cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identifying Experimental Measures of Intersubunit Rotation in the Ribosome

Recent experimental observations have found that pre-translocational ribosomes undergo spontaneous intersubunit rotation in the absence of EF-G and GTP. This interconversion process is associated with a reversible ∼6 degree rotation of the body domain of the small ribosomal subunit. In addition, ribosome complexes undergo this fluctuation in the absence of tRNA and mRNA molecules, suggesting it is a thermally driven motion that is intrinsic to the ribosome itself. Though several experimental atomic distances have been proposed to describe the interconversion between these states, it is unclear which coordinates most closely monitor the rotation process. By performing simulations that employ an all-atom structure-based model, we have observed hundreds of spontaneous large-scale rotation events. To analyze these simulations, we have established quantitative criteria by which to measure the performance of all considered reaction coordinates. In particular, we assess the ability of each coordinate to measure the correct number of interconversion events and identify the associated transition state ensemble. With this foundation, intersubunit rotations can be described as a diffusive motion over a one-dimensional free-energy barrier. This study provides a protocol for systematically identifying kinetically relevant coordinates that may be utilized in single-molecule experiments.
Effects of thinning on development of southern pine beetle infestations in old growth stands

A study was conducted to quantify the relationship between southern pine beetle infestation growth and the intertree spacing in old growth pine stands. The problem with extrapolating the results of previous studies to old growths tands is that it is unclear whether the same mechanism will operate in stands of older trees characterized by double the diameter (20-25 cm vs. 40-60 cm). In this study we focused on experimentally answering the question of how three levels of thinning (resulting in different average intertree distances) affect the rate of SPB infestation growth in mature loblolly pine stands, over 60 yr old and over 40 cm average dbh. We also included a hardwood removal treatment. Both intermediate and severe thinning had a strong negative effect on the rate of infestation growth. The effects of intermediate and severe thinning were similar; there was no statistically detectable difference between these two treatments. Hardwood removal appeared to decrease infestation growth rate compared to no thinning, but this effect was not statistically significant.
Epilogue: End Zones and New Scrimmage Lines

“End Zones and New Scrimmage Lines,” reminds readers of the history covered in the book: from deep cultural history (the Mesoamerican game of ulama) that began the book to discussions of the brown color line, to the rise and fall of Latino superstar players. The Epilogue reminds readers of the significant role Latinos have played in the shaping of the NFL.
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Historically, lung cancer was long considered a poorly immunogenic malignancy. In recent years, however, immune checkpoint inhibitors have emerged as promising therapeutic agents in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To date, the best characterized and most therapeutically relevant immune checkpoints have been cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) pathway. In early studies, PD-1/programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitors demonstrated promising antitumor activity and durable clinical responses in a subset of patients. Based on these encouraging results, multiple different PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have entered clinical development, and two agents (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) have gained regulatory approval in the United States for the treatment of NSCLC. In several large, randomized studies, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have produced significant improvements in overall survival compared with single-agent docetaxel delivered in the second-line setting, effectively establishing a new standard of care in NSCLC. In the present report, we provide an overview of the rationale for checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer, recent clinical trial data, and the need for predictive biomarkers. The oncologist: 2017;22:81-88 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Strategies targeting negative regulators (i.e., checkpoints) of the immune system have demonstrated significant antitumor activity across a range of solid tumors. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) pathway inhibitors have entered routine clinical use because of the results from recent randomized studies demonstrating superiority against single-agent chemotherapy in previously treated patients. The present report provides an overview of immune checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer for the practicing clinician, focusing on the rationale for immunotherapy, recent clinical trial data, and future directions.
Efficacy of an internet-based intervention for burnout: a randomized controlled trial in the German working population

ABSTRACTBackground and Objectives: Internet-based interventions are a viable treatment option for various mental problems. However, their effects on the burnout syndrome yielded mixed results. In this paper, we examine the efficacy of a structured and therapist-guided internet intervention, based on solution-focused and cognitive-behavioral therapy, for individuals with symptoms of burnout.Design: Two-arm, Internet-based, randomized, wait-list controlled trial (RCT).Methods: Participants were recruited through in-house events and online advertising. They were randomly assigned to the intervention or a wait-list. Group comparison was conducted three months after randomization. Outcomes were the burnout level according to the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS) and the levels of depression, anxiety and stress according to the DASS-21.Results: Thirty-nine participants were included in the trial; 36 (92.3%) took part at the 3-months-follow-up. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed significant group differences ...
Enabling Internet-of-Things: Opportunities brought by emerging devices, circuits, and architectures

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) has excited low-power design from device, circuits, to architectures levels. This paper talks about how recent emerging beyond-CMOS devices, such as tunnel field effect transistor (TFET), negative capacitance FET (NCFET), and phase transition devices (PTD), could extend the low-power design space to enable IoT applications with beyond-CMOS features.
Probing the Structures of Neutral B11 and B12 Using High-Resolution Photoelectron Imaging of B11– and B12–

We report high-resolution photoelectron imaging of B11– and B12– at 354.7 and 532.0 nm, respectively, resolving several low-frequency vibrational modes for neutral B11 and B12. The vibrational information is highly valuable to verify the structures of the neutral clusters. Several isomers are considered, and vibrational frequencies are calculated for B11 and B12 using density functional theory. Comparisons between the experimental and calculated vibrational frequencies prove that the B11 neutral and anion both possess a perfectly planar C2v structure. The B12– anion is quasi-planar with Cs symmetry, while the experiment confirms that neutral B12 possesses C3v symmetry. The high-resolution photoelectron spectra also allow the electron affinities of B11 and B12 to be measured more accurately as 3.401 ± 0.002 and 2.221 ± 0.002 eV, respectively. It is shown that high-resolution photoelectron imaging can be an effective method to determine structures of small neutral boron clusters, complementary to infrared s...
Executive Functioning Mediates the Effect of Behavioral Problems on Depression in Mothers of Children With Developmental Disabilities

Abstract The present investigation explored long-term relationships of behavioral symptoms of adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities with the mental health of their mothers. Fragile X premutation carrier mothers of an adolescent or adult child with fragile X syndrome (n = 95), and mothers of a grown child with autism (n = 213) were included. Behavioral symptoms at Time 1 were hypothesized to predict maternal depressive symptoms at Time 3 via maternal executive dysfunction at Time 2. Results provided support for the mediating pathway of executive dysfunction. Additionally, the association of behavioral symptoms with executive dysfunction differed across the two groups, suggesting that premutation carriers may be more susceptible to caregiving stress due to their genotype.
Of Hands and Robots: Creativity and Learning in Architectural Robotics

This paper explores ways to incorporate robots into design education, especially in architecture, in ways that privilege students' visual, tactile and spatial engagement with design problems. The paper is informed by constructionist theories of learning and studies of science and technology (STS) re-thinking agency as relational and distributed. We use these lenses to document two introductory learning experiences in architectural robotics, conducted as part of an architecture graduate course. The exercises combine robotics, scripting, model-making and sketching in ways that emphasize, and take advantage of, designers' visual, spatial, and material sensibilities, as well as the contingent nature of human-robot encounters.
Diversity and equity in the Middle East: beyond anomie and dysfunction

Change in the Middle East and adjacent regions often results in strife, tension, and cultural weakening. This tendency is discussed with reference to the concept of anomie in which socially acceptable goals can no longer be achieved in socially acceptable ways. Facing such situations, distinctive groups may benefit from concepts such as the 'concurrent majority' which is a defence of the rights and heritage of minority groups. The Middle East might benefit from strategies such as this.
Aspergillus fumigatus Trehalose-Regulatory Subunit Homolog Moonlights To Mediate Cell Wall Homeostasis through Modulation of Chitin Synthase Activity.

Trehalose biosynthesis is found in fungi but not humans. Proteins involved in trehalose biosynthesis are essential for fungal pathogen virulence in humans and plants through multiple mechanisms. Loss of canonical trehalose biosynthesis genes in the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus significantly alters cell wall structure and integrity, though the mechanistic link between these virulence-associated pathways remains enigmatic. Here we characterize genes, called tslA and tslB, which encode proteins that contain domains similar to those corresponding to trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase but lack critical catalytic residues for phosphatase activity. Loss of tslA reduces trehalose content in both conidia and mycelia, impairs cell wall integrity, and significantly alters cell wall structure. To gain mechanistic insights into the role that TslA plays in cell wall homeostasis, immunoprecipitation assays coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were used to reveal a direct interaction between TslA and CsmA, a type V chitin synthase enzyme. TslA regulates not only chitin synthase activity but also CsmA sub-cellular localization. Loss of TslA impacts the immunopathogenesis of murine invasive pulmonary aspergillosis through altering cytokine production and immune cell recruitment. In conclusion, our data provide a novel model whereby proteins in the trehalose pathway play a direct role in fungal cell wall homeostasis and consequently impact fungus-host interactions.IMPORTANCE Human fungal infections are increasing globally due to HIV infections and increased use of immunosuppressive therapies for many diseases. Therefore, new antifungal drugs with reduced side effects and increased efficacy are needed to improve treatment outcomes. Trehalose biosynthesis exists in pathogenic fungi and is absent in humans. Components of the trehalose biosynthesis pathway are important for the virulence of human-pathogenic fungi, including Aspergillus fumigatus Consequently, it has been proposed that components of this pathway are potential targets for antifungal drug development. However, how trehalose biosynthesis influences the fungus-host interaction remains enigmatic. One phenotype associated with fungal trehalose biosynthesis mutants that remains enigmatic is cell wall perturbation. Here we discovered a novel moonlighting role for a regulatory-like subunit of the trehalose biosynthesis pathway in A. fumigatus that regulates cell wall homeostasis through modulation of chitin synthase localization and activity. As the cell wall is a current and promising therapeutic target for fungal infections, understanding the role of trehalose biosynthesis in cell wall homeostasis and virulence is expected to help define new therapeutic opportunities.
Public Health Treatment Programs in Alcoholism

Alcohol has long been a public health problem in the United States. It permeates every area of life—industry, transportation, the courts, the home—and cuts across social, cultural, and economic lines. Historically, public attitudes toward drinking have reflected the intellectual climate of the times, as have the public health approaches to the problem.
A new inverse method for estimation of in vivo mechanical properties of the aortic wall

The aortic wall is always loaded in vivo, which makes it challenging to estimate the material parameters of its nonlinear, anisotropic constitutive equation from in vivo image data. Previous approaches largely relied on either computationally expensive finite element models or simplifications of the geometry or material models. In this study, we investigated a new inverse method based on aortic wall stress computation. This approach consists of the following two steps: (1) computing an "almost true" stress field from the in vivo geometries and loading conditions, (2) building an objective function based on the "almost true" stress fields, constitutive equations and deformation relations, and estimating the material parameters by minimizing the objective function. The method was validated through numerical experiments by using the in vivo data from four ascending aortic aneurysm (AsAA) patients. The results demonstrated that the method is computationally efficient. This novel approach may facilitate the personalized biomechanical analysis of aortic tissues in clinical applications, such as in the rupture risk analysis of ascending aortic aneurysms.
Dynamical systems considered as ordering machines

When studying a nonlinear dynamical system, one is foremost interested in finding all the attractors which represent the long-term stable motions. The attractors could be equilibrium states, periodic motions, quasi-periodic motions, or strange attractors. All the states which are not associated with attractors are transient states. For each of the transient states one wishes to know which attractor the system will evolve to if it starts from that transient state, and how long it takes to go from that transient state to its final attractor. In addition, one is interested in locating the domains of attraction for each attractor and the boundary sets between the domains of attraction. This is the information one wishes to have, preferably all at once, when one is interested in the global behavior of a dynamical system.
Transitioning to Concept-Based Teaching: A Qualitative Descriptive Study From the Nurse Educator's Perspective

Abstract The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of faculty in associate degree nursing programs who transitioned from traditional pedagogy to teaching in a concept-based curriculum. The transition experience of nurse educators is not well documented in the literature. Nineteen faculty from across the United States were interviewed. Five themes emerged during data analysis: recognizing fears, facing conflict, working out of one's comfort zone, seeing successes, and self-talk and questioning self. The results of this study can benefit programs that are contemplating or have already adopted a concept-based curriculum.
Reputation Systems Impact on Help Seeking in MOOC Discussion Forums

Many interactional archetypes from outside of learning contexts are being adapted and widely used for online learning environments without consideration for some of the side effects relevant to learner outcomes. Of particular concern is the effectiveness of help exchange in these learning environments. To address this need, this article explores how the reputation system features of up/downvoting, badges, and displayed expertise impact student helper selection in a peer help exchange system within a MOOC discussion forum. We draw from Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources as a theoretical framework for positioning the work. Results from our field experiment show that up/downvoting has a negative impact on help seeking which is mitigated by the positive effect of Help Giver badges. The mechanism behind these results are then explored in a survey experiment investigating reputation systems impact on students expectancies, values, and costs for a help source.
Testimony of John C. Coates IV Before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment on Proposed Securities Law Reforms

Amid an economic downturn caused in part by financial deregulation, it is odd to most people outside the Beltway that Congress should be actively considering (and indeed have passed in the House) a raft of proposal for more financial deregulation. Yet the politics for both parties require efforts to generate job growth, without spending or taxing, and some deregulatory proposals may plausibly do that. The following testimony takes up three themes related to pending proposals to revise securities laws to (among other things) deregulate widely held but unlisted companies and banks, to permit unregistered "crowdfinancing," and to loosen constraints on small public offerings: (1) the proposals under review all raise the same general trade-off, which is best understood not as economic growth vs. investor protection, but as increasing economic growth by reducing the costs of capital-raising vs. reducing economic growth by raising the costs of capital; (2) no one can with any degree of certainty predict whether any proposal on its own, much less in combination, will increase job growth or reduce it, because the evidence that would allow one to make that prediction with confidence is not available; and (3) the proposals are thus all best viewed as proposals for risky but potentially valuable experiments, and should be treated as such – with an open mind, but also with caution and care. A general suggestion follows: any proposal should contain a sunset, with the SEC directed to study the effects of the proposal during a "test" phase, and authorized to re-adopt the proposals if their benefits exceed their costs. Specific comments on each bill are contained in Part III of the testimony.
Istanbul: living with difference in a global city

The relationship of present day Istanbul to its variegated and more cosmopolitan history has been the subject of historical and sociological analysis, memoirs, films, and novels. Orhan Pamuk famous...
A complex dynamic systems perspective on teacher learning and identity formation: an instrumental case

Scholars have called for new conceptualisations of teachers’ learning that capture the complex, contextualised, and dynamic nature of professional growth. In this article, we describe the Dynamic S...
Can Urethral Bulking Agents Salvage Failed Slings

Abstract Objective To evaluate the efficacy of urethral bulking agents for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in the setting of prior failed sling. Methods This is a retrospective review of patients who underwent urethral bulking agent injections for a primary complaint of SUI following prior failed sling surgery. The outcomes assessed were patient reported improvement, need for further interventions for incontinence and validated questionnaires. Values for questionnaires were obtained from the patient's preprocedure visit, at the first visit following their last injection and at their most recent visit within our system. Results Over the study period, 73 patients underwent urethral bulking agent injection following failed sling. Thirty-eight patients received Macroplastique injections and 35 had collagen injections. On average, patients underwent 2.6 injections. Seventy-one percent of patient reported at least partial symptom resolution at first postinjection follow-up. Validated questionnaire responses also improved at short-term follow-up (mean difference in American Urological Association Symptom Index-3.8, Michigan Incontinence Symptom Index-5.1, P Conclusion In our cohort of patients with persistent or recurrent SUI following urethral sling procedure, 71% experienced short-term improvement or resolution of symptoms following urethral bulking agent injections, with SUI-specific improvement persisting at an average of 35 months in patients with available data.
Refractive Index-Based Control of Hyperbolic Phonon-Polariton Propagation.

Hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) are generated when infrared photons couple to polar optic phonons in anisotropic media, confining long-wavelength light to nanoscale volumes. However, to realiz...
A Guide to Co-Teaching for the SLP: A Tutorial.

Co-teaching is when two or more people share instructional responsibility for all of the students assigned to them. There are many benefits to students when speech–language pathologists (SLPs) part...
Development of Muslim Family Law in Bangladesh: Empowerment or Streamlining of Women?

This article provides an insight of judicial activism on Islamic Family Law in Bangladesh. In this article I have reviewed the reported judgments of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Islamic Family Law between 1945 and 2008. It is argued in this article that though the judiciary in Bangladesh has contributed significantly to transform Islamic Family law it has dealt with some cases which one might say from patriarchal understanding of women’s prerogatives. I have also argued that the highest judicial body has provided very orthodox interpretation of Islamic law in the litigation involving the economic rights of women.
Examining older adults' perspectives on the built environment and correlates of healthy aging in an American age-friendly community

Population aging has led to an increased focus on the environmental context in which we age. While researchers have identified significant health benefits associated with built community features such as housing, transportation and outdoor spaces and buildings, less attention has focused on the correlates of healthy aging and other characteristics via the perspective of community-dwelling older adults. This study utilized cluster analysis to examine health-related subgroups of older adults (n = 598) in an age-friendly community located in the United States, of which nearly half of its residents are age 60 and older. Linear regression was used to associate the health clusters with perceptions of built environmental features and socio-demographics. Four distinct profiles were identified, with the greatest preference for housing and transportation found among those reporting poorer health compared to those reporting excellent health across multi-dimensional healthy aging measures. Perceptions on the importance of built environmental features were also found to vary by age, income and home accessibility status. Findings suggest that older adults' perceptions about built environmental features differ across health and home status as well as age and income, underscoring opportunities for public health action to better reach and engage older adults by life-course trajectories in age-friendly communities.
Effect of Gear Type on Vibrio spp. Levels in Farm-Raised Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) after Routine Handling and Resubmersion.

ABSTRACT During routine handling, cultured oysters are removed from the water and exposed to elevated temperatures, causing growth of Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus within them. Farmers can resubmerse oysters in the water, allowing elevated Vibrio spp. levels to return to ambient levels within the oysters. Previous resubmersion research is limited to one aquaculture gear type during studies performed from June to September. This study aims to expand knowledge about the recovery times needed for elevated Vibrio levels in handled oysters from two common gear types (the adjustable longline system and the OysterGro system) during early and midsummer periods. Oysters held in both gear types were subjected to being tumbled and refrigerated or desiccated and then resubmersed into water in May and July 2018 and 2019. Vibrio spp. levels were measured before and after the treatments, and 3, 7, and 14 days after resubmersion, and were compared with levels in submersed oysters. All samples were tested for V. vulnificus, total V. parahaemolyticus, and pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus (tdh+/trh+). Water temperatures in May were significantly lower (∼5°C; P ≤ 0.009) than in July, corresponding to lower V. vulnificus levels (-0.67 log MPN/g) and higher tdh+/trh+ levels (+0.56 to 0.63 log MPN/g) in control oysters. The average Vibrio spp. levels in control oysters from each trial did not differ between the gear types (P ≥ 0.08). Elevated V. vulnificus levels recovered to ambient levels after 7 days in May and 3 days in July, regardless of gear or handling. For V. parahaemolyticus, the desiccated oysters required 14 days to recover in May and 7 days in July, whereas the tumbled and refrigerated oysters required 14 days or more in both months. This study had limited replication in each month, but the data suggest that the resubmersion times differ between the gear types, treatment types, and months. Future studies with more replications are needed to determine whether these trends continue. HIGHLIGHTS
Isospectral Matrix Reductions

This is a fundamental chapter of the book. It deals with networks, which are here considered as graphs, and is built on the theory developed in the previous chapter, on matrices.
Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiling of the Adult Corticospinal Tract Reveals Forelimb and Hindlimb Molecular Specialization

Abstract The corticospinal tract (CST) is refractory to repair after CNS trauma, resulting in chronic debilitating functional motor deficits after spinal cord injury. While novel pro-axon growth activators have stimulated plasticity and regeneration of corticospinal neurons (CSNs) after injury, robust functional recovery remains elusive. These repair strategies are sub-optimal in part due to underexplored molecular heterogeneity within the developing and adult CST. In this study, we combine retrograde CST tracing with single-cell RNA sequencing to build a comprehensive atlas of CSN subtypes. By comparing CSNs to non-spinally projecting neurons in layer Vb, we identify pan-CSN markers including Wnt7b. By leveraging retrograde tracing, we are able to compare forelimb and hindlimb projecting CSNs, identifying subtype-specific markers, including Cacng7 and Slc16a2 respectively. These markers are expressed in embryonic and neonatal CSNs and can be used to study early postnatal patterning of the CST. Our results provide molecular insight into the differences between anatomically distinct CSN subtypes and provide a resource for future screening and exploitation of these subtypes to repair the damaged CST after injury and disease.
Ensemble synchronization in the reassembly of Hydra's nervous system.

Summary Although much is known about how the structure of the nervous system develops, it is still unclear how its functional modularity arises. A dream experiment would be to observe the entire development of a nervous system, correlating the emergence of functional units with their associated behaviors. This is possible in the cnidarian Hydra vulgaris, which, after its complete dissociation into individual cells, can reassemble itself back together into a normal animal. We used calcium imaging to monitor the complete neuronal activity of dissociated Hydra as they reaggregated over several days. Initially uncoordinated neuronal activity became synchronized into coactive neuronal ensembles. These local modules then synchronized with others, building larger functional ensembles that eventually extended throughout the entire reaggregate, generating neuronal rhythms similar to those of intact animals. Global synchronization was not due to neurite outgrowth but to strengthening of functional connections between ensembles. We conclude that Hydra's nervous system achieves its functional reassembly through the hierarchical modularity of neuronal ensembles.
A revision of the New Zealand Tyrini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae), with the description of two new genera and five new species

Four Tyrini genera occurring in New Zealand are revised: Agatyrus Broun T. 1917. Descriptions of new genera and species of Coleoptera (Part V). New Zealand Institute, Bulletin No. 1, pp. 347–474. J...
Diffusion-limited osmotic swelling of droplets

Swelling phenomena due to permeation appear in problems, such as the swelling of hydrogels and water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions. In the osmotic swelling of W/O/W emulsions driven by an inner salt concentration, diffusive effects inside the drop can decrease its expansion rate considerably. Although these inner-diffusion effects can play a large role on hindering drop swelling, they have not usually been taken into account in most works concerning the swelling kinetics of W/O/W emulsions. We perform numerical simulations of the expansion-diffusion problem governing the diffusion inside an expanding spherical droplet containing salt and with a semi-permeable interface. We also present asymptotic solutions for the limiting cases of slow and fast diffusion, which we compare with our numerical results. The results indicate that diffusive resistance significantly reduces the swelling kinetics of droplets. Moreover, in the regime of large Peclet numbers, diffusive effects are localized near the drop's interface in a concentration boundary layer, as predicted by our theory. The numerical results presented in this paper are in agreement with the behavior observed in recent experiments on W/O/W emulsion swelling.
The influence of ethnicity and gender on the relationship between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder status and cardiovascular responding

THE INFLUENCE OF ETHNICITY AND GENDER ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER STATUS AND CARDIOVASCULAR RESPONDING By Alison Eonta, B.A. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010 Major Director: Dr. Scott R. Vrana, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Department of Psychology Past research has found inconsistent effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status on cardiovascular responding. Inconsistencies may be explained by demographic differences in study samples. In this study, the influence of gender and ethnicity on the relationship between PTSD status and cardiovascular responding was explored. Participants’ (N = 245) heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) readings were taken throughout baseline and anger recall periods. For all gender by ethnicity groups, baseline HR was higher in participants with PTSD than without PTSD, except for Black men. Whites with PTSD had lower baseline SBP than Whites without PTSD; the opposite was true for Blacks. Men and Blacks with PTSD had larger HR increases during anger imagery than men and Blacks without PTSD, whereas women and Whites showed the opposite pattern. Results suggest demographic variables may account for inconsistent effects of PTSD on cardiovascular responding.
Cognitive Changes and Implications for the Therapeutic Encounter

Early proponents of psychoanalysis held the view that due to cognitive constraints (“lack of elasticity”), elderly people were not appropriate for psychoanalysis. This led to a resistance to treating older patients until relatively recently. Now, however, there is little doubt that treating older adults with psychotherapy is not only appropriate but effective. As discussed in Chapter 1, psychodynamic approaches are increasingly being applied to work with aging adults. However, for some older people and the very elderly, cognitive changes impact the therapeutic encounter. Emerging research and clinical insights suggest that despite cognitive decline, psychotherapeutic and psychodynamic approaches are useful. Nevertheless, the presence of impaired cognitive abilities raises questions among clinicians who conduct psychotherapy with this population. For example, people often wonder about the ethics of practicing psychotherapy with adults who have memory problems. This chapter will address these questions, as well as other considerations in treating adults with cognitive difficulties. As most clinicians are undoubtedly aware, cognitive impairment in the elderly is not uncommon. While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an exhaustive survey of all neuropsychological disorders that we might encounter in our elderly patients, we will begin by looking at some of the primary clinical symptoms in the most common diseases we encounter. First, I will describe the most common forms of dementia, as well as related cognitive sequelae of heart disease and diabetes. These disorders are so prevalent in clinical practice that we may forget to pay attention to how these illnesses affect cognitive functioning. Although there are a number of diseases I will not cover here, the references at the end of this chapter provide an excellent review of many of the major illnesses confronting older adults. In addition to discussing some of the main cognitive issues that arise in treating older adults, I will discuss the common problem of delirium. Delirium is a relatively sudden change in cognitive abilities, caused most often by medical problems: frequently infections, medication interactions, and difficulties in metabolizing medications (which becomes more challenging for all of us as we grow older). As psychoanalytic clinicians, we may initially perceive changes in cognition as related to normative regression that can occur in therapies that emphasize dealing with unconscious conflicts, and we may miss when biological forces cause changes in the mental status of our patients. From my own experience, it is helpful to know when delirium might be present so that I can refer to or coordinate with psychiatrists and primary care physicians. I’ll discuss the limited (though insightful) psychodynamic writing that has taken place on the topic of working with older adults. I will detail the ways that psychodynamic interventions can be helpful, as well as the limits of these interventions for people with more advanced cognitive decline.
Visual monitoring in a simulated agricultural machinery operation.

Many agricultural machinery operations involve the monitoring of implements located behind the tractor operator. This visual monitoring task of a tractor operator was simulated in the laboratory. The effects of the type of task (steering only vs. steering plus rear monitoring), the operators' peripheral field of view, and the steering input frequency on operator performance were studied. Response times to visual stimuli located in the visual sphere surrounding the operator were determined. Visual field contours derived from the experimental data were plotted and used to illustrate variations in the operators field of view due to changes in the experimental variables.
Lyapunov Stability of Continuous-Valued Systems under the Supervision of Discrete-Event Transition Systems

This paper examines the Lyapunov stability of equilibrium points for switched control systems. A switched control systemis a continuous-valued system whose control law is switched in a discontinuous manner as the system state evolves over a continuous-valued subset of R n . Of particular interest in this paper are switched systems in which the switching logic is generated by a discrete-event transition system that can be represented as either a finite automaton or bounded Petri net.
The local-food movement and the anthropology of global systems

Today's wrenching worldwide social and cultural instability calls for more adequate theorization. Through an examination of the local-food movement in the United States, I consider one such theorization, Kajsa Ekholm Friedman and Jonathan Friedman's anthropology of global systems. The Friedmans set out an original conceptualization of transformations in the political economy of commercial civilizations and processes of identity formation in periods of hegemonic decline. I present data on the local-food movement in North Carolina and on differences in identity orientations between “sustainable-agriculture” and “food-security” activists to evaluate this conceptualization.
THE USE OF A VERBAL REPRIMAND TO DECREASE RUMINATION IN A CHILD WITH AUTISM

After a pre-treatment screening analysis suggested that rumination exhibited by a boy with autism occurred in the absence of social consequences, we evaluated the effect of a verbal reprimand contingent on the target behavior via a reversal design. The reprimand reduced rumination to near-zero levels; we then thinned the reprimand schedule and rumination remained infrequent. Follow-up data collected 6, 12, and 18 months after initial treatment suggested that intervention effects were maintained. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Minimal power consumption of the Penn State rollerscrew EVAD through optimal and suboptimal control

An output feedback controller for the Penn State rollerscrew electric ventricular assist device (EVAD) is discussed. The controller minimizes the electrical energy consumption while using the only observable state variable as its signal. The initial conditions on which the optimal control of the EVAD depends are based on cardiovascular data of the general population. Comparison of the Rollerscrew EVAD with the Cam EVAD reveals a striking difference in efficiency between the two devices. A patient with an optimally controlled Rollerscrew EVAD could function for 14.5 h without a recharge while the same patient with an optimally controlled Cam EVAD could function only for 8 h. >
Our Inalienable Rights Can Never Be Recovered

We live in a Surveillance State in a Surveillance World. The Surveillance State dragnets the lifestyles and beliefs of each of us – political views, associations, books and periodicals, friends, acquaintances, medical concerns, sexual proclivities, marital relations, and religious worship and beliefs. Those dragnets are protected by secrecy, lies, blackmail, financial and political extortion, torture, defamation, prosecutions, imprisonment without due process, and a lack of any effective safeguards. In a congressional hearing, when Senator Ron Wyden asked the National Security Administration director whether the agency was collecting data on Amercans’ phone calls, the NSA chief falsely denied it. After his lie had been exposed, he admitted it, with no apparent embarrassment. When Edward Snowden released the documents that revealed the existence of the problem, President Obama said that he was pleased that a healthy debate had started. He then promptly smeared and hounded Snowden for having started the debate. In addition, the government tried to obtain the death penalty and, in the alternative, 136 years in prison, to punish another whistle-blower, Pfc. Bradley Manning. While waiting 16 weeks for his trial to begin, Manning was stripped of his clothes and held in solitary confinement. The surveillance dragnets are ever-expanding and omnipresent. They can never be removed or restricted, and our Constitution, with its Bill of Rights and separation of powers, has been lost forever.
Planning and Conducting Sampling Surveys of Hazardous Wastes at Industrial Facilities

Many organizations and their consultants are involved in sampling programs to characterize waste streams and materials at industrial facilities. Due to financial limitations, calendar deadlines, or other practical restrictions, a short-term, survey-type sampling plan (“sampling survey”) may need to he implemented. Survey results can he used to determine if the wastes are hazardous or if they are being managed in accordance with applicable regulations. This paper brings together practical experience and diverse information to identify the major concerns in conducting sampling surveys and to suggest methods of approaching these concerns. The paper addresses sampling in time and space, “correct” sampling to minimize bias, selecting equipment to minimize contamination, sample handling, and quality assurance/quality control. Even a quick sampling survey can be a high quality effort with a careful approach to the critical issues.
Obesity and immigration among Latina women.

Several studies have shown a positive association between acculturation and obesity in Hispanics. We sought to examine the association in a sample of urban Hispanic women. Using data collected in the Chicago Breast Health Project, we used logistic regression to examine the association of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) with language acculturation and years in the US in a sample of 388 Hispanic women. Women self-reported the number of years they had lived in the US (mean 17.6) as well as their preferred language across several domains, which was used to calculate a language acculturation score. Nearly all the women (98%) were born outside the US with the majority (65%) born in Mexico and the majority of women (69%) had low language acculturation, i.e., answered “only Spanish” in every domain. Over half of the women were obese (56%). In multivariable analysis, odds of obesity was twice as high among women living in the US for greater than 20 years compared to those in the US for 10 years or less (OR/year = 2.07, 95% CI 1.25–3.42). In contrast, low language acculturation was not associated with odds of obesity (OR = 1.14, 95% CI 0.70–1.86). While greater years in the US increased odds of obesity among Hispanic women, no association of obesity with language acculturation was found. These results suggest that mechanisms other than language contribute to the immigration effect.
Bertram M. Gesner, 1931-1968.

‘Medicine does not end in hospitals, as is often believed, but merely begins there. In leaving the hospital, a physician, jealous of his title in its scientific sense, must go into the laboratory; and there by experiments on animals he will seek to account for what he has observed in his patient. There, in a word, he will achieve true medical science.”—Claude Bernard, 1865
On the Export of Fatty Acids from the Chloroplast

The model for export of fatty acids from plastids proposes that the acyl-ACP (acyl carrier protein) product of de novo fatty acid synthesis is hydrolyzed in the stroma by acyl-ACP thioesterases and the free fatty acid (FFA) released is then transferred to the outer envelope of the plastid where it is reactivated to acyl-CoA for utilization in cytosolic glycerolipid synthesis. Experiments were performed to assess whether the delivery of nascent FFA from the stroma for long chain acyl-CoA synthesis (LACS) occurs via simple diffusion or a more complex mechanism. The flux through the in vivo FFA pool was estimated using kinetic labeling experiments with spinach and pea leaves. The maximum half-life for FFA in the export pool was ≤1 s. Isolated pea chloroplasts incubated in the light with [14C]acetate gave a linear accumulation of FFA. When CoASH and ATP were present there was also a linear accumulation of acyl-CoA thioesters (plus derived polar lipids), with no measurable lag phase (
A Gro/TLE-NuRD corepressor complex facilitates Tbx20-dependent transcriptional repression.

The cardiac transcription factor Tbx20 has a critical role in the proper morphogenetic development of the vertebrate heart, and its misregulation has been implicated in human congenital heart disease. Although it is established that Tbx20 exerts its function in the embryonic heart through positive and negative regulation of distinct gene programs, it is unclear how Tbx20 mediates proper transcriptional regulation of its target genes. Here, using a combinatorial proteomic and bioinformatic approach, we present the first characterization of Tbx20 transcriptional protein complexes. We have systematically investigated Tbx20 protein-protein interactions by immunoaffinity purification of tagged Tbx20 followed by proteomic analysis using GeLC-MS/MS, gene ontology classification, and functional network analysis. We demonstrate that Tbx20 is associated with a chromatin remodeling network composed of TLE/Groucho co-repressors, members of the Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylase (NuRD) complex, the chromatin remodeling ATPases RUVBL1/RUVBL2, and the T-box repressor Tbx18. We determined that the interaction with TLE co-repressors is mediated via an eh1 binding motif in Tbx20. Moreover, we demonstrated that ablation of this motif results in a failure to properly assemble the repression network and disrupts Tbx20 function in vivo. Importantly, we validated Tbx20-TLE interactions in the mouse embryonic heart, and identified developmental genes regulated by Tbx20:TLE binding, thereby confirming a primary role for a Tbx20-TLE repressor complex in embryonic heart development. Together, these studies suggest a model in which Tbx20 associates with a Gro/TLE-NuRD repressor complex to prevent inappropriate gene activation within the forming heart.
Cell-free synthesis and processing of multiple precursors to glucagon

Glucagon, a polypeptide hormone of 29 amino acids, is synthesized in the islets of Langerhans and immunoreactive forms of the molecule have been found in several tissues. Like many other polypeptide hormones, glucagon is synthesized via a larger precursor molecular, proglucagon; however, estimates of its size vary considerably and the biosynthetic relationship between some of the putative precursors and authentic secreted glucagon is unclear. Consequently it was of interest to investigate the primary translation product of glucagon mRNA to relate its size to that of previously described glucagon precursors. Here we provide evidence for three distinct immunoreactive preproglucagon molecules, two of which have an apparent molecular weight (MW) of approximately 16,000 (16K). Furthermore, when microsomal membranes were present during translation, the nascent 14K preproglucagon polypeptides were processed to proglucagon with a higher apparent MW of 15,000. In contrast, the nascent 16K preproglucagon was co-translationally processed to a slightly smaller polypeptide. The data indicate that the 14K and 16K preproglucagons undergo different types of post-translational modification.
N Version Testing in the Undergraduate Curriculum

In this article we examine N version testing, a reliability testing technique that uses multiple implementations of a common specification to find errors before software is released, not after. We ...
Two-dimensional 13C n.m.r. studies of the morphology and orientational order in gel-spun ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fibres

Abstract In this communication we demonstrate the feasibility of determining the orientational distribution functions of various morphological components in ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene fibres by two-dimensional rotor-synchronized 13C cross-polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) techniques. For comparative purposes we have also included a drawn polyethylene fibre of normal molecular weight. The results showed that these fibres contain two crystalline components, designated C1 and C2, and an amorphous (non-crystalline) component, A. Order parameters and orientational distribution functions of these components can be obtained through analysis of the two-dimensional 13C n.m.r. spectra.