cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A fault diagnosis approach for airborne fuel pump based on EMD and probabilistic neural networks

Airborne fuel pump is an important part of aircraft fuel system, for the lack of fault samples, low diagnostic efficiency and high maintenance cost, in order to achieve more accurate and reliable fault diagnosis of airborne fuel pump, an experimental platform of fuel transfusion system is developed and a fault diagnosis method based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and probabilistic neural networks (PNN) is proposed. Firstly, the vibration signals and pressure signals of normal state and six types of representative fuel pump faults are collected on the experimental platform. Then the EMD method is applied to decompose the original vibration signals into a finite Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) and a residual. Secondly, the energy of first four IMFs is extracted as a vibration signals failure feature, combined with the mean outlet pressure to structure the fault feature vector and then divided into training samples and testing samples. Training samples are used to train the PNN fault diagnosis model and testing samples are used to verify the model. Experimental results show that compared with SVM and GA-BP, the PNN fault diagnosis model has fast convergence, high efficiency and a higher performance and recognition for the typical faults of airborne fuel pump.
Microbiome succession during ammonification in eelgrass bed sediments

Author(s): Ettinger, Cassandra L; Williams, Susan L; Abbott, Jessica M; Stachowicz, John J; Eisen, Jonathan A | Abstract: BackgroundEelgrass (Zostera marina) is a marine angiosperm and foundation species that plays an important ecological role in primary production, food web support, and elemental cycling in coastal ecosystems. As with other plants, the microbial communities living in, on, and near eelgrass are thought to be intimately connected to the ecology and biology of eelgrass. Here we characterized the microbial communities in eelgrass sediments throughout an experiment to quantify the rate of ammonification, the first step in early remineralization of organic matter, also known as diagenesis, from plots at a field site in Bodega Bay, CA.MethodsSediment was collected from 72 plots from a 15 month long field experiment in which eelgrass genotypic richness and relatedness were manipulated. In the laboratory, we placed sediment samples (n = 4 per plot) under a N2 atmosphere, incubated them at in situ temperatures (15 °C) and sampled them initially and after 4, 7, 13, and 19 days to determine the ammonification rate. Comparative microbiome analysis using high throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes was performed on sediment samples taken initially and at seven, 13 and 19 days to characterize changes in the relative abundances of microbial taxa throughout ammonification.ResultsWithin-sample diversity of the sediment microbial communities across all plots decreased after the initial timepoint using both richness based (observed number of OTUs, Chao1) and richness and evenness based diversity metrics (Shannon, Inverse Simpson). Additionally, microbial community composition changed across the different timepoints. Many of the observed changes in relative abundance of taxonomic groups between timepoints appeared driven by sulfur cycling with observed decreases in predicted sulfur reducers (Desulfobacterales) and corresponding increases in predicted sulfide oxidizers (Thiotrichales). None of these changes in composition or richness were associated with variation in ammonification rates.DiscussionOur results showed that the microbiome of sediment from different plots followed similar successional patterns, which we infer to be due to changes related to sulfur metabolism. These large changes likely overwhelmed any potential changes in sediment microbiome related to ammonification rate. We found no relationship between eelgrass presence or genetic composition and the microbiome. This was likely due to our sampling of bulk sediments to measure ammonification rates rather than sampling microbes in sediment directly in contact with the plants and suggests that eelgrass influence on the sediment microbiome may be limited in spatial extent. More in-depth functional studies associated with eelgrass microbiome will be required in order to fully understand the implications of these microbial communities in broader host-plant and ecosystem functions (e.g., elemental cycling and eelgrass-microbe interactions).
Race-Sex Differences in Statin Use and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Control Among People With Diabetes Mellitus in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study.

Background Statin therapy is a cornerstone of cardiovascular disease risk reduction for people with diabetes mellitus. Past reports have shown race‐sex differences in statin use in general populations, but statin patterns by race and sex in those with diabetes mellitus have not been thoroughly studied. Methods and Results Our sample of 4288 adults ≥45 years of age with diagnosed diabetes mellitus who had low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) >100 mg/dL or were taking statins recruited for the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study from 2003 to 2007. Exposures included race‐sex groups (white men [WM], black men [BM], white women [WW], black women [BW]) and factors that may influence healthcare utilization. Proportions and prevalence ratios were calculated for statin use and LDL‐C control. Statin use for WM, BM, WW, and BW was 66.0%, 57.8%, 55.0%, and 53.6%, respectively ( P P P P Conclusions Race‐sex disparities in statin use and LDL‐C control were only partly explained by factors influencing health services utilization. Healthcare provider awareness of these disparities may help to close the observed race‐sex gaps in statin use and LDL‐C control among people with diabetes mellitus.
Heat Transfer in Filamentary RRAM Devices

We study the heat transport in filamentary resistive random access memory nanosized devices by comparing the accurate results of COMSOL Multiphysics modeling with simplified analytical models for two complementary mechanisms: one neglecting the radial heat transfer from the filament to the insulating host, while the other describing the radial transport through the dielectric in the absence of the filament heat transfer. For the former, we find that the earlier assumed simplification of the electrodes being ideal heat conductors is insufficient; a more adequate approximation is derived where the heat transport is determined by the adjacent proximities of the filament tips in the electrodes. We find that both complementary mechanisms overestimate the maximum temperature yet offering acceptable results. However, the two in parallel provide a better analytical approximation. In addition, we show that the Wiedemann–Franz–Lorenz law helps the analysis when the Lorenz parameter is chosen from the actual data. We present an approximate relation between device SET voltage and SET temperature possessing a high degree of universality and predicting that filament materials with low Lorenz numbers can be good candidates for the future low set voltage devices.
Hugo Chávez, Alí Primera and Venezuela: The Politics of Music in Latin America by Hazel Marsh

Marsh, Hazel. Hugo Chavez, Ali Primera and Venezuela: The Politics of Music in Latin America . London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Review by J. Patrice McSherry.
Transition Metal Doping Reveals Link between Electron T1 Reduction and 13C Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Efficiency

Optimal efficiency of dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is essential to provide the required high sensitivity enhancements for in vitro and in vivo hyperpolarized 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and imaging (MRI). At the nexus of the DNP process are the free electrons, which provide the high spin alignment that is transferred to the nuclear spins. Without changing DNP instrumental conditions, one way to improve 13C DNP efficiency is by adding trace amounts of paramagnetic additives such as lanthanide (e.g., Gd3+, Ho3+, Dy3+, Tb3+) complexes to the DNP sample, which has been observed to increase solid-state 13C DNP signals by 100–250%. Herein, we have investigated the effects of paramagnetic transition metal complex R-NOTA (R = Mn2+, Cu2+, Co2+) doping on the efficiency of 13C DNP using trityl OX063 as the polarizing agent. Our DNP results at 3.35 T and 1.2 K show that doping the 13C sample with 3 mM Mn2+-NOTA led to a substantial improvement of the solid-state 13C DNP signal...
Binocular Rivalry: A Window into Cortical Competition and Suppression

When the two eyes view very dissimilar images, the visual system often fails to combine the images and one experiences stochastically alternating percepts. This phenomenon, called binocular rivalry, has fascinated researchers for centuries since it provides insights into two critical aspects of visual perception: visual consciousness and cortical suppression. Here, we review the mechanisms of binocular rivalry from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, focusing on empirical findings from two widely used methods—functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). With these techniques, researchers have been able to identify the cortical sites of suppression in binocular rivalry, probe neural responses evoked by unconscious (invisible) visual stimuli, and examine the role of top-down attentional signals in rivalry. We conclude by proposing some future directions for the study of binocular rivalry.
Displaying Relationship Anomalies

Naive measures of association between variables, such as linear correlation, are primarily sensitive to gross relationships, those patterns that are easy to detect, see, and describe. In prior chapters we examined measures that go beyond such naivete and are able to detect more subtle dependencies between variables, in other words, anomalies in otherwise uncomplicated relationships. But what if we want a visual representation of the pattern that connects them? In this chapter we present several ways of doing this.
Has Energy Leapfrogging Occurred on a Large Scale

Today’s less-developed countries (LDCs) have access to energy technologies that did not exist when today’s richer countries were at similar stages of development. Do LDCs therefore consume less energy per capita than rich countries in the past? And is their economic growth associated with a lower growth in energy consumption? This paper aims to answer these two questions. I use data on energy consumption, prices and GDP for 76 countries to estimate the income elasticity of energy demand for both current LDCs and industrialized countries in the past. I find that LDCs neither consume less energy than rich countries in the past nor have a lower income elasticity. I conclude that any energy savings from access to more efficient technologies have been offset by other trends, such as a shift towards a more energy-intensive consumption bundle or industrial outsourcing. This conclusion has important implications for projections of future energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Accounting for Age Structure and Spatial Structure in Eco-Evolutionary Analyses of a Large, Mobile Vertebrate

The idealized concept of a population is integral to ecology, evolutionary biology, and natural resource management. To make analyses tractable, most models adopt simplifying assumptions, which almost inevitably are violated by real species in nature. Here, we focus on both demographic and genetic estimates of effective population size per generation (Ne), the effective number of breeders per year (Nb), and Wright's neighborhood size (NS) for black bears (Ursus americanus) that are continuously distributed in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, United States. We illustrate practical application of recently developed methods to account for violations of 2 common, simplifying assumptions about populations: 1) reproduction occurs in discrete generations and 2) mating occurs randomly among all individuals. We use a 9-year harvest dataset of >3300 individuals, together with genetic determination of 221 parent-offspring pairs, to estimate male and female vital rates, including age-specific survival, age-specific fecundity, and age-specific variance in fecundity (for which empirical data are rare). We find strong evidence for overdispersed variance in reproductive success of same-age individuals in both sexes, and we show that constraints on litter size have a strong influence on results. We also estimate that another life-history trait that is often ignored (skip breeding by females) has a relatively modest influence, reducing Nb by 9% and increasing Ne by 3%. We conclude that isolation by distance depresses genetic estimates of Nb, which implicitly assume a randomly mating population. Estimated demographic NS (100, based on parent-offspring dispersal) was similar to genetic NS (85, based on regression of genetic distance and geographic distance), indicating that the >36000 km2 study area includes about 4-5 black-bear neighborhoods. Results from this expansive data set provide important insight into effects of violating assumptions when estimating evolutionary parameters for long-lived, free-ranging species. In conjunction with recently developed analytical methodology, the ready availability of nonlethal DNA sampling methods and the ability to rapidly and cheaply survey many thousands of molecular markers should facilitate eco-evolutionary studies like this for many more species in nature.
Psychological Distress is increasing among customer-facing retail employees: Evidence from 1997 to 2015

Abstract Do customer-facing retail employees in the US have a higher prevalence of psychological distress? We examine psychological distress in a sample that includes 19,832 customer-facing retail employees from a sample of 1,115,280 employees of a cross-sectional National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 1997 through 2015. Our results show that customer-facing retail employees report significantly higher psychological distress than do employees in other industries and that its prevalence is increasing. These findings are consistent with mild and high levels of psychological distress. LASSO regression shows that, after self-reported health and poverty level, being a customer-facing retail employee is the third most important predictor of psychological distress.
Improving White Metals and Manufacturing, Inc.

The crisis at White Metals and Manufacturing reported in Chapter Four was analyzed by examining the six major and desired organizational characteristics and the twelve holonomic processes of this theory. The conclusion was that White Metals was an almost perfect example of the anti-hologram. It lacked Clarity of Direction, Structures, and Measurement. It did not have Successful Goal Achievement. Problem solving was neither involved nor responsible and it wasted its Associates in its ineffectual fumblings. None of the twelve holonomic processes was working. White Metals was losing money and was about to be “desourced” by the two automobile companies accounting for 75% of its business. The bank, Crosby National, was about to force it into bankruptcy by calling in its loans. The Whites, father and son, were quarrelling openly and bitterly at work. The entire organization was, as they say, going “belly up.”
Analysis and physiological implications of renal 2-oxoglutaramate metabolism.

The relative significance of the flux through the glutamine aminotransferase (glutaminase II) pathway to renal ammoniagenesis is poorly understood. A basic and unresolved question is whether 2-oxoglutaramate (2-OGM), a product of the glutaminase II reaction, is deamidated to yield 2-oxoglutarate and NH3, or whether 2-OGM accumulates as an unreactive lactam, depending on the environmental pH. In the current studies we utilized 13C n.m.r. as well as 15N n.m.r. as well as 15N n.m.r. to demonstrate that 2-OGM occurs as a lactam, i.e. 5-hydroxypyroglutamate, regardless of the environmental pH. Our additional aims were to determine whether human kidney cells (HK cells) in culture can produce 2-OGM and to ascertain a pH-dependent relationship between NH3 and 2-OGM production from glutamine. We therefore developed an isotope dilution assay for 2-OGM utilizing 5-hydroxy[4-13C,1-15N]pyroglutamate as the labelled species. Incubations of HK cells in minimal essential medium supplemented with 1 mM-[2-15N]glutamine demonstrated significantly higher production of 2-OGM at pH 6.8 and lower production at pH 7.6 compared with pH 7.4. Similarly both 15NH3 and [15N]alanine formation were significantly higher in acute acidosis (pH 6.8) and lower in acute alkalosis (pH 7.6) compared with that at physiological pH. Addition of 1 mM-amino-oxyacetate to the incubation medium at pH 7.4 significantly diminished [15N]alanine and 2-OGM production, but the production of 15NH3 via the glutamate dehydrogenase pathway was significantly stimulated. The current observations indicate that the glutaminase II pathway plays a minor role and that flux through glutamate dehydrogenase is the predominant site for regulation of ammoniagenesis in human kidney.
Business Ethics: Brightening the Corner Where We Are

It is suggested that we canmost effectively teach ethics by carrying onactual ethical inquiry – basing our questionsand our analysis on a situation in which allparticipants are invested and in which all areaware of the risks associated with suchinquiry. It is further suggested that inuniversity-based business ethics courses, aninitial focus on the questions that need to beasked about the structure and practice of theuniversity is likely to be useful. Additionally, it is suggested that only whenthese internal questions, and the difficultiesin the way of asking them, have been addressed,should the dialogue be extended to businesscontexts. Finally, it is suggested thatproceeding in this way can help provide aneeded integrative function in the businessschool – that it can help faculty to becomemore broadly collegial and that it can put thebusiness ethics course at the very heart of aliberal education for business students.
Hadamard Transform Spectroscopy

Fourier Transform Interferometry has become a useful tool in infrared spectroscopy. These instruments require very exacting optics and mechanical alignments which require micrometer accuracy in mirror alignments and the measurement of mirror displacement. Because of these required low tolerances, interferometers are very expensive and require constant calibration.
Electronic Cigarette Policy Recommendations: A Scoping Review.

Objective: There is a lack of consensus on whether e-cigarettes facilitate or threaten existing tobacco prevention strategies. This uncertainty is reflected in organizations' conflicting e-cigarette position statements. We conducted a scoping review of position statements in published and gray literature to map the range and frequency of e-cigarette use recommendations. Methods: We collected 81 statements from international health organizations. Two coders independently performed qualitative content analysis to categorize e-cigarette recommendations. We explored differences based on organization type, geography, and the year recommendations were published. Results: We identified 5 recommendation types: encourage smokers to use ecigarettes as a cessation aid or as an alternative source of nicotine (N = 5); support individuals who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking (N = 20); avoid using until more research is available (N = 19); restrict access based on available evidence (N = 30); and prohibit e-cigarette marketing and sale (N = 7). Conclusion: Organizations presented diverse e-cigarette use recommendations. The variation related to organizations' differing tobacco prevention priorities and level of confidence in current e-cigarette research. These differences may create confusion. Additional research can examine whether this variability influences stakeholders' attitudes or behavior.
The doctrine of the atonement : Response to Michael Rea, Trent Dougherty, and Brandon Warmke

[Extract] The doctrine of the atonement of Christ is the distinctive doctrine of Christianity. Over the course of many centuries of reflection, highly diverse interpretations of the doctrine have been proposed. In the context of this history of interpretation, in my book Atonement (OUP, 2018), I considered the doctrine afresh with philosophical care. Whatever exactly the atonement is supposed to be, in Christian theology it is understood as including a solution to the problems of the human condition, especially its guilt and shame. In Atonement, I canvassed the major interpretations of the doctrine that attempt to propound and defend a particular solution, and I argued that all of them have serious shortcomings. In their place, I explained and defended an interpretation that is both novel and yet traditional and that has significant advantages over other interpretations, including Anselm’s well-known account of the doctrine. In the process, I also discussed many concepts in ethics and moral psychology, including love, union, guilt, shame, and forgiveness, among others.
Urban development decreases bee abundance and diversity within coastal dune systems

Abstract Globally, coastal human population density is approximately three times than that of inland areas. Such development threatens the integrity of coastal ecosystems. Coastal dune systems contain unique sets of terrestrial invertebrates and native plants, and represent some of the last remaining areas of semi-natural habitats along the coasts. In our study, we monitored bee and flowering plant abundance and diversity within coastal dune systems located within protected lands and developed sites throughout South and Central Florida. Our aim was to assess the potential impacts dune degradation and development could have on these economically and ecologically important insects. A total of 5419 bees from 5 families and 56 taxa were captured using bowl traps. Halictidae accounted for 70% of all bees collected, followed by Apidae (28%), Megachilidae (2%), Andrenidae (0.1%) and Colletidae (0.07%). Both species richness and Shannon-Wiener diversity indices were higher in protected lands when compared with developed sites. A majority of the commonly collected bee species showed higher abundances in protected lands compared with developed sites. Protected lands also supported higher abundances of ground, wood, and tunnel-nesting bees when compared with developed sites. Bee species richness and Shannon-Wiener indices were lower in sites with greater percentages of development occurring within close proximity to the dune systems, and higher in sites with greater availability of dune coverage. We observed higher abundance and flowering plant species richness within protected lands when compared with developed sites; protected lands also supported more federally endangered/threatened or state protected plant species compared with developed sites. Overall, coastal dune systems are ecologically important bee sanctuaries and should be conserved to help sustain native bee communities and the flowering plants that occur within them.
Technology and the Future of Our Cities

The pace and scale of change in today’s digitized and knowledge-based economy is fueled by technology that is increasingly playing a significant role in the unprecedented transformation of the buil...
Capital Rationing and Budget Allocation

As it should become obvious by now, capital budgeting, like an operating budget, is a long, complex, and arduous process. Much of this complexity arises from the fact that there are more demands for projects, programs, and improvement activities than the available resources can permit. This is particularly true for government where agencies have to compete with each other for limited resources. This discrepancy between demand for capital expenditure on one hand and the availability of resources on the other makes budget allocation a complex undertaking. The process of allocating resources when faced with budget constraints is generally known as capital rationing. Capital rationing is not a problem for projects that are mutually exclusive or when one is restricted to selecting a few from multiple competing projects; there are usually physical reasons for that. Capital rationing is a problem when multiple projects have to compete for a limited amount of resources. Theoretically, if there are no resource limitations, there would not be any need for capital rationing, but the fact that resources are limited, while the demand for projects, programs, and improvement activities is unlimited, it increases the need for capital rationing. This chapter provides a brief discussion of why and under what conditions capital rationing is necessary, followed by a general discussion of some of the commonly used methods in capital rationing.
Longitudinal somatic mutational biomonitoring of genotoxic breast cancer chemotherapy reveals considerable interindividual variability in bone marrow response with potential clinical significance

1957 Cancer is the paradigm for late-onset diseases known to occur through a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure. Molecular toxicologists have developed a broad spectrum of methods to detect carcinogenic agents, including assays of biological function in vivo. Traditional firstline cancer chemotherapy is based on genotoxicity; that is, agents that kill cancer cells by damaging their DNA. Mutagenesis and genotoxicity are the most clearly established mechanisms of carcinogenesis, so, in many cases, genotoxicity assays are “validated” by analyzing patients undergoing chemotherapy. Such analyses often reveal a great range of response, which we suggest may be of clinical import. Since these drugs are delivered directly to the bloodstream there should be little difference in uptake or distribution between treated individuals. Variability in response might therefore be due to differences in elimination of the genotoxic agents or differences in repairing DNA damage. Chemotherapy dose is limited by its effects on normal cell-types, particularly the hematopoietic progenitor cells of the bone marrow. We have developed a fast, simple and inexpensive method of detecting and quantifying bone marrow somatic mutation. The GPA assay evaluates allele loss phenotypes in circulating erythrocytes that arise through somatic mutation in the bone marrow. We have applied this assay to 24 breast cancer patients undergoing five types of genotoxic chemotherapy. We find great (20-200 fold) variation in induced mutation between these patients, fully half of whom showed low to no response to their firstline chemotherapy. This variability in response might be due to differences in metabolism of the genotoxic agents or differences in repairing DNA damage. We are investigating whether our quantitative measure of bone marrow response is associated with clinical parameters of acute toxicity, treatment efficacy and secondary carcinogenesis. Preliminary data suggest that, in its present form, the GPA assay responds too slowly to identify the effects of individual chemotherapeutic cycles, and therefore to identify cycles associated with such acute toxicity. We, and others, have previously shown that persistent levels of induced mutation reflects effects on the bone marrow stem cells, and that such effects are associated with secondary carcinogenesis. We now present preliminary evidence that induced bone marrow mutation is predictive of clinical efficacy, offering the possibility of individually adjusting dose and drug during treatment for optimal effect.
Processing-In-Memory-Based On-Chip Learning With Spike-Time-Dependent Plasticity in 65-nm CMOS

A processing-in-memory (PIM)-based accelerator is presented in 65-nm CMOS for on-chip learning in spiking neural network using timing-based stochastic spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). The design uses mixed-signal processing in the 8T-SRAM array for spike accumulation and all-digital computation for neuron dynamics and synaptic weight updates. The 0.39-mm2 and 14.83-mW test chip demonstrates 100K images/second learning rate and 148.3 nJ/image learning energy.
Thou Art in a Deal: The Evolution of Religious Language in the Public Communications of Donald Trump

When Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign, his candidacy was far from embraced by the Religious Right. Yet, on election night, many of that same constituency turned out in overwhelming support: Trump gained a higher percentage of the White Evangelical vote than any prior nominee. Two years into his presidency, they remained his most loyal supporters. Using content analysis of 175 Trump rally speeches during the 2016 campaign and since becoming president and an archive of 30,000 tweets from Trump, this research finds evidence to solve a part of this puzzle. Trump appears to use his public communications as opportunities to alleviate the likely cognitive dissonance felt by these supporters, using religious language and explicit mentions of (the Christian) God in both tweets and speeches, helping to afford a biblically consonant interpretation of his presidency. He also proximates Christian religious language with concepts of Americanness, while proximating Islam almost exclusively with terrorism, perhaps linguistically delivering on promises of a Christian nation(alism).
Dialysis access as a source of infective endocarditis in dialysis patients

The incidence of Infective Endocarditis (IE) is higher in dialysis patients compared to the general population. A major risk factor for IE in this group stems from bacterial invasion during repeated vascular access. Previous studies have shown increased risk of bacteremia in patients with indwelling dialysis catheters compared to permanent vascular access. However, association between the development of IE and the type of dialysis access is unclear. We aimed to examine the associated types of intravascular access and route of infection in dialysis patients who were admitted with infective endocarditis at our center. All patients admitted to Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia with a diagnosis of infective endocarditis who were on chronic hemodialysis were identified from the hospital database for the period of 1/1/07 to 12/31/18. Modified Duke criteria was used to confirm the diagnosis of infective endocarditis. A total of 96 cases were identified. Of those, 57 patients had an indwelling dialysis catheter while the other 39 had permanent dialysis access. In 82% of patients with dialysis catheters, their dialysis access site was identified as the primary source of infection compared to 30% in those with permanent dialysis access (p<0.001). The number of dialysis catheters placed in the preceding 6 months was strongly associated with endocarditis resulting from the dialysis access site (OR = 3.202, p=0.025). Dialysis catheters are more likely to serve as the source of infection in dialysis patients developing IE compared to permanent dialysis access. Increased awareness of risk of IE associated with dialysis catheters is warranted.
Transgenic zebrafish models of neurodegenerative diseases

Since the introduction of the zebrafish as a model for the study of vertebrate developmental biology, an extensive array of techniques for its experimental manipulation and analysis has been developed. Recently it has become apparent that these powerful methodologies might be deployed in order to elucidate the pathogenesis of human neurodegenerative diseases and to identify candidate therapeutic approaches. In this article, we consider evidence that the zebrafish central nervous system provides an appropriate setting in which to model human neurological disease and we review techniques and resources available for generating transgenic models. We then examine recent publications showing that appropriate phenotypes can be provoked in the zebrafish through transgenic manipulations analogous to genetic abnormalities known to cause human tauopathies, polyglutamine diseases or motor neuron degenerations. These studies show proof of concept that findings in zebrafish models can be applicable to the pathogenic mechanisms underlying human diseases. Consequently, the prospects for providing novel insights into neurodegenerative diseases by exploiting transgenic zebrafish models and discovery-driven approaches seem favorable.
The Supreme Court and Judicial Power

The U.S. Constitution, the oldest written constitution, gives each branch of the federal government certain distinct powers, each apportioned through a separated system with built-in checks and balances calculated to guard against abuses perpetrated by any one branch. The nation is therefore said to have three separate governmental branches sharing power. This chapter introduces the Supreme Court and its exercise of power, examining milestone decisions beginning with Marbury v. Madison (1803). It then explains the framework used for exploring the Court’s policy-making across the three major constitutional eras as laid out in Robert McCloskey’s The American Supreme Court.
The Role of Biomarkers and Imaging to Predict Preeclampsia and Subsequent Cardiovascular Dysfunction

Preeclampsia is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite decades of research, the ability of clinicians to accurately predict the onset of preeclampsia prior to the manifestation of symptoms has not significantly improved. In this review, we will examine the pathophysiology underlying preeclampsia and discuss the role of potential biomarkers for early prediction and diagnosis. In addition, we will explore imaging modalities in the detection of early myocardial and vascular endothelial dysfunction associated with preeclampsia. Circulating angiogenic and antiangiogenic biomarkers have emerged as key factors in the pathophysiology of the condition. However, single serological biomarkers have limited sensitivity to accurately predict preeclampsia; thus, a combination of clinical information along with urine or blood biomarkers is needed. The combined use of biomarker assays and new imaging modalities could enhance the predictive tools for this devastating disease and the development of cardiovascular sequelae. In the future, advances in proteomics, metabolomics, and other techniques may allow the identification of biomarkers with high enough predictive and prognostic information to be translated into clinical practice.
A Comparative NLP-Based Study on the Current Trends and Future Directions in COVID-19 Research

COVID-19 is a global health crisis that has altered human life and still promises to create ripples of death and destruction in its wake. The sea of scientific literature published over a short time-span to understand and mitigate this global phenomenon necessitates concerted efforts to organize our findings and focus on the unexplored facets of the disease. In this work, we applied natural language processing (NLP) based approaches on scientific literature published on COVID-19 to infer significant keywords that have contributed to our social, economic, demographic, psychological, epidemiological, clinical, and medical understanding of this pandemic. We identify key terms appearing in COVID literature that vary in representation when compared to other virus-borne diseases such as MERS, Ebola, and Influenza. We also identify countries, topics, and research articles that demonstrate that the scientific community is still reacting to the short-term threats such as transmissibility, health risks, treatment plans, and public policies, underpinning the need for collective international efforts towards long-term immunization and drug-related challenges. Furthermore, our study highlights several long-term research directions that are urgently needed for COVID-19 such as: global collaboration to create international open-access data repositories, policymaking to curb future outbreaks, psychological repercussions of COVID-19, vaccine development for SARS-CoV-2 variants and their long-term efficacy studies, and mental health issues in both children and elderly.
Social participation and depressive symptoms in older African American cancer survivors: a comparison with non-cancer subjects.

Objectives African Americans are differentially affected by most cancers compared to other racial groups. Social participation has demonstrated beneficial effects on mental health in older adults with a history of cancer. The purpose of the present study is to examine and compare the effects of specific social participation activities on depressive symptoms among older African Americans with and without a history of cancer. Method The study sample included 2,000 older African Americans selected from the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Waves from 2011 to 2018 were used. Mixed-effects logistic regressions were applied to examine the effects of four social participation activities on depressive symptoms among older African Americans with or without a history of cancer. Results Among older African American who had a history of cancer, visiting family and friends and attending religious services were related to lower odds of depressive symptoms. However, among older African Americans without a history of cancer, joining organized activities and going out for enjoyment predicted lower odds of depressive symptoms. Conclusion Older African Americans with a history of cancer tend to benefit from visiting family and friends and attending religious services in coping with depressive symptoms. Mental health services for this group could focus interventions on promoting social participation activities with family, friends, and religious congregants.
Adaptive Elastic Training for Sparse Deep Learning on Heterogeneous Multi-GPU Servers.

Motivated by extreme multi-label classification applications, we consider training deep learning models over sparse data in multi-GPU servers. The variance in the number of non-zero features across training batches and the intrinsic GPU heterogeneity combine to limit accuracy and increase the time to convergence. We address these challenges with Adaptive SGD, an adaptive elastic model averaging stochastic gradient descent algorithm for heterogeneous multi-GPUs that is characterized by dynamic scheduling, adaptive batch size scaling, and normalized model merging. Instead of statically partitioning batches to GPUs, batches are routed based on the relative processing speed. Batch size scaling assigns larger batches to the faster GPUs and smaller batches to the slower ones, with the goal to arrive at a steady state in which all the GPUs perform the same number of model updates. Normalized model merging computes optimal weights for every GPU based on the assigned batches such that the combined model achieves better accuracy. We show experimentally that Adaptive SGD outperforms four state-of-the-art solutions in time-to-accuracy and is scalable with the number of GPUs.
THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF REAL EXCHANGE RATE VARIABILITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

The paper examines the pros and cons of anticipated appreciation and the asymmetric effects of short-term exchange rate fluctuations in a sample of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. On the demand side, exchange rate depreciation increases competitiveness and export growth, expanding output growth. On the supply side, depreciation increases the cost of imported inputs, increasing output capacity constraints and accelerating price inflation. The time-series evidence indicates that output expansion (contraction) and price deflation (inflation) predominate with anticipated currency appreciation (depreciation). The cross-country results show that exchange rate variability exacerbates the variability of economic activity across countries. Short-term fluctuations of the exchange rate may reflect the adverse effects of unanticipated currency fluctuations. Therefore, more flexibility towards aligning the real effective exchange rate with the underlying fundamentals could help mitigate the adverse effects of higher cost of imports and loss of competitiveness on real growth, and ease inflationary pressures.
Depression and the Soul: A Guide to Spiritually Integrated Treatment

Introduction. Heart, Mind and Soul. Depression and Spirituality. Differential Diagnosis, Assessment and Formulation. Integrated Treatment . Suicide. Models of Care. The Brain, Spirituality and Depression.
Corporate Land-Holding and Agricultural Extensification in Early Mesopotamia

Cuneiform texts from the early historic period in Mesopotamia document the existence of corporate groups, including large corporate families, temples, and the crown (e.g. Diakonoff 1969; Gelb 1979; Yoffee 1977). Such corporate groups have a long history in this region, and continue to exist in various forms today (Fernea 1970). It has been suggested (Adams 1974a; Fernea 1970) that corporate landholding is the most efficient means of controlling resources in this region; a large group can effectively control more land than can be worked by a nuclear family. Using both archaeological and historical data, this paper will demonstrate that there is evidence for corporate family groups in the archaeological record of agricultural populations in western Asia. Such household groups developed within an intensive agricultural system that expanded and "extensified" with time. Political efforts to intensify the system were made long after the establishment of complex states in Mesopotamia (Adams 1974a).
A mutant of bacteriophage øX174 which infects E. coli K12 strains. I. Isolation and partial characterization of øXtB.

Abstract A mutant of bacteriophage φX174 has been isolated which infects K12 strains of E. coli . This mutant, φ X tB , also infects strains C and B, though at reduced efficiencies. φ X tB 's properties are summarized as follows: (1) φ X tB has an altered plating temperature range; (2) φ X tB particles sediment slightly faster and are slightly more dense than φX174 particles; (3) φ X tB 's replication involves intracellular DNA forms like those found in φX-infected cells and a possible new species not previously seen in φX-infected cells.
From distributed sequential computing to distributed parallel computing

One approach to distributed parallel programming is to utilize self-migrating threads. Computations can be distributed first, and parallelized second. The first step produces a distributed sequential thread, which can be incrementally parallelized by the second step. This paper prescribes three transformations that turn distributed sequential programs into distributed parallel programs. Real-life examples and performance data are presented, and the advantages of our approach are discussed.
Variability in mechanisms associated with tolerance to progressive reductions in central blood volume (1157.3)

High tolerance to reductions in central blood volume has been associated with higher heart rate (HR), sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), and cardiac baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). Using subjects classified as high tolerance to lower body negative pressure (LBNP), we tested the hypothesis that subjects with BRS > 1.0 would demonstrate greater LBNPtolerance associated with higher HR, PVR, and SNA than subjects with BRS 1.0, N = 49, and Group 2 = BRS 1.0) had lower HR (107 ± 19 vs. 131 ± 20 beats/min), higher SV (45 ± 15 vs. 36 ...
Long-lasting potentiation of epileptiform bursts by group I mGluRs is NMDA receptor independent.

In CA3 pyramidal cells of guinea pig hippocampal slices, picrotoxin (50 μM) elicited spontaneous, rhythmically recurring epileptiform bursts 285–435 ms in duration. The addition of (S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG, 50 μM, 90 min application), a selective group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonist, resulted in a rapid-onset transient increase in burst frequency. This was followed by a slowly progressive increase in burst duration, with bursts reaching 1.5–3.8 s in duration at 90 min of DHPG application. The potentiation of epileptiform burst duration persisted at least 2 h after agonist removal. To determine whether N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation participates in the mGluR-induced potentiation of epileptiform bursts, experiments were carried out in the presence ofd-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV, 50–100 μM), an NMDA receptor antagonist. Application of DHPG in the presence of APV resulted in a significantly enhanced transient increase in burst frequency. Nevertheless, when compared with the control described above, there was no significant alteration in the rate of development of the burst prolongation nor its persistence after washout. In other experiments, application of APV in the presence of fully developed mGluR-induced potentiated bursts (after 90 min washout of DHPG) resulted in no significant change in either burst frequency or duration. The data reveal that both induction and maintenance of group I mGluR-mediated potentiation of epileptiform discharges are NMDA receptor-independent processes, suggesting that epileptogenesis, when induced by group I mGluR activation, may occur and be sustained in the absence of NMDA receptor activation.
The Role of Intellectual Property in Collaborative Research: Crossing the “Valley of Death” by Turning Discovery Into Health

Technology transfer is the process of transforming basic scientific discoveries into commercial products that can be sold to the public. Historically, the federal government has been the country’s largest funder of basic biomedical research through institutions such as the National Institute of Health (NIH). Private corporations utilize scientific knowledge generated at NIH to design drugs and medical devices that are then marketed to the American public. As a taxpayer funded institution, NIH has a fundamental responsibility to optimize the technology transfer process so that the American public receives the greatest return on its investment in the form of new healthcare products. Various laws passed in the 1980s have set up the technology transfer system to revolve around the dispensation of intellectual property rights. In recent years several prominent critiques of the technology transfer system’s use of intellectual property rights have emerged in academic literature. In order to assess the validity of these critiques I conducted ten oral history interviews with administrators at NIH that are deeply involved in the technology transfer process. This paper will demonstrate that many of the criticisms that are posed in academic literature do not impact research at NIH. However, interviews with officials at NIH indicate that there is still friction in the system that prevents the American public from receiving the maximum return on its investment.
Information spaces and collections: Implications for organization

This article reports the results of a study that examined users' interactions with their information environment and how the structure of information resources in this environment affected users' information seeking. The study participants were university professors from various academic, demographic, and cultural backgrounds. Each person took part in an hour-long interview and provided an in-depth description of his or her experience in seeking academic information, especially the interactions with material information sources. The resulting descriptions were analyzed to present preliminary parameters for structuring information sources within these users' information environment. The participants separated their information environment into approximately three main spaces. Each of these spaces was further divided into subspaces, some of which were inherent in the information sources and some created temporarily by the participants during information-seeking episodes. Finally, the article discusses the significance of the findings and their implications for future research and system design.