edge roughness. We conclude that narrow ribbons act as longitudinal heat conduits while wide ribbons act as good omnidirectional heat spreaders.
Laminar Separation Bubble Manipulation with Dynamic Roughness

The laminar separation over a symmetric, idealized airfoil was altered by employing a leading edge roughness element ahead of the separation point. Experimental tests were performed with a dynamic roughness, with a time-dependent amplitude, in order to determine the range of control authority associated with this type of leading edge manipulation. The dynamic roughness tests demonstrated the sensitivity of the separation to frequency perturbations at the leading edge induced by the roughness element. Two low dimensional analysis techniques, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition and Dynamic Mode Decomposition, were employed to examine the coupling between the wall motion and the ∞ow, with a view to investigating the practicality of using leading edge roughness perturbations to in future closed loop control conflgurations.
Ellipsoidal Janus nanoparticles adsorbed at the water-oil interface: some evidence of emergent behavior.

The equilibrium behavior of ellipsoidal Janus nanoparticles at water–oil interfaces was investigated using dissipative particle dynamics simulations. It was found that the orientation of the nanoparticles with respect to the interface depends on nanoparticle aspect ratio, on the amount of polar vs nonpolar surface groups, and on the interactions between the nanoparticles surface groups and aqueous and nonaqueous solvents. The changes in nanoparticle orientation are not always monotonic, probably because of a competition between different driving forces. For nanoparticles of high aspect ratio, steric effects seem to cause an isotropic-to-nematic phase transition as the surface coverage increases. It was observed that at a sufficiently high surface coverage the nanoparticles are most effective at reducing the interfacial tension when they lay with their longer axis parallel to the interface. The simulation results presented could be useful for the design of Pickering emulsions.
Interactions between sympathetic and vagal cardiac afferents in nucleus tractus solitarii

Epicardial application of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) reflexly elicits a sympathetically mediated pressor response. This pressor response is augmented by vagotomy and abolished by sympathectomy, suggesting an occlusive interaction between the afferents in the central nervous system (CNS). To support this observation we recorded sympathetic efferent responses from the sympathetic chain (T1-T2) before and after epicardial application of H2O2 in six cats before and after vagotomy. Cardiac sympathetic efferent responses to H2O2 were increased by vagotomy. Thus there exists an occlusive interaction between the two afferent pathways in the CNS. Because cardiopulmonary vagal afferents make their first central synapse in the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS), we further hypothesized that cells in the NTS receive convergent inputs from sympathetic and vagal afferents and that the inputs would interact in an occlusive manner. In alpha-chloralose-anesthetized sinoaortic-denervated cats, cardiac sympathetic and vagal branches were stimulated electrically at 1 Hz, either separately or in combination. Extracellular single-unit activity was recorded in the NTS. Vagal stimuli most frequently (38%) diminished sympathetically evoked unit activity (-46.6 +/- 6.0%) versus control (1.4 +/- 1.5%). However, a few (21%) vagal and sympathetic afferent inputs were found to be additive or facilitative. We conclude that interactions occur between cardiac sympathetic and vagal afferents in the NTS. It is possible that this occlusive interaction explains the alteration in cardiac sympathetic outflow after epicardial stimulation with H2O2.
Design and Implementation of SOA-Based Smart Energy Efficiency Management System

In order to integrate energy efficiency management applications for various types of electricity users under the smart grid,the paper proposes the fundamental framework of the Smart Energy Efficiency Management System based on service oriented architecture to describe the system structure and functions of the SEEM system,and the key technical implementation like integrated data model,as well as service components extraction and packaging etc.The Web Service technology is used not only to solve the related heterogeneous systems and data source sharing,but also to implement the system with the J2EE platform.
Time resolved reflectivity as a probe of the dynamics of laser ablation of organic polymers

The dynamics of pulsed laser ablation of materials has been probed optically recently by high speed imaging of the substrate surface and of the blast wave generated by the process.1–3 In a preliminary study4 we reported that the optical pulse of a KrF excimer laser reflected from a polyimide surface is truncated once the incident laser fluence exceeds a threshold value, which is close to the threshold fluence for laser ablation. This result showed that for laser pulse widths on the order of nanoseconds, the onset of ablation does not depend on the intensity, but on the accumulated energy. In order to understand the mechanism of the transient decrease of reflectivity at the onset of ablation, we have now extended our preliminary experiments to include several polymers with various chemical structures and having a wide range of absorption coefficients and ablation thresholds fluences at 248 nm. Optical pulses from a uniform beam Lumonics HyperEX 460 excimer laser operating at the KrF wavelength of 248 nm, with 15-18 ns pulse width at half maximum, are reflected from the polymer surface placed at an . angle of 45° with respect to the laser beam. A portion of the central uniform region of the incident beam is focussed onto the target. The reflected light is detected with a fast photodiode and oscilloscope. The reflected pulse width at half maximum, reflected fluence, and reflected peak intensity are determined using a fresh surface for each laser pulse. Results are reported for polyimide, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and polyethylene, for incident fluences of 1-3000 mj/cm2.
Process Simulation and Cost Analysis for Removing Inorganics from Wood Chips Using Combined Mechanical and Chemical Preprocessing

Inorganic species (ash) in biomass feedstocks negatively impact thermochemical and biochemical energy conversion processes. In this work, a process simulation model is developed to model the reduction in ash content of loblolly logging residues using a combination of air classification and dilute-acid leaching. Various scenarios are considered, and it is found that costs associated with discarding high-ash material from air classification are substantial. The costs of material loss can be reduced by chemical leaching the high-ash fraction obtained from air classification. The optimal leaching condition is found to be approximately 0.1 wt% sulfuric acid at 24 °C. In example scenarios, total process costs in the range of $6–9﻿/dry tons of product are projected that result in a removal of 14, 62, 39, and 88 % of organics, total ash (inorganics), alkaline earth metals and phosphorus (AAEMS + P), and silicon, respectively. Sensitivity analyses indicate that costs associated with loss of organic material during processing (yield losses), brine disposal, and labor have the greatest potential to impact the total processing cost.
Behavior of Enterobacter aerogenes and Hafnia Species During the Manufacture and Ripening of Camembert Cheese.

Camembert cheese was made from pasteurized milk contaminated with about 102-103 cells of Enterobacter aerogenes or Hafnia sp. The coliform bacteria were enumerated with a Most Probable Number procedure and with violet red bile agar. Numbers of viable E. aerogenes decreased rapidly during ripening at 15.5 or 10 C when cheese was made with the commercial lactic starter cultures OD or C-5. No viable E. aerogenes was detected in cheese ripened at 10 C for 3 weeks. Ripening of cheese, made with starter culture OD or C-5, for 1 week at 15.5 C was accompanied by a decrease in numbers of viable Hafnia sp. to 10/g. The number of Hafnia sp. increased markedly during 7 weeks of further ripening at 10 C to yield cheese which contained numbers in excess of 107/g when ripening was almost completed. Growth of Hafnia sp. during the storage period coincided with an increase in pH of the cheese.
Population genomics reveals high gene flow in grass rockfish (Sebastes rastrelliger).

Abstract Variation at the genomic level is important for understanding a species' demographic and phylogenetic history, in addition to identifying candidate regions that may be under selection and important to local adaptation. We used restriction-site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing to sample single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the grass rockfish genome (Sebastes rastrelliger) to assess range-wide patterns of population structure and test for signatures of selection (i.e. outlier loci). Two different filtering criteria yielded 6572 and 10,393 SNPs that were genotyped in over 70% of 110 individuals from six sampling areas using RAD loci. Global FST across sampling sites is 0.0009–0.002 for all loci. Two methods for the detection of outlier loci failed to identify any outlier loci. Clustering analyses and discriminant analysis of principal components were not able to detect any population structure in our dataset. These results suggest high levels of gene flow for this species across its range and that this level of gene flow makes it difficult to detect outlier loci in the current dataset.
Dissociating Medial Temporal and Striatal Memory Systems With a Same/Different Matching Task: Evidence for Two Neural Systems in Human Recognition

The medial temporal lobe and striatum have both been implicated as brain substrates of memory and learning. Here, we show dissociation between these two memory systems using a same/different matching task, in which subjects judged whether four-letter strings were the same or different. Different RT was determined by the left-to-right location of the first letter different between the study and test string, consistent with a left-to-right comparison of the study and test strings, terminating when a difference was found. This comparison process results in same responses being slower than different responses. Nevertheless, same responses were faster than different responses. Same responses were associated with hippocampus activation. Different responses were associated with both caudate and hippocampus activation. These findings are consistent with the dual-system hypothesis of mammalian memory and extend the model to human visual recognition.
Quality of life (QOL), mood, and prognostic awareness during hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

9642 Background: During HSCT, patients endure significant side effects in the hopes of curing their disease. While many studies have focused on the long-term outcomes of HSCT recipients, the acute ...
Dual lobe shading of surface copper voids in copper metal lines

Copper voids are critical defect issues in the metal lines. Massive voids cause functional fails and the smaller ones that do not cause any function fails carry high risk of failing later in life. They are threats to product lifetimes. In this work, we discuss a process for dual damascene copper for metal lines capable of causing surface voids.
A Nanomechanics Based Investigation into Interface Thermomechanics of Collagen and Chitin Based Biomaterials

From the biological/chemical perspective, interface concepts related to cell surface/synthetic biomaterial interface and extracellular matrix/biomolecule interface have wide applications in medical and biological technology. Interfaces control biological reactions, and provide unique organic microenvironments that can enhance specific affinities, as well as self-assembly in the interface plane that can be used to orient and space molecules with precision. Interfaces also play a significant role in determining structural integrity and mechanical creep and strength properties of biomaterials. Structural arrangement of interfaces combined with interfacial interaction between organic and inorganic phases significantly affects the mechanical properties of biological materials, allowing in particular for a unique combination of seemingly “in-consistent” properties, such as fracture strength and tensile strength being both high—as opposed to traditional engineering materials, which have high fracture strength linked to low tensile strength and vice-versa. This work presents a framework to understand this correlation by presenting a quantified information regarding the effect of interfaces on overall mechanical deformation of two widely simulated materials systems based on Collagen-Hydroxyapatite and Chitin-Calcite interfaces. Analyses point out specific role of interface chemistries in the effect the interfaces have on overall structural mechanical properties.
Neurologic provider views on patient-reported outcomes including depression screening.

Background We sought to assess neurologic provider satisfaction with the systematic electronic collection of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for both disease-specific measures and depression screening (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9]). Methods A web-based survey was sent to 299 staff physicians and advanced practice providers on the staff email list of a large group neurologic practice, of whom 206 used the PROM system. The survey consisted of 11 questions with Likert response options regarding perceived usefulness of PROM collection; usefulness of PROM data for clinical care, quality, and research activities according to provider age group and type; and perceived usefulness between disease-specific information and the PHQ-9 depression screen. Results Of those who use the PROM system, 73.3% (151/206) responded. PROM collection was useful for patient care (strongly agree or agree 59.6%), research (strongly agree or agree 68.5%), and to a lesser extent, quality improvement (strongly agree or agree 48.6%). Providers aged 66–75 years believed PROM data were less useful for research ( p Conclusions Providers favorably viewed systematic electronic collection of PROMs in neurologic patients. A mandated depression screening was perceived as favorably as center-selected disease-specific information and should be considered when implementing PROMs in neurologic practice.
Specificity of the rat vesicular acetylcholine transporter.

The protein kinase A–deficient PC12 cell line PC12A123.7 lacks both choline acetyltransferase and the vesicular acetylcholine transporter. This cell line has been used to establish a stably transfected cell line expressing recombinant rat vesicular acetylcholine transporter that is appropriately trafficked to small synaptic vesicles. Acetylcholine is transported by the rat vesicular acetylcholine transporter at a maximal rate of 1.45 nmol acetylcholine/min/mg protein and exhibits a Km for transport of 2.5 mM. The transporter binds vesamicol with a Kd of 7.5 nM. The ability of structural analogs of acetylcholine to inhibit both acetylcholine uptake and vesamicol binding was measured. The results demonstrate that like Torpedo vesicular acetylcholine transporter, the mammalian transporter can bind a diverse group of acetylcholine analogs.
Plasmoptysis and gelation of erythrocytes in coagulation of blood of freshwater bony fishes.

1. A clot-like material which results from very rapid plasmoptysis and hydrophyllic swelling of karyoplasm of erythrocytes from freshwater fish was reported. This attribute was found to a lesser degree in erythrocytes from an amphibian, but it was almost lacking in those of an aquatic reptile. 2. Rapid clotting of fish blood with the usual clinical methods was confirmed in this work. Fish blood clotted more quickly with the slide test than with the capillary tube test. In the presence of water, complete coagulation of fish blood occurred in only 65 per cent of the time required for clotting to be completed in air. This speed is attributed to the water-erythrocyte reaction, and not to a quality of the plasma. 3. An attempt was made to correlate the findings with the need for hemostasis and blood coagulation that is peculiar to aquatic vertebrates.
Reaction Driven Elastic Waves in Solid Media

Chemical reactions and phase transformations couple in solid systems with the stress fields. When reaction rates become of the same order as the rate of relaxation of mechanical perturbations, the reactions can stabilize elastic waves in the system. Density varies with temperature and conversion and since the elastic waves are driven by the gradients in temperature and conversion, these source terms travel with the same speed as the reaction front. A model is presented for elastic waves in solid media, driven by a moving source term that is well approximated by a delta function. The propagation velocity of this source is constant, but it can propagate either subsonically or supersonically. The effects of precompressing the sample, applying a force at one boundary, and varying the strength of the source term with time are included in the discussion. The model is useful to study transformation reactions under shock-compression, ultrafast deflagrations, and detonations in the solid phase.
Special Topics of Interest in Biochemistry and Related Fields

Up to this point we have attempted to categorize topics under single headings. There are, however, many other areas in which infrared spectroscopy has been used that are of interest. This is not to say that any of these areas is less important or needs less emphasis in research laboratories than do other topics. Several of the topics mentioned here have had books devoted to them. The attempt in this chapter is to bring to the attention of the reader the wide variety of areas in which infrared spectroscopy, along with other tools, can offer information to research scientists.
Impact of Body Mass Index on Ultrawideband MIMO BAN Channels—Measurements and Statistical Model

Wireless body area networks (BANs) have many important applications such as wearable communication devices and Internet of Things. Wireless propagation in on-body channels has been measured and modeled in the past. However, a crucial element that is usually ignored is the impact of the body size of the user—a 50-kg person obviously creates a different on-body channel than a 150-kg person. The status-quo “one-size-fits-all” approach to channel characterization in BAN is thus incomplete. In this paper, we provide a detailed description of a propagation measurement campaign that employs a self-developed $4 \times 4$ ultrawideband multiple-input-multiple-output array channel sounding system to perform BAN channel sounding both in an anechoic chamber and indoor laboratory environments. A total of 60 human subjects were investigated in our work. These human subjects had widely varying body mass index (BMI) values, which were grouped into three different categories, i.e., 20 per BMI category. Various propagation properties such as path gain, frequency-decay factor, shadowing gain, rms delay spread, amplitude fading, and spatial correlation are extracted for each on-body channel under consideration. A comparison of statistics among the BMI categories reveals considerable differences, emphasizing the fact that the aforementioned propagation properties are BMI dependent. Parameters such as path gain showed a monotonic decrease across the BMI categories with values ranging from 1–2 to almost 13 dB in some channels. This paper proposes a propagation channel model for the BMI-dependent parameters and validates that it can reproduce the measured channel capacities.
Let the right one in: High admission rate for low-acuity pediatric burns.

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to characterize emergency pediatric burn care triage at a tertiary children's hospital to identify targets for quality improvement. Methods A retrospective review of patients Results A total of 309 pediatric burn patients were triaged in the emergency department. Patients were typically young (median 3.3 years), male (59%), Hispanic (47%), publically insured (77%), and transferred in (65%). Scalding was the most common mechanism (59%). Though most burns were small (median 2% total body surface area), not deep ( Conclusion Though burns were low acuity, most children were admitted. Social factors may play an important role in triage decisions but there may be an opportunity for improved resource utilization.
Predictive Power of Markovian Models: Evidence from U.S. Recession Forecasting

This paper brings new evidence of predicting the U.S. recessions through Markovian models. The Markovian models, including the Hidden Markov and Markov models, incorporate the temporal autocorrelation of binary recession indicators in a more traditional and natural way. Considering interest rates and spreads, stock prices, monetary aggregates, and output as the candidate predictors, we examine the out-of-sample performance of the Markovian models in predicting the recessions one to twelve months ahead. The Markovian models are superior to the probit models in detecting a recession and capturing the recession duration. We find the "one-month lag phenomenon" that the best Markovian model supported by statistical model selection procedures can always recognize the onset of a recession one month after it starts. In addition, the yield spread continues to serve as the most ecient predictor variable in explaining business cycles.
Identifying Dysfunctional Education Ecologies: A DisCrit Analysis of Bias in the Classroom.

In this critical theoretical conceptualization situated in Disability Critical Race Theory (Annamma, Connor, & Ferri, 2013), we identify the current education system as a series of dysfunctional ed...
Understanding the Effectiveness of Psychosocial Services for Anxiety and Depression in Chinese Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES There exists an imperative need to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for Chinese geriatric populations' mental wellbeing. This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychosocial services for Chinese older adults' depression and anxiety. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A search of nine electronic databases, five geriatric mental health journals, and reference lists was conducted for studies published between 1980 and April. 2018. Thirty-three studies (including totally 3,478 participants, 107 effect sizes) of true and quasiexperimental controlled trials were eligible and included for meta-analysis using robust variance estimation in meta-regression. Outcome indicators were geriatric depression and anxiety. RESULTS An overall significant treatment effect was identified for geriatric depression and anxiety (d = 0.577, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.288, 0.867, p < .001). Outcomes, geographic area, participants' marriage, service setting, and types of control group were moderators for treatment effects. Subgroup analysis observed statistically significant effect size among studies in Taiwan, used innovative service methods and small group interventions. Both in-person, home-based interventions and interventions provided by nurse practitioners and specially trained providers were statistically significant. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS Psychosocial services can benefit Chinese geriatric populations. Innovative and culturally relevant programs received strongest research supports. Future research should incorporate social interaction as an important component for serving Chinese older adults' mental wellbeing.
Feasibility and Validity of Geographically Explicit Ecological Momentary Assessment With Recall‐Aided Space‐Time Budgets

We employ data from the Adolescent Health and Development in Context Study-a representative sample of urban youth ages 11-17 in and around the Columbus, OH area-to investigate the feasibility and validity of smartphone-based geographically explicit ecological momentary assessment (GEMA). Age, race, household income, familiarity with smartphones, and self-control were associated with missing global positioning systems (GPS) coverage, whereas school day was associated with discordance between percent of time at home based on GPS-only versus recall-aided space-time budget data. Fatigue from protocol compliance increases missing GPS across the week, which results in more discordance. Although some systematic differences were observed, these findings offer evidence that smartphone-based GEMA is a viable method for the collection of activity space data on urban youth.
The role of sensory drive in floral evolution

Sensory drive theory posits that the evolution of communication signals is shaped by the sensory systems of receivers and the habitat conditions under which signals are received. It has inspired an enormous body of research, advancing our understanding of signal evolution and speciation in animals. In plants, the extreme diversification of floral signals has fascinated biologists for over a century. While processes involved in sensory drive probably play out in plant-pollinator communication, the theory has not been formally synthesized in this context. However, it has untapped potential to explain mechanisms underlying variation in pollinator preferences across populations, and how environmental conditions impact floral signal transmission and perception. Here I develop a framework of sensory drive for plant-pollinator interactions, identifying similarities and differences from its original conception. I then summarize studies that shed light on how the primary processes of sensory drive - habitat transmission, perceptual tuning, and signal matching - apply to the evolution of floral color and scent. Throughout, I propose research avenues and approaches to assess how sensory drive shapes floral diversity. This framework will be important for explaining patterns of extant floral diversity and examining how altered signaling conditions under global change will impact the evolutionary trajectory of floral traits.
Work-in-Progress: A Deep Learning Strategy for I/O Scheduling in Storage Systems

Under the big data era, there is a crucial need to improve the performance of storage systems for data-intensive applications. Data-intensive applications tend to behave in a predictable manner, which can be exploited for improving the performance of the storage system. At the storage level, we propose a deep recurrent neural network that learns the patterns of I/O requests and predicts the upcoming ones, such that memory contents can be pre-loaded at the right time to prevent cache/memory misses. Preliminary experimental results, on two real-world I/O logs of storage systems (from financial and web search), are reported-they partially demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
The validity of VALID act: Cost modeling cancer diagnostics regulation by the FDA.

e14124Background: VALID Act is a bipartisan draft legislation proposing to ensure the quality and safety of diagnostic tests through direct FDA oversight. Currently, FDA exercises enforcement discr...
Comparison of media and standards for SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR without prior RNA preparation

Since the emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, there have been demands on the testing infrastructure that have strained testing capacity. As a simplification of method, we confirm the efficacy of RNA extraction-free RT-qPCR and saline as an alternative patient sample storage buffer. In addition, amongst potential reagent shortages, it has sometimes been difficult to obtain inactivated viral particles. We have therefore also characterized armored SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Asuragen as an alternative diagnostic standard to ATCC genomic SARS-CoV-2 RNA and heat inactivated virions and provide guidelines for its use in RT-qPCR.