cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Parallel Graph Coloring for Manycore Architectures

Graph algorithms are challenging to parallelize on manycore architectures due to complex data dependencies and irregular memory access. We consider the well studied problem of coloring the vertices of a graph. In many applications it is important to compute a coloring with few colors in near-lineartime. In parallel, the optimistic (speculative) coloring method by Gebremedhin and Manne is the preferred approach but it needs to be modified for manycore architectures. We discuss a range of implementation issues for this vertex-based optimistic approach. We also propose a novel edge-based optimistic approach that has more parallelism and is better suited to GPUs. We study the performance empirically on two architectures(Xeon Phi and GPU) and across many data sets (from finite element problems to social networks). Our implementation uses the Kokkos library, so it is portable across platforms. We show that on GPUs, we significantly reduce the number of colors (geometric mean 4X, but up to 48X) as compared to the widely used cuSPARSE library. In addition, our edge-based algorithm is 1.5 times faster on average than cuSPARSE, where it hasspeedups up to 139X on a circuit problem. We also show the effect of the coloring on a conjugate gradient solver using multi-colored Symmetric Gauss-Seidel method as preconditioner, the higher coloring quality found by the proposed methods reduces the overall solve time up to 33% compared to cuSPARSE.
A Machine Learning Approach to Identifying the Thought Markers of Suicidal Subjects: A Prospective Multicenter Trial

Death by suicide demonstrates profound personal suffering and societal failure. While basic sciences provide the opportunity to understand biological markers related to suicide, computer science provides opportunities to understand suicide thought markers. In this novel prospective, multimodal, multicenter, mixed demographic study, we used machine learning to measure and fuse two classes of suicidal thought markers: verbal and nonverbal. Machine learning algorithms were used with the subjects' words and vocal characteristics to classify 379 subjects recruited from two academic medical centers and a rural community hospital into one of three groups: suicidal, mentally ill but not suicidal, or controls. By combining linguistic and acoustic characteristics, subjects could be classified into one of the three groups with up to 85% accuracy. The results provide insight into how advanced technology can be used for suicide assessment and prevention.
AMBULATORY ACTIGRAPHY MONITORING OF PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE WITH REDUCED EJECTION FRACTION PREDICTS 6-MINUTE WALK DISTANCE

Background: Accelerometers are increasingly used to collect data on patients’ functional status. Prior studies have shown that wearable accelerometer outputs are reliable predictors of 6-Minute Walk distance (6MWD) in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in controlled
The heritability of fruit ripening date in Vitis vinifera L.

An analysis of the inheritance of fruit ripening date in V. vinifera grapes, based on data collected on 2200 genotypes from 55 families generated by crosses among 35 parents, reveals that this trait is controlled by genes highly additive in their effects. The heritability of this trait was estimated to be 0.50 ± 0.04. The expected average gain of the progeny of randomly mated parents ranked in the upper 10 percent of the parental generation was calculated. The results indicate that relatively rapid genetic gain can be expected in this population by selecting parents on the basis of their own performance and subsequent mating inter se . Die Erblichkeit des Reifungszeitpunktes der Trauben von Vitis vinifera L. An 2200 Genotypen von Vitis vinifera aus 55 Familien, die aus der Kreuzung von 35 Elternpflanzen hervorgegangen waren, wurde die Vererbung des Reifungstermins der Trauben analysiert. Es zeigte sich, das dieses Merkmal durch Gene bestimmt wird, die in hohem Mase additiv wirken. Der Heritabilitatskoeffizient des Merkmals wurde auf 0,50 ± 0,04 geschatzt. Der durchschnittlich zu erwartende Leistungszuwachs bei der Nachkommenschaft zufallig gepaarter Eltern, die zu den oberen 10 Prozent ihrer Generation zahlten, wurde errechnet. Die Befunde weisen darauf hin, das bei einer solchen Population ein relativ rascher Kreuzungserfolg erwartet werden kann, wenn man die Eltern aufgrund ihrer Leistungseigenschaften auswahlt und sie anschliesend untereinander kreuzt.
Comparative Advantage, Trade, and Transboundary Pollution

It is common for studies on trade and environment issues to model trade patterns as driven by environmental considerations. Under conditions of trade liberalization, these studies predict the rise of pollution havens and an increase in global pollution. The extant empirical literature, however, gives only mixed support at best for the notion that trade patterns are influenced by environmental issues. We develop a simple model to investigate whether trade based on traditional comparative advantage may lead to increased global pollution. We find that trade may lead to increased global pollution if both trading nations exhibit increasing marginal disutilities of pollution.
Heterografted Molecular Brushes as Stabilizers for Water-in-Oil Emulsions

A series of well-defined heterografted molecular brushes with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PBA) side chains were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Structural parameters including graft length, graft ratio, and backbone length were systematically tuned by using a synthetic strategy combining “grafting through” and “grafting from” methods. Coexistence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic grafts allowed these molecular brushes to stabilize water-in-oil emulsions at extremely low surfactant concentration (0.005 wt %). The effects of graft length and composition were demonstrated by tunable performance/behavior in the generation of emulsions. A comparison between molecular brushes of different conformation and their diblock analogues indicated that combining multiple hydrophilic and hydrophobic grafts in one molecule could enhance their adsorption at the interface but did not necessarily favor the formation of smaller droplets. The lowering of interfacial tension ...
Re-energizing enquiry among our young professionals

Children are born with enquiring mindset. They keep on asking questions to explore, understand and take part in their environment. However, modern educational systems discourage persistent enquiring questions. Most students, graduating from college, can use their enquiring faculties only to solve problems at hand. They accept the theories taught as the final models for the laws of nature. They safely assume that no further deeper enquiry is needed. This is a disturbing collective tendency counter to our continuously evolving nature. We should also consciously train our minds to evolve continuously by persistently asking enquiring questions. Therefore, we suggest that we take pro-active steps to re-energize the enquiring mindset among our young professionals by organizing enquiry forums for students from all international Student Chapters during most of our optical society meetings. Panels of volunteer senior scientists should encourage deep enquiring questions from the students. In this paper, as examples, I will present a set of enquiring questions in the field of optics that we have been underscoring to students. This is one of the three papers by this author for this conference, ETOP 100-43. Since scientific content-wise they complement each other, the readers should consult the others. They are: ETP100-36, "Consequences of repeated discovery and benign neglect of non-interaction of waves” and ETP100-83, and "Demonstration and implications when 50% beam combiners can behave as 0 or 100% reflector/transmitter inside some interferometers.”
Critical Care: Delivering Spiritual Care in Healthcare Contexts

This book provides 16 chapters on topics of current interest to individuals who provide pastoral care in diverse settings, with cases who represent the full age spectrum (infant to senescence). Per...
Magpie: online modelling and performance-aware systems

Understanding the performance of distributed systems requires correlation of thousands of interactions between numerous components -- a task best left to a computer. Today's systems provide voluminous traces from each component but do not synthesise the data into concise models of system performance. We argue that online performance modelling should be a ubiquitous operating system service and outline several uses including performance debugging, capacity planning, system tuning and anomaly detection. We describe the Magpie modelling service which collates detailed traces from multiple machines in an e-commerce site, extracts request-specific audit trails, and constructs probabilistic models of request behaviour. A feasibility study evaluates the approach using an offline demonstrator. Results show that the approach is promising, but that there are many challenges to building a truly ubiquitious, online modelling infrastructure.
The Aggregate and Relative Economic Effects of Medicaid and Medicare Expansions

Government-financed health care (GFHC) expenditures, through Medicare and Medicaid, have grown from roughly zero to over 7.5 percent of national income over the past 50 years. Recently, some advocates (e.g., the Council of Economic Advisers (2014)) have argued that an expansion of GFHC (in particular Medicaid) has large positive employment effects. Using quarterly data between 1976 and 2016, this paper estimates the impact of GFHC spending on the unemployment rate by using an instrumental variables strategy that exploits exogenous variation in Medicare spending. We find that an exogenous GFHC expansion either increases or has no effect on the unemployment rate. Although the unemployment rate responses using aggregate data are estimated imprecisely, they are considerably sharper when estimated using state-level data. We also show the so-called relative (or local) multiplier approach based on the state-level panel provides similar estimates to those based on aggregate data. Finally, we show how the absence of a negative effect of GFHC expansions on the unemployment rate may be due to the implications these policies have for taxes across states.
PZT lateral bimorph based sensor cuboid for near zero power sensor nodes

We present a zero-power multi sensor node integrated with a nanowatt power CMOS classifier. The vibration, acoustic, magnetic, rotation, and accelerometer sensors utilize lateral bimorphs as motion sensors. The sensor node is contained in a single enclosed package which serves as both the housing for the sensors but also as a Helmholtz resonator, providing increased signal at frequencies of interest for an acoustic microphone. The platform is evaluated in a field test consisting of detection of operational mode of an electrical generator. The power consumption is 2 nW power consumption in the off-state. Successful mode-of-operation classification is demonstrated with no false alarms in a time period as long as 10 hours.
Mercury Intoxication as a Rare Cause of Membranous Nephropathy in a Child.

In adults, membranous nephropathy is the second most common cause of nephrotic syndrome. In contrast, minimal change disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis constitute the most common forms of nephrotic syndrome in children, while membranous nephropathy accounts for
Menopause-Related Cognitive Impairment.

Background Identifying the cognitive changes associated with the menopausal transition prevents misattribution of symptoms to more ominous causes such as neurodegenerative disease. Case Two women with cognitive loss and objective evidence of menopause-related cognitive impairment are presented, misattributed to Alzheimer disease in one case and frontotemporal dementia in the other. Neurocognitive testing, neuroimaging, and laboratory findings are reviewed. Both women were diagnosed with menopause-related cognitive impairment and were stable in follow-up over 4 or more years. Conclusions Recognizing the cognitive changes associated with menopause and distinguishing from cognitive impairment resulting from other etiologies-including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease-has important clinical implications both for treatment and for prognosis.
Not Propositions

Current computational accounts of meaning in the cognitive sciences are based on abstract, amodal symbols (e.g., nodes, links, propositions) that are arbitrarily related to their referents. We argue that such accounts lack convincing empirical support and that they do not provide a satisfactory account for linguistic meaning. One historic set of results supporting the abstract symbol view has come from investigation into comprehension of negated sentences, such as ''The buttons are not black.'' These sentences are presumed to be understood as two propositions composed of abstract symbols. One proposition corresponds to ''the buttons are black,'' and it is embedded in another proposition corresponding to ''it is not true.'' Thus, the propositional account predicts (a) that comprehension of negated sentences should take longer than comprehension of the corresponding positive sentence (because of the time needed to construct the embedding), but (b) that the resulting embedded propositions are informationally equivalent (but of opposite valence) to the simple proposition underlying the positive sentence. Contrary to these predictions, Experiment 1 demonstrates that negated sentences out of context are interpreted as situationally ambiguous, that is, as conveying less specific information than positive sentences. Furthermore, Experiment 2 demonstrates that when negated sentences are used in an appropriate context, readers do not take longer to understand them. Thus, difficulty with negation is demonstrated to be an artifact of presentation out of context. After discussing other serious problems with the use of abstract symbols, we describe the Indexical Hypothesis. This embodied account of meaning does not depend on abstract symbols, and hence it provides a more satisfactory account of meaning.
Characterizing Fabric Anisotropy of Air-Pluviated Sands

Sand particles depositing through air generally align their largest dimensions in horizontal plane, forming a cross anisotropic fabric. Therefore, sands display varying strength, permeability, compressibility with directions. This study characterizes fabric anisotropy in loose and dense air-pluviated sand specimens scanned by X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) using a series of image processing techniques. The principal component analysis, three-dimensional watershed analysis, and Delaunay triangulation technique are used to compute directional parameters, including particle long axes, contact normals, and branch vectors, and scalar parameters, including index void ratios, coordination number, and average branch vector length. The particle long axes and branch vectors displayed preferred horizontal directions while the contact normals displayed preferred vertical directions. The dense specimen has smaller index void ratios, larger coordination number, and smaller average branch vector length than the loose specimen.
From Advising to Mentoring: Shifting the Metaphor

Institutions of higher education should reconsider and reposition academic advising as mentoring. By shifting the metaphor from advising to mentoring, we discover how to better help our students develop the skills they need to be successful in their public and private domains. This essay considers the meaning of "mentor," from its origins in philosophical thought to practical applications in contemporary experience, and identifies selected literature on academic advising pertinent to making this linguistic shift. By revisiting the rhetorical education of Isocrates (436–338 BCE) and the philosophy of John of Salisbury (Johannes Parvus, 1120–1180 CE), this essay invites us to think about our holistic responsibility to our students and how mentoring can serve in this responsibility.
Postoperative chemotherapy and radiation improve survival following cardiac sarcoma resection.

Abstract Objective Cardiac sarcoma represents a rare and aggressive form of cancer with a paucity of data to produce outcome-driven evidence-based guidelines. Current surgical management consists of resection with postoperative therapy (chemotherapy, radiation, or both) offered on a selective, individualized basis. This study was designed to determine whether postoperative therapy was associated with improved overall survival after resection. Methods The National Cancer Database was used to identify patients with cardiac sarcoma between 2004 and 2015. Patient characteristics were stratified by treatment (surgical, nonsurgical, and none), and treatment was analyzed by stage. Overall survival, assessed with Kaplan–Meier methodology, was compared between patients who received postoperative therapy and those who did not following resection. Multivariable survival modeling using a Weibull model identified risk factors associated with survival while controlling for confounders. Results The study included 617 patients diagnosed with cardiac sarcoma. Only 24% (149/617) of patients were diagnosed with early-stage disease. Angiosarcoma represented 48% (298/617) of cases and was the most commonly identified histologic subtype. 60% (372/617) underwent surgical resection and 58% (216/372) of those patients were treated with postoperative therapy. Following surgery, median survival was more than doubled for patients treated with postoperative therapy (19 months vs 8 months, P = .026). However, 5-year overall survival was similar between the groups. Multivariable analysis confirmed an improvement in survival with postoperative therapy (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.51-0.91, P = .009). Conclusions Postoperative therapy is associated with better median survival following resection of cardiac sarcoma. However, at 5 years, the difference in overall survival is not statistically significant.
Regulatory Noncoding Small RNAs Are Diverse and Abundant in an Extremophilic Microbial Community.

ABSTRACT Regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) play large-scale and essential roles in many cellular processes across all domains of life. Microbial sRNAs have been extensively studied in model organisms, but very little is known about the dynamics of sRNA synthesis and their roles in the natural environment. In this study, we discovered hundreds of intergenic (itsRNAs) and antisense (asRNAs) sRNAs expressed in an extremophilic microbial community inhabiting halite nodules (salt rocks) in the Atacama Desert. For this, we built SnapT, a new sRNA annotation pipeline that can be applied to any microbial community. We found asRNAs with expression levels negatively correlated with that of their overlapping putative target and itsRNAs that were conserved and significantly differentially expressed between 2 sampling time points. We demonstrated that we could perform target prediction and correlate expression levels between sRNAs and predicted target mRNAs at the community level. Functions of putative mRNA targets reflected the environmental challenges members of the halite communities were subjected to, including osmotic adjustments to a major rain event and competition for nutrients. IMPORTANCE Microorganisms in the natural world are found in communities, communicating and interacting with each other; therefore, it is essential that microbial regulatory mechanisms, such as gene regulation affected by small RNAs (sRNAs), be investigated at the community level. This work demonstrates that metatranscriptomic field experiments can link environmental variation with changes in RNA pools and have the potential to provide new insights into environmental sensing and responses in natural microbial communities through noncoding RNA-mediated gene regulation.
1021 – BIOLOGY AND THERAPEUTIC TARGETING OF MUTANT CALRETICULIN INDUCED MPN

Recurrent mutations in calreticulin (CALR) are present in approximately 20-25% of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Since its discovery in 2013, we now have a more precise understanding of how mutant CALR, an endoplasmic reticulum chaperone protein, activates the JAK/STAT signaling pathway via a pathogenic binding interaction with the thrombopoietin receptor, MPL, to induce MPN. A series of investigations from several groups, including ours, have since established the biologic requirements for mutant CALR-induced MPN which include: (i) expression of MPL and its N-glycosylation sites (ii) the mutant-specific C-terminus of mutant CALR and in particular its positive electrostatic charge (iii) a physical interaction between mutant CALR and MPL and (iv) the lectin-dependent function of mutant CALR. Building on this work, our group is focused on exploiting the mechanism understanding of mutant CALR-driven MPN for therapeutic gain with a particular focus on identifying and targeting unique molecular dependencies and on immunological approaches.
Genitourinary complications in orthopaedic surgery.

Genitourinary complications following orthopaedic intervention are uncommon but well-described occurrences and exist on a spectrum of severity. These complications vary depending on the anatomic location and surgical approach, with surgery of the spine, hip, and pelvis of particular concern. Injuries to the urinary tract may present acutely with urinary retention or hematuria. However, they often have a delayed presentation with severe complications such as urinary fistula and recurrent infection. Delayed presentations may place the onus of timely and proper diagnosis on the orthopaedic provider, who may serve as the patient’s primary source of long-term follow-up. Detailed knowledge of anatomy and at-risk structures is key to both preventing and identifying injury. Although iatrogenic injury is not always avoidable, early identification can help to facilitate timely evaluation and management to prevent long-term complications such as bladder dysfunction, obstructive renal injury, sexual dysfunction, and chronic pain. Keywords: urologic injury, bladder injury, genitourinary injury, hip arthroplasty, pelvic ring injuries, spine surgery
Coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine response in pregnant and lactating women: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Pregnant and lactating women were excluded from initial coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine trials; thus, data to guide vaccine decision making are lacking. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of coronavirus disease 2019 messenger RNA vaccination in pregnant and lactating women compared with: (1) nonpregnant controls and (2) natural coronavirus disease 2019 infection in pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 131 reproductive-age vaccine recipients (84 pregnant, 31 lactating, and 16 nonpregnant women) were enrolled in a prospective cohort study at 2 academic medical centers. Titers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike and receptor-binding domain immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin A, and immunoglobulin M were quantified in participant sera (n=131) and breastmilk (n=31) at baseline, at the second vaccine dose, at 2 to 6 weeks after the second vaccine, and at delivery by Luminex. Umbilical cord sera (n=10) titers were assessed at delivery. Titers were compared with those of pregnant women 4 to 12 weeks from the natural infection (n=37) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A pseudovirus neutralization assay was used to quantify neutralizing antibody titers for the subset of women who delivered during the study period. Postvaccination symptoms were assessed via questionnaire. Kruskal-Wallis tests and a mixed-effects model, with correction for multiple comparisons, were used to assess differences among groups. RESULTS: Vaccine-induced antibody titers were equivalent in pregnant and lactating compared with nonpregnant women (pregnant, median, 5.59; interquartile range, 4.68-5.89; lactating, median, 5.74; interquartile range, 5.06-6.22; nonpregnant, median, 5.62; interquartile range, 4.77-5.98, P=.24). All titers were significantly higher than those induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection during pregnancy (P<.0001). Vaccine-generated antibodies were present in all umbilical cord blood and breastmilk samples. Neutralizing antibody titers were lower in umbilical cord than maternal sera, although this finding did not achieve statistical significance (maternal sera, median, 104.7; interquartile range, 61.2-188.2; cord sera, median, 52.3; interquartile range, 11.7-69.6; P=.05). The second vaccine dose (boost dose) increased severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G, but not immunoglobulin A, in maternal blood and breastmilk. No differences were noted in reactogenicity across the groups. CONCLUSION: Coronavirus disease 2019 messenger RNA vaccines generated robust humoral immunity in pregnant and lactating women, with immunogenicity and reactogenicity similar to that observed in nonpregnant women. Vaccine-induced immune responses were statistically significantly greater than the response to natural infection. Immune transfer to neonates occurred via placenta and breastmilk.
Adolescents may accurately self-collect pharyngeal and rectal clinical specimens for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection.

Author(s): Vavala, Gabriella; Goldbeck, Cameron; Bristow, Claire C; Stafylis, Chrysovalantis; Adamson, Paul C; Polanco, Dianna; Ocasio, Manuel A; Fournier, Jasmine; Romero-Espinoza, Adriana; Flynn, Risa; Bolan, Robert; Fernandez, M Isabel; Swendeman, Dallas; Comulada, W Scott; Lee, Sung-Jae; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Klausner, Jeffrey D; Adolescent Medicine Trials Network (ATN) CARES Team | Abstract: BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the benefits of telemedicine. Self-collected specimens are a promising alternative to clinician-collected specimens when in-person testing is not feasible. In this study, we assessed the adequacy of self-collected pharyngeal and rectal specimens for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae among individuals undergoing chlamydia and gonorrhea screening.MethodsWe used data from a large cohort study that included male and female adolescents between the ages of 12-24 years. We considered self-collected specimens adequate for clinical use if the human synthase gene (a control target of the assay) was detected in the specimen.ResultsIn total, 2,458 specimens were included in the analysis. The human synthase gene was detected in 99.2% (2,439/2,458) of all self-collected specimens, 99.5% (1,108/1,114) of the pharyngeal specimens, and 99.0% (1,331/1,344) of the rectal specimens.ConclusionSelf-collected pharyngeal and rectal specimens demonstrated a very high proportion of human gene presence, suggesting that self-collection was accurate. A limitation of this study is that the sample adequacy control detects the presence or absence of the human hydroxymethylbilane synthase gene, but it does not indicate the specific anatomic origin of the human hydroxymethylbilane synthase gene. Self-collected specimens may be an appropriate alternative to clinician-collected specimens.
Effects of Mineral Salts, Initial pH and Precursors on Digitoxin Formation by Shoot-forming Cultures of Digitalis purpurea L. Grown in Liquid Media

Shoot-forming cultures of Digitalis purpurea L. were grown in various modifications of Murashige-Skoog medium. The effects of CaCl2, MgS04, FeS04 coupled with Na2-EDTA, minor elements, initial pH of the medium, some organic solvents as precursor solvents, and precursors on their growth and digitoxin formation were investigated. Reduction of the basal CaCl2 concentration by two-thirds promoted both digitoxin formation and shoot-differentiation while a threefold increase repressed these. Ca+ + proved to be responsible for this phenomenon. A threefold increase in the MgS04 concentration improved digitoxin formation, Mg++ being responsible for this improvement. The optimal concentration of FeS04 coupled with Na2-EDTA was similar to that in the MS basal medium. A threefold increase in the concentration of either KI, Na2Mo04 or CuS04 improved digitoxin formation, the optimal pH of the medium before autoclaving being 6. Among methanol, ethanol, propylene glycol, dimethyl sulfoxide and acetone as the precursor so...
Choose the Best Answer: Organizing Climate Change Negotiation in the Obama Administration

This article considers which federal agency should assume the lead negotiating role if the next President wants to re-engage with international climate change negotiation. I disagree with current law, which gives the State Department leading status. I also part company with the recommendations of some commentators, who suggest that the President should assign the task to the EPA, a special climate change negotiator, or some sort of "climate czar." Instead, I suggest that the United States Trade Representative is best suited to assume the responsibility for reconnecting the United States with the international climate change negotiation process and reasserting American leadership in that process.
Dynamic Approaches to Modeling Student Affect and its Changing Role in Learning and Performance

We investigate the relation between students’ affect, learning and performance in the context of the ASSISTments online math tutoring system. Moment-by-moment estimates of students’ affective states derived from a series of affect detectors accompany each student response within the tutoring system. By applying a series modified factorial hidden Markov models that account for students’ affective state at the time of the given response and comparing the models’ performance to the standard Bayesian Knowledge Tracing (BKT) approach, we evaluate the impact of affect on estimates of students’ guess and slip behavior. The investigation suggests a model based approach to improving student models in the context of online tutoring systems.
Recent advances in the functionality of non-animal-sourced proteins contributing to their use in meat analogs

To meet the increasing need for protein-rich ingredients in the growing population, proteins from non-animal sources are being developed as potential replacements for animal-sourced protein in meat products. This review focuses on developments in the extraction, processing, and physical functionality of protein from oilseeds, grain-based prolamins, legumes, microbial, and insect sources, particularly from the past three years. Extraction techniques have been investigated to better isolate individual protein fractions or eliminate nutritionally-undesirable and functionally-undesirable phenolic compounds. Protein from canola/rapeseed, maize zein, chickpea, and insects has desirable properties for meat-analog products that are likely to be developed in the near future. Finally, temperature control during extrusion or extensional flow devices also show promise for producing meat-like structures.
A Piezoelectric Sensor Concept for Measuring Piston Wetting in DISI Engines

A piezoelectric sensor to measure the mass of fuel that impacts the piston top during injection in a direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engine was developed. The sensor used a 3.18 cm (1.25-inch) long, 0.318 cm (0.125-inch) wide piezo bending motor. The principle of operation is based on the change in natural vibration frequency that occurs to the cantilever piezo beam due to a change in its mass caused by the presence of liquid fuel on its surface. An electrical impulse is used to set the piezo element in vibration after which the natural vibrational frequency is measured using a FFT analyzer. The concept was evaluated outside the engine and calibrated for the frequency shift as a function of the weight of liquid on the bending element. The change in the frequency was found to be approximately proportional to the liquid mass on the sensor. The piston top of the engine was modified to accommodate the sensor on its surface. Due to temperature limitations, all fuel film mass measurements were taken under motored conditions. A wide range of equivalence ratios and injection timings were considered in the experiments. The measurements showed that the fuel film mass deposited on the sensor surface was small, typically less than 2 mg, which corresponds to a film height of 32 μm. The fuel film mass followed a general trend increasing in value and reaching a maximum for injection timings when the piston surface approached TDC. The maximum measured mass for stoichiometric operation was 2.3 mg at TDC and corresponds to 6.3% of the fuel injected. The average evaporation rate of the fuel film mass was 3.3 kg/m 2 -s, and was nearly the same for all injection timings. The average measurement uncertainty was calculated as ±0.56 mg for stoichiometric operation.
An Analysis of Reported Pre- and Post-Switch Trading Volumes: NASDAQ Versus the NYSE

This paper reports the results of an analysis of the reported pre- and post-switch weekly volumes of 216 stocks that switched from the NASDAQ to the NYSE from 1988 through 1993. The analysis reveals that the mean post-switch reported volume is on the order of 70% of the pre-switch volume, and that the median post-switch reported volume is on the order of 57% of the pre-switch volume. These declines in reported volume would appear to be due to the greater proportion of inter-dealer trading that takes place for NASDAQ traded shares as compared to NYSE traded shares. These results have two types of applications: 1) Valid comparisons of reported volumes can be made for stocks on the two exchanges, and 2) The fraction of reported NASDAQ volume attributable to investor-to-investor trading can be calculated. The fraction of reported NYSE voume attributable to investor-to investor trading is about 90%. Therefore, the fraction of reported NASDAQ volume attributable to investor-to-investor trades is about 63% = 70% * 90% if the mean post-switch volume is used, and about 51% = 57% * 90% if the median is used. Both fractiions are highly relevant in determining damages in stockholder litigations.
ROCMAS simulator; A thermohydromechanical computer code

Abstract A brief description of the capabilities of the THM code ROCMAS along with the codes' flow chart is presented.
Whitney Homology of Semipure Shellable Posets

We generalize results of Calderbank, Hanlon and Robinson on the representation of the symmetric group on the homology of posets of partitions with restricted block size. Calderbank, Hanlon and Robinson consider the cases of block sizes that are congruent to 0 mod d and 1 mod d for fixed d. We derive a general formula for the representation of the symmetric group on the homology of posets of partitions whose block sizes are congruent to k mod d for any k and d. This formula reduces to the Calderbank-Hanlon-Robinson formulas when k e 0, 1 and to formulas of Sundaram for the virtual representation on the alternating sum of homology. Our results apply to restricted block size partition posets even more general than the k mod d partition posets. These posets include the lattice of partitions whose block sizes are bounded from below by some fixed k. Our main tools involve the new theory of nonpure shellability developed by Bjorner and Wachs and a generalization of a technique of Sundaram which uses Whitney homology to compute homology representations of Cohen-Macaulay posets. An application to subspace arrangements is also discussed.
CSF from Parkinson disease patients differentially affects cultured microglia and astrocytes.

Background Excessive and abnormal accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-synuclein) is a factor contributing to pathogenic cell death in Parkinson's disease. The purpose of this study, based on earlier observations of Parkinson's disease cerebrospinal fluid (PD-CSF) initiated cell death, was to determine the effects of CSF from PD patients on the functionally different microglia and astrocyte glial cell lines. Microglia cells from human glioblastoma and astrocytes from fetal brain tissue were cultured, grown to confluence, treated with fixed concentrations of PD-CSF, non-PD disease control CSF, or control no-CSF medium, then photographed and fluorescently probed for α-synuclein content by deconvolution fluorescence microscopy. Outcome measures included manually counted cell growth patterns from day 1-8; α-synuclein density and distribution by antibody tagged 3D model stacked deconvoluted fluorescent imaging.
Scale-Space Kernels for Additive Modeling

Various forms of additive modeling techniques have been popularly used in many pattern recognition and machine learning related applications. The efficiency of any additive modeling technique relies significantly on the choice of the weak learner and the form of the loss function. In this paper, we propose a novel scale-space kernel based approach for additive modeling. Our method applies a few insights from the well-studied scale-space theory for choosing the optimal learners during different iterations of the boosting algorithms, which are simple yet powerful additive modeling methods. For each iteration of the additive modeling, weak learners that can best fit the current resolution of the data are chosen and then increase the resolution systematically. We demonstrate the results of the proposed framework on both synthetic and real datasets taken from the UCI machine learning repository. Though demonstrated specifically in the context of boosting algorithms, our approach is generic enough to be accommodated in general additive modeling techniques. Similarities and distinctions of the proposed algorithm with the popularly used radial basis function networks and wavelet decomposition method are also discussed.
Neurotrophin-4/5 is a mammalian-specific survival factor for distinct populations of sensory neurons

We have studied the effect of human recombinant neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5) on the survival of developing PNS neurons from embryonic mice and chickens. NT-4/5 transiently supported mouse NGF-dependent trigeminal and jugular neurons at early stages of target field innervation and mouse brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-dependent no-dose neurons during the phase of naturally occurring cell death. NT-4/5 was as potent as BDNF in supporting the survival of these neuronal populations. Surprisingly, NT-4/5 was 3 orders of magnitude less potent than BDNF as a survival factor for early chick dorsomedial trigeminal sensory neurons and did not support the survival of chick BDNF-dependent trigeminal mesencephalic or ventrolateral trigeminal sensory neurons at any of the developmental stages tested. Thus, NT-4/5 is a survival factor for certain embryonic mouse cranial sensory neurons. It is the first species-specific neurotrophin to be identified and it can discriminate at high concentrations between different BDNF-responsive chick neurons.
Chromatin Decondensation and T Cell Hyperresponsiveness in Diabetes-Associated Hyperglycemia

Diabetes is linked to increased inflammation and susceptibility to certain infectious diseases including tuberculosis (TB). We previously reported that aerosol TB in mice with chronic (≥ 12 wk) hyperglycemia features increased bacterial load, overproduction of several cytokines, and increased immune pathology compared with normoglycemic controls. A similar phenotype exists in human patients with diabetes with TB. The mechanisms of increased T cell activation in diabetes are unknown. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that hyperglycemia modifies the intrinsic responsiveness of naive T cells to TCR stimulation. Purified T cells from chronically hyperglycemic (HG) mice produced higher levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines and proliferated more than T cells from normoglycemic controls after anti-CD3e or Ag stimulation. In this way, naive T cells from HG mice resembled Ag-experienced cells, although CD44 expression was not increased. Chromatin decondensation, another characteristic of Ag-experienced T cells, was increased in naive T cells from HG mice. That phenotype depended on expression of the receptor for advanced glycation end products and could be reversed by inhibiting p38 MAPK. Chromatin decondensation and hyperresponsiveness to TCR stimulation persisted following transfer of T cells from HG mice into normoglycemic mice. We propose that chronic hyperglycemia causes receptor for advanced glycation end products-mediated epigenetic modification of naive T cells leading to p38 MAPK-dependent chromatin decondensation. This preactivation state facilitates transcription factor access to DNA, increasing cytokine production and proliferation following TCR stimulation. This mechanism may contribute to pathological inflammation associated with diabetes and might offer a novel therapeutic target.
Nuclear Magnetic Moments from the Polarization of Resonance Radiation Sodium, 3 S 1 2 2 − 3 P 3 2 , 1 2 2

The polarization of sodium $D$ line resonance radiation excited by plane polarized light in a magnetic field parallel to the electric vector of the exciting light increases from 16.5 percent in zero field to almost 50 percent in a field of 300 gauss as a consequence of the Paschen-Back effect of the hyperfine structure. The experimental results are well fitted by a curve calculated with $A(3^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}})=7.45\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ and $\ensuremath{\tau}(3^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}})=1.64\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ sec. These results are for a nuclear moment of $\frac{3}{2(\frac{h}{2\ensuremath{\pi}})}$ which was at first thought to give too low zero field polarization (15.27 percent). The higher polarization is the effect of proximity of hyperfine levels in $3^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$.
The Challenge of Variation in Medical Practice

Medicine has been identified as a profession for almost 3000 years based on a core premise that physicians have the right to evaluate their own quality. Because medicine is a profession and because of the special privileges granted to physicians by society, quality-based principles that evolved in the manufacturing business have been difficult to adapt to medical practice. Physicians learn from other physicians and medical literature. This leads to wide variation in what is considered best practice. Variation has complex association, including the variation in expert opinion, the complexity of medical knowledge, the variation in physician decision-making potential, and human error. Guidelines or algorithms are a strategy that are finding favor as a solution. The control of variation through guideline development, iterative refinement of guidelines, and feedback to physicians will improve medical practice. By removing variation, physicians can honor the fiduciary trust that they have made to patients, make reasoned decisions, improve outcomes, and focus attention on making medical improvements.
A Sector Analysis of Alternative Income Support and Soil Conservation Policies

For nearly five decades Congress has attempted to legislate both higher farm incomes and soil conservation. A national, interregional, demand-endogenous, separable programming model is used to analyze the potential of alternative policies to achieve simultaneously the dual goals of increased farm income and reduced soil erosion. The analysis indicates that a conservation-oriented land retirement policy can be designed to achieve an increase in net farm income equivalent to a traditional general land retirement policy, while simultaneously achieving significant reductions in gross soil erosion, chemical input use, and direct government program costs.
Some Remarks on the Convexity Number of a Graph

Given a subgraph H in a graph G, we say H is convex if given any two vertices u and v in H, then H contains each shortest u–v path in G. As defined in [5], [8] and other places the convexity number of G, denoted con(G), is the order of a largest convex proper subgraph of G. We note that if G is not a complete graph, then the clique number of G forms a lower bound on con(G). As we shall see, in many graphs the clique number and convexity number are equal. We exploit this equality to show that computation of con is NP-complete, provide a Nordhaus-Gaddum type bound for con and produce a Ramsey type theorem for con. We shall see the latter two problems are closely related to classical Ramsey theory. In doing so, we answer a problem posed by Chartrand and Zhang in [5].
PUNCTURE TESTING OF TIOGA STRAWBERRIES

Forces required to puncture firm ripe Tioga strawberries were dependent on the shape and physical dimensions of the punch used. They increased as the area, circumference or total contact surface area of the punch increased. The physical dimensions of the punch were responsible for 83 to 85% of variations in puncture forces. Punch circumference, punch area, and punch total contact surface area were equally effective in estimating the force required to puncture Tioga strawberries.
The role of solvent heterogeneity in determining the dispersion interaction between nanoassemblies.

Understanding fundamental nanoassembly processes on intermediate scales between molecular and continuum scales requires an in-depth analysis of the coupling between particle interactions and molecular details. This is because the discrete nature of the solvent becomes comparable to the characteristic length scales of assembly. Utilizing the spatial density response of a solvent to a surface in conjunction with the Clausius–Mossotti equation, we present a simple theory relating the discrete nature of solvent to dispersion interactions. Our study reveals that dispersion interactions are indeed sensitive to the spatial variation of solvent density, manifesting in dramatic deviations in van der Waals forces from the conventional formulation (e.g., with uniform solvent density). This study provides the first steps toward relating molecular scale principles, namely the detailed nature of solvent response to an interface, to the underlying hydration forces between surfaces.
Enhancement of X-ray Toxicity in Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines by DNA Polymerase Inhibitors

The effect of the DNA polymerase inhibitors adenine 9-β-arabinofurasonide (ara-A), cytosine 1-β-arabinofuranoside (ara-C), and aphidicolin on X-radiation sensitivity was studied in a group of exponentially growing squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. The tumour cell lines varied in radiation sensitivity, with D0 (radiation sensitivity) values ranging from 1·0 to 3·9 Gy. The addition of non-toxic concentrations of ara-A 30 min before irradiation and removal 30 min after irradiation potentiated cell killing in five of eight cell lines. Four of these five responsive cell lines were relatively radioresistant lines, having D0 > 2·0 Gy. One of the cell lines was more radiosensitive (D0 = 1·4 Gy). Ara-A was also effective in potentiating killing in the radioresistant cell lines even when added 60 min after irradiation. Pre- or post-treatment with ara-A had no effect on X-ray sensitivity of the other three relatively sensitive cell lines (D0 ranging from 1·0 to 1·3 Gy). Both ara-C and aphidicolin were effective in...
IceCube: Recent results and prospects

Abstract Construction of the IceCube neutrino telescope is now more than 25% complete, with 22 strings in the ice and 26 IceTop air shower stations deployed on the surface. Initial results from data taken with nine strings in 2006 are shown, as well as results from the AMANDA array, which has been incorporated into IceCube. We also discuss the scientific potential of IceCube as it amasses 1 km 3 year of data over the next few years.