cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
miR-155 Deletion in Female Mice Prevents Diet-Induced Obesity

Obesity is a growing epidemic in developed countries. Obese individuals are susceptible to comorbidities, including cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorder. Increasing the ability of adipose tissue to expend excess energy could improve protection from obesity. One promising target is microRNA (miR)-155-5p. We demonstrate that deletion of miR-155 (-5p and -3p) in female mice prevents diet-induced obesity. Body weight gain did not differ between wild-type (WT) and miR-155 knockout (KO) mice fed control diet (CD); however, miR-155 KO mice fed high-fat diet (HFD) gained 56% less body weight and 74% less gonadal white adipose tissue (WAT) than WT mice. Enhanced WAT thermogenic potential, brown adipose tissue differentiation, and/or insulin sensitivity might underlie this obesity resistance. Indeed, miR-155 KO mice on HFD had 21% higher heat release than WT HFD mice. Compared to WT adipocytes, miR-155 KO adipocytes upregulated brown (Ucp1, Cidea, Pparg) and white (Fabp4, Pnpla2, AdipoQ, Fasn) adipogenic genes, and glucose metabolism genes (Glut4, Irs1). miR-155 deletion abrogated HFD-induced adipocyte hypertrophy and WAT inflammation. Therefore, miR-155 deletion increases adipogenic, insulin sensitivity, and energy uncoupling machinery, while limiting inflammation in WAT, which together could restrict HFD-induced fat accumulation. Our results identify miR-155 as a novel candidate target for improving obesity resistance.
Scotophase-Dependent Thermoregulatory Dysfunction in Pinealectomized Chickens:

SummaryPinealectomized female chickens (PX) were given an acute thermal challenge (60 min at 42°) during two portions of their 12L:12D photoperiod. Five birds from each surgical treatment group, including sham operated (PN) and nonoperated controls (C), were exposed to heat 4 hr after onset of light (photophase) and a like number 4 hr after onset of darkness (scoto-phase). There were no differences in rectal temperature (TT) or respiratory rate (RR) among treatment groups of the photophase heat challenge. Heat exposure during the scotophase caused a significantly greater (P < 0.01) hyperthermia in PX birds after 20 min of heat. At the conclusion of the nocturnal challenge, PX birds had a Tr 1.0° higher than PN and C birds. Time-of-day comparisons of RR showed a significant (P < 0.05) interaction between pinealectomy and time-of-day at 30 min of exposure; the RR of PX birds was lower at night.The authors thank Dr. H. W. Norton for statistical analysis of these data.
Queen Mab, Wollstonecraft, and Spinoza: Teaching “Nature’s Primal Modesty”

ABSTRACTThis article considers the unexplored pedagogical dimensions of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab. We argue that Shelley’s poem draws its instructive imperative, as well as a number of its specific conceptual commitments, from Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. We link Mab with Wollstonecraft and show how Shelley identifies modesty as a human virtue, picking up where the Vindication leaves off. However, Shelley also turns to Spinoza as a means to escape the trap of cognitive determinism that is a problematic possibility in the associationist psychology from John Locke that Wollstonecraft adapts for revolutionary purposes. Building upon a utopianism in Wollstonecraft and drawing from Spinoza’s championing of reason and intuition, Shelley asserts that the lesson Mab ultimately imparts to Ianthe’s spirit is that human freedom lies, perhaps surprisingly, in a turn to Necessity. In essence, the shift in scale from one order of determination to a cosmic one paradoxically opens up the po...
Exploring Insect Biomechanics with Micromachined Force Sensors

This paper presents the design and preliminary measurements of a three-axis micromachined piezoresistive force sensor for measuring the ground reaction forces produced by large insects during running. Each sensor element consists of a large, 5mm rigid square plate supported at each corner by a thin flexure. Each flexure is instrumented with two borondoped piezoresistors, one to measure in-plane bending, and the other to measure out-of-plane bending. Resulting signals from the eight resistor elements may be used to decompose the force applied to the plate into three orthogonal components independent of where the foot of the insect falls upon the sensor.
Whole and Ground Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) Seeds, Chia Oil – Effects on Plasma Lipids and Fatty Acids

Chia ( Salvia hispanica L.) was one of the four basic foods of the Aztecs, and was also considered a cure for a number of maladies. Following the Spanish Conquest, chia essentially disappeared until 1991, when a project led by the University of Arizona, in cooperation with growers and other agencies, began to research how to commercially grow and utilize this seed so as to improve human nutrition. Chia is now being commercially grown in several countries, including Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, among others. With increased availability more people are consuming chia, and products that include it are being introduced in the marketplace. The three main components of chia that make it a healthy whole food are omega-3 fatty acid, fiber (soluble and insoluble), and antioxidants. In addition, chia is a very good source of high quality protein. Although a limited number of clinical trials have been conducted to establish chia as a healthy food for humans, inclusion of chia in the diet of animals has shown significant increases in the omega-3 content of plasma or the food products produced. Additionally, plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels have been shown to decrease, and HDL levels to increase. As the three main components of chia listed above have been shown to impact human health positively, primarily in the areas of CHD, inflammation, and immunity, it stands to reason that chia will provide these benefits when consumed by individuals. Although numerous testimonials have confirmed the benefits of consuming chia, sound clinical trials are needed to positively confirm these health benefits.
A Commentary on Parent-Child Cognitive Learning Interaction Research: What Have We Learned from Two Decades of Research?

The role of family influences on preschool and school age cognitive development has received considerable empirical attention from cognitive developmental psychology researchers in the last few decades. As a result of the interest, investigators have focused their attention on developing coding/observational systems to capture the interactions occurring between mothers and their young children. This paper reviews a select body of research on parent child cognitive learning interactions with the goal of determining how the researchers have operationalized the behaviors that occur within learning interactions. The paper concludes with a discussion of the suggestions on next steps for conducting parent child cognitive learning interaction research in the future.
Characteristics of interpretation bias and relationship with suicidality in a psychiatric hospital sample

Abstract Background Interpretation bias, the tendency to interpret ambiguous situations negatively (or to lack a positive bias), is a cognitive vulnerability associated with psychopathology. However, there is a lack of research characterizing this bias in psychiatric samples, including whether it is also a risk factor for suicidality. This study characterized interpretation bias in a psychiatric sample at risk for suicide and examined the relationship between interpretation bias and suicidality cross-sectionally and prospectively. Methods Patients ( N =65) attending a partial hospital program completed the Word-Sentence Association Paradigm (WSAP), which results in four variables reflecting different types of interpretation bias: endorsement rates and reaction time bias scores for negative and benign interpretations. We conducted logistic regression models to predict high suicidality (ideation, plans, attempts, etc. assessed via a structured interview at admission) and suicidal ideation (assessed via self-report at admission and discharge). Results Logistic regression models predicting suicide outcomes upon admission and discharge indicated that benign interpretation endorsement was the most robust predictor of suicidality concurrently and prospectively, controlling for baseline suicidal ideation. Limitations Lack of gold standard self-report suicide assessment. Unable to assess additional constructs such as hopelessness or perfectionism, which may better elucidate how lacking a benign bias influences suicidality. Modest sample size. Conclusions A lower endorsement of positive interpretations was the strongest predictor of prospective suicidal ideation, even after controlling for baseline suicidal ideation. Future research should examine how targeting interpretation bias influences suicidality.
Hydrogen Peroxide Wound Irrigation in Orthopaedic Surgery

As the burden of deep hardware infections continues to rise in orthopaedics, there is increasing interest in strategies for more effective debridement of colonized tissues and biofilm. Hydrogen peroxide has been used medically for almost a century, but its applications in orthopaedic surgery have yet to be fully determined. The basic science and clinical research on the antiseptic efficacy of hydrogen peroxide have demonstrated its efficacy against bacteria, and it has demonstrated potential synergy with other irrigation solutions such as chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine. While hydrogen peroxide is effective in infection reduction, there are concerns with wound healing, cytotoxicity, and embolic phenomena, and we recommend against hydrogen peroxide usage in the treatment of partial knee replacements, hemiarthroplasties, or native joints. Additionally, due to the potential for oxygen gas formation, hydrogen peroxide should not be used in cases of dural compromise, when pressurizing medullary canals, or when irrigating smaller closed spaces to avoid the possibility of air embolism. Finally, we present our protocol for irrigation and debridement and exchange of modular components in total joint arthroplasty, incorporating hydrogen peroxide in combination with povidone-iodine and chlorhexidine.
Performance comparison of deep learning and segmentation-based radiomic methods in the task of distinguishing benign and malignant breast lesions on DCE-MRI

Intuitive segmentation-based CADx/radiomic features, calculated from the lesion segmentations of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance images (DCE-MRIs) have been utilized in the task of distinguishing between malignant and benign lesions. Additionally, transfer learning with pre-trained deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) allows for an alternative method of radiomics extraction, where the features are derived directly from the image data. However, the comparison of computer-extracted segmentation-based and CNN features in MRI breast lesion characterization has not yet been conducted. In our study, we used a DCE-MRI database of 640 breast cases – 191 benign and 449 malignant. Thirty-eight segmentation-based features were extracted automatically using our quantitative radiomics workstation. Also, 2D ROIs were selected around each lesion on the DCE-MRIs and directly input into a pre-trained CNN AlexNet, yielding CNN features. Each method was investigated separately and in combination in terms of performance in the task of distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions. Area under the ROC curve (AUC) served as the figure of merit. Both methods yielded promising classification performance with round-robin cross-validated AUC values of 0.88 (se =0.01) and 0.76 (se=0.02) for segmentationbased and deep learning methods, respectively. Combination of the two methods enhanced the performance in malignancy assessment resulting in an AUC value of 0.91 (se=0.01), a statistically significant improvement over the performance of the CNN method alone.
Rapid Growth In Mental Health Telemedicine Use Among Rural Medicare Beneficiaries, Wide Variation Across States

Congress and many state legislatures are considering expanding access to telemedicine. To inform this debate, we analyzed Medicare fee-for-service claims for the period 2004–14 to understand trends...
Comparison of objective measures and patients' perceptions of quality of services in government health facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Objective Examine the relationship between patients' perceptions of quality and the objective level of quality at government health facilities, and determine whether the pre-existing attitudes and beliefs of patients regarding health services interfere with their ability to accurately assess quality of care. Design Cross-sectional, visit-level analysis. Setting Three regions (Nord-Ubangi, Kasai/Kasai-Central and Maniema/Tshopo) of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Participants Data related to the inpatient and outpatient visits to government health facilities made by all household members who were included in the survey was used for the analysis. Data were collected from patients and the facilities they visited. Main outcome measures Patients' perceptions of the level of quality related to availability of drugs and equipment; patient-centeredness and safety serve compared with objective measures of quality. Results Objective measures and patient perceptions of the drug supply were positively associated (β = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.28) and of safety were negatively associated (β = -0.12, 95% CI = -0.23, -0.01). Several environmental factors including facility type, region and rural/peri-urban setting were found to be significantly associated with respondents' perceptions of quality across multiple outcomes. Conclusions Overall, patients are not particularly accurate in their assessments of quality because their perceptions are impacted by their expectations and prior experience. Future research should examine whether improving patients' knowledge of what they should expect from health services, and the transparency of the facility's quality data can be a strategy for improving the accuracy of patients' assessments of the quality of the health services, particularly in low-resourced settings.
Computer-Supported Writing

Defining three conceptions of computer-supported writing – that computers are writers' aids, that computer networks allow writers to collaborate at a distance, and that computer technologies have enabled the development of new literacies – this article provides a brief history of computers and writing, discusses collective writing technologies, introduces trends in new literacy studies, addresses computer-supported writing in educational settings, and comments on unresolved issues generated by these technologies.
n-3 Fatty acids on autoimmune disease and apoptosis

Source and amount of dietary fat intake modulate cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and autoimmune disorders. Controlled clinical studies reveal n-3 fatty acids are able to decrease symptoms and severity of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Other studies reveal a reduction in the need for anti-inflammatory medications along with significant clinical benefits. When comparing n-6 lipid-fed animals with n-3 lipid-fed animals, experimental studies indicate n-3 lipid exerts its protective effects against autoimmune disorders by enhancing transcriptional activity of various antioxidant enzyme mRNA levels and by decreasing proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in the kidney. Results also suggest that a combination of calorie restriction and n-3 lipid intake further increase lifespan and also elevate apoptosis by modulating glucocorticoid and Th-1/Th-2 cytokine production. In summary, n-3 lipids combined with reduced calorie intake modulate the immune system and gene expression during autoimmunity. Studies exploring the adjustment in n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio and its effect on immunity and longevity in both short-and long-lived strains of mice are urgently warranted.
Predicting the risk for aberrant opioid use behavior in patients receiving outpatient supportive care consultation at a comprehensive cancer center

BACKGROUND Opioid misuse is a growing crisis. Patients with cancer who are at risk of aberrant drug behaviors are frequently underdiagnosed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the frequency and factors predicting a risk for aberrant opioid and drug use behaviors (ADB) among patients who received an outpatient supportive care consultation at a comprehensive cancer center. In addition, the screening performance of the Cut Down-Annoyed-Guilty-Eye Opener (CAGE) questionnaire adapted to include drug use (CAGE-AID) was compared with that of the 14-item Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients With Pain (SOAPP-14) tool as instruments for identifying patients at risk for ADB. METHODS In total, 751 consecutive patients with cancer who were referred to a supportive care clinic were reviewed. Patients were eligible if they had diagnosis of cancer and had received opioids for pain for at least 1 week. All patients were assessed using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), the SOAPP-14, and the CAGE-AID. SOAPP scores ≥7 (SOAPP-positive) were used to identify patients who were at risk of ADB. RESULTS Among the 729 of 751 (97%) evaluable consults, 143 (19.6%) were SOAPP-positive, and 73 (10.5%) were CAGE-AID-positive. Multivariate analysis revealed that the odds ratio of a positive SOAPP score was 2.3 for patients who had positive CAGE-AID scores (P < .0001), 2.08 for men (P = .0013), 1.10 per point for ESAS pain (P = .014), 1.13 per point for ESAS anxiety (P = .0015), and 1.09 per point for ESAS financial distress (P = .012). A CAGE-AID cutoff score of 1 in 4 had 43.3% sensitivity and 90.93% specificity for screening patients with a high risk of ADB. CONCLUSIONS The current results indicate a high frequency of an elevated risk of ADB among patients with cancer. Men and patients who have anxiety, financial distress, and a prior history of alcoholism/illicit drug use are at increased risk of ADB.
(Trans)forming #MeToo: Toward a Networked Response to Gender Violence

Drawing from critical trans theory’s methods of systemic analysis, this article examines how #MeToo’s carceral politics have reinforced the exclusion and ongoing abuse of those most vulnerable to g...
Opportunistic Disease or Metastatic Lesions: A Rare Finding in a Patient with Bladder Cancer

A 66-year-old male with a history of human immunodeficiency virus infection and metastatic bladder cancer presented to our hospital for a further workup of a focal seizure involving the patients left upper extremity. The patient was undergoing active chemotherapy at the time of admission and had a CD4 count of 111. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed multiple ring-enhancing lesions in the right frontal lobe associated with vasogenic edema, and mass effect at the right frontal horn of the lateral ventricles. As the imaging was not consistent with typical metastatic disease of the bladder, further testing was performed. A lumbar puncture was performed to assist in differentiating between malignant and infectious causes in the setting of a low CD4 count. The cerebral spinal fluid was sterile and no malignant cells were identified. Protein and glucose levels of the cerebral spinal fluid were within normal range. To confirm the presence of metastatic disease, a brain biopsy was performed and found to be consistent with metastatic carcinoma with a bladder primary. The patient subsequently underwent radiation therapy to the site of the brain metastasis.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for perioperative posterior ischemic optic neuropathy: a case report.

Purpose To report the successful treatment of postoperative posterior ischemic optic neuropathy (PION) with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and to review the current literature on the pathogenesis and treatment of PION. Observations During an angiographic procedure at a community hospital, an elderly woman had a transient drop in blood pressure after receiving an intravenous dose of hydralazine. During recovery, the patient experienced bilateral vision loss. She was transferred to our specialty referral center for treatment with hyperbaric oxygen. We followed Table 5 in the U.S. Navy Diving Manual, the protocol for decompression sickness. Our patient's vision improved markedly immediately after the first session and continued to improve throughout the course of treatment to its completion. Follow-up ophthalmology visits found the patient's vision to be close to baseline. Conclusions and importance PION is a rare condition. It has been difficult to determine a successful therapeutic approach because of the lack of large case-controlled studies. Hyperbaric oxygen has been used to treat other ischemic ophthalmic conditions, but there are only few reports of its use in patients with PION. Systemic steroids and antiplatelet therapy have also been used, with mixed success. In our patient, the combination of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and steroids was successful in restoring vision after postoperative PION.
Focal Decrease in Bone Density

Common causes of lytic bone lesions can be summarized by the acronym FEGNOMASHIC. In the spine, metastases preferentially destroy the pedicles due to high blood supply in this region, while multiple myeloma tends to spare the pedicles in early disease. The most common primary bone malignancy in adults is multiple myeloma. The most common infectious agent involved in osteomyelitis is Staphylococcus aureus. Osteomyelitis has characteristic appearances on imaging. It can take up to 10 days to show up on plain radiography, thus MRI and nuclear bone scans can provide earlier diagnosis. Common causes of osteolytic bone metastases include lung cancer, breast cancer, renal cell cancer, and thyroid cancer.
Ghost in the kerameikos: Parmenides, Translation, and the Construction of Doctrine

Although the Parmenidean poem (late 6 th -early 5 th centuries BCE) is in epic meter and teems with vivid imagery, it has been translated into the domain of philosophy since its earliest reception. Within this domain it has traditionally been interpreted as the first "explicit and self-conscious argumentation" of western philosophy (Gallop 1984, 3). Yet, the poem aims at persuasion and affect rather than logical demonstration (Smith 2003, 269-75). Working primarily with a sense of translation as critical reception, this paper articulates the history of a translational protocol that excises conceptual matter from linguistic form (Cassin 2010, 19; Batchelor 2010, 49-50), reducing the semantic range of the Parmenidean poem. Beginning with Zeno and Melissus (early 5 th c BCE), a series of translations reduces the Parmenidean poem into a vehicle for a separable and fully translatable doctrine, stabilizing and homogenizing a thinking that otherwise persists as polyvalent and heterogeneous.
Dose-Response Relationships Between Gonadal Steroids and Bone, Body Composition, and Sexual Function in Aging Men.

Context Most labs set the lower limit of normal for testosterone at the 2.5th percentile of values in young or age-matched men, an approach that does not consider the physiologic changes associated with various testosterone concentrations. Objective To characterize the dose-response relationships between gonadal steroid concentrations and measures regulated by gonadal steroids in older men. Design, participants, and intervention 177 men aged 60 to 80 were randomly assigned to receive goserelin acetate plus either 0 (placebo), 1.25, 2.5, 5, or 10 grams of a 1% testosterone gel daily for 16 weeks or placebos for both medications (controls). Primary outcomes Changes in serum C-telopeptide (CTX), total body fat by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, and self-reported sexual desire. Results Clear relationships between the testosterone dosage (or the resulting testosterone levels) and a variety of outcome measures were observed. Changes in serum CTX exceeded changes in the controls in men whose testosterone levels were 0 to 99, 100 to 199, 200 to 299, or 300 to 499 ng/dL, whereas increases in total body fat, subcutaneous fat, and thigh fat exceeded controls when testosterone levels were 0 to 99 or 100 to 199 ng/dL. Sexual desire and erectile function were indistinguishable from controls until testosterone levels were Conclusion Changes in measures of bone resorption, body fat, and sexual function begin at a variety of testosterone concentrations with many outcome measures remaining stable until testosterone levels are well below the stated normal ranges. In light of this variation, novel approaches for establishing the normal range for testosterone are needed.
Immunohistochemical amplification of mCherry fusion protein is necessary for proper visualization

Fluorescent reporter proteins are a powerful tool being increasingly integrated into biological experiments. Their utility spans techniques such as live-cell imaging, validating transgene expression, and studying cell-type specific anatomy. As these reporters become more widely used, it is necessary to fully understand their benefits and limitations. One such recently developed red fluorescent protein, mCherry, has been well utilized due to its stability, brightness, and pH resistance. In the course of an experiment using the fluorescent reporter protein mCherry fused to a G-protein coupled receptor (mCherry fusion protein), our lab discovered a notable inability for the fusion protein to faithfully produce fluorescent signal representative of its expression in fixed tissue. Here, we demonstrate the importance of immunohistochemical amplification in tissue injected with various adeno-associated viruses (AAVs), containing mCherry fusion protein as a reporter. Our findings demonstrate that antibody amplification consistently provides a stronger signal when mCherry fusion protein is used as a reporter protein.
Catalyzing Capital for the Transition toward Decarbonization: Blended Finance and Its Way Forward

Climate finance is at the center of discussions about how the international community can shift to low-emission, climate-resilient development pathways. The world needs to invest trillions of dollars annually in order to keep warming within 1.5°C. Current global climate finance flows, however, are vastly inadequate. The demand for additional capital is particularly acute in developing countries, where choices to be made over the next decade will play a major role in determining the future course of the global climate system. Blended finance, a structuring mechanism with potential to mobilize significant capital and investment from diverse actors, has emerged as one promising solution to help economies decarbonize and deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement. As blended finance has gained traction in the past few years, its principles and characteristics have also been extensively assessed, with its promises increasingly promoted as well as questioned. Attention on blended finance thus far has largely focused on volumetric contributions of blended finance, partly because of the quantitative financial targets set by the international community. Often missing is a qualitative assessment of blended finance that examines the processes and mechanisms through which sources of capital are mobilized and operationalized. Having a clearer picture of the internal governance configuration of blended finance vehicles and their investment strategy will greatly facilitate efforts to assess and determine additionality, scalability, and transformative impact of climate finance. Only then can public and private actors effectively determine the ways to mobilize, structure, and coordinate flows of climate finance towards sustainable and decarbonized development pathways at scale. This paper explores blended finance both in principle and in practice based on extensive literature review and case studies of blended finance vehicles. Specifically, the paper examines the role and application of blended finance for decarbonization in developing countries, organizing them around five themes: 1) changing features of climate finance, where we observe a shift from a model of direct investment to a layered mechanism with thicker and lengthened value chains; 2) governance of blended finance, focusing on how blended vehicles originate, structure, and function; 3) transparency, which has significant implications on monitoring and evaluation, scalability, and impact; 4) additionality, whose interpretation and application need to be broadened to improve the quality and effectiveness of climate finance; and 5) transformative impact, which every blended finance vehicle strives to achieve but with various interpretations and applications. The paper investigates, and draws insights from, three cases: the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), the Climate Public Private Partnership (CP3), and Climate Investor One (CI1). The paper concludes with a proposed research agenda that can assist in enhancing the potential for blended finance.
Destruction of emerging organophosphate contaminants in wastewater using the heterogeneous iron-based photo-Fenton-like process

Abstract Organophosphates have been identified as an emerging group of contaminants in wastewater with significant negative human health effects. Due to their persistence in the watershed, soil, and the food chain, their degradation during wastewater treatment and before the release has garnered significant interest. Advanced oxidation processes enable the degradation of organophosphates with high conversion and fast kinetics. Photo-Fenton and photo-Fenton-like processes utilize a light source to initiate the Fenton reaction and produce reactive oxygen species that are required for the reaction propagation. While homogeneous catalysts have been studied extensively, heterogeneous catalysts are emerging due to their ease of use, separation, and recycling. This review provides a summary of the current progress made in the field of organophosphate degradation using a heterogeneous photo-Fenton-like process when compared to the homogeneous process and highlights the need for the rational photocatalyst design as well as suggests future directions of research, including utilizing wastewater feeds that represent real-world compositional complexity as well as providing molecular-level catalytic process insights to better understand limitations of these catalysts.
Study of ICE Hydrometeors Using D3R Radar and Ground Observations During ICE-POP Campaign

Microphysical retrievals in snow storms is a topic of active research. It gives us the opportunity to map the weather events correctly and make future predictions better. The primary objective of the ICE-POP field campaign in South Korea was to capture and understand winter precipitation. The dual-frequency, dual-polarization Doppler weather radar (D3R) radar along with several other weather remote sensing instruments were deployed in the campaign. Since D3R is a dual-frequency radar operating at Ku and Ka frequency bands, the dual frequency ratio (DFR) derived from them can be used to study ice hydrometeors. The DFR varies based on the axis ratio of the ice hydrometeor and this information can be used to link the amount of nonsphericity of the ice hydrometeors. The trend of reflectivity at Ku band versus DFR varies for different hydrometeors based on which we can infer the type of ice particle present. Simulations studies carried out using T-matrix method were used to study the changes in DFR when properties of the ice hydrometeor varied. Observations from D3R and other ground instruments are used to interpret the properties of ice particles based on the theoretical study.
Introduction: Why Surveillance Matters

In the winter and early spring of 2020, COVID-19 stunned the world. Across the globe, public health was slow to respond. Failures of surveillance—of gathering, understanding, and sharing information—drew part of the blame. These lapses were real and could have been anticipated. This volume addresses the ethical, political, and legal issues underlying difficulties in maintaining adequate surveillance for public health. It argues that public trust is essential to sustain surveillance. For trust to be warranted, publics must be assured that information will be used to promote health equitably. Transparency and oversight are needed to protect individuals against harm and groups against discrimination and stigma. Bringing together expertise from bioethics, law, political science, and public policy, the authors of this volume develop a comprehensive approach to sustaining surveillance in today’s changing, diverse, and unjust world.
Link between gut microbiome and cardiometabolic diseases

Abstract Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) include cardiovascular diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), metabolic syndrome, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Both genetic susceptibility and environmental factors (including dietary patterns, lifestyles, genetic, and epigenetic factors) seem to be involved with the pathogenesis of CMDs. Typical gut bacterial clusters in humans (enterotypes) have been correlated with CMD profile differences. Diet is a major environmental factor that can change the composition of gut microbiota, influencing the metabolic state of the host. Research studies have reported that several diet-derived microbial metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), secondary bile acids (BAs), and trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), are able to modulate human metabolism and thereby alter CMD risk. This chapter provides an overview of the link between dietary patterns, enterotypes, gut microbiota-derived metabolites, and possible occurrence or prevention of CMDs. This information illustrates how avoiding consuming an unhealthy diet (Western diet) may reduce risk of CMDs.
Meta Pseudo Labels

We present Meta Pseudo Labels, a semi-supervised learning method that achieves a new state-of-the-art top-1 accuracy of 90.2% on ImageNet, which is 1.6% better than the existing state-of-the-art [16]. Like Pseudo Labels, Meta Pseudo Labels has a teacher network to generate pseudo labels on unlabeled data to teach a student network. However, unlike Pseudo Labels where the teacher is fixed, the teacher in Meta Pseudo Labels is constantly adapted by the feedback of the student’s performance on the labeled dataset. As a result, the teacher generates better pseudo labels to teach the student.1
Facile production of tagless membrane scaffold protein for nanodiscs

Abstract The initial step in the preparation of nanodiscs is to express and purify the membrane scaffold protein (MSP) to homogeneity. Current methods used for the isolation and purification of MSP utilize nickel affinity chromatography. However, the presence of a polyhistidine tag on the MSP often interferes with downstream steps where nanodiscs reconstituted with protein need to be isolated from empty ones. Therefore, one must engage in the finicky process of removing the polyhistidine tag from the MSP using a protease before the formation of nanodiscs. Herein, we describe a robust streamlined approach to produce tagless MSP by expression as inclusion bodies followed by cleavage with cyanogen bromide, and purification by gel filtration chromatography. In addition, the MSP prepared is devoid of tryptophan residues which facilitates tryptophan-based spectroscopic studies of reconstituted proteins. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy showed that the tagless MSP produced was competent to produce nanodiscs.
The Tick: a Different Kind of Host for Human Pathogens

Tick-borne pathogens, especially the ehrlichias, anaplasmas, and spirochetes, are recognized as causing a growing spectrum of diseases in domestic and feral animals and humans. One of the underlying principles governing the life cycle of tick-borne pathogens is their ability to survive and thrive in two extremely different environments—one presented by the homeostatic environment of the mammal, and the other presented by the vector tick, under conditions that change dramatically with activity and feeding status. The microbes must be able to sense pathophysiological changes in their hosts, distinguish the multitude of signals received, and react appropriately. Differential expression of specific antigens (DESA) mediates transition to the new host. This chapter highlights what is known about the response of these microbes to host cues and how they manage existence in and passage between the divergent environments of mammalian host and vector tick. It focuses on the human pathogenic rickettsiae and spirochetes as they prepare to leave the ticks and invade the mammalian host. The chapter also covers the basic features of the tick as a microbial environment and how the tick environment differs from that of the vertebrate host and how ticks recognize and respond to microbial invaders.
Sixteen Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers for a Federally Threatened Species, Hexastylis naniflora (Aristolochiaceae), and Co-Occurring Congeners

Premise of the study: Twenty microsatellite loci were developed for the federally threatened species Hexastylis naniflora (Aristolochiaceae) to examine genetic diversity and to distinguish this species from co-occurring congeners, H. heterophylla and H. minor. Methods and Results: Next-generation sequencing approaches were used to identify microsatellite loci and design primers. One hundred fifty-two primer pairs were screened for repeatability, and 20 of these were further characterized for polymorphism. In H. naniflora, the number of alleles identified for polymorphic loci ranged from two to 23 (mean ∼8.8), with a mean heterozygosity of 0.39. Conclusions: These 16 polymorphic primers for H. naniflora will be useful tools in species identification and quantifying genetic diversity within the genus.
Control of a Flexible Frame in Slewing

Many satellites require the use of slewing solar panels. A laboratory model of a slewing frame is presented here as an article for testing control laws for such solar arrays. A slewing frame presents a challenging control problem because the primary action of slewing induces torsional vibration which is relatively uncontrollable with respect to the slewing actuator. An experimental investigation of controlling this structure for combined slewing and vibration suppression is presented. The frame is modeled using finite element methods verified by experimental modal analysis. Analytical results indicate that the torsional motion can be suppressed by including an active strut in the feedback loop. Non-colocated and colocated control laws are implemented using the active strut as a sensor and an actuator. The relative effectiveness of each design in suppressing the torsional motion is discussed.
Analysis of a simple randomized protocol to establish communication in bounded degree sensor networks

Co-operative computations in a network of sensor nodes rely on an established, interference free and repetitive communication between adjacent sensors. This paper analyzes a simple randomized and distributed protocol to establish a periodic communication schedule S where each sensor broadcasts once to communicate to all of its neighbors during each period of S. The result obtained holds for any bounded degree network. The existence of such randomized protocols is not new. Our protocol reduces the number of random bits and the number of transmissions by individual sensors from Θ(log2 n) to O(log n) where n is the number of sensor nodes. These reductions conserve power which is a critical resource. Both protocols assume upper bound on the number of nodes n and the maximum number of neighbors B. For a small multiplicative (i.e., a factor ω(1)) increase in the resources, our algorithm can operate without an upper bound on B.
Fire and Vegetation History of the Last 2000 Years in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Fire is an important form of natural disturbance in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems in the western United States, and it serves as a critical link between climate change and ecosystem response (Agee, 1990; Swetnam and Betancourt, 1998). The nature of these linkages depends on the time scale of interest. On short time scales, climate/weather and vegetation characteristics affect the fire conditions of particular years (and decades), as well as the dynamics of post-fire ecological succession. On centennial and millennial time scales, large-scale changes in climate alter regional fire regimes and vegetation composition. The linkages are especially complex in the western U.S., where fire regimes vary across environmental gradients and include frequent surface fires as well as infrequent stand-replacement events.
Making a Way out of No Way: African American Women and the Second Great Migration

The Second Great Migration, the movement of African Americans between the South and the North that began in the early 1940s and tapered off in the late 1960s, transformed America. This migration of approximately five million people helped improve the financial prospects of black Americans, who, in the next generation, moved increasingly into the middle class. Over seven years, Lisa Krissoff Boehm gathered oral histories with women migrants and their children, two groups largely overlooked in the story of this event. She also utilized existing oral histories with migrants and southerners in leading archives. In extended excerpts from the oral histories, and in thoughtful scholarly analysis of the voices, this book offers a unique window into African American women's history. These rich oral histories reveal much that is surprising. Although the Jim Crow South presented persistent dangers, the women retained warm memories of southern childhoods. Notwithstanding the burgeoning war industry, most women found themselves left out of industrial work. The North offered its own institutionalized racism; the region was not the promised land. Additionally, these African American women juggled work and family long before such battles became a staple of mainstream discussion. In the face of challenges, the women who share their tales here crafted lives of great meaning from the limited options available, making a way out of no way.
Evidence that the fadB gene of the fadAB operon of Escherichia coli encodes 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A (CoA) epimerase, delta 3-cis-delta 2-trans-enoyl-CoA isomerase, and enoyl-CoA hydratase in addition to 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase.

Genetic complementation of a mutant defective in fatty acid oxidation (fadAB) with plasmids containing DNA inserts from the fadAB region of the Escherichia coli genome was studied. The mutant containing the hybrid plasmid with a 5.2-kilobase (kb) PstI-SalI fragment was found to overproduce 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A (CoA) epimerase and delta 3-cis-delta 2-trans-enoyl-CoA isomerase as well as three other beta-oxidation enzymes by 16- to 18-fold compared with the wild-type parental strain LE392. The purification of a fully functional multienzyme complex of fatty acid oxidation from the transformant ultimately established that the 5.2-kb DNA fragment contained an entire fadAB operon. Since immunotitration of cell extracts with antibodies against the fatty acid oxidation complex proved that all 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA epimerase and delta 3-cis-delta 2-trans-enoyl-CoA isomerase activities were associated with the complex, no genetic loci other than the fadAB operon encoded these two enzymes. Moreover, the binding of antibodies caused parallel inhibition of four component enzymes, whereas 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase activity was slightly increased. These findings support the suggestion that the epimerase and isomerase as well as enoyl-CoA hydratase and L-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase are located on the same polypeptide. The results of this study, together with published data (S.-Y. Yang and H. Schulz, J. Biol. Chem. 258:9780-9785, 1983), lead to the conclusion that 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA epimerase, delta 3-cis-delta 2-trans-enoyl-CoA isomerase, and enoyl-CoA hydratase in addition to 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase are encoded by the fadB gene. Images
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been: A Comparison of Authors, Abstracts, and References in the 1991 and 2010 ICLS Proceedings

We examine differences in authorship, word usage, and references in full papers from the 1991 and 2010 ICLS proceedings. Through a series of analyses, we observe that, while authors largely hail from the US, national and regional participation in the LS community has broadened. Word usage suggests a shift in emphasis from cognitive issues to ones that are both cognitive and cultural. Reference analysis indicates a shift in core literatures and influential authors.
Autophagy in Immunity Against Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a Model System to Dissect Immunological Roles of Autophagy

The recognition of autophagy as an immune mechanism has been affirmed in recent years. One of the model systems that has helped in the development of our current understanding of how autophagy and more traditional immunity systems cooperate in defense against intracellular pathogens is macrophage infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis is a highly significant human pathogen that latently infects billions of people and causes active disease in millions of patients worldwide. The ability of the tubercle bacillus to persist in human populations rests upon its macrophage parasitism. One of the initial reports on the ability of autophagy to act as a cell-autonomous innate immunity mechanism capable of eliminating intracellular bacteria was on M. tuberculosis. This model system has further contributed to the recognition of multiple connections between conventional immune regulators and autophagy. In this chapter, we will review how these studies have helped to establish the following principles: (1) autophagy functions as an innate defense mechanism against intracellular microbes; (2) autophagy is under the control of pattern recognition receptors (PRR) such as Toll-like receptors (TLR), and it acts as one of the immunological output effectors of PRR and TLR signaling; (3) autophagy is one of the effector functions associated with the immunity-regulated GTPases, which were initially characterized as molecules involved in cell-autonomous defense, but whose mechanism of function was unknown until recently; (4) autophagy is an immune effector of Th1/Th2 T cell response polarization—autophagy is activated by Th1 cytokines (which act in defense against intracellular pathogens) and is inhibited by Th2 cytokines (which make cells accessible to intracellular pathogens). Collectively, the studies employing the M. tuberculosis autophagy model system have contributed to the development of a more comprehensive view of autophagy as an immunological process. This work and related studies by others have led us to propose a model of how autophagy, an ancient innate immunity defense, became integrated over the course of evolution with other immune mechanisms of ever-increasing complexity.
Solar thermionic power systems for terrestrial applications

The results of a feasibility study which showed that a low-temperature, high-efficient thermionic power system can efficiently convert solar energy to electrical energy without heat transport, as required by most solar thermal systems are described. A 3-dimensional (2-axis tracking) 93 sq m parabolic solar concentrator, consisting of mirrors on a foam glass substrate and designed to a concentration ratio (mirror area/aperture area) of 2000 is considered for producing a design temperature of 1100 C at an efficiency of 74%. A tracking subsystem must track the sun at an accuracy of a nominal plus or minus 1.0 degree for maximum use of the sun's energy. Each complete solar thermionic power system unit rated at about 20 kWe peak can generate approximately 48,000 kWh/yr. In addition, a thermal energy conversion system can be cascaded within the thermionic power system so that the high quality waste heat can be further utilized to increase the net electrical output. Potential applications of a solar thermionic power generation system are remote sites, apartment house complexes, heating and cooling, hydrogen production and large power stations.