cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Laminar flow induces endothelial cell growth arrest through p53 phosphorylation and stabilization

We investigated the role of p53 in mediating the laminar flow-induced growth arrest in endothelial cells (ECs). c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activity induced by laminar flow is able to phosphorylate p53, an event which leads to the stabilization of p53. We also found that laminar flow caused an increase in the protein level of the exogenous HA-p53 in ECs. This increased p53 level would suppress EC proliferation.
Wash-off potential of urban use insecticides on concrete surfaces

Contamination of surface aquatic systems by insecticides is an emerging concern in urban watersheds, but sources of contamination are poorly understood, hindering development of regulatory or mitigation strategies. Hardscapes such as concrete surfaces are considered an important facilitator for pesticide runoff following applications around homes. However, pesticide behavior on concrete has seldom been studied, and standardized evaluation methods are nonexistent. In the present study, a simple batch method for measuring pesticide wash-off potential from concrete surfaces was developed, and the dependence of washable pesticide residues was evaluated on pesticide types, formulations, time exposed to outdoor conditions, and number of washing cycles. After application to concrete, the washable fraction of four pyrethroids (bifenthrin, permethrin, cyfluthrin, and cyhalothrin) and fipronil rapidly decreased, with half-lives ≤3 d, likely due to irreversible retention in micropores below the concrete surface. The initial fast decrease was followed by a much slower declining phase with half-lives ranging from one week to two months, and detectable residues were still found in the wash-off solution for most treatments after 112 d. The slow decrease may be attributed to a fraction of pesticides being isolated from degradation or volatilization after retention below the concrete surface. Wash-off potential was consistently higher for solid formulations than for liquid formulations, implying an increased runoff contamination risk for granular and powder formulations. Trace levels of pyrethroids were detected in the wash-off solution even after 14 washing–drying cycles over 42 d under outdoor conditions. Results from the present study suggest that pesticide residues remain on concrete and are available for contaminating runoff for a prolonged time. Mechanisms for the long persistence were not clearly known from the present study and merit further investigation. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:1203–1208. © 2010 SETAC
Effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in obese patients with Barrett's esophagus: attempts to eliminate duodenogastric reflux.

Abstract Background To assess the effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) at a tertiary referral Center of Excellence for bariatric surgery on the length and presence of dysplasia in morbidly obese patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE). Esophageal reflux of gastroduodenal contents (acid, bile) contributes to the development of BE and progression in the dysplasia-carcinoma sequence. Obese patients have a high prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux and might be at an increased risk of developing BE and esophageal adenocarcinoma. The effect of eliminating duodenogastroesophageal reflux on BE is not known. Methods We performed a retrospective review of all patients with pre-existing, biopsy-proven, long-segment (>3 cm) BE undergoing RYGB at our institution. Only patients with >1 year of endoscopic, biopsy-controlled follow-up (mean 34 mo) were included. Results Five patients (3 men and 2 women) were identified. The mean ± standard error of the mean preoperative length of BE was 6 ± 2 cm; 2 patients had low-grade dysplasia and 1 indeterminate dysplasia. At the postoperative follow-up (>1 yr) examinations, the length of BE had decreased in 4 patients; the overall length was 2 ± 1 cm; and only 1 patient had dysplasia. All patients experienced a decrease in the length of BE (n = 4), complete disappearance of BE (n = 2), or improvement in the degree of dysplasia (n = 3). The body mass index had decreased from 43 ± 4 kg/m 2 to 33 ± 3 kg/m 2 , and all experienced subjective improvement in reflux symptoms postoperatively. RYGB resulted in complete or partial regression of BE in 4 of 5 patients and improvement in reflux symptoms in all. Conclusion Our results suggest that RYGB might be the procedure of choice in morbidly obese patients with BE requiring surgical treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Development of a facial skin temperature-based methodology for non-intrusive mental workload measurement

83 Abstract. The research aimed at developing a non-intrusive physiological measure for mental workload using human facial skin temperature change. It demonstrated initial results in two driving experiments that showed the potential of using this physiological parameter to infer mental workload. Pal1icipants completed driving tests ill a simulator in the first experiment. Results of simulator and real vehicle testing were used in a second experiment. Forehead and nose temperature were obtained via thermography. Nose temperature dropped significantly after the drives for all conditions in the simu.Iator tests. A secondary task dUling driving led to higher subjective workload score and a greater nose temperature drop. Simulator drives led to a higher subjective workload score and a greater nose tcmperature drop than the real driving task. A significant correlation between the nose skin temperature change and the subjective workload score was yielded in both expeliments. Potential applications of this research include rca I-time, non-intrusivc, and automated mental workload assessment for advanced human-system interface development and performance prediction.
Evolution of biogenic gases in peat blocks inferred from noninvasive dielectric permittivity measurements

[1] Peatlands contain methanogenic archea responsible for generating significant amounts of free-phase biogenic gases (for example, methane and carbon dioxide), but considerable uncertainty still exists regarding the mechanisms of formation and spatial distribution of these gases within the soil matrix. We demonstrate the effectiveness of a new method to record noninvasively the evolution, spatial distribution, and emission patterns of biogenic gases in a peat soil. A peat block (0.022 m3) was extracted from a large freshwater peatland in Maine. The bulk dielectric permittivity (at 1.2 GHz) for multiple slices of the block was measured noninvasively (1) as temperature was increased 2°C d−1 from 5°C to 21°C, and (2) for a subsequent 2-month period during which temperature was held constant at 21 ± 1°C. Methane emissions at the surface and peat surface deformation were monitored concurrently using a portable methane detector and a grid of surface elevation rods, respectively. Our results demonstrate that (1) the measurement of electromagnetic wave traveltimes across a peat block offers a unique (and more accurate when compared to surface deformation measurements) way to monitor gasdynamics and spatial gas distribution within a peat block without any disturbance to the natural gas regime; (2) the ebullition under our experimental conditions seems to preferentially occur from the near-surface peat and shows some correspondence with changes in atmospheric pressure; and (3) the ebullition flux exhibits periodicity, suggesting that it may be predictable and quantifiable, which could assist climate modeling efforts. Our findings are consistent with previous studies based on gasdynamics in peat soils (including gas volumes and fluxes associated with biogenic gas ebullition).
Fate of Pancreatic Enzymes During Gastrointestinal Transit

In human studies, the fate of pancreatic enzymes during small-intestinal aboral transit has been a controversial issue. There are few data available. Borgstrom et al. [1] found that activities of all pancreatic enzymes decreased progressively and at similar rates as they moved from the proximal to the distal small bowel. In contrast, others have found in patients with ileostomies that the ileostomy effluent contained a large amount of trypsin and chymotrypsin activity [2, 3]. Recently we performed a study to determine how much pancreatic enzyme activity survives during small-intestinal aboral transit in healthy human volunteers by measuring the cumulative amount of lipase, trypsin, and amylase activities and lipase and trypsin immunoreactivities delivered postprandially (50 g, 400 ml semiliquid pure rice starch pudding) to the duodenum, mid-jejunum, and terminal ileum [4]. We found that as enzymes moved from the duodenum to the ileum 74% of amylase activity, 22% of trypsin activity, and 1% of lipase activity survived transit. Enzymatic activity and immunoreactivity of trypsin and lipase disappeared at different rates, suggesting that for these enzymes the sites of enzymatic activity and immunorecognition are not identical.
Model reference adaptive control of slowly time-varying parabolic distributed parameter systems

The model reference adaptive control for a class of slowly time-varying distributed parameter systems is considered. An adaptive controller based upon the unknown (slowly time-varying) parameters together with the update laws for the unknown parameters are given. A Lyapunov estimate together with a version of Barbalat's lemma is used to establish that the plant's state tracks the state of the reference model while the closed loop input and output remain bounded. A persistence of excitation condition is introduced and used to establish parameter convergence. The result does not require a modification of the standard adaptive law for time invariant parameters. Examples that demonstrate the above theory are presented along with some numerical results. These include a parabolic system with time varying parameters and a heat equation with a slowly time-varying functional parameter. >
Network Composition and Health Behaviors Among Older Samoan Women

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore how kin and nonkin social support networks influence health behaviors among older Samoan women.Method: Using a cross-sectional survey design, 290 Samoan women who were age 50 years and older were interviewed. Using separate logistic regressions, each health behavior was regressed on age and kin and nonkin social support networks after controlling for background characteristics and health status.Results: In multivariate analyses, higher scores on kin increased the likelihood of never salting food, getting screened for diabetes in the past year, and having had a mammogram in the past 2 years, whereas higher scores on nonkin increased the likelihood of exercising at all and ever trying to lose weight.Discussion: Kin networks positively affect mostly chronic disease-related health behaviors, whereas nonkin networks positively affect mostly lifestyle-related health behaviors.
Facial emotion recognition impairments in individuals with HIV

Characterized by frontostriatal dysfunction, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with cognitive and psychiatric abnormalities. Several studies have noted impaired facial emotion recognition abilities in patient populations that demonstrate frontostriatal dysfunction; however, facial emotion recognition abilities have not been systematically examined in HIV patients. The current study investigated facial emotion recognition in 50 nondemented HIV-seropositive adults and 50 control participants relative to their performance on a nonemotional landscape categorization control task. We examined the relation of HIV-disease factors (nadir and current CD4 levels) to emotion recognition abilities and assessed the psychosocial impact of emotion recognition abnormalities. Compared to control participants, HIV patients performed normally on the control task but demonstrated significant impairments in facial emotion recognition, specifically for fear. HIV patients reported greater psychosocial impairments, which correlated with increased emotion recognition difficulties. Lower current CD4 counts were associated with poorer anger recognition. In summary, our results indicate that chronic HIV infection may contribute to emotion processing problems among HIV patients. We suggest that disruptions of frontostriatal structures and their connections with cortico-limbic networks may contribute to emotion recognition abnormalities in HIV. Our findings also highlight the significant psychosocial impact that emotion recognition abnormalities have on individuals with HIV.
Spin flip in the inelastic scattering of 12 MeV protons from 50Cr and 52Cr

Abstract Angular distributions of the absolute spin-flip probability during inelastic scattering of 12 MeV protons have been measured for the reactions 50Cr(p, p')50Cr∗(0.78 MeV) and 52Cr(p, p')52Cr∗(1.43 MeV). The data are compared with collective-model DWBA calculations which include the effects of averaging over the γ-ray detector acceptance angle. The effects of varying the spin-orbit distortion in the collective-model form factor and of changing the optical-model parameter set are discussed. The angular distribution for 50Cr exhibits a large peak at back angles characteristic of a direct reaction and agrees qualitatively with the DWBA calculations. The angular distribution for 52Cr exhibits two peaks of nearly equal magnitude and does not agree with the theoretical calculations.
1100 Hour Creep Test Results for OFHC Copper: Validation of Previously Published Results

Results of 77 Kelvin creep tests on OFHC copper specimens have been obtained and are shown to support previously published results presented by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The reproduction of the copper results obtained by NIST using the Texas A&M system provides credibility to both systems. This is particularly important when the lack of commercial cryogenic creep systems results in individualized measurement techniques and the degree of measurement difficulty is high. A suggested standard for the simplified comparison of materials which exhibit “exhaustive” creep behavior is also given.
The Self, the Nation, and the World: The Scale of Clubwomen's Work, 1912-1943

This paper explores how South African women drew upon African American models of public engagement to articulate a locally meaningful “African” identity. Its focus is on the work of Cecilia Lillian Tshabalala, who was born in Natal and moved to the United States in 1912. After attending the Hampton Institute, New Britain State Normal School, and the Moody Bible Institute in the U.S., she taught at an African Methodist Episcopal Church girls’ school in Gold Coast (Ghana) and at black Congregationalist churches in Hartford and Brooklyn, before returning to South Africa in 1930. In 1932, Tshabalala launched a club movement, the Daughters of Africa (DOA), which was modeled on the African American women’s club movement. Members of the DOA organized social welfare activities including small enterprise, public health, and educational initiatives, and wrote about these activities in African newspapers, articulating a model of women's public activism premised on their domestic authority. Focusing on Tshabalala’s writing in the Johannesburg-based Bantu World as the DOA expanded its operations through Natal and into the Witwatersrand in the latter half of the 1930s and the early 1940s, the paper highlights the gendered possibilities of transatlantic racial kinship during a foundational period in African nationalism.
Analysis of the therapeutic evolution in the management of airway infantile hemangioma.

AIM: To analyze the evolution in the management of airway infantile hemangioma (AIH) and to report the results from 3 pediatric tertiary care institutions. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients with diagnosis of AIH and treated in 3 pediatric tertiary care institutions from 1996 to 2014 was performed. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients with diagnosis of AIH were identified. Mean age at diagnosis was 6 mo (range, 1-27). Single therapy was indicated in 16 patients and 7 patients received combined therapy. Two therapeutic groups were identified: Group A included 14 patients who were treated with steroids, interferon, laser therapy and/or surgery; group B included 9 patients treated with oral propranolol. In group A, oral corticosteroids were used in 9 patients with a good response in 3 cases (no requiring other therapeutic option), the other patients required additional treatment options. Cushing syndrome was observed in 3 patients. One patient died of a fulminant sepsis. Open surgical excision and endoscopic therapy were performed in 11 patients (in 5 of them as a single treatment) with a response rate of 54.5%. Stridor persisted in 2 cases, and one patient died during the clinical course of bronchial aspiration. In group B, oral propranolol was used in 9 patients (in 8 of them as a single treatment) with a response rate of 100%, with an mean treatment duration of 7 mo (range, 5-10); complications were not observed. CONCLUSION: Our experience and the medical literature support the use of propranolol as a first line of treatment in AIH.
Learner Agency, Dispositionality and the New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies

As more than just knowledge and skills, The New Zealand Curriculum key competencies encompass dispositions for lifelong learning (OECD, 2005). A range of studies associate learner agency within the dispositions that are embedded in these key competencies (Carr, 2004; Hipkins, 2010; Hipkins & Boyd, 2011). Drawn from self-determination theory (OECD, 2009; Ryan & Deci, 2000), the competencies are strongly anchored in an essentialist frame-work. Interpreted this way, competencies can be likened to a virtual backpack that students carry about and draw from at will. A discursively constituted view of identity would suggest that this is not the case. Employing Davies’ (2010) conception of a subject -of-thought, where the subject is under erasure, the paper explores what agency as dispositionality can look like when it is performatively constituted in a competence-oriented curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007). Rather being attributed static, essentialised identities, students are co-constituted in classroom discourses. The research has implications for how educators recognise moments when students agentically mobilise personal, social and discursive resources (Davies, 1990) in the classroom. The paper presents an argument for a dynamic theory of agency that incorporates a rhizomatic view of learner participation and interrupts essentialist interpretations of dispositionality. It opens up possibilities for new conceptions of key competencies as performative discursive practices.
The Sympathetic Component of the Sciatic Nerve

Our present knowledge of the course of the preganglionic nerve fibers is based largely on the early experiments of Langley1, 2 and Bayliss and Bradford3 who used erection of hairs, sweating and vascular changes for recording sympathetic activity. These types of effector activity do not lend themselves readily to quantitative estimation. Moreover sweating and vasomotor changes offer additional difficulties in that they are complex responses. Sweating is influenced by accompanying vascular changes while vasomotor effects in turn are subject to rapid modification by compensatory reflexes.In the present experiments a direct insight into the kind and magnitude of the sympathetic nerve impulses themselves was obtained by recording the action potentials in the efferent nerves. A direct current amplifier, which Marrazzi4 had found, in recording action potentials from other parts of the sympathetic system, to be especially suitable, was utilized to actuate a Matthews oscillograph. This technique provides not only ...
Investigation on the level of 7 volatile halogenated hydrocarbons in drinking water in Huhhot city

Objective:To evaluate the pollution level of volatile halogenated hydrocarbons in drinking water in Hohhot city.Methods:Water samples of source water and finished water were collected from water plants in Huhhot city to measure the contents of seven volatile halogenated hydrocarbons in drinking water by head-space gas chromatography.Results: Several volatile halogenated hydrocarbons were detected in six finished water samples;The detection rate was 23.08%.Conclusion: The trihalomethanes(THMs) were main volatile halogenated hydrocarbons in drinking water in Hohhot city.The quality of water accords with the Sanitary Standard for Drinking Water.
Communication Security Technology in Tntelligent Substation

As the progressive development of intelligent substation technology,the importance of communication technology is more and more obvious,and the communication network security has been the focus of attention.The article describes the structure of intelligent substation communication network and the existing message types,and analyses the communication security problem of substation.From the point of two layer switching technology,through introducing the technologies that VLAN,multicast,address binding,address locking.It gives the application scheme according to the various features of IED and business data flow characteristics.Flexible use of these security technologies and reasonable designing of the network topology can support security,stability,reliable transmission of communication message in intelligent substation,therefore the whole substation becomes more strong.
Functional Evaluation of Organ Interposition for Esophageal Replacement

Objective criteria regarding postoperative function to use in choosing between stomach or colon for long-term esophageal replacement are sparse. This study was carried out to assess the function of interposed stomach and colon to provide data to address this deficiency. In addition to clinical results, as evaluated by the patient and physician, objective functional measurements were also utilized to provide a sound basis for surgical decision-making.
The cytoskeleton meets the skeleton. Focus on "Deficiency of the intermediate filament synemin reduces bone mass in vivo".

in an accompanying article in the current issue of the American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology , Moorer and colleagues (6a) put the limelight on synemin, which is one of the 70 intermediate filament (IF) proteins, by demonstrating that synemin knockout mice exhibit a substantial reduction in
Undersampling strategies for compressed sensing accelerated MR spectroscopic imaging

Compressed sensing (CS) can accelerate magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI), facilitating its widespread clinical integration. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of different undersampling strategy on CS-MRSI reconstruction quality. Phantom data were acquired on a Philips 3 T Ingenia scanner. Four types of undersampling masks, corresponding to each strategy, namely, low resolution, variable density, iterative design, and a priori were simulated in Matlab and retrospectively applied to the test 1X MRSI data to generate undersampled datasets corresponding to the 2X – 5X, and 7X accelerations for each type of mask. Reconstruction parameters were kept the same in each case(all masks and accelerations) to ensure that any resulting differences can be attributed to the type of mask being employed. The reconstructed datasets from each mask were statistically compared with the reference 1X, and assessed using metrics like the root mean square error and metabolite ratios. Simulation results indicate that both the a priori and variable density undersampling masks maintain high fidelity with the 1X up to five-fold acceleration. The low resolution mask based reconstructions showed statistically significant differences from the 1X with the reconstruction failing at 3X, while the iterative design reconstructions maintained fidelity with the 1X till 4X acceleration. In summary, a pilot study was conducted to identify an optimal sampling mask in CS-MRSI. Simulation results demonstrate that the a priori and variable density masks can provide statistically similar results to the fully sampled reference. Future work would involve implementing these two masks prospectively on a clinical scanner.
Wide residual networks for mitosis detection

One of the most important prognostic markers to assess proliferation activity of breast tumors is estimating the number of mitotic figures in H&E stained tissue. We propose the use of a recently published convolutional neural network architecture, Wide Residual Networks, for mitosis detection in breast histology images. The model is trained to classify each pixel of on an image using as context a patch centered on the pixel. We apply post-processing on the network output in order to filter out noise and select true mitosis. Finally, we combine the output of several networks using majority vote. Our approach ranked 2nd in the MICCAI TUPAC 2016 competition for mitosis detection, outperforming most other contestants by a significant margin.
Coordinated control for the integration of a large scale electric vehicle park with PV into the MV grid

This paper develops techniques to improve the power quality of energy systems as a result of integrating large-scale Electric Vehicles (EV) parks. These parks are fed from photovoltaic (PV) arrays and the system is connected to the medium voltage (MV) grid. This was achieved through two stages; 1) probabilistic forecasting of the EV load pattern and 2) coordinating the power injected from the systems' inverters to support the voltage stability. The latter was done according to the Spanish grid code P.O.12.2, to enhance the power factor (pf), and support frequency stability even under pulsed load condition. The dynamics of the control loops were investigated in the in a software environment using PSCAD/EMTDC environment. The results proved the effectiveness of the coordinated control technique in supporting the voltage and frequency profiles and enhance the pf as well at the point of common coupling (PCC) with the host grid.
Autonomy and Creativity in the Artisan Economy and the New Spirit of Capitalism

Small artisan businesses have been promoted as a liberatory alternative to large-scale enterprise. We analyze advice manuals for aspiring artisan entrepreneurs by extending Boltanski and Chiapello’...
Making It as a Deportee: Transnational Survival in the Dominican Republic

This chapter illuminates the life ways that take shape after long-term legal permanent residents convicted of crimes face deportation. Amid structural challenges, many deportees in the Dominican Republic nevertheless resolve to employ transnational survival strategies by working as tour guides and as call centre agents for outsourced US business. These former US residents neither settled in the USA by choice nor returned to their country of birth by choice, creating a scenario that complicates notions of “home.” These deportees face the repercussion of a sort of extended “liminal legality” in which legal permanent resident status turns out to be tenuous. Though rendered by state power unfit to live in their home, deportees assert their agency and create linkages between two conflicting notions of “home.”
Biventricular Thrombi in a Patient With Heart Failure With Severely Reduced Ejection Fraction and Heterozygous Prothrombin 20210G/A and Homozygous Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase 677C/T Mutations.

Abstract Thrombus in the heart is known to be one of the many sequelae of anterior wall myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation and coagulation disorders. However, biventricular thrombi are relatively rarely found, even in conditions with a high possibility of thrombus formation. We report the case of a 75-year-old-woman with newly diagnosed systolic heart failure secondary to a nonischemic cardiomyopathy, who was found to have large biventricular thrombi. Further coagulopathy work-up revealed that she was heterozygous for the prothrombin 20210G/A and homozygous for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C/T mutations. We, herein, review and discuss previous case reports and published literature regarding ventricular thrombosis and its treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of biventricular thrombosis with prothrombin 20210G/A and MTHFR 677C/T mutations.
Hierarchical nanostructures for functional materials

Naturally occurring biomaterials often have amazing functions, such as mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, biological, optical and acoustic. These superior performances are often due to their hierarchical organizations of natural materials, starting from the nanoscopic scale and extending all the way to the macroscopic level. This topical issue features articles dedicated to understanding, designing and characterizing complex de novo hierarchical materials for a variety of applications. This research area is quickly evolving, and we hope that future work will drive the rational designs of innovative functional materials and generate deep impacts to broad engineering fields that address major societal challenges and needs.
Symmetry and Process in Two Variation Works by Beethoven

Variation form in music is considered in relation to principles of symmetrical structure and dynamic process. Two works by Ludwig van Beethoven (one written in 1791, the other by 1825) show the composer’s application of these principles to a form in which considerations of structural logic were all too often sacrificed to those of virtuosic display.
Voynich Codex Claimants

Proposed authors of the Voynich Codex include Roger Bacon, Antonio Averlino, Leonardo da Vinci, John Dee, Edward Kelley, Francisco Hernandez, and even Wilfrid Voynich. In the first botanical illustration of the Voynich Codex, the presence of both a typographical ligature based on the initials “JGT” and the embedded name “Gasp. Torres” suggest that the illustrator was Juan Gerson and the author was Gaspar de Torres. Gerson, a graduate of La Escuela de San Jose de los Naturales, was an indigenous artist known for the Apocalypse paintings at the Franciscan church in Tecamachalco. Torres, a Spaniard born in Santo Domingo, was a medical doctor, estate lawyer, and master of students at El Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco from 1568 to 1572, and governor of Cuba in 1580. Iconographic similarities between Gerson’s paintings and the Voynich Codex, along with details from Torres’ biography, provide additional support for this conjecture.
Comparison of Combinatorial Signatures of Global Network Dynamics Generated by Two Classes of ODE Models.

Modeling the dynamics of biological networks introduces many challenges, among them the lack of first principle models, the size of the networks, and difficulties with parameterization. Discrete ti...
Abstract P388: Socioeconomic and Demographic Status and Perceived Health Risk of E-cigarettes Among Youth--Results From a National Survey

Background: The prevalence of e-cigarette use among youth is on the rise and may be associated with adolescents’ limited knowledge of the health effects of these products. We examined how demograph...
Fundamental Problems Relating to the Electronic Structure of Amorphous Semiconductors

In the beginning, even the concept of an amorphous semiconductor was contradictory to our training and prejudices. For example, when I first learned solid-state physics, our primary textbook [1] began with the paragraph: “By a solid we usually mean a substance which shows some stiffness under shear. Normally such substances have a crystalline structure, and, for the purposes of this book, we shall limit ourselves to crystalline solids. This excludes glasses, and I shall not discuss the question whether glasses should properly be regarded as solids, and which of our results, if any, may be applicable to them.”
Humanity and the Migration Experience Beyond Earth

A defining feature of animal life is that it moves. Early in life, with little knowledge of its environment, each life form is engaged in exploration. As information about its environment is accumulated by exploration, the animal may decide to remain where it is, or go elsewhere; various external ‘push’ and/or ‘pull’ factors also tend to move animal life across geographies. Repeated, cyclic movement is often termed migration, as when birds fly to distant feeding grounds for months at a time. Other life forms, in particular some aquatic species, move one-way, leaving the place where they were born to settle permanently elsewhere. Humanity is engaged in many such movements on Earth. The one most pertinent, however, to the case of space settlement is emigration, a permanent, one-way phenomenon, in the human case an intentional one. This chapter examines the emigration experience in general and proposes a four-stage model for permanent human space settlement. As in the other chapters of the book, I highlight the evolutionary aspects of our topic, identifying the main trends in animal migration and emigration so far identified, and applying, when appropriate, lessons from evolutionary biology to the prospect of human space settlement.
Dynamic effects of habituation and novelty detection on newborn event-related potentials

Abstract Newborns habituate to repeated auditory stimuli, and discriminate syllables, generating opportunities for early language learning. This study investigated trial-by-trial changes in newborn electrophysiological responses to auditory speech syllables as an index of habituation and novelty detection. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 16 term newborn infants, aged 1–3 days, in response to monosyllabic speech syllables presented during habituation and novelty detection tasks. Multilevel models demonstrated that newborns habituated to repeated auditory syllables, as ERP amplitude attenuated for a late-latency component over successive trials. Subsequently, during the novelty detection task, early- and late-latency component amplitudes decreased over successive trials for novel syllables only, indicating encoding of the novel speech syllable. We conclude that newborns dynamically encoded novel syllables over relatively short time periods, as indicated by a systematic change in response patterns with increased exposure. These results have important implications for understanding early precursors of learning and memory in newborns.
Full axillary lymph node dissection and increased breast epidermal thickness 1 year after radiation therapy for breast cancer.

Background We previously reported a prospective study showing axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is associated with increased breast skin thickening during and 6 weeks post-radiation therapy (RT), and now report ALND's long-term impact at 1 year. Methods Among 66 women who received whole breast RT after lumpectomy, objective ultrasound measurements of epidermal thickness over four quadrants of the treated breast were measured at five time points: before RT, week 6 of RT, and 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year post-RT. Skin thickness ratio (STRA) was generated by normalizing for corresponding measurements of the contralateral breast. Results A total of 2,436 ultrasound images were obtained. Among 63 women with evaluable data at 1 year, mean STRA significantly increased at 6 months (absolute mean increase of 65%, SD 0.054), and remained elevated at 1 year post-RT (absolute mean increase of 44%, SD 0.048). In multivariable analysis, ALND compared to sentinel lymph node biopsy, longer interval between surgery and RT, increased baseline STRA, and Caucasian race predicted for more severe changes in STRA at 1 year compared to baseline (all P Conclusions In the setting of whole breast RT, our findings suggest that ALND has long-term repercussions on breast skin thickening.
Osteoporosis Liaison Service and multi medical staff cooperation.

A place of the activity of Osteoporosis Liaison Service (OLS) is classified into the in-hospital and the out-hospital. "Kotsu-Kotsu approach" is performed in our hospital for fracture inpatients as OLS. "Kotsu-Kotsu approach" can be able to performed the various and comprehensive assessment for the patients by multi medical staff, especially Osteoporosis managers. The construction of the cooperation with other facilities is propelled for activity of out-hospital. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare impel to establish community-based integrated care systems. Importance adds to OLS under the multi medical staff cooperation that I included the care in the community in more and more from now on. To that end, the leadership of the doctor is required.
Complications of Intra-Arterial Regional Liver Therapy

Multiple complications have been described after or during intra-arterial regional liver treatments. These complications are caused either by the angiographic/surgical procedure itself (i.e., arterial thrombosis), by the embolic/infusion effect (i.e., post-embolization syndrome and chemical hepatitis), by nontarget embolization/infusion to normal liver parenchyma (i.e., radioembolization-induced liver disease and biliary sclerosis), by nontarget embolization/infusion to extrahepatic sites (i.e., gastroduodenal ulceration), and by device malfunction in the case of intra-arterial infusion pump. The most common complications resulting from transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and transarterial embolization (TAE) are post-embolization syndrome, arterial injuries, nontarget embolization, biliary ischemia and bilomas, and liver abscesses. Radioembolization is also associated with nontarget embolization and post-embolization syndrome, and with radiation-specific complications, such as radioembolization-induced liver disease (REILD) and radiation pneumonitis. Finally, hepatic artery infusion (HAI) treatments may be complicated by gastroduodenal toxicity, chemical hepatitis, biliary sclerosis, and pump/catheter malfunction.
American Babylon: Christianity and Democracy Before and After Trump

Why did 81 percent of white evangelicals vote for Donald Trump in 2016? And what does this tell us about the relationship between Christianity and democracy in the United States? American Babylon places our present political moment against a deep historical backdrop. In Part I the author traces the development of democratic institutions from Ancient Greece through to the American Revolution and of Christian political theology from Augustine to Falwell. Part II charts the decline of democratic governance within American churches; explains the capture of evangelical Christianity by the Republican Party; and denounces the fateful embrace between white Christian nationalists and right-wing populists that culminated in Trump’s victory. An accessible and timely book, American Babylon is essential reading for those concerned with the vexed relationship of religion and politics in the United States, including students and scholars in the fields of divinity, history, political science, religious studies, and sociology.
Deconstructing the Panic of Pandemic A Critical Review of Slavoj Žižek’s Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World

Slavoj Žižek’s new book (the title of which plays on the verbal association made possible by the words “panic” and “pandemic”) [...] was written at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and quickly rushed into publication in an effort to provide the public with a philosophical engagement with the opportunities and challenges of the novel coronavirus and the social, political, and technological responses that have been marshalled to contend with the panic that has accompanied it.
Effect of enzymatic methylation on the import of in vitro synthesized apocytochrome C into mitochondria.

Little more than a dozen protein posttranslational side-chain modification reactions have been identified. One such reaction, protein methylation, occurs ubiquitously in nature, in organisms ranging from prokaryotic to eukaryotic. The reaction involves N-methylation of lysine, arginine, histidine, alanine, proline and glutamine, O-methylesterifi-cation of glutamic and aspartic acid, and S-methylation of cysteine and methionine (1–3).
The effects of cook-top temperature on range hood capture efficiency

In this study a test procedure for determining capture efficiency (CE) of wall-mounted range hoods, namely ASTM-E3087.18, was used to investigate how the temperature of the simulated cook-top influ...
Responsibility Sensitive Safety Analysis of Truck Following in US Highway.

Close following on highway can often be dangerous and lead to safety-critical situations. The escalation of criticality may vary depending on several operating factors, including roadway conditions, braking capabilities, visibility, and drivers’ reaction time. We analyzed nearly 2 million miles of naturalistic truck data to study truck driver following behavior. Truck drivers were seen to typically follow other vehicles with a headway of less than 2 s, which is equivalent to 50 m if the truck is traveling at a speed of 55 mph. Such small following distance may be dangerous during an unexpected events. Hence, we used formal methods to simulate such unexpected “what-if” situations by varying parameters from driving scenarios and analyze safety from a theoretical point of view, referred to as Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS). Our simulation shows that interstate driving scenarios often violates RSS safety conditions and may lead to safety-critical events.
Stuck Between Growing up and Grown up: Delaying the Sentencing Phase for Young Adults Facing Capital Punishment in Texas.

Studies indicate that the “future danger” standard used by juries in Texas when determining whether to sentence a capital offender to death can result in inaccurate predictions. This already difficult to apply standard becomes impossible to use when applying it to capital offenders between the ages of 18-25. Studies released since the Supreme Court decided to no longer sentence juveniles to death show that the brain development of young adults differs little from that of juveniles. Because of their lack of brain maturity, young defendants still maintain a propensity for risky behavior and lack impulse control. This makes it difficult for a jury in a capital case to differentiate between traits indicating that a person is a “future danger” and traits that could potentially improve with age. Some of the most common factors used by prosecutors to show that a defendant is a “future danger” such as criminal history, expert testimony, and character evidence, do not adequately show the threat posed by a young defendant because age cannot be ruled out as a factor in their behavior. If this standard cannot adequately determine which young offenders actually pose a risk to others, then juries are arbitrarily sentencing defendants to death, and therefore violating the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This Article proposes that because capital offenders already go through a separate trial to determine their punishment, Texas courts should wait until a defendant reaches 25 before they determine whether to execute a young offender. This will make a prosecutor’s use of expert testimony, a defendant’s criminal history, and character evidence more predictable because a jury can assess an individual once their brain has fully developed and consider their behavior in prison. Under this proposal, Texas courts can continue to apply the “future danger” standard but will be able to eliminate the Eighth Amendment concerns that formulate when applying the standard to offenders whose age make a predictable assignment impossible.
131. Risk factors that decrease complete recovery in idiopathic scoliosis surgery associated neurological injuries

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Neurological injuries (NI) are devastating complications of idiopathic scoliosis (IS) surgeries. The risk factors for these injuries have been well studied in the literature. However, the prognosis and the factors that impact the prognosis of NIs have been poorly studied. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to summarize the prognosis of the documented 8-year NIs associated with IS surgeries from the Scoliosis Research Society Morbidity and Mortality (SRS MM males (n=93; 22.4%), females (n=322, 77.6%), 3 unknown. OUTCOME MEASURES To determine the risk factors that decrease the complete recovery of neurological injuries. Methods Analyses were made to compare the correlation between the extent of neurological recovery (complete, partial and no change) and time of event occurrence (intraoperative, acute postoperative ( 24hrs), intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) used (yes/no), intra- and postoperative hypotension (yes/no), type of neurological injury (cord, root or both), type of cord injury (complete or incomplete). Chi-square and ANOVA tests were used for analyses. Results Data showed: EOIS (n=30), adolescent IS (n=244) and adult IS (n=144); average estimated blood loss, 1.9L; and average follow-up: 180 days. Intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) was used in 351 (84%), intraoperative hypotension observed in 73 (18%), and postoperative hypotension observed in 32 (8%). The majority of the NIs were intraoperative 168 (40.2%); postoperative ( 24 hrs) 91 (21.8%). Incomplete cord injuries were 178 (47.7%), complete cord injuries 53 (14.2%), root injuries 142 (38.1%) and no information for 45 patients. Injury level noticed at: cervical=20 (4.8%); thoracic=181 (43.3%), lumbar=187 (44.7%), sacrum=5 (1.2%) and unknown in 25 (6.0%) patients. Complete recovery was noticed in 269 patients (64.4%), partial recovery in 125 patients (29.9%), no recovery in 24 patients (5.7%). Average follow-up length was no different among recovery types: complete=190 days; partial=174 days; and no change= 174 days, p =0.35. Complete NI recovery rate was significantly lower for adult IS patients (n= 67, 46.5%) vs EOIS (n=24, 80%) and AIS (n=178, 73%), (p Conclusions Lower complete NI recovery rates were observed in adult IS patients. Complete cord injuries reduced NIs complete recovery rate. IONM signal abnormalities have a potential effect on intraoperative NI prognosis, but not on postoperative or delayed NI prognosis. FDA DEVICE/DRUG STATUS This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs.
Co-use among confidants: An examination of polysubstance use and personal relationships in southeastern Nebraska.

Abstract This study examines the relationship between personal networks and polysubstance use among people who use drugs (PWUD) in a medium sized city in the Midwest. A large body of work has demonstrated that personal relationships have an ambivalent association with substance use. On the one hand, a supportive network is associated with safer drug use practices and dramatically improves the outlook for recovery. However, individuals whose personal networks are composed of co-drug use partners are more likely to engage in risky practices. We argue that this notion of “supportive” social contacts and “risky” social contacts is ultimately incomplete: risky behaviors are introduced and further developed in a social context, often with the people who provide emotional support. We argue that personal networks with more multiplex relationships (where co-drug use and confiding fuse) are harmful because they combine norms of trust and reciprocity with drug use. We use data from the Rural Health Cohort (RHC) study to test this idea. The sample consists of 120 adult PWUD in a medium sized city located in southeastern Nebraska who were recruited using respondent-driven sampling. Participants listed up to nine confidants and nine co-drug use partners, indicating any overlap between the two networks. Our results demonstrate that multiplex ties are as strongly associated with polysubstance use as simple co-drug use relationships. As the drug crisis has increasingly shifted to underserved populations outside large urban centers, this paper represents an important advance in our understanding of the current drug crisis.