cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Disturbance of growth hormone--insulin-like growth factor axis in uraemia. Implications for recombinant human growth hormone treatment.

The growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis is disturbed in uraemia. Elevated plasma growth hormone (GH) levels despite diminished growth suggest GH resistance, which may be due in part to a decreased expression of the growth hormone receptor at the cell membrane. The hepatic production of IGFs under the control of GH is impaired. Furthermore, there is an excess of IGF-binding protein over total IGF as a consequence of reduced renal clearance of low-molecular-weight subunits of the IGF-binding protein (IGF-BP). This results in an absolute (diminished production) and a relative (low bioavailability) deficiency of IGF. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in doses of 4 IU/m2 per day is able to induce catch-up growth in children with preterminal and terminal renal failure. The growth stimulation of exogenous GH is attributed to its potency to increase the ratio of IGF-I to IGF-BP, followed by a normalization of IGF bioactivity. In renal transplanted children growth is not only disturbed by decreased renal function but also by steroid treatment. Corticosteroids, are responsible for catabolism, for suppression of pituitary GH secretion and for inhibition of local production of IGFs. Exogenous rhGH is able to counteract these growth-inhibiting effects. However, it remains to be seen whether long-term GH treatment definitely improves final adult height.
Nutrition and Condition of Ruffed Grouse during the Breeding Season in Southwestern Virginia

Determination des relations entre le regime alimentaire, la qualite de l'alimentation et les reserves de graisse de B. u. en debut de la periode de reproduction en Virginie.
Simulation of Nozzle Erosion Process in a Solid Propellant Rocket Motor

This paper presents an approach to the simulation of erosion within a rocket nozzle from fundamental principles that relies on as little empirical data as possible. A model is developed that accounts for shear and pressure forces, particle impacts, heat transfer and its subsequent diffusion through the nozzle material, and surface chemical kinetics. The model is based on macro-scale dynamical model concepts, which allow the particle impacts to be modeled based on a lattice method and properties of the material. The macro-scale dynamical model is extended by solving the energy equation at each lattice point for thermal effects, applying surface forces to surface site, and applying chemical kinetics to surface sites. The thermal model, chemical model, and surface regression are validated against experiments and other simulations, and they are all found to be accurate in the subgrid scales that are to be modeled. The chemical erosion of a carbon nozzle in an H2O-CO2 environment over a range of pressures and compositions is studied, and high erosion rates are seen for flows with high water content at high pressures. Additionally, preliminary erosion studies are performed on niobium and tungsten-rhenium materials. It is found as expected that the more ductile and lighter niobium is subject to more erosion by particle impacts. Niobium is found to be subjected to significant erosion by particle impacts and thermal effects, whereas erosion of tungsten-rhenium is found to be almost entirely due to thermal effects in a nozzle-like environment. The model has been developed enough that it is ready for full integration into internal rocket flow field solvers.
A REMODELED TISSUE FLATTENER FOR USE WITH THE INTERNATIONAL MICROTOME CRYOSTAT.

The antiroll plate is cut from a standard microscope slide, a 2 cm length, to give a 2 × 2.5 cm piece. This is fitted into inside grooves of a movable metal frame which is held by a hinge joint parallel to the back of the microtome knife. A stationary frame, which supports the hinged member, has spring clips welded to its sides for attachment to the knife. Clearance between the antiroll plate and knife is obtained by applying Scotch tape to the edge of the plate that is adjacent to the knife edge. The hinge permits the plate to be swung back and thus clear the knife surface.
Overriding the Metrical Bias with Lexical Information: English-Learning 7.5-Month-Olds Use Mommy to Segment Iambic Words

ABSTRACTPrevious research shows that English-learning 7.5-month-olds are biased to segment speech at strong syllables consistent with the predominant trochaic (strong-weak) pattern of words in their language (Jusczyk, Houston, & Newsome, 1999). The present study asked whether 7.5-month-olds can use a familiar name to override their metrical bias and segment iambic (weak-strong) words from natural speech. Infants were familiarized to passages containing weak-strong-weak sequences (guiTAR is) preceded by Mama/Mommy or an unfamiliar name. Infants were tested on iambic words (guiTAR in Experiments 1–2) or trochaic nonwords (TARis in Experiment 3). Segmentation occurred only for iambic words that were preceded by Mama/Mommy during familiarization. The presence of Mama/Mommy attenuated infants’ bias to treat strong-syllables as word onsets. We suggest that young infants weight highly familiar words more strongly than metrical information and discuss the implications of this finding for a hierarchical model of s...
Generation of a Vascular Niche for Studying Stem Cell Homeostasis

Emerging evidence indicates that endothelial cells (ECs) not only form the passive building blocks of blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients, but also instructively participate in organ regeneration and tumorigenesis by producing tissue-specific angiocrine factors. Due to a lack of unbiased, functional angiogenic models, the role of ECs in the homeostasis of tissue-specific stem cells and propagation of malignant cells is unknown. We established a means to maintain primary EC cultures by introducing phospho-ser473 Akt, enabling their survival for weeks under serum-/cytokine-free conditions. This lentiviral-based system maintains the angiogenic repertoire without immortalization and increased tumorigenic potential. Using our novel cytokine-/serum-free in vitro EC-based culture system, we have shown that ECs are endowed with the capacity to expand and maintain bona fide hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and survival of leukemic cells. This unbiased system described here can serve as a platform to identify EC-derived growth and to model treatment of a wide variety of hematological and malignant conditions.
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic considerations in management of motor response fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.

Fluctuations in the therapeutic response to levodopa complicate the management of the majority of Parkinson's disease patients treated for 5 years or more with levodopa. The plasma pharmacokinetics of levodopa, a drug with a half-life in the circulation of 1 to 2 hours, explains the progressive shortening of the duration of response to individual doses of the drug as Parkinson's disease advances and the capacity to synthesize and store dopamine in the brain diminishes. Repeated oscillations in the availability of levodopa and, consequently, dopamine in the striatum, may result in secondary changes in dopamine receptors, which in turn may result in the development of dyskinesias and the "on-off" phenomenon. Improved understanding of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of levodopa has contributed to the development of new approaches to the management of therapeutic response fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.
44. Kardiorespiratorische Probleme in der Intensivpflege

Wenn wir die Mortalitat nach akuter respiratorischer Insuffizienz herabsetzen wollen, ist eine fruhe und intensive Unterstutzung der Lungenund Herzkreislauffunktion notwendig. Prophylaktische mechanische Beatmung ist notwendig, um die sonst zunehmende Verschlechterung des Blut-Gas-Austausches zu verhindern. Ebenso wichtig sind positiv inotrope Medikamente, da die Herzkreislauffunktion trotz akut erhohtem rechtsventricularen Afterload aufrecht erhalten werden mus. Methoden zur Fruhdiagnose sind heute bekannt; Kriterien fur die Therapie werden diskutiert.
Dynamics of mechanical systems with Coulomb friction, stiction, impact and constraint addition-deletion—II Planar systems

Abstract The general theory and computational algorithms presented in Part I are implemented for planar systems. A planar Castesian generalized coordinate formulation is used to obtain the explicit form of equations and transformations that are derived in Part I. Algorithms are implemented in the DADS 2D Computer Code, which is used to solve examples in this part of the paper.
New frontiers for quantum gases of polar molecules

Compared to atoms, molecules possess additional degrees of freedom that can be exploited in fundamental tests, ultracold chemistry, and engineering new quantum phases in many-body systems. Here, we review the recent progress in creating and manipulating ultracold bialkali molecules to study quantum gases of polar molecules. Recent progress in engineering quantum gases of polar molecules brings closer their application in fundamental tests, ultracold chemistry and the study of new quantum phases of matter.
Shelf life: John Singleton

John Singleton is a researcher at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos, US
Acute Bowel Computed Tomography

Acute abdominal pain is a common presenting complaint in the emergency department. Increasingly, computed tomography is utilized for evaluating these patients. Radiologists are therefore expected to be familiar with the pertinent clinical and radiologic information related to acute bowel pathology. This primer will review the need-to-know and latest updates related to computed tomography evaluation of acute bowel pathology
Implementation of a Personal Fitness Unit Using the Personalized System of Instruction Model.

Levels of physical activity and health-related fitness (HRF) are decreasing among adolescents in the United States. Several interventions have been implemented to reverse this downtrend. Traditionally, physical educators incorporate a direct instruction (DI) strategy, with teaching potentially leading students to disengage during class. An instructional strategy that has been shown to be effective in increasing content knowledge and skill competency in physical education is the personalized system of instruction (PSI). Students (N = 24) from a private, urban high school in a major city within the Mountain West region of the United States participated in the 6-week study. Video and audiotaping, along with interviews and journals, were used to determine if criteria standards associated with PSI were met. Three of the 4 components of PSI were met as well as 10 of 12 design features, indicating that implementing the personal fitness unit using PSI was successful. The results indicate PSI was successfully implemented. With its characteristics of self-pacing and mastery learning, PSI has the potential to be an effective teaching model within physical education.
Socialization And Delinquency: A Study of False Negatives and False Positives in Prediction

To discover whether false negatives and fake positives in a Socialization scale (So) existed as stable groups or whether they merely reflected random error, 27 pairs of delinquent (D) and non-delinquent (Nd) Ss matched on low scores on the California Psychological Inventory So scale and 33 matched pairs of high scorers were studied in relation to 41 psychological and social variables. In a secondary analysis 27 pairs of high and low So scale scoring Nds on the one hand, and 57 pairs of high and low So scoring Ds were compared on the same 41 variables. The number of significant differences in the primary analysis far exceeded the amount expected by chance. The secondary analyses again revealed the diagnostic utility of the So scale. However, the use of a moderator variable, Law and School Difficulty scale (LS), in combination with the So scale improved prediction to the criterion. It was concluded that predictor misses should be studied to determine whether they represent stable subgroups or random error. A strategy for such studies was presented.
Is Neutrality a Feature or a Bug? Delegation, Discretion, and the Democratic Implications of Administrative Law in a Polarized Institutional Environment

The Weber–Wilson tenets of administration, primarily the neutrality principle and the politics–administration dichotomy, have come under heavy criticism in recent years. This article assesses the administrative state in terms of democratic fundamental principles. Due to important developments in the evolution of executive bureaucratic discretion, such as the civil service reforms, the end of the legislative veto, Chevron deference, and political polarization, administrative law has been decoupled from popular input, and administrative agencies have become increasingly isolated from the elective institutions of government. At the same time, the foundational principles of administration that justify the insulation of agencies from democratic consent have been undermined. The article contends that the raison d’etre for administrative law is intimately tied to the foundational tenets, and that without them administrative law faces a legitimacy crisis, given it is discordant with both the principles of popular...
THE USE OF LIPID VESICLES FOR INTRODUCING MACROMOLECULES INTO CELLS

Lipid vesicles, or liposomes, have recently been shown to be a useful carrier system for the delivery of a variety of compounds to cultured cells. Ca2+-induced fusion of small phosphatidylserine (PS) vesicles, followed by chelation of the Ca2+ by EDTA, produces large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) consisting of a lipid bilayer and a large interior aqueous space. As these vesicles form from the cochleate cylinder Ca2+-PS complexes, they entrap ~10% of the aqueous phase, encapsulating solutes such as macromolecules and macromolecular complexes. After encapsulation by LUV, the double-stranded polynucleotide rIn·rCn associates with cells at a higher level, is less sensitive to degradation by cell surface enzymes, and induces production of the antiviral activity of interferon more efficiently than rIn·rCn free in solution. Poliovirus encapsulated by LUV is rendered insensitive to neutralizing antiserum and is capable of infecting cells that lack the poliovirus surface receptor necessary for normal infection. Parallel experiments using purified poliovirus RNA in vesicles show that the RNA can infect cells efficiently and that it is not degraded by external ribonuclease. These results suggest that LUV are capable of efficiently encapsulating macromolecules and delivering them to cells in a biologically active form.
Barriers to Care Among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Adults.

Policy Points: Transgender and gender nonconforming (GNC) adults may experience barriers to care for a variety of reasons, including discrimination and lack of awareness by providers in health care settings. In our analysis of a large, population-based sample, we found transgender and GNC adults were more likely to be uninsured and have unmet health care needs, and were less likely to have routine care, compared to cisgender (nontransgender) women. Our findings varied by gender identity. More research is needed on transgender and GNC populations, including on how public policy and provider awareness affects health care access and health outcomes differentially by gender identity. Context Very little population-based research has examined health and access to care among transgender populations. This study compared barriers to care between cisgender, transgender, and gender nonconforming (GNC) adults using data from a large, multistate sample. Methods We used data from the 2014-2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to estimate the prevalence of having no health insurance, unmet medical care needs due to cost, no routine checkup, and no usual source of care for cisgender women (n = 183,370), cisgender men (n = 131,080), transgender women (n = 724), transgender men (n = 449), and GNC adults (n = 270). Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each barrier to care while adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. Findings Transgender and GNC adults were more likely to be nonwhite, sexual minority, and socioeconomically disadvantaged compared to cisgender adults. After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, transgender women were more likely to have no health insurance (OR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.07-2.40) compared to cisgender women; transgender men were more likely to have no health insurance (OR = 2.02; 95% CI = 1.25-3.25) and no usual source of care (OR = 1.84; 95% CI = 1.18-2.88); and GNC adults were more likely to have unmet medical care needs due to cost (OR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.02-3.67) and no routine checkup in the prior year (OR = 2.41; 95% CI = 1.41-4.12). Conclusions Transgender and GNC adults face barriers to health care that may be due to a variety of reasons, including discrimination in health care, health insurance policies, employment, and public policy or lack of awareness among health care providers on transgender-related health issues.
Improving the Security of Split Manufacturing Using a Novel BEOL Signal Selection Method

Split manufacturing of integrated circuits (IC) was proposed as a possible defense against security issues arising from the use of potentially untrusted foundries. However, split manufactured designs were shown to be vulnerable to a new form of attack known as the proximity attack which attempts to reverse engineer the BEOL (Back End of Line) signals. Hence, care must be exercised in identifying the BEOL signals and their placement and routing. In this paper, we present a secure BEOL signal selection algorithm to defeat proximity attacks. Our method is based on two novel features: First, we introduce a new metric for signal selection based on the effect each signal has on the outputs. Second, we use a multiway partitioning algorithm to find a 'secure' cut-set which is the set of signals assigned to the BEOL layers. Our approach increases the number of BEOL nets while minimizing the impact on performance. We present experimental results which show significant improvement in security (on average by 800%) with only a modest effect on performance (less than 4% on average).
Compartmentalized cyclic nucleotides have opposing effects on regulation of hypertrophic phospholipase Cε signaling in cardiac myocytes.

In cardiac myocytes activation of an exchange factor activated by cAMP (Epac) leads to activation of phospholipase Ce (PLCe)-dependent hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) in the Golgi apparatus a process critical for development of cardiac hypertrophy. Here we show that β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) stimulation does not stimulate this pathway in the presence of the broad spectrum phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor IBMX, but selective PDE3 inhibition revealed βAR-dependent PI4P depletion. On the other hand, selective inhibition of PDE2 or PDE9A blocked endothelin-1 (ET-1) and cAMP-dependent PI4P hydrolysis by PLCe. Direct activation of protein kinase A (PKA), protein kinase G (PKG), or the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) receptor abolished PI4P hydrolysis in response to multiple upstream stimuli. These results reveal distinct pools of cyclic nucleotides that either inhibit PLCe at the Golgi through PKA/PKG, or activate PLCe at the Golgi through Epac. These data together reveal a new mechanism by which ANF and selective PDE inhibitors can protect against cardiac hypertrophy.
The effect of nanosecond pulsed high frequency discharges on the temperature evolution of ignition kernels

Abstract Nanosecond pulsed high frequency discharges (NPHFD) have attracted interest as a means of enhancing ignition probability and ignition kernel growth rates. Previous studies have shown that increasing the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of a NPHFD burst can result in enhanced probability of ignition relative to lower values of PRF. The cause of this enhanced ignition probability is not well understood, in part, because the temperature evolution of ignition kernels have not been measured. In this work, an inverse deconvolution technique was developed, evaluated, and used to determine the temporal evolution of the temperature and volume of ignition kernels initiated by NPHFD and single pulse discharges. Radiation intensity measurements of ignition kernels were compared to modeled values to determine path-averaged temperatures. Comparisons of values derived using the deconvolution technique and measured temperatures above a McKenna burner typically agreed within 4%. When the technique was applied to ignition kernels initiated by NPHFD over a range of PRF, it was observed that increasing the PRF of a discharge sequence increased the initial rate of change of the temperature as compared to lower PRF. Additionally, kernels generated with high PRF discharges achieved higher initial peak temperatures than those generated by lower PRF discharges. A relaxation in temperature was observed following the peak, which was followed by a subsequent temperature increase in all cases generated with PRF > 10 kHz. PRF above 5 kHz result in larger initial kernel volumes and volume rates of change compared to those observed for lower PRF values. This is attributed to pulse-to-pulse coupling during the energy deposition process. The observed relationship between kernel temperature, volume, and PRF help to explain ignition probability measurements reported previously. Findings from the effort illustrate how the rate of energy deposition through pulse-to-pulse coupling can significantly enhance ignition through elevated temperatures.
An Alternate Development Path for Magnetic Fusion

Mid-century requirements for carbon free energy are daunting. Perhaps fusion could play a vital role. One of rather few possible solutions for sustainable development might be the fission fusion hybrid coupled with transmutation of the long lived actinide wastes. This paper suggests such an alternate development path for fusion, one that could lead to the production of multi-terawatts of carbon free power by 2050.
"How Different Can We Be?": Using "Tuesdays with Morrie" and Intergenerational Interactions to Promote Positive Views of Older Adults among College Students.

This article reports the results of an Adult Development course assignment. This assignment required that undergraduate students interact with an older adult on two occasions, provide written refle...
Variation in metal tolerance associated with population exposure history in Southern toads (Anaxyrus terrestris)

Abstract Human activities have radically shaped the global landscape, affecting the structure and function of ecosystems. Habitat loss is one of the most visible changes to the landscape and a primary driver of species declines; however, anthropogenic environmental contamination also threatens population persistence, but is not as readily observed. Aquatic organisms are especially susceptible to chemical perturbations, which can negatively impact survival and fitness related traits. Some populations have evolved tolerance to chemical stressors, which could mitigate the consequences associated with contamination. Amphibians are experiencing global declines due to multiple stressors and are particularly at risk to aquatic chemical stressors due to their permeable skin and reliance on wetlands for reproduction and larval development. However, amphibians also have substantial plasticity in response to environmental variation. We designed our study to examine whether tolerance to heavy metals is greater in Southern toad (Anaxyrus terrestris) larvae from wetlands with a history of contamination. Considering many of the most common trace elements elicit acute toxicity by disrupting osmotic- and ionic-regulation, we hypothesized that alterations to these aspects of physiology resulting from multigenerational exposure to trace element mixtures would be the most likely routes by which tolerance would evolve. We used copper (Cu) as a proxy for heavy metal exposure because it is a widely distributed aquatic stressor known to cause osmotic stress that can also cause mortality at levels commonly encountered in the environment. We found considerable within and among population variation in Cu tolerance, as measured by time to death. Larvae from populations living in sites contaminated with mixtures of heavy metals associated with coal fly ash were no more tolerant to Cu than those from reference sites. However, larvae from a population inhabiting a constructed wetland complex with high Cu levels were significantly more tolerant; having half the risk of mortality as reference animals. This wetland complex was created
Overview of Real Estate Markets in Kuwait

This paper provides insights on the real estate market in Kuwait. A number of market distortions and imbalances are identified and their likely implications for the economy are discussed. The dynam...
Sustaining and developing teachers’ dynamic bilingualism in a re-designed bilingual teacher preparation program

There is an expectation of bilingual proficiency as a requirement for admission into most bilingual teacher preparation programs, as well as licensing criteria and job requirements for bilingual te...
Responding to Threats Both Foreign and Domestic: NOD-Like Receptors in Corals

Historically mechanisms with which basal animals such as reef-building corals use to respond to changing and increasingly stressful environments have remained elusive. However, the increasing availability of genomic and transcriptomic data from these organisms has provided fundamental insights into the biology of these critically important ecosystem engineers. Notably, insights into cnidarians gained in the post-genomics age have revealed a surprisingly complex immune system which bears a surprising level of similarity with the vertebrate innate immune system. This system has been critically linked to how corals respond to the two most prominent threats on a global scale, emerging coral diseases and increasing water temperature, which are recognized cellularly as either foreign or domestic threats, respectively. These threats can arise from pathogenic microbes or internal cellular dysfunction, underscoring the need to further understand mechanisms corals use to sense and respond to threats to their cellular integrity. In this investigation and meta-analysis, we utilize resources only recently available in the post-genomic era to identify and characterize members of an underexplored class of molecules known as NOD-like receptors in the endangered Caribbean coral Orbicella faveolata. We then leverage these data to identify pathways possibly mediated by NLRs in both O. faveolata and the ecologically important branching coral Acropora digitifera. Overall, we find support that this class of proteins may provide a mechanistic link to how reef-building corals respond to threats both foreign and domestic.
77. UTILIZATION OF HEAT-MAPPING SOFTWARE TO MATCH A RESIDENT STAFFING TEMPLATE TO ED ARRIVAL PATTERNS

Background Academic institutions rely on resident physicians to adequately staff emergency departments while residency programs need a steady flow of patients in order to provide trainees with a good clinical experience. Feedback from end-of-rotation evaluations suggest that residents feel competition for patients during some shifts and overworked during others. To investigate this, we utilized heat-mapping software to determine the degree of over- and under-staffing by hour of the day in the ED. Objective Utilize heat-mapping to develop an evenly-distributed staffing model in the ED at a tertiary care children's hospital Design/Methods Heat-mapping software within Excel (Microsoft Corp, Seattle, WA) was utilized to overlay ED patient arrival patterns from June 2017-May 2018 on top of the potential patients per hour based on national estimates for trainees. Time-frames for under- and over-staffing were identified. A new schedule matrix was implemented in October 2018 and the same heat-mapping process was used to determine appropriateness of the staffing matrix. Given the visual nature of the study, results are presented descriptively. Results Analysis of the heat-map revealed that the current schedule matrix significantly under-staffed in the morning between 7-11am and over-staffed the rest of the day. A heat map representing usual staffing from October to December 2017 is shown in figure 1 and highlights the mismatch. Changes were made to the staffing matrix informed by the findings which resulted in more appropriate staffing during morning hours and evening hours for the months of October to December 2018 (figure 2). Conclusion(s) Novel use of heat-mapping software has the potential to successfully match ED patient arrival patterns to an appropriate resident staffing matrix. Future directions include incorporation of variable productivity to account for fatigue as the shift progresses.
Narrative Approach to Goals of Care Discussions: A Novel Curriculum

Abstract Context Innovative patient-centered approaches to goals of care (GOC) communication training are needed. Teaching a narrative approach, centered on the patient's unique story, is conceptually sound but has not been evaluated with respect to objective skills attainment. We developed a curriculum based on a novel, easily-remembered narrative approach to GOC, the 3-Act Model, and piloted it with a cohort of internal medicine (IM) interns. Objectives To describe the development of the 3-Act Model curriculum and to assess its impact on the GOC communication skills of IM interns. Methods The curriculum was developed with input from multidisciplinary experts, IM residents, and patient/family representative. Notable elements included instrument development with validity evidence established, determination of proficiency standards, and creation of role-play scenarios. In two three-hour workshops, interns participated in role-plays as both providers and patients, before and after teaching (which included narrative reflection, didactics, and video demonstration). Results 22 interns played the role of provider in five unique scenarios; 106 proficiency ratings were analyzable. Interns objectively rated as proficient increased from 30% (pretest) to 100% (final role-play). By the end of the training, 96% of interns strongly agreed or agreed that they felt ready to independently lead basic GOC discussions and the percentage who strongly agreed increased with successive role-plays. All interns indicated they would recommend the training. Conclusion This pilot demonstrates that the 3-Act Model is teachable and appreciated by learners. This GOC curriculum is the first based on a narrative approach to demonstrate objective skills improvement.
Can magnetized turbulence set the mass scale of stars

Understanding the evolution of self-gravitating, isothermal, magnetized gas is crucial for star formation, as these physical processes have been postulated to set the initial mass function (IMF). We present a suite of isothermal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations using the GIZMO code, that resolve the formation of individual stars in giant molecular clouds (GMCs), spanning a range of Mach numbers found in observed GMCs. As in past works, the mean and median stellar masses are sensitive to numerical resolution, because they are sensitive to low-mass stars that contribute a vanishing fraction of the overall stellar mass. The mass-weighted median stellar mass M₅₀ becomes insensitive to resolution once turbulent fragmentation is well-resolved. Without imposing Larson-like scaling laws, our simulations find M₅₀∝M₀M⁻³α_(turb)SFEA^(1/3) for GMC mass M₀, sonic Mach number M, virial parameter αturb, and star formation efficiency SFE=M⋆/M₀. This fit agrees well with previous IMF results from the RAMSES, ORION2, and SphNG codes. Although M₅₀ has no significant dependence on the magnetic field strength at the cloud scale, MHD is necessary to prevent a fragmentation cascade that results in non-convergent stellar masses. For initial conditions and SFE similar to star-forming GMCs in our Galaxy, we predict M₅₀ to be >20M⊙, an order of magnitude larger than observed (∼2M⊙), together with an excess of brown dwarfs. Moreover, M₅₀ is sensitive to initial cloud properties and evolves strongly in time within a given cloud, predicting much larger IMF variations than are observationally allowed. We conclude that physics beyond MHD turbulence and gravity are necessary ingredients for the IMF.
Toward Asymptotic Diffusion Limit Preserving High-Order, Low-Order Method

Recent development of the high-order, low-order (HOLO) method has shown promising results for solving thermal radiative transfer problems. The HOLO algorithm is a moment-based acceleration, similar...
Ionophoric polyphenols are permeable to the blood–brain barrier, interact with human serum albumin and Calf Thymus DNA, and inhibit AChE enzymatic activity

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia that affects more than 40 million people around the world. The incidence is expected to rapidly increase due to the lack of any effective treatment. In previous work we synthesized a family of five ionophoric polyphenols (compounds 1–5) that targeted important aspects related to AD, such as the toxic aggregation of amyloid-β peptides, the production of reactive oxygen species, or the excessive presence of Cu2+ ions. Here, in order to gain insights into their potential therapeutic value, we have tested the ability of compounds 1–5 to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), to interact with human serum albumin (HSA) and Calf Thymus (ct) DNA, and to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE). We performed BBB permeability and efflux mechanisms studies by means of the in vitro parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA-BBB) and several in silico methods, while fluorescence, UV–visible, and circular dichroism spectroscopies were used to determine their ability to interact with HSA and ctDNA. Our results show that all five ionophoric polyphenols can effectively cross the BBB, and can form adducts with both HSA and ctDNA through one binding site and with association constants ranging from 104 to 106 M−1, while still maintaining levels of unbound drug to protein within therapeutic range. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations show that the ionophoric polyphenols preferably bind the hydrophobic cavities of the subdomain IIA of HSA, as many other pharmaceuticals do, with predicted affinities that correlate well with experimental results obtained by spectroscopic techniques. In addition, structurally related compounds 1, 2, and 4 were found to be moderate in vitro AChE inhibitors by interacting with several residues of the active site of the enzyme, as revealed by docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Overall, our results suggest that HSA could be an efficient transport mechanism of the compounds in the bloodstream until reaching the brain, where they could effectively cross the BBB and exert their anti-AD activity, including AChE inhibition. DNA interactions similar to natural resveratrol could in part explain the previously reported nontoxic behavior of the compounds.
An Intervention to Enhance Social, Emotional, and Identity Learning for Very Young Adolescents and Support Gender Equity: Protocol for a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND The onset of puberty is a pivotal period of human development that is associated with significant changes in cognitive, social, emotional, psychological, and behavioral processes that shape identity formation. Very early adolescence provides a critical opportunity to shape identity formation around gender norms, attitudes, and beliefs before inequitable gender norms are amplified during and after puberty. OBJECTIVE The aim of the Discover Learning Project is to integrate strategic insights from developmental science to promote positive transformation in social, emotional, and gender identity learning among 10- to 11-year-olds in Tanzania. Through a pragmatic randomized controlled trial, the intervention scaffolds the development of critical social and emotional mindsets and skills (curiosity, generosity, persistence, purpose, growth mindset, and teamwork) delivered by conducting 18 after-school, technology-driven, experiential learning sessions in small, mixed-gender groups. METHODS The Discover Learning Intervention is a 3-arm randomized controlled trial that will be delivered to 579 participants selected from four public primary schools in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Randomization will be done at the individual level into 3 treatment groups receiving incremental intervention components. The treatment components include Discover Learning content curated into child-friendly videos, facilitated discussions, and a parent-child workbook, to be implemented over two phases, each 6 weeks long. A baseline survey will be administered to participants and their parents prior to the intervention. The process will be observed systematically, and data will be collected using surveys, in-depth interviews, observations, and focus group discussions with adolescents, parents, teachers, and facilitators conducted prior, during, and after each implementation phase. RESULTS This study builds on formative and pilot studies conducted with the target population to inform the design of the intervention. The results will generate new evidence that will inform strategies for achieving scale in Tanzania and provide insights for replication of similar programs that are invested in gender-transformative interventions in peri-urban, low-resource settings. CONCLUSIONS The Discover Learning Intervention makes an important contribution to the field of adolescent developmental science as an intervention designed for very young adolescents in a low-resource setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04458077; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04458077. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/23071.
Effects of long-term ethanol storage on muscle architecture

Muscle excursion and force potential can be estimated from architectural variables, including mass, volume, fascicle length, and density. These have been collected from fresh specimens, preserved specimens, and sometimes mixed samples of both. However, preservation alters the gross morphology of muscles. This study aims to quantify the effects of long-term storage on myological properties across a sample of fresh and ethanol preserved Mus musculus specimens ranging in storage time from 16 to 130 years. Masses, volumes, and densities of biceps femoris, quadriceps femoris, and triceps surae were measured, and histological cross-sections of some specimens were used to evaluate the microscale effects of long-term fluid preservation. For the remainder of the sample, chemically dissected fascicle lengths were measured to evaluate the fixation effects on the linear dimensions of muscle architecture. Relative muscle mass, volume, fascicle length, average fiber area, and density, and percent fiber area were regressed against years stored in ethanol. Muscle size dropped steeply between fresh and stored samples, ultimately decreasing by 62 and 60%, respectively. These losses correlate with histologically measured shrinking of average muscle fiber area. Density of stored specimens plateaued 5% below that of fresh ones. Although muscles lost mass and volume during ethanol storage, fascicle lengths did not shorten significantly (presumably because they were preserved attached on either end to bone). This study demonstrates that muscle mass, volume, and density of specimens stored long-term in ethanol should be corrected by factors of 2.64, 2.49, and 1.054 respectively for comparability to fresh specimens.
Men Need Parental Leave Just as Much as Women and Kids Do

Letting parents take time off to care for newborns is good for the economy and for women, but it is also good for men and children.
Discovery of novel putative tumor suppressors from CRISPR screens reveals rewired lipid metabolism in AML cells

Abstract CRISPR knockout screens in hundreds of cancer cell lines have revealed a substantial number of context-specific essential genes that, when associated with a biomarker such as lineage or oncogenic mutation, offer candidate tumor-specific vulnerabilities for targeted therapies or novel drug development. Data-driven analysis of knockout fitness screens also yields many other functionally coherent modules that show emergent essentiality or, in rarer cases, the opposite phenotype of faster proliferation. We develop a systematic approach to classify these suppressors of proliferation, which are highly enriched for tumor suppressor genes, and define a network of 145 genes in 22 discrete modules. One surprising module contains several elements of the glycerolipid biosynthesis pathway and operates exclusively in a subset of AML lines, which we call Fatty Acid Synthesis/Tumor Suppressor (FASTS) cells. The proliferation suppressor activity of genes involved in the synthesis of saturated fatty acids, coupled with a more severe fitness phenotype for the desaturation pathway, suggests that these cells operate at the limit of their carrying capacity for saturated fatty acids, which we confirmed biochemically. Overexpression of genes in this module is associated with a survival advantage in an age-matched cohort of AML patients, suggesting the gene cluster driving an in vitro phenotype may be associated with a novel, clinically relevant subtype.
Modeling of Analog-Digital Loops in VHDL

The previous chapters introduced the engineer to some of the basic concepts in using VHDL for behavioral modeling. This chapter is written to assist the applications engineer familiar with Automatic Gain Control (AGC) and Phase-Locked (PL) loops in applying those concepts. The intention is to incorporate loop behavior into analogdigital modeling and demonstrate the resulting analog-digital simulation. Described is an approach for modeling combined analog-digital loop behavior -- centered on the VHDL behavioral models used to simulate the AGC and PL loops. This approach enables the VHDL simulation of mixed analog-digital hardware designs incorporating these control loops.
Mechanisms of Pilus Antigenic Variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The alteration of gene expression by DNA rearrangement appears to be an essential part of most biological systems. When an extremely high level of diversification for a set of gene products with a common function is advantageous, these rearrangements are achieved by the reassortment and recombination of repeated gene segments. The generation of the variable domains in avian immunoglobulins, antigenic variation of surface proteins in African trypanosomes and Borrelia hermsii, and pilus antigenic variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae each results from the transfer of genetic information from nonexpressed donor alleles or pseudogenes to an active expression locus, a process likened to gene conversion occurring in spore-forming fungi. In this chapter, the author concentrates primarily on recent studies that have influenced understanding of variable pilus expression in gonococci. The vast majority of recombination events between double-stranded DNA forms of the filamentous bacteriophage f1 appear to be a consequence of gene conversion, and the mechanism appears to be the formation of asymmetric heteroduplex molecules. It may also seem that reciprocal exchange and gene conversion demand fundamentally distinct recombination reactions, but mechanistically, these two outcomes may simply be alternative resolutions of the same basic event. The identification of equivalent gonococcal genes by interspecies complementation or by virtue of their DNA homologies and the construction of mutants altered in their expression should make it possible to define their role in the chemistry of the exchange reaction.
Remote sensing with a tunable alexandrite laser transmitter

In this paper we describe a high resolution tunable Alexandrite laser system which we have used to make differential absorption lidar measurements of the atmospheric pressure profile. We also report on measurements of the spectral purity and line shape of the laser emission.
Trinucleotide Repeat Expansions: Disorders

Trinucleotide repeat mutations, also known as dynamic mutations, were discovered only in the early 1990s, but are responsible for many important neurological disorders, such as Huntington disease, fragile X mental retardation and myotonic dystrophy. Keywords: triplet repeat; dynamic mutation; polyglutamine; Huntington disease; protein aggregate; spinocerebellar ataxia
Reticulum-cell sarcoma with intracardiac metastases. Case with angiocardiographic improvement after chemotherapy.

Abstract A case of reticulum-cell sarcoma with large intracardiac metastases was documented by cardiac catheterization and angiography. A second study after a course of chemotherapy demonstrated the palliative effects of the treatment with disappearance of the intracardiac tumor on angiocardiography. The case is discussed and a review of the literature is presented.
Purification and properties of component E of glutamate mutase.

Abstract A method is described for the purification of Component E of glutamate mutase about 180-fold with an 18% yield. The purified component shows no β-methylaspartase activity and is virtually free of the gel supernatant (S) component of the mutase. The most highly purified preparations contain about 75% of one protein and 25% of a second protein as judged by ionophoresis and ultracentrifugation. The activity is associated with the major component. Sedimentation analysis of the major component gave an s20,w value of 6.90 and a calculated molecular weight of approximately 128,000. Component E preparations are light pink, apparently because of contamination by corrinoid vitamins. They do not contain significant amounts of pyridoxine or related B6 vitamins. Component E is rather stable to storage under several conditions but is rapidly inactivated by freezing in the presence of mercaptoethanol or by incubation at 0° with some cationic buffers, such as tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane and imidazole. Inactivation by Tris is largely prevented by 50 mm l-glutamate, methylaspartate, or, less effectively, by l-aspartate; neutral amino acids appear to be ineffective. The results indicate that glutamate and methylaspartate have a special affinity for the E component. Both purified Component E and partially purified Component S are essential for glutamate mutase activity under either aerobic or anaerobic assay conditions. For maximal activity, at least one of the components must be reduced by incubation with mercaptoethanol or another sulfhydryl compound before it is used in the assay; reduction of either component is about equally effective. The addition of 1 to 3 mm mercaptoethanol to the spectrophotometric assay solution is also beneficial. The influence of the relative amounts of the E and S components on mutase activity has been determined. There is an optimal amount of Component S which increases with the amount of Component E in the assay system. Superoptimal amounts of Component S inhibit markedly. The interaction of Component S with Component E to cause activation or inhibition is increased by higher levels of mercaptoethanol. The binding of B12 coenzyme to Component E was investigated by two methods; both indicate that the binding is relatively weak. The possibility that free ammonium ion or α-ketoglutarate is an intermediate in the glutamate mutase reaction was eliminated by tracer experiments showing that neither 15NH4+ nor α-ketoglutarate-14C is incorporated into the products.