cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Graphene Nanoribbon FETs: Technology Exploration for Performance and Reliability

Graphene nanoribbon FETs (GNRFETs) are promising devices for beyond-CMOS nanoelectronics due to their excellent carrier-transport properties and potential for large-scale processing and fabrication. This paper combines atomistic quantum-transport modeling with circuit simulation to perform technology exploration for GNRFET circuits. Results indicate that GNRFETs offer significant gains over scaled CMOS at the 22-, 32-, and 45-nm nodes, with over 26-144× improvement in the energy-delay product at comparable operating points. A quantitative study of the effects of variations and defects on the performance and reliability of GNRFET circuits is also presented. Simulation results indicate that whereas GNRFET circuits promise higher performance, lower energy consumption, and comparable reliability at similar operating points to scaled CMOS circuits, they are more susceptible to variations and defects. These results motivate significant engineering, modeling, and simulation challenges facing the device and computer-aided design (CAD) communities involved in graphene electronics research.
Abnormalities of Cholesterol Metabolism in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Although Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS), a genetic condition of impaired cholesterol biosynthesis, is associated with autism [Tierney et al., 2001; Am J Med Genet 98:191-200.], the incidence of SLOS and other sterol disorders among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is unknown. This study investigated (1) the incidence of biochemically diagnosed SLOS in blood samples from a cohort of subjects with ASD from families in which more than one individual had ASD and (2) the type and incidence of other sterol disorders in the same group. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, cholesterol, and its precursor sterols were quantified in 100 samples from subjects with ASD obtained from the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) specimen repository. Although no sample had sterol levels consistent with SLOS, 19 samples had total cholesterol levels lower than 100 mg/dl, which is below the 5th centile for children over age 2 years. These findings suggest that, in addition to SLOS, there may be other disorders of sterol metabolism or homeostasis associated with ASD.
Polytype InAs/AlSb/GaSb for field-effect transistor applications

Recent results on heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs) based upon the InAs/AlSb/GaSb material system are reviewed. Both n- and p-channel HFET structures based on the InAs/AlSb/GaSb material system have been demonstrated. The GaSb p-channel devices exhibit transconductances superior to that of any other III-V based p-channel device and show promise for future integration with an InAs channel device to form a complementary heterostructure technology. InAs channel devices have also exhibited high transconductances and low output conductances, and predicted cutoff frequencies are at least twice as high as for GaAs-based FETs. Thus, these InAs n-channel HFETs alone show promise for room temperature microwave applications. Further progress in the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth and processing of these device structures should bring about further improvements in device performance. >
Enzyme and whole cell production of flavor and fragrance compounds

Etude de la biosynthese d'aldehyde et d'esters naturels a partir de levures du genre Candida ou de leurs enzymes (lipases). Parametres cinetiques et nature des composes formes en fonction de l'alcool present dans le milieu de culture
Polydnaviruses: Mutualists and Pathogens

Insects, like other animals and plants, possess effective immune mechanisms that protect them from introduced abiotic materials, microorganisms, or other invertebrates (16, 17, 35, 36, 78). Protection can depend on the presence of constitutive, preformed factors and/or inducible humoral and cellular re­ sponses. Active immune responses entail mechanisms for (a) the recognition of introduced material as nonself and (b) a regulated alteration of physiology that results in the inactivation, suppression, or removal of the foreign materi­ al. Endoparasitoid insects spend part of their lives in the bodies of other insects. Many behavioral, morphological, nutritional, and endocrine factors, too numerous to consider here, determine whether the dynamic interaction between a given host and parasitoid is compatible, leading to the successful development of the parasitoid, or incompatible, leading to the destruction of the parasitoid (133, 134). However, as noted in the seminal works of George Salt (see citations in 41), a fundamental paradox underlies compatible parasi­ tic relationships including host-parasitoid interactions, i.e. the compatible parasitoid is not eliminated by the cellular immune defenses that protect the host from other incompatible parasitoids. Therefore, the successful parasitoid
The effect of the long anchor duration on performance in the temporal bisection procedure

Abstract The present study investigated how the value of the long anchor duration influences the bisection point (BP) in the temporal bisection procedure. The ratio similarity rule (Gibbon, 1981, On the form and location of the psychometric bisection function for time. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 24 (1), 58–87) hypothesizes that the location of the BP is determined by a ratio comparison between the short and long anchor durations. The Short/no short hypothesis (Machado and Keen, 2003, Temporal discrimination in a long operant chamber. Behavioural Processes, 62 (1), 157–182) indicates that the location of the BP is influenced mainly by the short duration. Two experiments with pigeons manipulated the long anchor duration while fixing the short anchor duration in a series of anchor pairs. The results showed that the location of the BP depended on the initial training condition, a primacy effect. When the initial training condition used anchors of 3- vs. 9-s, a relatively strong influence of the long anchor duration was observed as predicted by the ratio similarity rule. On the other hand, when anchors were 3- vs. 27-s in the initial training condition, the effect of the long duration was relatively small, conforming more closely to the Short/no short hypothesis. Keypecking to the sample key during a trial, sample-cue responding, was also observed. The functions relating sample-cue responding to elapsed trial time also indicated the primacy effect.
Abstract B36: Pyruvate kinase M2 regulates adipocyte differentiation and the expression of enzymes involved in glucose metabolism

The number of overweight and obese individuals continues to increase in both the U.S. and worldwide. This increase has led to a significant increase in obesity-related medical problems including diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and cancer. In obesity, the differentiation of adipocytes is suppressed. Although adipocyte differentiation is associated with changes in glucose metabolism, little is known about the potential of enzymes involved in glucose metabolism to modulate this process. Pyruvate kinase (PK) mediates the rate-limiting step of glycolysis. The M2 isoform of PK (PKM2) is expressed in adipocytes but its role in adipogenesis is unknown. Here we demonstrate that PKM2 regulates the differentiation of both human and mouse adipocytes. Silencing of PKM2 in preadipocytes led to increased lipid accumulation, enhanced expression of markers (FABP4, PPARgamma, C/EBPBeta) of adipocyte differentiation and caused a shift in the pattern of enzymes involved in glucose metabolism favoring the TCA cycle. Overexpression of PKM2 suppressed adipocyte differentiation. In obesity, increased numbers of macrophages are found in adipose tissue and are believed to contribute to insulin resistance. Interestingly, we found that activated macrophages produce factors that inhibit adipocyte differentiation leading to increased levels of enzymes involved in aerobic glycolysis including PKM2. Given its importance in regulating adipocyte differentiation, we investigated the mechanism by which PKM2 expression was regulated. The HIF-1alpha - c-Myc - HnRNPA1 pathway induced PKM2 in preadipocytes. The redox sensor CtBP1 was found to be a negative regulator of this pathway. Taken together, these results provide evidence that PKM2 is not only expressed in adipose tissue but is also a determinant of adipocyte differentiation. Whether pharmacologically targeting PKM2 will impact on obesity or its consequences warrants further investigation. Citation Format: Tetsuo Kimura, Priya Bhardwaj, Domenick J. Falcone, Andrew J. Dannenberg, Kotha Subbaramaiah. Pyruvate kinase M2 regulates adipocyte differentiation and the expression of enzymes involved in glucose metabolism. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2014 Sep 27-Oct 1; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2015;8(10 Suppl): Abstract nr B36.
Abstract B49: mTORC2 directs breast morphogenesis through Rictor-dependent PKCα/Rac1 signaling independent of Akt

Akt phosphorylation is a major driver of cell survival, motility, and proliferation in development and disease, causing increased interest in upstream regulators of Akt like mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2). We used genetic disruption of Rictor to impair mTORC2 activity in mouse mammary epithelia, which decreased Akt phosphorylation, ductal length, secondary branching, cell motility, and cell survival. These effects were recapitulated with a pharmacological dual inhibitor of mTORC1/mTORC2, but not upon genetic disruption of mTORC1 function via Raptor knock-out. Surprisingly, Akt re-activation was insufficient to rescue survival, branching, or motility of mTORC2-impaired mammary epithelial cells (MECs). However, activation of the mTORC2 substrate protein kinase C (PKC)-α fully rescued branching, invasion, and survival of MECs after genetic or pharmacological mTORC2 inhibition. PKCα-mediated signaling through the small GTPase Rac1 was necessary for mTORC2-dependent mammary morphogenesis, revealing a novel role for Rictor/mTORC2 in survival and motility of untransformed MECs through an Akt-independent, PKCα/Rac1-dependent mechanism. Citation Format: Meghan M. Morrison, Christian D. Young, Shan Wang, Violeta M. Sanchez, Cook S. Rebecca, Donna J. Hicks, Dana M. Brantley-Sieders. mTORC2 directs breast morphogenesis through Rictor-dependent PKCα/Rac1 signaling independent of Akt. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Targeting the PI3K-mTOR Network in Cancer; Sep 14-17, 2014; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(7 Suppl):Abstract nr B49.
An ISO-Protein Model Food System for Evaluating Food Texture Effects

Perceptions of food quality, acceptability and satiety are often driven by food texture. It is hypothesized that food texture alters satiety by adjusting eating rate and enjoyment; however, few studies have evaluated wide ranges of food textures with standardized nutritional compositions. The goal of this study was to formulate and characterize a set of isocaloric, macronutrient-matched model foods with varying textures. Six distinct food textures were produced by varying the extent and type of aggregation of 11% whey protein isolate solutions. Textures were grouped into fluid-like (fluid, thin and thick semisolids) and solid-like (three soft solid gels) based on rheological and sensory properties. Increasing sample mechanical stiffness coincided with increasing cohesiveness in fluid-like textures and decreasing cohesiveness in solid textures; total oral manipulations increased with increasing stiffness. Trends in sensory cohesiveness reflected that solid textures are fractured with the molars while fluid-like textures are manipulated by tongue and jaw movements. These model foods demonstrated properties in the range of commercial food products. They are applicable to investigating structural mechanisms responsible for texture and satiety. A scheme was developed that outlines structural breakdown and coinciding perception of textural properties during oral processing. Practical Applications Understanding the multidisciplinary relationships among food structure, texture, sensory perception, satiety and nutrient availability are fundamental in the formulation of healthy and enjoyable food products. However, the selection of products to evaluate the role of food structure upon texture and health is often difficult due to variations in macronutrients, total calories, and sample volume. This research provides a nutritionally standardized model food system that spans a textural spectrum of fluids, semisolids, and soft solids. The basic model foods presented here can be used to establish fundamental relationships between food structure and physiological outcomes. Additionally, these model foods can easily be reformulated to represent more complex structures (e.g., mixed gels, emulsions) or to evaluate the effects of added flavor or color.
Intestinum Scelus: Preemptive Execution in Tacitus' Annals

This chapter examines Tacitus' representation of the legacy of civil war in his history of the Julio‐Claudian period, the Annals, arguing that civil war persists during the pax Augusta as a kind of banalization of state violence against citizens, a political system that consumes its own. It studies Tacitus' multi‐episode account of Nero's paranoid, possibly cynical, and ultimately self‐defeating appropriation of civil war exempla to motivate the suppression of potential dissent.
Infrared dynamics of cold atoms on hot graphene membranes

We study the infrared dynamics of low-energy atoms interacting with a sample of suspended graphene at finite temperature. The dynamics exhibits severe infrared divergences order by order in perturbation theory as a result of the singular nature of low-energy flexural phonon emission. Our model can be viewed as a two-channel generalization of the independent boson model with asymmetric atom-phonon coupling. This allows us to take advantage of the exact nonperturbative solution of the independent boson model in the stronger channel while treating the weaker one perturbatively. In the low-energy limit, the exact solution can be viewed as a resummation (exponentiation) of the most divergent diagrams in the perturbative expansion. As a result of this procedure, we obtain the atom's Green function which we use to calculate the atom damping rate, a quantity equal to the quantum sticking rate. A characteristic feature of our results is that the Green's function retains a weak, infrared cutoff dependence that reflects the reduced dimensionality of the problem. As a consequence, we predict a measurable dependence of the sticking rate on graphene sample size. We provide detailed predictions for the sticking rate of atomic hydrogen as a function of temperature and sample size. The resummation yields an enhanced sticking rate relative to the conventional Fermi golden rule result (equivalent to the one-loop atom self-energy), as higher-order processes increase damping at finite temperature.
A Highly Sensitive Chemiluminometric Assay for Real-Time Detection of Biological Hydrogen Peroxide Formation.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a major reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by various cellular sources, especially mitochondria. At high levels, H2O2 causes oxidative stress, leading to cell injury, whereas at low concentrations, this ROS acts as an important second messenger to participate in cellular redox signaling. Detection and measurement of the levels or rates of production of cellular H2O2 are instrumental in studying the biological effects of this major ROS. While a number of assays have been developed over the past decades for detecting and/or quantifying biological H2O2 formation, none has been shown to be perfect. Perhaps there is no perfect assay for sensitively and accurately quantifying H2O2 as well as other ROS in cells, wherein numerous potential reactants are present to interfere with the reliable measurement of the specific ROS. In this context, each assay has its own advantages and intrinsic limitations. This article describes a highly sensitive assay for real-time detection of H2O2 formation in cultured cells and isolated mitochondria. This assay is based on the luminol/horseradish peroxidase-dependent chemiluminescence that is inhibitable by catalase. The article discusses the usefulness and shortcomings of this chemiluminometric assay in detecting biological H2O2 formation induced by beta-lapachone redox cycling with both cells and isolated mitochondria.
Biogas Production from Anaerobic Codigestion of Microalgae and Septic Sludge

AbstractMicroalgae have been well recognized as one of the clean and renewable biomass energy resources. Codigestion using different cosubstrates has been shown to improve the anaerobic digestibility of microalgae and increase the biogas yield and methane content. This study investigated the effectiveness of using septic sludge as a cosubstrate to anaerobically digest microalgae. After 30 days of co digestion at 35°C, the codigestion group (25% algae, 50% algae, and 75% algae) had an average biogas production of 547.3±35.6 mL/gVSfed, an amount that more than tripled the biogas production from the 100% algae group. The addition of septic sludge to the microalgae resulted in more favorable initial carbon to nitrogen ratios (C/N) (11:1 to 27:1), improved digestibility of algal biomass, and decreased hydrogen concentrations, which were directly related to the increased quantity and quality of methane produced. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of using septic sludge as a cosubstrate to anaerobically...
A Conceptual Model Incorporating Mindfulness to Enhance Reflection in a Situated Learning Environment

In order to identify elements essential to integrating mindfulness as an instructional strategy to enhance reflection-in-action within situated learning, a conceptual model was developed using Type 2 design and development research methods for model development and model validation. The model brings together the literature on situated learning, reflection-in-action, and mindfulness to derive strategies to improve reflective practice within situated learning by incorporating reflection-in-action and mindfulness. Key elements for promoting reflection before, during, and after the situated learning experience, along with complimentary mindfulness strategies, are included throughout the model, as supported within the literature. The model was designed to aid instructional designers in addressing difficulties faced with designing for situated learning particularly in promoting reflection within the environment. The following chapter presents the conceptual model developed in this study along with examples of ways to incorporate each strategy to aid in the application and usability of the model.
A healthcare utilization cost comparison between employees receiving a worksite mindfulness or a diet/exercise lifestyle intervention to matched controls 5 years post intervention

Abstract Objective To compare healthcare costs and utilization among participants in a study of two active lifestyle interventions implemented in the workplace and designed to foster awareness of and attention to health with a propensity score matched control group. Design and setting We retrospectively compared changes in healthcare (HC) utilization among participants in the mindfulness intervention (n = 84) and the diet/exercise intervention (n = 86) to a retrospectively matched control group (n = 258) drawn for this study. The control group was matched from the non-participant population on age, gender, relative risk score, and HC expenditures in the 9 month preceding the study. Main outcome measures Measures included number of primary care visits, number and cost of pharmacy prescriptions, number of hospital admissions, and overall healthcare costs tracked for 5 years after the intervention. Results Significantly fewer primary care visits (p Conclusion This study provides valuable information as to the cost savings and value of providing workplace lifestyle interventions that focus on awareness of one’s body and health. Health economic studies validate the scale of personal and organization health cost savings that such programs can generate.
Quantitation of arterial spin labeling MRI labeling efficiency in high cervical velocity conditions using phase contrast angiography

The objective of this study is to measure flow velocities in the four major vessels supplying the brain using phase contrast angiography (PCA) MRI and to use these measurements to estimate labeling efficiency in the popular cerebral blood flow (CBF)-weighted arterial spin labeling (ASL) approach in patient cervical vessels with variable flow velocity. ASL and PCA scans were performed on controls (n=7), and patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) with known, elevated flow velocity (n=19). Mean blood flow velocities were computed for the internal carotid and vertebral arteries using PCA. ASL labeling efficiencies were calculated by requiring that the CBF be identical between PCA and ASL. The results showed that ASL labeling efficiencies in patients with SCD are significantly lower (p<0.05) than in controls, causing an underestimation of CBF from ASL when using labeling efficiencies that do not control for flow velocity; solutions for this fundamental limitation are proposed.
Feeding ecology of nonnative, inland Fundulus grandis in the Lower Pecos River

Abstract Gulf killifish, Fundulus grandis, have been introduced in the Lower Pecos River and are highly abundant in reaches of the Permian Basin region. Very little is known about the ecology of nonnative, inland populations of F. grandis. We investigated the feeding ecology of this species in the Pecos River using stomach contents analysis and laboratory feeding trials. Inland F. grandis were piscivorous, consuming more fish prey than has been reported from native coastal ecosystems. Predation by F. grandis could threaten native species in the Pecos River and other inland systems where it has been introduced.
Thinking abstractly like a duck(ling)

In the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? , when one of a trio of bungling prison escapees angrily asks another, “Who elected you leader of this outfit?” his buddy smugly quips, “I figured it should be the one with the capacity for abstract thought.” Indeed, abstract conceptual thought is held to be so central to being human that the idea of someone being incapable of this kind of thinking is a subject for (sometimes rather cruel) humor. Interest in understanding the capacity for abstract thought has been a matter of serious consideration that dates back at least three centuries to the famous English philosopher John Locke. Locke confidently contended that “brutes abstract not” ( 1 ) and insisted that exhibiting abstract thought definitively divided humans from all other animals. However, no science then existed to confirm or refute Locke's contention. On page 286 of this issue, Martinho and Kacelnik ( 2 ) put the claim that animals are incapable of abstract thought to a strong behavioral test.
Total Synthesis of (-)-Salvinorin A.

Salvinorin A (1) is natural product that in humans is a hallucinogen which binds the human κ-opioid receptor. A total synthesis has been developed that parlays L-(+)-tartaric acid into that of (-)-1 via an unprecedented allylic dithiane intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction to obtain the trans-decalin scaffold. Tsuji allylation set the C9 quaternary center and a late-stage stereoselective chiral ligand-assisted addition of a 3-titanium furan upon a C12 aldehyde / C17 methyl ester established the furanyl lactone moiety. The tartrate diol was finally converted into the C1,C2-keto-acetate. This new synthetic route is designed to generate previously unobtainable structural analogs of the salvinorins to selectively modulate the activities of the human opioid receptors.
Geontologies: A Requiem to Late Liberalism

In Geontologies Elizabeth A. Povinelli continues her project of mapping the current conditions of late liberalism by offering a bold retheorization of power. Finding Foucauldian biopolitics unable to adequately reveal contemporary mechanisms of power and governance, Povinelli describes a mode of power she calls geontopower , which operates through the regulation of the distinction between Life and Nonlife and the figures of the Desert, the Animist, and the Virus. Geontologies examines this formation of power from the perspective of Indigenous Australian maneuvers against the settler state. And it probes how our contemporary critical languages—anthropogenic climate change, plasticity, new materialism, antinormativity—often unwittingly transform their struggles against geontopower into a deeper entwinement within it. A woman who became a river, a snakelike entity who spawns the fog, plesiosaurus fossils and vast networks of rock weirs: in asking how these different forms of existence refuse incorporation into the vocabularies of Western theory Povinelli provides a revelatory new way to understand a form of power long self-evident in certain regimes of settler late liberalism but now becoming visible much further beyond.
Universal Leukocyte Reduction

S controversy exists as to whether the United States should require that all transfused red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets have 99.91% of residual white blood cells (WBCs) removed by filtration (universal leukocyte reduction [ULR]), regardless of the intended recipient’s medical history.1–9 Great Britain and Canada instituted ULR in 1999,6 in part for theoretical concerns about blood transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Not only is there no human evidence for such transmission, but there is no evidence that ULR filtration renders blood or fluids noninfectious for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This article will outline the ULR medical debates, consider the appropriateness of such regulation, review the choices associated with this potential blood safety improvement, and discuss supply and economic implications. Under ULR, all platelets and RBCs available from blood centers will be leukoreduced (LR). This change results both from new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) quality control standards affecting bedside LR blood products and from the desire of blood centers to have only 1 type of inventory. The primary established advantage of LR blood products is reduced rates of alloimmunization to WBCs and platelets. Such reduction is desirable for patients undergoing repeated transfusions of platelets, particularly those with hematologic malignancies. Alloimmunization is a major cause of lower in vivo yield of platelet transfusions and reduces the success rate of allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Avoiding alloimmunization and WBC cytokines also should lower the frequency of febrile transfusion reactions. Again, the clear benefit is primarily for patients receiving repeated transfusions, including some with nonmalignant hematologic disorders, such as hemoglobinopathies, as well as those with malignancies. Unfortunately, while WBC cytokines induce fevers, many transfusion-associated fevers occur for other coincidental reasons, and findings for all patients are not clear cut. This problem is seen in 2 reports from large transfusion services comparing preand post-ULR febrile reactions. One brief note cited a more than 90% rate reduction with ULR,2 and the other, a full article, had a statistically insignificant change from 0.12% to 0.08% of transfusions.9
Comparative leaf growth strategies in response to low-water and low-light availability: variation in leaf physiology underlies variation in leaf mass per area in Populus tremuloides

Developmental phenotypic plasticity can allow plants to buffer the effects of abiotic and biotic environmental stressors. Therefore, it is vital to improve our understanding of how phenotypic plasticity in ecological functional traits is coordinated with variation in physiological performance in plants. To identify coordinated leaf responses to low-water (LW) versus low-light (LL) availability, we measured leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf anatomical characteristics and leaf gas exchange of juvenile Populus tremuloides Michx. trees. Spongy mesophyll tissue surface area (Asmes/A) was correlated with intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi: photosynthesis, (Aarea)/stomatal conductance (gs)). Under LW availability, these changes occurred at the cost of greater leaf tissue density and reduced expansive growth, as leaves were denser but were only 20% the final area of control leaves, resulting in elevated LMA and elevated WUEi. Low light resulted in reduced palisade mesophyll surface area (Apmes/A) while spongy mesophyll surface area was maintained (Asmes/A), with no changes to WUEi. These leaf morphological changes may be a plastic strategy to increase laminar light capture while maintaining WUEi. With reduced density and thickness, however, leaves were 50% the area of control leaves, ultimately resulting in reduced LMA. Our results illustrate that P. tremuloides saplings partially maintain physiological function in response to water and light limitation by inducing developmental plasticity in LMA with underlying anatomical changes. We discuss additional implications of these results in the context of developmental plasticity, growth trade-offs and the ecological impacts of climate change.
Severe pre-eclampsia among pregnant women with sickle cell disease and HIV

Abstract Objective The relationship between sickle cell disease (SCD) and severe pre-eclampsia is poorly established. It is also unknown whether the occurrence of HIV infection among women with SCD modifies their risk level for severe pre-eclampsia. We hypothesized that pregnant women with SCD are at an elevated risk for severe pre-eclampsia as a result of heightened endothelial damage; and the combination of SCD-HIV augments the inflammatory processes of endothelial damage leading to amplified risk for severe pre-eclampsia. Study design We analyzed more than 57 million pregnancy-related hospitalizations and births in the US from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2014. Main outcome measures We applied multivariable survey logistic regression to generate odds ratios for the association between SCD, HIV and SCD-HIV status and severe pre-eclampsia with adjustment for potential confounders. Results Of the total 57,326,459 pregnant women, 57,198,505 (99.78%) did not have SCD or HIV, 73,064 (12.7 per 10,000) had HIV only, 54,890 (9.58 per 10,000) had SCD only and 222 (0.39 per 100,000) had both SCD and HIV. Mothers with SCD and HIV-SCD experienced a significant elevation in risk for severe pre-eclampsia of about 60% (OR = 1.61; 95% CI = 1.44, 1.79) and of more than 300% (OR = 4.28; 95% CI = 1.35, 13.62) respectively. Conclusion In the largest study on SCD and pre-eclampsia in the world, we established SCD to be strongly associated with severe pre-eclampsia. Another unique finding is the synergistic effect of amplified risk for severe pre-eclampsia among mothers with the combined SCD-HIV status.
Anishnaabe Aki: an indigenous perspective on the global threat of invasive species

Conservation discourses tend to portray invasive species as biological entities temporally connected to colonial timelines, using terms such as “alien”, “colonizing”, “colonial”, and “native”. This focus on a colonial timeline emerges from scientific publications within conservation biology and invasion ecology and is enacted through invasive species management by state and NGO actors. Colonialism is influential for indigenous nations in myriad ways, but in what ways do indigenous understandings of invasive species engage with colonialism? We conducted ethnographic research with indigenous Anishnaabe communities to learn about the ways Anishnaabe people conceptualize invasive species as a phenomenon in the world and were gifted with three primary insights. First, Anishnaabe regard plants, like all beings, as persons that assemble into nations more so than “species”. The arrival of new plant nations is viewed by some Anishnaabe as a natural form of migration. The second insight highlights the importance of actively discovering the purpose of new species, sometimes with the assistance of animal teachers. Lastly, while Anishnaabe describe invasive species as phenomenologically entangled with colonialism, the multiple ways Anishnaabe people think about invasive species provide alternatives to native–non-native binaries that dominate much of the scientific discourse.
Effect of age of cell suspension cultures on susceptibility to a fungal elicitor

Fungal elicitor induced phytoalexin formation and the corresponding fluorescence transitions of the molecular probes pyranine and oxonol VI, in soybean (Glycine max Merr var Kent) and cotton (Gossypium arboreum L. Nanking) cell suspensions were both significantly affected by the age of the cells. During the lag phase and the beginning of the exponential growth phase both cultures exhibited stress responses (i.e. phytoalexin formation and molecular probe fluorescence transitions) in the absence of added elicitors. This behavior was termed autoelicitation because elicitation occurred without added external stimuli. In contrast, cells in the late exponential-early stationary phase were relatively unresponsive to elicitor. During intermediate growth periods the cell suspensions behaved optimally, producing no phytoalexins until stimulated with an elicitor. It would appear, therefore, that the culture period can be divided into 3 phases, with respect to susceptibility to fungal elicitors: a distinct autoelicitation period (immediately after transfer of the cells into fresh medium), followed by a period in which negligible amounts of phytoalexins are synthesized without elicitor, and culminating in a late period in which the cells respond poorly to elicitor. The onset and duration of these periods are somewhat different for soybean and cotton cells.
Statistically Significant Versus Biologically Significant Effects of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Growth

Publisher Summary This chapter describes statistically significant versus biologically significant effects of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on growth. Studies shows that infants fed on-3 LCPUFA-supplemented formulas or formulas with a high content of α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3), the precursor of n-3 LCPUFAs, experience lower rates of growth than do infants fed unsupplemented formulas or formulas with a low ALA content. The first studies of n-3 LCPUFA supplementation (8,13), preterm infants fed a formula supplemented with fish oil (0.3% of total fatty acids as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and 0.2% of fatty acids as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) weighed less from 40 weeks postmenstrual age throughout the first year of life than infants fed an unsupplemented formula. It is found that across groups of term infants fed formulas with different contents of ALA, there was a positive correlation between weight at both four and eight months of age and the plasma phospholipid content of AA at 4 months of age.
PLANT FUNCTION IN NODULATION AND NITROGEN FIXATION IN LEGUMES

While it is accepted that the understanding of the process of nitrogen fixation is best carried out in free-living nitrogen fixing organisms like Klebsiella pneumoniae, Azotobacter and Rhodopseudomonas, it is the symbiotic relationship between a nitrogen fixing prokaryote like Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium or Frankia with a eukaryotic host plant that has stimulated the interest of plant biologists, microbial geneticists and pathologists.
Short-term Memory, Cognitive Psychology of

‘Short-term memory’ refers to memory over a short time interval, usually 30 seconds or less. The intense study of short-term memory by cognitive psychologists began with the development of the distractor paradigm and the consequent discovery that a very short list of to-be-remembered items is rapidly forgotten if it cannot be rehearsed because of the requirement to perform a distractor task between the presentation of the to-be-remembered items and their subsequent recall. This article summarizes the findings obtained with this and related experimental paradigms. These findings are placed in the context of classical and current theories of cognitive psychology, including the buffer model and the perturbation model. The concept of short-term memory is distinguished from related theoretical concepts in cognitive psychology such as working memory and sensory memory.
Archaic and Modern Homo sapiens in the Contact Zones: Evolutionary Schematics and Model Predictions

Many models have been proposed to explain the emergence of the anatomically modern morphotype in Homo sapiens. These models selectively emphasize a variety of evolutionary processes in their attempts to address this phenomenon; included among them are speciation mechanisms, population migrations and replacements, the maintenance of gene flow, etc. In addition, the evolution of modern humans has been related to environmental adaptation (in a phylogenetic biogeographic mode), as well as to cultural or behavioral factors unique to hominid species. The two most prominent models, Out of Africa (sensu Stringer and Andrews 1988) and Multiregional Evolution (sensu Wolpoff, Wu & Thorne 1984; Smith, Falsetti & Donnelly 1989), adhere to underlying theoretical foundations and perspectives of evolutionary schematics. Differing viewpoints about the very processes of evolution itself are largely responsible for the models currently in vogue, although this bias is seldom fully acknowledged or explored. All inferences and interpretations advanced by paleoanthropologists are inherently biased by prior commitments to other, more basic models of evolutionary theory, regardless of the guise in which they may appear.
Radiographic Evaluation of Meniscal Extrusion.

Background Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is well established as the preferred noninvasive tool for meniscal evaluation. To our knowledge, there has been no study examining the utility of diagnosing meniscal extrusion from radiography alone. We hypothesize that with appropriate window settings, meniscal extrusion may be diagnosed on radiography with high sensitivity and specificity. Materials and methods We included 190 patients with MRI of the knee performed within three months of knee radiography. As defined within the literature, we utilized the MRI criteria of meniscal extrusion as meniscal tissue extending 3 mm or greater beyond the tibial plateau, excluding osteophytes. Two attending radiologists blindly and independently identified the absence or presence, in millimeters, of medial meniscal extrusion on plain film radiography. Kappa test and Pearson correlation coefficient were calculated to assess the extent of inter-reader agreement and correlation. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each reader, assuming the concurrent MRI served as the gold standard. Results Ninety-six patients had medial meniscal extrusion and 94 had no medial extrusion by MRI. Kappa test for inter-reader agreement = 0.61. Pearson coefficient for inter-reader measurement correlation = 0.69. Reader A had sensitivity of 0.59 (95% CI 0.49-0.69) and specificity of 0.88 (95% CI 0.79-0.94). Reader B had sensitivity of 0.61 (95% CI 0.51-0.71) and specificity of 0.85 (95% CI 0.76-0.91). Conclusion There is substantial inter-reader agreement and high correlation of meniscal extrusion measurement between readers. Our results suggest that while radiographs have low sensitivity for evaluation of meniscal extrusion, their high specificity may be of clinical utility.
Herbivorous Fish Populations Respond Positively to a Shipwreck Removal and Associated Alteration of Benthic Habitat

Shipwrecks can have significant localized effects when grounded on shallow coral reefs. These effects are not limited to the immediate physical damage, but can have wide-spread and lasting impacts due to alteration of the chemical makeup of the surrounding water column. This can subsequently impact the growth of benthic organisms, often leading to phase shifts and high levels of mortality of corals in the vicinity of the wreck. At Palmyra atoll, the grounding of a longline fishing vessel on the shallow reef terrace is associated with a phase shift to the corallimorph, Rhodactis howesii. In 2013, a wreck removal effort initiated by the US Department of Fish and Wildlife resulted in the successful extraction and disposal of the wreckage, after which the density and percent cover of R. howesii in the immediate vicinity of the wreck site dropped precipitously. Here, we document the response of the fish community to the wreck removal and localized decline in R. howesii. We show that the biomass of scarid parrotfishes and acanthurid surgeonfishes and unicornfishes (primarily herbivores) increased after the removal of the wreck, while biomass of chaetodontid butterflyfishes (primarily invertivores, many species are known to feed on coelenterate polyps) declined over the study period. The density of small scarids and acanthurids also increased, but only after a few years post removal. Overall these results indicate that Palmyra’s unfished herbivore population has rapidly responded to the removal of the wreck and associated decrease in corallimorph cover, can maintain high levels of grazing where space is made available for colonization of early successional algae species, and may have the potential to facilitate reef recovery.
Active Willis metamaterials for ultracompact nonreciprocal linear acoustic devices

Willis materials are complex media characterized by four macroscopic material parameters, the conventional mass density, the bulk modulus, and two additional Willis coupling terms, which have been shown to enable unsurpassed control over the propagation of mechanical waves. However, virtually all previous studies on Willis materials involved passive structures which have been shown to have limitations in terms of achievable Willis coupling terms. In this Rapid Communication, we show experimentally that linear active Willis metamaterials breaking these constraints enable highly nonreciprocal sound transport in very subwavelength structures. Furthermore, we present an experimental procedure to extract the effective material parameters expressed in terms of acoustic polarizabilities for media in which the Willis coupling terms are not constrained by the relationship holding in unbiased passive materials. The approach presented here will enable a generation of ultracompact Willis materials for enhanced sound control and improved acoustic imaging and signal processing.
Risk factors associated with the development of sepsis after reconstructive flap surgery.

AbstractSepsis is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition. Risk factors that are associated with the development of sepsis may differ as it relates to reconstructive flap surgery. The ...
Resonance promoted ring-opening metathesis polymerization of twisted amides.

The living ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of an unsaturated twisted amide using the third-generation Grubbs initiator is described. Unlike prior examples of ROMP monomers that rely on angular or steric strain for propagation, this system is driven by resonance destabilization of the amide that arises from geometric constraints of the bicyclic framework. Upon ring-opening, the amide can rotate and rehybridize to give a stabilized and planar conjugated system that promotes living propagation. The absence of other strain elements in the twisted amide is supported by the inability of a carbon analogue of the monomer to polymerize and computational studies that find resonance destabilization accounts for 11.3 kcal mol−1 of the overall 12.0 kcal mol−1 ring strain. The twisted amide polymerization is capable of preparing high molecular weight polymers rapidly at room temperature, and post-polymerization modification combined with 2D NMR spectroscopy confirms a regioirregular polymer microstructure.
Considérations anesthésiques et obstétriques chez une parturiente atteinte du syndrome de Klippel-Trenaunay

Resume Objectif Expliquer la demarche anesthesique consideree chez des patientes enceintes atteintes du syndrome de (SKT). Le syndrome de Klippel-Trenaunay est une maladie vasculaire congenitale caracterisee par des hemangiomes cutanes, des varicosites veineuses et ľhypertrophie ďun membre. Il est associe a des complications hemorragiques et thrombotiques. Ľimportance de ce diagnostic, dont la presence ďanomalies vasculaires neuraxiales, est souvent sous-estimee par les obstetriciens et les anesthesiologistes. Ľanesthesie regionale de patients atteints du SKT a ete discutee par ďautres ; nous presentons un cas ou ľanesthesie regionale a presente un risque injustifie pour la patiente
Sam Hill’s Adventures in Russia, 1899-1916: In His Own Words

Sam Hill wrote that St. Petersburg “is a city unlike any other in the world and in every way unique.” He went even further to claim that “the city of St. Petersburg, or the city of Moscow, offers more of interest to people than any city of the world.”1 Hill wrote these effusive comments about Russia’s two major cities not long after his first visit to Russia in 1899. Travel accounts of Russia by foreigners at at the turn of the century offer a wide range of views, and Hill’s depictions about his three trips to Russia in 1899, 1901, and 1916 follow that pattern. From the 1880s to the 1920s, there were many more travelers both directions and an explosion of travel writing, memoirs, letters and more, both published and unpublished.
An integrated data-driven modeling & global optimization approach for multi-period nonlinear production planning problems

Abstract In this work, we present an integrated data-driven modeling and global optimization-based multi-period nonlinear production planning framework that is applied to a real-life refinery complex. The proposed multi-period framework significantly extends and improves previous works based on single-period planning formulation by optimally managing inventories. The framework features (i) automatic generation of nonlinear and sparse data-driven process models where yields and properties of the process models are based on input properties and compositions, (ii) estimation of model parameters using two years of real-life plant data from the Daesan Refinery in South Korea, and (iii) global optimization of the large-scale nonlinear and multi-period production planning model using commercial global solvers. Computational results for multiple case studies show that the optimal multi-period plans outperform the actual plan by 57–94% in each period.