cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Global transcriptional analysis of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae following exposure to hydrogen peroxide.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, the causative agent of swine enzootic pneumonia, colonizes the cilia of swine lungs, causing ciliostasis and cell death. M. hyopneumoniae is a component of the porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC) and is especially problematic for the finishing swine industry, causing the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in farm revenues worldwide. For successful infection, M. hyopneumoniae must effectively resist oxidative stresses due to the release of oxidative compounds from neutrophils and macrophages during the host's immune response. However, the mechanism that M. hyopneumoniae uses to avert the host response is still unclear. To gain a better understanding of the transcriptional responses of M. hyopneumoniae under oxidative stress, cultures were grown to early exponential phase and exposed to 0.5 % hydrogen peroxide for 15 min. RNA samples from these cultures were collected and compared to RNA samples from control cultures using two-colour PCR-based M. hyopneumoniae microarrays. This study revealed significant downregulation of important glycolytic pathway genes and gene transcription proteins, as well as a protein known to activate oxidative stressor cascades in neutrophils. Sixty-nine per cent of the upregulated genes were hypothetical with no known function. This study has also revealed significantly differentially expressed genes common to other environmental stress responses, indicating that further investigation of universal stress response genes of M. hyopneumoniae is merited.
Electromagnetic and thermal simulations for the switch region of a compact proton accelerator

A compact proton accelerator for medical applications is being developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The accelerator architecture is based on the dielectric wall accelerator (DWA) concept. One critical area to consider is the switch region. Electric field simulations and thermal calculations of the switch area were performed to help determine the operating limits of silicon carbide (SiC) switches. Different geometries were considered for the field simulation including the shape of the thin indium solder meniscus between the electrodes and SiC. Electric field simulations were also utilized to demonstrate how the field stress could be reduced. Thermal simulations results were analyzed to find the average power capability of the switches.
Random walk in celestial mechanics

The process of random walk can be demonstrated to occur in the three-body problem. This is shown to be the case for a family of horseshoe orbits. This offers a possible alternate approach to studying special motions of this problem and other problems in celestial mechanics.
Profit Center Performance, Measurement Of

Companies create business units and delegate decision-making authority to business unit managers. Keywords: financial performancemeasurement; Nonfinancial Performance Measurement; Bases Of Comparison; Future Considerations
Psychological Response to Abortion

This article considers the role of research in helping counselors examine their assumptions regarding the complex issue of abortion.
Constraint Lingo: towards high-level constraint programming

Logic programming requires that the programmer convert a problem into a set of constraints based on predicates. Choosing the predicates and introducing appropriate constraints can be intricate and error prone. If the problem domain is structured enough, we can let the programmer express the problem in terms of more abstract, higher-level constraints. A compiler can then convert the higher-level program into a logic-programming formalism. The compiler writer can experiment with alternative low-level representations of the higher-level constraints in order to achieve a high-quality translation. The programmer can then take advantage of both a reduction in complexity and an improvement in runtime speed for all problems within the domain. We apply this analysis to the domain of tabular constraint-satisfaction problems. Examples of such problems include logic puzzles solvable on a hatch grid and combinatorial problems such as graph coloring and independent sets. The proper abstractions for these problems are rows, columns, entries, and their interactions. We present a higher-level language, Constraint Lingo, dedicated to problems in this domain. We also describe how we translate programs from Constraint Lingo into lower-level logic formalisms such as the logic of propositional schemata. These translations require that we choose among competing lower-level representations in order to produce efficient results. The overall effectiveness of our approach depends on the appropriateness of Constraint Lingo, our ability to translate Constraint Lingo programs into high-quality representations in logic formalisms, and the efficiency with which logic engines can compute answer sets. We comment on our computational experience with these tools in solving both graph problems and logic puzzles. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Noble Rats Display Decreased Weight Gain and Visceral Adiposity via Lifelong Exposure to an Isoflavone-Rich Diet

Obesity and cancer represent two of the greatest public health concerns. The relationship between obesity and cancer suggests an important role for visceral adipose tissue (VAT) versus generalized body fat. Male and female Noble rats develop a relatively high incidence of spontaneous and hormone-induced carcinomas. The main purpose of this study was to make an initial assessment of whether a high soy-isoflavonoid diet could decrease VAT and reduce overall body weight gain in Noble rats. The male and female rats were exposed solely to either a high soy-isoflavonoid diet (High-Iso) or a low-isoflavonoid diet (Low-Iso) from conception to adulthood. At the end of the experiment, at 145 days of age, overall weight gain and visceral fat deposition were recorded along with quantification of serum isoflavone levels (genistein, daidzein and equol). Serum isoflavone levels in the High-Iso treatment groups were significantly higher (by approximately 15-fold) compared to animals in the LowIso diet groups. Male and female Nobel rats fed the High-Iso diet displayed significantly lower body weight gain (by approximately 10%) compared to animals fed the Low-Iso diet. Notably, VAT deposition was reduced by 61% in females but 21% in males fed the High-Iso diet versus the Low-Iso diet. In summary, consumption of a diet high in isoflavones significantly lowered body weight and VAT deposition and a hypothesis may be proposed as to how soy-derived isoflavones may decrease VAT storage areas to potentially improve obesity and cancer outcomes.
Mitigating Against Epistemic Injustice in Educational Research

in this article, i argue that Harvey s iegel correctly points out the limitations of epistemic diversity in educational research. building from s iegel’s analysis, i argue that we need to move away from the language of epistemic diversity and to the language of epistemic injustice. e pistemic injustice allows us to do the work that epistemic diversity sets out to do—that is, creating more inclusive epistemic practices that lead to more accurate descriptions of the world—without leading to the untenable and unjustified conclusions that follow from using the language of epistemic diversity. Drawing on recent work in feminist epistemology, i describe epistemic injustice and argue for its significance. i conclude by drawing out the implications of epistemic injustice for educational researchers.
The response of Asterionella formosa to germanium: implications for the germanium inhibition technique for estimating diatom contribution to community productivity

SUMMARY. 1. The effect of added germanium on the assimilation of carbon by Asterionella formosa Hass. in mixed phytoplankton assemblages was measured weekly from July to December 1981 by auto-radiography. 2. Contrary lo a major assumption of the germanium-inhibition method of partitioning primary productivity, the germanium-induced inhibition varied considerably and with no apparent pattern. 3. Inhibition values determined for laboratory cultures are probably not indicative of the responses of in situ populations, and serious errors can occur in estimating diatom contribution to total community photosynthesis. This places severe limitations on the use of the method.
Remote noninvasive allograft rejection monitoring for heart transplant recipients: study protocol for the novel evaluation with home electrocardiogram and remote transmission (NEW HEART) study

Acute allograft rejection is a major cause of early mortality in the first year after heart transplantation in adults. Although endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is not a perfect "gold standard" for a correct diagnosis of acute allograft rejection, it is considered the best available test and thus, is the current standard practice. Unfortunately, EMB is an invasive and costly procedure that is not without risk. Recent evidence suggests that acute allograft rejection causes delays in ventricular repolarization and thereby increases the cellular action potential duration resulting in a longer QT interval on the electrocardiogram (ECG). No prospective study to date has investigated whether such increases in the QT interval could provide early detection of acute allograft rejection. Therefore, in the Novel Evaluation With Home Electrocardiogram And Remote Transmission (NEW HEART) study, we plan to investigate the potential benefit of daily home QT interval monitoring to predict acute allograft rejection. The NEW HEART study is a prospective, double-blind, multi-center descriptive research study. A sample of 325 adult heart transplant recipients will be recruited within six weeks of transplant from three sites in the United States. Subjects will receive the HeartView™ ECG recorder and its companion Internet Transmitter, which will transmit the subject's ECG to a Core Laboratory. Subjects will be instructed to record and transmit an ECG recording daily for 6 months. An increase in the QTC interval from the previous day of at least 25 ms that persists for 3 consecutive days will be considered abnormal. The number and grade of acute allograft rejection episodes, as well as all-cause mortality, will be collected for one year following transplant surgery. This study will provide "real world" prospective data to determine the sensitivity and specificity of QTC as an early non invasive marker of cellular rejection in transplant recipients during the first post-transplant year. A non-invasive indicator of early allograft rejection in heart transplant recipients has the potential to limit the number and severity of rejection episodes by reducing the time and cost of rejection surveillance and by shortening the time to recognition of rejection. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01365806
Photogrammetric techniques for analyzing displacement, strain, and structural geometry in physical models: Application to the growth of monoclinal basement uplifts

ABSTRACTPhysical models have been widely used to study geological structures for more than one hundred years. The greatest beneﬁ t of physical models is that with proper scal-ing of model dimensions and materials, researchers can directly observe structural or tectonic processes that take millions of years to occur naturally. Despite this ben-eﬁ t, however, use of physical models is not widespread because their construction and analysis is commonly labor-intensive work that yields largely qualitative information on structural geometry and limited quantitative information on displacement and strain. This paper describes how close-range photogram-metry can be used to obtain quantitative information on the geometry, displacement, and strain patterns in an evolving physical model. The technique is an inexpensive, high-resolution, noninvasive, and efﬁ cient method that uses standard commercial software and a digital camera to determine the x , y , z posi-tions of high-contrast markers placed on the model surface. The model geometry at any given time is deﬁ ned by the positions of all the markers, whereas strain and displace-ment are obtained by comparing, or track-ing, the positions of the markers at different times during an experiment. We present as an example application of the technique, an analysis of scaled physical models of mono-clines that form above basement-involved reverse faults with differing displacement distributions. Using close-range photogram-metry, we are able to link fault displacement and lateral propagation history to unique, evolving, three-dimensional (3-D) geometries and deformation patterns that are unlikely to be revealed by other analysis techniques.Keywords: physical model, monocline, base-ment uplift, photogrammetry, strain.INTRODUCTION
Unsteady Surface Pressure Reconstruction on an Oscillating Airfoil Using the Wiener Deconvolution Method

Experiments were conducted to determine the ability of the Wiener deconvolution method to reconstruct an unsteady surface pressure on a pitch-oscillating airfoil using a remotely sensed pressure signal. The method’s ability to reconstruct signals distorted through attenuation and resonance effects were examined for different lengths of 0.86mm diameter tubing. Five different lengths of tubing (30 cm through 152 cm) were tested in a bench-top setting. In addition, the effects of real pressure port geometries were considered using the pressure ports in the airfoil section. Finally, the Wiener deconvolution method was used to estimate the time-dependent pressure while the airfoil oscillated in pitch at 5 and 10 Hz in a wind tunnel. The results demonstrated that the Wiener deconvolution method was very effective for correcting the remotely measured pressure signals for all the cases studied. The calibration effort necessary for applying the Wiener deconvolution method was modest making the approach suitable for practical testing situations.
Ecological modernization in U.S. agri-environmental programs: Trends in the 2014 Farm Bill

Traditionally applied in industrial production contexts, ecological modernization (EM) can also be applied in the context of agriculture. This paper applies the EM perspective to explain recent trends in U.S. agri-environmental policy, particularly in the context of the 2014 Farm Bill. The most recent policy iteration streamlines the portfolio of conservation programs, increases the emphasis on working lands programs that incorporate environmental protection technologies into agricultural production practices, and increases regional approaches and federal–local partnerships. These trends reflect both a continued reliance on incorporation of new technologies by private economic producers as the primary means of ensuring environmental protection as well as an increase in modernized, decentralized governance.
How quantum entanglement in DNA synchronizes double-strand breakage by type II restriction endonucleases

Macroscopic quantum effects in living systems have been studied widely in pursuit of fundamental explanations for biological energy transport and sensing. While it is known that type II endonucleases, the largest class of restriction enzymes, induce DNA double-strand breaks by attacking phosphodiester bonds, the mechanism by which simultaneous cutting is coordinated between the catalytic centers remains unclear. We propose a quantum mechanical model for collective electronic behavior in the DNA helix, where dipole-dipole oscillations are quantized through boundary conditions imposed by the enzyme. Zero-point modes of coherent oscillations would provide the energy required for double-strand breakage. Such quanta may be preserved in the presence of thermal noise by the enzyme's displacement of water surrounding the DNA recognition sequence. The enzyme thus serves as a decoherence shield. Palindromic mirror symmetry of the enzyme-DNA complex should conserve parity, because symmetric bond-breaking ceases when the symmetry of the complex is violated or when physiological parameters are perturbed from optima. Persistent correlations in DNA across longer spatial separations-a possible signature of quantum entanglement-may be explained by such a mechanism.
Amicus Brief on Behalf of Law Professors in Gunn V. Minton

The so-called second branch of arising-under jurisdiction has caused too many problems for too little gain. The branch should be clipped, leaving only the Holmes branch remaining: a suit arises only under the law that creates the cause of action. The second branch has created mischief and uncertainty since its creation, and never has it been close to worth the cost of its maintenance. Contrary arguments contain lofty phrasing about federal power without much connection to reality and understate or ignore both the impact of such a fuzzy jurisdictional test and the intrusion upon state prerogatives. The impact of such a ruling will be dramatic, minimal, and exaggerated. The ruling will have a dramatic, positive impact on the category of cases that are being delayed while parties argue about unascertainable boundaries and spend too much time litigating about where to litigate. The impact will be minimal on important federal issues actually getting proper review. As for exaggeration, that will likely occur in the law-school classrooms and journals, where lofty adjectives and discussions of ideals have long distorted the actual work done by this troublesome branch.
Regime Change Lessons from Germany on Justice, Institution Building, and Democracy

As an instance of externally induced regime change, the postwar West German case is both highly exceptional and importantly paradigmatic; it is more usefully read as a cautionary tale than as a recipe for future action. Local circumstances, some tied to earlier patterns of social and political development but many produced by the cold war and the particular nature of the Nazi dictatorship, promoted successful institution building while attenuating postwar pressures for moral clarity. The rapid development of strong institutions, combined with moral ambiguity on questions touching the Nazi past, helped build popular support for the new democratic regime. West German success in the institutional realm was the result of probably nonreplicable circumstances, while frustration in the quest for justice is built into the logic of democratization processes and indeed persists after democratic consolidation has occurred. Externally engineered democracies are likely to remain a rarity.
The Gettering and Electrical Activity of Ni, Au, and Cu in Epitaxial Si/Si(2%Ge)/Si during RTA

A study of gettering and electrical activity of metallic impurities Ni, Au and Cu has been carried out on epitaxial Si/Si(2%Ge)/Si wafers containing interfacial misfit dislocations. The impurities were intentionally introduced from a backside deposited thin metal followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) results indicate that the impurities were gettered along the misfit dislocations in near-surface regions either as Au precipitate colonies, or as NiSi2 and CuSi silicide precipitates. Data from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in the Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) mode revealed that these precipitates dominate the recombination properties of the initially inactive misfit dislocation.
Accessory Cells of the Mycetome in the Rice Weevil, Sitophilus oryzae: Post-Embryonic Development

In larvae of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (Linnaeus), two clusters of cells are located on the anteriolateral surfaces of the mycetomes, but in the adults are relocated on the walls of the gizzard in the foregut. In the early larval stages, the cell clusters vary in shape and are ca. 40–50 I¼m in diameter. In the adult, each cluster is ca. 100 ¼m in diam and consists of 15–20 cells. The size of cell clusters from aposymbiotic larvae are similar to the size of the clusters from normal larvae; thus, unlike mycetomes which develop only in the presence of the bacteria-like symbiotes, the cell clusters develop independently. Granular contents in the cells increased during larval development and were more numerous in the pupal stages. Although symbionts were in the cells of some pupae and adults and never in larvae, the accessory cells may be part of the through which symbionts are passed to the o¶cytes.
Replication-Coupled Nucleosome Assembly and Positioning by ATP-Dependent Chromatin-Remodeling Enzymes.

During DNA replication, chromatin must be disassembled and faithfully reassembled on newly synthesized genomes. The mechanisms that govern the assembly of chromatin structures following DNA replication are poorly understood. Here, we exploited Okazaki fragment synthesis and other assays to study how nucleosomes are deposited and become organized in S. cerevisiae. We observe that global nucleosome positioning is quickly established on newly synthesized DNA in vivo. Importantly, we find that ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzymes, Isw1 and Chd1, collaborate with histone chaperones to remodel nucleosomes as they are loaded behind a replication fork. Using a whole-genome sequencing approach, we determine that the positioning of newly deposited nucleosomes in vivo is specified by the combined actions of ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzymes and select DNA-binding proteins. Altogether, our data provide in vivo evidence for coordinated "loading and remodeling" of nucleosomes behind the replication fork, allowing for rapid organization of chromatin during S phase.
Rocket Science at the Nanoscale

Autonomous propulsion at the nanoscale represents one of the most challenging and demanding goals in nanotechnology. Over the past decade, numerous important advances in nanotechnology and material science have contributed to the creation of powerful self-propelled micro/nanomotors. In particular, micro- and nanoscale rockets (MNRs) offer impressive capabilities, including remarkable speeds, large cargo-towing forces, precise motion controls, and dynamic self-assembly, which have paved the way for designing multifunctional and intelligent nanoscale machines. These multipurpose nanoscale shuttles can propel and function in complex real-life media, actively transporting and releasing therapeutic payloads and remediation agents for diverse biomedical and environmental applications. This review discusses the challenges of designing efficient MNRs and presents an overview of their propulsion behavior, fabrication methods, potential rocket fuels, navigation strategies, practical applications, and the future pro...
TH-AB-207A-08: Variation of Size-Specific Dose Estimates Across Patient Sizes Under the Conditions of Automatic Exposure Control

Purpose: CT automatic exposure control (AEC) systems adjust tube current output in response to changes in patient attenuation. Some have interpreted this to mean that the use of AEC results in constant size-specific dose estimates (SSDE) across patient sizes. The purpose of this work was to derive the AEC parameters that yield constant SSDE across patient sizes and compare these conditions with clinical implementations of AEC. Methods: The relationship between tube current output and patient attenuation within AEC systems is governed by a modulation parameter (b-value), which controls the strength of the tube current adjustment. In order for SSDE to be constant over patient sizes, this b-value needs to yield tube current values, for a given patient size, that are inversely proportional to the AAPM Report 204 CTDIvol-to-SSDE conversion coefficients. A mathematical framework was developed to determine the b-value that produces constant SSDE across patient sizes. Using that b-value, along with b-values used in clinical practice (0.33, 0.5 and 1.0), theoretical estimates of SSDE as a function of water equivalent diameter (WED) were determined, and the range of SSDE values (max-min) was quantified over WED ranging from 10 to 50 cm. Results: A b-value of 0.185 was determined to yield constant SSDE across patient sizes. For this b-value, the range of SSDE was 0.11 mGy. Ranges of 10.27 mGy, 22.05 mGy and 97.00 mGy were determined for SSDE calculated using b-values of 0.33, 0.5 and 1.0, respectively. Conclusion: Current clinical implementations of AEC do not yield constant SSDE across patient sizes. A b-value was calculated that would yield constant SSDE across patient sizes, but this value is much less than b-values used clinically. We conclude that constant SSDE should not be the goal of tube current adaption, as it would not yield clinically acceptable tube current adaption with patient size. CH McCollough is supported by industry funding from Siemens Healthcare
Factors Associated with Infant Feeding Choices in the Adolescent Population.

Background:Strong recommendations have been made for exclusive breastfeeding of infants for the first 6 months of life, with continuation throughout the first year. In an attempt to optimize support for breastfeeding, particular barriers in populations with decreased rates need to be analyzed.Objective:This study aimed to determine if participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food voucher program, involvement of the infant’s father, involvement of the adolescent mother’s parents or other caregivers, and participation in early skin-to-skin contact after birth are associated with the decision to breastfeed or bottle feed among this adolescent population.Methods:A retrospective chart review of 457 adolescent patients who delivered January 2010 through May 2013 at the University of Louisville Hospital was conducted. Nursing documentation was used to determine the patient’s intention to breastfeed or bottle feed, participation in WIC, involvement of the ...
Power electronic transformer with reduced number of switches: Analysis of clamp circuit for leakage energy commutation

High frequency linked ac/ac converters are important in harnessing energy from renewable energy sources and connecting them to the high voltage ac grid. Theoretically, these converters provide single stage power conversion and obviates the need for any storage elements. Any switching transition in the load side converter causes overvoltages due to the presence of non-ideal leakage inductances in the windings of the high frequency transformer. A clamp circuit is needed for commutation of this leakage energy and to protect the power electronic devices. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the power loss incurred in the clamp circuit along with a method to design the clamp components. The entire circuit has been simulated along with non-ideal leakage inductance and the presented simulation results confirm the analytical predictions.
Neutrophil-epithelial cell interactions in the intestine.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) migrate across the intestinal epithelium in a variety of inflammatory diseases afflicting the small intestine and colon. Subsequent collection of PMN in crypt lumens (“crypt abscesses”) is a histologic finding used by pathologists to determine disease activity (1, 2). Here we consider the potential impact such PMN-epithelial interactions might have on intestinal epithelial function.
Public Service Motivation Research Program: Key Challenges and Future Prospects

Public service motivation (PSM) research offers many points of pride for public administration scholarship. Theoretical and empirical research on public service motivation, over the last quarter century, has given voice to and extended the ideal of a public service ethic long championed by public administration scholars and practitioners (Miles 1970; Rainey 1982; Staats 1988). PSM research has also highlighted the incompleteness of self-interest-based models of human motivation and the pressing need to incorporate other-regarding and altruistic motives (Pandey et al. 2008; Perry and Hondeghem 2008). Scholars from economics, organization behavior, human resource management, political science, among others, have turned to public service motivation literature to build and/or augment explanatory models (see Perry and Vandenabeele 2015,693 for an overview). Work on public service motivation has blossomed, attracting scholars from all around the globe. Ritz et al. (2016), in a systematic review of public service motivation literature, point out that both the numbers of peer-reviewed publications and researchers has grown expo­nentially since the 1990s and estimate that the community of public service motivation scholars now is more than 300 strong. The burgeoning PSM literature is comprised of empirical papers, review papers with differing foci, joimial symposia with overviews of the articles presented, as well as summary statements of the state of art. Our goal in this chapter is to review the extant PSM research program and to propose an action­ able agenda for future research. We characterize the PSM research program by highlighting its achievements, its dynamics, and key challenges. Our actionable agenda calls for future research that serves to: 1) clarify public service motivation concepts; 2) prioritize theoretical goals over methodological goals; 3) focus on the job as the appropriate unit to study (instead of the sector, which is a red herring); and 4) improve leaders' understanding of the organizational and social context of PSM.
Functional analyses of putative PalS (Palindromic Self-recognition) motifs in bacterial Hfq.

Abstract The bacterial protein Hfq has been linked to nucleic acid metabolism and signaling, however its explicit role has been elusive. Recently it was proposed that the C-termini of Hfq subunits in Hfq6 complexes could be involved in functional interactions with other Hfq hexamers and/or nucleic acids. To test the proposed model of the native Hfq complex experimentally, we genetically engineered chimeric Hfq6 complexes, in which C-termini of bacterial Hfq subunits were substituted with a sequence derived from human histone H2B (hH2B) that includes multiple functionally significant amino acids whose modifications have been linked to carcinogenesis. We demonstrate that this substitution results in an enhanced formation of dodecameric assemblies by the Hfq–hH2B hybrid – a result pointing to the possibility of a (functional) homology between these motifs in proteins from distant kingdoms. We hypothesize that these putative Pal indromic S elf-recognition (PalS) motifs could act as proteins' ‘cohesive ends’ that could allow the protein complexes carrying such motifs to interact dynamically and dissociate–reassociate in response to stress and/or growth phase-specific changes. We provide experimental support to the latter hypothesis and demonstrate that in E. coli the dodecameric Hfq assemblies are formed in a growth stage-specific manner. We describe a refined system – consisting solely of purified Hfq, polynucleotide phosporylase (PNP) and ADP – that allows reconstitution in vitro of characteristic ‘SDS-insensitive’ Hfq6–Hfq6 assemblies observed in experiments with whole-cell extracts obtained from exponentially-growing cells. We also optimized conditions for the extraction of intact native dodecameric Hfq complexes.
Trafficking Experiences and Psychosocial Features of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Victims

Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is an increasingly recognized traumatic crime premised upon the control, abuse, and exploitation of youth. By definition, DMST is the "recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act" within domestic borders, in which the person is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident under the age of 18 years. The present study described the demographics, psychosocial features, and trafficking experiences (e.g., environments of recruitment, relationship to trafficker, solicitation) of DMST victims. A total of 25 medical records of patients under the age of 18 who disclosed their involvement in DMST to medical providers between August 1, 2013, and November 30, 2015, were retrospectively reviewed. The majority of patients were female, and the mean age was 15.4 years old. Most patients lived at home and/or were accompanied at the evaluation by a parent/guardian. High rates of alcohol or substance use/abuse (92%), being placed in a group home or child protective services (CPS) custody (28%), a history of runaway behavior (60%), and/or exposure to other child maltreatment (88%) were identified. Our data indicated variation in reported trafficking experiences; however, patients commonly reported an established relationship with their trafficker (60%) and recruitment occurred primarily as a result of financial motivation (52%). Patients were prevalently recruited in settings where there were face-to-face interactions (56%), whereas the solicitation of sex-buyers occurred primarily online (92%). Victims who disclosed involvement in DMST had complicated psychosocial histories that may have rendered them susceptible to their exploitation, and reported a variety of DMST experiences perpetuated by traffickers. Although preliminary in nature, this study provided empirical evidence of the predisposing factors, motivations, and experiences of victimized youth uniquely from the perspective of patients who sought medical care.
Anapole dark matter annihilation into photons

In models of anapole dark matter (DM), the DM candidate is a Majorana fermion whose primary interaction with standard model (SM) particles is through an anapole coupling to off-shell photons. As such, at tree-level, anapole DM undergoes p-wave annihilation into SM charged fermions via a virtual photon. But, generally, Majorana fermions are polarizable, coupling to two real photons. This fact admits the possibility that anapole DM can annihilate into two photons in an s-wave process. Using an explicit model, we compute both the tree-level and diphoton contributions to the anapole DM annihilation cross section. Depending on model parameters, the s-wave process can either rival or be dwarfed by the p-wave contribution to the total annihilation cross section. Subjecting the model to astrophysical upper bounds on the s-wave annihilation mode, we rule out the model with large s-wave annihilation.
TCR Signal Strength Regulates Akt Substrate Specificity To Induce Alternate Murine Th and T Regulatory Cell Differentiation Programs

The Akt/mTOR pathway is a key driver of murine CD4+ T cell differentiation, and induction of regulatory T (Treg) cells results from low TCR signal strength and low Akt/mTOR signaling. However, strong TCR signals induce high Akt activity that promotes Th cell induction. Yet, it is unclear how Akt controls alternate T cell fate decisions. We find that the strength of the TCR signal results in differential Akt enzymatic activity. Surprisingly, the Akt substrate networks associated with T cell fate decisions are qualitatively different. Proteomic profiling of Akt signaling networks during Treg versus Th induction demonstrates that Akt differentially regulates RNA processing and splicing factors to drive T cell differentiation. Interestingly, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) L or hnRNP A1 are Akt substrates during Treg induction and have known roles in regulating the stability and splicing of key mRNAs that code for proteins in the canonical TCR signaling pathway, including CD3ζ and CD45. Functionally, inhibition of Akt enzymatic activity results in the dysregulation of splicing during T cell differentiation, and knockdown of hnRNP L or hnRNP A1 results in the lower induction of Treg cells. Together, this work suggests that a switch in substrate specificity coupled to the phosphorylation status of Akt may lead to alternative cell fates and demonstrates that proteins involved with alternative splicing are important factors in T cell fate decisions.
Lack of evidence for sex differences in higher cognitive function in macaques

Here we assessed whether higher cognitive function differed between male and female rhesus monkeys using tests of episodic memory and strategy implementation. We did not find any difference between males and females on behavioral performance or on analyses of grey matter volume of key regions. Our findings suggest that, at least where higher cognitive function in healthy monkeys is concerned, the sexes may not differ.
Electrode architecture of carbon-coated silicon nanowires through magnesiothermic reduction for lithium-ion batteries

Carbon-coated silicon nanowires (C-Si NWs) were prepared as anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The C-Si NWs were synthesized using a simple and effective fabrication strategy via magnesiothermic reduction. The synthesis sequence of carbon coating before the chemical etching of the reduced Si NWs/MgO composite was found to be critical for improved battery performance. In addition, carbon coating was found to help to stabilize the solid electrolyte interphase layer during battery cycling, which is important to realize the benefits of Si-based LIBs. This synthesis method provides an efficient route to synthesizing high-performance Si electrodes via magnesiothermic reduction.
Structure modeling of RNA using sparse NMR constraints.

RNAs fold into distinct molecular conformations that are often essential for their functions. Accurate structure modeling of complex RNA motifs, including ubiquitous non-canonical base pairs and pseudoknots, remains a challenge. Here, we present an NMR-guided all-atom discrete molecular dynamics (DMD) platform, iFoldNMR, for rapid and accurate structure modeling of complex RNAs. We show that sparse distance constraints from imino resonances, which can be readily obtained from routine NMR experiments and easier to compile than laborious assignments of non-solvent-exchangeable protons, are sufficient to direct a DMD search for low-energy RNA conformers. Benchmarking on a set of RNAs with complex folds spanning up to 56 nucleotides in length yields structural models that recapitulate experimentally determined structures with all-heavy-atom RMSDs ranging from 2.4 to 6.5 A. This platform represents an efficient approach for high-throughput RNA structure modeling and will facilitate analysis of diverse, newly discovered functional RNAs.
Data-Driven discovery of governing physical laws and their parametric dependencies in engineering, physics and biology

We propose a regression method based upon group sparsity that is capable of discovering parametrized governing dynamical equations of motion of a given system by time series measurements. The method balances model complexity and regression accuracy by selecting a parsimonious model via Pareto analysis. This gives a promising new technique for disambiguating governing equations from simple parametric dependencies in physical, biological and engineering systems.
A biomedical ontology on genetic disease

Contemporary researches have revealed that most of the diseases are genetic. It is very important to mine the relation between gene and disease. Ontology is the best method to show the concepts and their relations. This research paper focuses on the development of ontology for the domain of Genetic Diseases. The data is extracted from UMLS. We developed this ontology on Protege tool and also a live portal (link: http://62.151.179.113/ontology) is developed for the ontology to facilitate the end users and clinical researchers. The resultant ontology is evaluated by domain experts and results are reported in this paper.
High-Energy-Resolution Resonant Inelastic (Hard) X-ray Scattering (RIXS) at the Advanced Photon Source

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is a powerful technique for studying electronic excitations in a wide variety of complex materials and environments with momentum, energy, and potentially...
Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process Evaluation Method in Assessing Corrosion Damage of Reinforced Concrete Bridges

Effective method used to deal with the corrosion damage condition of any concrete bridge superstructure will help decision makers of bridge management agencies to better choose repair material, and optimize repair method. Simplified corrosion index (SCI) is a very useful and simple index to characterize the actual corrosion damage condition of a reinforced concrete bridge superstructure. In this paper, SCI is calculated by combining the Corrosion Damage Index (CDI), Environment Change Factor (ECF) and Material Vulnerability Factor (MVF). The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is applied to decide the weight factors of CDI, ECF and MVF. The Fuzzy-AHP evaluation method is used in this study to deal with the fuzzy problem of differentiating the different levels of corrosion indicators and to determine the appropriate weight factors. The asymmetric nearness degree method is applied to re-analyze the evaluation vector from Fuzzy-AHP method to calculate the corrosion damage level based on all corrosion indicators. A numerical example was presented to demonstrate the procedure and the benefits of the AHP method, and the proposed Fuzzy-AHP approach, along with the asymmetric nearness degree method, in dealing with the fuzzy nature of SCI calculation problem.
Genetic Markers in Cardiovascular Disease

For classic “Mendelian” genetic diseases, a single gene is responsible. A rare mutation in that gene causes a dramatic change in protein concentration or function that is both necessary and sufficient to cause the disease, and environmental factors play a small or nonexistent role. Examples in cardiology include familial hypercholesterolemia, familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Marfan syndrome, and congenital long QT syndrome. By contrast, for complex genetic diseases, multiple genes are involved and environmental factors play a large role. Variants in any single gene therefore tend to be associated with far more modest effects and are neither necessary nor sufficient to cause the disease. The genetic variants responsible for these modest effects tend to be more common (>1% prevalence) and, by convention, are called polymorphisms, rather than mutations. Most of the common diseases in cardiology fall into this category, including hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and coronary heart disease (CHD). Currently, no genetic markers are ready for widespread adoption as risk factors for CHD. Yet, there are several promising, biologically plausible candidates. Researchers are now designing larger and better studies in order to maximize the chances of detecting subtle but likely important contributors to CHD.
Web-based continuing dental education in California.

This article asks and answers a series of questions about Web-based continuing education for dentists. A summary of these answers are: (1) all indicators point to a substantive increase in the number and types of continuing education courses in the next five years; (2) the main reasons to take an online dental C.E. course are that it is available at any time from any location that has an Internet connection and the total cost per unit will be substantially lower compared to traditional C.E. courses; (3) the best type of online C.E. course would be one that has an identified experienced expert instructor, provides a case-based or problem-based approach, and provides an interactivity opportunity between the instructor and student via chat room or e-mail; and (4) online continuing dental education is simply one of many methods that can be used by dental practitioners and will not replace other continuing education methods but rather supplement them. In summary, as more and more online dental C.E. courses become available, it is hoped they will be designed to be more than a series of slides since this method does not take advantage of the unique features and opportunities provided by the Internet.
Black “Manhood” as Xenophobe An Ontological Exploration of the Hegelian Dialectic:

Often the history of our struggle as Black people is made synonymous with the efforts of Black males to have patriarchal power and privilege.... Until Black people redefine in a nonsexist revolutionary way the terms of our liberation, Black women and men will always be confronted with the issue of whether supporting feminist efforts to end sexism is inimical to our interests as a people. (hooks, 1989, p. 178)
Group therapy for women with substance use disorders: In-session affiliation predicts women's substance use treatment outcomes

Abstract In-session affiliation among members is a hypothesized mechanism of action of group therapy for women with substance use disorders (SUDs). We evaluated group affiliation as an independent predictor of SUD treatment outcome in women (n = 100), 18 years or older diagnosed with substance dependence, who were randomized to the single-gender Women's Recovery Group (WRG) or mixed-gender group therapy (Group Drug Counseling; GDC). Affiliative statements made by members in both groups were measured for 39 women in each treatment arm. We studied the relationship between frequency of affiliative statements categorized in quintiles and the trajectory of days of any drug use during 3 months treatment and 6 months post-treatment using a Poisson regression model with estimation via generalized estimating equations. Furthermore, we investigated whether the effect of affiliation on substance use was moderated by group therapy type. The relationship between amount of affiliation and substance use reduction was non-linear. At the end of the treatment phase (3 months), women who experienced the highest level of affiliation (>65 affiliative statements on average) were found to reduce substance use by about 1.75 days more (p-value = 0.02) than women who experienced the lowest level of affiliation (
Protective Factors for Sexual Violence: Understanding How Trajectories Relate to Perpetration in High School.

Adolescent sexual violence (SV) perpetration is a significant public health problem. Many risk factors for perpetration are known, but less is known about what protects youth from perpetration, or how protective factors change over time. This longitudinal study reports trajectories of four potential protective factors for SV perpetration (empathy, parental monitoring, social support, and school belonging) across middle and high school and examines their relationship to SV perpetration in high school. Findings reveal that youth who identified as SV perpetrators had significantly lower mean empathy scores (d = − 0.18, 95 % CI [−0.26, −0.10]) and social support scores (d = − 0.05, 95 % CI [−0.14, −0.03]) at the beginning of middle school than non-perpetrators. We also found that youth who identified as SV perpetrators had a quicker deceleration in parental monitoring (slopes) and empathy from middle to high school, compared to non-perpetrators. Within-sex differences emerged; significant differences in slopes were detected for school belonging between male perpetrators and male non-perpetrators (Wald test = 3.76 (1), p = .05) and between female perpetrators and female non-perpetrators (Wald test = 3.95(1), p = .04). Significant differences in slopes for empathy between female perpetrators and female non-perpetrators (Wald test = 4.76(1), p = .03) were also detected. No differences were found between male and female SV perpetrators for either empathy or school belonging. These findings have implications for the content and timing of adolescent SV prevention efforts. Intervention in adolescence, involving parents and schools in a comprehensive, multi-level approach, may be effective in preventing SV perpetration.