cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Confinement and Fluorescence of Aromatic Molecules in Microporous Amorphous Superlattices

We have investigated molecular confinement in materials with nanometer sized pores, fabricated from amorphous superlattices of a-Si:H/a-SiOx:H, using 1,10-bis(1-pyrenyl)decane as a fluorescent probe. In large (46 A) pores, the emission and excitation spectra and their time dependence are similar to microcrystalline material, showing the presence of molecules aggregated in the ground state. This dimer emission decreases sharply as the pore size is decreased, showing that the minimum size for aggregate formation is about 20 A.
Simulation of Adult Emergence for the Alfalfa Blotch Leafminer (Diptera: Agromyzidae): Interaction of Environmental Temperature and Individual Developmental Rate Variation

The interaction of developmental-rate variation for pupae with soil temperature variation in the pupal environment was analyzed through computer simulations of cumulative adult emergence patterns for the alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella (Rondani). Observed emergence patterns were compared with simulated ones based on four different conceptual models of the pupal life system. The models included sequential combinations of the two sources of variation. Overall, 41.8% of the 67 simulated patterns were valid representations of the 17 different observed patterns for 2 years and three sites in central New York. The models, including developmental and environmental variation, developmental variation alone, environmental variation alone (in space and with depth), and environmental variation with depth alone, respectively, accounted for 93.4, 90.0, 87.5, and 80.1 % of the variance in the observed patterns. For pest management purposes, the model that utilized developmental variation was an equally accurate but lower-cost alternative to the models that depended on measurements of environmental temperature variation.
Optimization of Tie-line Hierarchical Schedule Based on Network-wide Coordination

The traditional tie-line schedule is entirely based on the electricity transaction,hence it is loosely coupled with power grid operation all along and relatively independent from the generation scheduling. These cause difficulties in adjusting tie-line schedule and lack of capacity in global allocation of resources. In face of these problems,a hierarchical tie-line schedule model based on network- wide coordination is proposed by resorting to the existing tie-line planning. The upper model gets the ideal tie-line schedule through the economical dispatch constrained by the whole network security. The lower model uses the ideal tie-line schedule as the optimization objective,and takes electricity transactions as constraints to achieve the tie-line schedule. This model has achieved automatic preparation and flexible adjustment of tie-line scheduling,while providing an available manner that combines the schedule with the grid operating state. The proposed algorithm is applied to the tie-line schedule of Central China power grid,while the comparison between the proposed method and the traditional method showing the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Adrenergic regulation of adrenal and aortic heat shock protein.

Background. Surgical stress results in catecholamine secretion and selective induction of the major heat shock protein (HSP70) in the adrenal gland and in the vasculature. The adrenal response is cortical-specific and corticotropin-dependent. The vascular response occurs in the smooth muscle and is corticotropin-independent. We previously suggested that the vascular response was associated with adrenergic receptor stimulation. Herein, we report a series of experiments designed to test the hypothesis that aortic HSP70 messenger RNA (mRNA) induction occurs as a direct and specific response to α 1 -adrenergic receptor stimulation
Origin of Dispersive Line Shapes in Plasmonically Enhanced Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectra

A theoretical model is described to explain the observed dispersive-like vibrational line shapes reported in previous studies of plasmonically enhanced (PE) femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS). These Raman line shapes are rationalized in terms of interference or heterodyne terms between the PE stimulated Raman response from the molecules located in the plasmonically enhancing regions of Au nanoparticles and the nonlinear emission/scattering due to the resonant surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of these nanoparticles. The treatment of the FSRS signal response follows the standard perturbative polarization approach apart from the familiar g4 field enhancement factor found in spontaneous SERS description, where g represents the local electromagnetic field enhancement due to proximity with the plasmonic nanoparticles. The SPR contribution is modeled as a PE resonant two-level system. The heterodyne cross-term between these two complex third-order responses is large because both of the components ar...
Electron microscopic techniques in the study of cultured vascular cells.

Culture of cells derived from blood vessel walls has provided new information concerning the biology of normal blood vessels and new insight into the pathogenesis of vascular disease (1,2,4,6,7,8, 11–17). Electron microscopy has helped establish the identity of the cells grown in culture and contributed significantly to our understanding of their normal and abnormal biology. The purpose of this communication is to report on techniques used in our laboratory for preparation of cultured cells derived from blood vessels for scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Preparation of human endothelial cells will be emphasized since most of our experience is with endothelium. However, vascular smooth muscle cells may be prepared similarly.
Precoital Single Doses of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Block Ovulation in the Rabbit

delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC) inhibits pituitary gonadotropin secretion in castrated rhesus monkeys. Also, delta9-THC blocks the ovulatory reflux in rabbits. We report now the dose-response relationship of precoital single doses of delta9-THC on luteinizing hormone (LH) release and ovulation in the rabbit. Forty-five female rabbits in estrous were divided into nine groups of five animals. Groups 1 to 5 received a single intramuscular dose of delta9-THC (5,2.5, 1.25, 0.612, and 0.306 mg/kg, respectively) 2 hours before mating; animals of group 6 received vehicle only. In animals of groups 7 and 8 ovulation was induced with 100 IU of human chorionic gonadotropic (hCG), given intravenously 2 hours after the administration of delta9-THC (5 mg/kg) or vehicle. Rabbit luteinizing hormone (rLH) was measured in plasma 90 to 120 minutes after coitus or hCG administration. After the injection of 5 mg of delta9-THC, luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (LH-RF) (20 microgram intravenously) was administered to the animals of group 9. All animals of groups 6, 7, and 8 ovulated. A dose-response curve was observed in the animals treated with delta9-THC and natural mating. Whereas none of the animals treated with 5 or 2.5 mg/kg ovulated, one of the group treated with 1.25 mg/kg, two of the group treated with 0.612 mg/kg, and all treated with 0.312 mg/kg ovulated. Ovulations correlated with postcoital levels of rLH. All animals of group 9 ovulated, indicating that the site of action of delta9-THC is suprapituitary, probably hypothalamic.
Impacts of changes in climate, land use and land cover on atmospheric mercury

Abstract Mercury is an important pollutant that can be transported globally due to its long lifetime in the atmosphere. Atmosphere-surface exchange is a major process affecting the cycling of mercury in the global environment and its impacts on food webs. We investigate the sensitivities of the air-surface exchange, atmospheric transport, and budget of mercury to projected 2000–2050 changes in climate and land use/land cover with a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem). We find that annual mean Hg(0) dry deposition flux over land could increase by up to 20% in northern mid-latitudes by 2050 due to increased vegetation and foliage density. Climate change can significantly affect both the wet deposition and atmospheric chemistry of mercury. In response to the projected climate change, the annual mean wet deposition flux increases over most continental regions and decreases over most of the mid-latitude and tropical oceans. The annual mean mercury wet deposition flux over northern and southern high latitudes increases by 7% and 8% respectively, largely driven by increases in precipitation there. Surface Hg(0) is predicted to increase generally, because high temperatures decrease Hg(0) oxidation by bromine and high moisture increases aqueous Hg(II) photo reduction. The combined effects of projected changes in climate, land use and land cover increase mercury deposition to the continental biosphere and decrease mercury deposition to the marine biosphere.
Heparin: Past, Present, and Future

Heparin, the most widely used anticoagulant drug in the world today, remains an animal-derived product with the attendant risks of adulteration and contamination. A contamination crisis in 2007–2008 increased the impetus to provide non-animal-derived sources of heparin, produced under cGMP conditions. In addition, recent studies suggest that heparin may have significant antineoplastic activity, separate and distinct from its anticoagulant activity, while other studies indicate a role for heparin in treating inflammation, infertility, and infectious disease. A variety of strategies have been proposed to produce a bioengineered heparin. In this review, we discuss several of these strategies including microbial production, mammalian cell production, and chemoenzymatic modification. We also propose strategies for creating “designer” heparins and heparan-sulfates with various biochemical and physiological properties.
Family Support Would Have Been Like Amazing

This qualitative study examines gay and bisexual adolescent experiences with parental and family support using a phenomenological inquiry approach. Four themes related to peer support emerged from ...
Phosphatidylserine-Positive Erythrocytes Modulate Tissue Factor Activity In Vivo and In Vitro in Sickle Cell Disease.

Evaluation of fluid phase markers reveals activated blood coagulation in sickle cell disease (SCD), with enhanced in vivo thrombin generation. Studies have shown that whole blood tissue factor (WTBF) activity is elevated, and that both monocytes and endothelial cells (ECs) contribute to WBTF. In a recent preliminary study, we have found an unexpected and interesting positive correlation between WBTF and the levels of both reticulocytes (R=0.6) and phosphatidylserine (PS)-positive red cells (R=0.4) in SCD and an inverse correlation with hemoglobin (R=-0.4). We have therefore evaluated potential mechanisms for erythroid modulation of WBTF. Reticulocytes being PS-positive, we initially evaluated the effects of PS-positive red cells on endothelial TF using human lung microvascular ECs and ionophore-treated PS-exposing control erythrocytes, since sickle erythrocytes also express other adhesion markers. Following incubation with appropriate treatments for 24 hours, ECs were analyzed for TF expression (with E-selectin as a positive control for EC activation). Co-incubation of PS-positive red cells (15% ±) with ECs increased endothelial expression of TF in a hematocrit-dependent manner. PS-positive cells increased TF expression by 140, 200, 260 and 320% at hematocrits of 2, 5, 10 and 20%, respectively, compared to media controls. Results similar to those observed with TF were also noted with E-selectin. PS-positive sickle erythrocytes have been classified as either type I or type II cells. Type I express low levels of PS (reticulocytes), while type II are highly PS-positive and include sickle dense cells. We next evaluated whether both type I and type II PS-positive red cells triggered endothelial TF expression. Type II cells were prepared by incubating control erythrocytes with calcium ionophore, and type I cells were generated by incubating type II cells with predetermined amounts of annexin V (100 μg annexin V per 25X106 PS-positive cells). FACS analyses demonstrated appropriate PS levels in each PS positive category. We show that type I cells had no effect. TF expression occurred following incubation of ECs with type II erythrocytes (0.21±0.06 units TF with type II vs 0.10±0.06 with PS-negative cells at a 2% hematocrit, n=5, P<0.01). In final patient related studies we have observed a marked correlation between WBTF and type II PS-positive red cells (R=0.5, P<0.00001, n=81). No such correlation was noted with type I. We conclude that while the reticulocyte component of the hemolytic anemia does not appear to affect WBTF, type II PS cells (including potentially dense cells) modulate WBTF activity in SCD with implications for both the thrombophilic and adhesive pathophysiologic complications of this disease entity. These studies in addition have potential implications for other disease states where erythrocyte PS exposure occurs.
Structure-Function Studies of the Actin Filament System of Acanthamoeba

Work in many laboratories on actin polymerization and the accessory proteins that regulate its assembly has progressed to the stage where we now can focus in detail on the structures and mechanisms of action of these essential protein components of the cytoplasmic matrix. The overall mechanism of actin polymerization is clear and the rate constants for the main steps are known. The inventory of the regulatory proteins is now large enough that we likely have in hand, from one cell or another, representatives of the major functional classes. The primary structures of actin and many of the regulatory proteins are known and their mechanisms of action partially deciphered. The long- term goal of research in the field is to provide an explanation at the molecular and cellular levels of how the actin system is assembled and remodeled during the life of the cell.
Psychotropic substances in house dusts: a preliminary assessment

Psychotropic substances (PSs) are known to affect air and waters, while scarce attention has been paid to their occurrence in settled dusts although they can reach important concentrations there; moreover, no procedures have been developed for this specific purpose. In this study, a list of PSs (i.e., nicotine, cotinine, caffeine, cocaine, cannabinol, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, amphetamine, heroin, and methadone) were characterized in dusts from Rome and Fiumicino international airport, Italy, and from Ouargla city, Algeria. The analytical procedure, based on ultra-sonic bath extraction, silica column chromatography, and GC-MSD analysis, provided good recovery, uncertainty, sensitivity, and lack of interferences for all substances except amphetamine. In NIST SRM-2585 house dust, nicotine, cotinine, caffeine, cocaine, and cannabinol accounted for ~5.95, 0.87, 4.17, 7.0, and 2.2 μg/g, respectively; on the other hand, methadone, tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, and heroin (all <0.025 μg/g) were below the detection limit of the method. Two sites at the Fiumicino airport were affected by different loads of PSs (e.g., 0.76 and 2.80 ng/m2 of cocaine). In Ouargla, where dust was collected in a primary school and a dwelling, nicotine ranged from ~60 ± 50 to ~86 ± 89 ng/m2, cocaine was absent, and cannabinoids (0.35 ± 0.43 ng/m2 as total) were found only in the home. In Rome, nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, and cannabinol reached ca. 700, 1470, 0.82, and 2.4 ng/m2, respectively, in a smokers’ home, but they were ca. 1300, 25,000, 670, and 1700 ng/m2 in a non-smoker home. In conclusion, all dusts revealed the presence of illicit PSs. Further studies are necessary to understand the links between the PS amounts in airborne particulates and in dusts, as well as the PS origin and fate in interiors.
Irradiation enhanced diffusional mass transport

A broad analysis of the irradiation enhanced mass transport problem has been given and it appears that the drift terms in the vacancy and interstitial fluxes play a central role. Under steady state conditions (which are probably the most important ones for practical applications), there will be no enhancement without drift terms, whereas with these terms enhancement will normally occur. Under nonsteady state conditions, enhancement can be expected even in the absence of the drift terms.
Taking technology to the field: hardware challenges in developing countries

A great deal has been written about the various socio-political, economic, and cultural reasons that information and communications technologies (ICTs) fail to achieve the potential they represent....
Untying the Ties That Bind: Dispositional and Relational Patterns of Negative Relational Disclosures and Family Members’ Feelings of Being Caught:

This study examined the associations among family members’ reports of negative relational disclosures and their feelings of being caught. Participants included a mother, father, and young adult chi...
Circulating brain-enriched microRNAs as novel biomarkers for detection and differentiation of neurodegenerative diseases

Minimally invasive specific biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) would facilitate patient selection and disease progression monitoring. We describe the assessment of circulating brain-enriched microRNAs as potential biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this case-control study, the plasma samples were collected from 250 research participants with a clinical diagnosis of AD, FTD, PD, and ALS, as well as from age- and sex-matched control subjects (n = 50 for each group), recruited from 2003 to 2015 at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, including the Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center, the Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, and the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Clinic. Each group was randomly divided into training and confirmation sets of equal size. To evaluate the potential of circulating microRNAs enriched in specific brain regions affected by NDs and present in synapses as biomarkers of NDs, the levels of 37 brain-enriched and inflammation-associated microRNAs in the plasma of all participants were measured using individual qRT-PCR. A “microRNA pair” approach was used for data normalization. MicroRNA pairs and their combinations (classifiers) capable of differentiating NDs from control and from each other were defined using independently and jointly analyzed training and confirmation datasets. AD, PD, FTD, and ALS are differentiated from control with accuracy of 0.89, 0.90, 0.88, and 0.83 (AUCs, 0.96, 0.96, 0.94, and 0.93), respectively; NDs are differentiated from each other with accuracy ranging from 0.77 (AUC, 0.87) for AD vs. FTD to 0.93 (AUC, 0.98) for AD vs. ALS. The data further indicate sex dependence of some microRNA markers. The average increase in accuracy in distinguishing ND from control for all and male/female groups is 0.06; the largest increase is for ALS, from 0.83 for all participants to 0.92/0.98 for male/female participants. The work presented here suggests the possibility of developing microRNA-based diagnostics for detection and differentiation of NDs. Larger multicenter clinical studies are needed to further evaluate circulating brain-enriched microRNAs as biomarkers for NDs and to investigate their association with other ND biomarkers in clinical trial settings.
A novel photoacoustic sensing probe using optical fiber acoustic delay line

In this paper, we report a new photoacoustic sensing probe design consisting of two optical fibers. One optical fiber is used for delivering the excitation light pulses. The other one serves as an acoustic delay line to relay the generated PA signal from the target to an outside ultrasound transducer. With the addition of suitable time delay, the original PA signal can be easily separated from the interference signals. To demonstrate this new design, a prototype probe was designed, fabricated and tested. The PA sensing performance was characterized with different concentration of black dye solutions. The testing results show that the PA sensing probe can provide good sensitivity and can maintain high linearity over a wide range of concentrations.
Incorporating Road Crossing Data into Vehicle Collision Risk Models for Moose (Alces americanus) in Massachusetts, USA

Wildlife-vehicle collisions are a human safety issue and may negatively impact wildlife populations. Most wildlife-vehicle collision studies predict high-risk road segments using only collision data. However, these data lack biologically relevant information such as wildlife population densities and successful road-crossing locations. We overcome this shortcoming with a new method that combines successful road crossings with vehicle collision data, to identify road segments that have both high biological relevance and high risk. We used moose (Alces americanus) road-crossing locations from 20 moose collared with Global Positioning Systems as well as moose-vehicle collision (MVC) data in the state of Massachusetts, USA, to create multi-scale resource selection functions. We predicted the probability of moose road crossings and MVCs across the road network and combined these surfaces to identify road segments that met the dual criteria of having high biological relevance and high risk for MVCs. These road segments occurred mostly on larger roadways in natural areas and were surrounded by forests, wetlands, and a heterogenous mix of land cover types. We found MVCs resulted in the mortality of 3% of the moose population in Massachusetts annually. Although there have been only three human fatalities related to MVCs in Massachusetts since 2003, the human fatality rate was one of the highest reported in the literature. The rate of MVCs relative to the size of the moose population and the risk to human safety suggest a need for road mitigation measures, such as fencing, animal detection systems, and large mammal-crossing structures on roadways in Massachusetts.
Validation of data from electronic data warehouse in diabetic ketoacidosis: Caution is needed

Abstract Aims This study validated enterprise data warehouse (EDW) data for a cohort of hospitalized patients with a primary diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Methods 247 patients with 319 admissions for DKA (ICD-9 code 250.12, 250.13, or 250.xx with biochemical criteria for DKA) were admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital from 1/1/2010 to 9/1/2013. Validation was performed by electronic medical record (EMR) review of 10% of admissions (N = 32). Classification of diabetes type (Type 1 vs. Type 2) and DKA clinical status were compared between the EMR review and EDW data. Results Key findings included incorrect classification of diabetes type in 5 of 32 (16%) admissions and indeterminable classification in 5 admissions. DKA was not present, based on the review, in 11 of 32 (34%) admissions. DKA was not present, based on biochemical criteria, in 15 of 32 (47%) admissions. Conclusions This study found that EDW data have substantial errors. Some discrepancies can be addressed by refining the EDW query code, while others, related to diabetes classification and DKA diagnosis, cannot be corrected without improving clinical coding accuracy, consistency of medical record documentation, or EMR design. These results support the need for comprehensive validation of data for complex clinical populations obtained through data repositories such as the EDW.
Co-editors’ introduction: Reimagining damaged-centered research as community wealth-centered research

“In damaged-centered research, one of the major activities is to document pain or loss in an individual, community, or tribe…. Many communities engage, allow, and participate in damage-centered res...
One-pot synthesis and biodistribution of fluorine-18 labeled serum albumin for vascular imaging.

Abstract Introduction Equilibrium single-photon radionuclide imaging methods for assessing cardiac function and the integrity of the vascular system have long been in use for both clinical and research purposes. However, positron-emitting blood pool agents that could provide PET equivalents to these (and other) clinical procedures have not yet been adopted despite technical imaging advantages offered by PET. Our goal was to develop a PET blood pool tracer that not only meets necessary in vivo biological requirements but can be produced with an uncomplicated and rapid synthesis method which would facilitate clinical translation. Herein, albumin labeled with fluorine-18 was synthesized using a one-pot method and evaluated in vitro and in vivo in rats. Methods A ligand (NODA-Bz-TFPE), containing NODA attached to a tetrafluorophenylester (TFPE) via a phenyl linker (Bz), was labeled with aluminum fluoride (Al[18F]F). Conjugation of the serum albumin with the ligand (Al[18F]F-NODA-Bz-TFPE), followed by purification (size exclusion chromatography), yielded the final product (Al[18F]F-NODA-Bz-RSA/HSA). In vitro stability was evaluated in human serum albumin by HPLC. Rat biodistributions and whole-body PET imaging over a 4 h time course were used for the in vivo evaluation. Results This synthesis exhibited an overall radiochemical yield of 45 ± 10% (n = 30), a 50-min radiolabeling time, a radiochemical purity >99% and apparent stability up to 4 h in human serum. Blood had the highest retention of Al[18F]F-NODA-Bz-RSA at all times with a blood half-life of 5.2 h in rats. Al[18F]F-NODA-Bz-RSA distribution in most rat tissues remained relatively constant for up to 1 h, indicating that the tissue radioactivity content represents the respective tissue plasma volume. Dynamic whole-body PET images were in agreement with these findings. Conclusions A new ligand has been developed and radiolabeled with Al[18F]F that allows rapid (50-min) preparation of fluorine-18 serum albumin in one-pot. In addition to increased synthetic efficiency, the construct appears to be metabolically stable in rats. This method could encourage wider use of PET to quantify cardiac function and tissue vascular integrity in both research and clinical settings.
A PSpace Algorithm for Acyclic Epistemic DL $$\mathcal {ALCS}5_m$$ ALCS 5 m

We study the description language $$\mathcal {ALCS}5_m$$ , a variant of $$\mathcal {ALCK}_m$$ and $$\mathcal {ALCS}4_m$$ . It augments $$\mathcal {ALC}$$ by allowing multi-modal epistemic operators over concept and role expressions. The epistemic operators are interpreted in modal logic $$\mathbf {S}5_m$$ . By examining design issues of the tableau algorithm specific for $$\mathcal {ALCS}5_m$$ , different from those for $$\mathcal {ALCK}_m$$ and $$\mathcal {ALCS}4_m$$ , we provide a sound and complete tableau algorithm for deciding the satisfiability of an $$\mathcal {ALCS}5_m$$ knowledge base with an acyclic TBox, and further show how it can be implemented in PSpace.
Smooth pursuit in twins before and after alcohol ingestion.

PURPOSE: The influence of genetic factors on characteristics of smooth pursuit were evaluated in young adult monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins before and after the administration of a single dose of ethanol. METHODS: Sinusoidal pursuit was recorded using a scleral search coil at frequencies of 0.25 and 0.5 Hz before and after alcohol consumption. Pursuit gain, interval between saccades, saccadic accuracy, and saccadic amplitude were quantified. RESULTS: Alcohol consumption reduced pursuit gain and saccadic accuracy and increased the rate and amplitude of saccades. Before and after alcohol consumption, the intraclass correlations for MZ twins (rMZ) were highly significant for pursuit gain, interval between saccades, and saccade amplitude. Corresponding correlations for DZ twins (rDZ) were not significant. Heritability values were similar before and after alcohol ingestion. CONCLUSIONS: The disparity between rMZ and rDZ suggests either multiple gene interactions or common environmental influences for MZ twins, greater than those for DZ twins. Language: en
Pediocin for Control of Listeria monocytogenes on Frankfurters

Application of pediocin, as ALTA™ 2341, on the surface of frankfurters before packaging reduced the population of contaminating Listeria monocytogenes and delayed growth of the remaining cells. Therefore, pediocin provides an effective intervention treatment for control of L. monocytogenes on frankfurters and contributes to improved safety of these products for consumers.
Bone Marrow Failure in PNH

Publisher Summary Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired clonal disorder in which PIG-A mutant clones of hematopoietic stem cells undergo massive but nonneoplastic expansion. The only known consequence of PIG-A gene dysfunction is the loss of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored proteins (GPI-AP) expression by the mutant hematopoietic stem cells and its progeny. In erythrocytes, this defect results in episodes of intravascular hemolysis when complement is activated in the context of inflammation; in platelets, the defect is believed to favor thrombus formation. On the other hand, PIG-A mutations do not appear to directly give rise to the bone marrow aplasia that frequently accompanies PNH. Instead, it would seem that the underlying pathophysiologic process of aplastic anemia confers a relative survival advantage to PIG-A mutant stem cells. Clarifying the molecular basis for this “unnatural” selection process will likely impact the understanding not only of PNH, AA, and other autoimmune syndromes, but also of the unique biology of GPI-AP as well as the adaptive physiology of hematopoietic stem cells.
MERLOT: Architectural Support for Energy-Efficient Real-Time Processing in GPUs

Correct functioning of embedded systems requires strict timing guarantees. Traditionally, enforcing timing guarantees is the operating system's responsibility. The OS scheduler assigns sufficient resources to an application task to ensure it meets its deadline. Meeting hard real-time deadlines requires the scheduler to be conservative and allocate for the worst case timing; when behavior is not worst case, extra resources are allocated and energy is wasted. Some software schedulers reduce this energy waste by recognizing when an application is ahead of a worst case schedule and reclaiming unneeded resources, but they are fundamentally limited by (1) overhead and (2) a lack of visibility into low-level resource usage. Therefore, this paper advocates hardware assistance for energy management of hard real-time tasks. Specifically, we propose MERLOT, a hardware-based resource manager for GPUs that enforces software-specified timing guarantees with minimal energy. We implement MERLOT in VHDL and find that its performance, power, and area overheads are minuscule. We implement MERLOT in GPGPU-Sim to test timing and energy consumption and compare to two software-only approaches: one that always allocates for worst case timing and an intelligent approach that reduces resource usage when it recognizes better than worst case behavior. Compared to the approach that always allocates for worst case, MERLOT reduces energy by 16.73% on average, with 16:43% in 1.5X and 17:03% in 2.0X WCET. Compared to the intelligent software-only approach, MERLOT produces a 15:6% energy savings. MERLOT uses less energy than softwareonly approaches because it recognizes better than worst case behavior earlier, by monitoring hardware events that are not visible to software and quickly adjusting resource usage.
Multiple testing in the world of business - when and how?

Multiplicity of data and compounding errors is often overlooked in data analysis for applied business scenarios. Statistical theory around multiple testing provides a framework for describing appropriate error rates and offers methods to control them in order to protect against wrong conclusions. However, these multiple testing procedures are often misunderstood and underutilised in applied business problems. In this article, existing multiple testing methodologies are reviewed and summarised. Specific numeric examples are shown to illustrate the techniques and demonstrate the statistical power of each. Finally, three cases are given of business-related situations when multiple testing can be overlooked in data analysis.
Fatigue severity and emotion dysregulation: roles in mental health among trauma exposed college students

Background: There is increased recognition that traumatic events are a common experience among college students, and such events have shown to be associated with negative mental health outcomes and...
Overlooking catatonia: Can't see the forest for the trees

Catatonia is a psychomotor syndrome with poorly understood pathophysiology that frequently occurs concurrently with acute psychiatric and medical illnesses. Its prevalence among psychiatric inpatients has been reported to be as high as 38% and is primarily observed in those with mood disorders. Diagnosis requires the presence of at least three of the following signs: mutism, negativism, immobility, agitation, waxy flexibility, catalepsy, posturing, grimacing, stereotypies, mannerisms, echopraxia, and echolalia. Although the most commonly observed signs are immobility and mutism, the presentation of catatonia is often highly variable and shares significant overlap with other neurological conditions. Consequently, diagnosing this complex clinical syndrome remains a challenge. Here, we present a case of catatonia initially unrecognized in a patient with major depressive disorder with psychotic features. The patient's catatonia was perceived incidentally after administration of a one-time dose of a benzodiazepine while on the inpatient psychiatry ward. Subsequent daily treatment with a benzodiazepine resulted in a drastic improvement in the patient's functioning over the following week. This case underscores the importance of performing a detailed psychiatric examination to avoid missing the diagnosis of catatonia, especially for patients with affective and psychotic disorders as more subtle catatonic signs may be masked. Therefore, being proficient at recognizing all the features and patterns of catatonia is essential for early detection and treatment.
Measurement of Asphalt Density Using Microwaves

In a typical paving operation, several parties are involved in producing a quality asphalt pavement (e.g., design mix specifier, hot mix plant operator, QA/QC inspector, asphalt laying operator, and roller compactor operator). However, quite often it is the roller operator’s skill that ultimately determines the density of the compacted asphalt mat and therefore the final quality of the pavement. An under-compacted asphalt mat is permeable to air and water which shortens the pavement life. On the other hand, unnecessary roller passages will lead to over-compaction that is associated with insufficient air void content in the asphalt. An over-compacted pavement is susceptible to permanent deformation [1], leave alone the waste of time and equipment in the compaction process. Hence, it would be highly advantageous if the roller operator is able to continuously monitor the compaction level of asphalt during the paving operation.
Constructing knowledge graphs and their biomedical applications.

Knowledge graphs can support many biomedical applications. These graphs represent biomedical concepts and relationships in the form of nodes and edges. In this review, we discuss how these graphs are constructed and applied with a particular focus on how machine learning approaches are changing these processes. Biomedical knowledge graphs have often been constructed by integrating databases that were populated by experts via manual curation, but we are now seeing a more robust use of automated systems. A number of techniques are used to represent knowledge graphs, but often machine learning methods are used to construct a low-dimensional representation that can support many different applications. This representation is designed to preserve a knowledge graph’s local and/or global structure. Additional machine learning methods can be applied to this representation to make predictions within genomic, pharmaceutical, and clinical domains. We frame our discussion first around knowledge graph construction and then around unifying representational learning techniques and unifying applications. Advances in machine learning for biomedicine are creating new opportunities across many domains, and we note potential avenues for future work with knowledge graphs that appear particularly promising.
Abstract IA06: Dysregulated Hippo signaling in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a mesenchymal cancer of skeletal muscle histogenesis and the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood. Survival for children with high-risk disease is less than 30% and has not improved in over four decades, underscoring the need for a deeper understanding of the dysregulated pathways at the molecular level. Recently, we and others have identified Hippo signaling as one of the developmental pathways hijacked by RMS, leading to uncontrolled RMS cell and tumor growth. Here we will describe the nature of dysregulated Hippo signaling in the two most common forms of RMS, known as fusion-negative RMS and fusion-positive RMS (formerly ERMS and ARMS, respectively). Fusion status refers to the absence or presence of RMS-specific PAX-FOXO1 fusion oncogenes, mutant transcription factors that portend a poor clinical outcome. In fusion-negative RMS, we find a critical role for YAP1 in tumor initiation and tumor maintenance, with YAP1 engaged in a feed-forward loop with the Notch pathway to support RMS cancer cell stemness. In fusion-positive RMS, we also find dysregulated canonical Hippo signaling supporting tumorigenic phenotypes. However, there is an additional unanticipated role for PAX3-FOXO1 in restraining noncanonical Hippo signaling. Complementary tumor models used to interrogate Hippo signaling in RMS, including patient-derived cell lines, primary human myoblast-based models, and genetically engineered mouse models, will be presented. Finally, the discrete knowledge gaps to be filled and the therapeutic opportunities that will arise from preclinical harnessing of the Hippo pathway in this and other childhood soft tissue sarcomas will be considered. Citation Format: Corinne M. Linardic. Dysregulated Hippo signaling in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Hippo Pathway: Signaling, Cancer, and Beyond; 2019 May 8-11; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2020;18(8_Suppl):Abstract nr IA06.
Evaluating risk characteristics for patients who die within 30 days of hospitalization.

161Background: Advanced cancer patients often receive aggressive end of life care despite questionable benefit. As a result, there are ongoing efforts to improve end of life care and coordinate pal...
How to Become Human

Laura Gustafsson and Terike Haapoja’s three channel video installation Becoming (Gustafsson&Haapoja 2020) explores emergent ways of relating to ourselves, others and the world. In the video 37 interviewees chart the current state of the world and its people. They contemplate phenomena that are in bud at this very moment, and which should be nurtured. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication Bud Book – A Manual for Earthly Living that makes suggestions for how to live as a human being in a world endangered by the old way of being human. In her essay How to Become Human Terike Haapoja discusses the problematic universalism of the anthropocene discourse and what art can contribute to the task of becoming human otherwise.
‘He Burned himself Up for Us’ Or The Wisdom of Selflessness, Reading Rhonda Magee’s The Inner Work of Racial Justice: 2019, $27.00 (hardback)

“If humans are going to make it on this planet … [we are called to] … reveal the limitations of narrow identifications with any sense of self as a fixed and enduring entity.” (John Kabat-Zinn 2019,...
3D Computer Vision Models Predict DFT-Level HOMO-LUMO Gap Energies from Force-Field-Optimized Geometries

We investigate 3D deep learning methods for predicting quantum mechanical energies at high-theory-level accuracy from inexpensive, rapidly computed molecular geometries. Using space-filled volumetric representations (voxels), we explore the effects of radial decay from atom centers and rotational data augmentation on learnability. We test several published computer vision models for 3D shape learning, and construct our own architecture based on 3D inception networks with physically meaningful kernels. We provide a framework for further studies and propose a modeling challenge for the computer vision and molecular machine learning communities.
Intracompartmental pressure in lower leg muscles and tibial nerve in healthy volunteers correlate to the stiffness measured using shear wave elastography

Abstract Background Acute compartment syndrome in the lower leg is a painful condition characterized by an increase in intracompartmental pressure. To prevent misdiagnosis and delay in the recognition of the condition, which can lead to severe complications, continuous monitoring of intracompartmental pressure for at least 24 h. from the onset of initial symptoms has been recommended. The purpose of the current study was to establish shear wave elastography as a potential imaging biomarker for the observed increase in pressure in four compartments of the lower leg. Methods Eighteen healthy participants (9 males) without any injury in their leg muscles were recruited for the study after internal review board approval. Subjects were instructed to sit on a table and pressures at 60, 90, and 120 mmHg were applied using a pressure cuff placed above the proximal pole of the patella. Shear wave elastography-measured stiffness outcomes at baseline (0 mmHg) and at each cuff pressure level were obtained from the tibialis anterior, the peroneus longs, gastrocnemius medialis, and tibialis posterior muscles, as well as the tibial nerve. Findings Spearman's rank correlation coefficient showed strong correlations between shear wave elastography-measured stiffness from all four muscles and cuff pressure levels (r > 0.80, P 0.99, P Interpretation Shear wave elastography imaging of lower leg muscles and nerve can be useful to non-invasively monitor intracompartmental pressure in patients suspected of acute compartment syndrome.
A Multi-Strategy and Multi-Source Approach to Question Answering

Abstract : We are interested in improving the performance of QA systems by breaking away from the strict pipeline architecture. In addition, we require an architecture that allows for hybridization at low development cost and facilitates experimentation with different instantiations of system components. Our resulting architecture is one that is modular and easily extensible, and allows for multiple answering agents to address the same question in parallel and for their results to be combined. Our new question answering system, PIQUANT, adopts this flexible architecture. The answering agents currently implemented in PIQUANT vary both in terms of the strategies used and the knowledge sources consulted. For example, an answering agent may employ statistical methods for extracting answers to questions from a large corpus, while another answering agent may transform select natural language questions into logical forms and query structured knowledge sources for answers. In this paper, we first describe the architecture on which PIQUANT is based. We then describe the answering agents currently implemented within the PIQUANT system, and how they were configured for our TREC2002 runs. Finally, we show that significant performance improvement was achieved by our multi-agent architecture by comparing our TREC2002 results against individual answering agent performance.
Stopping Domestic Violence: Detailing an Integrative Skill-Based Group Approach for Abusive Men:

STOP Domestic Violence: Innovative Skills, Techniques, Options, and Plans for Better Relationships: Group Leader's Manual. DAVID B. WEXLER. New York: Norton, 2006. 211 pp., $32.00 (paperback), ISBN: 0393705145.
Diastolic dysfunction beyond distensibility: adverse effects of ventricular dilatation.

In order for the left ventricle (LV) to function as an effective pump, it must not only be able to empty but also to fill without requiring an elevated left atrial pressure. Furthermore, the stroke volume must be able to increase in response to stress, such as exercise, without much increase in left atrial pressure. Thus, LV diastolic function is an important determinant of cardiac performance. Article p 2921 Diastolic function has conventionally been assessed on the basis of the LV end-diastolic pressure-volume relation (Figure 1). A shift of this curve upward and to the left (curve A, Figure 1) has been considered to be the hallmark of diastolic dysfunction. In this situation, each LV end-diastolic volume is associated with a higher end-diastolic pressure, and therefore, the ventricle is less distensible. Figure 1. LV end-diastolic pressure-volume relations. Stiffnesses at typical operating points are shown as the change in pressure (ΔP) divided by the change in volume (ΔV). See text for discussion. In contrast, in dilated cardiomyopathy, the LV end-diastolic pressure-volume relation is shifted substantially to the right (curve B, Figure 1). In this situation, each volume is associated with a lower pressure; thus, the ventricle is more distensible. This has been interpreted as indicating there is enhanced diastolic function. However, patients with dilated cardiomyopathy have abnormal LV filling dynamics, elevated left atrial pressure, and an inability to increase stroke volume without further elevation of left atrial pressure. The severity of heart failure and prognosis are related to the severity of the filling abnormalities regardless of ejection fraction.1 Why are measures of LV diastolic function so abnormal in a dilated ventricle with enhanced distensibility? Is this merely a manifestation of overfilling of the LV that has displaced the operating point to a portion of the pressure-volume relation at which the …
Low background measurements using 3-D position-sensitive CdZnTe detectors

There are numerous applications for CdZnTe detectors that require a well characterized background. One such application is the study of neutrino-less double beta decay, which requires a very low background environment. The background has two main contributors, the natural background surrounding the detector system and the internal background due to the natural radioactive decay from components in the system. In order to understand the internal background present in the Polaris 18-detector CdZnTe array system, a lead cave was designed and built at the University of Michigan. The system was well-calibrated and measurements were taken over the course of several months to better characterize the internal background from the components of the Polaris system.
Introduction to the special issue: Science-practice integration in counseling psychology training: Trends and models

The majority of counseling psychology programs utilize the scientist–practitioner training model (Horn et al., 2007). Originating with the Bolder and Northwestern Conferences, the scientist–practit...