cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NORMATIVE VALUES FOR PEDIATRIC PATIENTS UNDERGOING THE BRUCE PROTOCOL IN THE MODERN ERA

The modified Bruce protocol is frequently used for exercise treadmill testing with pediatric normative values established by Cumming in 1978. Demographics and physical fitness levels of children have evolved, and other studies have lacked power to identify differences between these eras. We created
Cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects of alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, methcathinone and their 3,4-methylenedioxy or 4-methyl analogs in rhesus monkeys.

Synthetic cathinones are beta-ketone amphetamine analogs that have emerged as a heterogeneous class of abused compounds that function as either monoamine transporter substrates or inhibitors. Pre-clinical drug discrimination procedures are useful for interrogating structure-activity relationships of abuse-related drug effects; however, in vivo structure-activity relationship comparisons between synthetic cathinones with different mechanisms of action are lacking. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects of the monoamine transporter inhibitor alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (alpha-PVP) and the monoamine transporter substrate methcathinone were differentially sensitive to 3,4-methylenedioxy and 4-methyl substitutions. Male rhesus monkeys (n = 4) were trained to discriminate intramuscular cocaine (0.32 mg/kg) from saline in a two-key food-reinforced discrimination procedure. Potency and timecourse of cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects were determined for (±)-alpha-PVP, (±)-methcathinone and their 3,4-methylenedioxy or 4-methyl analogs. Alpha-PVP and methcathinone produced dose- and time-dependent cocaine-like effects. A 3,4-methylenedioxy addition to either alpha-PVP or methcathinone (methylone) did not alter the potency or efficacy to produce cocaine-like effects, but did prolong the time course. A 4-methyl addition to alpha-PVP (pyrovalerone) did not alter the potency or efficacy to produce cocaine-like effects, but did prolong the time course. In contrast, addition of a 4-methyl moiety to methcathinone (4MMC; mephedrone) significantly attenuated efficacy to produce cocaine-like effects. Overall, these results suggest different structural requirements for cocaine-like discriminative stimulus effects of monoamine transporter inhibitor and substrate synthetic cathinone analogs. Given that 4MMC is more hydrophobic than MDMC, these results suggest that hydrophobicity may be an important determinant for limiting monoamine transporter substrate abuse-related behavioral effects.
Transforming a research-oriented dataset for evaluation of tactical information extraction technologies

The most representative and accurate data for testing and evaluating information extraction technologies is real-world data. Real-world operational data can provide important insights into human and sensor characteristics, interactions, and behavior. However, several challenges limit the feasibility of experimentation with real-world operational data. Realworld data lacks the precise knowledge of a “ground truth,” a critical factor for benchmarking progress of developing automated information processing technologies. Additionally, the use of real-world data is often limited by classification restrictions due to the methods of collection, procedures for processing, and tactical sensitivities related to the sources, events, or objects of interest. These challenges, along with an increase in the development of automated information extraction technologies, are fueling an emerging demand for operationally-realistic datasets for benchmarking. An approach to meet this demand is to create synthetic datasets, which are operationally-realistic yet unclassified in content. The unclassified nature of these unclassified synthetic datasets facilitates the sharing of data between military and academic researchers thus increasing coordinated testing efforts. This paper describes the expansion and augmentation of two synthetic text datasets, one initially developed through academic research collaborations with the Army. Both datasets feature simulated tactical intelligence reports regarding fictitious terrorist activity occurring within a counterinsurgency (COIN) operation. The datasets were expanded and augmented to create two military relevant datasets. The first resulting dataset was created by augmenting and merging the two to create a single larger dataset containing ground-truth. The second resulting dataset was restructured to more realistically represent the format and content of intelligence reports. The dataset transformation effort, the final datasets, and their applicability for research are presented.
Molecular Bases of Biologic Aging

The authors outline the progression of thought on the mechanism of the aging process, giving emphasis to environmental factors that influence genetic events. Discussion is limited to those theories that explain fundamental causes of aging and have a firm thermodynamic basis. The authors propose that the cumulative result of continual oxidative stress and other thermodynamic processes (such as aminoacid racemization and nonenzymatic glycosylation), resulting in altered function and increasing the net entropy of living systems, governs the rate of the aging process.
The Opioid Drug Epidemic and Sickle Cell Disease: Guilt by Association.

In 2008, for the first time in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) history, death due to motor vehicle accident was no longer the leading cause of injury mortality non-medical death [1]. Drug overdose was the number one cause of non-medical death in the United States [1]. Since 2008, the number of deaths due to drug overdose has been increasing steadily [2–9]. The total number of deaths due to drug overdose was 36,450 in 2008 [10]. In 2013, the total amount of deaths due to drug overdose was 43,982 [10]. Given the alarming nature of these statistics, patients who requested an opioid prescription became targets of suspicion and possible accusation of being drug addicts and/or drug seekers and possibly potential victims of overdose [8,9,11–15]. The advent of precision medicine [16], however, seems to justify such behavior. Since the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of an opioid vary among patients considerably depending on their individual specific genetic and epigenetic factors, it is conceivable that a certain opioid or a certain dose of an opioid do not apply to all patients all the time. Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) whose pain was treated with opioids chronically learned which opioid and which dose of an opioid is best to relieve or minimize their sickle pain. Nevertheless, management of sickle cell pain with opioids must follow two tiers as is the case in the management of other types of pain with opioids. The first tier is to optimize analgesia by prescribing adequate dose to minimize pain severity, and the second tier is to minimize risk by frequent monitoring and assessment of opioid related adverse effects and outcomes related to substance use disorders [17]. Although …
Extrauterine tubal choriocarcinoma: A case report and review of recent literature

Abstract 1. 1. Primary choriocarcinoma of the Fallopian tube following ectopic gestation is a rare but dangerous lesion. 2. 2. A case report of such a disorder is presented in detail. 3. 3. A review of the literature, including a discussion of the incidence, histogenesis, problems of diagnosis, and present method of treatment of such a lesion are given. 4. 4. This case report presents a patient with extrauterine choriocarcinoma, treated by surgery and methotrexate, who has survived for more than 4 years. No similar report has been discovered.
Patent Ductus Arteriosus in the Preterm Infant: An Update on Morbidity and Mortality

BACKGROUND Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a common factor complicating the care of the preterm infant, but controversy remains regarding the long term effects of PDA and iatrogenic closure of PDA. METHODS Studies presenting data relevant to the relationship between PDA and mortality and morbidity were identified via a systematic literature review. These studies were classified based on PDA exposure in the case and control groups. The data was abstracted and summarized using linear modeling, resulting in summary estimates of mean effect size (odds ratio). RESULTS Recently published data suggests that a significant relationship between PDA and mortality, bronchopulmonary dysplasia/chronic lung disease, necrotizing enterocolitis, or retinopathy of prematurity is unlikely. However, the data related to mortality leaves room for some debate. Quantitative analysis of the data shows that PDA is a risk factor for intraventricular hemorrhage and related studies suggest this risk may carry over into long term neurological outcomes. CONCLUSION Further efforts to better understand the physiologic consequences of PDA and its closure in preterm infants is necessary. A focus on new biochemical or physiologic factors that mediate or confound any apparent effect of PDA and are themselves amenable to targeted therapy is imperative to further progress in improving the outcomes of these patients.
DFT and ab initio composite methods: Investigation of oxygen fluoride species

Abstract The capability of ccCA, G3, and G3B3 for the prediction of the enthalpies of formation of oxygen fluoride species was evaluated. In addition to these composite methods, the performance of M06 and M06-2X in conjunction with the correlation consistent basis sets (aug-cc-pVnZ), where n = D, T, Q, was also examined for predicting the structures and enthalpies of formation of oxygen fluoride species. A set of various oxygen fluorides were considered, including FOx radicals, FOxH, and FOxF, where x = 1–3. The effects of basis set size and spin contamination were also considered.
Plant Regeneration of Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana L.) from in vitro Leaf Tissues

An effective plant regeneration system was developed for chokecherry ( Prunus virginiana L.) by using in vitro leaf tissues. Adventitious shoots regenerated from in vitro leaf tissues only when cultured on Woody Plant Medium (WPM), but not on Murashige and Skoog medium, supplemented with benzyladenine (BA) or thidiazuron (TDZ). Three chokecherry clones (NN, 10, and 17) responded differen tly to types and concentrations of cytokinins, ranging from 16.7 to 91.7% leaf explants regenerating shoots. A mean of four shoots was produced from each explant, with the most shoots (> 10) from clone NN on media with 5–10 µM BA. Higher concentrations of TDZ (> 8 µM) caused serious vitrification and eventual death of newly induced shoots. Regenerated shoots (> 1.5 cm) produced roots in vitro in half strength MS medium or ex vitro in Cellular Rooting Sponge (CRS) rooting plugs with or without auxin (NAA or IBA) treatments. Rooting was affected by auxin, genotypes, and the rooting methods.
The EXIT Strategy: an Approach for Identifying Bacterial Proteins Exported during Host Infection

Exported proteins of bacterial pathogens function both in essential physiological processes and in virulence. Past efforts to identify exported proteins were limited by the use of bacteria growing under laboratory (in vitro) conditions. Thus, exported proteins that are exported only or preferentially in the context of infection may be overlooked. To solve this problem, we developed a genome-wide method, named EXIT ( ex ported i n vivo t echnology), to identify proteins that are exported by bacteria during infection and applied it to Mycobacterium tuberculosis during murine infection. Our studies validate the power of EXIT to identify proteins exported during infection on an unprecedented scale (593 proteins) and to reveal in vivo induced exported proteins (i.e., proteins exported significantly more during in vivo infection than in vitro). Our EXIT data also provide an unmatched resource for mapping the topology of M. tuberculosis membrane proteins. As a new approach for identifying exported proteins, EXIT has potential applicability to other pathogens and experimental conditions.IMPORTANCE There is long-standing interest in identifying exported proteins of bacteria as they play critical roles in physiology and virulence and are commonly immunogenic antigens and targets of antibiotics. While significant effort has been made to identify the bacterial proteins that are exported beyond the cytoplasm to the membrane, cell wall, or host environment, current methods to identify exported proteins are limited by their use of bacteria growing under laboratory (in vitro) conditions. Because in vitro conditions do not mimic the complexity of the host environment, critical exported proteins that are preferentially exported in the context of infection may be overlooked. We developed a novel method to identify proteins that are exported by bacteria during host infection and applied it to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins exported in a mouse model of tuberculosis.
Income, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and the ‘weekend warrior’ among U.S. adults

The present study examines the association between income and physical activity intensity along the entire continuum using accelerometry in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Specifically, we assessed the relationship between annual household income, sedentary behavior, light, and moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity, and meeting physical activity guidelines over a brief, 2-day period ('weekend warrior'), and during the entire week. The sample consisted of 5206 National Health and Examination Survey adult participants (2003-2006) who wore accelerometers and completed pertinent survey questions. Ordinary Least Square models were computed to examine the relationship between income and the dependent variables (sedentary behavior, light, and moderate to vigorous intensity activity) adjusting for covariates. Logistic regression was employed to examine the association between income and meeting physical activity guidelines during a 2-day and 7-day time-period. Results indicate that individuals with an annual income of ≥$75,000 engaged in 4.6 more daily minutes of moderate to vigorous activity (p-value<0.01), in comparison to the reference group (<$20,000 annual income). Those in the high-income strata were 1.6 and 1.9 times more likely to meet physical activity guidelines during a 2 and 7-day period (respectively) than their lower income counterparts (p<0.05 for both). Further, those in the high-income strata spent 11.8 more minutes daily being sedentary than their lower income counterparts (p-value<0.01). In conclusion, higher annual household income is related to more intense, less frequent (per week) patterns of physical activity and more daily sedentary time.
Clinical efficacy of segmental bronchoalveolar lavage in treating idiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis under intravenous anesthesia

Objective: The incidence of idiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is very low in the world. Whole-lung lavage (WLL) is the main treatment, but which is very complicated, time-consuming and require highly skilled. We did a retrospective analysis of segmental bronchoalveolar lavage (SBAL) in treating PAP under intravenous anesthesia to assess the clinical efficacies. Methods: We enrolled and analyzed the clinical data and prognosis of 13 patients with idiopathic PAP who were treated with SBAL under intravenous anesthesia (IA-SBAL) in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital from April 2005 to March 2015. Results: We enrolled 9 males and 4 females. The main clinical manifestations were cough, shortness of breath, sputum, wheezing and weight loss. High-resolution chest CT exhibited the characteristic of diffused ground glass shadows and/or paving-stone sign. The 13 patients were all examined the BAL fluid and/or performed the transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) for the confirmation. Each patient was performed IA-SBAL 2 ~ 3 times, with 500 ~ 1000ml of warm normal saline lavage unilateral lung each time. The clinical symptoms and blood oxygen saturation were improved after the treatment. The follow-up revealed that the lung functions and chest imaging were significantly improved, the patients exhibited good tolerance and no serious adverse reactions. Conclusions: IA-SBAL was safe and effective with strong feasibility and good patient’s tolerance. Furthermore the operation equipment requirements were simple. It should be more widely used.
The Network for Justice: Pursuing a Latinx Civil Rights Agenda

This article explores the need to develop a Latinx-focused network that advances law and policy. The Network for Justice is necessary to build upon the existing infrastructure in the legal sector to support the rapidly changing demographic profile of the United States. Latinxs are no longer a small or regionally concentrated population and cannot be discounted as a foreign population. Latinxs reside in every state in our nation and, in some communities, comprise a majority of the population. The goal of the Network for Justice is to facilitate and support local and statewide efforts to connect community advocates to formal channels of creating or defending law and policy. This article provides a rationale for building a national network that connects existing advocacy institutions and community organizations, with law schools, academic institutions, lawyers, and policy makers. The building blocks for a Network for Justice that support law and policy to advance Latinx civil rights are already in place but this effort requires greater coordination to more effectively advance common interests. This model draws first and foremost from the existing community resources, recognizing that the foundational core of such a network should rest in the hands of Latinxs themselves.
Profiles of internalizing and externalizing symptoms associated with bullying victimization.

Abstract This study identified profiles of internalizing (anxiety and depression) and externalizing (delinquency and violence against peers) symptoms among bullying victims and examined associations between bullying victimization characteristics and profile membership. The sample consisted of 1196 bullying victims in grades 8–10 (Mage = 14.4, SD = 1.01) who participated in The Context Study in three North Carolina counties in Fall 2003. Five profiles were identified using latent profile analysis: an asymptomatic profile and four profiles capturing combinations of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Associations between bullying characteristics and membership in symptom profiles were tested using multinomial logistic regression. More frequent victimization increased odds of membership in the two high internalizing profiles compared to the asymptomatic profile. Across all multinomial logistic regression models, when the high internalizing, high externalizing profile was the reference category, adolescents who received any type of bullying (direct, indirect, or dual) were more likely to be in this category than any others.
Photoluminescent Carbon Dots: A Mixture of Heterogeneous Fractions

Photoluminescent carbon dots (CDs) fractions have been isolated from a gel-like material (GM), which was synthesized using a convenient one-step solvothermal route. In terms of purification, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and dialysis were compared with acetone wash, which revealed the advantage of acetone wash. The pre-purified GM with acetone wash (A-GM) was further isolated by the reversed-phase preparative thin layer chromatography (TLC) with acetonitrile-water mixture (7 : 3; va /vw ) as the developing solvent. As a result, there were four photoluminescent bands on the TLC plate, which indicated the presence of four photoluminescent fractions. Detailed characterization measurements such as UV/Vis absorption, fluorescence emission, attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, zeta potential, dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, and TEM measurements were performed on all fractions to analyze their heterogeneous optical, structural, electrical, and morphological properties. Considering the comprehensive analysis, all isolated fractions were CDs. In addition, excitation wavelength-independent CDs were obtained with a mean size of 2.5 nm and high quantum yield (55 %). Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the excitation wavelength-dependent photoluminescence of GM could result from the mixture of different surface states of each CD fraction rather than multiple surface states of uniform CDs nanoparticles.
Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism in Ischemia

The great majority of energy needs of heart muscle is supplied through the oxidation of fatty acids, lactate and glucose derived from plasma. Long chain fatty acids are oxidized in preference to carbohydrates and normally account for 60–70% of substrate utilized for oxidative metabolism in aerobic hearts. Utilization of glucose and lactate are in part dependent on the availability of alternate substrates and can be appreciably modified by the presence of fatty acids or competitive carbohydrate analogs (1). Glucose per se is probably incapable of supplying adequate amounts of energy in aerobic hearts over long periods of time because of the inability of the myocyte to rapidly remove NADH from the cytosol (2).
The Effect of Sympathomimetic Drugs on Post-Lymphadenectomy Aspermia

AbstractA double-blind controlled study of the effects on semen quality of 4 alpha-adrenergic agents with and without antihistamines was conducted in a patient who had failure of emission secondary to retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy for testis cancer. No other controlled studies are available. All of the alpha-adrenergic drugs allowed the patient to produce an ejaculate. The effects were similar. The addition of antihistamine did not improve the semen quality. Four days of treatment were consistently more effective than a single dose, especially for sperm motility. A pregnancy resulted. It is concluded that long-term treatment with alpha-adrenergic drugs is indicated in men with failure of emission secondary to retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy.
Quantum Objects: Parts and Wholes

The notion of object appropriate to quantum theory is discussed in the context of the analysis of the notion of quantum particle and in light of results in quantum field theory. The whole-part relationship and the question of the applicability of Leibniz’s Principle of the identity of indiscernibles in quantum theory are considered together with recent arguments against its applicability in the quantum realm. After the discussion of a range of alternative prescriptions for a quantum principle of individuation, one is advocated that helps clarify the relationship between the individual and ensemble interpretations of quantum mechanics and allows for a well-defined and adequate ontology of individual objects that includes subatomic particles. As a culmination of the foregoing, the prospects for physical reductionism, both explanatory and ontological, are analyzed through the discussion of a wide range of examples, including the reduction of classical physics to quantum theory and the reduction of structural chemistry to quantum theory both when approximations are allowed and not allowed.
Soft Computing in Engineering

Soft computing methods such as neural networks and genetic algorithms draw on the problem solving strategies of the natural world which differ fundamentally from the mathematically-based computing methods normally used in engineering. Human brains are highly effective computers with capabilities far beyond those of the most sophisticated electronic computers. The 'soft computing‘ methods they use can solve very difficult inverse problems based on reduction in disorder. This book outlines these methods and applies them to a range of difficult engineering problems, including applications in computational mechanics, earthquake engineering, and engineering design. Most of these are difficult inverse problems – especially in engineering design – and are treated in depth.
Shake No Bake: A Homemade Ultrasound Gel Recipe for Low-Resource Settings

Commercially produced ultrasound coupling gel is often a scarce resource in rural regions of low-income countries that use sonography as their main imaging modality and, when available, may be cost prohibitive. Various homemade gels were created and tested to assure image quality was not compromised. Glucomannan-based gel and guar gum-based gel had superior physical properties in initial testing and showed no substantial difference compared with commercially available ultrasound gel on subject and phantom imaging and analysis (P > .05 using a 1-tailed sign test). Neither gel required heating, attracted insects, damaged ultrasound transducers, stained samples of clothing, or had harmful effects to subjects.
Synthesis of Ni/YSZ based anode and investigation of effect of PVA as pore-former upon porosity, microstructure and thermal behavior for potential use in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs)

Abstract This study focuses on development of Nickel–Yttira Stabilized Zirconia (Ni/YSZ) based anode material by solid-state synthesis using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in varying weight concentrations...
Vector Space Representation of Bluetooth Encounters for Mental Health Inference

Social interactions have multifaceted effects on individuals' mental health statuses, including mood and stress. As a proxy for the social environment, Bluetooth encounters detected by personal mobile devices have been used to improve mental health prediction and have shown preliminary success. In this paper, we propose a vector space model representation of Bluetooth encounters in which we convert encounters into spatiotemporal tokens within a multidimensional feature space. We discuss multiple token designs and feature value schemes and evaluate the predictive power of the resulting features for stress recognition tasks using the StudentLife and Friends & Family datasets. Our findings motivate further discussion and research on bag-of-words approaches for representing raw mobile sensing signals for health outcome inference.
Medial Renal Ptosis: First Radiographic Documentation With Computed Tomography.

Abstract Medial renal ptosis is the abnormal mobility of the kidney towards or across the midline of the body. Historically, this phenomenon is evaluated by observing abnormal mobility in the lateral decubitus position during intravenous pyelography. Here, we present the first radiographic documentation of this anomaly on computed tomography on a 34-year-old female who experienced an intermittent abdominal bulge over her right upper quadrant. Nephropexy is the definitive treatment for symptomatic patients. Further studies are required to determine the true prevalence and clinical significance of this phenomenon.
The RECOVER initiative: Supply recovery and donation beyond the operating room

Background: Similar to previous models for recovery and donation of clean and unused operating room (OR) supplies, that would otherwise be discarded, a new program was started at our institution in 2016. Subsequently, the initiative was expanded to units outside the OR. This study aims to explore the output of these other units on top of our current program. We hypothesize that expansion is feasible and productive, with minimal added effort. Materials and Methods: Clean and unused supplies, in original packaging or open box, which would otherwise be discarded were collected in marked bins from the OR, Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU), and the trauma bay (TB) of our urban, academic center. Supplies were sorted, weighed, and inventoried weekly by qualified volunteers. Totals were calculated through proprietary inventory software. Results: The program salvaged 9024 individual items of 129 unique types grouped into 7 categories. In total, 1065 kg of supplies worth an estimated $20,550 USD were collected from the three patient care areas over 7 months. Adding the SICU and TB resulted in a 33% increase in recovered weight and 13% increase in value. Twenty-nine new items were added to our inventory. If this program was expanded to recover supplies from the other ICUs in our hospital, we estimate an additional 951 kg worth $9443 USD could be collected. Conclusions: Thousands of clean, unused supplies, weighing over a metric ton, are discarded in our hospital annually. The OR is the largest source of such material; however, expanding beyond the OR generates significant additional yield. Expansion is feasible with minimally added volunteer hours. Supply recovery initiatives undertaken nationwide and may help mitigate the economic and environmental costs associated with excess medical waste generation and produce staggering quantities of supplies for donation. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Systems-based practice.
A micromechanical model for the growth of collagenous tissues under mechanics-mediated collagen deposition and degradation.

Abstract In this study, we developed a micromechanical model for the growth and remodeling of a soft tissue based on the concurrent action of collagen deposition and degradation. We assumed in the model that collagen degradation causes a reduction in the fiber radius, while collagen deposition can increase both the radius and length of the collagen fibers growing under load. The latter arises from the assumption that collagen is deposited in an unstressed state, which increases the reference length of a fiber growing under mechanical load. The rate of collagen deposition and degradation can be stimulated and inhibited, respectively, by the fiber axial strain energy density. From these assumptions, we derived kinetic relationships for the fiber radial and axial growth stretch, and constitutive relations for the stress response and growth and remodeling of the tissues. We applied the model to study the growth of collagen fibers under a static and cyclic force. Cyclic force loading can drive the continual axial growth of collagen fiber, while the axial growth under a constant force eventually halts when an equilibrium state is reached. We then applied the model to investigate the development of stress and strain homeostasis of a spherical collagenous tissue membrane in response to a perturbation in the internal pressure. The model showed that an increase in the pressure produced growth in the tissue radius and thickness, such that the stress response was able to recover the equilibrium membrane stress before the pressure perturbation. Tissues composed of slender, or low-crimp collagen fibers also recovered the equilibrium mechanical stretch level before the perturbation. These results indicated that concurrent mechanics-stimulated collagen deposition and mechanics-inhibited degradation can produce stress homeostasis and for some fiber morphology strain homeostasis without prescribing a target stress or fiber strain.
An enantioselective synthesis of the cyclopentene fragment of nucleoside Q

Abstract An enantioselective synthesis of (3 S ,4 R ,5 S )-(+)-3-amino-4,5-dihydroxycyclopentene, a segment of nucleoside Q and Q base, is reported utilizing an amino acid-derived acylnitroso Diels–Alder cycloaddition.
Capillary morphogenesis gene 2 mediates multiple pathways of growth factor-induced angiogenesis by regulating endothelial cell chemotaxis

Abstract Pathological angiogenesis contributes to diseases as varied as cancer and corneal neovascularization. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) - VEGF receptor 2 (KDR/VEGFR2) axis has been the major target for treating pathological angiogenesis. However, VEGF-targeted therapies exhibit reduced efficacy over time, indicating that new therapeutic strategies are needed. Therefore, identifying new targets that mediate angiogenesis is of great importance. Here, we report that one of the anthrax toxin receptors, capillary morphogenesis gene 2 (ANTXR2/CMG2), plays an important role in mediating angiogenesis induced by both bFGF and VEGF. Inhibiting physiological ligand binding to CMG2 results in significant reduction of corneal neovascularization, endothelial tube formation and cell migration. We also report the novel finding that CMG2 mediates angiogenesis by regulating the direction of endothelial chemotactic migration without affecting overall cell motility.
The Mars1 kinase confers photoprotection through signaling in the chloroplast unfolded protein response.

Life on Earth crucially depends on photosynthesis, the process by which energy stored in sunlight is harnessed to convert carbon dioxide into sugars and oxygen. In plants and algae, photosynthesis occurs in specialized cellular compartments called chloroplasts. Inside chloroplasts, complex molecular machines absorb light and channel its energy into the appropriate chemical reactions. These machines are composed of proteins that need to be assembled and maintained. However, proteins can become damaged, and when this occurs, they must be recognized, removed, and replaced. When exposed to bright light, the photosynthetic machinery is pushed into overdrive and protein damage is accelerated. In response, the chloroplast sends an alarm signal to activate a protective system called the “chloroplast unfolded protein response”, or cpUPR for short. The cpUPR leads to the production of specialized proteins that help protect and repair the chloroplast. It was not known how plants and algae evaluate the level of damaged proteins in the chloroplast, or which signals trigger the cpUPR. To address these questions, Perlaza et al. designed a method to identify the molecular components of the alarm signal. These experiments used specially engineered cells from the algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that fluoresced when the cpUPR was activated. Perlaza et al. mutagenized these cells – that is, damaged the cells’ DNA to cause random changes in the genetic code. If a mutagenized cell no longer fluoresced in response to protein damage, it indicated that communication between protein damage and the cpUPR had been broken. In other words, the mutation had damaged a piece of DNA that encoded a protein critical for activating the cpUPR. These experiments identified one protein – which Perlaza et al. named Mars1 – as a crucial molecular player that is required to trigger the cpUPR. Algal cells with defective Mars1 were more vulnerable to chloroplast damage, including that caused by excessive light. These discoveries in algae will serve as a foundation for understanding the mechanism and significance of the cpUPR in land plants. Perlaza et al. also found that mild artificial activation of the cpUPR could preemptively guard cells against damaged chloroplast proteins. This suggests that the cpUPR could be harnessed in agriculture, for example, to help crop plants endure harsher climates.
Real-Time Internet of Things for Smart Environments

Internet of Things enables continuous monitoring and control of everyday objects and environments through a combination of software, hardware, and wireless communication technologies. Embedded devices, wireless radios, sensors, and actuators are at the core of IoT applications. Time-sensitive IoT applications have to combine these elements and provide deterministic responses to events occurring in the application environment. Since the applications rely on a collection of embedded IoT devices, software protocols, and an operating system, application developers and architects are required to understand the characteristics and the protocols at all layers of the network stack to develop time-critical IoT applications. This chapter begins with an introduction to real-time IoT. Characteristics and the layered architecture of IoT applications are presented to explain the responsibilities of different layers. The chapter concludes with protocol and operating system recommendations for real-time IoT.
Female genital mutilation and contraceptive use: findings from the 2014 Egypt demographic health survey.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that remove partial or total external female genitalia, or causes other injury to female genital organs with no medical reason. Physical and psychological trauma associated with FGM may interfere with a woman’s ability and intent to utilize contraception. Our study examines the association between FGM and utilization of contraception methods among sexually active reproductive-aged women in Egypt. Data from the 2014 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey were analyzed (n = 20,055). Multinomial logistic regression was used to obtain odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. Our study found that FGM was performed on over 90% of Egyptian women and almost half (45%) of women did not use contraception. Women with FGM had significantly lower odds (OR = 0.6) of using barrier/natural contraceptive methods (e.g., condoms) than intrauterine devices (IUDs). However, women with FGM were more likely to use hormonal methods (OR = 1.2) than IUDs compared to those who had not experienced FGM. In order to promote women’s health and support use of effective contraception methods, a large reduction in FGM practice is essential.
Halo effect in high-dynamic-range mini-LED backlit LCDs

We develop an optical model including the glare effect in the human vision system to analyze the halo effect of high-dynamic-range (HDR) mini-LED backlit liquid crystal displays (LCDs). In our model, an objective function is first introduced to evaluate the severity of the halo effect with different image contents. This function is further combined with PSNR to establish a new evaluation metric to analyze the image quality affected by the halo effect. A subjective visual experiment is also conducted to verify the above-mentioned evaluation metrics. In addition, we analyze the influence of ambient environment (viewing angle and ambient light illuminance) on the halo effect. After considering the requirements on local dimming zones, dynamic contrast ratio, gamma shift, and color shift for practical applications, we find that fringe-field-switching mode is a strong contender for the mini-LED backlit LCD system.
Indigenous rights and the persistence of industrial capitalism: Capturing the law–ideology–power triple-helix:

This article examines the power relations that unfold when Indigenous-led struggles invoke settler-colonial law toward protection from industry’s impacts. Building on Critical Race Theory, I posit ...
Chainandra zeugostylus gen. et sp. nov., a mid-Cretaceous amber fossil with sagittate anthers opening widely at maturity

A flower preserved in 100 Ma amber from Myanmar is described here as Chainandra zeugostylus, a new genus and species of fossil angiosperms. The anthers in Chainandra are sagittate at the base and have only a short connective. They dehisce by means of a circumferential stomium, the dorsal and ventral sides of each locule forming flaps that become widely separated. The style of Chainandra is columnar and two-branched above the middle, and the fully inferior ovary bears an epigynous nectar disc but lacks well-defined ribs or veins. In Tropidogyne, Lacknociona, and Strombothelya, similar genera described earlier from the same am-ber deposits, the styles are either unbranched or are 3–5-branched to near the base, and the ovary is half-inferior to inferior, its lower portion often being dis-tinctly veined and ribbed. Morphology of the stamens and gynoecium of the three genera suggests that they are early members of the eudotyledons.
Coping with COVID-19: medical students as strong and responsible stewards of their education.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical rotations at the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS) were suspended on March 17, 2020, per the Association of American Medical Colleges’ recommendations. No alternative curriculum existed to fill the educational void for clinical students. The traditional approach to curriculum development was not feasible during the pandemic as faculty were redeployed to clinical care, and the immediate need for continued learning necessitated a new model. One student developed an outline for an online course on pandemics based on peer-to-peer conversations regarding learners’ interests and needs, and she proposed that students author the content given the immediate need for a curriculum. Fifteen student volunteers developed content to fill knowledge gaps, and expert faculty reviewers confirmed that the student authors had successfully curated a comprehensive curriculum. The crowdsourced student content coalesced into a 40-hour curriculum required for all 371 clinical-level students at UMMS. This student-driven effort took just 17 days from outline to implementation, and the final product is a full course comprising five modules, multiple choice questions, discussion boards, and assignments. Learners were surveyed to gauge success, and 93% rated this content as relevant to all medical students. The successful implementation of this model for curriculum development, grounded in the Master Adaptive Learner framework, suggests that medical students can be entrusted as stewards of their own education. As we return to a post-pandemic “normal,” this approach could be applied to the maintenance and de novo development of future curricula.
Trying to do it all in a single course: a surprisingly good idea

We present the curricular design and learning goals of an upper-level undergraduate course that covers a wide breadth of topics in parallel and distributed computing (PDC), while also providing students with depth of experience and development of problem solving, programming, and analysis skills. We discuss lessons learned from our experiences teaching this course over the past 10 years, and discuss changes and improvements we have made in its offerings, as well as choices and trade-offs we made to achieve a balance, in a single course, between breadth and depth of topic across these two huge fields. Evaluations from students support that our approach works well meeting the goals of exposing students to a broad range of PDC topics, building important PDC thinking and programming skills, and meeting other pedagogical goals of an advance upper-level undergraduate CS course. Although our single course design was created due to constraints common to smaller schools that have fewer faculty resources, smaller curricula, and often fewer required courses for their majors, our experiences with this course lead us to conclude that it is a good approach for an advanced undergraduate course on PDC at any institution.
Naturalism in the Sciences

“Naturalism in the Sciences” This is the first chapter in which Lorkowski turns to positive reasons to support atheist naturalism beyond those given by natural atheology. Here, the author argues for naturalism in the sciences. Lorkowski first defines naturalism more precisely and distinguishes it from scientism in the pernicious sense. The author then shows why methodological (rather than ontological) naturalism should be adopted in the hard sciences based on its past success. When the sciences adopt a stance of naturalism in their practice, they are much more fruitful. By contrast, supernatural explanations tend to stagnate science. When this is realized, it provides an inductive argument in favor of ontological naturalism as best explaining the success of methodological naturalism.
The Perspectives of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises on Participation in Public Procurement of Innovation

The modernisation of the public sector can be observed in the public administration systems of many European countries. The use of the most up-to-date and advanced models of new public management is aimed at replacing traditional centralised hierarchical management with a more efficient modern management system that requires less resources and is oriented towards the development of the information society and the expansion of services. The Innovation Union initiative of the European Union (hereinafter ‘EU’) is one of the seven objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy for ensuring a smart, sustainable, and inclusive economy. Small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter ‘SMEs’) account for approximately 99.5% of all businesses in Lithuania, and are one of the main factors in the economic growth of the country. One of the advantages of including SMEs in the public procurement of innovation is that SMEs tend to grow much faster than large companies, as they take advantage of innovative financing tools and the more favourable business environment created by institutions. The authors maintain that, when contracts are awarded to SMEs, the revenue of the government, along with its level of innovation, increases, and this process also promotes entrepreneurship and contributes to the creation of jobs and economic development. The methodological approach in this paper is based on the analysis of relevant issues and both theoretical (analysis and synthesis, systematic, comparative) and empirical (secondary data and document analysis) qualitative research.
Signs of hypoxia in the small intestine of the rat during hemorrhagic shock.

The photometric measurement of fluorescence emitted by reduced pyridine nucleotides upon ultraviolet stimulation (1,3) and the polarographic measurement of PO2 (5) in tissues and organs have provided detailed information about the local effects of disturbances of O2 supply and of microcirculation. Under experimental conditions in which circulating blood is a factor it is also necessary to measure absorbancy changes of hemoglobin by reflectance photometry in order to accurately evaluate changes in reduced PN fluorescence (6,9,11). In the present study both the photometric and polarographic techniques have been focused on the small intestine of urethane anesthetized rats subjected to periodic, standardized hemorrhages.
Endothelin in Lung Development and Tissue Growth

Endothelins (ETs), a family of polypeptides with a wide range of activities in the airways and pulmonary vascular system, are synthesized by respiratory epithelium and by pulmonary vascular endothelium [1–4].
A Survey of Student Coaches' Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, and Behaviors Regarding the Female Athlete Triad

The female athlete triad (disordered eating, amenorrhea, osteoporosis) is a severe and potentially fatal syndrome that affects many female athletes. This research described the preparedness of coaches to participate in primary prevention and intervention of the triad; specifically, senior Physical Education and Sport majors' (N = 61 ) current state of knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors related to the triad were examined. Results indicated that the majority of student coaches lacked knowledge ofthe triad, appropriate attitudes and skills, and were not likely to participate in indicated behaviors. Comparisons found that female students had significantly more knowledge, appropriate attitudes and skills, and were more likely to participate in indicated behaviors than male students. Also, subjects who reported receiving training about the triad did not significantly differ in their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors from those without training. These findings indicate the need for initial and continuing education of coaches.
Parikh’s Theorem

Here is a theorem that says a little more about the structure of CFLs. It says that for any CFL A, if we look only at the relative number of occurrences of terminal symbols in strings in A without regard to their order, then A is indistinguishable from a regular set.