cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Climate Warming and Calling Phenology of Frogs near Ithaca, New York, 1900–1999

Because ambient temperature strongly influences reproduction in frogs, the seasonal timing of frog calling provides a sensitive index of biotic response to climate change. Over the last century, daily tem- peratures increased during 5 of the 8 months key to gametogenesis in frogs and toads near Ithaca, New York (U.S.A.). Earliest dates of calling frogs recorded by Albert Hazen Wright between 1900 and 1912 near Ithaca were compared to those from the New York State Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Project for 1990-1999 for the three counties surrounding Ithaca. Four species are now calling 10-13 days earlier, two are unchanged, and none is calling later. The data suggest that climate has warmed in central New York State during this century and has resulted in earlier breeding in some amphibians—a possible first indication of biotic response to cli- mate change in eastern North America.
Trendelenburg positioning does not prevent a decrease in cardiac output after induction of anaesthesia with propofol in children.

Background and objective: Induction of anaesthesia may cause decreased cardiac output and blood pressure. Head-down tilt is often the first clinical step to treat hypotension. The objective of this randomized single centre study was to determine, with the use of impedance cardiography (ICG), whether Trendelenburg positioning modifies the haemodynamic response to propofol/fentanyl induction of anaesthesia in ASA I children. Methods: Thirty ASA I children aged between 7 and 16 years scheduled for elective minor orthopaedic surgery were included. After intravenous induction with propofol and fentanyl in the head-down group (HDG, n = 15), 5 min of 20° head-down tilt was applied. In the supine group (SG, n = 15), no change in the supine position was made. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2), stroke volume index (SVI), cardiac index (CI), systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) and Heather index (HI) were recorded before (B), at 3 (A3), 5 (A5) and 8 (A8) minutes after induction in each group. Results: After induction, a significant decrease in CI, MABP, HR and HI was recorded in both groups. In the study group, significantly lower values of HR (66 vs. 78 beat/min) and higher values of SVI (42.9 vs. 40.6 ml/min/m2) were measured at A3 compared with the control group. After induction, no difference in CI and SVRI was found between the two groups. Conclusion: The present study shows that cardiac performance is not improved by Trendelenburg positioning after propofol/fentanyl induction of anaesthesia in children.
SATELLITE ALTIMETRY, THE MARINE GEOID, AND THE OCEANIC GENERAL CIRCULATION

For technical reasons, the general circulation of the ocean has historically been treated as a steady, laminar flow field. The recent availability of extremely highaccuracy and high-precision satellite altimetry has provided a graphic demonstration that the ocean is actually a rapidly time-evolving turbulent flow field. To render the observations quantitatively useful for oceanographic purposes has required order of magnitude improvements in a number of fields, including orbit dynamics, gravity field estimation, and atmospheric variability. With five years of very high-quality data now available, the nature of oceanic variability on all space and time scales is emerging, including new findings about such diverse and important phenomena as mixing coefficients, the frequency/wavenumber spectrum, and turbulent cascades. Because the surface elevation is both a cause and consequence of motions deep within the water column, oceanographers soon will be able to provide general circulation numerical models tested against and then combined with the altimeter data. These will be complete three-dimensional timeevolving estimates of the ocean circulation, permitting greatly improved estimates of oceanic heat, carbon, and other property fluxes.
A novel ultra high speed reconfigurable switching encoder for Flash ADC

In Flash ADC designs, the speed of thermometer code to binary code encoder often becomes the bottleneck in achieving ultra high speed. This necessitates new design for encoder which can operate accurately at multi Giga hertz range. In this paper, a unique encoder design technique is presented which exploits the signal pattern in thermometer code and generates corresponding binary bits using lower resolution encoder. The circuit is designed in CMOS 90nm technology. The cadence simulation results prove that the switching encoder is the fastest encoder which can operate at 16GHz and is more efficient in terms of power dissipation as it consumes only 46μW at 1.2V supply voltage. The switching encoder can be easily reconfigured for higher resolution ADC by merely multiplexing the inputs which makes this encoder versatile. These encoders find application in the design of high speed flash ADCs.
The PD-1 pathway as a therapeutic target to overcome immune escape mechanisms in cancer.

Introduction: Immunotherapy is emerging as a powerful approach in cancer treatment. Preclinical data predicted the antineoplastic effects seen in clinical trials of programmed death-1 (PD-1) pathway inhibitors, as well as their observed toxicities. The results of early clinical trials are extraordinarily promising in several cancer types and have shaped the direction of ongoing and future studies.Areas covered: This review describes the biological rationale for targeting the PD-1 pathway with monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer as a context for examining the results of early clinical trials. It also surveys the landscape of ongoing clinical trials and discusses their anticipated strengths and limitations.Expert opinion: PD-1 pathway inhibition represents a new frontier in cancer immunotherapy, which shows clear evidence of activity in various tumor types including NSCLC and melanoma. Ongoing and upcoming trials will examine optimal combinations of these agents, which should further define th...
Post-oak fire scars as a function of diameter, growth, and tree age

The biological and statistical characteristics of fire scarring will aid in predicting the effects of prescribed fire on trees and in the historical interpretation of past fire occurrences. We measured, tree-ring dated, and characterized 126 fire scars on post-oaks (Quercus stellata) from The Barrens complex of the Highland Rim, Tennessee, USA. We hypothesized that tree characteristics such as diameter, growth rate, and age would have an effect on the scarring of trees and found that the percent of circumference with cambial damage was a function of diameter, growth rate, and age. We quantified the probability of a tree being scarred using logistic regression that included tree diameter, growth rate, and age as significant independent variables. Post-oaks were more likely to be scarred and survive when they were from 9 to 22 cm in diameter and had a radial growth rate <2 mm per year. Predicting the effects of a prescribed fire on tree damage is particularly important where multiple resource objectives are integrated on a single site such as fire hazard reduction, high-quality timber production, wildlife habitat, and species diversity.
MMDB: 3D structures and macromolecular interactions

Close to 60% of protein sequences tracked in comprehensive databases can be mapped to a known three-dimensional (3D) structure by standard sequence similarity searches. Potentially, a great deal can be learned about proteins or protein families of interest from considering 3D structure, and to this day 3D structure data may remain an underutilized resource. Here we present enhancements in the Molecular Modeling Database (MMDB) and its data presentation, specifically pertaining to biologically relevant complexes and molecular interactions. MMDB is tightly integrated with NCBI's Entrez search and retrieval system, and mirrors the contents of the Protein Data Bank. It links protein 3D structure data with sequence data, sequence classification resources and PubChem, a repository of small-molecule chemical structures and their biological activities, facilitating access to 3D structure data not only for structural biologists, but also for molecular biologists and chemists. MMDB provides a complete set of detailed and pre-computed structural alignments obtained with the VAST algorithm, and provides visualization tools for 3D structure and structure/sequence alignment via the molecular graphics viewer Cn3D. MMDB can be accessed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/structure.
Respiratory syncytial virus stimulation of vascular endothelial cell growth Factor/Vascular permeability factor

We hypothesized that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-induced pathologies could be mediated, in part, by vascular active cytokines elaborated during virus infection. To address this hypothesis, we determined whether RSV stimulated vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF)/vascular permeability factor (VPF) elaboration in vitro. Supernatants from unstimulated A549 cells and normal human bronchial epithelial cells contained modest levels of VEGF. In contrast, supernatants from RSV-infected cells contained elevated levels of VEGF/VPF. This stimulation was seen after as little as 2 h, was still prominent after 48 h, and, by immunoblot, was specific for the 165- and 121-amino acid isoforms of VEGF/VPF. It was not associated with significant cell cytotoxicity or alterations in VEGF messenger RNA. It did, however, require new protein biosynthesis. In accordance with these findings, the 165- and 121-amino acid isoforms of VEGF/VPF were also found in the nasal washings from patients with RSV infections. These studies demonstrate that RSV is a potent stimulator of VEGF/VPF elaboration and that, in vitro, this stimulation is mediated via a noncytotoxic translational and/or post-translational biosynthetic mechanism. VEGF/VPF may play an important role in the pathogenesis of RSV-induced disorders.
A continuum theory of superconductivity

A continuum theory of superconductivity is formulated for a mixture consisting of three species: a superelectron fluid, a conducting fluid, and a conducting elastic solid. Each one of the three species is subject to their own electro-magnetic (E-M) fields and motions. Irreversible thermodynamics are used to obtain constitutive equations. Field equations, boundary and initial conditions are given. A special case is obtained, suitable for mathematical analysis and applications. The Pippard theory of superconductivity is shown to be a special case of the present theory.
US Map Visualization of Optimal Properties of Phase Change Materials for Building Efficiency

Incorporating phase change materials (PCM) in construction materials can reduce the heating and cooling loads of buildings significantly. During the past ten years, many studies have estimated potentialreductions of energy consumption of buildings between 10 and 30 percent. This wide range is due to the large number of parameters that affect energy consumption and make the process of selecting the type and amount of PCM challenging. In fact, extensive engineering studies are generally necessary to determine the practicality of PCM in any specific case. As a result, architects and engineers are reluctant to use PCM because of the lack of design guidelines. The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) identified eight climate zones in the United States, each determined on the basis of annual degree heating and degree cooling days. Climate zones are further divided into moist, dry and coastal regions leading to 15 specific climates. Phase change materials are defined by their melting temperature, energy storage capacity, i.e.,enthalpy, and cost, among other parameters. For a given building in a given climate, there exist an optimalmelting temperature and enthalpy that minimize the energy consumption and the payback period. In thisresearch, the optimal properties of PCM are determined for all 15 climates and results are visualized in theform of maps of the United States. Additional topics discussed in this paper are the sensitivity of the optimalproperties of PCM and the effect of the average cost of energy on the selection of PCM. Fifteen different maps of the United States were created, from which the most relevant are presented in this paper. The energy consumption is determined numerically using the Department of Energy software EnergyPlus, which calculates the energy consumption for heating and cooling a building under any climate and operation schedule. The software is run on a computer cluster for a wide range of properties from which the optimal values are extracted.
Improving Follow-Up Adherence in a Primary Eye Care Setting

Lack of patient adherence with eye appointments can decrease ocular outcomes. This prospective, randomized, single-blinded controlled study assessed the effectiveness of multiple interventions in improving follow-up adherence to recommended eye appointments. Patients due for follow-up appointments were randomly assigned to usual care, automated intervention, or personal intervention. Automated-intervention patients and personal-intervention patients received a call one month prior to the recommended follow-up date, and a mailed appointment reminder letter. The call was automated for automated-intervention patients and personalized for personal-intervention patients. The primary outcome was adherence to the follow-up appointment. The secondary outcome was rate of appointment scheduling. Patients in the personal-intervention group had greater adherence to follow-up recommendations (38%) than patients in the usual care group (28%) and the automated-intervention group (30%). Personal intervention significantly increased appointment scheduling (51%) over usual care (32%) and automated intervention (36%). These results support systems-level changes to improve patient follow-up adherence in urban primary eye care settings.
Shear Modulus Property Characterization of Nanorods

We demonstrate an innovative technique for the direct measurement on the shear modulus of an individual nanorod. This measurement is based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) and microfabrication techniques. A nanorod is first aligned along the edge of a small trench in a silicon substrate, and then one end of the nanorod is fixed on the substrate. When an AFM tip scans over the nanorod in contact mode, the nanorod will be twisted by the comprehensive action from the force of the AFM tip, confinement from the trench edge and the fixing end. The shear deformation and the corresponding force that caused the deformation can be retrieved from topography and lateral force image, respectively. By small-angle approximation, the shear modulus of the ZnO NR, which has a radius of 166 nm and a length of 4 μm, is measured to be 8.1 ± 1.9 GPa. This method can be applied directly to characterize the shear modulus of any nanowire/nanorod that possesses a polygon cross section.
Confidence assignment for mass spectrometry based peptide identifications via the extreme value distribution.

MOTIVATION There is a growing trend for biomedical researchers to extract evidence and draw conclusions from mass spectrometry based proteomics experiments, the cornerstone of which is peptide identification. Inaccurate assignments of peptide identification confidence thus may have far-reaching and adverse consequences. Although some peptide identification methods report accurate statistics, they have been limited to certain types of scoring function. The extreme value statistics based method, while more general in the scoring functions it allows, demands accurate parameter estimates and requires, at least in its original design, excessive computational resources. Improving the parameter estimate accuracy and reducing the computational cost for this method has two advantages: it provides another feasible route to accurate significance assessment, and it could provide reliable statistics for scoring functions yet to be developed. RESULTS We have formulated and implemented an efficient algorithm for calculating the extreme value statistics for peptide identification applicable to various scoring functions, bypassing the need for searching large random databases. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION The source code, implemented in C ++ on a linux system, is available for download at ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/qmbp/qmbp_ms/RAId/RAId_Linux_64Bit CONTACT yyu@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Abstract 1134: Association of ZC3H8 with nuclear bodies and its role in promoting tumor cell behaviorin vitroandin vivo

The Zinc Finger CCCH-Type Containing 8 (zc3h8 or Fliz1) gene is overexpressed in many mouse and human breast cancer cell lines that we examined, although the exact function of this gene and the ZC3H8 protein are largely unknown. To characterize ZC3H8 protein, we localized it to distinct sub-nuclear domains that also contain markers for promyelocytic leukemia (PML) nuclear bodies and Cajal bodies. Furthermore, when cells are treated with a casein kinase-2 (CK2) inhibitor, ZC3H8 mislocalizes out of the nuclear bodies and diffuses into the nucleoplasm. CK2 is a known activator of transcription and a potential drug target. ZC3H8 contains a putative CK2 phosphorylation site at position T32, and may be regulated by this kinase. Based on this localization and other preliminary data, we hypothesize that ZC3H8 has a role in transcriptional regulation or RNA modification at these nuclear bodies. This hypothesis is supported by published studies that have found a role for ZC3H8 in the Little Elongation Complex (LEC), which transcribes snRNA involved in RNA splicing in nuclear bodies. Since many tumors and cancer cell lines overexpress zc3h8, we used stably expressed shRNA to knock down expression in two independent mouse breast cancer cell lines for in vitro and in vivo studies. Cells with reduced zc3h8 expression have decreased rates of proliferation and migration compared to overexpressing cells when tested using MTS and wound healing assays. Decreased rates of migration in wound healing assays are reversed by overexpression of the known migration-associated gene MEMO1. Additionally, cells with reduced expression of zc3h8 failed to form colonies in soft agar or pass through an extracellular matrix coating a transwell chamber- a phenotype that can be rescued using recombinant human zc3h8. Conversely, untransformed mouse mammary COMMA-1D cells gain the ability to form colonies in soft agar when transfected to stably overexpress zc3h8. Our in vitro studies suggest that zc3h8 expression has a role in tumorigenesis. These observations have been supported with in vivo studies in mice. We implanted cells knocked down for zc3h8 and control cells into the mammary glands of syngeneic female mice. Mice injected with cells that have reduced expression of zc3h8 form substantially smaller tumors by weight compared to control. When taken together, these data show that zc3h8 has a role in the formation and progression of cancer through its association with nuclear bodies involved in transcriptional regulation and RNA modification. Citation Format: John A. Schmidt, Keith G. Danielson, Jani L. Swiatek, Emily R. Duffner, Janice E. Knepper. Association of ZC3H8 with nuclear bodies and its role in promoting tumor cell behavior in vitro and in vivo. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1134.
Evolutionary biology and beliefs: how ideology can draw different social stances from science

Agreeing that there are often strong connections between fields of science and the ideological convictions of those producing the science, this essay shows that the connections are often complex and rarely straightforward. Taking the example of evolutionary biology, by looking at three key figures – Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace – it is shown how very different social beliefs can lead to very different social conclusions being drawn from one’s science. It is argued that this message should be kept firmly in mind by those who today would draw social conclusions from science, for instance suggesting that Darwinian evolutionary biology leads straight to the social philosophy of the Third Reich. The truth is always far more complex.
Interpretation of pulmonary function tests: beyond the basics

Although the general framework described in the joint American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society guidelines provides a useful and practical method for the interpretation of pulmonary function tests, several other measurements and functional indices, if understood correctly, may help in diagnosis and management of patients with respiratory diseases and in design of research protocols. This review provides information on the underlying physiology, interpretative caveats, and the evidence supporting the use of a number of these indices. Some of these measurements, such as the inspiratory fraction, inspiratory capacity/total lung capacity (IC/TLC), may offer additional prognostic information, while others, such as residual volume (RV)/TLC and forced expiratory volume in 3 s/forced vital capacity (FEV3/FVC), may help fill in the gaps between patient symptoms and more traditional indices of pulmonary function. Although most studies of non-traditional indices focus on airflow-limiting disorders, many can be fruitfully applied in other settings. Understanding the physiology that catalyzed these investigations will undoubtedly enrich the functional assessment armamentarium of the practicing clinician and researcher.
Understanding Recent Insights in Sleep and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder from a Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Framework

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with sleep disturbances, including insomnia, nightmares, sleep-disordered breathing, and REM abnormalities. Recent studies have expanded our knowledge of the neurobiology of trauma and sleep. In addition, intervention research has provided valuable information about how sleep treatments affect PTSD symptoms and how PTSD treatments affect sleep symptoms. This review of recent literature aims to move away from the categorical approach that currently dominates our conceptualization of trauma response and sleep disorders. Possible mechanisms of both trauma and sleep disturbance are posed within the framework put forth by the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project. By examining domains of dysfunction that cut across disorders, RDoC may guide future research and treatment of the maladaptive neurobiological and behavioral correlates of both trauma and sleep disturbances.
Dialing in single-site reactivity of a supported calixarene-protected tetrairidium cluster catalyst

A closed Ir4 carbonyl cluster, 1, comprising a tetrahedral metal frame and three sterically bulky tert-butyl-calix[4]arene(OPr)3(OCH2PPh2) (Ph = phenyl; Pr = propyl) ligands at the basal plane, was characterized with variable-temperature 13C NMR spectroscopy, which show the absence of scrambling of the CO ligands at temperatures up to 313 K. This demonstration of distinct sites for the CO ligands was found to extend to the reactivity and catalytic properties, as shown by selective decarbonylation in a reaction with trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) as an oxidant, which, reacting in the presence of ethylene, leads to the selective bonding of an ethyl ligand at the apical Ir site. These clusters were supported intact on porous silica and found to catalyze ethylene hydrogenation, and a comparison of the kinetics of the single-hydrogenation reaction and steady-state hydrogenation catalysis demonstrates a unique single-site catalyst-with each site having the same catalytic activity. Reaction orders in the catalytic ethylene hydrogenation reaction of approximately 1/2 and 0 for H2 and C2H4, respectively, nearly match those for conventional noble-metal catalysts. In contrast to oxidative decarbonylation, thermal desorption of CO from silica-supported cluster 1 occurred exclusively at the basal plane, giving rise to sites that do not react with ethylene and are catalytically inactive for ethylene hydrogenation. The evidence of distinctive sites on the cluster catalyst leads to a model that links to hydrogen-transfer catalysis on metals-involving some surface sites that bond to both hydrocarbon and hydrogen and are catalytically engaged (so-called "*" sites) and others, at the basal plane, which bond hydrogen and CO but not hydrocarbon and are reservoir sites (so-called "S" sites).
Mineralogy of Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave displays a wide variety of depositional environments that permit the deposition of some unusual minerals, although the cave overall is rather devoid of speleothems. Calcite in the form of stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone is the common carbonate mineral and occurs where passages extend beyond the protective caprock. Aragonite also occurs but more rarely. Gypsum is the common sulfate minerals and occurs widely in dry passages beneath the caprock. Gypsum takes the form of crusts and curving crystals known as gypsum flowers. In the exceptionally dry portions of the cave are found other sulfate minerals including mirabilite, Na2SO4·10H2O, epsomite, MgSO4·7H2O, hexahydrite, MgSO4·6H2O, celestine, SrSO4, and blodite, Na2SO4·MgSO4·4H2O. In addition, there is evidence for the rare sulfate minerals eugsterite, 2Na2SO4·CaSO4·2H2O, and wattevilleite, Na2SO4·CaSO4·4H2O. The source of sulfate is likely the oxidation of pyrite, FeS2 that occurs in the limestone and overlying sediments. Saltpetre of uncertain mineralogy occurs in the cave sediments and was mined in the nineteenth Century. Other minerals include black manganese oxides that occur on stream cobbles and on chert ledges.
Contutto: a novel FPGA-based prototyping platform enabling innovation in the memory subsystem of a server class processor

We demonstrate the use of an FPGA as a memory buffer in a POWER8® system, creating a novel prototyping platform that enables innovation in the memory subsystem of POWER-based servers. Our platform, called ConTutto, is pin-compatible with POWER8 buffered memory DIMMs and plugs into a memory slot of a standard POWER8 processor system, running at aggregate memory channel speeds of 35 GB/s per link. ConTutto, which means “with everything”, is a platform to experiment with different memory technologies, such as STT-MRAM and NAND Flash, in an end-to-end system context. Enablement of STTMRAM and NVDIMM using ConTutto shows up to 12.5x lower latency and 7.5x higher bandwidth compared to the respective technologies when attached to the PCIe bus. Moreover, due to the unique attach-point of the FPGA between the processor and system memory, ConTutto provides a means for in-line acceleration of certain computations on-route to memory, and enables sensitivity analysis for memory latency while running real applications. To the best of our knowledge, ConTutto is the first ever FPGA platform on the memory bus of a server class processor. CCS CONCEPTS •Hardware → Emerging technologies → Analysis and design of emerging devices and systems; • Computer systems organization → Architectures → Other architectures → Reconfigurable computing;
Real-time implementation of MVDC shipboard power system reconfiguration

This paper proposes a novel approach to implement a real-time reconfiguration strategy to minimize the effect of the faults in a Shipboard Power System (SPS). In order to deal with the reconfiguration problem during fault situations in Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) SPS, a real-time Simulated Annealing (SA)-based reconfiguration technique is designed and implemented in the Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS). To validate the proposed approach, an MVDC SPS model with four zonal loads is used to simulate several fault scenarios. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach to reconfigure the system under different fault situations.
Experimental characterization of slurry bubble-column reactor hydrodynamics

Sandia`s program to develop, implement, and apply diagnostics for hydrodynamic characterization of slurry bubble column reactors (SBCRs) at industrially relevant conditions is discussed. Gas liquid flow experiments are performed on an industrial scale. Gamma densitometry tomography (GDT) is applied to measure radial variations in gas holdup at one axial location. Differential pressure (DP) measurements are used to calculate volume averaged gas holdups along the axis of the vessel. The holdups obtained from DP show negligible axial variation for water but significant variations for oil, suggesting that the air water flow is fully developed (minimal flow variations in the axial direction) but that the air oil flow is still developing at the GDT measurement location. The GDT and DP gas holdup results are in good agreement for the air water flow but not for the air oil flow. Strong flow variations in the axial direction may be impacting the accuracy of one or both of these techniques. DP measurements are also acquired at high sampling frequencies (250 Hz) and are interpreted using statistical analyses to determine the physical mechanism producing each frequency component in the flow. This approach did not yield the information needed to determine the flow regime in thesemore » experiments. As a first step toward three phase material distribution measurements, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and GDT are applied to a liquid solid flow to measure solids holdup. Good agreement is observed between both techniques and known values.« less
Assembly of TOPO-Capped Silver Nanoparticles to Multilayered Films

A method for transferring silver nanoparticles from aqueous solution into organic solvents such as toluene or hexane is described. The phase-transfer reagent, tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) provides a capping shell around Ag particles that allows concentrating the nanoparticle dispersion in toluene, which is a prerequisite for successful 3D self-assembly. The dispersed particles in toluene are stable for at least six months. Self-assembly of highly concentrated TOPO-capped Ag particle sols results in multilayered mirror-like films on glass substrates.
A REVIEW OF RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS OVER THE PAST DECADE: OVER THE HILLS AND THROUGH THE WOODS??

This special anniversary review article summarizes significant advances and developments that have occurred in the field of radiopharmaceuticals and nuclear medicine. Advances in technetium-99m chemistry include the development of hepatobiliary radiopharmaceuticals, technetium-99m myocardial perfusion agents and renal imaging. In addition, advances made with radiolabeled antibodies and proteins, therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, and positron emission tomography are discussed. The authors conclude that radiopharmaceutical development has progressed from a random walk through shelves of reagents to an organized plan of drug design, based upon demonstrated structural-activity relationships.
Cuts and Connectivity

Among connected graphs, some are connected so slightly that removal of a single vertex or edge will disconnect them. Such vertices and edges are quite important. A vertex x is called a cutpoint in G if G — x contains more components than G does; in particular if G is connected, then a cutpoint is a vertex x such that G — x is disconnected. Similarly a bridge (or cut-edge) is an edge whose deletion increases the number of components.
Study of the Thermal Behavior of Solid Propellants by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

The complex combustion of composite (heterogeneous) solid propellants has not as yet been described in a practical combustion model. The main interest in establishing such a model is the need for a priori knowledge of the effect of changes in physical properties and chemical composition of solid propellants on the ballistic parameters of a rocket motor. If one contends that solid phase reactions are important and possibly even controlling in this complex combustion process, a study of the thermal behavior of solid propellants and their individual ingredients is essential to understanding their combustion process.
Visual information processing in older adults: reaction time and motor unit pool modulation.

It is unknown whether magnification of visual feedback has motor implications beyond impairments in force control for older adults. We examined whether it impairs reaction time and motor unit pool ...
Towards Continuous Production of Shaped Honeycombs

Honeycomb sandwich panels are widely used for high performance parts subject to bending loads, but their manufacturing costs remain high. In particular, for parts with non-flat, non-uniform geometry, honeycombs must be machined or thermoformed with great care and expense. The ability to produce shaped honeycombs would allow sandwich panels to replace monolithic parts in a number of high performance, space-constrained applications, while also providing new areas of research for structural optimization, distributed sensing and actuation, and on-site production of infrastructure. Previous work has shown methods of directly producing shaped honeycombs by cutting and folding flat sheets of material. This research extends these methods by demonstrating work towards a continuous process for the cutting and folding steps of this process. An algorithm for producing a manufacturable cut-and-fold pattern from a three-dimensional volume is designed, and a machine for automatically performing the required cutting and parallel folding is proposed and prototyped. The accuracy of the creases placed by this machine is characterized and the impact of creasing order is demonstrated. Finally, a prototype part is produced and future work is sketched towards full process automation.Copyright © 2018 by ASME
Obesity and eating disorders: Articles from the International Journal of Eating Disorders 2017-2018.

Objective This virtual issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders (IJED) is presented in conjunction with The Obesity Society (TOS) to coincide with Obesity Week held in Nashville, TN November 11-15, 2018. Methods We present selected articles published in IJED in 2017-2018 that are relevant to scholars who focus on obesity, eating disorders (EDs), or both areas of inquiry. Discussion We hope to promote discussion and collaboration between the obesity and ED fields, and stimulate additional work, including submissions to IJED.
Halyos: A patient-facing visual EHR interface for longitudinal risk awareness

Abstract We have developed Halyos (http://halyos.gehlenborglab.org), a visual EHR web application that complements the functionality of existing patient portals. Halyos is designed to integrate with existing EHR systems to help patients interpret their health data. The Halyos application utilizes the SMART on FHIR (Substitutable Medical Applications and Reusable Technologies on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) platform to create an interoperable interface that provides interactive visualizations of clinically validated risk scores and longitudinal data derived from a patient’s clinical measurements. These visualizations allow patients to investigate the relationships between clinical measurements and risk over time. By enabling patients to set hypothetical future values for these clinical measurements, patients can see how changes in their health will impact their risks. Using Halyos, patients are provided with the opportunity to actively improve their health based on increased understanding of longitudinal information available in EHRs and to begin a dialogue with their providers.
Whose Money Is It Anyway: Have We Been Wrong About Agency Fees All Along?

In Agency Fees and the First Amendment, Professor Benjamin Sachs offers a pair of novel arguments for why the Court should pause before invalidating public sector union agency fee agreements throughout the country. First, he argues that the money sent to unions to offset their bargaining costs is better viewed as the government employer’s money than as the employees’. Collective bargaining agreements force employees to turn the money over to the union on pain of losing their jobs, after all, and so the workers never have a “genuine choice” whether to make the payment at all. That, Sachs explains, should lead us to “treat agency fees as a direct payment from employer to union.” Second, Sachs argues that the money might instead be better understood as the union’s all along. But for the wage premium that unions bring about for their workers, the argument goes, the fees that unions receive would not exist — and so the money is properly viewed as the union’s property from the outset. These arguments are among the best defenses of agency fees that I have seen. Ultimately, however, both arguments are susceptible to counterattack for reasons discussed in Parts I and II herein. In a final concluding part, I express my agreement with Sachs on another point: the twenty-two states that currently permit agency fee agreements in the public sector can undo the impact of an adverse outcome in Janus by authorizing government employers to reimburse unions directly for their bargaining costs. It is this legislative alternative that, in my view, warrants the greatest attention from labor proponents in the coming years.
Complexity and computation of connected zero forcing

Abstract Zero forcing is an iterative graph coloring process whereby a colored vertex with a single uncolored neighbor forces that neighbor to be colored. It is NP-hard to find a minimum zero forcing set – a smallest set of initially colored vertices which forces the entire graph to be colored. We show that the problem remains NP-hard when the initially colored set induces a connected subgraph. We also give structural results about the connected zero forcing sets of a graph related to the graph’s density, separating sets, and certain induced subgraphs. Finally, we give efficient algorithms to find minimum connected zero forcing sets of unicyclic graphs and variants of cactus and block graphs.
Multimodal Literacy and Social Interaction: Young Children’s Literacy Learning

For young children, literacy is multimodal. Visual images, oral language, gestures, numbers, and other signs are intermingled with printed words during language arts activities in preschool and kindergarten. All children, in particular children from multilingual/multicultural backgrounds, draw on the social, cultural, and emotional roles and structures they observe and experience daily in their homes and communities when presented with multiple modes of literacy in meaningful classroom contexts. This article employs social semiotics as a framework for presenting multimodal literacies used by young children to make and create meaning in their social and learning interactions. Following an overview of multimodal literacy related to children’s literacy learning, topics explored in this article include multimodal literacy activities that embed social interaction, classroom multimodal literacy events that reflect the sociocultural patterns children bring to the classroom, and approaches to implementing a culturally responsive pedagogy in order to make multimodal literacy meaningful to young learners. Classroom examples are provided throughout to illustrate scenarios with teachers who are knowledgeable about multimodal literacy experiences and social interaction, embrace a sociocultural perspective, and are committed to implementing culturally responsive pedagogy.
Case study: Measurement and treatment of severe flutter echo caused by a barrel-vaulted sanctuary ceiling

This case study centers on a recently constructed church with a barrel-vaulted sanctuary ceiling exhibiting excessive reverberation times and flutter echo. Reverberation times in excess of 5 s in the speech frequency range were observed at locations along the tiled center aisle, along with correspondingly elevated sound pressure levels and a highly non-diffuse sound field. Preliminary measurements, which included covering the reflective center aisle, substantiated the hypothesis that the acoustical behavior was caused by the interaction between the center aisle and the barrel-vaulted ceiling. The proposed recommendations for retrofitting the space to improve intelligibility along the aisle were modified with a view toward attaining an acceptable reduction in the reverberation times while retaining the spacious acoustical quality of the sanctuary. Additional acoustical measurements were performed prior to and following the completion of the recommended treatment. This case study describes the series of measurements and presents results of the treatment, in terms of reverberation time, impulse response decay curves, impulse response time waveforms and spectrograms, and sound pressure level measures. The unique characteristics of flutter echo due to the barrel-vaulted ceiling before and after the successful acoustical treatment are described. © 2019 Institute of Noise Control Engineering.
Lizards, toepads, and the ghost of hurricanes past.

Hurricanes wreak destruction when they strike reefs, islands, and coastal regions. Forests are scrambled into giant piles of pickup sticks. Animals are killed by flooding, falling trees, and blowing debris, and some survivors later die from starvation or disease. However, some animals survive. Were they just lucky, or did they have a trait that gave them an advantage over the others? Caribbean Anolis lizards that survived two hurricanes in 2017 had relatively large toepads; perhaps they were better able to hold fast to arboreal perches during storms (1) (Fig. 1). In PNAS, Donihue et al. (2) now report a follow-up study and show that offspring of 2017 survivors also had large toepads, strongly suggesting a genetically based shift. Furthermore, they evaluated whether the toepad × hurricane pattern would hold for other species of Anolis in the Neotropics. It does, suggesting that toepad size may serve as a morphological signature of the ghost of hurricanes past. Fig. 1. A composite photograph showing Anolis carolinensis clinging to a perch while blasted from hurricane-force winds from a leaf blower (1). When the blower was turned on, lizards did not flee but rather moved to the lee side of the perch before progressively losing their grip (usually, hind feet first). Image credit: Colin Donihue (photographer). Like many innovative studies, this one began serendipitously (1). Back in 2017, conservation biologists were planning to remove invasive rats from two small islands in the Caribbean. Colin Donihue, Anthony Herrel, and colleagues joined the group to evaluate whether rat eradication might affect the native lizard Anolis scriptus on two islands in the Turks and Caicos group, Water Cay and Pine Cay. They measured toepad size and limb length, traits known to affect locomotion and clinging ability (3, 4). Just 6 d after the group finished their survey and scampered … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: hueyrb{at}uw.edu or prgrant{at}princeton.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Origin and geochemistry of formation waters from the lower Eagle Ford Group, Gulf Coast Basin, south central Texas

Abstract The lower Eagle Ford Group (LEFG) is one of the most productive continuous hydrocarbon plays in the United States but few associated produced waters data and minimal interpretation have been published. This effort focuses on results from compositional and isotopic data from 39 produced water samples collected from horizontal wells producing from the LEFG in south central Texas. The depth of the LEFG increases by approximately 1 km across the study area, from northwest (2.9 km) to southeast (3.9 km). Associated increases in calculated reservoir temperature (125–165 °C), development of reservoir over-pressuring (400–800 bars total pressure), and increased thermal maturity (heavy oil to gas condensate) also occur along this trend. Produced water salinity starts at nearly 100 g/L in the shallowest samples and decreases linearly with depth to
The impact of a radiological anatomy-based intervention in a gross anatomy course for undergraduate medical students

Background: The integration of radiology into undergraduate medical education is becoming a popular method of providing early and meaningful clinical experiences. Aims and Objectives: The primary aim of our educational intervention was to provide increased radiologic anatomy resources and support to medical students in their first-year preclinical medical school curriculum. An additional objective was to evaluate how the intervention impacted learners through a pretest/posttest protocol and traditional student feedback questionnaires. Method: Two cohorts of first-year medical students voluntarily participated in an assessment of the intervention that required the identification of anatomical structures in radiological images. Changes in learning gain and aggregate scores were calculated, and students' perceptions of the intervention were assessed through open feedback and Likert-style questions at the end of the course. Results: The results revealed a significant increase (P
A CRISPR/dCas9 toolkit for functional analysis of maize genes

The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system has become a powerful tool for functional genomics in plants. The RNA-guided nuclease can be used to not only generate precise genomic mutations, but also to manipulate gene expression when present as a deactivated protein (dCas9). In this study, we describe a vector toolkit for analyzing dCas9-mediated activation (CRISPRa) or inactivation (CRISPRi) of gene expression in maize protoplasts. An improved maize protoplast isolation and transfection method is presented, as well as a description of dCas9 vectors to enhance or repress maize gene expression. We anticipate that this maize protoplast toolkit will streamline the analysis of gRNA candidates and facilitate genetic studies of important trait genes in this transformation-recalcitrant plant.
Ion Deregulation in Injured Proximal Tubule Epithelial Cells

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the importance of calcium in the initiation and continuation of cell injury in kidney proximal tubule epithelium (PTE). We have known, for some time, the association between calcium and cell injury and, in fact, at this meeting, there have been several papers involving chloroform, gasoline, and cisplatinum, that relate cell calcium concentration to cell injury. However, this has long been known by pathologists and other investigators who have related the presence of calcium precipitates in tissues to the presence of necrosis. At the same time, calcium has a beneficial effect in the extracellular environment at all levels of organization, from the organism to the cell; consider, for example, in the Chalk streams of England and, indeed, in the streams of any country where calcium in the water is extremely beneficial and leads to a much more rapid growth of both plants and animals, vertebrates and invertebrates.