cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SECONDARY SUCCESSION IN AN EXPERIMENTALLY FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPE: COMMUNITY PATTERNS ACROSS SPACE AND TIME

Secondary succession reflects, at least in part, community assembly—the sequences of colonizations and extinctions. These processes in turn are expected to be sensitive to the size of the site undergoing assembly and its location relative to source pools. In this paper we describe patterns of succession over 18 years in an experimentally fragmented landscape created in eastern Kansas, USA, in 1984. The design of the experiment permits one to assess the influence of patch size and landscape position on successional dynamics. The general trajectory of succession follows that typical of succession in much of the eastern United States. In the initial years of the study, there was relatively little effect of patch size or distance to sources. Here we show that spatial effects in this system have become increasingly evident with time, as gauged both by repeated-measures ANOVA and ordination techniques. Woody plants have colonized more rapidly (per unit area) on large and nearby patches. Species richness at a local (within-quadrat) scale in general has increased, with slightly greater richness in large than in small patches later in the study. Temporal stability in community composition has generally been greater in large patches. Spatial heterogeneity in community composition has increased during succession, but with different patterns in large and small patches. This long-term experiment suggests that landscape structure influences many aspects of community structure and dynamics during succession, and that such effects become more pronounced with the passage of time.
The structure and short-term stability of the emotional disorders: a dimensional approach.

Background Factor-analytic studies have found that depressive, bipolar, post-traumatic, obsessive–compulsive, and anxiety disorders – jointly referred to as the emotional disorders – form an internalizing spectrum that includes distress and fear subfactors. However, placement of some disorders is uncertain. Also, prior research analysed dichotomous interview-based diagnoses or dimensional self-report measures. We investigated this structure using a third-generation measure – the Interview for Mood and Anxiety Symptoms (IMAS) – that combines strengths of a clinical interview with dimensional assessment. Method The interview was administered to 385 students and 288 psychiatric out-patients. Participants were reinterviewed 2 months later. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified three factors: distress (depression, generalized anxiety, post-traumatic stress, irritability, and panic syndrome); fear (social anxiety, agoraphobia, specific phobia, and obsessive–compulsive); and bipolar (mania and obsessive–compulsive). The structure was consistent over time and across samples, except that panic and agoraphobia had higher factor loadings in patients. Longitudinal analyses revealed high temporal stability of the factors (test–retest r = 0.72 to 0.87), but also substantial disorder-specific stability. Conclusions This investigation – which bridges diagnostic and self-report studies – found three subfactors of internalizing psychopathology. It provided support for a new subfactor, clarified the placement of obsessive–compulsive and bipolar disorders, and demonstrated that this model generalizes across populations. The accumulating research suggests the need to recognize formally the close links among the emotional disorders, as well as empirical clusters within this spectrum. The IMAS demonstrated strong psychometric properties and can be useful for various research and clinical applications by providing dimensional, interview-based assessment of the emotional disorders.
Biomechanical validation of an artificial tooth-periodontal ligament-bone complex for in vitro orthodontic load measurement.

ABSTRACT Objectives: To develop an artificial tooth–periodontal ligament (PDL)–bone complex (ATPBC) that simulates clinical crown displacement. Material and Methods: An ATPBC was created. It had a socket hosting a tooth with a thin layer of silicon mixture in between for simulating the PDL. The complex was attached to a device that allows applying a controlled force to the crown and measuring the resulting crown displacement. Crown displacements were compared to previously published data for validation. Results: The ATPBC that had a PDL made of two types of silicones, 50% gasket sealant No. 2 and 50% RTV 587 silicone, with a thickness of 0.3 mm, simulated the PDL well. The mechanical behaviors (1) force-displacement relationship, (2) stress relaxation, (3) creep, and (4) hysteresis were validated by the published results. Conclusion: The ATPBC simulated the crown displacement behavior reported from biological studies well.
An integrated Silicon-on-sapphire Patch-clamp amplifier

We fabricated an integrated patch-clamp amplifier capable of recording from pico- to tens of micro-amperes of current. The high-dynamic range of seven decades and the pico-ampere sensitivity of the instrument was designed for whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. The prototype was fabricated on a 0.5 mum silicon-on-sapphire process. The device employs an integrating headstage with a frequency-modulated output pulse ranging from 3 Hz to 10 MHz. A digital interface produces a 16bit output conversion of the input currents. We report on electrical measurements from the fabricated device, and measurements conducted on cells in a typical patch-clamp experiment
Population attributable fractions for three perinatal risk factors for autism spectrum disorders, 2002 and 2008 autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network

Purpose Numerous studies establish associations between adverse perinatal outcomes/complications and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There has been little assessment of population attributable fractions (PAFs). Methods We estimated average ASD PAFs for preterm birth (PTB), small for gestational age (SGA), and Cesarean delivery (CD) in a U.S. population. Average PAF methodology accounts for risk factor co-occurrence. ASD cases were singleton non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic children born in 1994 (n = 703) or 2000 (n = 1339) who resided in 48 U.S. counties included within eight Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network sites. Cases were matched on birth year, sex, and maternal county of residence, race-ethnicity, age, and education to 20 controls from U.S. natality files. Results For the 1994 cohort, average PAFs were 4.2%, 0.9%, and 7.9% for PTB, SGA, and CD, respectively. The summary PAF was 13.0% (1.7%-19.5%). For the 2000 cohort, average PAFs were 2.0%, 3.1%, and 6.7% for PTB, SGA, and CD, respectively, with a summary PAF of 11.8% (7.5%-15.9%). Conclusions Three perinatal risk factors notably contribute to ASD risk in a U.S. population. Because each factor represents multiple etiologic pathways, PAF estimates are best interpreted as the proportion of ASD attributable to having a suboptimal perinatal environment resulting in PTB, SGA, and/or CD.
Variable locus length in the human genome leads to ascertainment bias in functional inference for non-coding elements

Motivation: Several functional gene annotation databases have been developed in the recent years, and are widely used to infer the biological function of gene sets, by scrutinizing the attributes that appear over-and underrepresented. However, this strategy is not directly applicable to the study of non-coding DNA, as the non-coding sequence span varies greatly among different gene loci in the human genome and longer loci have a higher likelihood of being selected purely by chance. Therefore, conclusions involving the function of non-coding elements that are drawn based on the annotation of neighboring genes are often biased. We assessed the systematic bias in several particular Gene Ontology (GO) categories using the standard hypergeometric test, by randomly sampling non-coding elements from the human genome and inferring their function based on the functional annotation of the closest genes. While no category is expected to occur significantly over-or underrepresented for a random selection of elements, categories such as ‘cell adhesion’, ‘nervous system development’ and ‘transcription factor activities’ appeared to be systematically overrepresented, while others such as ‘olfactory receptor activity’—underrepresented. Results: Our results suggest that functional inference for non-coding elements using gene annotation databases requires a special correction. We introduce a set of correction coefficients for the probabilities of the GO categories that accounts for the variability in the length of the non-coding DNA across different loci and effectively eliminates the ascertainment bias from the functional characterization of non-coding elements. Our approach can be easily generalized to any other gene annotation database. Contact: ovcharei@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics Online.
Is language processing different in dialogue

Pickering & Garrod (P&G) claim that the automatic mechanisms that underlie language processing in dialogue are absent in monologue. We disagree with this claim, and argue that dialogue simply provides a different context in which the same basic processes operate.
Visualization of multiple listener room response equalization using Sammon map

We propose a novel method of visualizing room equalization at multiple locations using Sammon mapping. The benefits of this method are: (i) simplicity in implementation; (ii) negligible computational requirements to implement the map; (iii) realistic evaluation of equalization performance for our cluster based method in room response equalization at multiple listener locations. Furthermore, the mapping provides an interesting perspective on (i) how the clusters are formed, (ii) how the centroids are determined, and (iii) the result of combining the centroids in a specific manner (to form the final prototype which is then inverted to form the equalization filter). We also compare the results obtained from using the Sammon map to the results obtained by using the spectral deviation measure.
Chronic Kidney Disease in Small Animals

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects multiple body systems and presents with a wide variety of clinical manifestations. Proper application of conservative medical management can profoundly affect the clinical course of CKD. Diagnosis and management is facilitated by staging CKD and applying therapies that are appropriate for the patient's stage of CKD. Therapy and follow-up of CKD are described, with emphasis on stage-based therapy to ameliorate clinical signs and slow progression.
The perils of reconstructing architectures

1. ABSTRACT A documented, analyzed software architecture is a key ingredient in achieving quality in large software intensive systems. But the system that is implemented must conform to its architecture for the qualities of the design to carry over into the implementation. To ensure that systems conform to their architectures, and remain in conformance throughout their lifetimes, we need to reconstruct architecture from source artifacts. To do this properly, a wide variety of tools that provide both static and dynamic information are needed. Thus, we advocate a workbench approach to architecture reconstruction tools.
Associations between continuous measures of disease activity in adult RA and the pediatric ACR response measures: a secondary analysis of JIA data

Methods Retrospective analysis of 2 etanercept trials. Disease activity was calculated at baseline, 3 mo, and 6 mo. Data were analyzed independent of treatment arm. Visits were classified by highest level of pediatric ACR response. EULAR response levels were based on DAS/DAS28 values. Correlation coefficients were calculated between the above measures. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve assessed discriminative characteristics of each continuous measure to the pediatric ACR response measures.
Richard Wright's "The Man Who Lived Underground": A Literary Analysis.

During the summer of 1941, Richard Wright read an article in the August issue of True Detective which assumed a special significance for him. This article, "The Crime Hollywood Couldn't Believe" (Fletcher, 1941), was about a 33-year-old man, Herbert C. Wright. Unemployed and aimless, Richard Wright's namesake had lived for more than a year in the sewers of Los Angeles. His subterranean existence had enabled him to get whatever he wished by entering stores through their sewer systems and helping himself. A close watch by the police eventually led to his arrest. Fascinated by this story, Richard Wright noted a parallel between Herbert C. Wright's dilemma and the problems faced by the Black man in American society. Herbert Wright, who was a white man, was looking for a place in a society that rejected his attempts to establish himself as a responsible citizen. During his underground stay, he tried to develop a role, albeit peripheral to the mainstream of society, in which he could function and be himself. This theme was rapidly
On the Equal Innervation of Both Eyes

The two eyes are so related to one another that one cannot be moved independently of the other; rather, the musculature of both eyes reacts simultaneously to one and the same impulse of will. Therefore we are usually unable to raise or lower one eye without the other. Both eyes are raised and lowered simultaneously and with equal strength. We are just as unable to innervate the muscles of one eye alone for the purpose of right or left movement, though it is possible for us to move both eyes simultaneously about different angles and with different speeds to the left or right, to move inward or outward, and even to move one eye outward or inward while the other remains still. We are able to do this not because we simultaneously give each eye a special innervation, but because in these movements each eye receives two different innervations. One is a turning of both eyes to the right or left and the other is inward or outward turning of both eyes. Since these two innervations of the double eye (Doppelauge) work together in one eye and oppositely in the other, the resultant movement in each eye must necessarily be different.
The conserved arginine 380 of Hsp90 is not a catalytic residue, but stabilizes the closed conformation required for ATP hydrolysis

Hsp90, a dimeric ATP-dependent molecular chaperone, is required for the folding and activation of numerous essential substrate “client” proteins including nuclear receptors, cell cycle kinases, and telomerase. Fundamental to its mechanism is an ensemble of dramatically different conformational states that result from nucleotide binding and hydrolysis and distinct sets of interdomain interactions. Previous structural and biochemical work identified a conserved arginine residue (R380 in yeast) in the Hsp90 middle domain (MD) that is required for wild type hydrolysis activity in yeast, and hence proposed to be a catalytic residue. As part of our investigations on the origins of species-specific differences in Hsp90 conformational dynamics we probed the role of this MD arginine in bacterial, yeast, and human Hsp90s using a combination of structural and functional approaches. While the R380A mutation compromised ATPase activity in all three homologs, the impact on ATPase activity was both variable and much more modest (2–7 fold) than the mutation of an active site glutamate (40 fold) known to be required for hydrolysis. Single particle electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering revealed that, for all Hsp90s, mutation of this arginine abrogated the ability to form the closed “ATP” conformational state in response to AMPPNP binding. Taken together with previous mutagenesis data exploring intra- and intermonomer interactions, these new data suggest that R380 does not directly participate in the hydrolysis reaction as a catalytic residue, but instead acts as an ATP-sensor to stabilize an NTD-MD conformation required for efficient ATP hydrolysis.
Postnatal management and outcome of prenatally diagnosed lung lesions

Advancements in fetal diagnostic imaging have increased prenatal diagnosis of many fetal anomalies. The purpose of this chapter is to review the etiology and natural history of prenatally diagnosed cystic lung lesions, including congenital cystic adenomatoid malformations (CCAM), pulmonary sequestrations (PSs), hybrid lesions, and bronchogenic cysts, and then discuss current concepts in the management and outcome of these lesions.
Repression of endogenous estrogen receptor activity in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells by dominant negative estrogen receptors

We have investigated the ability of several transcriptionally inactive estrogen receptor (ER) mutants to block endogenous ER-mediated transcription in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. In transient transfections of MCF-7 cells, two of the mutants, a frame-shifted ER (S554fs) and a point-mutated ER (L540Q), strongly inhibit the ability of endogenous wild-type ER to activate transcription of estrogen-regulated reporter plasmids. A third mutant, ER1-530, which is missing 65 residues from its carboxy-terminus, is a weaker repressor of estradiol-stimulated transcription. When an estrogen response element (ERE)-thymidine kinase-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene is used, S554fs, L540Q, and ER1-530 suppress the transcriptional activity of endogenous MCF-7 ER by 87%, 97%, and 62%, respectively. The magnitude of dominant negative repression is promoter specific; when an ERE-pS2-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter is employed, inhibition of endogenous ER activity by equivalent amounts of S554fs, ...
Quantitative determination of opioids in whole blood using fully automated dried blood spot desorption coupled to on‐line SPE‐LC‐MS/MS

Opioids are well known, widely used painkillers. Increased stability of opioids in the dried blood spot (DBS) matrix compared to blood/plasma has been described. Other benefits provided by DBS techniques include point-of-care collection, less invasive micro sampling, more economical shipment, and convenient storage. Current methodology for analysis of micro whole blood samples for opioids is limited to the classical DBS workflow, including tedious manual punching of the DBS cards followed by extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) bioanalysis. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a fully automated on-line sample preparation procedure for the analysis of DBS micro samples relevant to the detection of opioids in finger prick blood. To this end, automated flow-through elution of DBS cards was followed by on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analysis by LC-MS/MS. Selective, sensitive, accurate, and reproducible quantitation of five representative opioids in human blood at sub-therapeutic, therapeutic, and toxic levels was achieved. The range of reliable response (R(2) ≥0.997) was 1 to 500 ng/mL whole blood for morphine, codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone; and 0.1 to 50 ng/mL for fentanyl. Inter-day, intra-day, and matrix inter-lot accuracy and precision was less than 15% (even at lower limits of quantitation (LLOQ) level). The method was successfully used to measure hydrocodone and its major metabolite norhydrocodone in incurred human samples. Our data support the enormous potential of DBS sampling and automated analysis for monitoring opioids as well as other pharmaceuticals in both anti-doping and pain management regimens.
Multiple initial culture conditions enhance the establishment of cell lines from primary ovarian cancer specimens

To increase the efficiency of stable cell line establishment from primary ovarian cancer specimens, we simultaneously initiated cultures under multiple conditions, varying extracellular matrices and the inclusion of supplements (e.g., serum or serum albumin), while minimizing exposure to xenogeneic antigens (e.g., fetal calf serum). Primary cultures were initiated from 30 specimens; cell lines were established from 10 of these for a success rate of 33%. In some instances, multiple cell lines were established from the same specimen. Five lines were characterized extensively with respect to growth properties, antigen expression, and genomic alterations. Although these lines are all low-passage, marked heterogeneity was observed, even between lines derived from the same specimen. The culture approach outlined herein will facilitate generation of reagents useful for many aspects of ovarian cancer biology.
Style Investing with Uncertainty

This paper analyzes the predictability of different style portfolio returns. Styles, as used in this paper and Barberis and Shleifer (2003), can be defined as groups of securities with a common characteristic, such as value (Graham and Dodd (1934)) and size (Banz (1979)). I specifically look at the determinants of style investing, such as style momentum and predictor variables such as macroeconomic variables (e.g. yield spread, inflation, industrial production, etc.), and show how learning about these variables affects the predictability of different style portfolio returns compared to linear models. A time-varying parameter model and a Kalman filter are used to take into account the effect of learning in this paper. At the end, I find that returns on style portfolios such as value and size appear to be related to the yield spread and other macroeconomic variables. This paper also finds that time-varying parameter models provide better in-sample and out-of-sample predictions then simple benchmark constant parameter models.
Withholding the Red Ink

This paper aims to further discussion on the underexplored relationship between public administration and public protest, and how public administration can further the aims of public protest movements or actively work to thwart them. I suggest that the Occupy movement, particularly in Oakland, CA, serves as an example where public administration thwarted a movement for social and economic justice. Looking at the Occupy movement through the lens of Foucault's later work, I propose that the Occupy movement can be framed as an instance of Cynical parrhesia, or frank speech, in which the safety of the speakers is at stake. This examination exposes the nature of public protest as bodily and risky, the potential for such movements to further social change, and the potential for public administrators to take up this speech aimed at those in power or to help in silencing its message through security regimes and even violence.
Online Learning as a Change Agent in Education

Students who are going to be successful in life must learn to acquire knowledge using all kinds of platforms. The belief that the only way people can learn is via classroom instruction is obsolete. Moreover, research does not support this view. The authors show how online learning is an important tool for achieving the goals of education that include creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and problem solving. In addition, online learning can help colleges save money while at the same time increase their offerings to students.
Denial on the Campuses; Demonstrably False Ideas Should Not Necessarily Be Protected by Bill of Rights; Holocaust Revisionism

At Hopkins and elsewhere, the issue of granting historical revisionists equal access to curricula and classrooms is difficult enough, but it is complicated acutely when student editors become entangled in the black and nefarious thickets of Holocaust denial masquerading as "scholarship." The Johns Hopkins News-Letter is only the most recent university paper to succumb to the blandishments of a group calling itself the "Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust," which promulgates claims that a plan to systematically rid Germany or Europe of Jews never existed, that no gas chambers ever operated and that the number of Jewish victims has always been grossly distorted by Zionist propagandists. During the past few years, similar {See Holocaust, 6f} such briefs have appeared at universities as notable as Brandeis, Duke, Miami, Michigan and Ohio State, where student editors have defended their decisions to publish on First Amendment grounds. In so doing, they broadly invoke the freedoms of speech and press and are quick to note specifically their aversion to censorship. But other student newspapers such as those at Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania and Texas have been able to recognize that Holocaust denial reflects less "scholarship" and "intellectual freedom" than sham and nonsense. Perhaps better than some of their politically correct professors, they understand that such historical revisionism is designed to take advantage of both the dwindling number of survivors and the inevitable ignorance of future generations.
Rapid enlargement of aneurysmal remnant as a cause of early rebleed after coil embolization of posterior communicating artery aneurysm: a case report.

Background Early rebleeding of an aneurysm following endovascular coiling is a serious complication and carries a high risk of mortality and morbidity. Clinical Presentation A 56-year-old woman was diagnosed with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to rupture of a saccular aneurysm arising from the communicating segment (PComm) of the right internal carotid artery. She underwent an uneventful right pterional craniotomy and clipping of the aneurysm. On postoperative day 5, she lapsed into altered sensorium. Computed tomography (CT) of the head showed fresh subarachnoid bleed and digital subtraction cerebral angiography (DSA) demonstrated a relatively small (4.9 mm × 3.5 mm × 2.6 mm) left PComm saccular aneurysm with complete obliteration of the previously clipped right PComm aneurysm. She underwent coil embolization of this aneurysm, with a small remnant at the neck (>95% occlusion was achieved). On postcoiling day 9, she again lapsed into altered sensorium. CT of the head revealed fresh SAH. CT-angiography and DSA was performed, which showed significant enlargement of the residual left PComm aneurysm with coil impaction. Intervention Patient was subjected to a standard left pterional craniotomy and clipping of the residual aneurysm. She also underwent a subsequent ventriculoperitoneal shunt for the associated hydrocephalus. She gradually recovered and was able to return to work with minimal disability. Conclusion Rapid enlargement and rupture of an aneurysmal remnant following endovascular coiling is a rare cause of an early rebleed, especially associated with “small” aneurysms. A more stringent postprocedural imaging strategy along with restrained anticoagulation in such “high-risk” cases is recommended.
NOVEL CLINICAL MANIFESTATION OF VARIANT SCN5A GENE

Brugada syndrome, an autosomal dominant disease caused by loss of function mutation of sodium channel gene (SCN5A). It is classically described as typical repolarization changes on resting electrocardiogram (EKG) and poses an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) especially during sleep and
Christopher Simpson, Science of Coercion: Communication Research and Psychological Warfare, 1945-1960. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 204 pp. Cloth, $29.95.

(1994). Christopher Simpson, Science of Coercion: Communication Research and Psychological Warfare, 1945-1960. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 204 pp. Cloth, $29.95. American Journalism: Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 382-383.
Detection of mercury in tea by atomic fluorescent spectrography

Objective:To establish a method for detection of mercury in tea.Methods:Atomic fluorescence spectrographic method was used.Results:Before the simplification,processing method,Picks out limits was 0.0397 μg/L.The specification curve correlation coefficient was 0.9994.The relatively standard deviation was 1.30%.The average returns-ratio was 93.5%～97.9%.Conclusion:This method is simple,fast and accurate.
Klein tunnelling and electron trapping in nanometre-scale graphene quantum dots

Relativistic Dirac fermions can be locally confirmed in nanoscale graphene quantum dots using electrostatic gating, and directly imaged using scanning tunnelling microscopy before escaping via Klein tunnelling.
Interferometric Coherent Raman Spectroscopies with Incoherent Light: Time and Frequency Resolution via Radiation-Matter Oscillations

The study of dynamics through light/matter interaction has been pushed to ultrashort time resolution with the advent of femtosecond lasers. But in the early 1980’s [1] it was realized that apparently ultrashort timing could also be realized using light whose phase noise is sufficient to exhibit femtosecond scale autocorrelation times, even with nanosecond pulses. We have recently compared ultrashort timing with transform limited femtosecond light pulses (amplitude modulated light) and timing with incoherent light (phase modulated light), with abundant reference to the literature [2]. The object of this report is to briefly summarize our findings.
Structural Basis for Regulation of GPR56/ADGRG1 by Its Alternatively Spliced Extracellular Domains.

Adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs) play critical roles in diverse neurobiological processes including brain development, synaptogenesis, and myelination. aGPCRs have large alternatively spliced extracellular regions (ECRs) that likely mediate intercellular signaling; however, the precise roles of ECRs remain unclear. The aGPCR GPR56/ADGRG1 regulates both oligodendrocyte and cortical development. Accordingly, human GPR56 mutations cause myelination defects and brain malformations. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the GPR56 ECR, the first structure of any complete aGPCR ECR, in complex with an inverse-agonist monobody, revealing a GPCR-Autoproteolysis-Inducing domain and a previously unidentified domain that we term Pentraxin/Laminin/neurexin/sex-hormone-binding-globulin-Like (PLL). Strikingly, PLL domain deletion caused increased signaling and characterizes a GPR56 splice variant. Finally, we show that an evolutionarily conserved residue in the PLL domain is critical for oligodendrocyte development in vivo. Thus, our results suggest that the GPR56 ECR has unique and multifaceted regulatory functions, providing novel insights into aGPCR roles in neurobiology.
Pathogen invasion triggers an evolutionary trap for an endangered checkerspot butterfly dependent on an exotic host plant

Exotic pathogen invasions can change host eco-evolutionary interactions and possibly create an evolutionary trap when the pathogen generates mismatches between developmental phenology and reproductive cues. Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori), is an endangered species of western North America with 80 % of the extant populations dependent on an exotic host, Plantago lanceolata. Survey of occupied, recently extinct, and unsuccessful butterfly reintroduction sites spanning 4° of latitude revealed widespread disease on P. lanceolata caused by Pyrenopeziza plantaginis. This fungal pathogen, new to North America, reduces the standing crop of P. lanceolata foliage throughout the winter post-diapause larval feeding period. However, disease is absent when adult butterflies and pre-diapause larvae are active. Diseased plants were frequent in Taylor’s checkerspot populations with a history of persistence, but >90 % of the host plants in these populations had initiated new leaves within the first few weeks of post-diapause larval feeding. Conversely, host plants in recently extinct and unsuccessfully reintroduced populations were severely diseased, >66 % mean foliage necrosis/plant, and <23 % had initiated new leaves. Feeding choice trials with 25 larvae indicated that new leaves were strongly and consistently preferred by post-diapause larvae over all other available leaf types, both diseased and non-diseased. Because the influence of disease on post-diapause larval food resources is developmentally disassociated from oviposition, P. plantaginis invasion appears to have triggered an evolutionary trap for Plantago-dependent populations of Taylor’s checkerspot.
User experience as a driver of entrepreneurial innovation

UX and entrepreneurship are connected in ways that have not been fully elaborated in theory or practice. This manuscript addresses that gap by outlining how UX can contribute to entrepreneurship education and training. UX is particularly useful for the growing class of “user entrepreneurs,” who innovate solutions to problems they encounter while using existing technologies. Through UX training, more users can progress along a continuum from a general user who innovates for personal use to an entrepreneur who commercializes solutions to user-problems. Furthermore, UX research can actually spur innovation by revealing user experience problems that demand new solutions.
Primate Visual Perception: Motivated Attention in Naturalistic Scenes.

Research has consistently revealed enhanced receptive field activation corresponding to attended cues coupled with suppression to unattended cues. This attention effect depends both on the spatial features of stimuli and internal task goals. However, a large majority of research supporting this effect involves circumscribed tasks that possess few ecologically relevant characteristics. By comparison, natural scenes have the potential to engage an evolved attention system, which may be characterized by features that are distinct from those engaged by reduced experimental paradigms. Here we describe recent animal and human studies of naturalistic scene viewing to highlight the specific impact of social and affective processes on the neural mechanisms of attention modulation.
Gene expression profiling. Methods and clinical applications in oncology.

The advent of microarray technology, which allows analysis of global patterns of gene expression, undoubtedly will have a great impact on the medical field. As a result of remarkable advances in genomics, which have included the completion of the first draft of the human genome, the expression of an individual gene now can be studied within the context of all genes in a cell. This ability offers great promise for a more comprehensive understanding of the biology of human tumors and as such is expected to influence current approaches to diagnosis and therapy.
Who You Know and Who You Count on: Entrepreneurs’ Social Tie Utilization in Venture Fundraising

An understudied fact about social ties is that being personally connected with another (i.e., "having a tie") does not necessarily mean that an actor will intentionally make efforts to activate this social tie to capture benefits (i.e., "using a tie"). In this study, we highlight the decision-making mechanism behind entrepreneurs’ social tie activation in the context of venture fundraising – a context in which tie activation places the responding actor at significant risk. Because the responding actor may suffer large losses as a result of responding to a request, the requesting actor also bears some risk in activating the tie. We suggest that using social ties with investors to raise funds for their ventures corresponds to the acceptance of significant personal risk on the part of entrepreneurs and we highlight the decision behind entrepreneur-investor tie activation as one of decision making under risk. Our results strongly support for the notion that entrepreneurs deliberately choose whether to draw up...
Predicting student success in an undergraduate Sport Management program from performance in general education courses

Abstract This research was a case study of the relationship between student performance in general education courses and required lower division courses and student performance in Sport Management courses at Kennesaw State University (KSU). Regression results indicated that student performance in three general education courses, World Literature, Introduction to Statistics, and American Government, and two lower division courses, Introduction to Sport Management and Introduction to Financial Accounting, are significantly related to student performance in Sport Management courses. The identification of these courses correlated with student success may be useful to other Sport Management programs considering transitioning to a gated admissions process.
Differential effects of high fat diet and diet-induced obesity on skeletal acquisition in female C57BL/6J vs. FVB/NJ Mice.

The effects of obesity on bone metabolism are complex, and may be mediated by consumption of a high fat diet and/or by obesity-induced metabolic dysregulation. To test the hypothesis that both high fat (HF) diet and diet-induced metabolic disease independently decrease skeletal acquisition, we compared effects of HF diet on bone mass and microarchitecture in two mouse strains: diet-induced obesity (DIO)-susceptible C57BL/6J (B6) and DIO-resistant FVB/NJ (FVB). At 3 wks of age we weaned 120 female FVB and B6 mice onto normal (N, 10% Kcal/fat) or HF diet (45% Kcal/fat) and euthanized them at 6, 12 and 20 weeks of age (N = 10/grp). Outcomes included body mass; percent fat and whole-body bone mineral density (WBBMD, g/cm2) via DXA; cortical and trabecular bone architecture at the midshaft and distal femur via μCT; and marrow adiposity via histomorphometry. In FVB HF, body mass, percent body fat, WBBMD and marrow adiposity did not differ vs. N, but trabecular bone mass was lower at 6 wks of age only (p < 0.05), cortical bone geometric properties were lower at 12 wks only, and bone strength was lower at 20 wks of age only in HF vs. N (p < 0.05). In contrast, B6 HF had higher body mass, percent body fat, and leptin vs. N. B6 HF also had higher WBBMD (p < 0.05) at 9 and 12 wks of age but lower distal femur trabecular bone mass at 12 wks of age, and lower body mass-adjusted cortical bone properties at 20 wks of age compared to N (p < 0.05). Marrow adiposity was also markedly higher in B6 HF vs. N. Overall, HF diet negatively affected bone mass in both strains, but was more deleterious to trabecular bone microarchitecture and marrow adiposity in B6 than in FVB mice. These data suggest that in addition to fat consumption itself, the metabolic response to high fat diet independently alters skeletal acquisition in obesity.
Credé expression of the bladder: a sometimes useful maneuver.

AbstractTwo children with neurovesical dysfunction are described. The upper tract changes were resolved following the initiation of the Crede expression of the bladder. It is suggested that the Crede maneuver has a place in the management of selected children with neurovesical dysfunction, particularly when temporization is needed.
Thymus Masses on FDG PET/CT

Abstract FDG avidity in the thymus is often benign thymic rebound. The characteristic triangular shape of benign thymus will distinguish it from malignancy. Thymic malignancies are uncommon, but include thymic carcinomas and malignant carcinoids.
Honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) larval pheromones may regulate gene expression related to foraging task specialization

Foraging behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera) is a complex phenotype that is regulated by physiological state and social signals. How these factors are integrated at the molecular level to modulate foraging behavior has not been well characterized. The transition of worker bees from nursing to foraging behaviors is mediated by large-scale changes in brain gene expression, which are influenced by pheromones produced by the queen and larvae. Larval pheromones can also stimulate foragers to leave the colony to collect pollen. However, the mechanisms underpinning this rapid behavioral plasticity in foragers that specialize in collecting pollen over nectar, and how larval pheromones impact these different behavioral states, remains to be determined. Here, we investigated the patterns of gene expression related to rapid behavioral plasticity and task allocation among honey bee foragers exposed to two larval pheromones, brood pheromone (BP) and (E)-beta-ocimene (EBO). We hypothesized that both pheromones would alter expression of genes in the brain related to foraging and would differentially impact brain gene expression depending on foraging specialization. Combining data reduction, clustering, and network analysis methods, we found that foraging preference (nectar vs. pollen) and pheromone exposure are each associated with specific brain gene expression profiles. Furthermore, pheromone exposure has a strong transcriptional effect on genes that are preferentially expressed in nectar foragers. Representation factor analysis between our study and previous landmark honey bee transcriptome studies revealed significant overlaps for both pheromone communication and foraging task specialization. Our results suggest that, as social signals, pheromones alter expression patterns of foraging-related genes in the bee’s brain to increase pollen foraging at both long and short time scales. These results provide new insights into how social signals and task specialization are potentially integrated at the molecular level, and highlights the possible role that brain gene expression may play in honey bee behavioral plasticity across time scales.
rs11670527 Upstream of ZNF264 Associated with Body Mass Index in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative.

INTRODUCTION the effects of obesity on health are a concern for the military as they affect the fitness to serve of active service members, increase costs to the Military Health System, and reduce quality of life for veterans and beneficiaries. Although obesity can be influenced by behavioral and environmental factors, it has also been shown to be associated with genetic risk factors that are not fully understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS we performed a genome-wide association study of 5,251 participants in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative, which includes 2,111 Air Force participants. We applied a generalized linear model, using principal component analysis to account for population structure, and analyzed single-variant associations with body mass index (BMI) as a continuous variable, using a Bonferroni-corrected P-value threshold to account for multiplicity. RESULTS we identified one genome-wide significant locus, rs11670527, upstream of the ZNF264 gene on chromosome 19, associated with BMI. CONCLUSIONS the finding of an association between rs11670527 and BMI adds to the growing body of literature characterizing the complex genetics of obesity. These efforts may eventually inform personalized interventions aimed at achieving and maintaining healthy weight.
A versatile approach for quantification of surface site fractions using reaction kinetics: The case of CO oxidation on supported Ir single atoms and nanoparticles

Abstract Supported metal single-atom catalysts have shown unique activity and selectivity for several reactions. Investigating the reaction mechanism on single-atom catalysts and unambiguous assignment of the activity and selectivity requires catalysts with exclusively single atoms. However, it is challenging to prepare pure single-atom catalysts with conventional impregnation methods, which typically result in a mixture of single atoms and nanoparticles. Here, we show that owing to different reaction mechanisms on single atoms and nanoparticles, reaction kinetics can serve as a surface sensitive characterization technique for quantifying their surface site fractions. As a case study, we use CO oxidation kinetics on Ir/MgAl2O4 to quantify the surface site fractions of single atoms and nanoparticles and the results are consistent with aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption fine structure and infrared spectroscopies. Additionally, by carefully choosing the reaction conditions, the activity of single atoms (or nanoparticles) can be made dominant, enabling detection of a small fraction, or allowing a study of their reaction mechanism on a catalyst containing a mixture of single atoms and nanoparticles. These results are general and could be applied to other systems where two types of sites have different reaction mechanisms.
Improved succinate production from galactose-rich feedstocks by engineered Escherichia coli under anaerobic conditions.

It is of great economic interest to produce succinate from low-grade carbon sources, which can make it more economically competitive against petrochemical-based succinate. Galactose sugars constitute a significant fraction of the soluble carbohydrate in a meal from agricultural sources which is considered a low value or waste byproduct of oilseed processing. To improve the galactose utilization, the effect of galR and glk on sugars uptake was investigated by deactivation of each gene in three previously engineered host strains. As expected, glk plays an important role in glucose uptake, while, the effect of deactivation of galR is highly dependent on the strength of the downstream module (succinate production module). A new succinate producer FZ661T was constructed by enhancement of the succinate producing module and manipulation of the gal operon. The succinate productivity reached 4.57 g/L/hr when a mixed sugar feedstock was used as a carbon source in shake-flask fermentation, up to 812 mM succinate was accumulated in 80 hr in fed-batch fermentation. When SoyMolaGal hydrolysate was used as a carbon source, 628 mM (74 g/L) succinate was produced within 72 hr. In this study, we demonstrate that FZ661T can produce succinate quickly with relatively high yield, giving it the potential for industrial application.
Detection of the DEJ and Segmentation of Its Morphological Patterns in RCM Images of Melanocytic Skin Lesions

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) provides a real-time noninvasive (in-vivo) proxy for histology. Here, we present machine learning models to delineate skin layers in RCM image stacks and analyze morphological patterns in RCM mosaics of skin.
Optimized screw profile design proved to inhibit re-agglomeration that occurs during extrusion of fine-milled forest residuals for producing fermentable sugars

Abstract The re-agglomeration phenomenon occurring during the extrusion process for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass under high temperature reduces the fermentable sugar yields. Prevention of the re-agglomeration at high-temperature extrusion is critical to enhancing the sugar yield. Lignocellulosic biomass was ground through a multi-step milling process and used as the raw material. The extrusion process was performed with different feedstock moisture contents of 50, 55, and 60 % (w.b.) and at barrel temperatures of 50, 100, 150, and 200 °C to create an environment that leads to re-agglomeration of the material after extrusion. A specific screw configuration was used to minimize the re-agglomeration and by modifying the heating and cooling zones. Water evaporation that induces the re-agglomeration during the extrusion process was inhibited with the new screw design without remarkable changes in the particle sizes. The particle sizes of D10, D50, and D90 were determined as 4.51–5.34 μm, 26.80–29.47 μm, and 102.33–110.67 μm, respectively.
What Does Putin Promise Russians? Russia's Authoritarian Social Policy

In his 20 years in power, Vladimir Putin has employed a savvy use of social policy to bolster his popularity, but it is a set of policies not well designed to address Russia's chronic under-provision of healthcare, education, and other social services-particularly in rural areas. The COVID-19 global pandemic will only exacerbate Russia's social policy challenges and could pose a threat to Putin's political survival.
Analysis of Temperature Variation and Thermally-Induced Reflective Cracking Potential in Composite Pavements

Reflective cracking is the major distress in composite pavement and can accelerate the deterioration of the whole structure. This paper analyzes the potential for reflective cracking in composite p...