cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The effect of exogenous corticosterone on West Nile virus infection in Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis)

The relationship between stress and disease is thought to be unambiguous: chronic stress induces immunosuppression, which likely increases the risk of infection. However, this link has not been firmly established in wild animals, particularly whether stress hormones affect host responses to zoonotic pathogens, which can be transmitted to domesticated animal, wildlife and human populations. Due to the dynamic effects of stress hormones on immune functions, stress hormones may make hosts better or poorer amplifying hosts for a pathogen contingent on context and the host species evaluated. Using an important zoonotic pathogen, West Nile virus (WNV) and a competent host, the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), we tested the effects of exogenous corticosterone on response to WNV infection. Corticosterone was administered at levels that individuals enduring chronic stressors (i.e., long-term inclement weather, food shortage, anthropogenic pollution) might experience in the wild. Corticosterone greatly impacted mortality: half of the corticosterone-implanted cardinals died between five - 11 days post-inoculation whereas only one of nine empty-implanted (control) birds died. No differences were found in viral titer between corticosterone- and empty-implanted birds. However, cardinals that survived infections had significantly higher average body temperatures during peak infection than individuals that died. In sum, this study indicates that elevated corticosterone could affect the survival of WNV-infected wild birds, suggesting that populations may be disproportionately at-risk to disease in stressful environments.
Gene replacement reveals that p115/SNARE interactions are essential for Golgi biogenesis

Functional characterization of protein interactions in mammalian systems has been hindered by the inability to perform complementation analyses in vivo. Here, we use functional replacement of the vesicle docking protein p115 to separate its essential from its nonessential interactions. p115 is required for biogenesis of the Golgi apparatus, but it is unclear whether its mechanism of action requires its golgin and/or SNARE interactions. Short interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of p115 induced extensive Golgi fragmentation and impaired secretory traffic. Reassembly of a structurally and functionally normal Golgi occurred on expression of a p115 homologue not recognized by the short interfering RNA. Strikingly, versions of p115 lacking its phosphorylation site and the golgin-binding domains also restored the Golgi apparatus in cells lacking endogenous p115. In contrast, the p115 SNARE-interacting domain was required for Golgi biogenesis. This suggests that p115 acts directly, rather than via a tether, to catalyze trans-SNARE complex formation preceding membrane fusion.
Species differences in the expression of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-α) in the submandibular gland and pancreas

Conclusion Significant differences exist in the expression of transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-α) in the submandibular glands (SMG) and the pancreas of different species and among cell components in the same species.
Quantification of Protein-Induced Membrane Remodeling Kinetics In Vitro with Lipid Multilayer Gratings

The dynamic self-organization of lipids in biological systems is a highly regulated process that enables the compartmentalization of living systems at micro- and nanoscopic scales. Consequently, quantitative methods for assaying the kinetics of supramolecular remodeling such as vesicle formation from planar lipid bilayers or multilayers are needed to understand cellular self-organization. Here, a new nanotechnology-based method for quantitative measurements of lipid-protein interactions is presented and its suitability for quantifying the membrane binding, inflation, and budding activity of the membrane-remodeling protein Sar1 is demonstrated. Lipid multilayer gratings are printed onto surfaces using nanointaglio and exposed to Sar1, resulting in the inflation of lipid multilayers into unilamellar structures, which can be observed in a label-free manner by monitoring the diffracted light. Local variations in lipid multilayer volume on the surface is used to vary substrate availability in a microarray format. A quantitative model is developed that allows quantification of binding affinity (K D ) and kinetics (kon and koff ). Importantly, this assay is uniquely capable of quantifying membrane remodeling. Upon Sar1-induced inflation of single bilayers from surface supported multilayers, the semicylindrical grating lines are observed to remodel into semispherical buds when a critical radius of curvature is reached.
The effect of 3-aminophthalhydrazide on diuresis and blood pressure in dogs.

Summary3-Aminophthalhydrazide given iv to five dogs decreased the systemic arterial blood pressure and produced a water diuresis together with increased natriuresis.The results suggest that the chief effect of the drug is hemodynamic and related to renal as well as systemic vasodilatation. The possibility of an additional effect on renal tubular function, however, could not be excluded.
Transient Multiphase Flow: Past, Present, and Future with Flow Assurance Perspective

Historically, transient multiphase flow codes grew out of nuclear safety codes developed specifically to model nuclear plants during loss-of-coolant accidents (i.e., steam–water). These codes were heavily augmented by the oil and gas industry to deal with the more complex fluids, geometries, and thermodynamics associated with oil and gas production. Although several attempts were made to develop transient mixture models with a single momentum equation, development settled on two-fluid formulations, employing separate momentum equations for each phase (developed out of a force balance), as the best way forward. While such models were quite successful in simulating holdup and pressure drop during both steady-state and transient operations, many associated flow assurance issues (i.e., hydrates and hydrodynamic slugs) remain quite rudimentary. Also, the simulators themselves are terrifically slow by general computational fluid dynamics (CFD) standards. In the future, simple, powerful mixture models may well m...
Politics as a Vocation

This study examines an idea proposed by Max Weber, that politicians can be differentiated by whether they have a vocational or avocational orientation to politics. After theoretical exploration of the occupational and vocational attributes of political roles, the impact of vocationalism on political decision-making is tested using data collected on North Carolina state legislators.
Application of immune classifier based on increment of diversity in model species genomes

This paper divided the DNA sequences of three model species including C.elegans,S.cerevisiae and A.thaliana into three kinds: intron,exon,intergenic DNA.At first,composed a group of status parameters of the source of diversity of the respective frequency of the 64 codons of a sequence which were sliding calculated.Expressed each sequence of intron,exon and intergenic DNA by a 64-dimension eignvalue and divided all of these sequences' 64-dimension samples into training sample set and testing sample set.Then according to the immune network theory,constructed a immune classifier based on the increment of diversity,which applied the increment of diversity as affinity function and made the immune network evolve in the direction of identifying the antigens by extracting unceasingly the antigen,which was an element of the training sample set,to stimulate the immune network.Finally,the classifier has high performance and its prediction accuracy is up to 85% by test.
Global parameter estimation for a eukaryotic cell cycle model in systems biology

The complicated process by which a yeast cell divides, known as the cell cycle, has been modeled by a system of 26 nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with 149 parameters. This model captures the chemical kinetics of the regulatory networks controlling the cell division process in budding yeast cells. Empirical data is discrete and matched against discrete inferences (e.g., whether a particular mutant cell lives or dies) computed from the ODE solution trajectories. The problem of estimating the ODE parameters to best fit the model to the data is a 149-dimensional global optimization problem attacked by the deterministic algorithm VTDIRECT95 and by the nondeterministic algorithms differential evolution, QNSTOP, and simulated annealing, whose performances are compared.
An upper bound on the global optimum in parameter estimation

Learning graphical model parameters from incomplete data is a non-convex optimization problem. Iterative algorithms, such as Expectation Maximization (EM), can be used to get a local optimum solution. However, little is known about the quality of the learned local optimum, compared to the unknown global optimum. We exploit variables that are always observed in the dataset to get an upper bound on the global optimum which can give insight into the quality of the parameters learned by estimation algorithms.
Systems Thinking for Identifying Unintended Consequences of it: Packaged Software Implementation in Small Businesses

In small businesses, IT often results in end-users having increased responsibility in multiple aspects of a business process and across functional areas. End-users may prefer the autonomy they gain...
Abstract 803: Obesity and associated lifestyles modify the effect of glucose metabolism-related genetic variants on impaired glucose homeostasis among postmenopausal women

Background: Impaired glucose metabolism-related genetic variants likely interact with obesity-modifiable factors in response to glucose intolerance, yet their interconnected pathways have not been fully characterized. We assessed in postmenopausal women whether obesity, physical activity, and high dietary fat intake interact with the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)-glucose variations. Methods: We used data from 1,027 postmenopausal participants of the Genomics and Randomized Trials Network study and 15 SNPs associated with glucose homeostasis. We used regression analysis plus stratification and graphic approaches. Results: Fasting levels of glucose, insulin, and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were higher in obese, inactive, and high fat-diet women than in their respective counterparts. Carriers within subgroups differently demonstrated the direction and/or magnitude of the variants’ effect on glucose-relevant traits. Variants in GCKR, GCK, DGKB/TMEM195 (P for interactions = 0.02, 0.02, and 0.01), especially, showed interactions with obesity: obese, inactive, and high fat-diet women had greater increases in fasting glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR levels. Obese carriers at TCF7L2 variant had greater increases in fasting glucose levels than non-obese carriers (P for interaction = 0.04), whereas active women had greater decreases in insulin and HOMA-IR levels than inactive women (P for interaction = 0.02 in both levels). Conclusions: Our data support the important role of obesity in modifying glucose homeostasis in response to glucose metabolism-relevant variants. These findings may inform research on the role of glucose homeostasis in the etiology of disease, particularly obesity-related cancer, and the development of intervention strategies to reduce risk in postmenopausal women. Citation Format: Su Yon Jung, Eric M. Sobel, Jeanette C. Papp, Carolyn J. Crandall, Alan N. Fu, Zuo-Feng Zhang. Obesity and associated lifestyles modify the effect of glucose metabolism-related genetic variants on impaired glucose homeostasis among postmenopausal women. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 803.
Theoretical Studies of the Polarization-Analyzing Power Difference in 3H(p,n)3He and 15N(p,n)15O

Differences between the polarization (P) and the analyzing power (A) in (p,n) reactions connecting corresponding states in mirror nuclei have been of particular interest since it was pointed out by Haight et al.1 that such differences can arise only as a result of charge dependent effects. Comparison’ of early measurements of P and of A in the 3H(p,n)3He reaction at first suggested the existence of a small but significant (~17%) difference between P and A in the energy region Ep ~ 1.7 to 4 MeV. Subsequent remeasurement of both P and A, however, has shown2,3 that there is actually no difference to within experimental uncertainty. In sharp contrast to this result, sizable P-A differences have recently been observed3,4 in the 15N(p,n)15O reaction, extending over the energy region Ep ~ 4.5 to 9.5 MeV. The observed P-A difference is a rapidly fluctuating function of the incident energy, and appears to be intimately associated with some of the resonance structures which are prevalent in this energy region.
126-P: ASSESSMENT OF iBEADS EFFICACY TO RULE OUT SAB NON-SPECIFIC REACTIONS

Aim Analysis of the single antigen bead (SAB) assay is frequently complicated by the presence of recurrent background patterns (BP), likely due to non-HLA antibodies cross-reacting with cryptic epitopes on denatured HLA molecules. We investigated whether this BP are less frequently detected by an assay with reduced amount of denatured antigens (iBeads). Methods Ninety-six serum samples from The University of Michigan Transplant Center tested between 4/2012 and 4/2013 were analyzed comparing iBeads with SAB. iBeads was considered successful when the BP present in SAB was absent in this assay. Individual pattern frequency was examined as well. Results Side-by-side comparison revealed that for 60% (n=58) of the samples, iBeads did not detect the non-specific BP shown by SAB assay. The same BP were encountered with both assays in 34% (n=33) of the samples, and were partially reduced in 6% (n=5) in iBeads. Certain BP were frequently undetected by iBeads. Among them, the Broad Cw pattern was the most frequent pattern seen by SAB (n=19) and undetected by iBeads in 95% (n=18). The BP A1/36, A68 (A∗68:02), and B8 were not detected by iBeads in 100% (n=7), whereas the pattern involving B45 was still found on iBeads. Other commonly detected patterns, such as B44, B76, B82, Cw1,12,15, Cw17 and others, were detected in some samples by iBeads and not in others.[Fig. 1] Conclusions iBeads assay performance appears to be better than the SAB assay on samples with non-HLA antibodies cross-reacting with cryptic epitopes of denatured HLA molecules. Persistent BP may be in relation to the concentration of interference or other samples characteristics as yet unknown. [figure1]
Evaluation of direct 4D parametric reconstruction with low count human PET data

Previously, we presented a direct 4D EM method for producing kinetic parameter images from list mode PET data, where the time-activity curve for each voxel is described by a one tissue compartment model (1T). The initial evaluation was performed with simulation, without random and scatter included. In addition, a practical single-scatter simulation (SSS) method was proposed so that the direct 4D method can be used for real data. In order to investigate the performance of the direct 4D method for real data of low count level, three datasets were obtained by gating original list mode data event-by-event (gating by 3, 6 and 10). Initial evaluation was performed using [11C]AFM human data. Comparisons with the 2-step approach (frame-based reconstruction followed by voxel-by-voxel parameter estimation) provided encouraging results. Regional analysis showed that K 1 and V T values for 4D are less variable over different gating reconstructions and the statistical noise for 4D was improved. Consistent with previous results of low count simulated data, the direct 4D has its greatest statistical advantage for low count human brain data.
Spinal Surgeon Variation in Single-Level Cervical Fusion Procedures: A Cost and Hospital Resource Utilization Analysis.

Study design Retrospective analysis. Objective To compare perioperative costs and outcomes of patients undergoing single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusions (ACDF) at both a service (orthopedic vs. neurosurgical) and individual surgeon level. Summary of background data Hospital systems are experiencing significant pressure to increase value of care by reducing costs while maintaining or improving patient-centered outcomes. Few studies have examined the cost-effectiveness cervical arthrodesis at a service level. Methods A retrospective review of patients who underwent a primary 1-level ACDF by eight surgeons (four orthopedic and four neurosurgical) at a single academic institution between 2013 and 2015 was performed. Patients were identified by Diagnosis-Related Group and procedural codes. Patients with the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases coding for degenerative cervical pathology were included. Patients were excluded if they exhibited preoperative diagnoses or postoperative social work issues affecting their length of stay. Comparisons of preoperative demographics were performed using Student t tests and chi-squared analysis. Perioperative outcomes and costs for hospital services were compared using multivariate regression adjusted for preoperative characteristics. Results A total of 137 patients diagnosed with cervical degeneration underwent single-level ACDF; 44 and 93 were performed by orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons, respectively. There was no difference in patient demographics. ACDF procedures performed by orthopedic surgeons demonstrated shorter operative times (89.1 ± 25.5 vs. 96.0 ± 25.5 min; P = 0.002) and higher laboratory costs (Δ+$6.53 ± $5.52 USD; P = 0.041). There were significant differences in operative time (P = 0.014) and labor costs (P = 0.034) between individual surgeons. There was no difference in total costs between specialties or individual surgeons. Conclusion Surgical subspecialty training does not significantly affect total costs of ACDF procedures. Costs can, however, vary between individual surgeons based on operative times. Variation between individual surgeons highlights potential areas for improvement of the cost effectiveness of spinal procedures. Level of evidence 4.
Simulating ENSO SSTAs from TAO/TRITON Winds: The Impacts of 20 Years of Buoy Observations in the Pacific Waveguide and Comparison with Reanalysis Products

AbstractThe fundamental importance of near-equatorial zonal wind stress in the evolution of the tropical Pacific Ocean’s seasonal cycle and El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events is well known. It has been two decades since the TAO/TRITON buoy array was deployed, in part to provide accurate surface wind observations across the Pacific waveguide. It is timely to revisit the impact of TAO/TRITON winds on our ability to simulate and thereby understand the evolution of sea surface temperature (SST) in this region. This work shows that forced ocean model simulations of SST anomalies (SSTAs) during the periods with a reasonably high buoy data return rate can reproduce the major elements of SSTA variability during ENSO events using a wind stress field computed from TAO/TRITON observations only. This demonstrates that the buoy array usefully fulfills its waveguide-wind-measurement purpose. Comparison of several reanalysis wind fields commonly used in recent ENSO studies with the TAO/TRITON observations reveal...
Haptic and Visual Feedback Technology for Upper-Limb Disability Assessment

In this paper, we discuss the possibility to determine assessment metrics for eye-hand coordination and upper-limb disability therapy, using a mapping between a robotic haptic device to a virtual environment and a training algorithm based on Complex Valued Neural Networks that will calculate how close a set movement pattern is in relationship with that traced by a healthy individual.Most of the current robotic systems’ therapy relies on the patient’s performance on standardized clinical tests such as the functional independence measure (FIM), and the upper limb subsection of the Fugl-Meyer (FM) scales. These systems don’t have other standardized metrics for assessment purposes. There is a need to establish a more intelligent and tailored therapy that could be implemented for patients to use at home in between therapy sessions, or in the long term. This therapy should be based on performance data gathered by the robotic/computer system that will provide an assessment procedure with improved objectivity and precision.A set of complex and movement demanding virtual environments, representing various levels of difficulty labyrinths was developed in a virtual environment. The participants were instructed to use a haptic device (Omni) to follow the trajectories. This was completed while video data were collected using a Vicon motion capture system. Readings of traced trajectories, time, and upper limb motions are recorded for further analysis.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Evaluation of a Mindfulness-Based Mobile App Aimed at Promoting Awareness of Weight-Related Behaviors in Adolescents: A Pilot Study.

Background: Mindfulness-based interventions are reported to be highly acceptable and have positive effects on youth, yet most are clinic- or school-based aimed at emotional regulation or academic performance. To provide flexible program delivery, we developed and tested a standalone mindfulness-based app aimed at improving weight-related behaviors (eg, diet, physical activity, sleep) in adolescents. Objective: Our objective was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and utility of a mindfulness-based mobile app. Methods: In a single-arm pilot study, 15 adolescents (14-18 years) were prompted to access the app once a day, every day for 6 weeks. Outcomes were measured by in-app and poststudy surveys, and descriptive statistical analyses were performed. Time within a mindfulness state was self-reported during weekly timed practices. Results: The app was rated highly for content and encouraging the practice of activities to promote mindfulness states. Teens reported increased awareness of eating behaviors and high adherence, particularly during physically active practices. Average self-reported time spent in a mindfulness state increased 2.5 times by week 6 (78 [SD 17] seconds) compared to week 1 (31 [SD 21] seconds). Conclusions: The high acceptability and utility ratings of the app, increases in reported time in mindfulness states, and high frequency of participation, including mindful eating and physical activity, suggest the mindfulness-based mobile app has the potential to improve awareness of weight-related behaviors. [JMIR Res Protoc 2017;6(4):e67]
Sethoxydim (Poast) and Oxyfluorfen (Goal) Efficacy and Tolerance by Landscape Plants

Granular Goal (oxyfluorfen) [2-chloro-1-(3-ethoxy-4-nitrophenoxy)-4-(tri-fluoromethyl)benzene] at 4.5 kg/ha (4.0 lb/A) was applied to 8 species of woody landscape plants alone or with a following postemergence application of Poast (sethoxydim) [2-(1-(ethoxyimino)butyl)-5-(2-(ethylthio)propyl)-3-hydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-one] at 0.6 or 1.1 kg/ha (0.5 or 1.0 lb/A). Sethoxydim was applied with and without crop oil (1%, v/v). These treatments were made one time in 1981 and 1982. Applications of Poast (sethoxydim) at 0.6 kg/ka (0.5 lb/A) with or without crop oil controlled barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) Beauv.], giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm.), and large crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.]. Goal (oxyfluorfen) alone at 4.5 kg/ha (4.0 lb/A) reduced the rate of estasblishment of the perennial broadleaf weeds Canada thistle [Cirsium arvense (L.) Cyrillo] and white heath aster (Aster pilosus Willd.). Up to 86% reduction in total weed cover was obtained when Goal (oxyfluorfen) application was ...
Resolving Transition Metal Chemical Space: Feature Selection for Machine Learning and Structure–Property Relationships

Machine learning (ML) of quantum mechanical properties shows promise for accelerating chemical discovery. For transition metal chemistry where accurate calculations are computationally costly and available training data sets are small, the molecular representation becomes a critical ingredient in ML model predictive accuracy. We introduce a series of revised autocorrelation functions (RACs) that encode relationships of the heuristic atomic properties (e.g., size, connectivity, and electronegativity) on a molecular graph. We alter the starting point, scope, and nature of the quantities evaluated in standard ACs to make these RACs amenable to inorganic chemistry. On an organic molecule set, we first demonstrate superior standard AC performance to other presently available topological descriptors for ML model training, with mean unsigned errors (MUEs) for atomization energies on set-aside test molecules as low as 6 kcal/mol. For inorganic chemistry, our RACs yield 1 kcal/mol ML MUEs on set-aside test molecul...
Four study design principles for genetic investigations using next generation sequencing.

Proper study design is crucial for obtaining meaningful results and reaching correct conclusions in scientific investigations. How to apply key study design principles to next generation sequencing (NGS) can be unclear and is sometimes overlooked by researchers who are new to this technology. A proper study design in NGS studies can be achieved with awareness of factors that can influence sequencing results and by taking the necessary steps to limit their biasing assessment. These steps include using simultaneously or similarly sequenced controls, randomising, determining the necessary sequencing depth, and performing a power calculation to determine the necessary sample size for testing hypotheses at significance levels adjusted for multiple comparisons. Applying study design principles to NGS studies will increase the likelihood of identifying genetic factors associated with human traits and diseases.
Eroding Regimes: What, Where, and When?

This paper was originally prepared for presentation at the conference on “Authoritarian Backsliding? Erosion of Democracy in Unlikely Places,” Duke University, April 21-22, 2017. This research project was supported by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Grant M13-0559:1, PI: Staffan I. Lindberg, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to Wallenberg Academy Fellow Staffan I. Lindberg, Grant 2013.0166, V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; as well as by internal grants from the Vice-Chancellor’s office, the Dean of the College of Social Sciences, and the Department of Political Science at University of Gothenburg. We performed simulations and other computational tasks using resources provided by the Notre Dame Center for Research Computing (CRC) through the High Performance Computing section and the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) at the National Supercomputer Centre in Sweden, SNIC 2016/1-382 and 2017/1-68. We specifically acknowledge the assistance of In-Saeng Suh at CRC and Johan Raber at SNIC in facilitating our use of their respective systems.
A Model for T Cell Receptor and MHC/Peptide Interaction

For some time it has been known that T cell recognition of antigen occurs in an MHC restricted fashion (1–3). Much recent evidence suggests that the antigens ‘seen’ by T cell receptors (TcR) are fragments (presumably derived by intracellular processing) bound to MHC molecules at a single site (4–10) By contrast, the immunoglobulin (Ig) B cell receptor can bind to native antigen alone. Structurally and genetically however, both immunoglobulins and T cell receptors seem very similar. Both are derived from the relatively random juxtaposition of different coding segments (V, D and J) of DNA to produce proteins that differ in their N-terminal domains (V-domains), but are the same elsewhere (C domains) (11–13). Ig V region domains from the heavy and light chain polypeptides (VH and VL) pair to form the ligand binding region (14). By analogy, it seems likely that the binding site for antigen and MHC is formed by pairs of TcR V-domains (either α:β or γ: δ). In the Ig variable regions, sequence diversity is concentrated in three distinct ‘hypervariable regions’(15, 16). These amino acids form the principal points of contact with antigens and are thus referred to as complementarity determining regions (CDR’s) (17, 18).
La relación entre la doctrina del control de convencionalidad y el derecho nacional

The doctrine of conventionality control is the source of international obligations for all the authorities of the States parties to the American Convention on Human Rights. Yet, this doctrine is closely connected with domestic law. This article explores that relationship, both from a descriptive and a normative perspective. The first part explains how the origin of conventionality control is connected with the phenomenon of the constitutionalization of International Human Rights Law in Latin-America, which has taken place during the last thirty years. The second part argues that our understanding of the operability of conventionality control should depend on several norms and principles of domestic legal systems. Consequently, the article proposes a version of conventionality control that recognizes the existence of legitimate spaces of constitutional self-determination regarding how this doctrine operates at the state level.
A study on the performance of an electrostatic focusing mirror for Rydberg positronium

Recently, we demonstrated an electrostatic mirror that focuses a beam of Rydberg positronium atoms over a 6 m path to a 32 ± 1 mm FWHM diameter spot on a position sensitive detector. The mirror is comprised of 360 wires arranged in the shape of a nearly-cylindrical revolved truncated ellipse ~96 mm in radius, with potentials of equal and opposite magnitude applied to alternating wires to create a short-ranged electric field that decreases in magnitude exponentially with e-folding length = 0.53 mm. Here, we explore in detail the observed resolution and discuss the factors contributing to its broadening from the ideal point focus of a perfect embodiment of the mirror. Improvements to the design are considered, with the aim to achieve a mirror with a resolution of <0.5 mm, which is necessary for a proposed measurement of the gravitational deflection of positronium.
Free speech and speaker's intent: A reply to Kendrick.

I have argued that a speaker’s mental state with respect to whether her words will cause harms that the government can legitimately seek to prevent should be immaterial to whether her speech is protected by the First Amendment — except to the extent her mental state bears on whether sanctioning her will chill others’ protectable speech. Recently, Professor Leslie Kendrick has taken issue with my position and the similar position of others. She argues that the speaker’s mens rea regarding the harmfulness of her speech affects the First Amendment protectability of her speech apart from chilling-effect concerns. The speaker’s mental state matters, not only for purposes of criminal law and tort law, but for free-speech law as well, and intrinsically rather than instrumentally. Although I accept the compliment of serving as one of her principal foils, I nonetheless continue to disagree with Professor Kendrick’s position.
If you build it, they may not come: modifiable barriers to patient portal use among pre- and post-kidney transplant patients.

Background Patient access to health information using electronic patient portals is increasingly common. Portal use has the potential to improve patients' engagement with their health and is particularly important for patients with chronic illness; however, patients' abilities, attitudes, and use of portals are poorly understood. Methods A single-center, cross-sectional survey was conducted of 240 consecutive pre- and post-kidney transplant patients of all levels of technological proficiency who presented to an urban transplant center in the United States. The investigator-developed Patient Information and Technology Assessment-Patient Portal was used to assess patients' attitudes towards the use of patient portals. Results Most patients surveyed did not use the patient portal (n = 176, 73%). Patients were more likely to use the patient portal if they were White, highly educated, in the post-transplant period, more comfortable with technology, and reported being a frequent internet user (P < .05). The most common reasons for not using the patient portal included: (1) preference for traditional communication, (2) not being aware of the portal, (3) low technological proficiency, and (4) poor interoperability between the portal at the transplant center and the patient's primary care center. Conclusions We identified several modifiable barriers to patient portal use. Some barriers can be addressed by patient education and training on portal use, and federal initiatives are underway to improve interoperability; however, a preference for traditional communications represents the most prominent barrier. Additional strategies are needed to improve portal adoption by encouraging acceptance of technologies as a way of clinical communication.
Polyandrous mating increases offspring production and lifespan in female Drosophila arizonae

Multiple mating by females is a widespread but often costly behavior. However, according to the Bateman principle, mating with multiple males may not increase the number of offspring produced by females. Despite the Bateman paradigm, many studies have shown advantages to polyandry. We investigated the fitness consequences of different mating regimes (virginity, once-mated, serial monogamy, and polyandry) in Drosophila arizonae, a species in which females remate frequently, experience a possible cost of mating in the form of an insemination reaction, and receive nutritive seminal contributions from males. Although monogamous and polyandrous females mated at similar rates, polyandry caused females to produce significantly more offspring for a longer period of their lives. Females with greater access to males laid significantly more eggs than those mated just once, and polyandrous females had a longer oviposition period than once mated females. Polyandrous females lived significantly longer than both virgin and serially monogamous females, suggesting that costs of mating are either low or offset by other benefits. A statistically significant interaction between the number of matings and mating treatment showed that additional matings allowed fitness increases for polyandrous, but not serially monogamous, flies. A direct fitness benefit for females by sperm replenishment is the most likely explanation for these results. Males may have partitioned their sperm and/or seminal fluid protein contributions to provide less for females they previously mated (i.e., the Coolidge effect), but male ejaculate exploitation and female effects are also possible. The high benefits and low costs of polyandry in our study contrast with other Drosophila papers and therefore highlight the extreme mating system diversity across the genus. In most mating systems, it is unclear why females mate with more than one male. Fruit fly females generally are expected to experience severe costs of mating. We used a highly promiscuous fruit fly species to test for costs and benefits to females of remaining virgins, mating once, remating many times with the same male (monogamy), and remating several times with a different male (polyandry). Polyandry was advantageous for females over monogamy because it allowed them to produce more adult offspring for a longer period of their lives. Additional copulations resulted in strong fitness increases for polyandrous, but not monogamous, female flies. Both polyandry and monogamy were better than mating just once because they allowed increases in egg and offspring production. Polyandry also conferred increases in lifespan over both virginity and monogamy. Therefore, we show benefits to mating with multiple males and failed to observe substantial costs of mating. The most likely explanation for our findings is a male effect by which they transfer fewer sperm and/or other ejaculate components to females they have previously mated (the Coolidge effect), though other mechanisms are possible.
Dexamethasone and postoperative hyperglycemia in diabetics undergoing elective hip or knee arthroplasty: a case control study in 238 patients

Dexamethasone has been routinely used in the pre-operative setting to enhance analgesia and decrease the incidence of nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing primary arthroplasty. However, dexamethasone has the potential to increase blood glucose levels postoperatively, which is a known risk factor for complications after total joint arthroplasty. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of dexamethasone administration on post-operative blood glucose levels in diabetic patients after primary hip and knee arthroplasty. This study was a retrospective review of 238 diabetic patients who underwent primary hip and knee arthroplasty between May 1, 2014 and September 30, 2016 at a single urban academic medical center. A total of 77 patients (32.4%) received dexamethasone and 161 (67.7%) did not. Oral hyperglycemic agents were held during the inpatient stay and blood glucose was controlled either with sliding scale insulin or home insulin regimens were continued. All analyses were adjusted for age, BMI, gender, type of diabetes, pre-operative diabetic medication, type of surgical procedure, and pre-operative HgbA1c level. The primary outcome was post-operative hyperglycemia within 72 h of surgery defined as any blood glucose level greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL. Post-operative hyperglycemia was observed in 17.1 and 20.6% of the measurements during the first 24 and 72 h respectively. After controlling for confounding variables, patients who received dexamethasone had 4.07 (95% CI: 2.46, 6.72) and 3.08 (95% CI: 2.34, 4.04) higher odds of post-operative hyperglycemia in the first 24 and 72 h respectively. Dexamethasone administration in diabetic patients undergoing primary arthroplasty increases post-operative hyperglycemia during the first 24 and 72 h. While our data did not investigate causation, dexamethasone use in this patient population should be thoughtfully considered, as post-operative hyperglycemia is a known risk factor for complications.
Inferring Porosity from Frequency Dependent Attenuation in Cortical Bone Mimicking Porous Media

Osteoporosis affects porosity in cortical bone. Quantifying levels of osteoporosis by inferring the micro-architectural properties from ultrasonic wave attenuation in cortical bone has yet to be done. In this work we use a phenomenological, power law model to describe the frequency dependent attenuation in non-absorbing porous media mimicking a simplified cortical bone structure. We optimize this model to fit data generated using a finite-difference, time domain (FDTD) numerical simulation. Model parameters are estimated using an ordinary least squares (OLS) formulation of the inverse problem. With these we determine linear, functional relationships between the model parameter estimates and the micro-architectural parameters, pore density and pore diameter. These relationships allow us to infer ranges of porosity from simulated attenuation data. Repeating this process for attenuation data collected from cortical bone samples could allow one to characterize the micro-architectural properties of bone.
The Strengthening of Hash Function Implementation through Collision Reduction via Dependent Set Hashing

The use of hash functions is imperative to the security of data today. Hash functions are primarily used for data integrity validation and are essential for security. This paper proposes a methodology to increase the difficulty of discovering a collision through the restriction of possible inputs using dependent sets in the implementation of a hash function. This method is time and space efficient making it ideal for devices with limited resources, such as IoT devices, allowing the device to utilize weaker and less resource intense algorithms without compromising on security.
A single protein research integrated advanced biochemistry laboratory course: design and general outline

An advanced biochemistry laboratory has been designed to focus on a detoxifying enzyme, glutathione-S-transferase, which is involved in the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, herbicides, and other electrophilic xenobiotic compounds. The enzyme is known to catalyze conjugation of glutathione to xenobiotics, which makes them water-soluble so that they can be easily discarded through further metabolism and excretion. About two-thirds of the laboratory course incorporates nine advanced biochemical techniques, all focused to analyze various chemical characteristics of the glutathione-S-transferase. The remaining third of the semester time students work on a project that involves application of all the newly acquired techniques to solve a biochemical problem that encompasses the same detoxifying enzyme.
Effect of Mixed Nut Consumption on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Overweight and Obese Adults (OR19-05-19)

Emerging research indicates that nuts are a source of compounds that promote cardioprotective benefits. However, most studies have assessed the effect of single nuts rather than a mixture containing a variety of nuts. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the effect of mixed nuts on cardiovascular disease risk factors including inflammation, glucose, insulin, antioxidant capacity, and liver function. In an 8-week randomized controlled trial, 48 participants (19 female and 29 male, 18–54 years) were equally divided into groups that consumed isocaloric (250 kcal) amounts of pretzels (69g) or mixed nuts (42.5g) for 8 weeks. Serum lipids, inflammatory biomarkers, oxidative stress, antioxidant capacity, antioxidant enzymes, and markers of liver function were measured at baseline and 4 weeks and 8 weeks after intervention. Significant decreases were detected for body weight (P = 0.013) and BMI (P = 0.022), but only within the nut group. Nut consumption reduced glucose (P = 0.040) and insulin (P = 0.032) concentrations after 4 and 8 weeks, respectively; whereas, pretzel intake increased triglycerides (P = 0.048) between week 4 to week 8. While total cholesterol did not change, HDL-C (P = 0.044) dropped and LDL-C (P = 0.038) increased from baseline to week 4 of pretzel consumption with no significant changes in the nut group. Among liver function biomarkers, alkaline phosphatase exhibited a reducing trend from baseline to week 8 of nut ingestion and lactate dehydrogenase decreased significantly from baseline and week 4 to week 8 (P < 0.01), while it increased within the pretzel group at week 8 compared to baseline (P = 0.018). Our results suggest that the incorporation of mixed-nuts into the diet improves body weight, some liver and cardiac functions, and maintains total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-C, and LDL-C levels in comparison to a refined snack food. Future research should determine whether nuts impact cardiovascular disease outcomes. American Heart Association (16GRNT31360007).
Reprogrammable Electro-Optic Nonlinear Activation Functions for Optical Neural Networks

We introduce an electro-optic hardware platform for nonlinear activation functions in optical neural networks. The optical-to-optical nonlinearity operates by converting a small portion of the input optical signal into an analog electric signal, which is used to intensity -modulate the original optical signal with no reduction in processing speed. Our scheme allows for complete nonlinear on – off contrast in transmission at relatively low optical power thresholds and eliminates the requirement of having additional optical sources between each of the layers of the network Moreover, the activation function is reconfigurable via electrical bias, allowing it to be programmed or trained to synthesize a variety of nonlinear responses. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that this activation function significantly improves the expressiveness of optical neural networks, allowing them to perform well on two benchmark machine learning tasks: learning a multi-input exclusive-OR (XOR) logic function and classification of images of handwritten numbers from the MNIST dataset. The addition of the nonlinear activation function improves test accuracy on the MNIST task from 85% to 94%.
Mass spectrometry based proteomic analysis of tissue and serum for breast cancer biomarkers

3953 It is known that early detection of breast cancer by screening may save lives. Our goal is to identify breast cancer biomarkers for early detection. In this study, we search for the breast cancer biomarkers in cancer tissue and serum with combined liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry using the LTQ-Orbitrap XL/ESI instrument. Membrane proteins perform vital cellular functions and frequently are important drug targets. Components from the cell surface continuously shed as membrane-derived vesicles, which pass through the draining lymphatics and end up in the circulation. Our previous study demonstrated that hydrophobic proteins are enriched with acylated membrane proteins. We hypothesize that exploring hydrophobic proteins in cancer tissue and serum from breast cancer patients can lead to the discovery of promising biomarkers. Breast cancer tissue, normal breast tissue and serum samples were collected from breast cancer patients. All specimens were processed and stored in -80°C until analysis. Serum high abundant proteins were depleted using the IgY column (Beckman Coulter). No depletion for protein extraction from tissue samples. Hydrophobic proteins from all specimens were enriched with a reverse-phase chromatographic step using a polymeric stationary phase. Proteins retained on the reverse phase column were eluted by injection of formic acid and fractions were collected. After processing steps of reduction, alkylation, trypsin digestion and desalting, samples were then further analyzed by nanoLC (Eksigent) and LTQ-Orbitrap XL/ESI (ThermoFisher Scientific). All MS/MS spectra were searched by the SEQUEST algorithm incorporated into the Thermo Finnigan Bioworks software (v3.2) (Eng and Yates III, University of Washington, WA, USA). We applied more stringent data filtering criteria than suggested by HUPO PPP using Xcorr ≥2.00 with charge state 1+, Xcorr ≥2.5 with charge state 2+, Xcorr ≥3.75 with charge state 3+, DeltCn ≥0.1 and Rsp=1. For protein level, the required consensus score was more than 15.0, and the identified proteins based on identification of at least two different peptides sequences. Additionally, proteins with less than three peptide hits were manually evaluated to confirm the identification. We identified more than 350 proteins from each specimen. Many of the proteins with known vital cellular functions, such as heat shock proteins, translation elongation factors, endothelial cell growth factors, mucin, annexin and keratins have been identified. Protein profiles of cancer, normal tissue and serum of the same patients were systematically examined and compared. The initial results are promising and we conclude that mass spectrometric approaches coupled with depletion/partitioning and bioinformatic tools are effective for biomarker discovery. When sufficiently refined, these technologies may pave the way for early detection and better treatment of breast cancer.
“Who knows what comes tomorrow?” A study of resilience discourse, practice, and politics in a post-disaster field

Using an empirical case study of resilience programs after a flooding disaster in Boulder County Colorado, I explore the factors that motivate individuals involved in disaster recovery and emergenc...