cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Growth and carbon accumulation in root systems of Pinus taeda and Pinus ponderosa seedlings as affected by varying CO2, temperature and nitrogen

It has been hypothesized that increasing atmospheric CO(2) concentration enhances accumulation of carbon in fine roots, thereby altering soil carbon dynamics and nutrient cycling. To evaluate possible changes to belowground pools of carbon and nitrogen in response to elevated CO(2), an early and a late successional species of pine (Pinus taeda L. and Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws, respectively) were grown from seed for 160 days in a 35 or 70 Pa CO(2) partial pressure at low or high temperature (30-year weekly mean and 30-year weekly mean + 5 degrees C) and a soil solution nitrogen concentration of 1 or 5 mM NH(4)NO(3) at the Duke University Phytotron. Seedlings were harvested at monthly intervals and growth parameters of the primary root, secondary root and tap root fractions evaluated. Total root biomass of P. ponderosa showed a positive CO(2) response (105% increase) (P = 0.0001) as a result of significant increases in all root fractions in the elevated CO(2) treatment, but all other main effects and interactions were insignificant. In P. taeda, there were significant interactions between CO(2) and temperature (P = 0.04) and CO(2) and nitrogen (P = 0.04) for total root biomass. An allometric analysis indicated that modulation of the secondary root fraction was the main response of the trees to altered environmental conditions. In P. ponderosa, there was an increase in the secondary root fraction relative to the primary and tap root fractions under conditions of low temperature. In P. taeda, there was a shift in carbon accumulation to the secondary roots relative to the primary roots under low temperature and low nitrogen. Neither species exhibited shifts in carbon accumulation in response to elevated CO(2). We conclude that both species have the potential to increase belowground biomass substantially in response to rising atmospheric CO(2) concentration, and this response is sensitive to temperature and nitrogen in P. taeda. Both species displayed small shifts in belowground carbon accumulation in response to altered temperature and nitrogen that may have substantial ecosystem consequences over time.
Adaptive coherent power combiner

This paper summarizes advances in liquid-crystal technology for use as tunable phase-delay lines. The amount of phase delay through the liquid crystal is adaptively tuned, in order to coherently combine two signals, regardless of their phase differences. By adaptively adjusting the phase delays in the two signal paths, maximum coherent power combining is ensured. This ability to coherently combine the power of two signals regardless of their initial phase differences can greatly simplify antenna-diversity techniques used in MIMO applications.
Preliminary Study on Radiological Protection level of Nuclear Medicine Department of A Hospital

[Objective]To analyze the test results of radiological protection level of nuclear medicine department of a hospital,so as to put forward optimized suggestion for radiological protection.[Methods]According to relative national standards,"FD-3013B" intelligent γradiometer was applied to measure the level of environmental radiological protection in nuclear medicine workplace,and "FJ-2201"(α、β) Surface contamination meter was used to conduct detection of surface contamination.[Results]The radiation maximum of the department and the surroundings was 1.95 μSv/h,the maximum of environmental radiation dose rate was 2.04 μSv/h,the maximum of surface contamination was0.29 Bq/cm2,the annually maximum effective dose among professional staff was 2.1 mSv.[Conclusion]The site of the nuclear medicine department is appropriate,and the layout is rational.The monitoring results for the radio protection and surface contamination in workplace accord with national standards.To protect the health of the staff and the public,the detection for the radio protection in all workplaces should be strengthened to realize the legitimacy of the practice and the optimization for the medical radiation.
Peripheral Arterial Perfusion: Is it Adequate for Wound Healing?

﻿﻿﻿﻿ ﻿Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) can seriously inhibit or prevent healing of lower extremity and foot ulcerations. The history and physical findings consistent with PAOD are reviewed and the typical characteristics of ischemic, venous, and neuropathic ulcerations are compared and contrasted. Noninvasive diagnostic testing techniques currently used to confirm the diagnosis of PAOD are summarized.
A Public Health Perspective on Reconstructing Post-Disaster Japan

This chapter reflects on the Great East Japan Earthquake through an analysis of three issues, starting with responses, moving then to consequences, and finally considering causes. First, I propose six public health principles for considering responses to the disasters and the reconstruction of Japan. The six principles provide a framework for assessing the responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake. Second, I examine the consequences of the disasters, especially for the victims and their struggle for redress. Potential responses are considered along three critical dimensions (care, compensation, and clean-up), based on the findings of a comparative study of responses to chemical disasters that I previously conducted. These three dimensions help the victims of disasters achieve redress. Each dimension of redress involves complex questions that go beyond technical aspects, and become involved in debates over politics and ethics. Third, I explore debates over fundamental causes of the nuclear power disaster. This exploration is based on the National Diet of Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission Report, which was submitted on 28 June 2012. The reflections on these three topics provide a broader context for other chapters in this book and also contribute to Japan’s ongoing deliberations about its recent past and future paths.
Application Case Studies

Chapter 1 through Chapter 8 have toured the evolution of an armored, general-purpose secure coprocessor as a trusted computing platform. This chapter will now present case studies that used this TCP to solve distributed trust problems. Section 9.1 will review the basic building blocks. Section 9.2 will use this TCP to harden Web servers and their applications. Section 9.3 will use this TCP to bind an archive of sensitive information to the policy established for its use. Section 9.4 will use this TCP to allow clients to request and modify data stored at a server that learns nothing about the access patterns. Section 9.5 explores some other applications, and1 Section 9.6 discusses some lessons learned from this experience.
Buyers’ Perception of the Price-Quality Relationship: The Turkish Case

This study is contrived to evaluate the perceived price-quality connection in Turkey, which is among the world’s industrializing nations. Data was collected in Istanbul, Turkey and analyzed using the Factor Analysis Techniques in the SPSSX routine. The study findings indicated that the price-quality relationship shows formations based upon socio-economic patterns, economic foundations, and value structure of a particular country. The interdependence of price and quality will motivate consumers to be particular about their choice and persuade manufacturers to produce and sell high quality products. Market success will depend upon how well price and quality are connected and how positive an opinion consumers have in this process.
Harmful Effects of Lead on Learning

Members of the Depts. Community Medicine, Education, Geology, and Med. Statistics Unit, Univ. Edinburgh, have investigated the effect of blood-lead on cognitive ability and educational attainment in a sample of 855 boys and girls aged 6-9 years from 18 primary schools in central Edinburgh.
Anaphylaxis Conundrum: A Trojan Horse Phenomenon

Anaphylaxis is a serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that may follow the ingestion of foods. Although these reactions usually follow a common clinical pattern and often demonstrate IgE sensitization to the antigen in question, both the clinical presentation and causative allergen may be atypical, surprising, and difficult to identify. Failure to identify the actual cause of the reaction can compromise treatment and complicate long-term care. Here, we present a patient who had symptoms of anaphylaxis after eating salmon, but confirmation of the causative allergen was not readily apparent. This particular case serves as an insightful lesson for patients undergoing evaluation for anaphylaxis and also provides a framework for navigating through a case involving identification of an underlying allergen.
UniSan: Proactive Kernel Memory Initialization to Eliminate Data Leakages

Operating system kernel is the de facto trusted computing base for most computer systems. To secure the OS kernel, many security mechanisms, e.g., kASLR and StackGuard, have been increasingly deployed to defend against attacks (e.g., code reuse attack). However, the effectiveness of these protections has been proven to be inadequate-there are many information leak vulnerabilities in the kernel to leak the randomized pointer or canary, thus bypassing kASLR and StackGuard. Other sensitive data in the kernel, such as cryptographic keys and file caches, can also be leaked. According to our study, most kernel information leaks are caused by uninitialized data reads. Unfortunately, existing techniques like memory safety enforcements and dynamic access tracking tools are not adequate or efficient enough to mitigate this threat. In this paper, we propose UniSan, a novel, compiler-based approach to eliminate all information leaks caused by uninitialized read in the OS kernel. UniSan achieves this goal using byte-level, flow-sensitive, context-sensitive, and field-sensitive initialization analysis and reachability analysis to check whether an allocation has been fully initialized when it leaves kernel space; if not, it automatically instruments the kernel to initialize this allocation. UniSan's analyses are conservative to avoid false negatives and are robust by preserving the semantics of the OS kernel. We have implemented UniSan as passes in LLVM and applied it to the latest Linux kernel (x86_64) and Android kernel (AArch64). Our evaluation showed that UniSan can successfully prevent 43 known and many new uninitialized data leak vulnerabilities. Further, 19 new vulnerabilities in the latest kernels have been confirmed by Linux and Google. Our extensive performance evaluation with LMBench, ApacheBench, Android benchmarks, and the SPEC benchmarks also showed that UniSan imposes a negligible performance overhead.
Nationwide Analysis of Patients with ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Transferred for Primary Percutaneous Intervention: Findings from the American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline Program

Background— Current American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines recommend transfer and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients within the time limit of first contact to device ≤120 minutes. We determined the hospital-level, patient-level, and process characteristics of timely versus delayed primary PCI for a diverse national sample of transfer patients confined to a travel distance that facilitates the process. Methods and Results— We studied 14 518 patients transferred from non–PCI-capable hospitals for primary PCI to 398 National Cardiovascular Data Registry Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network Registry-Get With The Guidelines hospitals between July 2008 and December 2012. Patients with estimated transfer times >60 minutes (by Google Maps driving times) were excluded from the analysis. Patients achieving first door-to-device time ≤120 minutes were compared with patients with delayed treatment; independent predictors of timely treatment were determined using generalized estimating equations logistic regression models. The median estimated transfer distance was 26.5 miles. First door-to-device ≤120 minutes was achieved in 65% of patients (n=9380); only 37% of the hospitals were high-performing hospitals (defined as risk-adjusted rate, ≥75% of transfer STEMI patients with ≤120-minute first door-to-device time). In addition to known predictors of delay (cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, and prolonged door-in door-out time), STEMI referral hospitals’ rural location and longer estimated transfer time were identified as predictors of delay. In this diverse national sample, regional and racial variations in care were observed. Finally, lower PCI hospital annual STEMI volume was a potent predictor of delay. Conclusions— More than one third of US STEMI patients transferred for primary PCI fail to achieve first door-to-device time ≤120 minutes, despite estimated transfer times
Characterization of the number and site of APC mutations in sporadic colorectal cancer.

630Background: Truncating mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene are well-described events in the carcinogenesis of colorectal carcinomas (CRC) and may impact one or both APC alleles. These aberrations often fall within the mutation cluster region (MCR) of the APC gene to preserve a “just right” number of beta-catenin binding sites in the resulting mutant APC protein. Further clinical and genotypic characterization of CRCs based on number and site of mutations in APC determined using modern next generation sequencing methods is needed. Methods: Next generation sequencing of 70 CRC tumors was performed at a single institution via UNCseq to determine mutations in a panel of 247 oncogenes and tumor suppressors, including APC. RNASeq, DNA sequencing, and clinical characteristics from 224 colon and rectal cancer samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project were also obtained. Results: In the UNCseq cohort, 58 patients (83%) had at least one inactivating APC mutation, and 33 (47%) had two m...
Human-Human Hybridoma Monoclonal Antibodies in Diagnosis and Treatment of Neoplastic Disease

A new era in immunology was introduced by Kohler and Milstein (1975, 1976) when they devised a method for the production of mouse “hybridomas” capable of secreting monoclonal antibodies of predefined antigenic specificity. Immunologists were liberated from the constraints and difficulties previously associated with the preparation and use of heteroantisera, since the clonal selection and immortality of hybridoma cell lines assure the monoclonality, monospecificity, and permanent availability of their antibody products. However, although monoclonal antibodies of murine or other rodent origin have been extraordinarily powerful new reagents in laboratory investigations, their clinical use is likely to be severely limited by the fact that they are foreign proteins. Human immunoglobulin-producing cells have been fused to mouse myeloma cells to generate chimeric hybridomas (Schwaber, 1975; Levy and Dilley, 1978). Although there have been rare instances in which long-term, stable production of human antibody has thus been achieved (Schlom et al., 1980), most such hybrids have tended to be highly unstable due to the selective loss of human chromosomes. An alternative approach to the generation of antibody-producing human lymphocyte cell lines has involved the transformation of human B-lymphocytes with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (Steinitz et al., 1977; Zurawski et al., 1978; Koskimies, 1979) but this method appears to be of limited practical usefulness because the cultures tend to cease antibody production after a variable period (Zurawski et al., 1978).
Radioiodine plus prednisone prevented development or progression of ophthalmopathy in patients with Graves hyperthyroidism

Source Citation Bartalena L, Marcocci C, Bogazzi F, et al. Relation between therapy for hyperthyroidism and the course of Graves' ophthalmopathy. N Engl J Med. 1998 Jan 8;338:73-8.
Introducing the Arduino into early computing classes

Several states, including Arkansas, are introducing computing into their primary and secondary school curriculums. Where the focus is computer science (rather than, for example, information technology or data security), it may be useful to give students a concrete platform to introduce relevant computer science concepts. The Arduino platform provides a well-known, widespread, hardware and software interface that is useful in this context. The purpose of this workshop is to bring K12 and college instructors to the point where they feel comfortable introducing Arduinos into their classrooms.
Community Context and Child Health: A Human Capital Perspective.

Human capital theory suggests that education benefits individuals’ and their children’s health through the educational skills people acquire in school. This perspective may also be relevant at the community level: the greater presence of adults with educational skills in a community may be a reason why living in a more highly educated setting benefits health. I use Demographic and Health Survey data for 30 sub-Saharan African countries to investigate whether the percentage of literate adults—specifically women—in a community is associated with children’s likelihood of survival. I characterize 13,785 African communities according to the prevalence of women who are literate. Multilevel discrete-time hazard models (N = 536,781 children) confirm that living in a community where more women are literate is positively associated with child survival. The study supports the conceptualization of literacy, and potentially other educational skills, as forms of human capital that can spill over to benefit others.
Threat-based style of reacting to negative affect: Influences upon emotion regulation

This chapter views emotion regulation as the reaction to emotional reactivity, with an emphasis on the ability to shift attention and to focus attention in a sustained way, and the ability to activate or inhibit behavior. The chapter states that not only do genetic factors and major life adversities influence the proneness to negative affect, but the expression of negative affect is greatly moderated by the manner in which negative emotions are managed. Management of negative affect is as important as negative affectivity itself in the manifestation of excessive and persistent anxiety, and maladaptive reactions to negative affect may be sufficient for the emergence of anxiety disorders. Also, reactions to negative affect provide another pathway through which distinctions arise between anxiety and depression. That is, whereas negative affectivity is common to anxiety and depression, the style with which negative affect is regulated is likely to differ between them. It is found that parenting influences the child's ability to moderate threatening interpretations and to approach rather than avoid potential problems. Thus, whereas negative affectivity is hypothesized to intensify the salience of negative affect and related stimuli, the style of emotion regulation that contributes to anxiousness is hypothesized to be one that elevates the threat value of negative affect and related stimuli. Theoretically, adequate emotion regulation could offset the development of excessive anxiety in someone who was prone to negative affect, and excessive anxiety could emerge in the absence of negative affectivity but with a sufficiently threat-based style of emotion regulation.
Midwavelength interband cascade infrared photodetectors with superlattice absorbers and gain

We report on a comparison study of the electrical and optical properties of a set of device structures with different numbers of cascade stages, type-II superlattice (T2SL) absorber thickness, and doping variations, as well as a noncurrent-matched interband cascade infrared photodetectors (ICIP) structure with equal absorbers. Multistage ICIPs were demonstrated to be capable of operating at high temperatures at zero-bias with superior carrier transport over comparable conventional one-stage detectors. Based on the temperature dependence and bias sensitivity of their responsivities with various absorber thicknesses, the diffusion length is estimated to be between 0.6 and 1.0 μm for T2SL materials at high temperatures (>250 K). A comparison of responsivities between current matched ICIPs with varied absorber thicknesses and noncurrent-matched ICIPs with equal absorbers shows that the current-matching among cascade stages is necessary to maximize responsivity. Additionally, electrical gain exceeding unity is demonstrated in these detectors in the reverse-illumination configuration.
Public Administration Reform in Jordan: Concepts and Practices

This study reviews the transition of Jordan from a British colony to a modern independent state. It covers contextual attributes influencing the development of the administrative system such as cen...
The effect of a wearable physical activity monitor (Fitbit One) on physical activity behaviour in women: A pilot study

Introduction. With wearable technology topping both the 2016 and 2017 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Fitness Trends survey, research in this area is needed to help determine the importance of such devices. Purpose. To determine the effect of wearing a popular, commercially-available wearable activity monitor (i.e., Fitbit One) upon physical activity behaviour relative to a group who was not utilizing such a monitor. Methods. A sample of 19 healthy adult women completed the Human Activity Profile survey to assess physical activity behaviour pre – and post – intervention. For the intervention, nine participants received a Fitbit One accelerometer to wear for six weeks, while the remaining participants (control group) did not receive an accelerometer. Results. There were no significant differences (p ≥ 0.16) in physical activity. However, the control group reduced physical activity by ≥20% from pre to post intervention whereas the Fitbit One group was largely unchanged (0.5% - 2.4% decrease). Conclusion. While wearing a physical activity monitor did not increase physical activity behaviour it may help maintain it.
High-resolution magnetization transfer MRI in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Abstract Magnetization transfer (MT) contrast has been established as a marker of myelin integrity, and cervical spondylotic myelopathy is known to cause demyelination. Ten patients with clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) manifestations of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) were compared to the MRIs of seven historic healthy controls, using the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) and Nurick scores as the primary metrics. Transverse slices through the intervertebral discs of the cervical spine were acquired using a gradient echo sequence (MEDIC) with and without an MT saturation pulse on a 3 Tesla Siemens Prisma scanner (TR = 300 ms, TEeff = 17 ms, flip angle = 30°, in-plane resolution = 0.47 × 0.47 mm2). The CSM patients tended to have a lower mean MTR (30.4 ± 6.5) than the controls (34.8 ± 3.8), but the difference was not significant (independent samples t-test, p = 0.110, Cohen’s d = 0.80). The mean MTR across all intervertebral disc levels was not significantly correlated to the Nurick score (Spearman’s ρ = −0.489, p = 0.151). The intervertebral level with the lowest MTR in each cohort was not significantly different between groups (equal variances not assumed, t = 1.965, dof = 14.8, p = 0.068, Cohen’s d = 0.88), but the CSM patients tended to have a lower MTR. The mean MTR at this level was negatively correlated to the Nurick score among CSM patients (Spearman’s ρ = −0.725, p = 0.018). CSM patients tended to have decreased MTR indicating myelin degradation compared to our healthy subjects, and MTR was negatively correlated with the severity of CSM.
A Systematic Evaluation of Test Specification Derivation Methods for Multi-axis Vibration Testing

In the past decade, multi-axis vibration testing has progressed from its early research stages towards becoming a viable technology which can be used to simulate more realistic environmental conditions. The benefits of multi-axis vibration simulation over traditional uniaxial testing methods have been demonstrated by numerous authors. However, many challenges still exist to best utilize this new technology. Specifically, methods to obtain accurate and reliable multi-axis vibration specifications based on data acquired from field tests is of great interest. Traditional single axis derivation approaches may be inadequate for multi-axis vibration as they may not constrain profiles to adhere to proper cross-axis relationships—they may introduce behavior that is neither controllable nor representative of the field environment. A variety of numerical procedures have been developed and studied by previous authors. The intent of this research is to benchmark the performance of these different methods in a well-controlled lab setting to provide guidance for their usage in a general context. Through a combination of experimental and analytical work, the primary questions investigated are as follows: (1) In the absence of part-to-part variability and changes to the boundary condition, which specification derivation method performs the best? (2) Is it possible to optimize the sensor selection from field data to maximize the quality/accuracy of derived multi-axis vibration specifications? (3) Does the presence of response energy in field data which did not originate due to rigid body motion degrade the accuracy of multi-axis vibration specifications obtained via these derivation methods?
Intergenerational health disparities: socioeconomic status, women's health conditions, and child behavior problems.

cSYNOPSIS Objective. Relatively little is known about the intergenerational mechanisms that lead to social disparities in child health. We examined whether the association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and child behavior problems is mediated by maternal health conditions and behavior. Methods. Prospective cohort data (1979‐1998) on 2,677 children and their mothers were obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. SES, the Child Behavior Problems Index (BPI), and maternal smoking, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use before, during, and after pregnancy were examined. Results. Lower income and lower maternal education were associated with increased child BPI scores. Adjustment for maternal smoking, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use attenuated the associations between SES and child BPI by 26% to 49%. These maternal health conditions often occurred together, persisted over time, and were associated with the mother’s own childhood SES and pre-pregnancy health. Conclusions. Social disparities in women’s health conditions may help shape the likelihood of behavior problems in the subsequent generation. Improved public health programs and services for disadvantaged women across the lifecourse may not only address their own urgent health needs, but reduce social disparities in the health and well-being of their children.
Threatening the Harvest: The Threat from Three Invasive Insects in Late Season Vineyards

It is likely that both BMSB and SWD will continue to expand their geographic ranges. Their presence will present a complication for vineyard management at harvest. However, the magnitude of this disruption is still unclear. Bolda et al. (2009) projected significant losses to Pacific Coast small fruit crops from SWD, particularly if trade barriers are erected. There will likely be greater pesticide use shortly before harvest of grapes and other fruits and vegetables. Pesticide efficacy trials are now underway in many locations and optimum choices for chemical control would be available in the near future. Currently there is cause for concern, because the pyrethroid class, providing some of the greatest mortality at this time, has extremely negative effects on vineyard IPM programs, potentially inducing secondary pest problems. Some of these pests (e.g., mealybugs, Chap. 12) are vectors of important grapevine diseases. Under a global warming scenario, it is likely that BMSB will become a greater problem, because of decreased winter mortality. Based on a Japanese study, each 1°C is expected to result in approximately 13.5–16.5% decrease of winter mortality (Musolin 2007). In addition, earlier spring emergence of BMSB has been seen because of higher early spring temperatures. The wide host range of BMSB and SWD will complicate control programs (Nielsen and Hamilton 2009a). Efforts may be needed at the landscape level. MALB has been present in vineyards for a longer period of time. It now seems that this insect will pose the greatest threat not from primary injury to berries, but by concentrating in clusters that are already injured by other organisms. In such situations, managers should be vigilant in order to protect wine quality.
[Screening and identification of differential serum proteins related to dermatitis medicamentosa-like of trichloroethylene].

Objective To screen and identify differential serum proteins which might be involved in dermatitis medicamentosa-like of trichloroethylene (DMLT).Methods Three groups of sera were collected from population exposed to trichloroethylene(TCE)(group Ⅰ),patients suffering from DMLT(group Ⅱ),and the healed cases (group Ⅲ).After removing albumin and IgG in the three pools of sera,a comparative proteomic analysis was carried out. The images were analyzed using ImageMaster Platinum 2D 5.0 to screen the differentially expressed proteins.The protein spots were then subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry sequencing of tryptic peptides for further identification.Results The depletion of albaumin and IgG greatly increased the number of protein spots to 300±12.Five differential spots wore identifled.which were complement component C4b,apolipoprotein A-Ⅰ,apolipoprotein C-Ⅲ apolipoprotein C-Ⅱ and tranthyretin Compared with group Ⅰ,the expression levels of complement component C4b in group Ⅲ and apolipuprotein C-Ⅱ in group Ⅱ were up-regulated(1.352 88-fold,1.512 14-fold,respectively);compared with group Ⅰ,the expression levels of apolipoprotein A-Ⅰ,apolipoprotein C-Ⅲ and transthyretin in group Ⅱ were down-regulated (1.601 17-fold,1.034 49-fold,1.313 35-fold,respectively).Conclusion The findings of this study show that most of the identified differential proteins are closely related to immunity and liver dysfunction.which provides some evidence on elucidating the mechanisms and screening of biomarkers of TCE intoxication. Key words: Trichloroethylene; Serum; Electrophoresis,gel,two-dimensional; Spectrum analysis,mass
Integrating Presidential History into Middle School Physical Education Class

This article builds on existing research on cross-curricular methodology and outlines a teaching technique that integrates presidential history during physical education class for middle school students.
Force Feedback-Enabled Dexterous Robotic Micromanipulation Platform for Surgical Tasks

This paper describes the design and experimental evaluation of a dexterous, force feedback-enabled robotic micromanipulation system. The system is composed of a dexterous non-backdriveable robotic wrist rigidly attached to a three-DOF, linearly actuated platform, and is instrumented with a six-axis force/torque sensor at the base of the wrist. By leveraging the rigidity and non-backdriveability of the system, a wrench sensed at the tool tip can be estimated through a rigid transformation from the force/torque sensor location to the known position and orientation of the end-effector. The force-sensing capability of the proposed system is demonstrated through the performance of two representative micromanipulation tasks: needle insertion and palpation. Results suggest that this system is capable of accurately resolving tool tip interaction forces, despite the complexity of its kinematics, and without the need for sensors located, distally, at the interaction site.
Mesoscale convective systems

When convective storms are organized on a scale larger than the convective scale, their conglomeration is called a “mesoscale convective system (MCS).” An MCS is composed of a contiguous area of precipitation that is ~100 km or greater across in at least one spatial dimension. It is apparent from radar imagery that much of the area of an MCS seen in satellite imagery1 is devoid of convective precipitation, especially when the anvil is very large. MCSs include both isolated/amorphous complexes of convective storms and squall lines (lines of deep convective cells), some of which are relatively long, but very narrow, perhaps as long as 100km or more and as narrow as 10km or less.
Cavity phase shift method for high reflectance measurements

The cavity phase shift method can measure high reflectances on spherical surfaces with good spatial resolution. Successful demonstration at 2.9 microns wavelength is described. A reflectance of 0.9920 ′ .0050 has been measured.
Meeting the real costs of the computer as a research tool in the life sciences.

Medical research and economics are strange bedfellows. It is rare indeed to find medical researchers introducing economic considerations into their projects. It is also quite unusual to find economists voluntarily delving into the real costs of research.
The United States, checks and balances, and a commercial republic: An experiment

This chapter explains how the concept of the rule of law grew and changed in the founding of the United States. The United States was founded by people who thought they were adopting their common law heritage. United by a hustling spirit and a deep distrust of big government (especially England’s), the Founders were deeply influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment and its focus on individual liberty (as can be seen in Madison’s Federalist Papers), and they were determined to create a commercial republic (Hamilton). With the passage of the Constitution, they were fascinated by the French Revolution, and some (Jefferson) felt a strong accord with its theoretical concepts. Others (Adams) believed that the Philosophes were unrealistic, far too involved in theory, and had not seen the down-side of legislation-centered democracy. While originally English in the focus on limited government and individual liberty, the American conception of the rule of law first became more self-conscious, more self-critical, and next developed a deeper (or at least more self-conscious) set of checks and balances than its parent country. That concept – the American understanding of the relationship between man and government – has gradually become more conflicted and intertwined with Rechtsstaat during and after the Great Depression and the creation of a national income tax, social security, and other ‘safety-net’ governmental programs to help those in need, as will be discussed in Chapter 5.
Gender, Affect, and Math: A Cross-National Meta-Analysis of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2015 Outcomes.

Understanding why women are consistently underrepresented in STEM fields has been a constant puzzle, with a consistent feature of the puzzle being performance in math. This study uses data from TIMSS exams to investigate cross-national gender differences in math-related affect, more precisely liking mathematics, confidence in mathematics, and valuing mathematics. We compared fourth and eighth graders to track any differences in these gender-related affective characteristics. Our findings suggest that despite the variability and some changes to the magnitude and direction of gender differences in math affect, boys and girls are similar. We also found that cross-national sociocultural, political, and educational equality of adults does not necessarily predict positive affect for both genders. In fact, the researchers found that some countries with a smaller adult gender gaps have students with higher gender differences in mathematics-relevant affect.
Scalar Field Wave (Fuzzy) Dark Matter and the Formation of Galaxies

We investigate Scalar Field Wave Dark Matter in the context of galactic Dark Matter halos. In particular, we offer an analysis of the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation (BTFR). We detail a particular family of excited state solutions to the Einstein-Klein-Gordon equations, and use it to provide a novel theoretical model for producing the BTFR. We then solve this model computationally to simulate the BTFR. Interpreting the Dark Matter scalar field as an ultralight boson, this returns a conservative mass constraint of $m\geq 10^{-23}eV$. Assuming slightly stronger conditions suggests $m\geq 10^{-22}eV$ to be more compatible with the BTFR. We provide a discussion of Scalar Field Dark Matter rotation curves and the structure of Scalar Field Dark Matter halos. Compatibility with the BTFR requires the excited state solutions to obey particular boundary conditions; this may have implications for the behavior of Dark Matter halos and the formation of galaxies.
Accountable Communities of Health, Health and Social Service Systems Alignment, and Population Health: Eastern Washington State, 2017–2019

Objectives. To assess health system transformation and alignment in the Better Health Together (BHT) accountable community of health (ACH) region of Eastern Washington.Methods. This trend study lev...
Three-scale asymptotic homogenization of short fiber reinforced additively manufactured polymer composites

Abstract In this research, prediction of mechanical properties of short fiber-reinforced composites manufactured with the help of fused filament fabrication (FFF) process is investigated. Three-scale formulation of asymptotic homogenization is employed to upscale the properties from microscale to mesoscale and from mesoscale to macroscale. Since generating microscale representative volume element (RVE) infused with short fibers requires sophisticated modeling tools, the algorithm for the microscale RVE generation is presented and discussed. Homogenization was performed for microscale RVEs with random and aligned (fibers aligned with the beads on mesoscale) fiber orientations, and for mesoscale RVEs with unidirectional and 0/90 layup formation. Tensile tests were performed for different short carbon fiber concentrations 5, 7.5 and 10% (by volume) to validate predicted homogenized properties. Moreover, to analyze the morphology of 3D printed specimens, microstructural analysis using SEM was performed on all the printed specimens. Surface morphology helped to gain more insight into the bead structure and fiber distribution. It was concluded that Young's modulus prediction using random fiber orientation has low relative errors tested in bead direction. Overall, this study has unique contribution to mechanical property prediction for FFF-made short fiber-reinforced composite parts.
Crop insurance: A barrier to conservation adoption?

Abstract Midwest corn producers face inherent risks in their daily operations and incorporate risk-management strategies to reduce uncertainty; among these, crop insurance has dominated the agricultural landscape for decades. Previous research on conservation adoption has primarily examined the impact of individual-level characteristics on adoption, yet little is known about the impact of external factors, such as crop insurance. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews and a multi-state survey to determine if crop insurance requirements limit cover crops and/or conservation tillage adoption for Midwest corn producers. Our findings indicate that crop insurance requirements are not a barrier to adoption. Rather, crop insurance and conservation practices serve unique - not contradictory - roles in Midwest producers’ operations and are used simultaneously. Future research should continue to identify and seek solutions for external barriers to broadly increase adoption rates.
Time-Resolved Single-Shot Ablation Dynamics of Silicate Glasses with Few-Cycle Laser Pulses

Few-cycle pulse laser damage and ablation of silicate glasses are studied using time-resolved surface microscopy. Unlike in metals, semiconductors, and various dielectrics, interference fringes due to an ablating layer are not observed for these glasses.
Evaluating the therapeutic potential of ADAR1 inhibition for triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the deadliest form of breast cancer. Unlike other types of breast cancer that can be effectively treated by targeted therapies, no such targeted therapy exists for all TNBC patients. The ADAR1 enzyme carries out A-to-I editing of RNA to prevent sensing of endogenous double-stranded RNAs. ADAR1 is highly expressed in breast cancer including TNBC. Here, we demonstrate that expression of ADAR1, specifically its p150 isoform, is required for the survival of TNBC cell lines. In TNBC cells, knockdown of ADAR1 attenuates proliferation and tumorigenesis. Moreover, ADAR1 knockdown leads to robust translational repression. ADAR1-dependent TNBC cell lines also exhibit elevated IFN stimulated gene expression. IFNAR1 reduction significantly rescued the proliferative defects of ADAR1 loss. These findings establish ADAR1 as a novel therapeutic target for TNBC tumors.
Survival outcome of adjuvant chemotherapy and high 21-gene recurrence score in early-stage breast cancer.

Among patients with early-stage breast cancer and a high 21-gene recurrence score (RS) ≥ 26, it remains unclear on whether those with RS 26-30 would benefit from chemotherapy with a comparable magnitude as those with RS > 30. In addition, RS > 30 as an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival (OS) compared to RS 26-30 also remains unclear. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was queried for patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2013 with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, and T1-2N0 breast cancer with a RS ≥ 26. Primary end points were OS and BCSS, evaluated by using Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox multivariable analysis. Subgroups of RS 26-30 and RS > 30 were examined using propensity score matching to address selection bias. Among 5054 patients who met the inclusion criteria, adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with improved OS (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.53-0.83, P 30 had worse outcomes than others with RS 26-30 (OS: HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.17-2.42, P = .005; BCSS: HR 1.92, 95% CI 1.17-3.15, P = .01). Our study builds on prior literature using a population-based database to suggest the association of adjuvant chemotherapy with improved survival among those with RS 26-30 and worse mortality associated with RS > 30 compared to RS 26-30.
Between DJs, turntables, and (re)imagining ivory tower experiences

Like the DJ who mixes together snippets of songs, I use snippets of memories within this essay to create a layered account of my experience of being an insider/outsider within racialized academic s...
The Fiscal Effects of Tax Increment Financing on Rural School Districts: The Case of Iowa:

Tax increment financing (TIF)—an economic (re)development tool originally designed for urban cities—has been available to rural communities for decades. This is the first study to focus solely on T...
Impact of Clinical and Genomic Factors on SARS-CoV2 Disease Severity

The SARS-CoV2 virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic is manifesting itself in different ways among infected people. While many are experiencing mild flue-like symptoms or are even remaining asymptomatic after infection, the virus has also led to serious complications, overloading ICUs while claiming more than 2.6 million lives world-wide. In this work, we apply AI methods to better understand factors that drive the severity of the disease. From the UK BioBank dataset we analyzed both clinical and genomic data of patients infected by this virus. Leveraging positive-unlabeled machine learning algorithms coupled with RubricOE, a state-of-the-art genomic analysis framework for genomic feature extraction, we propose severity prediction algorithms with high F1 score. Furthermore, we extracted insights on clinical and genomic factors driving the severity prediction. We also report on how these factors have evolved during the pandemic w.r.t. significant events such as the emergence of the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV2 virus strain.
Epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent maintenance of cardiac contractility.

Aims Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is essential to the development of multiple tissues and organs and is a target of cancer therapeutics. Due to the embryonic lethality of global EGFR deletion and conflicting reports of cardiac-overexpressed EGFR mutants, its specific impact on the adult heart, normally or in response to chronic stress, has not been established. Using complimentary genetic strategies to modulate cardiomyocyte-specific EGFR expression, we aim to define its role in the regulation of cardiac function and remodeling. Methods and results A floxed EGFR mouse model with α-myosin heavy chain-Cre-mediated cardiomyocyte-specific EGFR downregulation (CM-EGFR-KD mice) developed contractile dysfunction by 9 weeks of age, marked by impaired diastolic relaxation, as monitored via echocardiographic, hemodynamic and isolated cardiomyocyte contractility analyses. This contractile defect was maintained over time without overt cardiac remodeling until 10 months of age, after which the mice ultimately developed severe heart failure and reduced lifespan. Acute downregulation of EGFR in adult floxed EGFR mice with adeno-associated virus 9 (AAV9)-encoded Cre with a cardiac troponin T promoter (AAV9-cTnT-Cre) recapitulated the CM-EGFR-KD phenotype, while AAV9-cTnT-EGFR treatment of adult CM-EGFR-KD mice rescued the phenotype. Notably, chronic administration of the β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) agonist isoproterenol effectively and reversibly compensated for the contractile dysfunction in the absence of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in CM-EGFR-KD mice. Mechanistically, EGFR downregulation reduced the expression of protein phosphatase 2 A (PP2A) regulatory subunit Ppp2r3a/PR72, which was associated with decreased phosphorylation of phospholamban (PLB) and Ca2+ clearance, and whose re-expression via AAV9-cTnT-PR72 rescued the CM-EGFR-KD phenotype. Conclusions Altogether our study highlights a previously unrecognized role for EGFR in maintaining contractile homeostasis under physiologic conditions in the adult heart via regulation of PR72 expression. Translational perspective Our study highlights a previously unrecognized role for EGFR in maintaining contractile homeostasis under physiologic conditions in the adult heart via regulation of PR72, a PP2A regulatory subunit with an unknown impact on cardiac function. Further, we have shown that cardiomyocyte-expressed EGFR is required for the promotion of cardiac hypertrophy under conditions of chronic catecholamine stress. Altogether, our study provides new insight into the dynamic nature of cardiomyocyte-specific EGFR.
Photosynthetic water oxidation: A new chemical model

A sequential four-step chemical model for the water oxidation process in photosystem II is presented, based on the observation that a peroxide-linked biquinone complex can be chemically formed as a result of hydroxide ion addition to quinone. In our model, the hydroxide ion intermediate is generated in photosystem II as a result of proton abstraction from water. In the model, the first two flashes of light raise the oxidation state of the bimanganese center, while the third and fourth flashes of light sequentially generate the peroxide-linked biquinone which is then directly oxidized by the bimanganese center to produce oxygen and regenerate quinone.