cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis and Nonlinear Control of Galerkin Models Using Averaging and Center Manifold Theory

In this paper, nonlinear control systems whose dynamics are quadratic with respect to state, and bilinear with respect to state and input, which exhibit an oscillation caused by a stable limit cycle for zero input are studied. The effect of linear control on this model is analyzed using modal forms and center manifold theory. It is found that the oscillation amplitude depends both on terms linear in the control and those that depend on the center manifold. To exploit the latter, a nonlinear control law is proposed. The closed loop system is simplified using a time varying periodic change of coordinates, time scaling, and averaging. Using center manifold theory, conditions governing the number and stability type of the limit cycles, and analytical expressions for the oscillation amplitude are derived. The results are verified using a finite dimensional cavity flow model as an example.
High-order Gauss-Lobatto formulae

Currently, the method of choice for computing the (n+2)-point Gauss–Lobatto quadrature rule for any measure of integration is to first generate the Jacobi matrix of order n+2 for the measure at hand, then modify the three elements at the right lower corner of the matrix in a manner proposed in 1973 by Golub, and finally compute the eigenvalues and first components of the respective eigenvectors to produce the nodes and weights of the quadrature rule. In general, this works quite well, but when n becomes large, underflow problems cause the method to fail, at least in the software implementation provided by us in 1994. The reason is the singularity (caused by underflow) of the 2×2 system of linear equations that is used to compute the modified matrix elements. It is shown here that in the case of arbitrary Jacobi measures, these elements can be computed directly, without solving a linear system, thus allowing the method to function for essentially unrestricted values of n. In addition, it is shown that all weights of the quadrature rule can also be computed explicitly, which not only obviates the need to compute eigenvectors, but also provides better accuracy. Numerical comparisons are made to illustrate the effectiveness of this new implementation of the method.
Cross-cultural comparison of blog use for parent-teacher communication in elementary schools

There are many factors that effect student learning and achievement. Factors such as socioeconomic status, class size, a child's learning style, and parental involvement all have influence on a student's achievement in school. In this study, we focus only on the factor of parental involvement as it relates to parent-teacher communication. Parent-teacher communication has traditionally been conducted through parent-teacher conferences, personal letters to parents, telephone calls home, etc. However, the growth of the Internet based communications such as e-mails and blogs have expanded the ways in which parent-teacher communication can occur. The objective of this study is to find out how blogs, a lightweight web 2.0 technology, are used to support communication between parents and teachers in different national culture settings. The findings of this interview study suggested that cultural values, privacy policies, teacher background and technology knowledge have influenced the use of blog in parentteacher communication.
Characterizing gene-gene interactions in a statistical epistasis network of twelve candidate genes for obesity

Recent findings have reemphasized the importance of epistasis, or gene-gene interactions, as a contributing factor to the unexplained heritability of obesity. Network-based methods such as statistical epistasis networks (SEN), present an intuitive framework to address the computational challenge of studying pairwise interactions between thousands of genetic variants. In this study, we aimed to analyze pairwise interactions that are associated with Body Mass Index (BMI) between SNPs from twelve genes robustly associated with obesity (BDNF, ETV5, FAIM2, FTO, GNPDA2, KCTD15, MC4R, MTCH2, NEGR1, SEC16B, SH2B1, and TMEM18). We used information gain measures to identify all SNP-SNP interactions among and between these genes that were related to obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2) within the Framingham Heart Study Cohort; interactions exceeding a certain threshold were used to build an SEN. We also quantified whether interactions tend to occur more between SNPs from the same gene (dyadicity) or between SNPs from different genes (heterophilicity). We identified a highly connected SEN of 709 SNPs and 1241 SNP-SNP interactions. Combining the SEN framework with dyadicity and heterophilicity analyses, we found 1 dyadic gene (TMEM18, P-value = 0.047) and 3 heterophilic genes (KCTD15, P-value = 0.045; SH2B1, P-value = 0.003; and TMEM18, P-value = 0.001). We also identified a lncRNA SNP (rs4358154) as a key node within the SEN using multiple network measures. This study presents an analytical framework to characterize the global landscape of genetic interactions from genome-wide arrays and also to discover nodes of potential biological significance within the identified network.
Pathways to Expressive and Collective Participation: Usage Patterns, Political Efficacy, and Political Participation in Social Networking Sites

This study assesses differences in use of social networking sites (SNSs) and relates them to different patterns of political participation, media use motivations, and political efficacy. Based on a Web survey of 1,230 South Korean voters, it finds that informational uses of SNSs are positively associated with expressive participation both online and offline, but not with collective participation. The use of SNSs for social interaction purposes was associated only with online expressive participation. Recreational uses had a negative or insignificant relationship with expressive and collective participation. Political efficacy moderated the impact of social interaction uses of SNSs on expressive participation both online and offline. The findings suggest that the political impact of SNSs is mostly limited to expressive participation and dependent upon users' motivations.
Theoretical Optimization of Stimulation Strategies for a Directionally Segmented Deep Brain Stimulation Electrode Array

Programming deep brain stimulation (DBS) systems currently involves a clinician manually sweeping through a range of stimulus parameter settings to identify the setting that delivers the most robust therapy for a patient. With the advent of DBS arrays with a higher number and density of electrodes, this trial and error process becomes unmanageable in a clinical setting. This study developed a computationally efficient, model-based algorithm to estimate an electrode configuration that will most strongly activate tissue within a volume of interest. The cerebellar-receiving area of motor thalamus, the target for treating essential tremor with DBS, was rendered from imaging data and discretized into grid points aligned in approximate afferent and efferent axonal pathway orientations. A finite-element model (FEM) was constructed to simulate the volumetric tissue voltage during DBS. We leveraged the principle of voltage superposition to formulate a convex optimization-based approach to maximize activating function (AF) values at each grid point (via three different criteria), hence increasing the overall probability of action potential initiation and neuronal entrainment within the target volume. For both efferent and afferent pathways, this approach achieved global optima within several seconds. The optimal electrode configuration and resulting AF values differed across each optimization criteria and between axonal orientations. This approach only required a set of FEM simulations equal to the number of DBS array electrodes, and could readily accommodate anisotropic-inhomogeneous tissue conductances or other axonal orientations. The algorithm provides an efficient, flexible determination of optimal electrode configurations for programming DBS arrays.
Synthesis And Characterization Of Ball-Milled Nanocrystalline Fcc Metals

Nanocrystalline fee metals (Al, Cu, Ni, Pd, Rh, Ir) have been prepared by ball milling. The development of the microstructure is investigated by x-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The final grain sizes range from 6 to 22 nm and scale with the melting point and the bulk modulus of the elements: metals with higher melting point and bulk modulus have a smaller final grain size. From this a general relation between the deformation mechanism during ball milling and the ultimate grain size achievable by this technique is inferred. With decreasing grain size the lattice strain is enhanced and deformation enthalpies of up to 40 % of the heat of fusion are stored in the material. The contributions of the lattice strain and of die excess enthalpy of the grain boundaries to the stored enthalpies are critically assessed. The kinetics of grain growth are investigated by mermal analysis. The activation energy for grain boundary migration is derived from a modified Kissinger analysis and estimates of the grain boundary enthalpy are given.
Observations of Forward Smoldering and the Transition to Flaming in Small Polyurethane Foam Samples with Ultrasound Probing

¶The transition from forward smoldering to flaming in small samples of polyurethane foam is observed with the use of thermocouple and ultrasound probing. The experiments are part of a project that includes planned microgravity experiments aboard the International Space Station, and consequently the foam samples had to be limited in size for safety and launch mass reasons. The feasible sample size is too small for smolder to self propagate because of heat losses to the surroundings. Thus, the smolder propagation and the transition to flaming had to be assisted by reducing the heat losses to the surroundings and increasing the oxygen concentration. The experiments are conducted with small parallelepiped samples vertically placed in a wind tunnel. Three of the sample lateral-sides are maintained at elevated temperature and the fourth side is exposed to an upward oxidizer flow and to a variable radiant flux. Thermocouples are placed in the foam at six different heights on the sample centerline. An ultrasound probing technique is used to measure the relative permeability of the sample at the same heights as the top five thermocouples. The thermocouple data shows an increase in temperature as the smolder front approaches the thermocouple location and a sharp increase in temperature at the location of the transition to flaming. The ultrasound data shows that the permeability of the char continues to increase after the primary smolder reaction has passed, indicating the presence of a secondary char oxidation reaction. The ultrasound data also shows that the transition to flaming is preceded by large increases in permeability in the char region below the smolder front. The secondary char oxidation results in the formation of large voids containing gaseous fuel and oxidizer, which can undergo a gas-phase ignition if the mixture is combustible (i.e. there is sufficient oxygen) and the heat losses are sufficiently reduced, producing a transition to flaming.
Inspiration and Innovation: Religion in the American West . By Todd M. Kerstetter.

Inspiration and Innovation: Religion in the American West . Western History Series. By Todd M. Kerstetter. (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015. xi + 275 pp. Illustrations, map, notes, bibliographical notes, index. $81.95, cloth; $26.95, paper.) Mainstream histories about the American West and historical studies of religion among westerners have long traveled along separate tracks—as if so-called secular matters such as politics, economics, warfare, and so forth had no bearing on religious developments in the region, or vice versa. But integrating religious history with familiar narratives can render a fuller understanding of the past, as demonstrated, for example, by Ferenc Morton Szasz’s Religion in the Modern American West (2000). Similarly, Todd M. Kerstetter’s Inspiration and Innovation brings religion center stage in … trevino{at}uta.edu
Keyword generation for lyrics

This paper proposes a scheme for content based keyword generation of song lyrics. Syntactic as well semantic similarity is used for sentence level clustering to separate the topic from the background of a song. A method is proposed to search for a center in the semantic graph ofWordNet for generating keywords not contained in original text.
Emerging therapeutic roles for NAD(+) metabolism in mitochondrial and age-related disorders.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a central metabolic cofactor in eukaryotic cells that plays a critical role in regulating cellular metabolism and energy homeostasis. NAD+ in its reduced form (i.e. NADH) serves as the primary electron donor in mitochondrial respiratory chain, which involves adenosine triphosphate production by oxidative phosphorylation. The NAD+/NADH ratio also regulates the activity of various metabolic pathway enzymes such as those involved in glycolysis, Kreb’s cycle, and fatty acid oxidation. Intracellular NAD+ is synthesized de novo from l-tryptophan, although its main source of synthesis is through salvage pathways from dietary niacin as precursors. NAD+ is utilized by various proteins including sirtuins, poly ADP-ribose polymerases (PARPs) and cyclic ADP-ribose synthases. The NAD+ pool is thus set by a critical balance between NAD+ biosynthetic and NAD+ consuming pathways. Raising cellular NAD+ content by inducing its biosynthesis or inhibiting the activity of PARP and cADP-ribose synthases via genetic or pharmacological means lead to sirtuins activation. Sirtuins modulate distinct metabolic, energetic and stress response pathways, and through their activation, NAD+ directly links the cellular redox state with signaling and transcriptional events. NAD+ levels decline with mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced NAD+/NADH ratio is implicated in mitochondrial disorders, various age-related pathologies as well as during aging. Here, I will provide an overview of the current knowledge on NAD+ metabolism including its biosynthesis, utilization, compartmentalization and role in the regulation of metabolic homoeostasis. I will further discuss how augmenting intracellular NAD+ content increases oxidative metabolism to prevent bioenergetic and functional decline in multiple models of mitochondrial diseases and age-related disorders, and how this knowledge could be translated to the clinic for human relevance.
Histone modifications—models and mechanisms

Histones and their modifications are critically important epigenetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of gene expression. There are many different posttranslational modifications on histone tails that are currently identified and more being discovered. These structures represent a vast array of tightly regulated entities within a host of signal networks, which coordinate critical cellular processes, including spatiotemporal DNA-based template processes such as replication, transcription, and repair. These modifications can mediate their regulatory effects directly by altering the physical properties of chromatin or indirectly by recruiting specific effector proteins. Several classes of histone modifications such as acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and sumoylation are well-characterized. Other more recently discovered modifications, such as formylation, butyrylation, and others, are still under investigation with regard to their roles and regulatory functions. Elucidating the role each histone modifications plays in regulating chromatin improves our understanding of these dynamic molecular mechanisms and how they regulate gene expression. In this chapter, we review the major models and mechanisms by which histone modifications regulate chromatin and their effects on DNA-based genetic processes.
Wilfred Bion, Ernie Kovacs, and the Oracle of Dewey Decimal System

ABSTRACTIn considering a Bionian primal scene, the author first reflects on adult sexuality as it was shown and known to him in childhood through The Ernie Kovacs Show, an innovative television show from the 1950s. The pleasurable emotions evoked during that writing were complicated by the emergence of highly disturbing memories of his discovery and consumption of early psychoanalytic texts on male homosexuality. This desire to discover his fate occurred in a context of familial preoccupation with the Holocaust and a child’s experience of the threat of nuclear annihilation. This imbrication led to an expansion of his limits regarding the work of the primal scene as a psychoanalytic concept.
Does the functional movement screen correlate with athletic performance? A systematic review

Background: The functional movement screen (FMS) is a movement screening tool designed to assess mobility, stability, symmetry, and quality of movement patterns. It is an inexpensive and accessible screening tool. It is not known if composite FMS scores correlate with athletic performance.Objective: To systematically review relevant literature to discover if composite FMS scores correlate with athletic performance.Methods: A systematic review of literature indexed in the following databases: Medline, CINAHL, SportsDiscus, and PubMed was conducted. The risk of bias was assessed using the QUADAS-2 assessment tool.Results: Six studies satisfied the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. The studies population age range was twenty to twenty-four years old. Risk of bias per the QUADAS-2 tool determined that five out of six studies (83%) were deemed relatively low risk of bias for the risk of bias indicators, and one study (17%) was of unclear risk due to lack of reporting. For the applicability...
Neopentecostalism and Prosperity Theology in Latin America: A Religion for Late Capitalist Society

La iglesia brasilena Igreja Universal do Reino de Dios (IURD) es una de las denominaciones con mas rapido crecimiento en el siglo XXI. La IURD es muy innovadora en sus creencias y en su liturgia, utilizando musica de alabanza contemporanea. El culto es altamente participativo, y agresivamente incorpora tecnicas modernas de ‘marketing’ en la evangelizacion. Esta es una variacion moderna del Pentecostalismo que hace hincapie en la transformacion milagrosa de la vida, no solo en terminos de espiritu y cuerpo, pero a veces incluso de forma de vida y patrones de consumo (teologia de la prosperidad). La IURD se dirige a las necesidades materiales y los deseos de las personas que viven en un mundo donde el exito se mide casi exclusivamente por la riqueza y el consumo, donde el pecado y la gracia se definen, respectivamente, por la pobreza y la riqueza. En este articulo se estudiara la ampliacion de la teologia de la prosperidad a traves de la lente de la IURD como una respuesta a los desafios de las politicas neoliberales economicas y las presiones de la economia global. English: The Brazilian-based Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (IURD) is one of the most rapidly growing denominations in the early twenty-first century. Like most of the fast-growing mega-churches denominations the IURD is Pentecostal in its beliefs and practice and innovative in its liturgy, utilizing contemporary praise music, highly participatory worship, and it aggressively incorporates modern marketing techniques in evangelization. This is a modern-day variation of Pentecostalism that stresses miraculous transformation of life, in terms not only of spirit and body, but sometimes even of lifestyle and patterns of consumption (prosperity theology). The IURD speaks to the material wants and needs of people living in a world in which success is measured almost exclusively by affluence and consumption, where sin and grace are defined, respectively, by poverty and wealth. This article will explore the expansion of prosperity theology through the lens of the IURD as a response to the challenges of neo-liberal economic policies and the pressures of the global economy.
A Lattice Model of the Development of Reading Comprehension

In this article, I present a developmental model of how children learn to comprehend what they read, which builds on current models of reading comprehension and integrates findings from instructional research and evidence-based models of development in early and middle childhood. The lattice model holds that children's developing reading comprehension is a function of the interacting, reciprocal, and bootstrapping effects of developing text-specific, linguistic, and social-cognitive processes, which interact with instruction as child-characteristic-by-instruction (CXI) interaction effects. The processes develop over time and in the context of classroom, home, peer, community, and other influences to affect children's development of proficient reading comprehension. I first describe models of reading comprehension. I then review the basic processes in the model, the role of instruction, and CXI interactions in the context of the lattice model. I then discuss implications for instruction and research.
What's ahead in computer design?

CMOS technology should, over the next few years, reach lithography of under 0.1 /spl mu/. This provides a die area improvement of a factor of 10 over today's technology. What is the best use of this area? Multiprocessors, very high level superscalar processors, VLIW, processor-memory combinations, or simpler processors with very large caches? Some have made the case that pin bandwidth is an important limit that must be confronted by any organization. This presentation reviews the scalability of our current technology and critically analyzes the various alternatives to the best use of silicon area in the era of 0.1 /spl mu/ technologies. The rapid advance of technology has made possible a number of processor improvements which would have been thought impossible just a few years ago. These improvements include cycle time, cache size, and an extraordinary increase in the complexity of the processor; this complexity is required for the management of relatively large scales of instruction level parallelism.
LEAP: constructing gene co-expression networks for single-cell RNA-sequencing data using pseudotime ordering.

Summary To construct gene co-expression networks based on single-cell RNA-Sequencing data, we present an algorithm called LEAP, which utilizes the estimated pseudotime of the cells to find gene co-expression that involves time delay. Availability and implementation R package LEAP available on CRAN. Contact jun.li@nd.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Career Development of Sexual Minority Men Living With HIV

HIV is a diagnosis that disproportionally affects sexual minority (e.g., gay, bisexual, and queer) men living in the United States. Expansive treatment options have allowed those living with HIV to live longer life spans, indicating that sexual minority men living with HIV are remaining engaged in the workforce longer. Yet, there remains a dearth of literature exploring the career trajectories of this specific population. This qualitative study aimed to understand what factors keep sexual minority men (N = 10) living with HIV actively engaged in the workforce. Through in-depth individual interviews, a central category of psychosocial motility was constructed. Three subsequent categories were also constructed: affirmative support systems, intrinsic and extrinsic incentives, and intrapersonal endowments. Findings are discussed, along with implications for practice, limitations, and future research.
Continuous Improvement of Team Assignments: Using a Web‐Based Tool and the Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act Cycle in Design and Redesign

The purpose of this brief is twofold. First, it describes a useful template for business instructors to improve teamwork assignment design and efficacy; and second, it provides an example of how to use data collected and analyzed from a Web-based tool, Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME). Though CATME has been the subject of research regarding its impact on team effectiveness, less common is a clear description of its use for continuous improvement by instructors in the classroom. In this brief, we combine the well-known continuous improvement framework of Deming's wheel—the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle—with CATME. We provide a template for systematic pedagogical adjustment to improve team assignments in the classroom and to ultimately impact improvement in team skills and behaviors. First, the CATME tool and its capabilities are introduced. Next, we provide a demonstration of how an instructor used the PDCA cycle and the CATME data to design, evaluate, and analyze team processes within her classroom and the actions planned to redesign her team assignment.
Environmentally-Sensitive Theory of Electronic and Optical Transitions in Atomically-Thin Semiconductors

Due to their small size, atomically thin materials are expected to exhibit electronic properties that are highly sensitive to their environment. However, atomically thin semiconductors on a variety of substrates, as well as in their bulk layered phase, exhibit an absorption onset at roughly the same energy. The authors provide a semianalytic theory of the quasiparticle band gap in atomically thin semiconductors and show that environment-induced changes are almost exactly canceled by changes in the exciton binding energy, leaving the absorption onset nearly constant. The presented theory sets limits on the prospect of environmental engineering in atomically thin materials.
A Hidden Markov Model for Learning Trajectories in Cognitive Diagnosis With Application to Spatial Rotation Skills

The increasing presence of electronic and online learning resources presents challenges and opportunities for psychometric techniques that can assist in the measurement of abilities and even hasten their mastery. Cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) are ideal for tracking many fine-grained skills that comprise a domain, and can assist in carefully navigating through the training and assessment of these skills in e-learning applications. A class of CDMs for modeling changes in attributes is proposed, which is referred to as learning trajectories. The authors focus on the development of Bayesian procedures for estimating parameters of a first-order hidden Markov model. An application of the developed model to a spatial rotation experimental intervention is presented.
Perspectives from graduate students on effective teaching methods: a case study from a Vietnamese Transnational University

AbstractVietnam is emerging as an accelerated economic and political society with an increased global presence; thus, increased attention has been given to producing qualified college graduates who...
A novel and remote biochemical verification method of smoking abstinence: Predictors of participant compliance.

Introduction Biochemical verification of smoking abstinence remains an important validity check of cessation trial outcomes. Digital health trials rarely establish in-person contacts between participants and intervention providers, requiring novel strategies to biochemically verify outcomes. We describe remote verification of smoking abstinence via saliva cotinine and individual predictors of compliance in a digital intervention. Methods Data came from a feasibility trial and randomized controlled trial of a Facebook smoking cessation intervention for young adults. In both trials, participants completed baseline and follow-up surveys at 3, 6 and 12 months. Participants indicating past 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence were mailed a saliva cotinine kit. Participants were instructed to electronically send two photos - one of them giving a saliva sample and the other with the test results. We investigated predictors of compliance with these procedures, independent of verification results, among participants that were mailed a kit at any follow-up point (N=130; mean age = 21.3; 59.2% female) using logistic and multinomial regression. Results A total of 189 kits were sent out, of which 97 were completed (51.3% compliance). We did not identify significant predictors of completing any vs no kits using logistic regression. We also found no significant predictors of extent of kit completion (none vs some; none vs all) using multinomial regression and controlling for number of kits sent. Conclusions Findings demonstrate the feasibility of this biochemical verification method and suggest low risk for bias of results. Future studies should replicate findings in larger samples and improve compliance with verification procedures.
On (The X) (X = Lambert)

The first few years of my philosophical life were so entangled with learning from Karel Lambert that I can scarcely separate the two. In the fall of 1959 I entered my first philosophy class at the University of Alberta, a class of about seventy students with Lambert as instructor. He told us firmly that he had no intention of discussing ethics or morals, told us to read something about the pre-Socratics for next time, and dismissed the class. It became clear quite soon that he expected us to learn philosophy by doing: despite the size of the class, there was a great deal of discussion and we were constantly challenged. His response was always measured. People who were struggling found sympathy, and he would turn their questions into something significant for discussion. But students who were catching on would immediately find themselves made to face greater difficulties. It was also, I can think of no other way to put it, a lot of fun. Twice, I remember, he put me down, to everyone’s amusement. The first time I wouldn’t back down from a point when I was clearly losing, and Lambert ended the discussion with “Van Fraassen, you are logical, but you are not reasonable.” The second time we had gotten into that subject he did not want to do at all, and I brought up Sartre’s famous example of the moral dilemma of the young Frenchman, who had to choose between care for his aging mother and joining the Free French. Lambert listened patiently, then retorted: “Van Fraassen, there comes a time when a boy has to leave his mother.”
Erythropoiesis: The Roles of Erythropoietin and Iron

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the roles of erythropoietin (EPO) and iron in erythropoiesis. Upon EPO binding, a series of intracellular signaling events occurs that ultimately leads to the prevention of programmed cell death or apoptosis at the late CFU (colony-forming unit)-e stage of erythropoiesis. EPO receptor expression is tightly restricted to cells between the late BFU (blood-forming erythroid)-e and CFU-e cell stages. In mice that lack the EPO receptor, erythroid precursor cells do not progress beyond the CFU-e stage, implying that EPO signaling is critical at this stage of erythropoiesis. This limited expression pattern allows the restriction of EPO's actions to this particular point in erythropoiesis and explains EPO's specific effects in increasing the number of erythrocytes but not that of other hematopoietic cell types. Iron is normally involved in homeostasis, i.e., there is no net gain or loss of iron from the body. To accomplish this goal, the intake and loss of iron in the body are a highly regulated process that prevents anemia or hemochromatosis. Each day there is normally 1 or 2 mg of iron that is absorbed or shed by sloughing of cells from the gastrointestinal tract.
Sensor-Driven Algorithm for Self-Reconfiguration of Modular Robots

The problem addressed is the deterministic 2D reconfiguration of a connected mass of identical hexagonal robots from an initial well-defined and restricted set of arbitrary shape configurations composed of connected modules $(\mathcal{I})$ , to overlapping, connected straight chain goal configurations $(\mathcal{G})$ . We present algorithms to accomplish system-wide shape change using only a constant amount of information at each processor, relying on the sensory information gathered via light and contact sensors to complete the reconfiguration. In our algorithms, a module uses only sensory information obtained from sensors on its six adjacent cells. No preprocessing is needed in this algorithm if’ $\mathcal{I}$ adheres to certain admissibility conditions. The addition of a preprocessing algorithm increases the number of admissible configurations possible for $\mathcal{I}$ while adding information to be stored at each robot because each module has to be aware of the position of modules on the system periphery.
Acute high-intensity interval exercise induces greater levels of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor in obese individuals.

Obesity may attenuate the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), thereby increasing the risk of cognitive dysfunction. High-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) has been shown to be ...
A Quarter Century of Wine Pigment Discovery

The red grape berry pigments, anthocyanins, were characterized in the early 20th century, but investigations of wine pigments were stymied during that era. The question of their identity was a major challenge for wine chemists. A number of techniques showed that the pigments were polymeric in nature. Some structures were postulated by mid-century based on reactions between anthocyanins and condensed tannin, and later postulated wine pigments were observed in model reactions. Some related compounds were then observed in wine. By the end of the 20th century, the ionization of non-volatiles for mass spectrometry opened the door to these compounds. In addition, a new class of compounds was observed, the pyranoanthocyanins, a product of fermentation and aging metabolites with anthocyanins. These compounds possess the pigment stability to SO2 and pH change that is characteristic of aged red wine. Aging experiments show a dynamic situation with shifts in the population of pigment classes over time. The very large number of diverse pigments explains why it has been so difficult to answer the century-old question of the structure of wine pigments. Our current understanding is founded on the use of mass spectral analysis using electrospray and related ionization techniques over the last 25 years. Future progress will rely on more sophisticated analysis of this very complex mixture of substances. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.
Reductant-Dependant ATP Utilization During Nitrogenase Catalysis: Studies Using Ti(III)

Nitrogenase is a complex enzyme system comprised of two dissimilar metalloprotein components: the MoFe protein and the Fe protein During catalysis, both proteins react with each other and electrons transferred from the Fe protein to the MoFe protein with concomitant ATP hydrolysis (Burgess, Lowe, 1996). After sufficient electrons have been transferred to the MoFe protein, substrate reduction occurs. Most studies use dithionite (DT) as reductant during which the redox couple of the Fe protein functions in the electron transfer role. However, the characterization (Watt, Reddy, 1994; Angove et al., 1998) of the redox state of the Fe protein cluster suggests that other reactivity patterns may be observed using the Fe protein redox couple. We have examined this possibility using Ti(III) known to form the cluster state of the Fe protein and report that the ATP utilization requirement is decreased from 4.0-5.0 using DT to 2.0 using Ti(III).
Grief-induced reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS).

Stress is under-recognised as a potential causative factor for reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS). Here we present a case of RCVS occurring during a time of extreme emotional duress. A 46-year-old female patient with medical history of bipolar disorder developed a severe headache during her father’s funeral. The following day she was discovered to have bilateral hemiparesis, aphasia, encephalopathy and was brought emergently to the hospital. Neuroimaging revealed a 33 mL left fronto-parietal haematoma with subarachnoid blood near the vertex bilaterally. She underwent craniotomy, haematoma evacuation and external ventricular drain placement. The patient received two cerebral angiograms, the first showing multifocal cerebral vasoconstriction and the second showing resolution of these changes. She improved significantly over the course of her 3-week hospitalisation and eventually made a full recovery, including the ability to speak fluently in six languages with no significant deficits other than hypersomnia; she now requires 10 hours of sleep each night as compared with 7 hours prior to her brain injury.
A case of recurrent, spontaneous rhabdomyolysis: A manifestation of McArdle disease

Background: McArdle Disease is a glycogen storage disease caused by an inherited deficiency in myophosphorylase, an enzyme that initiates the breakdown of muscle glycogen for glycolysis. Due to clinical variability and low prevalence, this disease is often delayed in diagnosis. Patients may present in early adulthood, suffering from exercise intolerance, muscle fatigue, myalgias, and potential end-organ damage from rhabdomyolysis and myoglobinuria. Diagnosis is confirmed with muscle biopsy showing an absence of myophosphorylase activity and can be confirmed with PYGM genetic sequencing. Treatment is preventative through dietary control with the use of complex carbohydrates and the ingestion of simple carbohydrates prior to aerobic activity. Case presentation: A 19-year-old Caucasian male presented with a four-day history of rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury triggered by diving into cold water and swimming. The patient had developed muscle spasms and dyspnea, followed by a period of emesis, dysuria, and numbness in the lower extremities. Laboratory tests revealed creatinine kinase levels greater than 100,000 U/L and creatinine of 1.6 mg/dl. The patient had experienced a similar episode three months prior that occurred after sprinting, requiring hospitalization secondary to rhabdomyolysis. After eliminating reversible causes for rhabdomyolysis, there was high clinical suspicion for McArdle Disease, confirmed by muscle biopsy with absent phosphorylase activity. The patient was managed with parenteral fluids to treat the rhabdomyolysis and counseled on preventative dietary and exercise strategies. Conclusions: The late onset of presentation of McArdle Disease should prompt consideration of metabolic myopathies in a systemic evaluation for cases of recurrent rhabdomyolysis.
Heat shocks T cells down a path to disease

Febrile temperatures enhance differentiation of CD4+ T cells into pathogenic TH17 cells that contribute to autoimmune disease.
PHOTODEPOPULATION OF ELECTRONS TRAPPED IN SiO2 ON SITES RELATED TO AS AND P IMPLANTATION

ABSTRACT Ion implantation has been used to incorporate As and P into the thermally grown SiO2 layer of metal-silicon dioxide-silicon structures. These impurities increase the electron trap density in the oxide layer proportionally to the ion fluence (1-3 x 1013 cm-2). Avalanche injection from the silicon substrate was used to populate the electron trapping sites. It is shown that the negative charge is removable from the trapping centers under illumination with photons between 3 and 5.6 eV. From the detrapping experiments, we determined a photoionization threshold of ≈ 4 eV both for As and P related centers, and a spectrally resolved effective photoionization cross section; the latter quantity is defined as the convolution of the photoionization cross section with the optically accessible trap distribution in the energy gap of the SiO2. A simple model is presented which suggests that the observed detrapping originates from levels corresponding to substitutional P and As at O sites in the SiO2.
Serum responses of children with Kawasaki Disease against SARS-CoV-2 proteins

Recently, numerous reports have suggested association of pediatric Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and Kawasaki Disease (KD). KD is a major cause of childhood acquired heart disease and vasculitis in the pediatric population. Epidemiological patterns suggest KD is related to an infectious agent; however, the etiology remains unknown1. As past reports have considered other coronaviruses to be related to KD2,3, these reports of pediatric COVID-19 related inflammatory disorder cases leads to the hypothesis of potential cross-coronavirus reactivity that would account for the past controversial proposals of other coronaviruses and these new cases. We sought to address this hypothesis by assessing the antigen targeting of biobanked plasma samples of febrile children, including those with KD, against SARS-CoV-2 proteins.
Parallel Discovery Strategies Provide a Basis for Riboswitch Ligand Design.

Summary Riboswitches are mRNA domains that make gene-regulatory decisions upon binding their cognate ligands. Bacterial riboswitches that specifically recognize 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside 5′-monophosphate (ZMP) and 5′-triphosphate (ZTP) regulate genes involved in folate and purine metabolism. Now, we have developed synthetic ligands targeting ZTP riboswitches by replacing the sugar-phosphate moiety of ZMP with various functional groups, including simple heterocycles. Despite losing hydrogen bonds from ZMP, these analogs bind ZTP riboswitches with similar affinities as the natural ligand, and activate transcription more strongly than ZMP in vitro. The most active ligand stimulates gene expression ∼3 times more than ZMP in a live Escherichia coli reporter. Co-crystal structures of the Fusobacterium ulcerans ZTP riboswitch bound to synthetic ligands suggest stacking of their pyridine moieties on a conserved RNA nucleobase primarily determines their higher activity. Altogether, these findings guide future design of improved riboswitch activators and yield insights into how RNA-targeted ligand discovery may proceed.
Frenemies in Platform Markets: The Case of Apple's iPad vs. Amazon's Kindle

We study the compatibility decisions of two competing platforms that generate profits through both hardware sales and royalties from content sales. We consider a game-theoretic model in which the platform hardware may offer different standalone utilities to users who have different preferences over the two platforms. We find that incentives to establish one-way compatibility — the platform with smaller standalone value allows users of the competing platform to access its content — can arise from the difference in their profit foci. As the difference in the standalone utilities increases, royalties from content sales become less important to the platform with greater standalone value but becomes more important for the other platform. Compatibility increases asymmetry between the platforms’ profit foci and, when the difference in the standalone utilities is sufficiently large, yields greater profits for both platforms. We further show that social welfare is greater under one-way compatibility than under incompatibility, and there exist no incentives for either platform to establish one-way compatibility the other way round. We investigate as well how factors such as different platform production costs, exclusive content, and endogenized royalty rates affect compatibility incentives.
Nanoscale battery cathode materials induce DNA damage in bacteria

The increasing use of nanoscale lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LixNiyMnzCo1−y−zO2, NMC) as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries poses risk to the environment. Learning toxicity mechanisms on molecular levels is critical to promote proactive risk assessment of these complex nanomaterials and inform their sustainable development. We focused on DNA damage as a toxicity mechanism and profiled in depth chemical and biological changes linked to DNA damage in two environmentally relevant bacteria upon nano-NMC exposure. DNA damage occurred in both bacteria, characterized by double-strand breakage and increased levels of many putative chemical modifications on bacterial DNA bases related to direct oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation, measured by cutting-edge DNA adductomic techniques. Chemical probes indicated elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species and transition metal ions, in agreement with DNA adductomics and gene expression analysis. By integrating multi-dimensional datasets from chemical and biological measurements, we present rich mechanistic insights on nano-NMC-induced DNA damage in bacteria, providing targets for biomarkers in the risk assessment of reactive materials that may be extrapolated to other nano–bio interactions.
A Pairwise Distance Distribution Correction (DDC) algorithm for blinking-free super-resolution microscopy

Abstract In single-molecule localization based super-resolution microscopy (SMLM), a fluorophore stochastically switches between fluorescent- and dark-states, leading to intermittent emission of fluorescence. Intermittent emissions create multiple localizations belonging to the same molecule, a phenomenon known as blinking. Blinking distorts SMLM images and confound quantitative interpretations by forming artificial nanoclusters, which are often interpreted as true biological assemblies. Multiple methods have been developed to eliminate these artifacts, but they either require additional experiments, arbitrary thresholds, or specific photo-kinetic models. Here we present a method, termed Distance Distribution Correction (DDC), to eliminate fluorophore blinking in superresolution imaging without any additional calibrations. The approach relies on the finding that the true pairwise distance distribution of different fluorophores in an SMLM image can be naturally obtained from the imaging sequence by using the distances between localizations separated by a time much longer than the average fluorescence survival time. We show that using the true pairwise distribution we can define and then maximize the likelihood of obtaining a particular set of localizations without blinking and generate an accurate reconstruction of the true underlying cellular structure. Using both simulated and experimental data, we show that DDC surpasses all previous existing blinking correction methodologies, resulting in drastic improvements in obtaining the closest estimate of the true spatial organization and number of fluorescent emitters. The simplicity and robustness of DDC will enable its wide application in SMLM imaging, providing the most accurate reconstruction and quantification of SMLM images to date.
Revitalizing the common peroneal function index for assessing functional recovery following nerve injury.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Peripheral nerve injury is common with poor functional recovery and consequent high personal and societal costs. Sciatic nerve transection and assessment of recovery using sciatic functional index (SFI) are widely used. SFI is biologically limited as axonal misdirection of axons supplying flexors and extensors in the hindlimb, after nerve injury can lead to synkinetic innervation and function which does not correspond to the degree of axonal regeneration. METHODS We reevaluated the use of traditional metrics such as print length (PL), toe spread (TS), and intermediate toe spread (ITS) as well as hock angle at mid-swing as approaches for determining recovery. We used two alternative approaches in discrete cohorts of rats following common peroneal crush injury, transection with repair and critical gap, using transection with ligation as a negative control. We compared walking track analysis (print) with digital capture and kinematics. RESULTS PL, TS, and ITS varied as expected after injury. The traditional functional index for common peroneal injury using inked prints failed to describe recovery and we derived new indices to describe recovery (all R2 > 0.88, p < .0001) although pre-injury PFI was never attained by any of the models. Kinematic analysis identified hock angle at mid-swing as a useful predictor of recovery (p < .0001). INTERPRETATION Using complementary approaches.