cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cytoarchitecture of a Cichlid Fish Telencephalon

Although the telencephalon of ray-finned fishes has garnered considerable attention from comparative neuroanatomists, detailed descriptions of telencephalic organization are available for only a few species. This necessarily limits our understanding of telencephalic evolution, particularly in light of the extraordinary diversity of ray-finned fishes. Thus, we have charted the cyctoarchitecture of the telencephalon of the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia (Haplochromis) burtoni. We examined tissue sectioned in the transverse plane, and categorized cell groups based on size, shape, and staining intensity of cells, the density and distribution of cells, cell-poor zones, and relationship of cell groups to the anterior commissure and external sulci. In addition, to facilitate visualization of the transitions among cell groups, we aligned and animated a series of 100 sequential brain sections. We found that the A. burtoni telencephalon was similar to other percomorphs in being highly elaborated with many distinct cell groups. In the pallium, Dm, Dl, and Dc had a large number of cell groups, whereas Dd and Dp were more uniform. Although we recognized many similarities between the pallium of A. burtoni and other teleosts, we also recognized two cell groups (Dl-g and Dm-2) that might represent specializations of cichlids. We found that the subpallium had a similar organization to that of other ray-finned fishes.
The Integration of Reflectivity in Developmental Supervision: Implications for Clinical Supervisors

In this article, counselor development and supervision is introduced through the lens of an integrated reflective (Neufeldt, 1997) and developmental (e.g., Blocher, 1983; Stoltenberg & McNeill, 2010) approach to clinical supervision. A definition of reflective, developmental supervision is reviewed along with supervisee development within five distinct processes: (1) supervisory relationship, (2) developmental assessment, (3) contextual adjustment, (4) skill acquisition, and (5) professional transition. In addition, this article discusses the theoretical tenets, empirical support, applications, and implications of reflective, developmental supervision for clinical supervisors.
“What it Means to Be a Man”: Examining Hegemonic Masculinity in Two and a Half Men

Two and a Half Men chronicles the experiences of 2 brothers living together in Los Angeles. This television show provides the opportunity to compare alternative portrayals of modern masculinity. The current project studies the masculinity of the show's main characters by examining its first 5 seasons using narrative thematic analysis. Literature on gender and hegemonic masculinity frames this research project, offering both a historical perspective and a critical understanding of media representations. I argue that the performances of hegemonic and subordinated masculinity on Two and a Half Men reconstruct and reinforce the dominance of hegemonic masculinity within our society as the only acceptable performance of manhood. Effeminate masculinity, an alternative masculinity, fails to find legitimate cultural articulation within the show.
Civil society advocacy and the diffusion of violence against women norms: An analysis of the International Violence Against Women Act

This article analyzes the advocacy campaign and the policy process surrounding the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) in the United States and explains the mobilization of this campaign and its political outcomes to date. The main question the article explores is: How can we interpret the effort by advocacy groups in the United States to use the domestic political process to advance their international goals? The findings suggest that the literature on norm and policy diffusion as well as the structure of political opportunities and framing, both variables identified by social movement theorists, can help us understand the I-VAWA campaign and its strategies and achievements to date. The article interprets the policy process surrounding I-VAWA as an effort by rooted cosmopolitans to use favorable domestic political opportunities and strategic framing to diffuse international norms and standards.
The dynamics of fare and frequency choice in urban transit

This paper investigates the choice of fare and service frequency by urban mass transit agencies. A more frequent service is costly to provide but is valued by riders due to shorter waiting times at stops, and faster operating speeds on less crowding vehicles. Empirical analyses in the 1980s found that service frequencies were too high in most of the cities studied. For a given budget constraint, social welfare could be improved by reducing service frequencies and using the money saved to lower fares. The cross-sectional nature of these analyses meant that researchers were unable to address the question of when the oversupply occurred. This paper seeks to answer that question by conducting a time-series analysis of the bus operations of the Chicago Transit Authority from 1953 to 2005. The paper finds that it has always been the case that too much service frequency was provided at too high a fare. The imbalance between fares and service frequency became larger in the 1970s when the introduction of operating subsidies coincided with an increase in the unit cost of service provision.
Interstrain Variation in the Human Cytomegalovirus DNA Polymerase Sequence and Its Effect on Genotypic Diagnosis of Antiviral Drug Resistance

The polymerase (pol) coding sequence was determined for 40 independent clinical cytomegalovirus isolates sensitive to ganciclovir and foscarnet. Sequence alignments showed >98% interstrain homology and amino acid variation in only 4% of the 1,237 codons. Almost all variation occurred outside of conserved functional domains where resistance mutations have been identified.
A new view of an old suture zone: Evidence for sinistral transpression in the Cheyenne belt

The type locality of the Archean–Paleoproterozoic suture zone in the southern Rocky Mountains is marked by a series of subvertical shear zones collectively called the Cheyenne belt. The Cheyenne belt is a key structure for developing models for 1780–1740 Ma tectonism along the southern margin of the Archean Wyoming Province, which heralded a rapid period of continental amalgamation. This paper tests existing structural and plate-tectonic models for the Cheyenne belt with detailed geologic mapping, kinematic analyses, quartz crystallographic fabric analyses, and deformation mechanism analyses of the northern mylonite zone of the eastern Medicine Bow Mountains. Mylonites of this zone record a complex deformation history, but the main deformation phase was sinistral/northwest-side-up oblique transpression. Evidence for southeast-side-up, dip-slip motion that characterizes many other areas of the belt is confined to ultramylonites immediately adjacent to the terrane boundary. Hence, fabrics related to sinistral transpression were likely overprinted by southeast-side-up motion. Sinistral strike-slip motion is recorded in at least two other localities in the Cheyenne belt. Because synmetamorphic fabrics on both sides of the suture zone record sinistral strike-slip and northwest-side-up motion, this was probably the dominant deformation style in the field area and may have been the dominant deformation style throughout the Cheyenne belt. Based on these data and regional constraints, we interpret the Cheyenne belt as a subvertical transpressional stretching fault system that simultaneously accommodated sinistral strike-slip motion, penetrative horizontal shortening, and dip-slip motion related to differential crustal thickening between the relatively cold Wyoming Province and younger, hotter rocks to the south.
The Impact of Emergency Contraception on Dating and Marriage

I study the effects of improvements in contraception on premarital sexual behavior, pregnancy, and marriage. I develop a model where individuals date before marrying in order to learn about relationship quality. While dating, individuals face the risk of pregnancy or contracting a sexually-transmitted infection (STI). The model predicts that contraceptive improvements increase the number of sexual partners, increase sexual acts, increase STI rates, and, under certain conditions, delay marriages and lower single motherhood rates. I use changes in states' over-the-counter (OTC) sales policies for emergency contraception as a natural experiment in varying access to contraceptive technology. Using multiple sources of data on birth rates, STIs, marriages, and sexual activity, I confirm the predictions of the model and find that OTC policies have a significant impact on sexual behavior and relationships.
Wanna be statin something

Statins, which are typically used for lowering cholesterol, have immunomodulatory effects in asthma and reportedly reduce sputum macrophage count and improve the balance of inflammatory cells in favor of suppressing inflammation. Prior studies suggest that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may have an autoimmune component related to T helper 17 (TH17) cells, a subset of CD4+ T cells found in COPD. In addition, statins have proven immunomodulatory effects on TH17cell- and interleukin-17 (IL-17)–mediated inflammatory responses in a number of autoimmune diseases. On the basis of this information, Maneechotesuwan and colleagues conducted a study to determine whether simvastatin has beneficial effects in COPD similar to those seen in asthma. The study was a double-blind, randomized, cross-over trial. Twenty-six individuals aged 45 to 80 years, with moderate COPD [Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage II], went through a 2-week run-in period before being randomized to receive 20 mg of simvastatin or placebo for 4 weeks. Participants were subsequently subjected to a 4-week washout period, after which they crossed over to the opposite treatment arm. The authors then measured the concentrations of TH17 cytokines and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in induced sputum from these patients. Additional outcome measures evaluated in the study included sputum inflammatory cells, extent of respiratory dysfunction, and symptoms. The concentrations of cytokines IL-17 and IL-22 were reduced in the sputum of COPD patients treated with simvastatin, independent of smoking status or use of inhaled corticosteroids. In addition, simvastatin suppressed sputum IL-6 concentrations, whereas placebo had the opposite effect. Simvastatin also improved the patients’ symptoms but did not alter the objective measurements of lung function. This study describes the anti-inflammatory effects of statins in COPD. The results indicate that simvastatin may help modulate the inflammatory response in patients with COPD, but these findings must be interpreted with caution because this was a small study restricted to individuals with moderate disease. Additional work will be required to determine whether the observations noted in this study are generalizable to other COPD groups/classes. Another limitation to consider is that despite the washout period before switching treatment arms, the randomized cross-over design may have affected the results if the carry-over effect was prolonged. K. Maneechotesuwan et al. , Simvastatin suppresses airway IL-17 and upregulates IL-10 in patients with stable COPD. Chest 148 , 1164–1176 (2015). [[Full Text]][1] [1]: http://journal.publications.chestnet.org/article.aspx?articleid=2319178
Steatite vessel age and occurrence in temperate eastern North America

Despite a general interest in studying technological change, archaeologists have only rarely attempted to explain the rise and fall of steatite vessel manufacture. Explaining steatite vessel manufacture requires that all information on age and spatial distribution be extensively sampled and accounted for. Documenting spatial distribution shows that steatite vessels are not restricted to a single environmental or depositional context, nor were they manufactured at all steatite outcrops. A correlation between vessel distribution and mast forest, however, was identified. Analyzing steatite vessel age reveals that the technology was present at low levels for lengthy periods of time, but the absence of a trend in age across space fails to support migration/diffusion models of spread. As a durable and portable boiling technology, steatite vessels would have offset the relatively high processing costs of mast by reducing processing time and replacement costs among mobile populations.
Quality Analysis and Assessment of Hybrid Rice Varieties in Fujian Province during the Year of 2004-2013

In this paper, 134 hybrid rice varieties, which were certified and released for commercial production in Fujian province during the year of 2004-2013, were analyzed for their quality. The results showed that the number of variety certification was comparative and the quality was similar during recent years. Nearly 97% of species of head rice rate to reach national standard quality rice standards. However, the main reason of lower head milled rice was higher chalkiness score.
Basic Tenancy Relationships

In the beginning of the year it is long time and long prices. In the end it is short aops and short prices, and the scene closes in bankruptcy and financial ruin.
Inhibition of calcium oxalate dihydrate crystallization by chemical modifiers: I. Pyrophosphate and methylene blue.

AbstractPyrophosphate and methylene blue are 2 agents observed to inhibit the calcium oxalate monohydrate crystal mass produced in urine or simulated urine. These agents do not produce this effect by inhibition of crystal growth. Information on nucleation rates and studies in the calcium oxalate dihydrate system have not been reported. Mixed suspension mixed product removal crystallizer techniques were used to isolate and analyze effects on calcium oxalate dihydrate crystallization of these 2 inhibitors on kinetics of total crystal mass (MT), linear crystal growth rate (G) and crystal nucleation rate (B0). Within this system mass and population balances conform to the relationship MT equals 6ρkvB0 τ4G3, where ρ represents crystal density, kv is a volumetric shape factor and τ indicates time of retention of crystals within the crystallizer. Pyrophosphate exerted its inhibitory effect by decreasing the nucleation rate in ratios ranging from 3.4 to 4.2 when compared to uninhibited synthetic urine supersatura...
Detecting emerald ash borers (Agrilus planipennis) using branch traps baited with 3D-printed beetle decoys

Small visual-decoy-baited traps for the emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), have been researched as an alternative to current technologies, but have relied on real beetles rather than synthetic materials. We hypothesized that visual decoys created by three-dimensional (3D) printing can provide such a substitute. Branch traps displaying decoys consisting of real EAB females or 3D-printed decoys were compared to controls without decoys. Traps of the three varieties were placed on neighboring branches along with one (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol lure per tree and checked daily. Both real and 3D-printed decoys similarly increased EAB trap captures compared to controls. The numbers of both sexes were higher on the decoy-baited traps, but the increase in male captures was more pronounced. Males were also ensnared closer to the decoys than females. Daily trap–capture patterns showed sparse activity of EAB adults before June 18, 2013 followed by a peak in captures of both males and females until June 28, 2013. Beginning at approximately July 1, 2013, there was a second peak of EAB captures, which consisted almost entirely of males caught on the decoy-baited traps. The native ash borer Agrilus subcinctus was found earlier in the season and was also significantly attracted to both the real EABs and the 3D-printed decoys compared with control traps. Four purple prism traps were also deployed concurrently and captures tallied on three different days within the season. The results demonstrate efficacy of a small, inexpensive, and fully synthetic decoy-based branch trap system for EAB.
General Methods for Solutions

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the general methods of solutions. A variety of duct configurations is encountered in the existing wide spectrum of thermal systems. No single method of analysis is uniformly applicable. There are nine methods that have been the primary ones employed for the analysis of hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed laminar fluid flow, and heat transfer through ducts of different geometries. For the fully developed laminar velocity problems, the methods of analysis are not categorized separately, because the solution to the velocity problem is generally found by the same method as that employed for the solution to the temperature problem. The exact closed-form solutions of the momentum and energy equations are obtained for some simple geometry, such as the circular tube, parallel plates, elliptical ducts, concentric and eccentric annular ducts, and confocal elliptical ducts. The chapter presents two methods, the discrete least squares and continuous least squares, which have been used to analyze the fully developed laminar forced convection problem. The discrete least squares method is also referred to as the least squares point-matching method.
Poor outcomes for children on the wait list at low-volume kidney transplant centers in the United States

Low case volume has been associated with worse survival outcomes in solid organ transplantation. Our aim was to analyze wait-list outcomes in conjunction with posttransplant outcomes. We studied a cohort of 11,488 candidates waitlisted in the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) for pediatric kidney transplant between 2002 and 2014, including both deceased- and living-donor transplants; 8757 (76 %) candidates received a transplant. Candidates were divided into four groups according to the average volume of yearly transplants performed in the listing center over a 12-year period: more than ten, six to nine, three to five, and fewer than three. We used multivariate Cox regression analysis to identify independent risk factors for wait list and posttransplant mortality. Twenty-seven percent of candidates were listed at low-volume centers in which fewer than three transplants were performed annually. These candidates had a limited transplant rate; only 49 % received a transplant versus 88 % in high-volume centers (more than ten transplants annually) (p < 0.001). Being listed at a low-volume center showed a fourfold increased risk for death while on the wait list [hazard ratio (HR) 4.0 in multivariate Cox regression and 6.1 in multivariate competing risk regression]. It was not a significant risk factor for posttransplant death in multivariate Cox regression. Pediatric transplant candidates are listed at low-volume transplant centers are transplanted less frequently and have a much greater risk of dying while on the wait list. Further studies are needed to elucidate the reasons behind the significant outcome differences.
Knowing oneself and long-term goal pursuit: Relations among self-concept clarity, conscientiousness, and grit.

Abstract Research has been dedicated to exploring the personality variables that facilitate goal pursuit. Conscientiousness and grit are closely related individual difference variables that have been postulated to influence goal pursuit. Conscientiousness refers to self-regulation in the pursuit of tasks or goals. Grit refers to the enduring effort that is applied to long term goals, and can be subdivided into two sub-components: perseverance of effort and consistency of interest. Unlike perseverance of effort which is robustly correlated with conscientiousness, consistency of interest is less strongly related to conscientiousness. The present study examines how a third variable, self-concept clarity, may interact with conscientiousness to differentially predict sub-components of grit. Results indicated that conscientiousness interacts with self-concept clarity to predict the consistency of interest component of grit; however, no interactive effect was found when predicting the perseverance of effort component of grit. The implications of these findings, as well as possible avenues for future research are discussed.
Neutrophil elastase contributes to activated human neutrophil-induced rat small airway dysfunction

Small airways (SA) are the main site of airflow obstruction in COPD. Neutrophil products, including proteases and oxidants, damage lung tissue and are implicated in COPD pathophysiology. We studied the effects of protease inhibitors or an antioxidant ( N -acetylcysteine, NAC) on COPD neutrophil supernatant-induced SA dysfunction in ex vivo rat precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) using videomicroscopy. fMLP-stimulated neutrophil supernatants were pre-treated with either neutrophil elastase (NE) inhibitor (10μM, Calbiochem 324745) or MMP-9 inhibitor (10μM, Calbiochem 444278), or NAC (1mM) prior to overnight incubation with rat PCLS, and SA contraction to carbachol (CCh, 10nM-10μM) assessed. Compared with untreated (UT) airways, there was a 33% reduction in maximal airway closure in SA incubated with COPD neutrophil supernatants (UT 86±2, n=10; COPD 53±9% closure, n=7), which was attenuated by 24% by NE inhibitor (77±8%, n=7), but with no effect on PCLS viability (COPD 42±15, n=7; COPD+inhibitor 47±16%UT viability, n=7). MMP-9 inhibitor had no effect on maximal airway closure (UT 83±4, n=8; COPD 36±2, n=4, COPD+inhibitor 24±13% closure, n=5) or viability (COPD 59±13, n=4; COPD+MMP-9 inhibitor 48±12 %UT viability, n=4). NAC restored maximal airway closure by 16% in 1mM H 2 O 2 -treated SA (UT 91±4, n=8; H 2 O 2 70±8, n=8; H 2 O 2 +NAC 86±4%closure, n=6), but not in SA treated with COPD neutrophil supernatants (UT 78±6, n=6; COPD 28±7, n=4; COPD+NAC 7±9% closure, n=4). Therefore, NE was involved in COPD neutrophil supernatant-induced rat SA dysfunction. NE inhibition may protect against elastolytic damage, or inhibit tissue mediator release and therefore could be a target for SA dysfunction in COPD.
Where the rubber meets the road: entertainment services, software, and consumer electronics in a global digital medium

From communication and publishing behemoths to mom-and-pop makers of CD-ROMs, from Michael Ovitz to trisha@ramp.com, purveyors and packagers of bits are racing for grubstakes and homesteads in the digital wilderness. This paper surveys some of the current trends with specific examples.
Fibrobacter communities in the gastrointestinal tracts of diverse hindgut-fermenting herbivores are distinct from those of the rumen.

Summary The genus Fibrobacter contains cellulolytic bacteria originally isolated from the rumen. Culture-independent investigations have since identified Fibrobacter populations in gastrointestinal tracts of numerous hindgut-fermenting herbivores, but their physiology is poorly characterized due to few representative axenic cultures. To test the hypothesis that novel Fibrobacter diversity exists in hindgut fermenters, we performed culture and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on samples collected from phylogenetically diverse herbivorous hosts. Using a unique approach for recovering axenic Fibrobacter cultures, we isolated 45 novel strains from 11 different hosts. Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing of these isolates identified nine discrete phylotypes (cutoff = 0.03%) among them, including several that were only isolated from hindgut-fermenting hosts, and four previously unrepresented by axenic cultures. Our phylogenetic analysis indicated that six of the phylotypes are more closely related to previously described subspecies of Fibrobacter succinogenes, while the remaining three were more closely related to F. intestinalis. Culture-independent bacterial community profiling confirmed that most isolates were representative of numerically dominant phylotypes in their respective samples and strengthened the association of certain phylotypes with either ruminants or hindgut-fermenters. Despite considerable phylogenetic diversity observed among the Fibrobacter strains isolated here, phenotypic characterization suggests a conserved specialization for growth on cellulose. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome while receiving irinotecan with fluorouracil and folinic acid for metastatic gastric cancer.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinical-radiographic syndrome with seizures, headache, altered mental status and visual disturbances. It is typically associated with posterior cerebral white matter oedema on neuroimaging. There is an increasing number of cases of PRES reported with different chemotherapeutic protocols. However, PRES is rarely reported in association with irinotecan, fluorouracil and folinic acid (FOLFIRI). We report a 28-year-old female patient with a history of Stage IV gastric cancer who presented with abdominal pain and recurrent vomiting that was thought to be related to a partial intestinal obstruction secondary to peritoneal metastasis. Eventually, she was treated with FOLFIRI. A few hours after initiation of the fluorouracil infusion in the second cycle, she developed a tonic-clonic seizure. MRI of the brain showed multiple bilateral T2 and flair hyperintense cortical and subcortical lesions suggestive of PRES. Other causes of PRES were excluded, as well a...
Risks and Values: New and Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change

This introductory chapter provides a brief summary of the main aims of the book. We also provide an overview of the structure of the volume as a whole and the main points of each chapter.
Field Testing a Low-Cost Sensor for Long-Term Measurement of Traffic-Related PM2.5

Background Health departments and urban planners have growing needs for high resolution data on urban air pollution, to quantify existing health burdens at the neighborhood scale, to identify and prioritize exposure reduction strategies for pollution hot-spots, to track progress in achieving air quality-related health improvement goals, and to assess health co-benefits of longer-term carbon mitigation strategies. To-date, however, few tools have been available to inform these high priority urban health objectives. As part of the NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team (HAQAST) project, this study was designed to field test a unique low-cost sensor for measuring long-term concentrations of PM2.5 mass and composition at sites impacted by road traffic in three cities: Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Methods Starting in August 2017, we deployed University of North Carolina (UNC) passive samplers at 2–3 sites each in Boston, NYC and San Francisco. Sites were chosen due to availability of co-located sampling for PM2.5 using conventional, high-cost sensors, and proximity to major roadways. Each sampler had a filter placed under a fine mesh screen of 1.5 cm in diameter; particles settled gravitationally and by diffusion. We tested two sampling periods: 4 weeks and 12 weeks. Particles accumulated on the filter for as long as the sampler was left open to the air. Samplers were sent to a laboratory for analysis by electron microscopy and analyzed data was returned to us. We also obtained publically available data from high cost regulatory monitors for the sites in Boston, and compared daily averages. Results We deployed samplers on schedule and found that strong winds, particularly near highways, would occasionally disrupt the horizontal orientation of the sampler or cause the sampler to blow away; this was solved by using more sturdy mounting brackets. Initial laboratory results indicate that the 12-week sampling period provides optimal filter loadings. Sampling in 2016 and 2017 at two sites in Boston tell us that the near-road site presents higher PM2.5 annual concentrations by 0.5 to 1 ug/m3. Quantitative analyses comparing the low-cost sensor data with co-located standard devices will be carried out in the coming months as data accumulate. Conclusions Preliminary qualitative results suggest that the novel low-cost UNC sensor can be easily deployed at the community scale, with the potential to achieve broader engagement of the civil society and develop tools to enable our stakeholders to carry out health-based air quality assessments at relevant community scales.
Moritz Geiger and Aesthetics

Although a member of the Munich school of phenomenology Moritz Geiger is also an American phenomenologist. Apart from his visits to the United States, Geiger spent the last years of his life, and died, in this country. As one of the major writers in phenomenological aesthetics, Geiger did not exercise an influence commensurate with his work. There are good reasons for this “failure.” His emigration to the United States deprived him of an audience sufficiently versed in phenomenology and the intellectual climate from which it emerged. His early death left various unfinished works, including Die Bedeutung der Kunst. The emerging interest in various circles in the Husserlian philosophical phenomenology and its methodology left the more specialized domains of phenomenological researches less visible. As a matter of fact, because of the specialization Husserl called Geiger a “quarter phenomenologist”.1 Moreover, the American interest in existential and ontological topics shifted the focus away from concrete phenomenological work toward the more abstract concerns of Being and Existenz.
Wild Hearth A Prolegomenon to the Cultural Fire History of Northern Eurasia

Since the time of Homo erectus hominids have, through fire, interacted with the Earth. Anthropogenic fire has been present throughout northern Eurasia whenever ice sheets, sea levels, and climate have permitted; throughout the Holocene, occupation by Homo sapiens has been continuous. Through their fire practices humans have sought, from the earliest times, to reshape and render habitable their surroundings. The ways by which humans have protected themselves from wildfire and the means by which they have projected their own domesticated fires onto the land have varied considerably — they have changed over historic time as well as across geographic space. But their fires mark human presence as surely as flint arrowheads or burial mounds. Everywhere fire has mediated between humans and the land. The biota of northern Eurasia has thus coexisted, if not coevolved, under the pressures of anthropogenic fire.
A Dynamic Approach to Isolating Erroneous Event Patterns in Concurrent Program Executions

Concurrency bugs are hard to find due to the nondeterministic behavior of concurrent programs. In this paper, we present an algorithm for isolating erroneous event patterns in concurrent program executions. Failed executions are characterized as a sequence of switch points, which capture the interleaving of read and write events on shared variables. The algorithm inputs the sequence of a failed execution, and outputs erroneous event patterns. We implemented our algorithm and conducted an experimental evaluation on several Java benchmark programs. The results of our evaluation show that our approach can effectively and efficiently identify erroneous event patterns in failed executions.
Meeting Mortality: Palliative Care and the Ars Moriendi

Our preoccupations change from one generation and one age to the next. Today, our preoccupations do not include mortality; in fact, there has been a great deal of writing about our disdain for illness and death, our eagerness to overlook or ignore it, and our ability to entertain the possibility of endless vitality and strength. Pitches for senior living always show happy, active adults who do not seem to be encumbered by the aches and pains we feel, literally, in our bones as we grow older. Meador and Henson talk about the same reality in terms of a “therapeutic culture.” “The excesses of medical therapeutic modernity,” they say, “have frequently perpetuated the self-deception that death can be avoided if we work hard enough and sufficiently trust our rational scientific abilities” (2003, p. 90). Atul Gawande in his marvelous reflection on medicine and death, Being Mortal, says, “you don’t have to spend much time with the elderly or those with terminal illness to see how often medicine fails the people it is supposed to help. Our reluctance to honestly examine the experience of aging and dying has increased the harm we inflict on people and denied them the basic comforts they most need” (2014, p. 9).
Programmable RNA-Guided RNA Effector Proteins Built from Human Parts

Epitranscriptomic regulation controls information flow through the central dogma and provides unique opportunities for manipulating cells at the RNA level. However, both fundamental studies and potential translational applications are impeded by a lack of methods to target specific RNAs with effector proteins. Here, we present CRISPR-Cas-inspired RNA targeting system (CIRTS), a protein engineering strategy for constructing programmable RNA control elements. We show that CIRTS is a simple and generalizable approach to deliver a range of effector proteins, including nucleases, degradation machinery, translational activators, and base editors to target transcripts. We further demonstrate that CIRTS is not only smaller than naturally occurring CRISPR-Cas programmable RNA binding systems but can also be built entirely from human protein parts. CIRTS provides a platform to probe fundamental RNA regulatory processes, and the human-derived nature of CIRTS provides a potential strategy to avoid immune issues when applied to epitranscriptome-modulating therapies.
Team Edward or Team Jacob?: The Portrayal of Two Versions of the "Ideal" Male Romantic Partner in the Twilight Film Series

The popularity of the Twilight saga, enhanced by the film adaptations of the books, sparked a series of interesting reactions of fans. One was the creation of “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob,” in which fans aligned with one or the other character and argue about which one of them could be a better romantic partner. This study explores the messages the movies are sending to young girls around the world about what are the traits of the “ideal” male romantic partner as portrayed through the characters of Edward and Jacob. A textual analysis of the first three movie adaptations of the saga, Twilight (2008), New Moon (2009), and Eclipse (2010) was conducted. Based in social cognitive theory and using a feminist critical approach, I argue that these messages might be teaching young girls lessons about relationships that are up to certain degree dangerous, some of them perpetuating patriarchy. INDEX WORDS: Twilight, Social cognitive theory, Feminism, Post-feminism, Romance, Chick flicks, Vampire, Werewolf, Patriarchy, Masculinity.
The Arc of Justice: Examining Policies and Laws to Advance the Human Rights of Transgender and Gender Expansive Children

The role of the social worker in the achievement of human rights is to assist individuals in their struggle for dignity and their attainment of their full potential. Ethical social work ensures just laws and practices that allow all persons to live without discrimination. The purpose of this paper is to present the practice and policy implications of the last five years of court cases regarding transgender and gender expansive (TGE) children and school systems in the USA. This paper outlines the legal justifications for revisions to the current procedures and policies of interacting with TGE children, including use of restrooms consistent with gender identity (RCGI). These recommended guidelines are designed to prevent ongoing human rights violations and create pathways for TGE children to live their lives congruently with their gender identity. Basic human rights for the TGE individual include policy improvements involving restrooms, locker rooms, showers, overnight accommodation, affirmed name, and identification for the child welfare, mental health, educational, medical, juvenile justice, and law enforcement systems.
Regulation of Craving and Negative Emotion in Alcohol Use Disorder.

Abstract Background Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic, relapsing condition with poor treatment outcomes. Both alcohol craving and negative affect increase alcohol drinking, and—in healthy adults—can be attenuated using cognitive strategies, which rely on the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, AUD is associated with cognitive impairments and PFC disruptions. Thus, we tested whether individuals with AUD can successfully recruit the PFC to effectively regulate craving and negative emotions, whether neural mechanisms are shared between the two types of regulation, and whether individual differences influence regulation success. Methods During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants with AUD completed the regulation of craving task (n = 17) that compares a cue-induced craving condition with an instructed regulation condition. They also completed the emotion regulation task (n = 15) that compares a negative affect condition with an instructed regulation condition. Regulation strategies were drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy treatments for AUD. Self-reported craving and negative affect were collected on each trial. Results Individuals with AUD effectively regulated their craving and negative affect when instructed to do so using cognitive behavioral therapy–based strategies. Regulation was associated with recruitment of both common and distinct PFC regions across tasks, as well as with reduced activity in regions associated with craving and negative affect (e.g., ventral striatum, amygdala). Effective regulation of craving was associated with negative alcohol expectancies. Conclusions Both common and distinct regulatory systems underlie regulation of craving and negative emotions in AUD, with notable individual differences. This has important implications for AUD treatment.
Perioperative Care of the Orthopedic Patient with Sleep-Disordered Breathing: Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea presents a well-recognized driver of perioperative complications. Considering the implications of this condition, coupled with the high prevalence particularly in orthopedic surgery, the adequate perioperative identification and management of obstructive sleep apnea is increasingly becoming a priority in clinical practice and scientific research. The current body of evidence and existent guideline recommendations for the perioperative setting emphasize the need for the implementation of perioperative risk management strategies to increase patient safety in this patient population. Obstructive sleep apnea-related complications are increasingly recognized in the legal field with prevalent litigation cases involving death and anoxic brain injury due to airway management complications and respiratory failure. Moreover, critical life-threatening OSA-related complications are often deemed as preventable with a systematic and cautious approach to perioperative care. This chapter focuses on current evidence, knowledge and clinical recommendations in respect to the perioperative care of surgical patients at risk or diagnosed with OSA.
Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the quantification of flavonoid glucuronides (wogonoside, baicalin, and apigenin-glucuronide) in the bile and blood samples: Application to a portal vein infusion study.

Abstract Glucuronidation is one of the major metabolic pathways for flavonoids. However, quantification of flavonoid glucuronides in biological samples, especially in the bile, is sometimes challenging due to signal suppression by bile acids. The purpose of this study is to establish a robust LC-MS/MS method for directly measuring flavonoid glucuronides in bile and blood. Wogonoside (wogonin-7-O-glucuronide), baicalin (baicalein-7-O-glucuronide) and apigenin-7-O-glucuronide were used as the model compounds and taurocholic acid (T-CA) were used as the model bile acid to establish the method. Bile samples were processed using solid phase extraction (SPE) and blood samples were prepared using protein precipitation method. The analytes were separated on a Resteck HPLC (50 mm × 2.1 mm ID, 1.7 μm) column using acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water as the mobile phases. The mass analysis was performed in an AB Sciex 5500 Qtrap mass spectrometer via multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in the positive mode. The results showed that the linear range of the above three analytes were 10 nM–5000 nM in the bile and 1.56 nM–4000 nM in the blood, respectively. The recoveries of three glucuronides were >85% and the matrix effects were 90% of these bile acids were removed by the selected SPE procedure to facilitate glucuronide analysis. The validated method was successfully applied to a portal vein infusion study using rats to quantify baicalin, wogonoside, and apigenin-glucuronide in bile and blood samples.
Environmental Effects on Guanine-Thymine Mispair Tautomerization Explored with Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical Free Energy Simulations

DNA bases can adopt energetically unfavorable tautomeric forms that enable the formation of Watson-Crick-like (WC-like) mispairs, which have been proposed to give rise to spontaneous mutations in DNA and misincorporation errors in DNA replication and translation. Previous NMR and computational studies have indicated that the population of WC-like guanine-thymine (G-T) mispairs depends on the environment, such as the local nucleic acid sequence and solvation. To investigate these environmental effects, herein G-T mispair tautomerization processes are studied computationally in aqueous solution, in A-form and B-form DNA duplexes, and within the active site of a DNA polymerase λ variant. The wobble G-T (wG-T), WC-like G-T*, and WC-like G*-T forms are considered, where * indicates the enol tautomer of the base. The minimum free energy paths for the tautomerization from the wG-T to the WC-like G-T* and from the WC-like G-T* to the WC-like G*-T are computed with mixed quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) free energy simulations. The reaction free energies and free energy barriers are found to be significantly influenced by the environment. The wG-T→G-T* tautomerization is predicted to be endoergic in aqueous solution and the DNA duplexes but slightly exoergic in the polymerase, with Arg517 and Asn513 providing electrostatic stabilization of G-T*. The G-T*→G*-T tautomerization is also predicted to be slightly more thermodynamically favorable in the polymerase relative to these DNA duplexes. These simulations are consistent with an experimentally driven kinetic misincorporation model suggesting that G-T mispair tautomerization occurs in the ajar polymerase conformation or concertedly with the transition from the ajar to the closed polymerase conformation. Furthermore, the order of the associated two proton transfer reactions is predicted to be different in the polymerase than in aqueous solution and the DNA duplexes. These studies highlight the impact of the environment on the thermodynamics, kinetics, and fundamental mechanisms of G-T mispair tautomerization, which plays a role in a wide range of biochemically important processes.
Adjusting Published Estimates for Exploratory Biases Using the Truncated Normal Distribution

Abstract–Publication bias can occur for many reasons, including the perceived need to present statistically significant results. We propose and compare methods for adjusting a single published esti...
The Narrowing of Dendrite Branches across Nodes follows a well-defined Scaling Law

Abstract The systematic variation of diameters in branched networks has tantalized biologists since the discovery of da Vinci’s rule for trees. Da Vinci’s rule can be formulated as a power law with exponent two: the square of the mother branch’s diameter is equal to the sum of the squares of those of the daughters. Power laws, with different exponents, have been proposed for branching in circulatory systems and in neurons. The laws have been derived theoretically, based on optimality arguments, but, for the most part, have not been tested rigorously. In the case of neuronal dendrites, diameter changes across branch points have functional implications for the spread of electrical signals: for example, Rall’s law with an exponent of 3/2 maximizes propagation speeds of action potentials across branch points. Using a super-resolution method to measure the diameters of all dendrites in highly branched Drosophila Class IV sensory neurons, we have tested Rall’s law and shown it to be false. In its place, we have discovered a new diameter-scaling law: the cross-sectional area is proportional to the number of dendrite tips supported by the branch plus a constant, corresponding to a minimum dendrite diameter. The law accords with microtubules providing force and transport for dendrite tip growth. That the observed scaling differs from Rall’s law suggests that constraints imposed by cell biological mechanisms may impact electrical signaling in neurons. Our new scaling law generalizes to other branched processes such as the vasculature of plants and the circulatory system of animals. Significance Statement To study the systematic variation of dendrite diameters, we have established a super-resolution method that allows us to resolve dendrite diameters in Drosophila Class IV dendritic arborization neurons, a model cell for studying branching morphogenesis. Interestingly, they do not follow any of the known scaling laws. We propose a new scaling law that follows from two concepts: there is an incremental cross-sectional area needed to support each terminal branch, and there is a minimum branch diameter. The law is consistent with dendrite growing by tip extension and being supported by microtubule-based transport. If the law generalizes to other neurons, it may facilitate segmentation in connectomic studies.
Dr. Takashi Sugimura: A giant of chemical carcinogenesis.

It will be difficult to take the measure of the man, Dr. Takashi Sugimura, who died on September 6, 2020, since so much has been written about his persona and his status as an internationally recognized biochemical cancer researcher. It goes without saying that the scientific community has lost an extraordinary human being. However, at least he left us the shoulder of a giant on which to stand. Takashi Sugimura. Image credit: The Japan Academy. Sugimura and the author caught going to his favorite unagi (barbequed eel) restaurant, with him wearing his contagious smile. I later tried to reciprocate his friendship to me concerning our culinary interests and took him to my favorite okonomiyaki restaurant in Hiroshima. Sugimura was a graduate of the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine, where he received his medical degree in 1949 and the degree of Doctor of Medical Science in 1957. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cancer Institute, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, and with that sterling education and experience, Sugimura became Chief of Biochemistry Division at the Research Institute, National Cancer Center, in Tokyo in 1962. Sugimura went on to serve as President of the institute from 1984 to 1991. While at the National Cancer Center, he also had an appointment with the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, where he worked from 1970 to 1985, advancing to the rank of Professor in recognition of his research and administrative acumen. He later served as President of Toho University from 1994 to 2000. In recognition of his international research impact, Sugimura was elected a recipient of the Japan Prize (1997), a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1987), a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research, … [↵][1]1Email: trosko{at}msu.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
255-Gbps PAM-8 O-band Transmission through 10-km SMF under 14-GHz Bandwidth Limitation Using MLSE Based on Nonlinear Channel Estimation with Cutdown Volterra Kernels

We demonstrate $255-\text{Gbps}/\lambda$ PAM-8 transmission over 10-km with a BER below the 7% HD-FEC threshold under a 14-GHz bandwidth limitation and −6.3-ps/nm chromatic dispersion by applying MLSE based on nonlinear channel estimation with reduced computational complexity.