cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neutrophils in the tumor microenvironment: trying to heal the wound that cannot heal.

Summary Neutrophils are the first responders to infection and injury and are critical for antimicrobial host defense. Through the generation of reactive oxidants, activation of granular constituents and neutrophil extracellular traps, neutrophils target microbes and prevent their dissemination. While these pathways are beneficial in the context of trauma and infection, their off-target effects in the context of tumor are variable. Tumor-derived factors have been shown to reprogram the marrow, skewing toward the expansion of myelopoiesis. This can result in stimulation of both neutrophilic leukocytosis and the release of immature granulocytic populations that accumulate in circulation and in the tumor microenvironment. While activated neutrophils have been shown to kill tumor cells, there is growing evidence for neutrophil activation driving tumor progression and metastasis through a number of pathways, including stimulation of thrombosis and angiogenesis, stromal remodeling, and impairment of T cell-dependent anti-tumor immunity. There is also growing appreciation of neutrophil heterogeneity in cancer, with distinct neutrophil populations promoting cancer control or progression. In addition to the effects of tumor on neutrophil responses, anti-neoplastic treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy, and growth factors, can influence neutrophil responses. Future directions for research are expected to result in more mechanistic knowledge of neutrophil biology in the tumor microenvironment that may be exploited as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
A sub-nW mV-range programmable threshold comparator for near-zero-energy sensing

This paper describes a comparator capable of detecting mV-range input voltage signals reliably using sub-nW power consumption. The comparator uses a current-mirror-based positive feedback and hysteresis to generate the mV-range threshold. It has three new ideas: (1) to use the input signal to bias the current mirror, which only activates the current mirror when the input signal reaches a detectable threshold; (2) to achieve dynamically controllable detectable threshold by using control signals to adjust the mirror transistor sizes; and (3) to use negative feedback to compensate the process-voltage-temperature variation. Preliminary SPICE simulation results using state-of-the-art 9HP (BiCMOS) have shown that the proposed hysteresis-based comparator can achieve the following performance metrics: 1) Very low comparator threshold (in the range of mV); furthermore, these threshold voltages can be programmable at run-time from a few to tens of mV. 2) Steep equivalent subthreshold slope in the range of sub-mV/decade. 3) Ultra-low leakage power (in the sub-nW range for a 0.1mV input voltage) and switching energy (in the nW range). The proposed hysteresis-based comparator only requires one standard logic supply source (working over 1V to 0.5V). Furthermore, initial simulations have shown that this comparator threshold is reliable over the process and voltage (PV) variations, and linearly proportional to temperature (T) variation.
Centroid stabilization for laser alignment to corner cubes: designing a matched filter

Automation of image-based alignment of National Ignition Facility high energy laser beams is providing the capability of executing multiple target shots per day. One important alignment is beam centration through the second and third harmonic generating crystals in the final optics assembly (FOA), which employs two retroreflecting corner cubes as centering references for each beam. Beam-to-beam variations and systematic beam changes over time in the FOA corner cube images can lead to a reduction in accuracy as well as increased convergence durations for the template-based position detector. A systematic approach is described that maintains FOA corner cube templates and guarantees stable position estimation.
Concordance between Women's Self-Reported Reasons for Cesarean Delivery and Hospital Discharge Records

Abstract Background Women's self-reports of whether they had a cesarean delivery are nearly 100% accurate, but there is little extant research on how accurately women self-report reasons for cesarean delivery when asked to recall this information in the postpartum period. Objective We compared women's self-reported reasons for cesarean with their hospital discharge records and examined correlates of variability in agreement between sources. Methods Data are from the First Baby Study, a cohort of 3,006 women who gave birth to their first baby between 2009 and 2011. Survey data were linked to hospital discharge records. Among women who delivered by cesarean ( n = 846), we assessed the probability that women's self-reported reasons for cesarean delivery were confirmed by hospital discharge records (positive predictive value [PPV]), and whether agreement differed by reason for cesarean or by women's characteristics. Results Overall, 91% of women reported a reason for their cesarean that was present in the discharge data. PPV varied by reason for cesarean, with high PPV for dystocia, macrosomia, and cephalopelvic disproportion (91.1%), and lower PPV for malposition (81.7%). In multivariable models, women with more education and higher family income had an higher odds of concordance. Conclusions Despite some variation in the probability that women's self-reported reason for cesarean is supported by the hospital discharge record, more than 90% of women reported a reason that was found in their discharge record. Accurate recall of reasons for prior cesarean may help women and clinicians to manage future pregnancies.
El sistema educativo de los primeros jesuitas

Among the first documents from the Jesuit universities from the middle of the 16th century (between 1551 and 1586) - and the most consolidated and disseminated version in the Ratio of Acquaviva from 1599 - there are important differences, already identified in their day by Gabriel Codina and by Miquel Batllori. This article, based on previous research by the author and also the state of play, aims to highlight the original nucleus of the Renaissance “invention” of the first Jesuit schools and universities. The methodology proposed by Luce Giard considers the lattice-like complexity of a Jesuit school and University as places of production and dissemination of knowledge and not only, or mainly, as centers of (educational) transmission. It offers an approximation to the cultural achievements of a modernity began in the 16th century, inspired by a permanent and previous dialogue (here the adjectives are essential) between knowledge and beliefs. The article presents this model as one of the most important achievements of the first European modernity established by the Jesuit schools.
Beneficial Roles of Caffeine in Sports Nutrition and Beverage Formulations

Abstract Caffeine is found in many foods, beverages, and over-the-counter drugs. Energy drink consumption increased dramatically from 2001 to 2010, and energy shots are the fastest-growing segment of the energy drink category. The ingestion of caffeine in the form of coffee or anhydrous caffeine has consistently been shown to improve performance in time to exhaustion exercises performed at submaximal intensities, although the ergogenic benefits for anaerobic activities are less clear. Caffeine-containing energy drinks improve performance in endurance exercises, muscular strength, and endurance activities, jumping, and sport-specific actions. Performance may be affected by the ingestion of other substances such as taurine contained in these energy drinks, in addition to caffeine. Factors that must be considered when interpreting the effectiveness of caffeine as an ergogenic aid are timing of administration, abstinence period, dosage, and training status of the individual.
Neonicotinoid-Induced Mortality of Diaphorina Citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae) is Affected by Route of Exposure.

The use of neonicotinoids in citrus (Rutaceae) has increased substantially to help manage the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), a vector of the devastating citrus disease, huanglongbing (HLB). In citrus pest management programs, neonicotinoids are most often applied to the soil as a drench and move through xylem channels from the roots into the foliage. We developed a novel assay to quantify the dose required to kill D. citri following ingestion and compare it with the dose required to kill by contact. The LC50 of the laboratory strain for ingestion of imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and clothianidin were each approximately 10-fold greater than the respective LC50 by contact exposure. Four field populations were tested to validate comparative exposure of the laboratory strain to imidacloprid and determine the relative susceptibility of field populations to imidacloprid by exposure through ingestion and contact. The contact assay exhibited low ( 10) RR50 values were observed for the Lake Placid and Lake Alfred populations using the contact and the ingestion method. This research demonstrates that the ingestion assay method described herein is more sensitive in detection of low-level resistance and should be the standard methodology used in monitoring for resistance to systemic insecticides for this global pest. We found D. citri populations with a lower than expected susceptibility to neonicotinoids in the field, which warrants the implementation of resistance management practices to preserve the utility of soil-applied neonicotinoids in citrus.
Facile Conversion of Bis-Silylene to Cyclic Silylene Isomers: Unexpected C-N and C-H Bond Cleavage.

Reaction of thiolate 1 with carbene-stabilized diiodo-bis-silylene (2) (in a 2:1 ratio) in THF unexpectedly gives both the first five-membered, sulfur-containing, zwitterionic silylene ring (3) via insertion of the “SiI2” unit of 2 into the olefinic C—H bond of the imidazole ring of 1 and four-membered cyclic silylene (4) via insertion of a silicon(I) atom of 2 into the Cphenyl—N bond of the carbene ligand. The parallel reaction in toluene only gives 3 as the major product. The nature of the bonding in isomeric 3 and 4 was probed by experimental and theoretical methods.
Psychodynamic Group Therapy with Older Women

Although therapy groups are often assumed to be unsuitable for older patients, this article reports the effectiveness of one such group. The clinician was able to enhance the members' coping skills...
A Cohort Study of Metformin and Colorectal Cancer Risk among Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Several epidemiologic studies have reported strong inverse associations between metformin use and risk of colorectal cancer, although time-related biases, such as immortal time bias, may in part explain these findings. We reexamined this association using methods to minimize these biases.Methods: A cohort study was conducted among 47,351 members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California with diabetes and no history of cancer or metformin use. Follow-up for incident colorectal cancer occurred from January 1, 1997, until June 30, 2012. Cox regression was used to calculate HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for colorectal cancer risk associated with metformin use (ever use, total duration, recency of use, and cumulative dose).Results: No association was observed between ever use of metformin and colorectal cancer risk (HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.76-1.07) and there was no consistent pattern of decreasing risk with increasing total duration, dose, or recency of use. However, long-term use (≥5.0 years) appeared to be associated with reduced risk of colorectal cancer in the full population (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.60-1.02), among current users (HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.59-1.04), and in men (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.45-0.94) but not in women. Higher cumulative doses of metformin were associated with reduced risk. In initial users of sulfonylureas, switching to or adding metformin was also associated with decreased colorectal cancer risk.Conclusions: Our findings showed an inverse association between long-term use of metformin and colorectal cancer risk. Findings, especially the risk reduction among men, need to be confirmed in large, well-conducted studies.Impact: If our findings are confirmed, metformin may have a role in the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(5); 525-30. ©2018 AACRSee related commentary by Jackson and Garcia-Albeniz, p. 520.
Telemedicine and Mobile Health Technology Are Effective in the Management of Digestive Diseases: A Systematic Review

Mobile applications and interactive websites are an increasingly used method of telemedicine, but their use lacks evidence in digestive diseases. This study aims to explore digestive disease studies that use telemedicine to effectively manage disease activity, help monitor symptoms, improve compliance to the treatment protocol, increase patient satisfaction, and enhance the patient-to-provider communication. EBSCO, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched using Medical Subject Headings and other keywords to identify studies that utilized telemedicine in patients with digestive disease. The PRISMA guidelines were used to identify 20 research articles that had data aligning with 4 common overlapping themes including, patient compliance (n = 13), patient satisfaction (n = 11), disease activity (n = 15), and quality of life (n = 13). The studies focused on digestive diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (n = 7), ulcerative colitis (n = 4), Crohn’s Disease (n = 1), irritable bowel syndrome (n = 6), and colorectal cancer (n = 2). From the studies included in this systematic review, patient compliance and patient satisfaction ranged between 25.7–100% and 74–100%, respectively. Disease activity, measured by symptom severity scales and physiological biomarkers, showed improvements following telemedicine interventions in several, but not all, studies. Similar to disease activity, general and disease-specific quality of life showed improvements following telemedicine interventions in as little as 12 weeks in some studies. Telemedicine and mobile health technology may be effective in managing disease activity and improving quality of life in digestive diseases. Future studies should explore both gastrointestinal and gastroesophageal diseases using these types of interventions.
Rapid prototyping of packaged glass devices: Eliminating a process step in the manufacturing workflow from micromachining to die singularizing

Abstract Direct glass-to-glass bonding after micro-patterning in glass is often challenging, especially in the frame of rapid prototyping, as several special cleaning or other post-processing steps are needed before bonding is possible. In this study, we demonstrate that glass-to-glass bonding is possible directly after Spark Assisted Chemical Engraving (SACE) micromachining without any special post-treatments. This approach enables flexible prototyping of glass devices at relatively low cost, which is illustrated by fabrication of functional microfluidic devices. The machined and bonded glass device is evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively on performance and shows good results.
Diabetes Mellitus-Induced Long Noncoding RNA Dnm3os Regulates Macrophage Functions and Inflammation via Nuclear Mechanisms

Objective- Macrophages play key roles in inflammation and diabetic vascular complications. Emerging evidence implicates long noncoding RNAs in inflammation, but their role in macrophage dysfunction associated with inflammatory diabetic complications is unclear and was therefore investigated in this study. Approach and Results- RNA-sequencing and real-time quantitative PCR demonstrated that a long noncoding RNA Dnm3os (dynamin 3 opposite strand) is upregulated in bone marrow-derived macrophages from type 2 diabetic db/db mice, diet-induced insulin-resistant mice, and diabetic ApoE-/- mice, as well as in monocytes from type 2 diabetic patients relative to controls. Diabetic conditions (high glucose and palmitic acid) induced Dnm3os in mouse and human macrophages. Promoter reporter analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that diabetic conditions induce Dnm3os via NF-κB activation. RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization and real-time quantitative PCRs of subcellular fractions demonstrated nuclear localization and chromatin enrichment of Dnm3os in macrophages. Stable overexpression of Dnm3os in macrophages altered global histone modifications and upregulated inflammation and immune response genes and phagocytosis. Conversely, RNAi-mediated knockdown of Dnm3os attenuated these responses. RNA pull-down assays with macrophage nuclear lysates identified nucleolin and ILF-2 (interleukin enhancer-binding factor 2) as protein binding partners of Dnm3os, which was further confirmed by RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization immunofluorescence. Furthermore, nucleolin levels were decreased in diabetic conditions, and its knockdown enhanced Dnm3os-induced inflammatory gene expression and histone H3K9-acetylation at their promoters. Conclusions- These results demonstrate novel mechanisms involving upregulation of long noncoding RNA Dnm3os, disruption of its interaction with nucleolin, and epigenetic modifications at target genes that promote macrophage inflammatory phenotype in diabetes mellitus. The data could lead to long noncoding RNA-based therapies for inflammatory diabetes mellitus complications.
Presenting unwelcome research findings.

It is an understandable human reaction to feel defensive in the face of evidence that challenges one's practices, but it is imperative that we rise above this with a modicum of humility and ask the tough questions: what causes problems and how can we avoid them in the future?
Judgment Forms and Sentence Forms

I would like to examine the functional differences associated with the formal contrast between the topicalized and the nontopicalized sentences in Japanese. In the course of the arguments that follow, I am going to draw on the distinctions between judgment and proposition, between the categorical and the thetic judgments, between asserting and affirming, and between predication and nonpredicational description. This is a study as much of the function of Japanese sentence forms as of the significance of such cognitive notions and distinctions as these mentioned above in the linguistic science. The reader may wish to look at the last subsection of this Introduction (subsection 1.5) and the last section of this Chapter (Section 12, Summary and Conclusion) in order to anticipate where this study leads us.
A Microfabricated Device for Separating ∼200 Kilo-Base-Pair DNA Molecules in ∼15 Seconds

We describe a thumbnail-sized “DNA prism” device that sorts large DNA fragments (∼200 kb) in 15 seconds [1]. The device consists of an array of micron-scale posts as the sieving matrix, and integrated microfluidic channels that spatially shape the electric fields over the matrix. The device can be operated in conventional pulsed field electrophoresis mode, or in a novel asymmetric pulsed field mode [1], which allows for continuous-flow operation. This overcomes the limitation that microfluidic devices can only analyze small amount of sample in small plugs.
Control of Many Agents by Moving Their Targets: Maintaining Separation

Consider a large group of agents chasing a small group of moving targets. Assume each agent moves at constant speed toward the closest target. This paper studies the problem of controlling the agents indirectly by specifying the motion of the targets. In particular, it considers the problem of maintaining a minimum separation distance between each pair of agents, something that is impossible to do with only one target. This paper shows that only two targets are necessary to maintain separation between four agents. It also shows results in simulation to support the conjecture that only two targets are necessary to maintain separation between any number of agents, given suitable initial conditions.
Experiences of International Student-Athletes at a Historically Black University.

The purpose of the study was to scrutinize and explain the academic, social, and athletic experiences of international student-athletes attending a historically Black university. Participants were six international studentathletes (five men and one woman). Situated in position theory, the research design was explanatory multiple case study. The primary data collection method was semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analyzed using a constant comparative approach and revealed that the participants were positioned by language differences and academic difficulties, were disengaged from some teammates, and endured athletic disadvantages in resources and training. To amply support international student-athletes, we assert that athletic departments, coaches, faculty, and students should respect and value the identities, as well as the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of international student-athletes.
A Next-Generation Coastal Ocean Operational System: Probabilistic Flood Forecasting at Street Scale

AbstractRecent hurricanes have demonstrated the need for real-time flood forecasting at street scale in coastal urban areas. Here, we describe the high-impact high-resolution (HIHR) system that ope...
On the Stability Properties of 2N-Legged Wave Gaits

In this paper, the study of optimally stable range of wave gait has been extended to 2n-legged case (n ≥ 2). In the study, an analytical method is applied to compare the longitudinal stability margin of wave gait with all periodic and regular gaits. The result shows that wave gait is optimally stable in the range of 3/4 ≤ β < 1 for n = 2, which confirms the analytical result in [2]; and in the range of 1/2 ≤ β < 1 for n = 3, which confirms the numerical results in [4] and [5], where β is the time fraction of a cycle time in which a leg is on the ground. For n ≥ 4, wave gait is optimally stable in the range of 1/2 ≤ β < 1 for most of the cases. However, there are 49 cases that the lower bound of the optimally stable range is higher than 1/2. The optimally stable ranges of these 49 cases are listed in Table 1. Overall speaking, wave gait is optimally stable in the range of 2/3 ≤ β < 1 for n ≥ 4. If wave gait is compared with periodic and regular gaits which are either symmetric or constant-phase-incremented, wave gait is optimally stable in the range of 3/4 ≤ β < 1 for n = 2 and in the range of 1/2 ≤ β < 1 for n ≥ 3.
Normaloid weighted composition operators on H2

Abstract When φ is an analytic self-map of the unit disk with Denjoy–Wolff point a ∈ D , and ρ ( W ψ , φ ) = ψ ( a ) , we give an exact characterization for when W ψ , φ is normaloid. We also determine the spectral radius, essential spectral radius, and essential norm for a class of non-power-compact composition operators whose symbols have Denjoy–Wolff point in D . When the Denjoy–Wolff point is on ∂ D , we give sufficient conditions for several new classes of normaloid weighted composition operators.
Do Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics Prevent or Delay Hospital Readmission?

Introduction Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics were developed as a way to decrease pill burden and simplify medication regimens by allowing less frequent administration to assist with medication adherence. Methods The purpose of this study was to determine whether LAI antipsychotics prevent or delay hospital readmission in patients with a known history of medication non-adherence. The study is a retrospective evaluation of 240 men and women 18-65 years of age diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder discharged from an inpatient state hospital over a 2 year period of time on a LAI antipsychotic (fluphenazine LAI, haloperidol LAI, risperidone LAI or paliperidone LAI) or oral antipsychotic. Patients on LAIs were matched to patients on an equivalent oral dose, psychiatric diagnosis, number of prior hospital admissions, and length of stay. Results Those who received a LAI (N = 120) had a significantly longer survival time (mean 278.0 days) without readmission compared to those who did not (N = 120; mean 243.6 days). There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of one-year readmission between those who did receive a LAI (43.1%) and those who did not (56.9%). Those who received a LAI with administration frequency of a month or longer had a significantly longer survival time without readmission (mean 307.9 days) when compared to those with a shorter administration frequency (mean 245.0 days). Conclusion This study revealed the use of LAI antipsychotics in those with a history of medication non-adherence, particularly those with longer administration frequency, have potentially promising outcomes.
Neurologic Injury and Brain Growth in the Setting of Long-Gap Esophageal Atresia Perioperative Critical Care: A Pilot Study

We previously showed that infants born with long-gap esophageal atresia (LGEA) demonstrate clinically significant brain MRI findings following repair with the Foker process. The current pilot study sought to identify any pre-existing (PRE-Foker process) signs of brain injury and to characterize brain and corpus callosum (CC) growth. Preterm and full-term infants (n = 3/group) underwent non-sedated brain MRI twice: before (PRE-Foker scan) and after (POST-Foker scan) completion of perioperative care. A neuroradiologist reported on qualitative brain findings. The research team quantified intracranial space, brain, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and CC volumes. We report novel qualitative brain findings in preterm and full-term infants born with LGEA before undergoing Foker process. Patients had a unique hospital course, as assessed by secondary clinical end-point measures. Despite increased total body weight and absolute intracranial and brain volumes (cm3) between scans, normalized brain volume was decreased in 5/6 patients, implying delayed brain growth. This was accompanied by both an absolute and relative CSF volume increase. In addition to qualitative findings of CC abnormalities in 3/6 infants, normative CC size (% brain volume) was consistently smaller in all infants, suggesting delayed or abnormal CC maturation. A future larger study group is warranted to determine the impact on the neurodevelopmental outcomes of infants born with LGEA.
Applications of microscopy in science education: gifted youth, public school, and the next-generation science standards (NGSS)

Microscopy is not specifically mentioned in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and consequently secondary education limits its use to learning parts, procedures, and observing fixed spec...
4.14 – Memory Reconsolidation

Memory is formed, reshaped, maintained, and expressed through several dynamic processes. A new memory exists in a labile state for some time after learning and eventually becomes stable through a process known as memory consolidation. However, after recall, established memories become again transiently fragile and undergo a restabilization process known as memory reconsolidation. Over the last several years, the rediscovery of memory reconsolidation has attracted a great deal of attention and is reshaping the way neurobiologists think about memory formation and storage. Much of the recent reconsolidation research has focused on identifying the underlying anatomical, molecular, and cellular mechanisms involved. Moreover, the temporal boundaries of the reconsolidation process are beginning to be understood. For example, researchers are clarifying how long amnesia lasts following postreactivation interference and whether there is a temporal limit for a memory to become labile — and thus weakened — after reactivation. The opportunity to reactivate and decrease the intensity of memories has also sparked great interest among clinicians in the mental health field who treat disorders that involve maladaptive memories. Two examples of these directives are posttraumatic stress disorder and drug addiction.
Effect of Insurance Status on Outcomes of Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Receiving Intra-Arterial Treatment: Results from the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program.

Abstract Background Stroke continues to be a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Rates of intra-arterial reperfusion treatments (IAT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) are increasing, and these treatments are associated with more favorable outcomes. We sought to examine the effect of insurance status on outcomes for AIS patients receiving IAT within a multistate stroke registry. Methods We used data from the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program (PCNASP) from 2014 to 2019 to quantify rates of IAT (with or without intravenous thrombolysis) after AIS. We modeled outcomes based on insurance status: private, Medicare, Medicaid, or no insurance. Outcomes were defined as rates of discharge to home, in-hospital death, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH), or life-threatening hemorrhage during hospitalization. Results During the study period, there were 486,180 patients with a clinical diagnosis of AIS (mean age 70.6 years, 50.3% male) from 674 participating hospitals in PCNASP. Only 4.3% of patients received any IAT. As compared to private insurance, uninsured patients receiving any IAT were more likely to experience in-hospital death (AOR 1.36 [95% CI 1.07–1.73]). Medicare (AOR 0.78 [95% CI 0.71–0.85]) and Medicaid (AOR 0.85 [95% CI 0.75–0.96]) beneficiaries were less likely but uninsured patients were more likely (AOR 1.90 [95% CI 1.61–2.24]) to be discharged home. Insurance status was not found to be independently associated with rates of sICH. Conclusions Insurance status was independently associated with in-hospital death and discharge to home among AIS patients undergoing IAT.
Asynchrony between solitary bee emergence and flower availability reduces flower visitation rate and may affect offspring size

Abstract Climate change can disrupt plant-pollinator interactions when shifts in the timing of pollinator activity and flowering occur unequally (i.e., phenological asynchrony). Phenological asynchrony between spring-emerging solitary bees and spring-flowering plants may cause bees to experience food deprivation that can affect their reproductive success. However, the mechanisms underlying the effects of food deprivation on solitary bee reproduction remain unknown. We investigated 1) whether food deprivation caused by phenological asynchrony affects solitary bee reproduction by influencing female lifespan and/or visitation to flowers, and 2) the relationship between the magnitude of asynchrony and bee responses. We simulated phenological asynchrony by depriving emerged female Osmia cornifrons (a spring-active solitary bee species) of nectar and pollen for 0 to 16 days. Following asynchrony treatments, we used flight cages to monitor 1) post-treatment female lifespan, 2) flower visitation, and 3) reproduction (i.e., total offspring, offspring weight, sex ratio). We found that post-treatment female lifespan was not affected by phenological asynchrony treatments, but that flower visitation rate and offspring weight decreased as the magnitude of asynchrony increased. Due to low offspring production and a lack of female offspring across treatments, we were unable to assess the effects of phenological asynchrony on total offspring produced or sex ratio. Findings suggest that post-emergence food deprivation caused by phenological asynchrony may affect offspring size by influencing nest-provisioning rates. In solitary bees, body size influences wintering survival, fecundity, and mating success. Thus, phenological asynchrony may have consequences for solitary bee populations that stem from reduced flower visitation rates, and these consequences may increase as the magnitude of asynchrony increases. Because many wild flowering plants and crops rely on pollination services provided by bees for reproductive success, bee responses to phenological asynchrony may also affect wild plant biodiversity and crop yields.
Expressive Trading, Hypermateriality, and Insider Trading

The phenomenon of social-media-driven trading (SMD trading) entered the public consciousness earlier this year when GameStop’s stock price was driven up two orders of magnitude by a “hivemind” of individual investors coordinating their actions via social media. Some believe that GameStop’s price is artificially high and is destined to fall. Yet the stock prices of GameStop and other prominent SMD trading targets like AMC Entertainment continue to remain well above historical levels. Much recent SMD trading is driven by profit motives. But a meaningful part of the rise has been a result of expressive trading—a subset of SMD trading—in which investors buy or sell for non-profit-seeking reasons like social or political activism, or for aesthetic reasons like a nostalgia play. To date, expressive trading has only benefited issuers by raising their stock prices. There is nothing, however, to prevent these traders from employing similar methods for driving a target’s stock price down (e.g., to influence or extort certain behaviors from issuers). At least for now, stock prices raised by SMD trading have been sticky and appear at least moderately sustainable. The expressive aspect, which unites the traders under a common banner, is likely a reason that dramatic price increases resulting from profit-seeking SMD trading have persisted. Without a nonfinancial motivation to hold the group together, its members would be expected to defect and take profits. Given that SMD trading appears to be more than a passing fad, issuers and their compliance departments ought to be prepared to respond when targeted by SMD trading. A question that might arise is whether and when SMD-trading-targeted issuers, and their insiders, may trade in their firms’ shares without running afoul of insider trading laws. This Article proceeds as follows: Part I summarizes the current state of insider trading law, with special focus on the elements of materiality and publicity. Part II opens with a brief summary of the filing, disclosure, and other (non-insider-trading-related) requirements issuers and their insiders may face when trading in their own company’s shares under any circumstance. The remainder of this Part analyzes the insider trading-related legal implications of three different scenarios in which issuers and their insiders trade in their own company’s shares in response to SMD trading. The analysis reveals that although the issuer’s and insiders’ nonpublic internal information may be material (and therefore preclude their legal trading) prior to and just after the onset of third-party SMD trading in the company’s stock, subsequent SMD price changes (if sufficiently dramatic) may diminish the importance of the company’s nonpublic information, rendering it immaterial. If the issuer’s and insiders’ nonpublic information about the firm is immaterial, then they may trade while in possession of it without violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.
Sketching and sampling approaches for fast and accurate long read classification

In modern sequencing experiments, identifying the sources of the reads is a crucial need. In metagenomics, where each read comes from one of potentially many members of a community, it can be important to identify the exact species the read is from. In other settings, it is important to distinguish which reads are from the targeted sample and which are from potential contaminants. In both cases, identification of the correct source of a read enables further investigation of relevant reads, while minimizing wasted work. This task is particularly challenging for long reads, which can have a substantial error rate that obscures the origins of each read. Existing tools for the read classification problem are often alignment or index-based, but such methods can have large time and/or space overheads. In this work, we investigate the effectiveness of several sampling and sketching-based approaches for read classification. In these approaches, a chosen sampling or sketching algorithm is used to generate a reduced representation (a "screen") of potential source genomes for a query readset before reads are streamed in and compared against this screen. Using a query read9s similarity to the elements of the screen, the methods predict the source of the read. Such an approach requires limited pre-processing, stores and works with only a subset of the input data, and is able to perform classification with a high degree of accuracy. The sampling and sketching approaches investigated include uniform sampling, methods based on MinHash and its weighted and order variants, a minimizer-based technique, and a novel clustering-based sketching approach. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques both in identifying the source microbial genomes for reads from a metagenomic long read sequencing experiment, and in distinguishing between long reads from organisms of interest and potential contaminant reads. We then compare these approaches to existing alignment, index and sketching-based tools for read classification, and demonstrate how such a method is a viable alternative for determining the source of query reads. Finally, we present a reference implementation of these approaches at https://github.com/arun96/sketching.
Dynamic topography and the nature of deep thick plumes

Abstract Deep mantle plumes imaged by seismic tomography have much larger radii (∼400 km) than predicted by conventional geodynamic models (∼100 km). Plume buoyancy fluxes estimated from surface topography concur with narrow plumes with low viscosities expected from their high temperatures. If plumes are thick as imaged by tomography, buoyancy flux estimates may require very viscous or thermochemical plumes. Here we assess the dynamical plausibility of an alternative model, a ponding plume, which has been suggested to explain thick plumes as well as buoyancy fluxes estimated from surface topography. In the ponding plume model, a thick conduit in the lower mantle narrows significantly after passing through the mantle transition zone, below which excess material from the thick lower-mantle plume, which cannot be accommodated by the narrow upper-mantle plume, spreads laterally. Such excess material in the mid-mantle, however, should still manifest itself in surface topography, the amplitude of which can be quantified via topography kernels. We find that the ponding of a purely thermal plume would lead to unrealistic excess topography, with the scale of ponding material large enough to be detected by seismic tomography. If mantle plumes are as thick as indicated by seismic tomography, it appears to be necessary to deviate from either conventional temperature-dependent viscosity or the assumption of purely thermal origins.
Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy: Radiation from an accelerating charge

The purpose of Appendix B is to present a derivation of the formula for the power radiated by an accelerating charge. The derivation requires a complex analysis. An outline of the analysis is as follows. First, a careful definition is given of the “radiation” component of a specified electromagnetic field in the context of Maxwell's equations. Second, a derivation is presented of the formulas that determine the vector and scalar potentials A and φ arising from a general distribution of current and charge densities in the time dependent case. The resulting integral relations are generalizations of the well-known Biot–Savart law and Gauss' theorem from magnetostatics and electrostatics. Third, A and φ, as well as the corresponding electromagnetic fields E and B , are calculated assuming the charge and current densities correspond to a single accelerating charged particle. Finally, these results are combined to evaluate the outward Poynting flux on a surface far from the particle. The integral of the Poynting flux over this surface yields the desired expression for the power radiated by the accelerating charge. Definition of the radiation field Assume the existence of a set of localized, time dependent charges and currents. Far from the sources the electric and magnetic fields decay away with distance. Part of these fields corresponds to the “radiation” field and part to the non-radiating “near-field.” What is the precise definition that distinguishes the radiation component of the field from the components of the near-field?
Ambulatory care visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient departments, and emergency departments : United States, 1996

Objective: This report presents statistics on ambulatory care visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient departments, and hospital emergency departments. Ambulatory medical care utilization is described in terms of patient, practice, facility, and visit characteristics. Office-based care is further subdivided into the categories of primary care, surgical specialties, and medical specialties. Methods: Data from the 2001 and 2002 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NAMCS) and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NHAMCS) were combined to produce averaged annual estimates of ambulatory medical care utilization. Results: Patients in the United States made an estimated 1.1 billion visits per year in 2001 and 2002 (annual average) to physician offices, hospital outpatient departments, and emergency departments, a rate of 3.8 visits per person annually. This marks the first time that the annual estimate of visits has surpassed the billion mark and is also a significant increase from the 1999-2000 estimate. The change was primarily driven by a jump in the number of visits to primary care physicians. The distribution of visits by patient age, sex, race, expected source of payment, geographic region, and whether the visit occurred in a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) varied across ambulatory care settings. Females had higher visit rates than males to all settings except office-based surgical specialists and emergency departments (ED). Black persons had higher visit rates than white persons to hospital outpatient and emergency departments, but lower visit rates to office-based surgical and medical specialists. Visits to emergency departments were more likely to be patient-paid or no charge, possibly reflecting a lack of private health insurance, than were visits to physician offices. Visit rates to office-based medical specialists were more than double in MSAs compared with non-MSAs.
Search for Anomalous Production of Photon+Jets

Many new physics models predict mechanisms that could produce a photon and jets signature. We search in the photon + jets channel, independent of any model, for new physics using CDF Run II data collected at the Fermilab Tevatron from p-pbar collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. A variety of techniques are applied to estimate the standard model expectation and non-collision backgrounds. We examine several kinematic distributions including transverse energy of the photon and invariant masses for discrepancies with the standard model.
Justification of socioscientific claims as the basis for assessing argumentation

This investigation introduces a novel rubric for the assessment of argumentation quality relative to socioscientific issues and presents results from a field test of its application. Forty-five students participated in interviews designed to elicit socioscientific argumentation regarding genetic engineering issues. A five point rubric was developed to assess how well individuals justified the claims they advanced. Implications for the use of this tool for advancing research agendas in the learning sciences will be discussed.
SPATIAL POPULATION STRUCTURE IN THE WHIRLIGIG BEETLE DINEUTUS ASSIMILIS : EVOLUTIONARY INFERENCES BASED ON MITOCHONDRIAL DNA AND FIELD DATA

The spatial population structure of the pond-living water beetle Dineutus assimilis (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae) was investigated through a field study of population dynamics and dispersal, with a concurrent assessment of the spatial distribution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction-fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP). A comprehensive 2-yr survey within a 60-km2 study area revealed pronounced fluctuations in local abundances, including extinctions and colonizations. The recapture of marked individuals showed that dispersal among ponds is frequent in both males and females and connects populations on a large geographic scale (maximum observed flight distance: 20 km). The population structure of D. assimilis is thus characterized by both pronounced genetic drift and frequent gene flow. Together, these two forces generate a pattern of very local and transient genetic differentiation. Mitochondrial DNA samples collected within a few kilometers indicate highly significant spatial structure, if newly founded demes or those that experienced recent bottlenecks are included. These results based on four demes within the study area were placed into a regional context by further samples collected at distances of 100 km and 200 km. Fst estimates computed on increasing spatial scales were variable but showed no increasing trend. Thus, gene flow exerts a strong homogenizing force over a wide geographic range but is counteracted locally by genetic drift. These findings highlight the need to supplement estimates of Fst with additional data to arrive at valid interpretations of the genetic information. More generally, this study raises questions about how to capture the relevant features of dynamic, subdivided populations to understand their evolutionary dynamics.
The Next Generation of Orthotopic Thyroid Cancer Models: Immunocompetent Orthotopic Mouse Models of BRAFV600E-Positive Papillary and Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma

Background: While the development of new treatments for aggressive thyroid cancer has advanced in the last 10 years, progress has trailed headways made with other malignancies. A lack of reliable authenticated human cell lines and reproducible animal models is one major roadblock to preclinical testing of novel therapeutics. Existing xenograft and orthotopic mouse models of aggressive thyroid cancer rely on the implantation of highly passaged human thyroid carcinoma lines in immunodeficient mice. Genetically engineered models of papillary and undifferentiated (anaplastic) thyroid carcinoma (PTC and ATC) are immunocompetent; however, slow and stochastic tumor development hinders high-throughput testing. Novel models of PTC and ATC in which tumors arise rapidly and synchronously in immunocompetent mice would facilitate the investigation of novel therapeutics and approaches. Methods: We characterized and utilized mouse cell lines derived from PTC and ATC tumors arising in genetically engineered mice with thy...
Relating Things and Stuff via ObjectProperty Interactions

In the last few years, substantially different approaches have been adopted for segmenting and detecting “things” (object categories that have a well defined shape such as people and cars) and “stuff” (object categories which have an amorphous spatial extent such as grass and sky). While things have been typically detected by sliding window or Hough transform based methods, detection of stuff is generally formulated as a pixel or segment-wise classification problem. This paper proposes a framework for scene understanding that models both things and stuff using a common representation while preserving their distinct nature by using a property list. This representation allows us to enforce sophisticated geometric and semantic relationships between thing and stuff categories via property interactions in a single graphical model. We use the latest advances made in the field of discrete optimization to efficiently perform maximum a posteriori (MAP) inference in this model. We evaluate our method on the Stanford dataset by comparing it against state-of-the-art methods for object segmentation and detection. We also show that our method achieves competitive performances on the challenging PASCAL ’09 segmentation dataset.
Taming Tibet: Landscape Transformation and the Gift of Chinese Development, Edited by Emily Yeh, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013, pp. 344, $75.00, ISBN 0801451558

Emily Yeh’s indispensable volume is about the transformation of Tibet’s landscape since the 1950s and the complex, often paradoxical, ways that development has played out in the modern period. For ...