cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trim11 increases expression of dopamine β-hydroxylase gene by interacting with Phox2b

The homeodomain transcription factor Phox2b is one of the key determinants involved in the development of noradrenergic (NA) neurons in both the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Using yeast two-hybrid screening, we isolated a Phox2b interacting protein, Trim11, which belongs to TRIM (Tripartite motif) or RBCC proteins family, and contains a RING domain, B-boxes, a coiled-coil domain, and the B30.2/SPRY domain. Protein-protein interaction assays showed that Phox2b was able to physically interact with Trim11. The B30.2/SPRY domain of Trim11 was required for the interaction with Phox2b. Expression of Phox2b and Trim11 was detected in the sympathetic ganglia (SG) of mouse embryos. Forced expression of Trim11 with Phox2b further increased mRNA levels of dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) gene in primary avian neural crest stem cell (NCSC) culture. This study suggests a potential role for Trim11 in the specification of NA phenotype by interaction with Phox2b.
Long-Term Infection and Vertical Transmission of a Gammaretrovirus in a Foreign Host Species

Increasing evidence has indicated natural transspecies transmission of gammaretroviruses; however, viral-host interactions after initial xeno-exposure remain poorly understood. Potential association of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in patients with prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome has attracted broad interests in this topic. Although recent studies have indicated that XMRV is unlikely a human pathogen, further understanding of XMRV xenoinfection would allow in vivo modeling of the initial steps of gammaretroviral interspecies transmission, evolution and dissemination in a new host population. In this study, we monitored the long-term consequences of XMRV infection and its possible vertical transmission in a permissive foreign host, wild-derived Mus pahari mice. One year post-infection, XMRV-infected mice showed no notable pathological changes, while proviral DNA was detected in three out of eight mice. XMRV-infected mice remained seropositive throughout the study although the levels of gp70 Env- and p30 capsid-specific antibodies gradually decreased. When vertical XMRV transmission was assessed, no viremia, humoral immune responses nor endogenization were observed in nine offspring from infected mothers, yet one offspring was found PCR-positive for XMRV-specific sequences. Amplified viral sequences from the offspring showed several mutations, including one amino acid deletion in the receptor binding domain of Env SU. Our results therefore demonstrate long-term asymptomatic infection, low incidence of vertical transmission and limited evolution of XMRV upon transspecies infection of a permissive new host, Mus pahari.
From sequence to structure using PF2: improving methods for protein folding prediction

Projects dependent on proteomic data are challenged not by the lack of methods to analyze this information, but by the lack of means to capture and manage the data. A few primary players in the bioinformatics realm are promoting the use of selected standardized technologies to access biological data. Many organizations exposing bioinformatics tools, however, do not have the resources required for utilizing these technologies. In order to provide interfaces for non-standardized bioinformatics tools, open-source projects have led to the development of hundreds of software libraries. These tools lack architectural unity, making it difficult to script bioinformatics research projects, such as protein structure prediction algorithms, which involve the use of multiple tools in varying order and number. As a solution, we have focused on building a software model, named the Protein Folding Prediction Framework (PF2), which provides a unifying method for the addition and usage of connection modules to bioinformatics databases exposed via Web-based tools, software suites, or e-mail services. The framework provides mechanisms that allow users to create and add new connections without supplementary code as well as to introduce entirely new logical scenarios. In addition, PF2 offers a convenient interface, a multi-threaded execution-engine, and a built-in visualization suite to provide the bioinformatics community with an end-to-end solution for performing complex genomic and proteomic inquiries.
FairyTALE: a high-throughput TAL effector synthesis platform.

Recombinant transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) have been effectively used for genome editing and gene regulation applications. Due to their remarkable modularity, TALEs can be tailored to specifically target almost any user-defined DNA sequences. Here, we introduce fairyTALE, a liquid phase high-throughput TALE synthesis platform capable of producing TALE-nucleases, activators, and repressors that recognize DNA sequences between 14 and 31 bp. It features a highly efficient reaction scheme, a flexible functionalization platform, and fully automated robotic liquid handling that enable the production of hundreds of expression-ready TALEs within a single day with over 98% assembly efficiency at a material cost of just $5 per TALE. As proof of concept, we synthesized and tested 90 TALEs, each recognizing 27 bp, without restrictions on their sequence composition. 96% of these TALEs were found to be functional, while sequencing confirmation revealed that the nonfunctional constructs were all correctl...
The effect of presence on human-robot interaction

This study explores how a robotpsilas physical or virtual presence affects unconscious human perception of the robot as a social partner. Subjects collaborated on simple book-moving tasks with either a physically present humanoid robot or a video-displayed robot. Each task examined a single aspect of interaction: greetings, cooperation, trust, and personal space. Subjects readily greeted and cooperated with the robot in both conditions. However, subjects were more likely to fulfill an unusual instruction and to afford greater personal space to the robot in the physical condition than in the video-displayed condition. The same tendencies occurred when the virtual robot was supplemented by disambiguating 3-D information.
Construction of Genomic Regulatory Encyclopedias: Strategies and Case Studies

Encyclopedias of regulatory genomic elements provide a foundation for research in areas such as disease diagnosis, disease treatment, and crop enhancement. The construction of complete encyclopedias of organism-specific genomic elements involved in gene regulation remains a significant challenge. To address this problem, the authors present novel bioinformatics strategies for exploring the word landscapes of putative regulatory regions of genomes. The methods are incorporated into the WordSeeker software tool, which is available at http://word-seeker.org. The effectiveness of these strategies is demonstrated through several case studies.
Predicting Stability of DNA Duplexes in Solutions Containing Magnesium and Monovalent Cations

Accurate predictions of DNA stability in physiological and enzyme buffers are important for the design of many biological and biochemical assays. We therefore investigated the effects of magnesium, potassium, sodium, Tris ions, and deoxynucleoside triphosphates on melting profiles of duplex DNA oligomers and collected large melting data sets. An empirical correction function was developed that predicts melting temperatures, transition enthalpies, entropies, and free energies in buffers containing magnesium and monovalent cations. The new correction function significantly improves the accuracy of predictions and accounts for ion concentration, G-C base pair content, and length of the oligonucleotides. The competitive effects of potassium and magnesium ions were characterized. If the concentration ratio of [Mg2+]0.5/[Mon+] is less than 0.22 M−1/2, monovalent ions (K+, Na+) are dominant. Effects of magnesium ions dominate and determine duplex stability at higher ratios. Typical reaction conditions for PCR an...
A robust detector for multicarrier spread spectrum transmission over partially jammed channels

Multicarrier spread spectrum (MC-SS) is an alternative to the conventional spread spectrum (SS) techniques that behave significantly better when the system is subject to narrow- or partial-band interference. However, successful implementation of the optimum detector requires knowledge of noise and interference variance in each subcarrier band. We propose a suboptimal detector for MC-SS that keeps the significant gain of MC-SS over the conventional SS, with a relatively low loss compared with the optimum MC-SS detector. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations that corroborate the theory are presented.
Exploiting symmetries for low-cost comparison of file copies

A novel technique for comparison of remotely located file copies is examined. With this technique up to two differing pages can be located, and any other number of multiple differing pages can be detected. It uses a communication overhead of O(log/sup 2/(N)), where N is the number of pages in the file. It is based on a set of symmetries of a hypercube with dimension log(N). >
The Effect of Hospital Restructuring on the Role of Physical Therapists in Acute Care

Background and Purpose. The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual model describing the effect of hospital restructuring on the role of physical therapists working in an acute care hospital. Subjects and Methods. Organizational and role changes within a single physical therapy department undergoing restructuring were identified using a qualitative case study methodology. Data were gathered from semistructured interviews of four key informants, observations, and artifacts. A conceptual model and case study were developed from the themes that emerged from the data. Findings and Discussion. Role changes for physical therapists in patient care delivery included “being flexible,” “being productive,” “being responsible for the care of all patients,” “focusing on patient discharge,” and “using support staff.” Roles changes in professional interaction included “sharing knowledge and information” and “helping, sharing, and coordination work.” Implications for physical therapy are discussed.
Reliability and Validity of the Pediatric Palliative Care Questionnaire for Measuring Self-Efficacy, Knowledge, and Adequacy of Prior Medical Education among Pediatric Fellows

Abstract Background: Interventions to improve pediatric trainee education in palliative care have been limited by a lack of reliable and valid tools for measuring effectiveness. Objective: We developed a questionnaire to measure pediatric fellows' self-efficacy (comfort), knowledge, and perceived adequacy of prior medical education. We measured the questionnaire's reliability and validity. Methods: The questionnaire contains questions regarding self-efficacy (23), knowledge (10), fellow's perceived adequacy of prior medical education (6), and demographics. The survey was developed with palliative care experts, and sent to fellows in U.S. pediatric cardiology, critical care, hematology/ oncology, and neonatal-perinatal medicine programs. Measures of reliability, internal consistency, and validity were calculated. Results: One hundred forty-seven fellows completed the survey at test and retest. The self-efficacy and medical education questionnaires showed high internal consistency of 0.95 and 0.84. The test...
In the name of the nation? The National Award in Narrative Literature, and the democratization of art in Spain (1977–2013)

This article looks at the history of the National Award in Narrative Literature (El Premio Nacional de Literatura, Modalidad Narrativa) – a governmental prize issued by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports – to examine how the award has contributed to the formation of a particular idea of Spanish literature in the democratic period (1977–2013). On the one hand, drawing from the theories of Ranciere and Foucault, I argue that the conferring of the prize represents a specific technique of power that has allowed the Spanish state to attach itself to individual citizens/artists of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds and to appropriate their works as “national.” In so doing, I claim that the issuing of the National Award has served the state well in its attempts throughout the democratic period to market Spain as a multicultural, yet cohesive nation state. On the other hand, I discuss how the issuing of the National Award also serves as a platform from which to discuss a wide variety o...
What Qualifies as a Deductible Theft Loss

IRC Sec. 165(a) allows as a deduction any loss sustained during the taxable year and not compensated for by insurance or otherwise. Included in the Sec. 165(c) list of allowed losses is a loss due to theft. Treas. Regs. Sec. 1.165-8(d) provides a basic definition of theft. Theft "..shall be deemed to include, but shall not necessarily be limited to larceny, embezzlement, and robbery." Rev. Rul. 72-112 states "Considering the broad general meaning of theft, it must be presumed that Congress used the term 'theft' so as to cover any theft, or felonious taking of money or property by which a taxpayer sustains a loss, whether defined and punishable under the penal codes of the states as larceny, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, threats, or blackmail." The existence of criminal intent is an important element. As with most deductions, the burden of proof lies with the taxpayer. There are three elements of theft that a taxpayer must prove the: loss was caused by theft, amount of the loss, and year in which the loss was discovered. Treas. Regs. Sec. 1.165-1(d)(2) disallows loss deduction for any portion of a loss for which there is a "reasonable prospect of recovery...until it can be ascertained with reasonable certainty whether or not such reimbursement will be received." A theft loss must be claimed in the year of discovery of the loss (absent reasonable prospect of recovery) regardless of the year the loss was sustained. The year of discovery is the year "...when a reasonable man in similar circumstances would have realized the fact that he had suffered a theft loss." A theft loss is postponed if there exists a reasonable prospect of recovery. If the claim for recovery later becomes worthless, the result is a bad debt deduction under IRC Sec. 166. As recently as March 2004, the IRS has reaffirmed that it will disallow any theft loss deduction for a decline in market value of stock purchased on the open market even if the "decline in market value of their stock [was] caused by disclosure of accounting fraud or other illegal misconduct of the officers or directors of the corporation that issued the stock." Seizure of property by a foreign government certainty seems like theft to a taxpayer suffering a loss. However, even when property is taken by a government, the requirement of criminal intent still applies and no loss is allowed. Theft of inventory is another instance where a theft loss is not allowed. The accounting treatment for lost inventory results in an increase in cost of goods sold; the same reduction of income that would be achieved by recording a loss deduction.
Key Cost Management Principles Every Executive Must Know

In discussing the key cost management principles every executive must know, this technical note organizes the information under six principles. For example, the many meanings of the word "cost" are defined in an abbreviated costs glossary under the first principle while the remaining principles cover relevant costs, allocating indirect costs, good cost data, and second-effect costs.
Evidence for increased myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in norepinephrine-activated vascular smooth muscle.

The agonist-induced change in Ca2+ sensitivity of smooth muscle myofilaments was investigated in intact and permeabilized vascular preparations isolated from the rat and the rabbit. In intact rat m...
The CSB chromatin remodeler and CTCF architectural protein cooperate in response to oxidative stress

Cockayne syndrome is a premature aging disease associated with numerous developmental and neurological abnormalities, and elevated levels of reactive oxygen species have been found in cells derived from Cockayne syndrome patients. The majority of Cockayne syndrome cases contain mutations in the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeler CSB; however, how CSB protects cells from oxidative stress remains largely unclear. Here, we demonstrate that oxidative stress alters the genomic occupancy of the CSB protein and increases CSB occupancy at promoters. Additionally, we found that the long-range chromatin-structure regulator CTCF plays a pivotal role in regulating sites of genomic CSB occupancy upon oxidative stress. We show that CSB directly interacts with CTCF in vitro and that oxidative stress enhances the CSB-CTCF interaction in cells. Reciprocally, we demonstrate that CSB facilitates CTCF-DNA interactions in vitro and regulates CTCF-chromatin interactions in oxidatively stressed cells. Together, our results indicate that CSB and CTCF can regulate each other's chromatin association, thereby modulating chromatin structure and coordinating gene expression in response to oxidative stress.
NOD1 and NOD2 signalling links ER stress with inflammation

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is a major contributor to inflammatory diseases, such as Crohn disease and type 2 diabetes. ER stress induces the unfolded protein response, which involves activation of three transmembrane receptors, ATF6, PERK and IRE1α. Once activated, IRE1α recruits TRAF2 to the ER membrane to initiate inflammatory responses via the NF-κB pathway. Inflammation is commonly triggered when pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), such as Toll-like receptors or nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors, detect tissue damage or microbial infection. However, it is not clear which PRRs have a major role in inducing inflammation during ER stress. Here we show that NOD1 and NOD2, two members of the NOD-like receptor family of PRRs, are important mediators of ER-stress-induced inflammation in mouse and human cells. The ER stress inducers thapsigargin and dithiothreitol trigger production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 in a NOD1/2-dependent fashion. Inflammation and IL-6 production triggered by infection with Brucella abortus, which induces ER stress by injecting the type IV secretion system effector protein VceC into host cells, is TRAF2, NOD1/2 and RIP2-dependent and can be reduced by treatment with the ER stress inhibitor tauroursodeoxycholate or an IRE1α kinase inhibitor. The association of NOD1 and NOD2 with pro-inflammatory responses induced by the IRE1α/TRAF2 signalling pathway provides a novel link between innate immunity and ER-stress-induced inflammation.
The separation and analysis of labelled antibodies.

Antibody proteins with a variety of specificities have been trace-labelled with I131 without loss of immunologic activity.1""4 Despite this fact, labelled antibodies have not found the wide experimental usage that might be expected, largely because of the difficulty in separating the labelled antibodies from the large background of nonspecific, protein-bound radioactivity. Most of the work with labelled antibodies re-
Camus and Nietzsche on politics in an age of absurdity

This article examines the significance of Friedrich Nietzsche to Albert Camus’ concepts of absurdity and revolt. It rests on three related claims. First, that Nietzsche’s critique of metaphysics (f...
Teaching about Religion in the Public Schools: New Ventures in Public Education

In any discussion of religion and public education these days, the "introductory remarks" can easily go on at near-interminable length—thus preventing one from ever getting to the principal fare. So much has happened in the decade of the 1960s that needs to be digested before one can order up provisions for the 1970s. Even prior to the 1960s subtle shifts in American life were taking place. Those shifts are sometimes dramatized by such phrases as "from Protestantism to pluralism" or "the secular age" or "the post-Christian era." In the confrontations between religion and education, the drama has been provided more often than not by the United States Supreme Court: Minersville School District v. Gobitis, West Virginia State Board of Edu cation v. Barnette, Everson v. Board of Education, McCollum v. Board of Education, Z or ach v. Clauson, Engel v. Vitale, and Abington School District v. Schempp. Just to ring these changes is to create Pavlovian responses in the minds (if not the mouths) of the public. What once were common assumptions are not now so com mon. To speak of a consensus quietly shared, of goals collectively pursued, of patterns of behavior faithfully followed is to speak of an age that has passed. "Tradition" (to use the dairyman's good word in "Fiddler on the Roof") is more often subject to attack than it is a subject to venerate. In some of these things
The spectrum of esophageal motility disorders.

When a patient presents with chest pain, the first order of business is likely to be differentiation of cardiac from noncardiac etiology. Recently, there has been increasing attention focused on disorders of esophageal motility. At least 10 discrete entities have now been identified. Their pathogenesis and diagnostic characteristics are discussed in this first segment of a two-part article.
A new clinch knot.

A new slip knot is introduced. It can be used as the beginning knot of a running suture and for ligation of pedicles where accessibility is limited. When used at the beginning of a running suture to close abdominal-wall fascia, the knot can be safely used with monofilament material such as polydioxanone. It locks readily, it takes less time to tie than numerous square knots, and it is not as bulky as other knots. The clinch knot has been found to be especially useful for securing pedicles in relatively inaccessible places such as the infundibulopelvic ligament when performing oophorectomy at the time of vaginal hysterectomy. During endoscopic surgery, the knot has been used as an alternative to the Endoloop and as the preferred knot to secure the Endo-knot.
The long and the short of it: new insights on sperm length help demystify the complexities of sexual selection.

Human sperm are approximately 6000th of a centimeter long, a small fraction of a man's total body length. By contrast, fruit fly (Drosophila spp.) sperm can reach nearly 6 cm, roughly twenty times the total length of their bodies. This dramatic variation in male reproductive biology is explored in a recent paper from the journal Nature. While the literature on sperm competition has for decades emphasized the fitness benefit males of many species accrue by producing small gametes in large quantities, understanding species whose males produce large gametes in small quantities while remaining competitive for fertilizations has until recently proven more difficult. Stefan Lupold and colleagues suggest a solution to this “big-sperm paradox.”
Astrocyte signaling and synaptic homeostasis II: Astrocyte–neuron interactions and clinical correlations

The transport and secretory functions of astrocytes have a major role in regulation of the neuronal microenvironment, synaptic homeostasis, neural network activity, local blood flow, and metabolism in the CNS. The first part of this review focused on the functional compartmentalization of astrocytes and their membrane transporters, ion channels, and receptors involved in these functions. This second part will focus on the secretory function of astrocytes, and the importance of astrocytic signaling and transport mechanisms in synaptic homeostasis, network activity, and metabolic support of active neurons.
MPTH-29CONNECTING MUTANT GENOTYPES TO ABERRANT TRANSCRIPTIONAL SIGNATURES ACROSS SERIAL SECTIONS OF A HUMAN TUMOR

Identifying the transcriptional consequences of mutations that cause tumors may reveal new targets for the development of cancer therapies. However, this task is complicated by the variability that characterizes tumors from different individuals, which arise from unique genetic backgrounds, consist of various cell types in different proportions, and often exhibit clonal heterogeneity. Here we present a novel strategy to connect mutant genotypes to aberrant transcriptional signatures within individual human tumors. This strategy deconstructs a tumor by extracting RNA from serial sections and comparing genome-wide gene coexpression relationships to control samples analyzed in a similar fashion. In parallel, quantitative genomic analysis of the same serial sections enables identification and mapping of clonal populations within the tumor. We apply this strategy to a single grade II human astrocytoma and identify tumor-specific transcriptional signatures. Genomic analysis reveals clonal heterogeneity, including a dominant clone marked by mutations in IDH1 and TP53. Expression patterns of the two largest tumor-specific transcriptional signatures are almost perfectly associated with the spatial distribution of the dominant clone and consist of genes that are activated or repressed within malignant cells and their microenvironment. Our experimental strategy offers an unbiased and personalized method for identifying aberrant transcriptional signatures that are associated with specific mutant genotypes in any solid tumor while preserving the complex cellular milieu of the tumor microenvironment. More generally, this strategy can reveal shared and distinct patterns of transcriptional organization between any pair of tissue samples, thereby facilitating novel comparisons of diverse biological systems in health and disease.
The Use of RBANS among Inpatient Forensic Monolingual Spanish Speakers.

Objective The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) has been shown to be an effective screener for detecting neurocognitive impairments in English speaking forensic psychiatric inpatients, but no studies have examined whether the RBANS would have the same utility among monolingual Spanish speaking inpatients. This study sought to examine RBANS performance, as well as risk factors (i.e., educational, neurological, and medical) influencing RBANS performance, in that particular population. Method The present study examined archival data collected from monolingual Spanish speaking inpatients (n = 34; mean age = 48.71, SD = 11.99; 85.3% men; 93.5% with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder). All participants must have RBANS data, and must not have a diagnosis of malingering or major neurocognitive disorder. Medical records of eligible participants were examined. Results Our findings indicated that most participants (75.8%) performed in the impaired range for the RBANS Total Index; however, the frequency of impaired performances varied on more specific RBANS indices (42.4%-72.7% of the participants). Although neurological and medical risk factors were not associated with RBANS Total Index performance (all p's = .26-.82), years of education appeared to be inversely associated with RBANS Total Index score (all p's = .04-.07). Conclusions These findings can serve as the first step in helping to define "normative" cognition among Spanish speaking forensic psychiatric inpatients. Such findings can reduce the likelihood of over-pathologizing performance and increase the likelihood that treatment goals will be better tailored to the patient's cognitive ability.
Online Adaptive Teleoperation via Incremental Intent Modeling

We present a task-independent framework that is amenable to long-duration teleoperation of a mobile robot in an unknown scenario, using incremental intent models. In particular, we focus on constructive teleoperation in performing an unknown task without knowledge of the environment, while allowing user to retain full control over the set of motions. We evaluate our method on a quadrotor flying in a lemniscate maneuver as a proof-of-concept experiment, and show reduced joystick entropy. We conclude with a discussion regarding our on-going investigation with this framework.
Sustainable Climate Change Adaptation in Indian Country

AbstractMuch of the academic literature and policy discussions about sustainable development and climate change adaptation focus on poor and developing nations, yet many tribal communities inside the United States include marginalized peoples and developing nations who face structural barriers to effectively adapt to climate change. There is a need to critically examine diverse climate change risks for indigenous peoples in the United States and the many structural barriers that limit their ability to adapt to climate change. This paper uses a sustainable climate adaptation framework to outline the context and the relationships of power and authority, along with different ways of knowing and meaning, to illustrate the underpinnings of some tribes’ barriers to sustainable climate adaptation. The background of those structural barriers for tribes is traced, and then the case of water rights and management at the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming is used to illustrate the interplay of policy, culture, climat...
Gulliver’s Travels: Silly, Silly Stories

This chapter analyzes Gulliver’s Travels (2010) to demonstrate how twenty-first century adaptors and writers recognize the artificial nature of “history” and ideology’s role in creating it. Starring Jack Black, this adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s novel displays history as a malleable narrative whose impact on the present is direct and profound, and consequently both potentially liberating or potentially destructive. The discussion focuses on several aspects of the film: its use of various forms of history to establish the idea that it is an infinitely renewable narrative; its recognition of the original novel, and cultural texts more broadly, as a culturally valuable historical artefact; and its use of space to create history, including its own narrative of the role of history and text.
The effects of water-based exercise on postural control in children with spastic cerebral palsy

Objective: Swimming and water-based exercise (WE) programs can provide vigorous physical activity in a fun and a motivating environment. The...
Mobile design usability guidelines for outdoor recreation and tourism

Information-intensive websites such as those for outdoor recreation and tourism present complex design considerations and issues that need to be researched for mobile access. To gain a better understanding of the expectations and desires of users regarding a mobile application for outdoor recreation, researchers created a mobile application prototype for the US Army Corps of Engineers, which was subsequently tested for usability at two recreation sites in Kentucky with local participants. We provide an overview of our methods and results, and best practices we have gleaned from our findings. Our research is especially applicable for mobile applications that require access to a large amount of information and for a broad audience, and we also hope our study encourages more research in these areas.
Increasing the Effectiveness of Conservation Messaging by Drawing Connections with Related Political, Social, and Economic Issues.

ABSTRACTThis article explores whether presenting conservation issues in a manner that makes connections with intertwined issues of violence, economics, social issues, and politics elicits more engagement than does presenting the conservation issues in isolation. Survey data were collected concerning African elephant poaching for ivory and the effect of the palm oil crisis on the orangutan. Some trends, particularly with respect to the elephant issue, support a stronger perceived importance of the issue when presented in a context with other global problems, but some trends support a perception that the conservation issue is actually of diminished importance when presented this way.
Uncovering reaction sequences on surfaces through graphical methods

ZStruct is a graph-based model that generates an ensemble of plausible reaction pathways starting from a given initial state, without requiring prior knowledge of reaction intermediates. In this article, a surface-reaction oriented implementation (S-ZStruct) is introduced for unimolecular and bimolecular reactions, including sampling of different binding sites and adsorption orientations. To test the unimolecular reaction generation ability and angle sampling feature of S-ZStruct, the propanoic acid to ethylene dissociation network is studied. Starting from multiple initial orientations of two key intermediates, multiple unique reaction pathways, each with different activation energies, were discovered. Atomic layer deposition of TiN on Si(100)-involving a challenging reaction mechanism-is also studied as an example of bimolecular reactions. In addition to locating a number of expected pathways, S-ZStruct found that the little-understood step of reduction of Ti(iv) to Ti(iii) likely occurs through β-hydride transfer between diamido ligands on neighboring Ti centers. These results suggest that S-ZStruct is a powerful tool for exploring surface chemistry, which will permit discoveries of reaction mechanisms in a wide variety of environments.
Examining Differences in Breath Alcohol Concentration (BrAC) Levels and Hazardous Drinking by Smoking Status Among a Sample of College Student Bar Patrons.

While the association between current smoking and alcohol consumption is well known, the relationship between social smoking and alcohol consumption is less understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between smoking status and two alcohol consumption measures in a sample of college student bar patrons. The data used in this study was collected in fall 2015. Study participants (N = 415) were college student bar patrons who agreed to complete an interview that assessed smoking status (i.e., regular smoker, social smoker, non-smoker) and two alcohol consumption measures: (1) breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) levels (using a handheld breathalyzer device) and (2) hazardous drinking scores (using the AUDIT-C scale). We conducted one-way ANOVAs with Bonferroni correction to examine differences in BrAC levels and hazardous drinking scores by smoking status. Among sample participants, 25.3% were regular smokers, 14.7% were social smokers, and 60.0% were non-smokers. Smokers had significantly higher BrAC levels than social smokers and non-smokers. Regular smokers also had significantly higher hazardous drinking scores than social smokers and non-smokers. The BrAC levels and hazardous drinking scores of social smokers and non-smokers were not significantly different. The drinking habits of social smokers reflected those of non-smokers and being a regular smoker was associated with higher drinking levels than the rest of the sample. Because of the association found between alcohol consumption and regular smoking, combining efforts to reduce these behaviors in college students might be advantageous.
Current management of childhood ptosis.

Purpose of reviewBlepharoptosis is a common problem encountered in the pediatric ophthalmology clinic. The presentation is obvious to both parents and referring physicians and often prompts urgent consultation. The current classification and management of childhood ptosis will be reviewed.Recent fin
Improving Process Agility with Process Repositories for Business Process Modeling

As organizations continue to manage growth by developing a diverse portfolio of products and services in semiautonomous business units, they become increasingly fragmented internally. Such fragmentation results in highly diversified business processes for performing similar activities, leading to reduced operational efficiency, coordination, and information sharing. Horizontal business process integration entails change in temporal and spatial dimensions to mitigate this problem and identify common processes to help achieve synergies. Current research on Business Process Management has not paid much attention to enabling this activity. Motivated by this concern, the primary objective of my dissertation is: “how horizontal integration of business processes is achieved by semiautonomous business units to realize the benefits of better operational efficiency, information sharing, and coordination?” Using a two-phased approach I address this objective. In the first phase I develop a process theory of BPM in horizontal integration using grounded theory methodology. Also, this study identifies the rich contextual knowledge that is necessary to understand and reuse business process fragments. This study was conducted in a very large U.S. corporation as a part of an initiative to identify core processes in a multi-billion dollar supply chain process. Based on the findings of the first phase, in the second phase I develop a decision support system to aid process designers to help find similarities in process models. The effectiveness of the system for improving performance in business process modeling activities is evaluated using an experiment.
Air Pollution Control Technology and Transferable Pollution Credits

This paper focuses on one of the essential elements in an effective air pollution management program — the technology available for air pollution control. It also examines one of the first fully operational air programs to employ transferable pollution credits, the U.S. Acid Rain Program. The intent is twofold: first, the paper attempts to provide an overview of available air pollution control technology and identifies sources of more in-depth information on these technologies. Second, it examines the allowance trading program, the name given to transferable pollution credits under the Acid Rain Program, in order to explore the impact of a market-based environmental management strategy on the deployment and cost of control technology. It concludes by suggesting that an effective program of transferable pollution credits can drive down the costs of competing technologies, stimulate innovation in these technologies, and increase the likelihood that each emission source will apply the most appropriate and cost-effective pollution control technology.
Evaluation of Mucosal and Systemic Vaccine Responses by Cyclic di-GMP (CDG)-adjuvanted Protein Subunit Vaccines

Intranasal administration of vaccine adjuvants directly deliver therapeutic agents to the lungs to induce potent lung mucosal immune responses. Cyclic di-GMP (CDG) is a promising mucosal vaccine adjuvant candidate capable of inducing protective immunity. This protocol describes an in vivo approach to induce and detect mucosal (lung) and systemic (blood and spleen) vaccine adjuvant responses of CDG. This protocol also includes the methods to detect both humoral and cellular immune responses of CDG adjuvant. Last, this protocol can be used to study other cyclic dinucleotides as mucosal vaccine adjuvants.
Causes of Pain Worldwide

Chronic pain is a global health epidemic recognized by multiple international organizations, and it poses a significant healthcare and economic burden in developed nations, middle-income, and low-income nations. Low back pain is the leading cause of chronic pain worldwide, and the prevalence of chronic pain is higher in the elderly population.
A Neogene Heritage: Conifer Distributions and Endemism in Mediterranean-Climate Ecosystems

2The five mediterranean-type climate (MTC) regions of the world, notable for their globally significant levels vascular plant diversity and endemism, fall into two groups. The Cape Region of South Africa and southwestern Australia are ancient and relatively climatically and tectonically stable landscapes with very high species richness relative to their area. This richness reflects a core of paleoendemic lineages as well as Neogene diversification. In contrast, California, the Mediterranean Basin, and central Chile are young climatically and tectonically dynamic landscapes that have developed significant floras in the Neogene. This relative pattern of species richness breaks down when only conifers are considered. Collectively the five MTC regions have a conifer flora of 122 species, almost 20% of the global total, and are rich in endemic conifers species. This diversity is heavily centered in California with 58 species (31 endemic) and the Mediterranean Basin with 40 species (32 endemic). The key to success of conifers in the Northern Hemisphere MTC regions has been the evolution of functional hydraulic traits associated with cold and/or drought tolerance, as exemplified by Neogene diversification in many clades of Pinaceae and Cupressaceae, and by ecophysiological traits that offer competitive advantages over angiosperms on oligotrophic soils. Podocarpaceae and many other Southern Hemisphere conifer lineages never developed equivalent traits and were poorly adapted to surviving increasingly cool and strongly seasonal climate regimes with associated aridity in the late Neogene. Because of extinctions, conifer lineages in the Southern Hemisphere today exhibit a significantly older distribution of divergence ages than their counterparts in the Northern Hemisphere and are home to many isolated relict taxa. This can be seen well in Chile and the Cape Region where there has been little or no Neogene diversification of conifers and a preponderance of relict Gondwanan lineages remain. Only Callitris in southwestern Australia among the Southern Hemisphere MTC floras has been able to evolve successful ecophysiological traits to adapt to aridity in a fire-prone environment and diversify. Traits of cold, drought, and low nutrient tolerance of Northern Hemisphere conifers, most notably in the Pinaceae, have led to their widespread introduction in Southern Hemisphere agroforestry
Coloring Racial Fluidity: How Skin Tone Shapes Multiracial Adolescents’ Racial Identity Changes

Research on racial fluidity has become increasingly common as researchers seek to understand the ways and reasons people change their racial identifications and/or are perceived differently over time and across contexts. Concurrently, researchers have deepened their investigations of the attitudinal and identity aspects of “color,” that is the ways that people’s racial and political attitudes vary based on skin tone among members of the same racial group, particularly black Americans. This paper attempts to blend research on racial fluidity and color into an exploration of adolescent racial identity formation. I examine the effect skin tone on the likelihood and type of racial identity change among multiracial black adolescents as they transition into adulthood. My results reveal that lighter skinned adolescents are more likely to change their identification to a non-black single race, while darker skinned adolescents are more likely to change their identification to black only.
Effect of a Family-Based Intervention on Nutrient Biomarkers, Desaturase Enzyme Activities, and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children with Overweight and Obesity.

Background Developing dietary strategies to prevent excess weight gain during childhood is critical to stem the current obesity epidemic and associated adverse cardiometabolic consequences. Objectives We aimed to assess how participation in a family-based weight-management intervention affected nutrient biomarkers and cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) in children (7-12 y old; n = 321) with baseline BMI z score (BMIz) ≥85th percentile. Methods This was a secondary analysis from a randomized-controlled, parallel-arm clinical trial. Families of children, recruited from a largely Hispanic population, were assigned to Standard Care (SC; American Academy of Pediatrics overweight/obesity recommendations), or SC + Enhanced Program (SC + EP; 8 skill-building cores, monthly support sessions, targeted diet/physical activity strategies). Nutrient biomarkers (plasma carotenoids, fat-soluble vitamins, RBC fatty acid profiles, desaturase indexes) and CMRFs were measured in archived blood samples collected at baseline and the end of the 1-y intervention. Results Children in both groups had significantly lower trans fatty acid and higher pentadecylic acid (15:0), PUFA n-3, and β-carotene concentrations, indicative of decreased hydrogenated fat and increased dairy, vegetable oil, fish, and fruit/vegetable intake, respectively. Similar changes were seen in de novo lipogenesis and desaturase indexes, as well as CMRFs (BMIz, lipid profile, inflammation, adipokines, liver enzymes) in both groups. Using multiple logistic regression, increase in carotenoids and decrease in endogenously synthesized SFA, MUFA, PUFA n-6, and desaturase indexes were associated with improvements in BMIz, blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose metabolism, inflammatory biomarkers, adipokines, and liver enzymes. Trans fatty acids were associated with improvements in BMIz, glucose metabolism, and leptin, with less favorable effects on inflammatory markers and adiponectin. Conclusions Providing targeted family-based behavioral counseling, as part of SC, can help overweight/obese children adopt healthier eating patterns that are associated with modest improvements in BMIz and several CMRFs. Limited additional benefit was observed with SC + EP. These results provide critical data to design subsequent interventions to increase the impact of family-based obesity prevention programs.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00851201.
Some ethics of deep brain stimulation

Abstract Case reports about patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) for various motor and psychiatric disorders—including Parkinson’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and treatment resistant depression—have sparked a vast literature in neuroethics. Questions about whether and how DBS changes the self have been at the fore. The present chapter brings these neuroethical debates into conversation with recent research in moral psychology. We begin in section “Clinical uses of DBS” by reviewing the recent clinical literature on DBS. In section “DBS and threats to identity,” we consider whether DBS poses a threat to personal identity. In section “Surveys of judgments of identity change” we argue for engagement with recent empirical work examining judgments of when identity changes. We conclude in section “Some ethics of DBS” by highlighting a range of ethical issues raised by DBS, including various cross-cultural considerations.
Enhanced transport of spin-orbit-coupled Bose gases in disordered potentials.

Anderson localization is a single-particle localization phenomena in disordered media that is accompanied by an absence of diffusion. Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) describes an interaction between a particle's spin and its momentum that directly affects its energy dispersion, for example, creating dispersion relations with gaps and multiple local minima. We show theoretically that combining one-dimensional spin-orbit coupling with a transverse Zeeman field suppresses the effects of disorder, thereby increasing the localization length and conductivity. This increase results from a suppression of backscattering between states in the gap of the SOC dispersion relation. Here, we focus specifically on the interplay of disorder from an optical speckle potential and SOC generated by two-photon Raman processes in quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates. We first describe backscattering by using a Fermi golden rule approach, and then numerically confirm this picture by solving the time-dependent one-dimensional Gross--Pitaevskii equation for a weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate with SOC and disorder. We find that on the tens of millisecond timescale of typical cold atom experiments moving in harmonic traps, initial states with momentum in the zero-momentum SOC gap evolve with negligible backscattering, while without SOC these same states rapidly localize.