cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The multifaceted roles of NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y in Arabidopsis thaliana development and stress responses

NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y (NF-Y) is a heterotrimeric transcription factor (TF) consisting of evolutionarily distinct NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC subunits. The functional NF-Y heterotrimer binds to CCAAT elements in eukaryotic gene promoters and influences their expression. The genome of the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana encodes 10 distinct NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC proteins, allowing for enormous combinatorial and functional diversity. Two decades of research have elucidated the importance of NF-Ys in plant growth, development and stress responses; however, the molecular mechanisms of action remain largely unexplored. Intriguingly, recent evidence suggests that NF-Ys are frequently associated with other groups of TFs, expanding the potential NF-Y combinatorial complexity. Further, information regarding the regulation of individual NF-Y subunits at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level is beginning to emerge. In this review, we will identify developing trends within the NF-Y field and discuss recent progress towards a better understanding of NF-Y function, molecular action, and regulation in the context of Arabidopsis. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Nuclear Factor Y in Development and Disease, edited by Prof. Roberto Mantovani.
Geography and social networks in transportation mode choice

Abstract In this paper we explore the effects of social influence on travel behavior and utilize an instrumental variables approach to address the potential endogeneity related to similarities in the choice environments of socially connected individuals. We expect individuals to use a mode of transportation that is used by others in their social network. However, other factors important to mode choice, such as commute characteristics or transit access, may influence multiple members of a social network at the same time. Thus it is necessary to estimate the effects of social influence while taking into account the potential effects of shared environmental characteristics. We hypothesize that social influence is relevant to transportation mode choice, even when accounting for shared environmental characteristics among members of a social network. We explore this hypothesis, utilizing survey data collected from a sample of university students, in Davis California. The survey collected information about respondents' social networks, the transportation mode choices of their social contacts, and geographic information for the respondent and their social network. We estimate models using instrumental variables measuring neighborhood characteristics of the social contacts. Results provide evidence that social processes are important to travel behavior, even when accounting for similarities in behavior that may be attributed to similar choice environments.
Is Biologically Inspired Design Domain Independent

Current theories of biologically inspired design assume that the design processes are domain independent. But is this assumption true? Design Study Library (DSL) is a digital library of eighty-three cases of biologically inspired design collected from a senior-level interdisciplinary class at Georgia Tech over 2006–2013. We describe a preliminary analysis of the DSL case studies. We posit that the assumption about the domain independence is questionable. In particular, some of the parameters in the domains of physiology and sensing appear to be different from the more common domains of mechanics and materials.
What's so great about the Great Moderation?☆

Abstract This paper examines how volatilities of output growth and inflation have changed over a long period for eight countries. We obtain a number of robust empirical results based on a variety of different econometric methods. The lowest volatility occurs during or shortly after the Great Moderation period. Volatility is reduced during that time for most of the countries; however, these reductions in volatility pale in comparison with stability gains achieved during two other periods. One of those periods is the Postwar Moderation, which began near the end of World War II for each country. Not only is the decline in volatility impressive, but also the volatility is typically at the lowest level up to that point in a sample or at least has fallen to a low not seen for decades. And those reductions in volatility are statistically significant, in contrast to the Great Moderation. A second fall in volatility that in nearly all cases exceeds that of the Great Moderation is for inflation during the 1920s. And this moderation in inflation during the 1920s is statistically significant in almost every case. Overall, these and a number of other notable changes in volatility are remarkably robust across countries, different data sources, and alternative econometric methodologies. For example, implementation of a broad-based fixed exchange rate system is typically associated with a substantial reduction in macroeconomic volatility. Another finding, obtained from structural vector autoregression models, is that the changes in volatility for each variable are primarily driven by a fundamentally different type of disturbance.
Distanciamiento ilustrado en las argumentaciones deconstructoras de Rousseau

En conformidad con lo explicado por Jean-Jacques Rousseau a lo largo de su produccion filosofica, el estado ideal de la naturaleza no solo se define como anterior a categorizaciones linguisticas, sino que, hasta cierto punto, ha sido romantizado por diversos criticos, abocados a presentar las ideas de dicho pensador como marcadamente alejadas de la premisas y propuestas esgrimidas por el movimiento cultural de la Ilustracion. Tal estado originario de la naturaleza se presta a ser considerado como pacifico, harmonico, vacio de envidia y prelinguistico o silencioso. En semejantes circunstancias, el habitante de tal entorno natural se aproximaba al mundo directamente y sin las fisuras producidas por elucubraciones culturales, provenientes de dictamenes civilizatorios. Sin embargo, la teoria de la voluntad general, defendida por Rousseau en El contrato social, desarrolla estrategias argumentativas dirigidas a superar el aislacionismo congenito al habitante del estado de la naturaleza, intentando deconstruir la dicotomia binaria que enfrentaba a la abstracta racionalidad ilustrada con la inmediatez de la experiencia primigenia. Wayne State University, Detroit, USA
Glorified Taboo: Teacher-Student Sexual Relations in the Twenty-First Century

Teacher-student sexual relations, whether consensual or abusive, are a taboo topic of discussion in our culture and one that has seen much media attention in the 21st century. In particular, there has been a surge in reported incidents involving a female teacher. It leaves one to wonder if sexual relations portrayed in various digital media, via news, music, and film, have had a major influence on how normalcy of such relations are perceived. After analyzing written works, forty-three popular songs, fifty films, and various state laws that contain an element of teacher-student misconduct, statutory rape, or a very large gap in age difference, I sent out a questionnaire via Surveymonkey.com and Facebook that asked volunteers if they were familiar with any of the aforementioned subjects. The results showed a sincere lack of awareness to laws such as the age-of-consent, statutory rape, or child seduction, but much exposure to popular media condoning taboo actions with a possible correlation between the age of offenders and the amount of digital entertainment produced by decade. Also, I sent an electronic message to each of the "Best Education Schools" as identified by US News in 2012. This was to inquire whether they had courses for teacher candidates that reflect the various viewpoints of sexual misconduct for educators, coaches, and staff. To my surprise, there were no such courses in place. Though not limited to one research conclusion alone, I propose to establish a national requirement for teachers to take one course that introduces them to a well-rounded perspective on this serious social issue with the intent to reduce such professional misconduct.
Evaluation of utility of pharmacokinetic studies in phase I combination trials.

2611 Background: There are many phase I clinical combination trials including drug-drug interaction (DDI) studies, but very few of them report positive results. We hypothesized that the utility of ...
MDL Modeling — An Introduction

The MDL (Minimum Description Length) principle for inductive inference problems formalizes and generalizes the central but vague ideas in many of the old principles such as the Occam’s Razor, and even the Maximum Likelihood and the Maximum Entropy principles are seen to be special cases of it. Furthermore, by restricting the choice of the priors in Bayesian inference it permits their optimization in the light of the data.
Information about How to Retrieve Information: Its Relation to the Information Retrieved

We derive a relation between the amount of information supplied by a searcher to document retrieval systems and the amount of uncertainty about which document to retrieve. An ideal tool for retrieving documents helps a searcher to obtain useful output unencumbered by unwanted items, for a great variety of inquiries. It also means that he need not acquire and use much information to use the tool or supply too much in negotiating a query. Limits to the existence of an ideal tool are explored, with stress on trade-offs among conflicting demands and invariants underlying such trades. The important problem of meta-knowledge in the design and use of knowledge-based expert systems and knowledge structures generally is introduced and a number of hypotheses are formulated so that they can be experimentally tested.
Remote Attestation for Low-End Prover Devices with Post-Quantum Capabilities

Remote attestation is a well-established interactive technique to establish trust in the realm of connected devices. It allows a Prover device to attest its platform integrity to a Verifier device. Existing remote attestation protocols rely on classical asymmetric cryptography, which are too heavy for low-end Prover devices, and vulnerable to quantum attacks (a serious concern due to the long lifespan of IoT devices). Hash-Based Signatures (HBS) offer attractive performance and have capabilities to defeat quantum attacks. This paper presents several contributions in this context. First, we present an efficient remote attestation protocol that requires the Prover to perform only one-time HBS operations, which are very lightweight. Our protocol also proposes robust embedded techniques to refresh one-time keys that allow multiple attestations. Second, we present a simpler construction based on multi-time HBS scheme which does not depend on a trusted-third-party. Third, to demonstrate the feasibility of our protocols, we developed prototypes based on state-of-the-art HBS schemes (XMSS and WOTS+) for highly constrained platforms (Arduino 101) in both classical and post-quantum security settings. Finally, we present a comprehensive comparison between these strategies, including guidance on suitable use cases for each one of them. To summarize, our work demonstrates the feasibility of modern HBS constructions for remote attestation of highly-constrained devices.
RHO Gtpases and the Actin Cytoskeleton

RHO-family GTPases act as molecular switches to modulate actin organization and dynamics. In response to a signal, RHO turns on an effector protein that directly regulates the activity of actin-binding proteins. Different RHO members function to control distinct forms of F-actin. Plants possess a unique subfamily of RHO GTPase termed Rop. Emerging evidence suggests that Rop also regulates actin organization and thus plays a crucial role in the control of cell morphogenesis in plants.
Drug Binding and Drug Effect

Drugs that bind readily to a tissue may differ markedly in their ability to produce an effect. In other words, they differ in efficacy or in intrinsic activity. We do not know the reason for these differences; in fact, we do not know very much about the sequence of events between binding and effect. A reasonable explanation would seem to be access to the receptor. Clearly, if the drug molecule cannot arrive at the receptor, then no effect is possible. However, even when access to the receptor is not limited, the effect may not temporally follow the binding. For example, if acetylcholine is administered to a tissue, the effect can rise to a peak and then fall to some lower level, even though the concentration at the receptor is still apparently rising. As a specific example, we mention the work of Lullman and Ziegler,33 who studied the time course of uptake of carbachol by the guinea pig atria and the time course of the effect, decreased contractile force. The time courses of effect and concentration were very different. The effect reached its final value in 2–3 min, whereas the uptake was still in progress even after 30 min. These are just two examples, but there are numerous others which suggest a temporal dependence in the concentration-effect relationship. Thus, access to the receptors is not a general explanation for differences in the efficacy. Furthermore, binding to the tissue may bear no relation to a drug’s ability to produce an effect.
The Dedekind Formalism

This chapter pertains both to Part II and Part III. It deals with periods of differentials of third kind. It reproduces with little change the arguments of Dedekind [Ded] for dlog η. These arguments are typical of those used in deriving the transformation law for more complicated modular forms, and are therefore included here for the convenience of the reader, to give him an early acquaintance with this formalism. We use the transformation constant in the normalization due to Rademacher [Rad] rather than the Dedekind symbol S(c, d) because it is more convenient.
Introduction: Judeophobia and Islamophobia in France Before and After Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher

This article opens with an assessment of the narratives that emerged in the immediate wake of the Charlie Hebdo / Hyper Cacher events in January 2015. It does so by examining the differing hashtags of the moment—#jesuisCharlie, #jesuisjuif, #LassBat—and how each offered a distilled account of what the moment meant; these competing interpretations were echoed in the news coverage and the commentary that followed. The article proceeds to set out how this special issue reframes and reevaluates the recent history of relations between Jews and Muslims in France. Each author suggests that Judeophobia and Islamophobia are inextricably entangled in ways more complicated than simple formulas or hashtags can encapsulate. Taking on the suggestion that “Muslims are the new Jews” in France (or in Europe), the special issue instead urges an appreciation of the interlocked vulnerabilities and insecurities of both Jews and Muslims. Such an approach requires a recognition of the structural and institutional forces and ideologies that have shaped their interconnected destinies in the last generation.
A new classifier-based plural morpheme in German Sign Language (DGS)

Abstract German Sign Language (DGS) displays variation in the simple plural, the form of which is conditioned by classes of phonological features within the lexicon. As a consequence, the overt realization of the plural marker is restricted to a small set of nouns specified for the appropriate phonological features, while the rest are left bare (Pfau & Steinbach 2005, 2006; Steinbach 2012). Pfau & Steinbach (2005) report a number of ‘alternative pluralization strategies’ available as repairs for this underspecification, including classifier constructions, spatial localization, and number and quantifier phrases. I propose a previously undescribed mechanism for plural marking, the ‘classifier-based plural morpheme’ (CLP), grammaticalized from the classifier system into a morpheme in the grammars of individual DGS signers. Elicitation data show that this morpheme attaches only to nouns which are specified for phonological features that restrict the realization of the canonical plural marker, adding a new option to the range of pluralization strategies available.
Cultivation and Reduced-Rate Herbicides Weed Control in Sugarbeet Grown for Biofuel

Sugarbeet, grown for biofuel, is being considered as an alternate cool-season crop in the southeastern United States. Previous research identified ethofumesate PRE and phenmedipham + desmedipham POST as herbicides that controlled troublesome cool-season weeds in the region, specifically cutleaf evening-primrose. Research trials were conducted from 2014 through 2016 to evaluate an integrated system of sweep cultivation and reduced rates of ethofumesate PRE and/or phenmedipham + desmedipham POST for weed control in sugarbeet grown for biofuel. There were no interactions between the main effects of cultivation and herbicides for control of cutleaf evening-primrose and other cool-season species in two out of three years. Cultivation improved control of cool-season weeds, but the effect was largely independent of control provided by herbicides. Of the herbicide combinations evaluated, the best overall cool-season weed control was from systems that included either a 1/2X or 1X rate of phenmedipham + desmedipham POST. Either rate of ethofumesate PRE was less effective than phenmedipham + desmedipham POST. Despite improved cool-season weed control, sugarbeet yield was not affected by cultivation each year of the study. Sugarbeet yields were greater when treated with any herbicide combination that included either a 1/2X or 1X rate of phenmedipham + desmedipham POST compared with either rate of ethofumesate PRE alone or the nontreated control. These results indicate that cultivation has a very limited role in sugarbeet grown for biofuel. The premise of effective weed control based on an integration of cultivation and reduced herbicide rates does not appear to be viable for sugarbeet grown for biofuel.Nomenclature: Ethofumesate; desmedipham; phenmedipham; cutleaf evening-primrose, Oenothera laciniata Hill; sugarbeet, Beta vulgaris L.
Placental Chorionic Cyst Fluid Has Prothrombotic Properties and Differs From Amniotic Fluid

IntroductionChorionic cysts of the chorion laeve, fetal chorionic plate, septum, and free membranes have been associated with placental hypoxia, but they have no clear clinical significance. Althou...
Observation of Density-Dependent Gauge Fields in a Bose-Einstein Condensate Based on Micromotion Control in a Shaken Two-Dimensional Lattice

We demonstrate a density-dependent gauge field, induced by atomic interactions, for quantum gases. The gauge field results from the synchronous coupling between the interactions and micromotion of the atoms in a modulated two-dimensional optical lattice. As a first step, we show that a coherent shaking of the lattice in two directions can couple the momentum and interactions of atoms and break the fourfold symmetry of the lattice. We then create a full interaction-induced gauge field by modulating the interaction strength in synchrony with the lattice shaking. When a condensate is loaded into this shaken lattice, the gauge field acts to preferentially prepare the system in different quasimomentum ground states depending on the modulation phase. We envision that these interaction-induced fields, created by fine control of micromotion, will provide a stepping stone to model new quantum phenomena within and beyond condensed matter physics.
Intraindividual variability in verbal fluency performance is moderated by and predictive of mild cognitive impairments.

OBJECTIVE The current study was designed to achieve 2 primary objectives: (a) determine the moderating effect of mild cognitive impairments (MCI) on intraindividual variability in semantic and letter fluency performance taking into account longitudinal annual assessments; and (b) establish predictive utility for intraindividual variability in semantic and letter fluency performance as a risk factor of incident MCI. METHODS Participants were community-residing older adults (n = 514; M age = 75.89 ± 6.45; 55.1% female). Sixty participants were diagnosed with MCI at baseline and 50 developed incident MCI during the follow-up. We operationalized intraindividual variability as word generation slopes derived from 3 consecutive time intervals during the standard 1-min administration of both letter and semantic fluency tasks (i.e., 0-20 s, 21-40 s, and 41-60 s). RESULTS Linear mixed effects models revealed significant within task slope effects for semantic (estimate = -8.350; p < .0001; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -8.604, -8.095) and letter (estimate = -5.068; p < .0001; 95% CI [-5.268, -4.869]) fluency indicating that word generation declined over the course of both tasks. The two-way interactions of MCI × Slope were significant for semantic (estimate = 1.34; p = .001; 95% CI [0.551, 2.126]) and letter (estimate = 0.733; p = .020; 95% CI [0.116, 1.350]) fluency indicating attenuated slopes among MCI participants compared to controls taking into account repeated annual assessments. Cox proportional-hazards models revealed that attenuated word generation slope, at baseline, in semantic (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.063; p = .015; 95% = 1.149 to 3.702) but not letter (HR = 0.704; p = .243; 95% CI [0.391, 1.269]) fluency was associated with increased risk of incident MCI. CONCLUSION Intraindividual variability in verbal fluency performance has clinical and predictive utility; it can be easily incorporated into testing batteries in clinical and research settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
How Sweet It Is: Small-Molecule Inhibitors of mTORC1 Glucose Sensing

In this issue of Cell Chemical Biology, Kang et al. (2019) describe the use of a high-throughput cell-based screen to identify chemical scaffolds that selectively inhibit mTORC1 nutrient sensing. Chemical proteomic-based target identification reveals class I glucose transporters as direct targets for these inhibitors, linking glucose sensing with mTORC1 regulation.
Calcium and muscle contraction: the triumph and tragedy of Lewis Victor Heilbrunn.

Lewis Victor Heilbrunn has been called the pioneer of Ca2+ as an intracellular regulator (Campbell AK. Cell Calcium 7: 287–296, 1986; Campbell AK. Intracellular Calcium, 2015). In 1947, he was the ...
Synthetic Control of the Photoluminescence Stability of Organolead Halide Perovskites

An optimized synthetic procedure for preparing photostable nanocrystalline methylammonium lead halide materials is reported. The procedure was developed by adjusting the lead halide to methylammonium/octylammonium halide precursor ratio. At a high precursor ratio (1:3), a blue-shifted photoinduced luminescence peak is measured at 642 nm for CH3NH3PbI3 with 0.01 to 12 mJ pulsed-laser irradiation. The appearance of this peak is reversible over 300 min upon blocking the irradiation. In order to determine if the peak is the result of a phase change, in situ x-ray diffraction measurements were performed. No phase change was measured with an irradiance that causes the appearance of the photoinduced luminescence peak. Luminescence microscpectroscopy measurements showed that the use of a lower precursor ratio (1:1.5) produces CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskites that are stable over 4 min of illumination. Given the lack of a measured phase change, and the dependence on the precursor ratio, the photoinduced luminesce peak may derive from surface trap states. The enhanced photostability of the resulting perovskite nanocrystals produced with the optimized synthetic procedure supports their use in stable optoelectronic devices.
Leveraging Smart Health Technology to Empower Patients and Family Caregivers in Managing Cancer Pain: Protocol for a Feasibility Study

Background: An estimated 60%-90% of patients with cancer experience moderate to severe pain. Poorly managed cancer pain negatively affects the quality of life for both patients and their family caregivers and can be a particularly challenging symptom to manage at home. Mobile and wireless technology (“Smart Health”) has significant potential to support patients with cancer and their family caregivers and empower them to safely and effectively manage cancer pain. Objective: This study will deploy a package of sensing technologies, known as Behavioral and Environmental Sensing and Intervention for Cancer (BESI-C), and evaluate its feasibility and acceptability among patients with cancer-family caregiver dyads. Our primary aims are to explore the ability of BESI-C to reliably measure and describe variables relevant to cancer pain in the home setting and to better understand the dyadic effect of pain between patients and family caregivers. A secondary objective is to explore how to best share collected data among key stakeholders (patients, caregivers, and health care providers). Methods: This descriptive two-year pilot study will include dyads of patients with advanced cancer and their primary family caregivers recruited from an academic medical center outpatient palliative care clinic. Physiological (eg, heart rate, activity) and room-level environmental variables (ambient temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, light, and noise) will be continuously monitored and collected. Behavioral and experiential variables will be actively collected when the caregiver or patient interacts with the custom BESI-C app on their respective smart watch to mark and describe pain events and answer brief, daily ecological momentary assessment surveys. Preliminary analysis will explore the ability of the sensing modalities to infer and detect pain events. Feasibility will be assessed by logistic barriers related to in-home deployment, technical failures related to data capture and fidelity, smart watch wearability issues, and patient recruitment and attrition rates. Acceptability will be measured by dyad perceptions and receptivity to BESI-C through a brief, structured interview and surveys conducted at deployment completion. We will also review summaries of dyad data with participants and health care providers to seek their input regarding data display and content. Results: Recruitment began in July 2019 and is in progress. We anticipate the preliminary results to be available by summer 2021. Conclusions: BESI-C has significant potential to monitor and predict pain while concurrently enhancing communication, self-efficacy, safety, and quality of life for patients and family caregivers coping with serious illness such as cancer. This exploratory research offers a novel approach to deliver personalized symptom management strategies, improve patient and caregiver outcomes, and reduce disparities in access to pain management and palliative care services.
Decisional conflict associated with clinicians discouraging particular contraceptive methods

Rationale, aims, and objectives Approximately 45% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended. The use of contraception reduces the risk of unintended pregnancy. The initiation of several contraceptive methods requires seeing a clinician. This study explored how clinicians' expressed preferences against particular contraceptive methods impacted participants' confidence in their method choice and perception of shared contraceptive decision making. Methods Eligible individuals were 18 to 45 years of age, assigned female sex at birth, English speaking, and either using or had previously used contraception. Participants completed an anonymous survey via web link on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Primary self-reported outcomes were (a) proportion of participants being discouraged from a particular contraceptive method, (b) decisional conflict, and (c) extent of shared decision making. Secondary self-reported outcomes were (a) importance of contraceptive attributes and (b) self-reported quality of care. Results Six hundred sixty-nine participants completed the survey. Most were white (74.0%), non-Hispanic (84.5%), married or cohabitating (69.4%), and nulliparous (47.2%). A total of 33.8% reported that a clinician had discouraged them from using a particular contraceptive method, most commonly because of side effects, usability, and/or method effectiveness. Effectiveness, affordability, and side effects were the self-reported most important contraceptive features. Those who were discouraged from using a method (versus those who were not) were more likely to report decisional conflict (41.2% vs 30.0%, P = .004), yet reported a higher extent of shared decision making (median: 76 vs 71; P = .03). Adjusting for age and nulliparity did not impact results, except nulliparity made the relationship between being discouraged from using a method and shared decision making no longer significant (P = .06). Conclusions Decisional conflict might arise when clinicians discourage individuals using particular contraceptive methods. Clinicians' reasons for discouraging methods might not always align with patients' preferences. More research is needed to examine how to reduce decisional conflict and support contraceptive method selection.
Impacts of Solvent Washing on the Electrochemical Remediation of Commercial End-Of-Life Cathodes

Changes to the surface structure and chemistry occurring throughout the functional lifetime of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) may impact the effectiveness of end-of-life rejuvenation methods. Solvent...
Channels and Barriers

This chapter includes major theories about how communication is or is not transmitted, received, and interpreted, including actual barriers to conveyance of meaning and transparency. With the exception of genderlect theory (Tannen Gender and conversational interaction. Oxford University Press, 1993, You just don’t understand. HarperCollins, 2013), all of the theories in this group put message senders in principal roles, even when they are non-human entities. Theories in this group address such issues as the ability to communicate effectively, the costs and benefits of message transparency, the factors that promote transparency, the reduction of message ambiguity, the promotion of message attentiveness, and eliciting trust in message senders. Going further, these theories also raise intriguing questions for scholars. What rewarding partnerships can be forged between these theories with those in other complementary categories such as flows and patterns, organizational structures and cultural characteristics and influences, and motivation and persuasion? Lastly, what ethical opportunities and challenges are posed by the channels and barriers theories?
Techno-economic analysis of cathode material production using flame-assisted spray pyrolysis

Abstract The cost of cathode materials contributes approximately 32.7% of the total cell construction cost of lithium-ion batteries, significantly affecting the price of battery packs. To reduce the cathode material manufacturing cost, a flame-assisted spray pyrolysis (FSP) method has been developed to utilize a sustainable solvent of glycerol to manufacture the LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 (NMC333) cathode materials. The objective of this study is to evaluate the minimum cathode material selling price (MCSP) of the FSP processes compared with a traditional carbonate co-precipitation pathway. Results show that the MCSP of the FSP is $19.1/kg that is 17% lower than the traditional carbonate co-precipitation pathway as a result of lower fixed operating cost and variable overhead. Sensitivity analysis shows that when the new process is integrated with in-situ sintering and processing, the MCSP can be as low as $15.6/kg. When all the material prices are decreased by 20%, the FSP process can synthesize NMC333 at a price of $2.3/kg lower. According to the simulation result, LiNi0·8Mn0·1Co0·1O2 (NMC811) has the best potential to meet the U.S. Department of Energy battery price target of $125/kWh, demonstrating that the FSP process is an attractive manufacturing technology for NMC cathode powder material production.
The Accuracy of Proportional Cost Models: Evidence from Hospital Service Departments

Using data from hospitals in the state of Washington, we examine the time-series behavior of overhead costs. We find that more accurate predictions of changes in costs are usually generated by assuming a cost will not change at all (except for inflation) than by assuming that the cost will change in proportion to changes in activity. We also find that nearly all of the effect of a change in activity on costs appears to occur in the same year as the change in activity. Finally, using a multi-period regression model we find that the proportion of variable costs in the hospital overhead accounts is apparently very modest. These results suggest that costing systems, such as activity-based costing, that assume costs are proportional to activity, will grossly overstate relevant (i.e., incremental) overhead costs for decision-making and performance evaluation purposes.
Diagnostic accuracy and false-positive rate of chest CT as compared to RT-PCR in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia: A prospective cohort of 612 cases from India and review of literature

Background: At present, the diagnosis of COVID-19 depends on real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCT). On imaging, computed tomography (CT) manifestations resemble those seen in viral pneumonias, with multifocal ground-glass opacities and consolidation in a peripheral distribution being the most common findings. Although these findings lack specificity for COVID-19 diagnosis on imaging grounds, CT could be used to provide objective assessment about the extension of the lung opacities, which could be used as an imaging surrogate for disease burden. Chest CT scan may be helpful in early diagnosing of COVID-19. Objective: The current study investigated the diagnostic accuracy and false-positive rate of chest CT in detecting COVID-19 pneumoniain a population with clinical suspicion using RT-PCR testing as reference standard. Materials and Methods: In this prospective single centerstudy performed on 612 cases with clinical suspicion of COVID-19, all adult symptomatic ED patients had both a CT scan and a PCR upon arrival at the hospital. CT results were compared with PCR test (s) and diagnostic accuracy was calculated. Results: Between February 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020, 612 symptomatic ED patients were included. In total, 78.5% of patients had a positive PCR and 82.8% a positive CT, resulting in a sensitivity of 94.2%, specificity 76.4%, likelihood ratio (LR) + 2.94 and (LR) - 0.18.The PPV was 76.7% and NPV 94.1%. The sensitivity of the CT tended to be higher (100.0%) in those with severe risk pneumonia than in patients with low/medium risk pneumonia (90.3%, P = 0.42). In patients with sepsis, sensitivity was significantly higher than in those without sepsis (99.5 vs. 63.5%, P
Assessing the Indirect Effects of COVID-19 on Healthcare Delivery, Utilization, and Health Outcomes: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and global efforts to contain its spread, such as stay-at-home orders and transportation shutdowns, have created new barriers to accessing healthcare, resulting in changes in service delivery and utilization globally. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the literature published thus far on the indirect health effects of COVID-19 and to explore the data sources and methodologies being used to assess indirect health effects. METHODS: A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature using three search engines was performed. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy studies were included in the final analysis. Nearly half (46.5%) of included studies focused on cardiovascular health outcomes. The main methodologies used were observational analytic and surveys. Data were drawn from individual health facilities, multicentre networks, regional registries, and national health information systems. Most studies were conducted in high-income countries with only 35.4% of studies representing low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). CONCLUSION: Healthcare utilization for non-COVID-19 conditions has decreased almost universally, across both high- and lower-income countries. The pandemic's impact on non-COVID-19 health outcomes, particularly for chronic diseases, may take years to fully manifest and should be a topic of ongoing study. Future research should be tied to system improvement and the promotion of health equity, with researchers identifying potentially actionable findings for national, regional and local health leadership. Public health professionals must also seek to address the disparity in published data from LMICs as compared with high-income countries.
Traerás tus Documentos (you will bring your documents): navigating the intersections of disability and citizenship status in special education

DisCrit has illuminated the interconnectivity of racism and ableism, though the experiences of undocumented youth and families enrolled in special education are largely unknown. In this paper, we e...
Symmetry-aware recursive image similarity exploration for materials microscopy

In pursuit of scientific discovery, vast collections of unstructured structural and functional images are acquired; however, only an infinitesimally small fraction of this data is rigorously analyzed, with an even smaller fraction ever being published. One method to accelerate scientific discovery is to extract more insight from costly scientific experiments already conducted. Unfortunately, data from scientific experiments tend only to be accessible by the originator who knows the experiments and directives. Moreover, there are no robust methods to search unstructured databases of images to deduce correlations and insight. Here, we develop a machine learning approach to create image similarity projections to search unstructured image databases. To improve these projections, we develop and train a model to include symmetry-aware features. As an exemplar, we use a set of 25,133 piezoresponse force microscopy images collected on diverse materials systems over five years. We demonstrate how this tool can be used for interactive recursive image searching and exploration, highlighting structural similarities at various length scales. This tool justifies continued investment in federated scientific databases with standardized metadata schemas where the combination of filtering and recursive interactive searching can uncover synthesis-structure-property relations. We provide a customizable open-source package ( https://github.com/m3-learning/Recursive_Symmetry_Aware_Materials_Microstructure_Explorer ) of this interactive tool for researchers to use with their data.
Astrocyte Mitochondria in White-Matter Injury

This review summarizes the diverse structure and function of astrocytes to describe the bioenergetic versatility required of astrocytes that are situated at different locations. The intercellular domain of astrocyte mitochondria defines their roles in supporting and regulating astrocyte-neuron coupling and survival against ischemia. The heterogeneity of astrocyte mitochondria, and how subpopulations of astrocyte mitochondria adapt to interact with other glia and regulate axon function, require further investigation. It has become clear that mitochondrial permeability transition pores play a key role in a wide variety of human diseases, whose common pathology may be based on mitochondrial dysfunction triggered by Ca2+ and potentiated by oxidative stress. Reactive oxygen species cause axonal degeneration and a reduction in axonal transport, leading to axonal dystrophies and neurodegeneration including Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. Developing new tools to allow better investigation of mitochondrial structure and function in astrocytes, and techniques to specifically target astrocyte mitochondria, can help to unravel the role of mitochondrial health and dysfunction in a more inclusive context outside of neuronal cells. Overall, this review will assess the value of astrocyte mitochondria as a therapeutic target to mitigate acute and chronic injury in the CNS.
Memory and Infection

This chapter reviews the basic principles of adaptive immunological memory. It first discusses the dynamics of T-cell responses, and commitment to memory lineage. Large numbers of memory T cells were located within nonlymphoid tissues. The chapter then focuses on maintenance and longevity of memory T cells. Development of antigen-specific antibody responses can be either T-cell-independent or T-cell-dependent. The majority of vaccines and viral infections trigger high affinity, antigen-specific B-cell responses that are CD4 T-cell-dependent. The differential migration of memory B cells (MBCs) and plasma cells (PCs)/plasmablasts is most likely accomplished by changes in the expression pattern of different chemokine receptors and other adhesion molecules. Induction of a durable neutralizing antibody response represents the basis of many successful vaccines and is important to the maintenance of protective immunity against a wide range of pathogens. Analysis of humoral immunity against tetanus and diphtheria toxins revealed that not all antibody responses last a lifetime. Humoral immunity is maintained by two types of B cells—MBCs and PCs. The duration of the PC response is most commonly measured indirectly by quantitation of antigen-specific serum antibody levels or directly through the use of the ELISPOT assay. Finally, the chapter focuses on models explaining long-lived humoral immunity. Antibody responses to antigens result in slowly declining antibody responses that last for decades, whereas immunity against viral infections such as measles, mumps, and rubella will often last a lifetime.
Human Values in Computer Diagnosis

I would like to begin with two examples of how human values might be added into the calculus of computer diagnosis and clinical management. The first issue concerns the implications for outcome when a particular diagnosis is made. Not all diagnoses are made in the same way. Some have significantly adverse implications if they are present and others do not. Take, for example, a case of a middle-aged man with an episode of hematuria following mild abdominal trauma. There are a number of possible diagnoses, each with an associated outcome. The first option is a condition with no adverse outcome for the patient, for example, the presence of a solitary renal cyst. The primary reason for making such a diagnosis is that the cause of bleeding is identified and other conditions do not have to be considered. The patient is not directly benefited but is protected from future concern and the cost and risk of further examination. A second possibility is a condition with a bad or even fatal outcome for which nothing can be done, for example, an advanced pancreatic carcinoma which has now invaded the kidney. A third intermediate possibility is that a condition is found that is serious and treatable, or even curable. An example of this would be an early resectable renal cell carcinoma. From the viewpoint of the patient, diagnosis number three is the most important one to make since it provides an opportunity to save the individual from a potentially fatal disease and restore health.
Entrepreneurship: The Recipe to Prevent a 'Sea Turtle' from Becoming a 'Sea Weed'

As the Chinese economy has rapidly grown in recent years, more expatriates are also attracted back to China. When one returns, he is called a “Haigui” (i.e., “Sea Turtle” or a returnee from overseas), denoting a person with valuable advanced knowledge and skills from overseas. However, when a “Sea Turtle” cannot find a job over time, this person is analogously denoted as “Haidai” (i.e., “Sea Weed” or somebody with overseas experience waiting to find a job). The purpose of this paper is to prescribe entrepreneurship as a recipe for “Sea Turtles” to prevent them from becoming “Sea Weeds” by using the framework developed by Vozikis and Mescon (2002). The main building blocks of their framework are FAKTS, i.e. Financials, Attitude, Knowledge, Timing, and Skills. We propose using these FAKTS of entrepreneurship as a catalyst in the process of transforming “Sea Turtles” into successful entrepreneurs in a Chinese economic context and for niche business opportunities to prevent them from turning into “Sea Weeds”. Barriers to the adoption of entrepreneurship in China are also reported and discussed.
General Principles of Bond Valuation

The value of any financial asset is the present value of its expected future cash flows. To value a bond, one must be able estimate the bond's remaining cash flows and identify the appropriate discount rate(s). The traditional approach to bond valuation is to discount every cash flow with the same discount rate. Simply put, the relevant yield curve used in valuation is assumed to be flat. This approach permits opportunities for arbitrage. Alternatively, the arbitrage-free valuation approach starts with the premise that a bond should be viewed as a portfolio or package of zero-coupon bonds. Moreover, each of the bond's cash flows is valued using a unique discount rate that depends on the shape of the yield curve and when the cash flow is delivered in time. The relevant set of discount rates (that is, spot rates) is derived from the Treasury yield curve and when used to value risky bonds augmented with a spread. Keywords: option-free bond; full price; clean price; pull to par value; arbitrage-free valuation approach; spot rate; spot rate curve; bootstrapping; benchmark spot rate curve; benchmark zero-coupon rate curve
A microfluidic assembly line for adherent cell assays

We report on a novel system for the analysis of adherent cells. Using standard lithography techniques, cell pallets are fabricated upon which cells are cultured and subsequently transported through a microfluidic system. This technology eliminates the need for the release of a cell from its growth surface, which can lead to membrance damage, and/or disruption of normal cell functions. We have demonstrated RBL (rat basophil leukemia) cells will grow on SU8 pallets and remain viable after the pallet is released. Cells on pallets can then be sorted based on pre-selected criteria and sent to a docking station for cell assays. Once completed, the cells may be interrogated and retained for further processing or disposal.
The use of Caenorhabditis elegans in Molecular Neuropharmacology

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the use of Caenorhabditis elegans for the studies of the mechanisms of action of neuropharmacological agents. Caenorhabditis elegans is a small, free-living soil nematode that is widely used as a genetic model system. The tools available for its genetic and biochemical analysis are reasons for its popularity. C. elegans has been employed to act as a model system with the aim of understanding the molecular pharmacology of ivermectin's action. Ivermectin kills C. elegans at clinically relevant concentrations, and causes paralysis of locomotion and of the pharynx that is similar to the effects that have been observed in parasitic nematodes treated with ivermectin. In addition, C. elegans is a good genetic model organism for identifying the biological targets of fluoxetine. As forward genetics allows mutations in many genes to be assessed for an effect on particular phenotypes or behaviors, C. elegans has provided some clues of the targets of ethanol that are important for the behavioral effects of the drug in humans. The powerful genetics, the simple body plan, the small yet diverse nervous system, and the well-characterized biology of the worm and its behaviors allow in-depth analysis of the drug responses. This provides the opportunity to study neuropharmacological problems in C. elegans that are difficult to analyze in other systems.