cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The termitophilous Staphylinidae associated with Grallatotermes in Africa. Their taxonomy, behavior, and a survey of their glands of external secretion

Three new genera of Staphylinidae (Coleoptera), LEUCOPTOCHUS, MELANOPTOCHUS , and ( GRALLOPERINTHUS , are described from nests of the termite Grallatotermes africanus Harris. An additional genus, Idioptochus , is redescribed and illustrated. Three new species are described: Idioptochus boultoni (Mozambique), Melanoptochus alzadae (Tanzania), and Gralloperinthus sandsi (Mozambique). The relationships of these genera are documented and revised phylogenetic trees of the Old World Termitogastrina and Old World Perinthina are presented. Observations of begging behavior of some of the genera Leucoptochus and Idioptochus ) are presented. Observations of mutual palpations of termites and termitophiles, observations showing interest of the termites in selected areas of the termitophiles, and observations of the interactions of the termitophiles with the termite queen are also presented. All these observations indicate a high degree of integration into the termite society. A survey of the glands of external secretion is made. The type 2 gland cells seem to be those that the termites regularly lick while the glands in abdominal segment VII, VIII, and IX may be used as either appeasement or defense glands. Certain gland cells associated with the mouthparts, particularly the labrum and maxillae may function when the termitophiles are being fed by the termites. The relationships of the termitophiles show that Grallatotermes is distantly related to Nasutitermes and Trinervitermes , and somewhat closer but still distantly related to Leptomyxotermes and Fulleritermes .
The common cattle grub in cattle in southwestern Texas.

Common cattle grubs, Hypoderma lineaturn (de Villers), were observed in the backs of a small herd of Hereford cattle for 2 years at Camp Bullis, Texas, and for 4 years after the herd was moved to Kerrville, Texas. In both locations, grubs were present in the backs of cattle in the fall-winter season: at Camp Bullis, grubs were found first in November; at Kerrville, grubs were found first in September and in peak numbers in November-December. The average number of grubs in the herd varied from year to year, a reflection of the differences in activity and/or populations of common cattle grub adults and in the susceptibility of the cattle. At Camp Bullis, most of the herd were older cows; at Kerrville, most were 1-4 years old. The average number of grubs in cattle was related to age as follows: calves 19.8, yearlings 27.5, 2- to 5-year-olds 14.0-15.1, and cows (estimated 4-15 years old) found 5.2. No significant decrease or increase in susceptibility of cattle to infestation by cattle grubs occurred the year following the year in which grubs were controlled in cattle with systemic insecticides.
Ordinary kriging as a tool to estimate historical daily streamflow records

Abstract. Efficient and responsible management of water resources relies on accurate streamflow records. However, many watersheds are ungaged, limiting the ability to assess and understand local hydrology. Several tools have been developed to alleviate this data scarcity, but few provide continuous daily streamflow records at individual streamgages within an entire region. Building on the history of hydrologic mapping, ordinary kriging was extended to predict daily streamflow time series on a regional basis. Pooling parameters to estimate a single, time-invariant characterization of spatial semivariance structure is shown to produce accurate reproduction of streamflow. This approach is contrasted with a time-varying series of variograms, representing the temporal evolution and behavior of the spatial semivariance structure. Furthermore, the ordinary kriging approach is shown to produce more accurate time series than more common, single-index hydrologic transfers. A comparison between topological kriging and ordinary kriging is less definitive, showing the ordinary kriging approach to be significantly inferior in terms of Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiencies while maintaining significantly superior performance measured by root mean squared errors. Given the similarity of performance and the computational efficiency of ordinary kriging, it is concluded that ordinary kriging is useful for first-order approximation of daily streamflow time series in ungaged watersheds.
Survey of infecitous status of HCV in drug users in Dali

Objective:To understand the infection rate of HCV in drug users and figure out the risk factors related to HCV infection to provide basis for prevention and control in the particular targeted population.Methods:The epidemiological methods of serum an d the enzyme linked immunosorhent assay(ELISA)were applied to exam ine the anti-HCV in the blood serum of 206 drug users.Results:Among 206 drug users,male accounted for 75.73% and female accounted for 24.27%.The positive rate of anti-HCV was 57.77%,and the rate in infection drug users 83.59% which was significanly higher than that in ornl administration drug users(15.38%)(χ2=92.43,P0.01),The HCV infection rate of drug users(94.38%) sharing injection equipment was significant higher than that of drug users(58.97%) without sharing injection equipment(χ2=24.79,P0.01).Conclusion:Drug users are an important infecting resource of HCV and related departments should strengthen the management of drug users to prevent the dissemination of hepatitis C from them.
ROBUST CONTROL OF ENERGY MOMENTUM WHEELS SUPPORTED ON ACTIVE MAGNETIC BEARINGS USING ℋ∞ LOOP-SHAPING AND μ-SYNTHESIS

Abstract The main objective of this research is to improve the feasibility of Energy Momentum Wheels for satellite systems through the development of robust LTI and gain-scheduled controllers for high-speed flywheel rotors supported on active magnetic bearings. A hybrid combination between ℋ ∞ loop-shaping and μ -synthesis is used in this paper to design controllers. In order to reduce the computational complexity of the control designs and the order of the synthesized controllers, a method is devised in this paper to reduce the number of states that depend on the rotor speed. The rotor speed is treated as uncertainty in an LTI controller design and is used as a scheduling variable for a gain-scheduled framework. The success of the methodology used is demonstrated through numerical simulation and experimental results.
Why Babe Ruth Never Hit for the Cycle, and Other Hitting for the Cycle Tidbits

Babe Ruth is arguably the greatest player to ever swing a bat. His nicknames include the Bambino, Sultan of Swat, Big Bam, Behemoth of Bust, Colossus of Clout, and Maharajah of Mash. There is an ol...
Growth of Staphylococcus aureus on Beef Steaks as Influenced by Type of Packaging1,2

Beef loin steaks were inoculated with 105 cells of Staphylococcus aureus /cm2 in two separate trials to determine the effects of different packaging treatments upon the organism's growth. Each trial utilized 72 samples which were randomly assigned to four packaging treatments: (1) over-wrapped in oxygen-permeable film; (2) vacuum packaged; (3) packaged in barrier bags flushed with a 60% CO2 : 40% O2 gas atmosphere then evacuated and sealed; and (4) packaged in barrier bags filled with a 60%CO2 : 40% O2 gas atmosphere. In each treatment group, 12 samples were inoculated with S. aureus while 6 were uninoculated and used as controls. All samples were displayed under simulated retail conditions at 10 C and enumerated for S. aureus after 3, 6 and 9 days. Numbers of S. aureus remained relatively constant for all treatments throughout the 9 day period. Results from a comparison of treatments for Trials I and II were variable; however, no significant treatment effects were found when data from both trials were pooled.
Dissecting Growth Factors Production in Patients with Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia (AMM).

Growth factors including Transforming Growth Factor-β 1 ( TGF- β1), Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) and Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) have been implicated as responsible for bone marrow fibrosis in AMM. Although TGF-β1 and FGF have been demonstrated to be increased in blood hematopoietic progenitor cells, a direct measurement of the production of these growth factors by megakaryocytes has not been performed. The current study was devised to study the production of these growth factors production directly in megakaryocytes and monocytes of AMM patients and correlate these with the clinical features. Twelve patients with AMM and 11 normal healthy volunteers used as controls, were studied. CD 34 + cells and CD 14+ cells were obtained from blood mononuclear cells by MACS Progenitor cell isolation kits ( Miltenyi Biotec, CA). The megakaryocytic (CD41+) cells were then obtained by growing the isolated blood CD34 + for 10 days in Iscove Modified Dulbecco Medium with Stem Cell Growth Factor and Thrombopoietin. The mRNA levels of TGF-β1, FGF and PDGF in the isolated megakaryocytes and blood monocytes were assayed by Real-Time RT-PCR. The results were as shown in Table 1. Among the AMM patients, a patient with prior history of Polycythemia Vera (PV) and a patient with Essential Throbocythemia (ET) were found to have elevated PDGF and FGF expression in their monocytes but the expression of growth factors was not elevated in their megakaryocytes.. These results demonstrate that megakaryocytes are the main source of growth factors responsible for marrow fibrosis. The study also suggests that growth factors produced by monocytes may be responsible for fibrosis in AMM patients with a prior history of PV or ET. Table-1 | | Megakaryocytes | Monocytes | |:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- | --------- | | * Denotes number of patients with elevated growth factor levels as compared with controls. ** Denotes numbers of patients tested. | | TGF- β 1 | 8\*/10\* | 0/10 | | PDGF | 8/10 | 3/7 | | FGF | 6/10 | 2/7 |
Utilizing Abdominal Sonography in the Diagnosis of Ascites Caused by Heart Failure: A Patient With Cirrhosis:

Abdominal sonography is the most common imaging method used in the detection of ascites. In the presence of cirrhosis, the most likely etiology of ascites is portal hypertension, secondary to the c...
A Privacy-Security Model of Mobile Cloud Computing Applications

The increasing use of mobile devices has been accompanied by the development of mobile cloud computing applications (MCC apps), which are multi-platform and send the users’ data to the cloud. Despite their benefits, MCC apps raise privacy concerns because the users’ information is sent to remote locations where users lack direct control. This paper studies predictors of individuals’ decisions to disclose personal information to MCC apps and proposes a privacy-security model. Analyses of data collected through an online survey with 385 responses find perceived privacy concerns to be the main inhibitor and perceived usefulness and perceived security to be the main enablers. Perceived ease of use does not directly affect the disclosing of information to MCC apps and improper access does not impact privacy concerns. Results also suggest the surprising relationships between perceived security, privacy policy, and perceived usefulness. The paper’s theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Nuclear receptors in cancer — uncovering new and evolving roles through genomic analysis

Nuclear receptors (NRs) have historically been at the forefront of cancer research, where they are known to act as critical regulators of disease. They also serve as biomarkers for tumour subclassification and targets for hormone therapy. However, most tumour types express extensive repertoires of NRs, whose interactions provide multiple paths for disease progression and offer potentially untapped mechanisms for therapeutic interventions. Recently, next-generation sequencing technologies have provided genome-wide insights into the complex interplay of NR transcriptional networks and their contribution to the development and progression of cancer. These findings have altered the traditional understanding of NR activities in oncogenesis.
Prioritizing sites for conservation based on similarity to historical baselines and feasibility of protection

The concept of shifting baselines in conservation science implies advocacy for the use of historical knowledge to inform these baselines but does not address the feasibility of restoring sites to those baselines. In many regions, conservation feasibility varies among sites due to differences in resource availability, statutory power, and land-owner participation. We used zooarchaeological records to identify a historical baseline of the freshwater mussel community's composition before Euro-American influence at a river-reach scale (i.e., a kilometer stretch of river that is abiotically similar) in the Leon River of central Texas (U.S.A.). We evaluated how the community reference position and the feasibility of conservation might enable identification of sites where conservation actions would preserve historically representative communities and be likely to succeed. We devised a conceptual model that incorporated community information and landscape factors to link the best conservation areas to potential cost and conservation benefits. Using fuzzy ordination, we identified modern mussel beds that were most like the historical baseline. We then quantified housing density and land use near each river reach identified to estimate feasibility of habitat restoration. Using our conceptual framework, we identified reaches of high conservation value (i.e., contain the best mussel beds) and where restoration actions would be most likely to succeed. Reaches above Lake Belton were most similar in species composition and relative abundance to zooarchaeological sites. A subset of these mussel beds occurred in locations where conservation actions appeared most feasible. Our results show how to use zooarchaeological data (biodiversity data often readily available) and estimates of conservation feasibility to inform conservation priorities at a local spatial scale.
Sprinkler Protection of Exterior Glazing

Previous investigations made into protecting glazing assemblies with dedicated sprinklers included protecting wide windows with multiple sprinklers, but they did not address protecting exterior glazing assemblies from external fire exposure with sprinklers. In addition to a summary of the previous work on protecting glazing assemblies with dedicated sprinklers, this paper describes the test set-up and discusses the test results that led to a sprinkler system recommendation for protecting exterior glazing assemblies from external fire exposures.
Modern Accelerator Technologies for Geographic Information Science

Geographic Information System (GIS) enables heterogeneous geospatial data integration, processing, analysis, and visualization. With a variety of software tools, GIS makes substantial contribution to the advancements of science, engineering and decision-making in geospatial-related natural and social sciences, public safety and emergency response, spatial intelligence analytics and military operations, ecological and environmental science and engineering, and public health. Geospatial data represents real-world geographic features or objects using either vector or raster data models. In the vector model, features are captured as discrete geometric objects and represented as points, lines or polygons with non-spatial attributes. In the raster model, features are represented on a grid, or as a multidimensional matrix, including satellite imagery and other remotely sensed data.
Relativistic Oscillations of Electrons and Protons in Laser Fields and Collective Effects Stimulating Pair Production

The oscillation energy of electrons and protons in laser fields of high intensity resulting in relativistic motion is calculated, and used to discuss the thresholds and efficiencies of pair production with the well known formulae of the quantum electrodynamics. The relativistic values of the cut-off density and of the collision frequency, and the relativistic optical constants are derived to find the strong increase of the effective laser field strengths in plasmas due to collective effects near the cut-off density. If plasma densities below that of the solid state should be used, only the CO2 laser could produce proton-antiproton pairs at intensities of 1018W/cm2. Neodymium glass lasers should need densities of nearly 100 times of the solid state. Electron-positionspairs should be produced by neodymium glass laser pulses of 4x1016W/cm2 of 0.1 nsec. duration. The efficient production of antihydrogen for triggering micro-explosions of solid DT or pure deuterium for energy production is discussed.
Das ethische Grundsollen

Einige Beispiele fur ethisches Grundsollen seien vorausgeschickt: Der Mensch soll ehrlich sein, anstandig handeln, gerecht und sachlich urteilen, Gutes mit Gutem vergelten. Handelt es sich dabei nur um eine schon bekannte Unterart des idealen Sollens, um ideal-ethisches Freiverhaltenssollen? Sicher liegt es dabei auch vor. Aber dabei bleibt es nicht. Das allgemeine Sollen appellierte noch nicht an das freitatige Subjekt. Dieses konnte sich ihm gegenuber gleichgultig, konstatierend, kontemplativ verhalten. Das entspricht aber nicht der neuen Situation. Vielmehr wird die Person, anders als beim Vollkommenheitssollen, von diesem Grundsollen viel tiefgreifender beruhrt.
Living on the edge: Assessing the economic impacts of potential disability benefit reductions for Social Security disability beneficiaries.

BACKGROUND: Although Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are an important source of support to many people with disabilities, modifications to programs are under consideration given current and projected governmental fiscal constraints. OBJECTIVE:To provide data about levels of safety net cross-participation among working age SSDI and SSI program participants and to estimate how changes to disability benefit levels might influence the economic security of beneficiaries. METHODS: Data from the 2012 Current Population Survey is used to describe income and resources, program participation, and the share of family income and supplemental poverty measure resources received through public disability benefits. Hypothetical benefit reductions are estimated to assess economic impacts on the beneficiary population. RESULTS:Cross-participation is high among beneficiaries. Reductions in disability benefit income would have the largest impact on those beneficiaries who are participating in other safety net programs, but may also influence the movement of a portion of the remaining beneficiaries onto additional programs. CONCLUSION: Any modification of SSA disability programs will require careful consideration of how other public programs and services, including those provided within the field of vocational rehabilitation, can best support the economic security of persons with disabilities.
The ileal pouch operation for ulcerative colitis.

The ileal pouch–anal anastomosis has gained a primary role in the surgical treatment of chronic ulcerative colitis. The rationale for this operation is that patients are cured of their disease and a permanent abdominal stoma is avoided. Technical modifications in the operation have focused on restoring reservoir capacity and preserving anal sphincter function, thus facilitating fecal continence. The physiologic changes following ileal pouch–anal anastomosis remain incompletely understood. Most patients, however, lead a normal lifestyle and are satisfied with the operation.
Temporal Logic (TL)-Based Autonomy for Smart Manufacturing Systems

Abstract Smart-Manufacturing systems are increasingly being used to perform complex tasks on the factory floor. Most often, these systems have hard-coded cases to achieve a specific set of actions -or to assure the safety of the operations. The hard-coding makes the use complicated to re-deploy a system for different tasks. Therefore, it is necessary to have a flexible framework, which can generate a plan based on an intuitive description with system constraints, while satisfying all safety conditions. In this work, we propose Linear Temporal Logic (LTL)-based autonomy framework for smart-manufacturing systems. Specifically, we describe a general technique for formulating problems using LTL specifications. The use of LTL enables us to specify a manufacturing scenario (e.g. assembly), along with system constraints, as well as assured autonomy. Based on the given LTL formulation, a safe solution satisfying all constraints can be generated using a satisfiability solver. To eliminate the exhaustive and exponential nature of the solver, we reduced the exploration space with a divide and conquer approach in a receding horizon, which brings dramatic improvements in time and enables our solution for real-world applications. Our experimental evaluations indicated that our solution scales linearly as the problem complexity increases. We showcased the feasibility of our approach by integrating TLbased autonomy with the simulations of Gantry robot in Siemens NX Mechatronics Concept Designer and TIA Portal (PLCSIM Advanced) for Siemens S7-1500 TCPU connected to Sinamics drives.
Microbial siderophore enterobactin promotes mitochondrial iron uptake and development of the host via interaction with ATP synthase

Summary Elucidating the benefits of individual microbiota-derived molecules in host animals is important for understanding the symbiosis between humans and their microbiota. The bacteria-secreted enterobactin (Ent) is an iron scavenging siderophore with presumed negative effects on hosts. However, the high prevalence of Ent-producing commensal bacteria in the human gut raises the intriguing question regarding a potential host mechanism to beneficially use Ent. We discovered an unexpected and striking role of Ent in supporting growth and the labile iron pool in C. elegans. We show that Ent promotes mitochondrial iron uptake and does so, surprisingly, by binding to the ATP synthase α subunit, which acts inside of mitochondria and independently of ATP synthase. We also demonstrated the conservation of this mechanism in mammalian cells. This study reveals a distinct paradigm for the “iron tug of war” between commensal bacteria and their hosts and an important mechanism for mitochondrial iron uptake and homeostasis.
Correction to: Eyes, More Than Other Facial Features, Enhance Real-World Donation Behavior

In Fig. 2 of the aforementioned article the mean value of the “chair” condition is incorrectly displayed as 0.011 when it should be 0.008. All statistics in the text are correct, and the conclusions remain the same.
Machine learning in materials design and discovery: Examples from the present and suggestions for the future

Much is being currently written about machine learning applied to materials science, but, what is machine learning? It is certainly not physics, chemistry, or materials science, in which case how do these sciences enter? In this Research Update the authors examine what machine learning is and is not, review several applications of machine learning methods for predicting new materials, noting some of the cases where the predictions have been experimentally validated, and illustrate the spectrum of applications possible. The emphasis is on the broader picture where they discuss some newer methods and more importantly reference their successes. Thus, the paper looks more towards the future than to the past, sharing some of the lessons the authors have learned from their own experience in the field.
Notes Towards a Performative Theory of Assembly, by Judith Butler: (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015) 256 pp., US $15.75, ISBN-10: 067498398X

One of the pleasures of reading Notes Towards a Performative Theory of Assembly is seeing Judith Butler in conversation (or perhaps constellation) with herself. Many issues that Butler has written ...
Use of Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) Special Interim Audit (SIA) to Design a 1:1 Physician Guided Review Process with Data Control Coordinators (DCCs)

Background Final Transplant Center-Specific Survival Reports are published annually by CIBMTR to display center's 1-year expected and actual survival. CIBMTR Data Audits are conducted every 4-years to determine a center's error rate by evaluating accuracy and completeness of data reported. Insurance contracts and accreditations are directly affect by these reports. Our center aimed to create a process improvement (PI) procedure to ensure highly accurate data was submitted to CIBMTR by incorporating BMT physician reviews with DCCs using a checklist. Method Firstly, 100% of data submitted to CIBMTR within the past 5 years (CY 12-17), were internally audited. Internal audit revealed common errors in comorbidity index, Karnofsky Performance Status, and disease stage. Secondly, our center voluntarily requested a CIBMTR SIA to provide objective validation of forms accuracy. Results CIBMTR SIA demonstrated an overall passing score, showcasing a marked improvement in comparison to previous audit (Figure 1). The common errors influencing survival outcomes were used to design Pre-Transplant Essential Data (TED) and Post-TED checklists (Figure 2). Physician 1:1 data reviews were conducted bi-monthly to corroborate data and/or to resolve discrepancies with DCCs. Following implementation of pre-TED/post-TED checklist and physician 1:1 reviews our center met CIBMTR's expected 1-year outcomes survival, fulfilling insurance contract(s), and accreditation(s) requirements (Figure 3). Conclusion Internal and external data audits led to the creation of the Pre-TED/Post-TED checklists. Implementation of physician 1:1 reviews positively impacted the data accuracy of CIBMTR data submitted. In conclusion, data accuracy improvements can potentially impact reported survival outcomes.
Precision medicine in multiple myeloma: are we there yet?

Multiple myeloma (MM), a plasma cell malignancy, is the second most prevalent hematological cancer with an estimated 30,770 new cases and 12,770 people projected to die from the disease in 2018 [1]...
Trajectory of neurological examination abnormalities in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode psychosis population: a 1 year follow-up study.

BACKGROUND Neurological Examination Abnormalities (NES) are quantified by measuring subtle, partially localizable (cerebello-thalamo-prefrontal cortical circuit) and heritable neurological signs comprising sensory integration, motor coordination and complex motor sequencing that are associated with first-episode psychosis (FEP). A few studies have evaluated NES longitudinally and as a predictor for diagnostic and response classification, but these studies have been confounded, underpowered and divergent. We examined (1) baseline and longitudinal NES differences between diagnostic and year 1 response groups; (2) if NES predicts diagnostic and response groups and (3) relationships between clinical variables and NES measures in antipsychotic-naive FEP. METHODS NES and clinical measures were obtained for FEP-schizophrenia (FEP-SZ, n = 232), FEP non-schizophrenia (FEP-NSZ, n = 117) and healthy controls (HC, n = 204). Response groups with >25% improvement in average year 1 positive and negative symptomatology scores were classified as responsive (n = 97) and <25% improvement as non-responsive (n = 95). Analysis of covariance, NES trajectory analysis and logistic regression models assessed diagnostic and response group differences. Baseline and longitudinal NES relationships with clinical variables were performed with Spearman correlations. Data were adjusted for age, sex, race, socioeconomic status and handedness. RESULTS Cognitive perceptual (COGPER) score was better than repetitive motor (REPMOT) at differentiating FEP-SZ from FEP-NSZ and distinguishing responders from non-responders. We identified significant group-specific associations between COGPER and worse GAF, positive and negative symptomatology and some of these findings persisted at 1-year assessment. CONCLUSION NES are an easy to administer, bedside-elicited, endophenotypic measure and could be a cost-effective clinical tool in antipsychotic-naive FEP.
Cross-Validation of the VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised and its Short Forms

The VIA Inventory of Strengths is an extremely popular index of the 24 character strengths that comprise the VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues. The inventory has recently been e...
Tumor Analyses Reveal Squamous Transformation and Off-Target Alterations As Early Resistance Mechanisms to First-line Osimertinib in EGFR-Mutant Lung Cancer

Purpose: Patterns of resistance to first-line osimertinib are not well-established and have primarily been evaluated using plasma assays, which cannot detect histologic transformation and have differential sensitivity for copy number changes and chromosomal rearrangements. Experimental Design: To characterize mechanisms of resistance to osimertinib, patients with metastatic EGFR-mutant lung cancers who received osimertinib at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and had next-generation sequencing performed on tumor tissue before osimertinib initiation and after progression were identified. Results: Among 62 patients who met eligibility criteria, histologic transformation, primarily squamous transformation, was identified in 15% of first-line osimertinib cases and 14% of later-line cases. Nineteen percent (5/27) of patients treated with first-line osimertinib had off-target genetic resistance (2 MET amplification, 1 KRAS mutation, 1 RET fusion, and 1 BRAF fusion) whereas 4% (1/27) had an acquired EGFR mutation (EGFR G724S). Patients with squamous transformation exhibited considerable genomic complexity; acquired PIK3CA mutation, chromosome 3q amplification, and FGF amplification were all seen. Patients with transformation had shorter time on osimertinib and shorter survival compared with patients with on-target resistance. Initial EGFR sensitizing mutation, time on osimertinib treatment, and line of therapy also influenced resistance mechanism that emerged. The compound mutation EGFR S768 + V769L and the mutation MET H1094Y were identified and validated as resistance mechanisms with potential treatment options. Conclusions: Histologic transformation and other off-target molecular alterations are frequent early emerging resistance mechanisms to osimertinib and are associated with poor clinical outcomes. See related commentary by Piotrowska and Hata, p. 2441
Advancements in understanding the role of lysophospholipids and their receptors in lung disorders including bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Abstract Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a devastating chronic neonatal lung disease leading to serious adverse consequences. Nearly 15 million babies are born preterm accounting for >1 in 10 births globally. The aetiology of BPD is multifactorial and the survivors suffer lifelong respiratory morbidity. Lysophospholipids (LPL), which include sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), and lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) are both naturally occurring bioactive lipids involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes such as cell survival, death, proliferation, migration, immune responses and vascular development. Altered LPL levels have been observed in a number of lung diseases including BPD, which underscores the importance of these signalling lipids under normal and pathophysiological situations. Due to the paucity of information related to LPLs in BPD, most of the ideas related to BPD and LPL are speculative. This article is intended to promote discussion and generate hypotheses, in addition to the limited review of information related to BPD already established in the literature.
9 – Communications Systems

Publisher Summary Communications systems are among the most important I/O systems in a microcomputer. The microcomputer has many uses in communications systems, and a communications system is often a significant part of a microcomputer. This chapter examines techniques for digital communications of computer data. The microcomputer communicates with keyboards, displays, and typewriters, as well as with remote-control stations and other microcomputers, using the universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) protocol―the simplest and most widely used protocol. The chapter focuses its attention on a microcomputer's communications subsystem- the part that interfaces slower I/O devices like typewriters and printers to the microcomputer; it is often a UART. Because of their popularity in this application, UARTs have been used for a variety of communications functions, including remote-control and multiple-computer intercommunications. The microcomputer can be in a large computer system and it has to communicate with other parts of the system using the synchronous data link control (SDLC) protocol. It may be in a laboratory and have to communicate with instrumentation on an IEEE-488 bus. It may have to talk with other systems in a different protocol.
Dissolved organic carbon production and flux under long-term litter manipulations in a Pacific Northwest old-growth forest

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux is an important mechanism to convey soil carbon (C) from aboveground organic debris (litter) to deeper soil horizons and can influence the formation of stable soil organic C compounds. The magnitude of this flux depends on both infiltration and DOC production rates which are functions of the climatic, soil, topographic and ecological characteristics of a region. Aboveground litter quantity and quality was manipulated for 20 years in an old-growth Douglas fir forest under six treatments to study relationships among litter inputs, DOC production and flux, and soil C dynamics. DOC concentrations were measured at two depths using tension lysimeters, and a hydrologic model was created to quantify water and DOC flux through the soil profile. DOC concentrations ranged from 3.0–8.0 and 1.5–2.5 mg C/L among treatments at 30 and 100 cm below the soil surface, respectively. Aboveground detrital inputs did not have a consistent positive effect on soil solution DOC; the addition of coarse woody debris increased soil solution DOC by 58% 30 cm belowground, while doubling the mass of aboveground leaf litter decreased DOC concentrations by 30%. We suggest that high-quality leaf litter accelerated microbial processing, resulting in a “priming” effect that led to the lower concentrations. Annual DOC flux into groundwater was small (2.7–3.7 g C/m2/year) and accounts for < 0.1% of estimated litter C at the site. Therefore, direct DOC loss from surface litter to groundwater is relatively negligible to the soil C budget. However, DOC flux into the soil surface was much greater (73–210 g C/m2/year), equivalent to 1.4–2.4% of aboveground litter C. Therefore, DOC transport is an important source of C to shallow soil horizons.
Progress in metal-supported solid oxide electrolysis cells: A review

Abstract There is increasing global interest in using solid oxide electrochemical cells to perform electrolysis. Metal-supported solid oxide electrolysis cells (MS-SOEC) are being developed with stainless steel and Ni-based supports. The use of porous metal to support the electrochemically-active layers is anticipated to improve mechanical strength, decrease cost, and increase tolerance to aggressive operating conditions, including rapid thermal excursions. This review summarizes and analyzes the previous decade of progress in MS-SOEC development, and identifies critical needs for future work.
Direct forecasting of global and spatial model parameters from dynamic data

Abstract Direct forecasting has recently been proposed as a method for uncertainty quantification in non-linear inverse problems. The method directly forecasts a desired future response without the need for full model inversion. The method has been successfully applied to a range of subsurface field cases, such as groundwater, shallow and deep geothermal and oil/gas predictions. In this paper, we extend the framework of direct forecasting to do what it was avoided to do in the first place: model inversion. The idea is simple: replace the prediction variables with the model variables. Two challenges now occur: the model dimensions, in subsurface realm at least, are much higher than data variables. This is the case in the paper where we consider dynamic data and high-dimensional spatial models for geological structure and properties. Secondly, the regression applied in the original method, being a linear regression of prediction variables on transformed data, is unlikely to lead to models that match field observations. We address these challenges first by adding a variable selection method (through global sensitivity analysis) for the model space. More specifically, we select those model components that are most sensitive to data variables only. The linear assumption is mitigated by a sequential updating of sensitive model variables. We illustrate our method on a Libyan oil reservoir with complex geological uncertainty involving structural, petrophysical and fluid model parameters.
Genetically engineered myeloid cells rebalance the core immune suppression program in metastasis

Summary Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, and greater knowledge of the metastatic microenvironment is necessary to effectively target this process. Microenvironmental changes occur at distant sites prior to clinically detectable metastatic disease; however, the key niche regulatory signals during metastatic progression remain poorly characterized. Here, we identify a core immune suppression gene signature in pre-metastatic niche formation that is expressed predominantly by myeloid cells. We target this immune suppression program by utilizing genetically engineered myeloid cells (GEMys) to deliver IL-12 to modulate the metastatic microenvironment. Our data demonstrate that IL12-GEMy treatment reverses immune suppression in the pre-metastatic niche by activating antigen presentation and T cell activation, resulting in reduced metastatic and primary tumor burden and improved survival of tumor-bearing mice. We demonstrate that IL12-GEMys can functionally modulate the core program of immune suppression in the pre-metastatic niche to successfully rebalance the dysregulated metastatic microenvironment in cancer.
Personalized Nutrition and Lifestyle Interventions in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Case Report.

Background: A 63-year-old male with a four year history of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) safely and successfully integrated personalized nutrition and lifestyle modifications to improve the symptomatic outcome of his SLE. Case/Intervention: The client presented with fatigue, acid reflux, joint pain, brain fog, and skin rashes. He safely used a variety of nutritional interventions and supplementation, including dietary improvements, omega-3 fish oils, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), prebiotics, intermittent fasting and stress reduction. His symptoms decreased significantly or disappeared over four years of nutritional interventions. Conclusion: This case demonstrates the safety and potential usefulness of personalized nutrition, stress reduction techniques and targeted supplementation in helping decrease symptoms of SLE. Our client’s energy levels and overall performance improved, skin rashes and acid reflux resolved, joint pain and stiffness decreased, and brain fog gradually lessened over the four years he was in our care.
Geometrical defect detection for additive manufacturing with machine learning models

Abstract This study proposed a scheme based on Machine Learning (ML) models to detect geometric defects of additively manufactured objects. The ML models are trained with synthetic 3D point clouds with defects and then applied to detect defects in actual production. Using synthetic 3D point clouds rather than experimental data could save a huge amount of training time and costs associated with many prints for each design. Besides distance differences of individual points between source and target point clouds, this scheme uses a new concept called “patch” to capture macro-level information about nearby points for ML training and implementation. Numerical comparisons of prediction results on experimental data with different shapes showed that the proposed scheme outperformed the existing Z-difference method in the literature. Five ML methods (Bagging of Trees, Gradient Boosting, Random Forest, K-nearest Neighbors and Linear Supported Vector Machine) were compared under various conditions, such as different point cloud densities and defect sizes. Bagging and Random Forest were found the two best models regarding predictability; and the right patch size was found to be at 20. The proposed ML-based scheme is applicable to in-situ defect detection during additive manufacturing with the aid of a proper 3D data acquisition system.
Investigating Factors Affecting Pistachio Exports in Iran during 2001-2019

The rate of pistachio export in Iran has decreased since 2010 onwards while the United States exports has risen sharply at the same time period. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the factors which may affect negatively on exports of Iran’s pistachio. For this purpose, the macroeconomic variables and pistachio exports data of the desired period were used. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model was used for this study. The results indicated that economic growth, appreciation of the exchange rate and bank facilities remained positive and had significant effect, while liquidity growth has a significant negative effect on pistachio export. The coefficient of ECM (-1) for pistachio is -0.0642. The low amount of error correction coefficient indicated the low rate of adjustment in pistachio exports. Only 6% of the imbalance error of pre- period adjusted in each period. Therefore, solely relying on short-run policies will not be beneficial. Based on the obtained result, it is recommended to provide financial resources for pistachio producers and exporters, domestic liquidity should be directed toward productive economic activities, domestic inflation should be deflated and adjusted with exchange rate and real appreciation of the exchange rate, should be considered by improved exchange market management.
Demographic Disparities amongst Patients Receiving Carpal Tunnel Release: A Retrospective Review of 92,921 Patients

Despite strong evidence supporting the efficacy of surgical release for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), previous studies have suggested that surgery is not performed equally amongst races and sex. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential socioeconomic disparities in the surgical treatment for CTS. Methods Adult patients (≥18) were identified in the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database from 2011 to 2018 by diagnosis code for CTS. All carpal tunnel surgery procedures in the outpatient setting were identified using Current Procedural Terminology codes. Using a unique identifier for each patient, the diagnosis data were linked to procedure data. A multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of patient factors on the likelihood of receiving surgery. Results In total, 92,921 patients with CTS were included in the analysis and 30,043 (32.3%) went on to have surgery. Older age and workers compensation insurance had increased the odds of surgery. Feminine gender had lower odds of surgery. Asian, African American, and other races had decreased odds of surgery relative to the White race. Patients of Hispanic ethnicity had decreased odds of surgery compared with non-Hispanic ethnicity. Patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or self-pay insurance were all less likely to undergo surgery relative to private insurance. Higher social deprivation was also associated with decreased odds of surgery. Conclusions Surgical treatment of CTS is unequally distributed amongst gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Additional research is necessary to identify the cause of these disparities to improve equity in patient care.
Changes in axonal transport and glial proteins during optic nerve regeneration in Xenopus laevis.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses several systems studied with a variety of surgical and biochemical paradigms, where potential key proteins correlated with optic nerve regeneration have been identified. Some of these proteins are likely to be involved in axon outgrowth and target recognition during the ontogeny of the visual system. In the lower vertebrate visual system, changes in specific proteins during regeneration occur in retinal ganglion cells in the eye and also glial cells in the nerve and can be modulated by neuronal contacts with cells in the tectum. Only a few years ago, it was uncertain that any biochemical changes in specific proteins would be detected in regenerating nerves; however, it is now clear that a number of changes do occur. While these changes may not necessarily represent new proteins that are unique to growing nerves, they nevertheless confirm at the biochemical level that a subset of specific proteins are modulated during regeneration and thus are likely to play important roles in nerve regrowth and response to trauma. The chapter also describes the characterization of phases of axonally transported proteins in Xenopus laevis optic nerves.
Finite antenna array analysis with a unit-cell domain decomposition method

This paper describes an efficient iterative domain decomposition based finite element technique for modeling repetitive antenna arrays. The scheme leverages the repeating nature of an array to minimize the setup time for the domain matrices and the amount of computational resources required for a solution. Comparison results between this technique and a explicit FEM solution will be presented along with a solution performance for a 1024 element dual slant polarized Vivaldi array
Rab1b silencing using small interfering RNA for analysis of disease-specific function.

Abstract Rab1 GTPase is a critical component required for endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐to‐Golgi as well as intra‐Golgi trafficking. It is required for the proper recruitment of tethering factors to mediate vesicle docking and subsequent fusion to the target membrane compartment. Much is known about the role of Rab1 in ER‐to‐Golgi trafficking through overexpression of dominant negative mutation that inhibit GTP binding or GTPase activity of the protein, as well as through the use of antibodies to inhibit endogenous protein activity. These techniques have allowed for the establishment of a central role for Rab1 in trafficking in the early secretory pathway; however, the use of these techniques is limited. The introduction of antibodies relies on permeabilization of the cell membrane for their introduction. The use of dominant negative mutations relies on the mutation overwhelming the endogenous protein activity without removing it from the cell. The advent of siRNA to silence genes of interest provides a means to overcome this limitation. Here we describe optimal conditions for the efficient silencing of Rab1b using siRNA to analyze its role in disease.