cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evolution of host use in fruit flies of the genus Blepharoneura (Diptera: Tephritidae): cryptic species on sexually dimorphic host plants

Abstract Blepharoneura , a neotropical genus of tephritid fruit flies, includes newly discovered morphologically cryptic species that are highly host specific. Several species of fly, each specific to a different host tissue, can infest a single species of sexually dimorphic host. Using allozyme electrophoresis, we analysed morphologically similar populations of flies reared from various tissues of five species of host plant representing three subtribes of the Cucurbitaceae. In Venezuela, we found three sympatric species of Blepharoneura feeding on Gurania spinulosa Cogn. (one species on male flowers, another on female flowers, and a third on seeds). In Costa Rica, we found four non-interbreeding populations of Blepharoneura feeding on G. costaricensis Cogn.: two sympatric «lowland» populations (one feeding on male flowers and another on female flowers) and two sympatric «highland» populations (also specific to flowers of different sexes). Phylogenetic analyses revealed a species-rich clade of specialists associated with flowers of the Guraniinae, and a species-poor clade of generalists associated with seeds of the Guraniinae.Specialization on male vs. female flowers appears to have occurred repeatedly. Patterns of larval dispersal may underlie differences in diversification of seed vs. flower clades: larvae that feed on seeds are dispersed by bats; larvae feeding on flowers are not dispersed.
Current Topics in Reaction-Diffusion Systems

In these lectures, I want to outline various topics of high current interest in the theory of reaction-diffusion systems. I say “theory”, but in fact they all reside in the applied side of the theory, as in all cases they are motivated by applications in the natural sciences. RD systems, in fact, provide an extremely fertile source of models in all these sciences. In accordance with the theme of the conference, the applications will by and large be related to dissipative structures of one kind or another.
Functional Analysis of Human FEN1 in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Its Role in Genome Stability

The flap endonuclease, FEN1, is an evolutionarily conserved component of DNA replication from archaebacteria to humans. Based on in vitro results, it processes Okazaki fragments during replication and is involved in base excision repair. FEN1 removes the last primer ribonucleotide on the lagging strand and it cleaves a 5' flap that may result from strand displacement during replication or during base excision repair. Its biological importance has been revealed largely through studies in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae where deletion of the homologous gene RAD27 results in genome instability and mutagen sensitivity. While the in vivo function of Rad27 has been well characterized through genetic and biochemical approaches, little is understood about the in vivo functions of human FEN1. Guided by our recent results with yeast RAD27, we explored the function of human FEN1 in yeast. We found that the human FEN1 protein complements a yeast rad27 null mutant for a variety of defects including mutagen sensitivity, genetic instability and the synthetic lethal interactions of a rad27 rad51 and a rad27 pol3-01 mutant. Furthermore, a mutant form of FEN1 lacking nuclease function exhibits dominant-negative effects on cell growth and genome instability similar to those seen with the homologous yeast rad27 mutation. This genetic impact is stronger when the human and yeast PCNA-binding domains are exchanged. These data indicate that the human FEN1 and yeast Rad27 proteins act on the same substrate in vivo. Our study defines a sensitive yeast system for the identification and characterization of mutations in FEN1.
ETAP: Enable Lightweight Anonymous RFID Authentication with O(1) Overhead

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies are making their way into retail products, library books, debit cards, passports, driver licenses, car plates, medical devices, etc. The widespread use of tags in traditional ways of deployment raises a privacy concern: They make their carriers trackable. To protect the privacy of the tag carriers, we need to invent new mechanisms that keep the usefulness of tags while doing so anonymously. Many tag applications such as toll payment require authentication. This paper studies the problem of anonymous authentication. Since low-cost tags have extremely limited hardware resource, we propose an asymmetric design principle that pushes most complexity to more powerful RFID readers. Thus, we develop a lightweight technique that generates dynamic tokens for anonymous authentication. Instead of implementing complicated and hardware-intensive cryptographic hash functions, our authentication protocol only requires tags to perform several simple and hardware-efficient operations such as bitwise XOR, one-bit left circular shift, and bit flip. The theoretic analysis and randomness tests demonstrate that our protocol can ensure the privacy of the tags. Moreover, our protocol reduces the communication overhead and online computation overhead to O(1) per authentication for both tags and readers, which compares favorably with the prior art.
Fire This Time: James Baldwin, Futurity, and a Call and Response

This article explores the relationship of Afrofuturism and the liberation and transformative form of African American preaching, as well as the intersections of religious styling and performance, particularly “call and response.” I explore that, as the concept of Afrofuturism continues to take shape, it expands to encompass African religiosity, mythology and cosmology, including also African religious thought, myths and rituals. Even more so, it in turn inspires religious language, discourse and stylings of African and African American peoples through the African American sermon and preacher. As such, this article explores scholar James H. Harris's liberation and transformative theology with the work of James Baldwin and his essay, “Letter to My Nephew.” In addition, I establish Baldwin as a futuristic prophet calling for radical change, liberation and the transformation of Black life from the margins of oppression, and into the center of power and enlightenment.
A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Relaxation Study of Dimethoxyborane.

Proton and boron-11 c.w. nuclear magnetic resonances have been studied in solid H11B(OCD3)2 and H10B(OCD3)2. For 11B, only the -12→12 transition, broadened by second order quadrupolar effects and by proton dipolar interaction can be seen; from the spectrum at several rf frequencies, the quadrupolar coupling constant |e2qQ/h| was found to be 3.0 ± 0.2 MHz (± always refers to rms errors). In H10B(OCD3)2, the proton line shapes at 53 and 10 MHz are considerably different; this may be interpreted as due to changes in the directions of 10B nuclear quantization. Nuclear magnetic relaxation studies have been made in the liquid phase. From the 10B and 11B relaxation times, the activation energy for molecular reorientation was found to be 8.7 ± 0.4 kJ/mol (2.1 ± 0.1 kcal/mol). Consistent values for |e2qQ/h| were obtained from relaxation measurements in liquid phase and from c.w. spectra in solid phase. The temperature dependence of proton relaxation times deviates significantly from the activation energy model at higher temperatures, where spin-rotation interactions may be important. Proton transverse relaxation times (T2) have also been measured and are consistent with the Allerhand-Thiele theory.
Abstract 4097: Protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 regulates human pancreatic cancer cell biology on collagen I

With a five year survival rate of less than 5%, pancreatic cancer stands as one of the deadliest human malignancies. There is a great need for novel therapeutic strategies for this illness, and improving our understanding of pancreatic cancer biology will be a key step in developing these therapies. The purpose of these studies is to investigate the regulation and function of the Src Homology 2 (SH2) domain containing protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 in human pancreatic cancer cells and to determine its potential value as a therapeutic target for this disease. In other cellular systems, SHP-2 is crucial for integrin and receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated activation of diverse signaling pathways, regulating many of the cellular events necessary for oncogenesis, including cell division, motility, adhesion, and survival. We hypothesized that inhibition of SHP-2 function would negatively impact integrin-mediated cell signaling and biology in response to the extracellular matrix protein collagen I, an abundant component of pancreatic tumor stroma in vivo. Initial results demonstrate that SHP-2 expression and tyrosine phosphorylation/activity are elevated in pancreatic cancer cells, relative to immortalized normal human pancreatic cells. Phosphorylation of SHP-2 is further elevated in the presence of collagen I. SHP-2 tyrosine phosphorylation in pancreatic cancer cells occurrs in a Src family kinase-dependent fashion. Initial results using miRNA-mediated knock-down of SHP-2 expression indicate the importance of SHP-2 for the ability of pancreatic cancer cells to proliferate, migrate and heal cell culture wounds on collagen I. Additionally, SHP-2 knockdown cells grown on collagen I demonstate altered tyrosine phosphorylation patterns of several signal transduction proteins, including focal adhesion kinase (FAK), in comparison to controls. These data suggest, for the first time, an importance for SHP-2 in pancreatic cancer cell biology and the potential value of SHP-2 as a therapeutic target for this disease. Ongoing and future experiments will compare the effects of SHP-2 inhibition on pancreatic tumor growth in vivo. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4097.
Impact of adoption of iodine salt on the incidence of iodine deficiency disease in Chongqing

Objective To study the impact of adoption of iodine salt on the incidence of iodine deficiency disease. Methods Iodine content in salt samples collected between 1997 and 2009 was determined. The coverage of iodized salt usage and the rate of qualified iodine salt were calculated. Thyroid volume of children between 8 to 10 years old was evaluated by palpation and B ultrasound method. Goiter rate, median, mean, mode, P90, P95 and P99 of thyroid volume were calculated. The level of urinary iodine was also measured. Results Iodized salt coverage rate was increased from 89.1% in 1997 to 98.9% in 2009(P0.05),and the rate of qualified iodized salt was increased from 83.0% in 1997 to 95.6% in 2009(P0.05).For the children between 8 to 10 years old, the goiter rate was decreased from 18.3% in 1997 to 7.0% in 2009 by palpation method (P0.05), and decreased from 17.4% in 1997 to 6.9% in 2009 by B ultrasound method (P0.05). The mean value, median, mode, P90, P95 and P99 of thyroid volume was decreased from 4.32, 4.00, 3.69, 6.30, 7.24 and 8.76 ml in 1997 to 3.66, 3.50, 3.10, 5.00, 6.00 and 6.90 ml in 2005, respectively. Whereas, the mean, median and mode of thyroid volume was increased to 3.68, 3.53 and 3.37 ml in 2009, but the P90,P95 and P99 of the thyroid volume was decreased to 4.79, 5.37 and 6.40 ml in 2009. The median children urinary iodine content was 211.9-328.0 μg/L between 2007 to 2009. 1/3 of the samples had the concentration higher than 300 μg/L. The median urinary iodine content from children living in county district was 140-250 ml between 1997 to 2009. The median, mean, mode, P90 and P95 of thyroid volume were increased by increasing urinary iodine, which were decreased by increasing resident's income where the income were 2 000-4 000 RMB in county district. Conclusion Iodine contents are sufficient and the incidence of goiter in children was decreasing in Chongqing after increasing the coverage of iodized salt. Iodine in residents was excessive. Iodine excessive and resident's income are influence factors to goiter rate of children. The content of iodine in salt should be reduced. It is necessary to developing a new standard of thyroid volume for children.
Optimization of the Cerenkov sum-frequency generation in proton-exchanged LiHbO 3 channel waveguides

Optical sum-frequency generation as well as second harmonic generation in the form of Cerenkov radiation has been produced in z-cut proton-exchanged LiNbo3 channel waveguides by using low-powered cw pumping.1,2
Concurrent flame growth, spread, and quenching over composite fabric samples in low speed purely forced flow in microgravity

Abstract Flame growth, spread, and quenching extinction over a thin composite cotton-fiberglass fabric blend (referred to as the SIBAL fabric) were studied in low-speed concurrent purely forced flows aboard the International Space Station. The tests were conducted in a small flow duct within the Microgravity Science Glovebox. The fuel samples measured 1.2 and 2.2 cm wide and 10 cm long. Ambient oxygen was varied from 21% down to 16% molar concentration and flow speed from 55 cm/s down to 1 cm/s. A slow purely forced flow resulted in a small flame, enabling us to observe the entire history of flame development including ignition, flame growth, steady spread (in some cases), and decay at the end of the sample. In addition, by decreasing flow velocity during some of the tests, low-speed flame quenching extinction limits were determined as a function of oxygen percentage. The quenching speeds were found to be between 1 and 5 cm/s with higher extinction speeds in lower oxygen atmospheres. The shape of the quenching boundary supports the prediction by earlier theoretical models. These long duration microgravity experiments provide a rare opportunity for solid fuel combustion since microgravity time in ground-based facilities is generally not sufficient. This is the first time that a low-speed quenching boundary in concurrent spread is mapped in a clean and unambiguous manner. A previously developed three-dimensional transient model is modified to compare with the experiment. The modification includes the use of two-step SIBAL fabric pyrolysis kinetics where the rate constants are determined using Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis data. The model yields good quantitative comparison on the quenching boundary, the flame transient development, and the steady flame spread rates.
Acoustic attenuation due to bi-modal size distributions of suspended sediment

ABSTRACT Hanes, D.M., 2016. Acoustic attenuation due to bi-modal size distributions of suspended sediment. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 23 - 27. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Acoustic backscatter is a technique commonly used to remotely measure the concentration profile of suspended sediment. The technique generally involves an inversion, because the backscattered sound intensity depends upon the range dependent concentration and size distribution of the sound-scattering particles. This work examines the attenuation of sound due to particles, and in particular evaluates the relative contributions of viscous attenuation verses scattering attenuation as a function of the size of the particles. It is found that under some conditions viscous attenuation is dominated by smaller sized sediment and scattering attenuation is ...
A Computational Study of Lithium Carbamate Synthetic Intermediate Structures and Aggregation

Computational quantum chemistry was used to investigate the structures of lithium carbamates in the gas phase and in ethereal solvents. These compounds act as nucleophiles with either inversion or retention of configuration at the chiral center and knowledge of the aggregation state is the first step in understanding the reactivity. The sterically hindered lithium phenyl carbamate is calculated to exist largely as the ether or THF solvated monomer in solution. Higher aggregates are possible in the gas phase, which is often taken as an approximation for solutions in non-polar solvents.
Modeling Influenza Vaccination Behavior via Inductive Reasoning Games

Past experiences with seasonal influenza and immunization may affect individual decisions about whether to obtain vaccinations. Individuals continually adapt to recent influenza-related experiences, using inductive thought to reevaluate their options to obtain vaccinations. We explore this concept by constructing an individual-level model of adaptive decision-making. We couple this model with a population-level model of influenza that includes vaccination dynamics. The coupled models allow us to explore how individual-level decisions may change influenza epidemiology and, conversely, how influenza epidemiology might change individual-level decisions. By including the effects of adaptive decision-making within an epidemic model, we show that the behavioral dynamics of vaccination uptake could lead to severe influenza epidemics even without the presence of a pandemic strain. We further show that these severe epidemics might be prevented if vaccination programs provided commitment-based incentives or if mass media released epidemiological information that individuals can use to evaluate the prudence of vaccination. Finally we discuss and present some preliminary results of the model when social networks offer preferential paths for transmission.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Overview of Evidence-Based Assessment and Treatment

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychological disorder that can develop after exposure to a traumatic event. This review summarizes the literature on the epidemiology, assessment, and treatment of PTSD. We provide a review of the characteristics of PTSD along with associated risk factors, and describe brief, evidence-based measures that can be used to screen for PTSD and monitor symptom changes over time. In regard to treatment, we highlight commonly used, evidence-based psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies for PTSD. Among psychotherapeutic approaches, evidence-based approaches include cognitive-behavioral therapies (e.g., Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. A wide variety of pharmacotherapies have received some level of research support for PTSD symptom alleviation, although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have the largest evidence base to date. However, relapse may occur after the discontinuation of pharmacotherapy, whereas PTSD symptoms typically remain stable or continue to improve after completion of evidence-based psychotherapy. After reviewing treatment recommendations, we conclude by describing critical areas for future research.
Some Questions in Computable Mathematics

In honor of Rod Downey’s 60th birthday, this paper discusses a few open problems connected in one way or another with him.
Targeting TRAF3IP2 by Genetic and Interventional Approaches Inhibits Ischemia/Reperfusion-induced Myocardial Injury and Adverse Remodeling

Re-establishing blood supply is the primary goal for reducing myocardial injury in subjects with ischemic heart disease. Paradoxically, reperfusion results in nitroxidative stress and a marked inflammatory response in the heart. TRAF3IP2 (TRAF3 Interacting Protein 2; previously known as CIKS or Act1) is an oxidative stress-responsive cytoplasmic adapter molecule that is an upstream regulator of both IκB kinase (IKK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and an important mediator of autoimmune and inflammatory responses. Here we investigated the role of TRAF3IP2 in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced nitroxidative stress, inflammation, myocardial dysfunction, injury, and adverse remodeling. Our data show that I/R up-regulates TRAF3IP2 expression in the heart, and its gene deletion, in a conditional cardiomyocyte-specific manner, significantly attenuates I/R-induced nitroxidative stress, IKK/NF-κB and JNK/AP-1 activation, inflammatory cytokine, chemokine, and adhesion molecule expression, immune cell infiltration, myocardial injury, and contractile dysfunction. Furthermore, Traf3ip2 gene deletion blunts adverse remodeling 12 weeks post-I/R, as evidenced by reduced hypertrophy, fibrosis, and contractile dysfunction. Supporting the genetic approach, an interventional approach using ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction-mediated delivery of phosphorothioated TRAF3IP2 antisense oligonucleotides into the LV in a clinically relevant time frame significantly inhibits TRAF3IP2 expression and myocardial injury in wild type mice post-I/R. Furthermore, ameliorating myocardial damage by targeting TRAF3IP2 appears to be more effective to inhibiting its downstream signaling intermediates NF-κB and JNK. Therefore, TRAF3IP2 could be a potential therapeutic target in ischemic heart disease.
USE OF AN OPTIMIZED MITOCHONDRIAL PROTEIN SYNTHETIC SYSTEM TO CHARACTERIZE A PRECURSOR TO SUBUNIT II OF CYTOCHROME C OXIDASE

ABSTRACT Previous studies from this laboratory have shown that isolated mitochondria from Saccharomyces cerevisiae are capable of synthesizing polypeptides which are identical to those synthesized in vivo and that protein synthesis in isolated yeast mitochondria can be stimulated by exogenously added cytoplasmic proteins. In order to use this protein synthetic system to identify primary mitochondrial translation products and to assay and isolate cytoplasmic regulatory proteins we have further characterized it and have developed conditions for maximal protein synthesis. By optimizing osmotic pressure, temperature, ion and nucleotide concentrations, and energy generating systems we have succeeded in developing a system in which the degree of radiolabelling is from 10 to 100 times greater than that obtainable in vivo and have used it to identify and characterize a pre-protein precursor to sub-unit II of cytochrome c oxidase.
Chapter 9 – Molecular Mechanism of Stellate Cell Activation and Extracellular Matrix Remodeling

Publisher Summary In normal liver, hepatic stellate cells are perisinusoidal vitamin A-storing cells located in the subendothelial space of Disse. Following liver injury, they undergo a spectrum of phenotypic changes and transform into proliferative, fibrogenic, and contractile myofibroblasts—a process collectively termed as “activation.” This chapter reviews the biological characteristics of hepatic stellate cells and addresses their functions in injured liver, with special emphasis on the molecular mechanisms of stellate cell activation. In normal liver, stellate cells play a major role in maintaining hepatic homeostasis. Their main functions include production of cytokines and other mediators, expression of membrane receptors, cell matrix synthesis and degradation, regulation of hepatic sinusoidal blood flow through their contractility, and retinoid storage and metabolism. One of the main features of hepatic stellate cells is their versatility in producing a rich array of cytokines in the liver. Signal transduction mediated by binding of cytokines to their membrane receptors comprises the main mode of cell–cell interaction in both normal and injured liver. The fate of activated stellate cells during the resolution of liver injury needs to be clarified, and more importantly, the factors that determine the reversibility of liver fibrosis must be identified.
Storage and Generation for Clean Renewable Transportation

Current technology advancements have made renewable power generation and electric vehicles feasible in today's market. As these technologies continue to merge into our systems, they create a need for energy storage and greater demand for clean power. The electric vehicle and the grid are going to be integrated due to the charging need of the EV. By developing the technologies together with smart communications, they can help solve issues with a reward or solution for each industry. Vehicle and grid connectivity is of the upmost importance as Electric Vehicles (EV) come online. Communications and infrastructure upgrades are going to be needed as renewables and EV technology develops. Renewable energy production tends to be intermittent and will require storage. Adaptation of the Electric Vehicle depends on a better battery. As we strive to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels the electric vehicles are becoming part of our means of transportation. These changes are creating a greater need for renewable electric generation to power these vehicles and reduce fossil fuel usage. As additional renewable power generation comes onto the grid, the need for storage is increased. Electric vehicles will also create a large demand on the grid for charging the batteries. Utilizing smart charging, vehicle-to-grid, and improved communications can solve these hurdles.
Reply to “Comment on `How Can Seismic Hazard in the New Madrid Seismic Zone Be Similar to That in California?' by Arthur Frankel”

In the first paragraph of his comment, Stein contends that ground motions with a 10% or 2% chance of being exceeded in 50 years are of “little use in formulating public policy such as building codes....” This remarkable statement is at odds with the fundamental principle used in the mitigation of catastrophic natural hazards. The seismic provisions in building codes are inherently designed to protect buildings from ground shaking that has a low but significant probability of occurring over the lifetime of a building. Because of the severe consequences of having ground shaking that exceeds the design (building damage, collapse, loss of life), these “low” probability events need to be considered in design. I think a 10% chance of a building having major damage or collapsing in 50 years would be considered a serious risk by someone living in that building or by the owner of that building. Stein's statement is at odds with the proposal in Stein et al. (2003a) that Memphis buildings should be designed for 10% probability of exceedance (PE) in 50 years. The engineering community certainly thinks that ground motions with a 10% or 2% probability of being exceeded in 50 years have a use in formulating public policy such as building codes. Such probabilistic ground motions have been the implicit basis of building codes since the 1988 Uniform Building Code (UBC; see Hamburger and Kircher, 2000). The 1988 UBC zone map was approximately based on the 10% PE in 50 years map of acceleration for the U.S. produced by Algermissen and Perkins (1976). The current model building code adopted or in use in 44 states, the International Building Code (IBC), uses 2/3 the 2% PE in 50 years ground motions …
Serializing Web Application Requests

Mr. Wilson tells us how he improved web response time and kept users happy using the Generic Network Queueing System (GNQS)
Fungal microbiomes associated with green and non-green building materials

Water-damaged buildings can lead to fungal growth and occupant health problems. Green building materials, derived from renewable sources, are increasingly utilized in construction and renovations. However, the question as to what fungi will grow on these green compared to non-green materials, after they get wet, has not been adequately studied. By determining what fungi grow on each type of material, the potential health risks can be more adequately assessed. In this study, we inoculated green and non-green pieces of ceiling tile, composite board, drywall, and flooring with indoor dust containing a complex mixture of naturally occurring fungi. The materials were saturated with water and incubated for two months in a controlled environment. The resulting fungal microbiomes were evaluated using ITS amplicon sequencing. Overall, the richness and diversity of the mycobiomes on each pair of green and non-green pieces were not significantly different. However, different genera dominated on each type of material. For example, Aspergillus spp. had the highest relative abundance on green and non-green ceiling tiles and green composite boards, but Peniophora spp. dominated the non-green composite board. In contrast, Penicillium spp. dominated green and non-green flooring samples. Green gypsum board was dominated by Phialophora spp. and Stachybotrys spp., but non-green gypsum board by Myrothecium spp. These data suggest that water-damaged green and non-green building materials can result in mycobiomes that are dominated by fungal genera whose member species pose different potentials for health risks.
Walking speed decline in older adults is associated with elevated pro-BDNF in plasma extracellular vesicles

Background Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is produced by cleavage of proBDNF, and BDNF and proBDNF may play antagonistic roles in nervous system development, learning, memory and neuronal stress resistance. BDNF and proBDNF are present in blood, but the origin and relative contributions of soluble and extracellular vesicle (EV)-associated levels are unknown.
RPC chains: efficient client-server communication in geodistributed systems

We propose the RPC chain, a simple but powerful communication primitive that allows an application to reduce the performance effects of wide-area links on enterprise and data center applications that span multiple sites. This primitive chains together multiple RPC invocations so that the computation can flow from one server to the next without involving the client every time. We demonstrate that RPC chains can significantly reduce end-to-end latency and network bandwidth in a storage application and a web application.
Electrodiagnostic studies in the evaluation of peripheral nerve and brachial plexus injuries.

Electrodiagnostic studies are invaluable for localizing peripheral nerve injuries following trauma and for determining the extent of injury. They also provide an objective and quantitative measure of the severity of the injury and the nature of the underlying pathology that determines the prognosis for recovery. These studies can also be used to follow recovery. Intraoperative recording from injured nerves allows the surgeon to identify the margins of an injured segment and to determine whether regeneration has proceeded into the distal stump. Judicious use of electrodiagnosis may prevent unnecessary surgery or unnecessary delay if surgery is needed.
Engineering Platforms for T Cell Modulation.

Abstract T cells are crucial contributors to mounting an effective immune response and increasingly the focus of therapeutic interventions in cancer, infectious disease, and autoimmunity. Translation of current T cell immunotherapies has been hindered by off-target toxicities, limited efficacy, biological variability, and high costs. As T cell therapeutics continue to develop, the application of engineering concepts to control their delivery and presentation will be critical for their success. Here, we outline the engineer's toolbox and contextualize it with the biology of T cells. We focus on the design principles of T cell modulation platforms regarding size, shape, material, and ligand choice. Furthermore, we review how application of these design principles has already impacted T cell immunotherapies and our understanding of T cell biology. Recent, salient examples from protein engineering, synthetic particles, cellular and genetic engineering, and scaffolds and surfaces are provided to reinforce the importance of design considerations. Our aim is to provide a guide for immunologists, engineers, clinicians, and the pharmaceutical sector for the design of T cell–targeting platforms.
On Clear and Confused Ideas

Written by one of today's most creative and innovative philosophers, Ruth Garrett Millikan, this book examines basic empirical concepts; how they are acquired, how they function, and how they have been misrepresented in the traditional philosophical literature. Millikan places cognitive psychology in an evolutionary context where human cognition is assumed to be an outgrowth of primitive forms of mentality, and assumed to have 'functions' in the biological sense. Of particular interest are her discussions of the nature of abilities as different from dispositions, her detailed analysis of the psychological act of reidentifying substances, and her critique of the language of thought for mental representation. In a radical departure from current philosophical and psychological theories of concepts, this book provides the first in-depth discussion on the psychological act of reidentification.
Impact of a Quality Improvement Initiative to Optimize the Discharge Process of Pediatric Gastroenterology Patients at an Academic Children's Hospital.

Discharge is an important and complex process that can be optimized to reduce inpatient healthcare inefficiency and waste. This study aimed to increase the percentage of patients discharged before 1 pm by 20% from an academic inpatient pediatric gastroenterology service (IPGS), over 6 months. Methods We conducted a preintervention and postintervention study of patients discharged from IPGS. Patients discharged from January to June 2016, and those following our intervention from June to December 2016, were studied. Interventions included (1) implementation of the electronic medical record medical and logistical discharge criteria checklists for the 4 most common IPGS discharge diagnoses, (2) standardization of the rounds process to prioritize discharge, (3) education of nursing staff and families about the role they played in discharge. Process, outcome, and balancing measures were analyzed. Results Three hundred fifty-five total discharges were studied. Between the preintervention and postintervention groups, there were no significant improvements in discharge order time, physical discharge time, discharge response time, or discharges before 1 pm. The balancing measure of 30-day readmission was unaffected. However, length of stay (LOS) index, calculated as the ratio of actual to expected LOS, improved; when translated into days, LOS declined by 1 day, with potential associated savings of $373,000. Conclusions Interventions to improve discharge timeliness on IPGS service demonstrated mixed effectiveness. Only LOS index improved. Further iterative quality improvement interventions are needed to continue optimizing discharge timeliness and change the culture of pediatric discharge on inpatient subspecialty services in academic children's hospitals.
What factors predict a consumer's support of environmental sustainability in aviation? A multi-model analysis

Environmental sustainability remains a focal point of current research in the aviation industry. The purpose of the current study was to create four statistical models which could predict the types of factors that would indicate a consumer's support for the use of sustainable products in the aviation industry. Four models were proposed: overall support for sustainability in aviation, support for the use of aviation biofuels, support of sustainable construction materials in aviation, and support of sustainable aviation manufacturing. The study used an overall sample of 514 participants who were randomly divided into two separate datasets. The first dataset was used to produce the regression equations and the second dataset was used to assess model fit. The results produced four valid models with the amount of variance explained ranging from 29.0% to 41.1%. Perceived value of sustainability was found to be a significant predictor in all four models.
Petrogenesis of three East Fork Member rhyolites of the Jemez volcanic field, Valles caldera, New Mexico, USA

Abstract The most recent volcanism in the Valles caldera is represented, in stratigraphic order, by the El Cajete Pyroclastic Beds (ECPB), Battleship Rock Ignimbrite (BRI), the VC-1 rhyolite (not studied herein), and Banco Bonito Flow (BBF), which are collectively known as the East Fork Member (EFM) of the Valles Rhyolite. The EFM was erupted approximately 74 to 68 ka after an approximate 460 ka lull in ring-fracture volcanism. Crystal assemblages consist of plagioclase, biotite, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, amphibole, sanidine, quartz, and oxides, in order of abundance. Electron probe microanalysis and detailed petrography indicates that two distinct crystal populations are present in the ECPB, BRI, and BBF. Large (≥1 mm), typically resorbed or subhedral crystals represent one population, and small (≤0.5 mm), generally euhedral crystals represent the other. The large resorbed plagioclase crystals typically have oligoclase to andesine rim overgrowths. 40Ar/39Ar geochronology performed on euhedral biotite and groundmass glass from the BBF returned isochron ages of 478 ± 3 ka and 575 ± 2 ka and total gas ages of 125 ± 1 ka and 129 ± 1 ka, respectively. High molar Mg numbers of large euhedral biotite and 40Ar/39Ar ages older than the accepted age range indicate these crystals are xenocrystic. Radiogenic isotopes are consistent with mixing between the mantle and lower crustal reservoirs. General trends are evident between whole-rock major and trace elements with increasing SiO2 and Nb, respectively. In general, incompatible trace elements increase and compatible trace elements decrease with increasing Nb. For the major elements, MgO, P2O5, Al2O3, FeO* show decreasing trends while K2O and Na2O show increasing trends with increasing SiO2. Incompatible trace element ratios (Ta/Yb, Y/Yb, Th/Yb, Th/Nb) indicate the presence of a single magma batch. The heterogeneity in crystal morphology and chemistry can be explained by a model in which partial melting of mid- to deep continental crust occurred due to an intrusion of an intermediate composition magma. Magma mixing and an exchange of crystals took place between the partial melt and the intruding magma. The hybrid magma rose to the upper crust, where it underwent fractional crystallization prior to eruption. The geochemical and isotopic data from this study are best explained by a modified version of the rapid production and eruption model put forth by Huppert and Sparks (1988).
Surgical treatment of chiasmal glioma in neurofibromatosis 1.

A 3-year-old boy with neurofibromatosis 1 had 20/40 acuity OU with normal color vision, confrontation visual fields, and optic nerves. MRI showed a large mass in the suprasellar cistern with superior and anterior displacement of the chiasm (figure, A and B). He underwent transcallosal surgical resection of the tumor, with pathology demonstrating low-grade glioma. Six months later, visual acuity was 20/25 OU, with normal color vision and confrontation fields. MRI showed restoration of normal suprasellar anatomy (figure, C and D). Surgical resection can restore vision when an optic pathway glioma extends downward into the suprasellar cistern to extrinsically compress the chiasm.1,2
Threefold philosophy and east–west sytheticism: reexaminations of Li Zehou’s humanistic thought

In relation to other living philosophers, Li Zehou has been one of the most creative as well as the most controversial in contemporary China. Li advocates a multilevel, multiangle, and multidirectional methodology. For him, there is only one objective truth, but we might question it and be as close as possible to it by applying various approaches. He thinks that the most important of his moral duties is to use a real sense of beauty to search the truth of life and to develop the goodness of human beings. This paper reexamines Li’s East–West syntheticism (integrationism) in three aspects: (1) “Threefold Philosophy”; (2) “Post-Marxist Anthropological Ontology”; and (3) “Transformation and Reconceptualization of Confucianism”.
Algorithmic classification and strategic effort

In this letter, we summarize our recent work examining the incentives produced by algorithmic decision-making. Drawing upon principal-agent models in the mechanism design literature, we construct and analyze a model of strategic behavior under algorithmic evaluation. We characterize which behaviors can be incentivized by any reasonable mechanism, showing that simple linear mechanisms are sufficient to incentivize desired behavior. However, we find that it is computationally hard to optimize even simple objectives subject to the constraint that the resulting linear mechanism induces the desired incentives.
A Reconfigurable Approximate Floating-Point Multiplier with kNN

Due to the high demands for computing, the available resources always lack. The approximate computing technique is the key to lowering hardware complexity and improving energy efficiency and performance. However, it is a challenge to properly design approximate multipliers since input data are unseen to users. This challenge can be overcome by Machine Learning (ML) classifiers. ML classifiers can predict the detailed feature of upcoming input data. Previous approximate multipliers are designed using simple adders based on ML classifiers but by using a simple adder-based approximate multiplier, the level of approximation cannot change at runtime. To overcome this drawback, using an accumulator and reconfigurable adders instead of simple adders are proposed in this paper. Also, the rounding technique is applied to approximate floating-point multipliers for further improvement. Our experimental results show that when the error tolerance of our target application is less than 5%, the proposed approximate multiplier can save area by 70.98%, and when the error tolerance is less than 3%, a rounding enhanced simple adders-based approximate multiplier can save area by 65.9% and a reconfigurable adder-based approximate multiplier with rounding can reduce the average delay and energy by 54.95% and 46.67% respectively compared to an exact multiplier.
Investigations on the effects of anti-Leishmania major serum on the progression of Leishmania infantum infection in vivo and in vitro – implications of heterologous exposure to Leishmania spp

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania. Twenty different species are known to cause disease in humans with varying degrees of pathology. These diseases are transmitted throughout the geographic range of phlebotomine sandflies, found between the latitudes 50°N and 40°S. This study explores antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) as the cause of disease exacerbation in heterologous exposure of L. major primed mice to L. infantum challenge. BALB/c mice received serum from L. major infected or naive mice. All mice were challenged with L. infantum and tissue parasite burdens were recorded. Animals that received anti-L. major serum exhibited significantly higher parasite burdens. Surprisingly, these parasite burdens were higher than those of mice infected with L. major and challenged with L. infantum. In vitro phagocytosis assays were carried out to measure parasite uptake in the presence of naive vs. anti-L. major serum. J774A.1 murine monocytes were cultured with either L. major or L. infantum in the presence of anti-L. major serum, naive serum, or no serum. Significantly higher rates of L. major uptake by J774A.1 cells occurred in the presence of anti-L. major serum, but no measurable increase of L. infantum phagocytosis was seen. Our results suggest that increased disease severity observed in vivo in mice previously exposed to L. major and challenged with L infantum is not a result of extrinsic ADE. We speculate that intrinsic ADE, due to biased memory T cell responses caused by Fcγ signaling, could account for disease exacerbation seen in the animal model.
Spinal epidural abscess.

Complete workup for spinal epidural abscess includes a thorough medical history, progression of deficits, duration of deficits, complete neurologic exam, location(s) of abscess, and concomitant osteomyelitis.
Your Shirt or Your Vote: Why Texas’s Electioneering Law Unconstitutionally Infringes on Voters’ Freedom of Speech

The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment grants citizens the right to speak their mind and to stand up for what they believe in. Because this right does not cease at written or spoken word, the Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment expansively to protect an individual’s right to engage in expressive conduct and expressive association. This includes the right to express opinions and associate with groups and organizations, like Black Lives Matter, whose views may be controversial. Like other constitutional rights, this right is not absolute; states are allowed to impose some regulations on speech. However, Supreme Court precedent emphasizes the precept that states may not interfere with one’s right to engage in expressive conduct and expressive association when it does not invade the rights of others and is unaccompanied by disturbance and disorder. When it comes to Election Day, it is undeniable that states have a legitimate interest in regulating and preserving the election process—to prevent voter fraud and intimidation. This usually includes regulating what voters can and cannot wear inside polling places, so that voters may focus on the important decisions on the ballot. However, as this Article will discuss, even in recognizing the special purpose of the polling place, the Supreme Court did not intend for freedom of speech protection to completely stop at the polls. Voters should not have to decide: Your shirt or your vote! This Article will analyze the constitutionality of Texas’s electioneering statute. In predicting that the Supreme Court would likely invalidate this statute on its face and as-applied, this Article encourages the Texas legislature to rewrite its electioneering statute. To achieve this goal, this Article will propose new statutory language that would render Texas’s political apparel ban constitutional, by providing an objective, workable standard of what apparel must stay out from what apparel can come in.
Planned Investigations to Address Acute Central Nervous System Effects of Space Radiation Exposure with Human Performance Data

This work intends to generate evidence of acute, incremental human performance decrement similar to that due to space radiation and its impacts on the brain, to accompany ongoing human performance modeling work. The planned work will explore the boundaries of human behavioral and performance decrement after exposure to stress, which may be expected based in part on rodent responses found after exposure to ionizing radiation. The collection of evidence via simulation studies can characterize real human errors toward determining what stress levels lead to significantly-low levels of performance (below permissible outcome limits) which would imperil mission accomplishment. If mission-relevant animal-study-linked tasks are used, human and animal performance levels may be aligned to enable quantitative assignment of permissible exposure limits based on animal exposure studies. Ultimately, a transfer function between the performances of exposed rodents and humans under stress can be developed using shared impairment mechanisms.
Surface extraction from micro-computed tomography data for additive manufacturing

Abstract Surface topography and surface finish are two significant factors for evaluating the quality and dimensional accuracy of additive manufacturing (AM) parts. In general, compared with traditional subtraction and forming manufacturing techniques, the nature of the rough surface and the geometric complexity make the surface of AM parts "another surface," and traditional methods such as coordinate machine measurement may not be applicable. Most research on surface extraction focuses on regular surfaces, such as flat, cylindrical, or spherical surfaces, but less has been done with irregular surfaces. This paper presented an approach for extracting irregular surfaces based on micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) data of AM parts. The extracted data sets were then compared with data sets obtained by a structured light system (SLS). Areal surface texture parameters, cloud comparison methods, and statistical methods were applied to evaluate the difference between the surface data obtained by the two systems. The results showed that the two surface data correlated well and confirmed the capability of the proposed method for surface extraction from irregular surfaces. This work will contribute to the further multi-sensor data fusion for metrology and provide valuable information for near-surface defects prediction with real-time in-situ metrology method in additive manufacturing.