cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
HPC viability measurement: trypan blue versus acridine orange and propidium iodide

BACKGROUND: A reliable, validated method for rapidly determining HPC viability is essential for clinical cell engineering. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A fluorometric cell viability assay using acridine orange and propidium iodide (AO/PI) was compared to the current standard, trypan blue (TB) exclusion. Viable cells stained with AO/ PI fluoresce green under darkfield fluorescence microscopy, while nonviable cells fluoresce orange. Mixtures of fresh and heat-killed bone marrow were prepared and used as viability standards for evaluation of both assays. The frequency of CFU‐GM was determined for each specimen. RESULTS: Cell viability measured by AO/PI was extremely linear, with measured and predicted viability in agreement from 0 to 100 percent of the viable cells and a coefficient of regression (r 2 ) of 0.9921. The predictedviability regression line fell within the 95% CI for AO/PImeasured viability. The coefficient of regression for TBmeasured viability was 0.9584, with the predicted-viability regression line almost entirely outside the 95% CI. TB overestimated the percentage of viable cells, particularly below the 50-percent level. CFU‐GM frequency correlated better with cell viability measured by AO/PI (r 2
Control of Stochasticity in Eukaryotic Gene Expression

Noise, or random fluctuations, in gene expression may produce variability in cellular behavior. To measure the noise intrinsic to eukaryotic gene expression, we quantified the differences in expression of two alleles in a diploid cell. We found that such noise is gene-specific and not dependent on the regulatory pathway or absolute rate of expression. We propose a model in which the balance between promoter activation and transcription influences the variability in messenger RNA levels. To confirm the predictions of our model, we identified both cis- and trans-acting mutations that alter the noise of gene expression. These mutations suggest that noise is an evolvable trait that can be optimized to balance fidelity and diversity in eukaryotic gene expression.
Women—the Impact of Advances in Fertility Control on Their Future: A Presidential Address

It was not until the era of the pill in the 60s that absolute control of reproduction was a reality. With the present technology we have the potential to accomplish the demographers ideal of 2 children per family thereby theoretically making it possible to have every child a wanted child. The author feels that the next goals should be both an improvement of the quality of the progeny as well as education of women to be productive in the role of individual as well as reproducer; thereby being better mothers. Legalized adoption leads to dropped prematurity rates which shows the effect of one sociological change on another. 1 of the future considerations should be the investigation of the ideal environment for raising children. The fulfillment of the individual should also be studied. In order to raise better children who only become human some time after birth we need better preparation for motherhood and fatherhood. There is also a need to provide alternative outlets for the people who choose to have a small family or no children. Fetal growth should be studied more thoroughly in order to insure the quality of the 2 children.
A New Measure of Home Exercise Benefits and Barriers

Background: To increase physical activity among college students, new approaches are needed including the exploration of home-based exercise. However, research related to potential facilitators and barriers to exercising at home is limited. Purpose: The goal of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measure that can assess predictors of home exercise. Methods: A systematic approach was used to develop items for the new measure and to examine its psychometric properties. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to investigate the internal structure of the measure. External validity and initial construct validity were examined using correlations of the new subscale measures with existing valid measures of exercise. Results: Two hundred thirty-two adults (65% women and 72% white) completed a cross-sectional survey. The final PCA solution resulted in a 28-item measure with 7 distinct subscales with individual item loadings ranging from 0.64 to 0.91. These subscales comprised 3 higher order scales o...
Double-pulse neodymium YAG/Carbon dioxide laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for excitation of bulk and trace analytes

ABSTRACTThe mechanisms involved in signal enhancement and persistence of the plasma in double-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy are investigated, and their implications to improving figures of merit for bulk and trace analytes in sample are discussed. For double-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, 1064 nm neodymium YAG laser is used for ablation and 10.6 µm transversely excited atmospheric carbon dioxide laser in near-collinear geometry is used for reheating. Significant improvement in signal detection and sensitivity of both bulk and trace analytes using double-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy as compared to conventional single-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy are observed. Using double-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in near-collinear geometry, Cu and Fe as bulk and trace analytes, respectively, in brass sample, showed 5 and 6 times improvement in persistence of the spectral emission. Temporal and time-integrated studies show that ionic lines are significa...
Hypertension with Arteriolar and Glomerular Changes in the Albino Rat Following Subtotal Nephrectomy

Chanutin and Ferris1 have already reported hypertension and renal insufficiency in rats following partial nephrectomy. This report describes briefly the histological changes in the kidney stump of rats at intervals after subtotal nephrectomy and records additional blood pressure observations.In this experiment 184 Wistar strain albino rats were studied. In 157 of these, approximately two-thirds of the left kidney was removed by polar ligation, and the remaining right kidney was excised one week later. Of 27 control animals, each had 2 laparotomies (one week apart) when the kidneys were exposed, handled and replaced intact. After the operative procedures all of the animals were fed on a normal balanced diet containing approximately 20% protein. At intervals varying from one to 281 days after second operation, a direct carotid blood pressure reading was made (ether anesthesia), and autopsy then performed. Infection was not encountered except in rare instances, and did not affect the results reported below. ...
X-Ray Powder Data for Acetaminophen (C8H9NO2)

X-ray powder data and crystal data for acetaminophen, C8H9NO2, are reported and results are compared to existing PDF patterns.
Dickkopf-related protein 1 (Dkk1) regulates the accumulation and function of myeloid derived suppressor cells in cancer

Tumor-stroma interactions contribute to tumorigenesis. Tumor cells can educate the stroma at primary and distant sites to facilitate the recruitment of heterogeneous populations of immature myeloid cells, known as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs suppress T cell responses and promote tumor proliferation. One outstanding question is how the local and distant stroma modulate MDSCs during tumor progression. Down-regulation of β-catenin is critical for MDSC accumulation and immune suppressive functions in mice and humans. Here, we demonstrate that stroma-derived Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) targets β-catenin in MDSCs, thus exerting immune suppressive effects during tumor progression. Mice bearing extraskeletal tumors show significantly elevated levels of Dkk1 in bone microenvironment relative to tumor site. Strikingly, Dkk1 neutralization decreases tumor growth and MDSC numbers by rescuing β-catenin in these cells and restores T cell recruitment at the tumor site. Recombinant Dkk1 suppresses β-catenin target genes in MDSCs from mice and humans and anti-Dkk1 loses its antitumor effects in mice lacking β-catenin in myeloid cells or after depletion of MDSCs, demonstrating that Dkk1 directly targets MDSCs. Furthermore, we find a correlation between CD15(+) myeloid cells and Dkk1 in pancreatic cancer patients. We establish a novel immunomodulatory role for Dkk1 in regulating tumor-induced immune suppression via targeting β-catenin in MDSCs.
Analysis of co-morbidities of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for patients in Yangpu District of Shanghai

Objective To analyze the features of co-morbidities of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease( C O PD) for residents in the Yangpu D istrict of Shanghai.Methods According to the data provided by the C enter for D isease C ontrol and Prevention of the Yangpu D istrict of Shanghai,patients whose death ages in medical certificates of death from2003 to 2011 were ≥ 40 years and one of death causes was C O PD were selected.T he immediate cause of death( Part I of death causes of the medical certificate) and contributing cause( Part II of death causes of the medical certificate) were collectively designated as non-underlying causes of death.Results From2003 to 2011,63 161 patients whose ages were ≥ 40 years were died in the Yangpu D istrict of Shanghai.A total of 8 838 patients died of C O PD( underlying cause for 5 678 patients) and the average age was( 81.3 ± 7.6) years.Among them,there were 5 555 male patients and 2 783 female patients.W hen C O PD was considered as the non-underlying causes of death,the common underlying causes of death were ischemic heart diseases( 33.4%),cerebrovascular diseases( 14.8%),lung cancer( 14.4%),and diabetes( 3.6%).W ith the increase of age,the proportion of cancer gradually decreased and the proportion of cardiovascular diseases gradually increased( P 0.05),while the proportion of cerebrovascular diseases did not change significantly( P 0.05).W hen C O PD was considered as the underlying cause,the common non-underlying causes of death were pulmonary heart diseases( 25.3%),ischemic heart diseases( 23.2%),cerebrovascular diseases( 13.9%),diabetes( 8.8%),and cancer( 5.5%).Conclusion C ardiovascular diseases,cancer,cerebrovascular diseases,and diabetes were common co-morbidities of C O PD patients in Yangpu D istrict of Shanghai.
INDESTRUCTIBILITY AND THE LEVINSKI PROPERTY

We investigate some possible interactions between an in- destructibly supercompact cardinal and a generalization of a property originally due to Levinski (18).
MicroCT image based simulation to design heating protocols in magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia for cancer treatment.

Abstract Objectives The objective is to design heating protocols to completely damage PC3 tumors after a single magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia session with minimal collateral thermal damage, based on microCT image generated tumor and mouse models. Methods Tumor geometries and volumetric heat generation rate distributions that are generated from microCT scans in our previous study are imported into COMSOL 4.3® multiphysics for heat transfer simulations and heating protocol design using the Arrhenius damage model. Then, parametric studies are performed to evaluate how significantly the infusion rate affects the protocol design and its resulted collateral thermal damage. Results The simulated temperature field in the generated tumor geometry and volumetric heat generation rate distribution are reasonable and correlates well with the amount of the total thermal energy deposited into the tumors. The time needed for complete thermal damage is determined to be approximately 12 min or 25 min if one uses the Arrhenius integral Ω equal to 1 or 4 as the damage threshold, when the infusion rate is 3 μL/min. The heating time increases 26% or 91% in the higher infusion rate groups of 4 or 5 μL/min, respectively. Collateral thermal damage to the surrounding tissue is also assessed. Although the two larger infusion rate groups can still cause thermal damage to the entire tumor, the collateral thermal damage would have exceeded the design criterion of 5%, while the assessment criterion is acceptable only in the infusion rate group of 3 μL/min. Based on the results of this study, we identify an injection strategy and heating protocols to be implemented in future animal experiments to evaluate treatment efficacy for model validation.
The Conjunct Order in Algonquian

This article examines the conjunct order found in Algonquian languages and attempts to characterize the difference between the conjunct and the independent orders in formal terms. Most of the examples are drawn from Passamaquoddy-Maliseet and Montagnais. Specific morphological properties of the two orders are considered: the ability to take person prefixes, the richness of agreement features, and the phonological conditioning of stem-initial vowels. A weak word order effect is observed in Montagnais, and the overall distribution of the two verb paradigms is examined. All of these facts are related to the hypothesis that verbs bearing conjunct morphology move to Comp, while independent verbs remain in Infl. This operation is motivated by the dependence of a conjunct clause on a higher verb or noun, as in subordination or relativization. In some cases, the dependency may derive from the adjunct status of the conjunct clause itself. The overall picture is one of a configurational language type, with superficial differences reducible to parametric variation.
Nanowires for quantum information processing

Key aspects of the growth of site selected InP nanowires will be discussed, focussing on those relevant to quantum information processing. Parameters including high brightness, narrow linewidth and single photon purity, and a route to integration into planar optical circuits will be discussed.
Cortical Hypometabolism in West Syndrome

The association between changes on serial PET studies and the clinical course of 12 patients with newly diagnosed West’s syndrome is reported from the Departments of Pediatrics and Radiology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Microcalcifications : quel apport de la tomosynthèse ?

Resume Une controverse existe sur l’apport de la tomosynthese tridimensionnelle dans la detection et la caracterisation des microcalcifications. Les microcalcifications sont mieux vues en trois dimensions, mais un amas n’est pas forcement percu en totalite puisque le lecteur progresse dans le « pave » de coupes, une par une ou en faisant varier un peu l’epaisseur de coupes.
Structure and activity of thermophilic methanogenic microbial communities exposed to quaternary ammonium sanitizer

Food processing facilities often use antimicrobial quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) sanitizers to maintain cleanliness. These QACs can end up in wastewaters used as feedstock for anaerobic digestion. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of QAC contamination on biogas production and structure of microbial communities in thermophilic digester sludge. Methane production and biogas quality data were analyzed in batch anaerobic digesters containing QAC at 0, 15, 50, 100 and 150 mg/L. Increasing sanitizer concentration in the bioreactors negatively impacted methane production rate and biogas quality. Microbial community composition data was obtained through 16S rRNA gene sequencing from the QAC-contaminated sludges. Sequencing data showed no significant restructuring of the bacterial communities. However, significant restructuring was observed within the archaeal communities as QAC concentration increased. Further studies to confirm these effects on a larger scale and with a longer retention time are necessary.
Analysis of Hospital Readmission Patterns in Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries.

PURPOSE OF STUDY The study was conducted to examine the hospital readmission patterns of two groups of Medicare beneficiaries-those covered by traditional Medicare (Medicare fee-for-service [FFS]) and those enrolled in a Medicare risk plan (Medicare Advantage [MA])-and to determine the characteristics that significantly increase the likelihood of multiple hospital readmissions. PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTING The study setting is the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) located in Philadelphia, PA. METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE A retrospective descriptive study design was used to analyze the electronic data from the HUP information technology system for Medicare beneficiaries, 65 years and older, who had an index hospital admission at the HUP during 2012 (January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012), and were subsequently readmitted one or more times to the HUP during the observation period. RESULTS FFS and MA beneficiaries were hospitalized an average of 1.5 (±1.0) times; 69% were rehospitalized once and 30% were rehospitalized two or more times. Characteristics that increased the likelihood of multiple hospital readmissions included being discharged on a weekend, admitted through the emergency department with a diagnosis of injury and poisoning, being diagnosed with a new problem of the circulatory system, having an exacerbation of a circulatory system illness, and having an infection related to a previous admission. Characteristics that decreased the likelihood of multiple hospital readmissions included being discharged to a skilled nursing facility and being discharged home with home health services. IMPLICATIONS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE Identification of the risk factors and characteristics that increase the likelihood of multiple hospital readmissions will permit early interventions in discharge planning, as evidenced by decreasing the rate of hospital readmissions and the length of hospital stays, increasing in time to hospital readmission, and preventing the first readmission and a subsequent return to the hospital.
Flexible Cluster matching methods for Nested Case-Control Studies: Design and Statistical Considerations for a study of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

A nested case-control is a case-control study within a cohort. An advantage of the nested case-control design is the number of subjects for whom outcome measures are needed are small compared to the cohort size, which is ideal when acquisition of outcomes is costly and time consuming and prevalence of cases is small. Existing selection schemes such as 1:1, 1:m, and m:n have been implemented in various studies. Upon choice of scheme, implementation requires consistent implementation across all strata, which is usually too restrictive in nested case-control studies. To maximize the usage of the available information, we propose a flexible cluster matching algorithm, in which multiple cases are matched to a group of selected controls. This may lead to unbalanced designs and induce complicated correlation structures. Mixed Effects models provide a flexible modeling framework to account for the clustering structure together with other study designs, such as repeated measures. An illustration from a nested case-control study consisting of longitudinal data is presented.
Antioxidant Therapy in Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Physiological levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are required for proper functioning of the male and female reproductive system. However, imbalances between ROS production and antioxidant systems induce oxidative stress, which can jeopardize the quality of the gamete and the developing embryo and cause many pregnancy disorders, such as spontaneous abortion, recurrent pregnancy loss, preeclampsia, fetal embryopathies, and intrauterine growth restriction. This review discusses the adverse effect of ROS-induced oxidative stress in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) outcome, ROS generated in vitro by gametes and embryos, and ROS generated by external sources in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory and the protocols used, including gamete/embryo handling, composition and pH of culture media, temperature and oxygen concentration during incubation, centrifugation and freeze-thaw protocols, as well as visible light. Studies on oral supplementation of enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants are discussed. Although there is no one antioxidant that is considered the best choice for improving ART outcomes, some antioxidants show promising results. Additional well-designed trials are needed to determine the appropriate type(s) and concentration of antioxidant(s) that would be helpful to infertile patients with various etiologies. Studies are also warranted in the improvement of ART protocols to minimize ROS formation during assisted reproduction.
Inline detection for FinFET gate poly footing using e-Tilt metrology

Advanced FinFET device architecture generates new profile control requirement in 1× node and beyond. The corner at the intersection between the Gate and Fin is critical geometry for device yield and reliability. The residue-free corner at Gate-Fin interface after Polysilicon gate etch is desirable yet also a known challenge to detect and control. Current detection methods for gate poly footing, also known as gate skirt, are destructive with long turnaround time, resulting in slow progress in process development and high-volume process control. To meet the gap, e-Tilt imaging technique along with corner rounding algorithm has been developed on CDSEM platform to visualize and quantify residue at fin-gate intersection (poly-footing). In this paper, we'll discuss the challenges, approaches, and results associated with the first-in-industry implementation of the inline poly-footing detection within a HVM Fab. Two sets of DOEs (Design of Experiment) were conducted to validate the sensitivity to Etch recipes and Etch Chambers. The accuracy and precision of the poly-footing measurement were qualified with correlation to commonly used hammer test results and eTest results. Future study includes precision and throughput improvement to meet the need of 1× node.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Schizophrenia

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a recently developed noninvasive technique for examining brain function and relies on detecting changes in MRI signals from brain regions that are differentially activated by sensory, cognitive, or pharmacological stimuli. For an in depth discussion of fMRI principles and methodology, see Sanders and Orrison (1995). fMRI relies on the fact that capillaries and red blood cells within tissues induce microscopic magnetic field gradients that shorten the effective transverse relaxation decay rate (T2 *) to a degree that depends on the precise magnetic susceptibility of blood. Magnetic susceptibility determines the intensity of magnetic field experienced within a region and depends on the local oxygen tension. Blood containing oxyhemoglobin has a magnetic susceptibility close to that of tissue water, whereas blood containing deoxyhemoglobin (which is paramagnetic) has a very different susceptibility. Neuronal activation in response to some stimulus produces a local blood flow increase whereby local oxygen delivery actually exceeds oxygen utilization, and the net amount of deoxyhemoglobin decreases. The result is that the oxygen tension of the tissue rises, and venous blood becomes more oxygenated. The intravascular magnetic susceptibility then more closely matches the surrounding tissue than it does when the vessels contain deoxyhemoglobin.
Ridges in Riemannian Geometry

Chapter 3 discussed the fundamental concepts of generalized local extrema and height ridges. The concepts were applied to functions f: ℝ n → ℝ where ℝ n is the set of n-tuples of real numbers. An implicit assumption was made that ℝ n , as a geometric entity, is standard Euclidean space whose metric tensor is the identity. The same concepts are definable even if ℝ n is assigned an arbitrary positive definite metric tensor. The extension to Riemannian geometry requires tensor calculus which is discussed in Section 2.3. Most notably the constructions involve the ideas of covariant and contravariant tensors and of covariant differentiation.
Climbing with Snake-Like Robots

Abstract This paper presents an implementation of a long serial chain robot that can climb stairs in a “snake-biting-its-tail” loop form, climb up ramps using a travelling wave gait and by adding small spikes or cleats it can also climb near vertical porous materials. The gaits are controlled with a gait control table which is a simple but powerful way to coordinate the motion of many degrees of freedom. The gaits are implemented on Poly Bot G1v4, a self-sufficient modular reconfigurable robot with onboard power, computation, sensors and actuators.
Crime Prevention and Intervention Over the Life Course

A central tenant of the life course paradigm as applied to criminology is that the causes of the onset and termination of criminal behavior vary over different stages of the life course. Since crime prevention and intervention programs are designed to change these causal characteristics and conditions, it follows that effective crime prevention and intervention programs will likely target different causal factors for interventions involving children, adolescents, and adults. A scientific standard for identifying effective, evidence-based crime prevention programs and practices is proposed and programs meeting this standard are described. The risk and protective factors targeted by these programs and practices designed for children, adolescents, and adults are examined and differences and similarities across these stages of the life course are described.
Impact of Climate Change on Soil Salinity: A Remote Sensing Based Investigation in Coastal Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to sea level rise due to the climate change. Soil salinity is one of the potential threat to the coastal ecosystem and agriculture which might hinder the country's future food security. Conventional field-based soil salinity monitoring over vast region may not be cost and time efficient. Satellite remote sensing is offering an efficient way to monitor soil salinity via different indices. This study monitors soil salinity in five years interval from 1990 to 2015 using a regression equation which is developed and tested in the same geographical area to calculate soil salinity from Landsat images. The result shows that soil salinity increases significantly in most of the part of the study area in 25 years period. The percentage of very high saline soil is increased from less than 1% in 1990 to 33% in 2015 which is very alarming for the agriculture growth in this area.
Inotuzumab ozogamicin in combination with low-intensity chemotherapy (mini-HCVD) with or without blinatumomab versus standard intensive chemotherapy (HCVAD) as frontline therapy for older patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A propensity score analysis.

Background: The outcome of older patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is poor. The combination of targeted therapy with low-intensity chemotherapy was safe and effective. The aim of the analysis is to compare outcome of patients treated with the combination of inotuzumab ozogamicin with low-intensity chemotherapy (mini-HCVD) with or without blinatumomab to that of patients who received the standard intensive hyper-CVAD (HCVAD) regimen.
Paleoecology and taphonomy of late Pleistocene Dicrostonyx from Wyoming caves

Abstract Dicrostonyx has been reported from seven Late Pleistocene localities in Wyoming. All localities are stratified, highly fossiliferous and detail a similar sequence of faunal changes through the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Three of these are found in the northern Bighorn Mountains: Natural Trap Cave, Prospects Shelter and Shutdown Shelter. Little Box Elder and Bell Caves are found in the Laramie Range while Little Canyon Creek Cave and Bush Shelter are found in the southern Bighorn Mountains. These latter four localities contain sizable samples of Dicrostonyx teeth which have not been previously described. All four of these faunas date older than 12,000 years B.P. A review of the physiology of Dicrostonyx shows the genus is adapted to cold, moist climates and should not be used as an indicator of an environment similar to the modern High Arctic tundra. Preliminary examination of occlusal surfaces of Dicrostonyx teeth from these four localities suggests a taphonomy resulting from both diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey, similar to studies on the Dicrostonyx remains from Natural Trap Cave. There remains a slight possibility for at least some of the Dicrostonyx remains to be accumulated due to mammalian carnivore predation.
Abstract 4977: Dynamic transcriptional programs controlling single NK cell killing dynamics

NK cells have a vast heterogeneity in function and phenotype in vivo and their healthy function is critical in the prevention of nascent cancers. NK cell-based immunotherapies, such as adoptive NK cell therapy, are emerging and greater insights into the mechanism of NK cell activation could increase their efficacy. In vitro cytotoxicity assays have revealed that a small subset of NK cells kill the majority of cancer target cells, yet little is known about the dynamic state or triggers of these highly cytotoxic cells. Here, we present methodology for discovery of the molecular precursors and drivers of single NK cell killing events. We study the NK-92 cell line both as a model of primary NK cells and to gain direct insights for improving NK-92 based adoptive cell therapies. In our method, we first performed single cell RNA sequencing on NK-92 cells seeded sparsely on a monolayer of HeLa cancer cells along with a control NK-92 cell population. Clustering cells by principal component analysis revealed groups of NK cells that upregulated genes associated with NK cell cytotoxicity in the HeLa cell activated sample that are absent in the control group. Landmark genes associated with the cytotoxic NK cell clusters included PRF1, GZMK, and ITGB2. Utilizing live cell imaging, we identified categories of dynamic functional phenotypes in NK-92 cells exposed to a HeLa cell monolayer including non-motile and non-killing, highly motile but non-killing, single killing, serial killing, and exhausted. In order to link the systems-level single cell gene expression data to functional NK cell behaviors, we next performed high content live cell imaging of NK-92 cells bearing cas9-based endogenous genetic reporters as they surveilled and killed HeLa cells. Utilizing a custom analysis algorithm, we tracked the motility and killing activity of individual NK-92 cells, and correlated this activity to the dynamic gene expression. Next, we aim to identify the causality and sequence of transcriptional changes associated with NK cell killing and extend our results to the analysis of the critical transcription factor networks governing dynamic NK cell functional phenotypes. We note that the single cell functional discovery strategy that we have shown can be applied more broadly to other model systems of the cancer microenvironment. Citation Format: Matthew S. Hall, Joseph T. Decker, Emanuelle I. Grody, Rachel B. Blaisdell, Jacqueline S. Jeruss, Lonnie D. Shea. Dynamic transcriptional programs controlling single NK cell killing dynamics [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4977.
Competing mechanisms of plasticity impair compensatory responses to repetitive apnoea.

KEY POINTS Intermittent reductions in respiratory neural activity, a characteristic of many ventilatory disorders, leads to inadequate ventilation and arterial hypoxia. Both intermittent reductions in respiratory neural activity and intermittent hypoxia trigger compensatory enhancements in inspiratory output when experienced separately, forms of plasticity called inactivity-induced inspiratory motor facilitation (iMF) and long-term facilitation (LTF), respectively. Reductions in respiratory neural activity that lead to moderate, but not mild, arterial hypoxia occludes plasticity expression, indicating that concurrent induction of iMF and LTF impairs plasticity through cross-talk inhibition of their respective signalling pathways. Moderate hypoxia undermines iMF by enhancing NR2B-containing NMDA receptor signalling, which can be rescued by exogenous retinoic acid, a molecule necessary for iMF. These data suggest that in ventilatory disorders characterized by reduced inspiratory motor output, such as sleep apnoea, endogenous mechanisms of compensatory plasticity may be impaired, and that exogenously activating respiratory plasticity may be a novel strategy to improve breathing. ABSTRACT Many forms of sleep apnoea are characterized by recurrent reductions in respiratory neural activity, which leads to inadequate ventilation and arterial hypoxia. Both recurrent reductions in respiratory neural activity and hypoxia activate mechanisms of compensatory plasticity that augment inspiratory output and lower the threshold for apnoea, inactivity-induced inspiratory motor facilitation (iMF) and long-term facilitation (LTF), respectively. However, despite frequent concurrence of reduced respiratory neural activity and hypoxia, mechanisms that induce and regulate iMF and LTF have only been studied separately. Here, we demonstrate that recurrent reductions in respiratory neural activity ('neural apnoea') accompanied by cessations in ventilation that result in moderate (but not mild) hypoxaemia do not elicit increased inspiratory output, suggesting that concurrent induction of iMF and LTF occludes plasticity. A key role for NMDA receptor activation in impairing plasticity following concurrent neural apnoea and hypoxia is indicated since recurrent hypoxic neural apnoeas triggered increased phrenic inspiratory output in rats in which spinal NR2B-containing NMDA receptors were inhibited. Spinal application of retinoic acid, a key molecule necessary for iMF, bypasses NMDA receptor-mediated constraints, thereby rescuing plasticity following hypoxic neural apnoeas. These studies raise the intriguing possibility that endogenous mechanisms of compensatory plasticity may be impaired in some individuals with sleep apnoea, and that exogenously activating pathways giving rise to respiratory plasticity may be a novel pharmacological strategy to improve breathing.
Focused CW Mm-Wave Characterization of Lossy Penetrable Dielectric Slab Affixed to Human Body

Building on a previously developed virtual-source model for loss-less dielectric slabs attached to metallic planes, we present a fast focused raster scanned spot continuous-wave (CW) method to find the thickness, dielectric permittivity, and loss-tangent of lossy dielectric slabs that could potentially be explosive threats. A library of reflection responses for objects with different sizes and electric properties is precomputed, and an inversion algorithm incorporates the measured data to predict the object features. It is shown that this characterization is possible even using only a single working frequency. The method is validated empirically by comparing to the synthetic reflection of the millimeter-wave imaging radar.
Will the Young People Win? Don't Let Gun Control Debate Become an Intergenerational Conflict, NJ Star-Ledger

This opinion piece discusses the dangers of turning gun control into an intergenerational conflict.
Magnetic excitations of the hybrid multiferroic ( ND 4 ) 2 FeCl 5 · D 2 O

We report a comprehensive inelastic neutron scattering study of the hybrid molecule-based multiferroic compound $({\mathrm{ND}}_{4}{)}_{2}{\mathrm{FeCl}}_{5}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}{\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$ in the zero-field incommensurate cycloidal phase and the high-field quasicollinear phase. The spontaneous electric polarization changes its direction concurrently with the field-induced magnetic transition, from mostly aligned with the crystallographic $a$ axis to the $c$ axis. To account for such a change in polarization direction, the underlying multiferroic mechanism was proposed to switch from the spin-current model induced via the inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction to the $p\text{\ensuremath{-}}d$ hybridization model. We perform a detailed analysis of the inelastic neutron data of $({\mathrm{ND}}_{4}{)}_{2}{\mathrm{FeCl}}_{5}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}{\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$ using linear spin-wave theory to quantify magnetic interaction strengths and investigate the possible impact of different multiferroic mechanisms on the magnetic couplings. Our result reveals that the spin dynamics of both multiferroic phases can be well described by a Heisenberg Hamiltonian with easy-plane anisotropy. We do not find notable differences between the optimal model parameters of the two phases. The hierarchy of exchange couplings and the balance among frustrated interactions remain the same between two phases, suggesting that magnetic interactions in $({\mathrm{ND}}_{4}{)}_{2}{\mathrm{FeCl}}_{5}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}{\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$ are much more robust than the electric polarization in response to delicate reorganizations of the electronic degrees of freedom in an applied magnetic field.
Auxiliary Networks for Joint Speaker Adaptation and Speaker Change Detection

Speaker adaptation and speaker change detection have both been studied extensively to improve automatic speech recognition (ASR). In many cases, these two problems are investigated separately: speaker change detection is implemented first to obtain single-speaker regions, and speaker adaptation is then performed using the derived speaker segments for improved ASR. However, in an online setting, we want to achieve both goals in a single pass. In this study, we propose a neural network architecture that learns a speaker embedding from which it can perform both speaker adaptation for ASR and speaker change detection. The proposed speaker embedding is computed using self-attention based on an auxiliary network attached to a main ASR network. ASR adaptation is then performed by subtracting, from the main network activations, a segment dependent affine transformation of the learned speaker embedding. In experiments on a broadcast news dataset and the Switchboard conversational dataset, we test our system on utterances with a change point in them and show that the proposed method achieves significantly better performance as compared to the unadapted main network (10–14% relative reduction in word error rate (WER)). The proposed architecture also outperforms three different speaker segmentation methods followed by ASR (around 10% relative reduction in WER).
Optimization of Large-Scale Battery Energy Storage Applications in Transmission System

Day-to-day operational difficulties created by the intermittency of the large-scale renewable energy resources like wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) in the electric grid is well documented. With higher penetration, there is a dire need of storage systems at both T&D levels. Gas turbine units (acting as the de facto storage) have been built along with the wind and PV to alleviate the situation. Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is another promising idea. However, it is difficult to determine the optimal size and location and justify the cost. This paper addresses this by forming a probabilistic non-linear optimization problem whose objective function is to maximize the BESS energy arbitrage revenue. One case study is presented using the IEEE Std. 9-bus system. The proposed methodology can be expanded to other BESS applications.
invisaWear: Building Traction With Crowdfunding:

While attending a networking event hosted by The Capital Network in the Summer of 2017, a rather innocuous conversation with an investor put invisaWear co-founders Rajia Abdelaziz and Ray Hamilton ...
Perceptions by early career tropical researchers on the impact of COVID-19 six months into the pandemic

Abstract The impacts of COVID-19 on early career tropical researchers are diverse and complex, including lack of funding opportunities, limitations to conducting fieldwork in remote places, reduced collaborations and networking, and difficulties when living and collecting data abroad. Here, we examine the current and future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on this population through a survey of 213 students and early career tropical researchers from around the world. As of September 2020, 55% of participants had already experienced financial repercussions due to the pandemic. Future worries were diverse and included equal concern regarding advancement (collaborations and networking), job uncertainty, fieldwork, and funding, as well as mental health concerns. Successful strategies to support student and early career researchers with regards to the pandemic should include mentoring from those in more advanced career positions on how to reframe research that is no longer feasible to complete as originally intended. Additionally, those responsible for hiring decisions should not penalize applicants for gaps in productivity during this time.
Effect of Magnetite on Anaerobic Digester Biogas, Hydrogen Sulfide Gas, Digester Effluent, and Related Processes

AbstractSome wastewater treatment (WWT) facilities are using magnetite in their treatment process, through a technology called BioMag, and stabilizing their wasted sludge using anaerobic digestion ...
The Density Matrix

We are going to require a more general description of a quantum state than that given by a state vector. The density matrix provides such a description. Its use is required when we are discussing an ensemble of pure states or when we are describing a subsystem of a larger system.
Climate Change, Marine Environments, and the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Climate change is expected to be a top driver of global biodiversity loss in the 21st century. It poses new challenges to conserving and managing imperiled species, particularly in marine and estuarine ecosystems. The use of climate-related science in statutorily driven species management, such as under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), is in its early stages. This article provides an overview of ESA processes, with emphasis on the mandate to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to manage listed marine, estuarine, and anadromous species. Although the ESA is specific to the United States, its requirements are broadly relevant to conservation planning. Under the ESA, species, subspecies, and "distinct population segments" may be listed as either endangered or threatened, and taking of most listed species (harassing, harming, pursuing, wounding, killing, or capturing) is prohibited unless specifically authorized via a case-by-case permit process. Government agencies, in addition to avoiding take, must ensure that actions they fund, authorize, or conduct are not likely to jeopardize a listed species' continued existence or adversely affect designated critical habitat. Decisions for which climate change is likely to be a key factor include: determining whether a species should be listed under the ESA, designating critical habitat areas, developing species recovery plans, and predicting whether effects of proposed human activities will be compatible with ESA-listed species' survival and recovery. Scientific analyses that underlie these critical conservation decisions include risk assessment, long-term recovery planning, defining environmental baselines, predicting distribution, and defining appropriate temporal and spatial scales. Although specific guidance is still evolving, it is clear that the unprecedented changes in global ecosystems brought about by climate change necessitate new information and approaches to conservation of imperiled species. El Cambio Climatico, los Ecosistemas Marinos y el Acta Estadunidense de Especies en Peligro.
Locus-wide identification of Egr2/Krox20 regulatory targets in myelin genes

Myelination of peripheral nerves by Schwann cells depends upon a gene regulatory network controlled by early growth response Egr2/Krox20, which is specifically required for Schwann cells to initiate and maintain myelination. To elucidate the mechanism by which Egr2 regulates gene expression during myelination, we have performed chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis on myelinating rat sciatic nerve in vivo. The resulting samples were applied to a tiled microarray consisting of a broad spectrum of genes that are activated or repressed in Egr2-deficient mice. The results show extensive binding within myelin-associated genes, as well as some genes that become repressed in myelinating Schwann cells. Many of the Egr2 peaks coincide with regions of open chromatin, which is a marker of enhancer regions. In addition, further analysis showed that there is substantial colocalization of Egr2 binding with Sox10, a transcription factor required for Schwann cell specification and other stages of Schwann cell development. Finally, we have found that Egr2 binds to promoters of several lipid biosynthetic genes, which is consistent with their dramatic up-regulation during the formation of lipid-rich myelin. Overall, this analysis provides a locus-wide profile of Egr2 binding patterns in major myelin-associated genes using myelinating peripheral nerve.
Hierarchy and Partnership in New Orleans

Recently, increasing numbers of partnerships have emerged in which universities work to address economic, social, and political problems within troubled communities. Such experiences have led to careful discussion of the model such efforts should follow, and a literature which has assessed such activity as overwhelmingly positive. Based on team ethnographic research, this case study discusses the emergence of one such partnership that was forged at high levels of government and university administration. Such an emergence, we argue, impacted the partnership in such a way that the interests of more powerful members outweighed those of members with less power. Unequal interests influenced the structure of the partnership, its ability to carry out its mission, the participation of community residents, and intentions for the future of the partnership.
Measuring the Impact of Externalities on College of Agriculture Teaching Evaluations

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is employed as an aid in improving instruction and determining faculty teaching effectiveness. However, economic theory indicates the existence of externalities in SET scores that directly influence their interpretation. As a test of this existence, a multinomial-choice, ordered data estimation procedure is employed to identify course externalities influencing SET. These externalities include student class standing, required courses, class size, days a class meets, class meeting time, classroom location, and classroom design. Results indicate that externalities have a significant impact on teaching evaluations. Thus, failure to internalize these externalities will lead to biases in SET and questionable use of SET as an aid in instruction improvement and determining faculty effectiveness.
Effects of partial closure and friction on a radial crack emanating from a circular hole

A radial crack emanating from a circular hole in an infinite sheet under tension is considered. Depending on the crack length and location, the crack may be partially or completely open or closed. In case of closure, interfacial friction influences the solution. Stress intensity factors for inclined tension or in-plane shear are computed and compared with those obtained when closure and friction are ignored.