cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
α-Enolase Is the c-myc Promoter-Binding Protein.

Abstract Quadruplex-forming sequences occur disproportionately in the promoters of growth regulatory genes, including c-myc. These sequences appear to play important roles in the regulation of gene expression. The c-myc quadruplex-forming sequence occurs in the c-myc P1 promoter region which is responsible for more than 80% of c-myc expression. We have used proteomic techniques used to identify quadruplex-binding proteins. Two dimensional electrophoretic gels of nuclear extracts were blotted and screened with G-rich (quadruplex forming) and C-rich (control) oligonucleotides. We were surprised to observe that α-enolase binds the G-rich, but not C-rich oligonucleotide. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA), we confirmed that both α-enolase and its alternative translation product, MBP-1, bind quadruplex-forming oligonucleotides. We then tested the hypothesis that both α-enolase and MBP-1 may play important physiologic roles by binding the c-myc quadruplex-forming sequence. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays were used to characterize the binding of α-enolase and MBP-1 to the c-myc quadruplex-forming sequence. Binding of AS1411, a quadruplex forming oligonucleotide, was used as a control. Both α-enolase and MBP-1 demonstrated strong binding to the c-myc P2 promoter sequence (containing the quadruplex-forming sequence). A “supershift” was seen when an anti-α-enolase antibody was included in the incubation although control antibodies did not alter the EMSA pattern. The quadruplex oligonucleotide aptamer, AS1411, competed for α-enolase and MBP-1 binding to the c-myc promoter sequence. However, a nonquadruplex-forming oligonucleotide did not compete. A mutation in the c-myc quadruplex sequence abrogated binding of both α-enolase and MBP-1. In order to test the biological effect of the α-enolase/MBP-1 interaction with the c-myc promoter, we characterized the effect of constitutive overexpression of each α-enolase product, individually. Although, overexpression of MBP-1 by transfected cells resulted in down regulation of c-myc expression and induction of apoptosis, constitutive overexpression of α-enolase did not alter c-myc expression or the rate of cellular proliferation. Cells grown in low glucose medium demonstrate increased MBP-1 levels which results in decreased c-myc expression and inhibition of cellular proliferation. A similar response was seen in hypoxic cells, indicating that enolase/MBP-1 plays an important role in cellular responses to external stress. These results suggest that MBP-1 down regulates c-myc expression by simultaneous binding to the P1 and P2 promoter sequences, while α-enolase binds only the P2 sequence. This suggests a very important regulatory role for α-enolase/MBP-1 in the relationship between cellular metabolism and growth regulation. Enolase/MBP-1 quadruplex-binding likely plays an important role in regulation of c-myc expression.
Climate, Demography, and Zoogeography Predict Introgression Thresholds in Salmonid Hybrid Zones in Rocky Mountain Streams.

Among the many threats posed by invasions of nonnative species is introgressive hybridization, which can lead to the genomic extinction of native taxa. This phenomenon is regarded as common and perhaps inevitable among native cutthroat trout and introduced rainbow trout in western North America, despite that these taxa naturally co-occur in some locations. We conducted a synthetic analysis of 13,315 genotyped fish from 558 sites by building logistic regression models using data from geospatial stream databases and from 12 published studies of hybridization to assess whether environmental covariates could explain levels of introgression between westslope cutthroat trout and rainbow trout in the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains. A consensus model performed well (AUC, 0.78–0.86; classification success, 72–82%; 10-fold cross validation, 70–82%) and predicted that rainbow trout introgression was significantly associated with warmer water temperatures, larger streams, proximity to warmer habitats and to recent sources of rainbow trout propagules, presence within the historical range of rainbow trout, and locations further east. Assuming that water temperatures will continue to rise in response to climate change and that levels of introgression outside the historical range of rainbow trout will equilibrate with those inside that range, we applied six scenarios across a 55,234-km stream network that forecast 9.5–74.7% declines in the amount of habitat occupied by westslope cutthroat trout populations of conservation value, but not the wholesale loss of such populations. We conclude that introgression between these taxa is predictably related to environmental conditions, many of which can be manipulated to foster largely genetically intact populations of westslope cutthroat trout and help managers prioritize conservation activities.
The Formation of Industrial Subcontracting in the Japanese Manufacturing Industry

Up to 1990, worldwide industrial restructuring required every economic actor to adapt flexibly to changing situations. Whilst the giants seemed to suffer from slow action and reaction, it was the small companies which became more active. Moreover, they became more active in the sectors which showed the greatest growth. A report of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) pointed out, for example, that about one-quarter of employment in growing sectors in the Federal Republic of Germany and in Japan was in very small establishments (less than 10 employees), while in declining sectors the proportion was about one-eighth (OECD 1989). This could be partly due to the expansion of the service sector; however, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in manufacturing also appeared to be developing on a broader basis. In manufacturing, a pervasive revision of labour could be seen to be occurring in smaller units of employment (establishments and enterprises), at least in the industrialised countries (Sengenberger and Loveman 1987).
The radial acceleration relation in disc galaxies in the MassiveBlack-II simulation

A strong correlation has been measured between the observed centripetal accelerations in galaxies and the accelerations implied by the baryonic components of galaxies. This empirical radial acceleration relation must be accounted for in any viable model of galaxy formation. We measure and compare the radial accelerations contributed by baryons and by dark matter in disk galaxies in the MassiveBlack-II hydrodynamic galaxy formation simulation. The sample of 1594 galaxies spans three orders of magnitude in luminosity and four in surface brightness, comparable to the observed sample from the Spitzer Photometry & Accurate Rotation Curves (SPARC) dataset used by McGaugh et al. (2016). We find that radial accelerations contributed by baryonic matter only and by total matter are highly correlated, with only small scatter around their mean or median relation, despite the wide ranges of galaxy luminosity and surface brightness. We further find that the radial acceleration relation in this simulation differs from that of the SPARC sample, and can be described by a simple power law in the acceleration range we are probing.
How the Chinese System of Charges and Subsidies Affects Pollution Control Efforts by China's Top Industrial Polluters

In a large sample of East Asian nonfinancial corporations, firms using foreign currency derivatives had distinctive characteristics, such as larger size and foreign debt exposures. Unlike in studies of U.S. firms, there was only weak evidence that liquidity-constrained firms with greater growth opportunities hedged more. Firms appeared to use foreign earnings as a substitute for hedging with derivatives, and to engage in "selective" hedging. There was no evidence that East Asian firms eliminated their foreign exchange exposure by using derivatives. And firms using derivatives before the crisis performed just as poorly as nonhedgers during the crisis.The recent East Asian financial crisis provides a natural experiment for investigating foreign exchange risk management by nonfinancial corporations. During this period, the financial crisis exposed local firms to large depreciations in exchange rates and reduced access to foreign capital. Allayannis, Brown, and Klapper explore the exchange rate hedging practices of firms that hedged exposure to foreign debt in eight East Asian countries between 1996 and 1998. They identify and characterize East Asian companies that used foreign currency derivatives, documenting differences in size, financial characteristics, and exposure to domestic and foreign debt. They investigate the factors important in the use of foreign currency derivatives. Unlike studies of U.S. firms, they find limited support for existing theories of optimal hedging. Instead, they find that firms use foreign earnings as a substitute for hedging with derivatives. And they find evidence that firms engage in "selective" hedging. They investigate the relative performance of hedgers during and after the crisis. They find no evidence that East Asian firms eliminated their foreign exchange exposure by using derivatives. Firms that used derivatives before the crisis performed just as poorly as nonhedgers during the crisis. After the crisis, firms that hedged performed somewhat better than nonhedgers, but this result appears to be explained by a larger post-crisis currency exposure for hedgers (an exchange rate risk premium), which had limited access to derivatives during this period. This paper - a product of Finance, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to study corporate finance and risk management.
Survivability Quantification: The Analytical Modeling Approach

In this paper, we present a general survivability quantification approach that is applicable to a wide range of system architectures, applications, failure/recovery behaviors, and metrics. We show how this approach can be applied to derive survivability measures based on the current definition and extend it to other measures that are not covered by any current definition but can provide helpful information for better understanding of system steady state and transient behavior under various adverse conditions. An example of a telecommunications switching system is given for the purpose of illustration. Markov models are developed and solved for the example to show the use of the proposed quantification approach via analytical modeling.
Model checking in Tobit regression with measurement errors using validation data

Abstract This article proposes a class of lack-of-fit tests for fitting a parametric regression function in Tobit regression models with measurement error in covariates when validation data is available. The empirical residuals based on nonparametric regression function estimators are used to construct an analog of the Zheng’s class of test statistics. The proposed class of tests is robust to the choices of parameter estimators and consistent against a large class of fixed alternatives. We also establish the asymptotic normality of these test statistics under the null hypothesis and under a sequence of local alternatives. A finite sample simulation study shows some superiority of a member of the proposed class of tests over the two existing tests in terms of empirical power.
Evaluation of Inflammatory and Immune Processes in the Interstitial Lung Disorders: Use of Bronchoalveolar Lavage

The interstitial lung diseases are a group of chronic, usually fatal disorders that diffusively involve the alveolar structures.1–9 Although there are many types of interstitial diseases, all are characterized by two general features: (1) “alveolitis” — a chronic accumulation of inflammatory and immune effector cells within the alveolar structures; and (2) “fibrosis” — a derangement of the alveolar structures including changes in the number and type of lung parenchymal cells accompanied by alterations of the extracellular matrix, particularly collagen.l–9 Importantly, while fibrosis of the alveolar walls is usually considered to be the hallmark of these disorders, it is now recognized that the key to the pathogenesis of the interstitial diseases is the alveolitis.7–9 Not only does the alveolitis precede the other changes of the alveolar structures, but by virtue of a potent armamentarium of mediators, the cells comprising the alveolitis mediate the cellular and extracellular derangements that lead to progressive loss of function.7–9 In this context, it is critical to define and characterize the alveolitis in order to understand the pathogenesis of the interstitial disorders and to rationally stage and treat these patients.
Counting the cost of lineage decisions

Lineage bias among early hematopoietic progenitor cells is specified by transcription-factor programming, and lineage switching reduces the quantity of cells produced.
Environmental Issues in Maintaining Reproductive Health

Abstract During the evaluation of an infertile male, there are many factors to be considered as potential contributors. The environment is ubiquitous around us and therein lies many factors that can negatively influence male reproductive potential. Pollution and pesticides can adversely impact fertility in many ways, such as through the creation of reactive oxygen species, a direct toxic effect, and even disrupting steroidogenic pathways. Everyday items such as cellular phones can generate electromagnetic waves that increase the formation of reactive oxygen species leading to DNA fragmentation and apoptosis. Laptop computers can increase scrotal temperatures, thereby influencing spermatogenesis. Foods may contain phytoestrogens that display estrogenic effects. In this chapter, we evaluate the evidence of some of the environmental factors clinicians need to consider in the work-up of male-factor infertility.
DOCK3-related neurodevelopmental syndrome: Biallelic intragenic deletion of DOCK3 in a boy with developmental delay and hypotonia.

Dedicator of cytokinesis (DOCK) family are evolutionary conserved guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for the Rho GTPases, Rac, and Cdc42. DOCK3 functions as a GEF for Rac1, and plays an important role in promoting neurite and axonal growth by stimulating actin dynamics and microtubule assembly pathways in the central nervous system. Here we report a boy with developmental delay, hypotonia, and ataxia due to biallelic DOCK3 deletion. Chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) microarray analysis detected a 170 kb homozygous deletion including exons 6-12 of the DOCK3 gene at 3p21.2. Symptoms of our proband resembles a phenotype of Dock3 knockout mice exhibiting sensorimotor impairments. Furthermore, our proband has clinical similarities with two siblings with compound heterozygous loss-of-function mutations of DOCK3 reported in [Helbig, Mroske, Moorthy, Sajan, and Velinov (); https://doi.org/10.1111/cge.12995]. Biallelic DOCK3 mutations cause a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by unsteady gait, hypotonia, and developmental delay.
Bottom-up methodology for predictive simulations of self-heating in aggressively scaled process technologies

We present a hierarchical methodology using a combination of ab-initio phonon scattering, electron transmission, and multi-scale finite element simulations to accurately model process specific material physics and component level self-heating in FinFET technologies. The framework is applied to explain key heat transfer pathways and thermal resistance of FinFETs, interconnects and integrated precision resistors. Excellent agreement with thermal resistance measurements and its dependence on process technology is demonstrated across many device types without any fitting. The proposed methodology enables rapid systematic evaluation and process mitigation of self-heating in advanced CMOS technologies.
Interpersonal Violence Prevention and Response on College and University Campuses: Opportunities for Faculty Leadership

Over the past decade, considerable and increasing attention has been paid to the high prevalence of sexual and intimate partner violence, stalking, and sexual harassment (i.e., interpersonal violence) on college and university campuses. Consequences of these victimizations are vast and long-lasting. Given the potential impact of dynamic changes in federal guidance on how to address interpersonal violence on campuses, it is even more critical for faculty from many different disciplines focused on anti-violence research and practice to be involved in efforts to intervene with and prevent such violence. In this commentary, we outline opportunities for faculty leadership in the areas of research, teaching, and service based on available research in these areas as well as our collective experiences as members of academia (e.g., students, former students, faculty) and former intimate partner violence and sexual assault service providers. Additionally, we discuss challenges that may arise for faculty (e.g., fixed-term faculty, adjunct faculty, pre-tenure assistant professors, tenured professors) taking on such leadership opportunities, such as increased workload and emotional labor, and make recommendations to help mitigate these challenges.
Tgfbr2 is required in Acan-expressing cells for maintenance of the intervertebral and sternocostal joints.

Background Members of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) family are secreted proteins that regulate skeletal development. TGF-β signaling is critical in embryonic development of the annulus fibrosus (AF) of the intervertebral disc (IVD). To address the question of the role of TGF-β signaling in postnatal development and maintenance of the skeleton, we generated mice in which Tgfbr2 was deleted at 2-weeks of age in Aggrecan (Acan)-expressing cells using inducible Cre/LoxP recombination. Methods Localization of Cre recombination was visualized by crossing Acantm1(cre/ERT2)Crm mice to fluorescent mTmG reporter mice. Acantm1(cre/ERT2)Crm mice were mated to Tgfbr2 LoxP/LoxP mice and Cre recombinase was activated by tamoxifen injection at 2-weeks postnatally. Following tamoxifen injection, mice were aged to 3, 6, and 12-months and control mice were compared to the experimental (cKO) group. Mice were initially analyzed using X-ray and skeletal preparations. Sternocostal joints and IVD tissues were further analyzed histologically by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Safranin O, and Picrosirius Red staining as well as Col10 immunostaining. Results Cre recombination was observed in the IVD and sternocostal joints. X-ray analysis revealed osteophyte formation within the disc space of 12-month-old cKO mice. Skeletal preparations confirmed calcification within the IVD and the sternocostal joints in cKO mice. H&E staining of cKO IVD revealed disorganized growth plates, delay in the formation of the bony endplate, and Col10 staining in the AF indicative of ectopic endochondral bone formation. Furthermore, proteoglycan loss was observed and collagen bundles within the inner AF were thinner and less organized. Alterations in the IVD were apparent beginning at 3 months and were progressively more visible at 6 and 12 months. Similarly, histological analysis of cKO sternocostal joints revealed joint calcification, proteoglycan loss, and disorganization of the collagen architecture at 12 months of age. Conclusions TGF-β signaling is important for postnatal development and maintenance of fibrocartilaginous IVD and sternocostal joints.
Ultraviolet Therapy for Psoriasis

Total-body ultraviolet therapy (UV) for moderate-to-severe psoriasis consists of narrowband and broadband-UVB, psoralen plus UVA (PUVA – where psoralen can be ingested orally or applied topically), inpatient phototherapy (i.e. Goeckerman Therapy, Ingram therapy), non-office-based phototherapy (i.e. use of commercial sunlamps/sunbeds or home UVB for psoriasis treatment, heliotherapy, climatotherapy), and combined UVB/PUVA with retinoid or biologic agents. For each type of UV therapy discussed in this chapter, essential information regarding dosage and administration, efficacy (including comparator data if available), short-term side effects, and long-term photocarcinogenic risks are discussed. A well-balanced understanding of the advantages and drawbacks of each photo-therapeutic option can help phototherapy practitioners optimize clinical outcomes as well as enhance the quality of life for patients affected by this chronic skin condition.
Dimensionality Reduction for Speech Recognition Using Neighborhood Components Analysis

Previous work has considered methods for learning projections of high-dimensional acoustic representations to lower dimensional spaces. In this paper we apply the neighborhoodcomponentsanalysis (NCA) [2] method to acoustic modeling in a speech recognizer. NCA learns a projection of acoustic vectors that optimizes a criterion that is closely related to the classification accuracy of a nearest-neighbor classifier. We introduce regularization into this method, giving further improvements in performance. We describe experiments on a lecture transcription task, comparing projections learned using NCA and HLDA [1] . Regularized NCA gives a 0.7% absolute reduction in WER over HLDA, which corresponds to a relative reduction of 1.9%. Index Terms: speech recognition, acoustic modeling, dimensionality reduction
Trends in the Historiography of American College Student Life: Populations, Organizations, and Behaviors

Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz’s 1987 Campus Life represented the culmination of historical scholarship about American college students spurred by the tumultuous 1960s. This chapter examines the historiography of college students in the three decades since Campus Life, during which historians have provided more insights into Horowitz’s “ways of being an undergraduate”—college men and women, outsiders, and rebels—while also nuancing this categorization. Hevel and Jaeckle outline how historians have broadened their focus to include subpopulations, such as African American, Asian American, Latino, and LGBTQ students, and types of institutions not prominent in Horowitz’s work. The chapter focuses on student populations, organizations, and behavior. This review of the literature also suggests opportunities for further research, and considers the potential for further synthesis of the history of college students.
Somewhere to Belong and Love finds You in Homestead, Iowa

Review of: "Somewhere to Belong," by Judith Miller and "Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa," by Melanie Dobson.
Philosophies of Hospitality: Toward Perpetual Peace and Freedom

This paper has been inspired by the Research Community: History and Philosophy of Educational Research, of which I have been a member since 2000. Organisers Paul Smeyers and Marc Depaepe have hosted annual face-to-face gatherings of this Research Community for the past 19 years. It is in appreciation of the Research Community as a site of hospitality that this chapter is dedicated. Based on my experiences with this group of philosophers and historians, this chapter celebrates the philosophical themes of vrede and gastvrijheid.
Neurological Outcomes After Surgical or Conservative Management of Spontaneous Spinal Epidural Abscesses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Data From 1980 Through 2016

Study Design:This is a meta-analysis.Objective:Perform a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis of neurological outcomes from all available spinal epidural abscess (SEA) literature published between 1980 and 2016.Summary of Background Data:Current literature on SEAs lacks large-scale data
New and important changes in breast cancer TNM: incorporation of biologic factors into staging.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Cancer staging has historically been based solely on the anatomic extent of the tumor (T), spread to lymph nodes (N), and the presence of distant metastases (M). More recently biologic factors have been added to modify TNM stage groups to provide more accurate prognosis for patients.Areas covered: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) updated breast cancer staging in 2016 to include T, N, M, tumor grade and expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER2. Addition of these factors changed the stage group for a large fraction of cases compared to prior TNM stage groupings. This updated ‘prognostic stage’ provides more robust and precise prognosis information.Expert opinion: Inclusion of biological information in staging changes the meaning and the use of stage in clinical practice. This paper reviews the evidence supporting these changes, limitations affecting staging, and discusses the implications for clinical practice and the future of breast cancer staging.
The Taiyi shengshui 太一生水 Cosmogony and Its Role in Early Chinese Thought

The Taiyi shengshui 太一生水 is one of only a few texts in the early Chinese corpus to present a detailed cosmogony, one that traces the beginnings of the cosmos back to a variety of spiritual and natural forces, such as the divinity Taiyi and water. My primary question in this chapter is not to ask what that cosmogony was, but why such a cosmogonic text might have been written in the first place. Why in particular did authors in Warring States China deem it necessary to go all the way back to the very beginning of everything to try to situate their thought and recommendations for human action? By comparing the Taiyi shengshui to various other cosmogonies in the textual tradition, we arrive at interesting insights into both the overarching moral agenda of the text as well as its specific contributions to cosmological thinking in early China.
Primary ovarian insufficiency in an adolescent population: clinical phenotype and diagnostic approach

Background Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) can be seen in adolescents secondary to genetic or autoimmune conditions, or gonadotoxic therapies. Often times, its underlying cause is not identified. It is a rare condition in pediatrics, but a thorough evaluation is required for a timely diagnosis and optimizing outcomes. Objectives We aim to describe the clinical phenotype of idiopathic POI in an adolescent population seen in a referral center, and evaluate its diagnostic approach. Methods All patients evaluated between 2012 and 2018 were identified using the diagnostic codes for POI. Medical records were manually reviewed and clinical information was extracted. Cases were excluded from the final sample if they were found to have incomplete diagnostic information, Turner syndrome, eating disorders, gonadal surgeries and/or a history of oncological conditions or treatments. Results Forty-eight patients with POI were identified, and only seven met the established criteria. Anti-ovarian and anti-thyroid antibodies were evaluated in 100% and 86%, respectively, while only 29% were tested for anti-adrenal autoimmunity. The karyotype was obtained consistently, while the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene expansion was only assessed in approximately a third of the patients. Finally, only 29% of patients received reproductive counseling or referral to a fertility specialist. Conclusions Diagnostic evaluation for POI appears to be challenging to pediatric providers. Anti-ovarian antibodies are frequently obtained despite the lack of their clinical significance in POI, while anti-adrenal antibodies, which are the preferred diagnostic test, are not commonly obtained. Reproductive orientation or referral is seldom provided to the adolescent population.
Occult AVM nidus in symptomatic left temporal arteriovenous malformations: operative management strategies in two sister cases.

These sister video cases present some unique technical tenets for the microsurgical resection of left temporal lobe arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) with varied presentations ([figure 1][1], [video 1][2]). The first patient described in this case is a 52-year-old man with a history of sudden
Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners (5th. ed.): by R. Kumar, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage, 2019, $47.00, ISBN 978-1-5264-4990-0

At over 500 pages long, Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners (5th. ed.) written by Ranjit Kumar simplifies the discussion relating to the “taken for granted” vocabulary and sugg...
Practical Machine Learning Approach to Capture the Scholar Data Driven Alpha in AI Industry

AI technologies are helping more and more companies leverage their resources to expand business, reach higher financial performance and become more valuable for investors. However, it is difficult to capture and predict the impacts of AI technologies on companies’ stock prices through traditional financial factors. Moreover, common information sources such as company’s earnings calls and news are not enough to quantity and predict the actual AI premium for a certain company. In this paper, we utilize scholar data as alternative data for trading strategy development and propose a practical machine learning approach to quantity the AI premium of a company and capture the scholar data driven alpha in the AI industry. First, we collect the scholar data from the Microsoft Academic Graph database, and conduct feature engineering based on AI publication and patent data, such as conference/journal publication counts, patent counts, fields of studies and paper citations. Second, we apply machine learning algorithms to weight and re-balance stocks using the scholar data and traditional financial factors every month, and construct portfolios using the “buy-and-hold-long only” strategy. Finally, we evaluate our factor and portfolio in terms of factor performance and portfolio’s cumulative return. The proposed scholar data driven approach achieves a cumulative return of 1029.1% during our backtesting period, which significantly outperforms the Nasdaq 100 index’s 529.5% and S&P 500’s 222.6%. The traditional financial factors approach only leads to 776.7%, which indicates that our scholar data driven approach is better at capturing investment alpha in AI industry than traditional financial factors.
Neurotrophic Factor-Laden Acellular Chondroitin Sulfate Scaffolds Promote Chronic Functional Recovery After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) survivors experience permanent functional disabilities due to significant volume loss and the brain9s poor capacity to regenerate. Chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans (CS-GAGs) are key regulators of growth factor signaling and neural stem cell homeostasis in the brain. However, the efficacy of engineered CS (eCS) matrices in mediating structural and functional recovery after sTBI has not been investigated. We report that neurotrophic factor functionalized acellular eCS matrices implanted into the rat M1 region acutely post-sTBI, significantly enhanced cellular repair and gross motor function recovery when compared to controls, 20 weeks post-sTBI. Animals subjected to M2 region injuries followed by eCS matrix implantations, demonstrated the significant recovery of 9reach-to-grasp9 function. This was attributed to enhanced volumetric vascularization, activity-regulated cytoskeleton (Arc) protein expression, and perilesional sensorimotor connectivity. These findings indicate that eCS matrices implanted acutely post-sTBI can support complex cellular, vascular, and neuronal circuit repair, chronically after sTBI.
Biogas to H2 conversion with CO2 capture using chemical looping technology: Process simulation and comparison to conventional reforming processes

Abstract H2 is a clean fuel and crucial industrial substance with rapidly increasing global demand. Although the combustion and utilization of H2 does not emit CO2, the production of H2 from fossil fuels is associated with heavy CO2 emissions. Biogas is a renewable, carbon neutral energy source that can be potentially used as a substitute for fossil fuels for H2 production. Furthermore, with CO2 capture, H2 production from biogas can become CO2 negative. However, the energy efficiency of the conversion from biogas to H2 is usually significantly lower than natural gas-based H2 production processes due to the energy consumption associated with CO2 separation. This study presents an iron-based chemical looping technology as an alternative pathway to convert biogas into H2. This chemical looping process requires neither upstream biogas compression and purification, nor downstream CO2 removal and H2 purification, hence achieving a great level of process intensification. The chemical looping process, as well as the conventional steam methane reforming and mixed reforming processes for biogas to H2 conversion, are simulated in ASPEN to compare their performance. This simulation study shows that the chemical looping process can directly use biogas with CO2 volume ratio ranging from 0 to 50% to achieve 13–14% (relative percentage) increase in cold gas efficiency and 15–20% (relative percentage) increase in effective thermal efficiency over conventional reforming processes.
How to Prepare Your Team for an Emergency: A Preseason Planning Exercise in Four Parts

Any field team, regardless of the professionalism of the leadership, will eventually experience a critical event. Some events will result in a subtle degradation of the team's work; others will cause emergent threats to the safety of the team. A team's sustained performance during a field season depends partly on such chance events and partly with the team's ability to plan for and respond to the dynamic environment of the field. The duty of a field leader is to conduct clear-eyed conversations and ensure that solid preparations are laid for both the group as a whole and the individual team members. Some of these plans need to be manifested by material preparations, some of which require months of forethought. This article walks readers through a two-hour exercise, giving them frameworks from business continuity and military field doctrines to understand risk. Readers will conduct a SWOT analysis, define emergencies within their organizations, and then apply risk management practices of qualitative risk assessment and all-hazards planning to develop planning priorities. By the end, readers will have built specific action plans for improving field season readiness.
Морфология российской геополитики и динамика международных систем XVIII-XX веков [The Morphology of Russian Geopolitics and the Dynamics of International Systems of the 18th–20th Centuries]

Vadim Leonidovich Tsymbursky (1957–2009) is arguably the most noteworthy post-Soviet Russian geopolitical thinker for the unmatched depth, originality, and relevancy of his ideas. Often labeled as ...
How specific are patient-specific simulations? Analyzing the accuracy of 3D-printing and modeling to create patient-specific rehearsals for complex urological procedures.

In the field of urology, 3D printing and modeling are now regularly utilized to enhance pre-operative planning, surgical training, patient-specific rehearsals (PSR), and patient education and counseling. Widespread accessibility and affordability of such technologies necessitates development of quality control measures to confirm the anatomical accuracy of these tools. Herein, we present three methods utilized to evaluate the anatomical accuracy of hydrogel PSR, developed using 3D printing and molding for pre-operative surgical rehearsals, of robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). Virtual computer-aided designs (CADs) of patient anatomy were created through segmentation of patient CT scan images. Ten patient-specific RAPN and PCNL hydrogel models were CT scanned and segmented to create a corresponding model CAD. The part compare tool (3-matic, Materialize), point-to-point measurements, and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) analyzed surface geometry, alignment, and volumetric overlap of each model component. Geometries of the RAPN parenchyma, tumor, artery, vein, and pelvicalyceal system lay within an average deviation of 2.5 mm (DSC = 0.70) of the original patient geometry and 5 mm (DSC = 0.45) of the original patient alignment. Similarly, geometries of the PCNL pelvicalyceal system and stone lay within 2.5 mm (DSC = 0.6) and within 15 mm (16% deviation) in alignment. This process enabled the refinement of our modeling process to fabricate anatomically accurate RAPN and PCNL PSR. As 3D printing and modeling continues to have a greater impact on patient care, confirming anatomical accuracy should be introduced as a quality control measure prior to use for patient care.
Magnetic scleral search coil

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews search coil systems for eye-movement measurement. It discusses that as knowledge of vestibular and oculomotor function increases, there is an associated requirement for highly accurate and precise measurements of the movements of the eyes. Scleral search coil systems represent the current “gold standard” for measurement of the eye movements. Other eye movement recording methods may be superior to the search coil system in specific aspects, but to date no other method matches the combined resolution, accuracy, low noise, fast response, wide range, cost effectiveness, and ease of use of the search coil system. Thus, this method is likely to remain in wide use for many years. The chapter discusses that there are many variations on the search coil system. They may use anywhere from one to three generated magnetic fields, and one or two coils in the eye. Using a single coil in the eye with its plane perpendicular to the line of sight, it is possible to deduce the direction of gaze. With a second coil perpendicular to the first, it is possible to deduce the amount of torsional rotation about the line of sight. It concludes that despite the difficulties noted below, the method has even been used in the demanding environment of “weightless” parabolic flight.
Continual On-Line Planning

My research represents an approach to integrating planning and execution in time-sensitive environments. The primary focus is on a problem called continual on-line planning. New goals arrive stochastically during execution, the agent issues actions for execution one at a time, and the environment is otherwise deterministic. My dissertation will address this setting in three stages: optimizing total goal achievement time, handling on-line goal arrival during planning or execution, and adapting to changes in state also during planning or execution. My current approach to this problem is based on incremental heuristic search. The two central issues are the decision of which partial plans to elaborate during search and the decision of when to issue an action for execution. I have proposed an extension of Russell and Wefald's decision-theoretic A* algorithm that is not limited by assumptions of an admissible heuristic like DTA*. This algorithm, Decision Theoretic On-line Continual Search (DTOCS), handles the complexities of the on-line setting by balancing deliberative planning and real-time response.
Self-efficacy and physical activity in children with congenital heart disease: Is there a relationship?

Purpose. This study examined the relationship between self-efficacy and physical activity in 10- to 14-year-old children with congenital heart disease. Design and Methods. Cross-sectional study using self-report instruments. Results. In 84 participants, self-efficacy scores were similar to those published for healthy adolescents, 30.8 as compared with 29.4. Physical activity participation as prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was low (38%). Self-efficacy scores were moderately correlated with physical activity participation (r= .47; p < .001). Practice Implications. Interventions are needed to increase physical activity in this high-risk group. Interventions that focus on self-efficacy may be particularly helpful given the link between self-efficacy and physical activity.
State v. John Scopes (The Monkey Trial)

The early 1920s found social patterns in chaos. Traditionalists, the older Victorians, worried that everything valuable was ending. Younger modernists no longer asked whether society would approve of their behavior, only whether their behavior met the approval of their intellect. Intellectual experimentation flourished. Americans danced to the sound of the Jazz Age, showed their contempt for alcoholic prohibition, debated abstract art and Freudian theories. In a response to the new social patterns set in motion by modernism, a wave of revivalism developed, becoming especially strong in the American South. Who would dominate American culture -- the modernists or the traditionalists? Journalists were looking for a showdown, and they found one in a Dayton, Tennessee courtroom in the summer of 1925. There a jury was to decide the fate of John Scopes, a high school biology teacher charged with illegally teaching the theory of evolution. The guilt or innocence of John Scopes, and even the constitutionality of Tennessee's anti-evolution statute, mattered little. The meaning of the trial emerged through its interpretation as a conflict of social and intellectual values.
Behavior analysis and behavioral neuroscience

Behavior analysis—the science of adaptive behavior—focuses on behavior as a subject matter in its own right, not as an index of cognitive events, and is, thus, not dualistic. Behavior analysis incorporates several laws of learning discovered by researchers using single-subject experimental designs. I argue that behavior analysis can provide neuroscientists with an experimental and a theoretical framework within which to investigate the neural bases of behaviors, including those that are usually described in cognitive terms.
The transcriptional activator Sp1, a novel autoantigen.

Objective. To identify one nuclear autoantigenic protein within a complex of DNA binding proteins that bind to GC-rich sequences in Epstein-Barr virus and cellular DNA, and to describe the clinical characteristics of patients whose sera contained autoantibodies to this novel autoantigen. Methods. Antibodies to autoantigen Sp1 were initially measured by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay to detect DNA binding proteins. Nuclear extracts and purified Sp1 protein were used in these assays. Recognition of the autoantigen by autoimmune sera was confirmed by immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. Results. The autoantigen was identified as Sp1. Anti-Sp1 was detected in sera from 8 (3%) of 230 patients. These sera contained antinuclear antibodies, but lacked antibodies to double-stranded DNA or to several extractable nuclear antigens. The patients whose sera contained antibodies to Sp1 were white women with fatigue, arthritis, Raynaud's phenomenon, malar rash, and photosensitivity. Conclusion. Sp1 is the first described example of an RNA polymerase II transcription activator as an autoantigen. The presence of Sp1 autoantibodies is associated with undifferentiated connective tissue disease.
Estimating energy expenditure from the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity and Tecumseh Occupational Activity questionnaires - a doubly labeled water validation.

An accurate, simple method for assessing energy expenditure in individuals and in free-living populations continues to be elusive. To compare estimates of energy expenditure (EE) from a combination of two previously validated physical activity questionnaires: Tecumseh Occupational (EETEC) and a 4-wk history version of the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity that included household activities (EEMNLTPA) and EE from sleep (EESLEEP), to EE obtained from doubly labeled water (EEDLW). We studied free-living males (n = 24) eating a controlled diet designed to maintain body weight and determined EE from doubly labeled water (DLW) during 14 days and EE from physical activity instruments used in epidemiological studies (EETEC and EEMNLTPA). There was excellent agreement between EEDLW (mean ± SEM, 13.55 ± 0.38 MJ/d) and EETEC + EEMNLTPA + EESLEEP (EETOTAL1) (13.79 ± 0.89 MJ/d) with a difference of only 1.0% ± 5.4%. When the EE from watching TV, reading, and childcare activities was added the total EE (EETOTAL2) (14.87 ± 0.90 MJ/D) overestimated EEDLW by 8.9% ± 5.4%. Both of these estimates of EE had significant regressions against EEDLW (EETEC + EEMNLTPA + EESLEEP, R2 = 0.38, P < 0.001; EETOTAL2, R2 = 0.39, P < 0.001). Men whose occupations involved significant intermittent moderate activity had the largest disagreement between EEDLW and estimates from the questionnaires. This investigation demonstrates that a combination of previously validated physical activity questionnaires can be used to accurately determine the mean energy expenditure of a population of employed males.
Topper, a software package in FORTRAN for scaling studies

Abstract Scaling studies are concerned with the differences in structure, functions, behaviour and life-history associated with differences in size in broadly similar organisms. These studies make extensive use of bivariate regression analysis. Often it is of interest to carry out such analyses on many different subpopulations within a given sample population. The programs described here allow these analyses to be carried out efficiently. The output gives a summary of taxonomic parameters in addition to the usual statistical parameters, such as standard deviations and mean percent deviation. Some improvements in the software which are currently being implemented are discussed briefly.
A new improved-performance receiver for Single-Carrier-Decomposed Quadrature optical wireless communication systems

Single Carrier Decomposed-Quadrature Optical (SC-DQO) modulation has been suggested in the past, as a possible method for use in Optical Wireless (OW) Intensity Modulation with Direct Detection (IM-DD) communication systems. This method has lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) when compared to Asymmetrically-Clipped Optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM). It was shown that its receiver utilizes only 50% of the signal power, while the other 50% is discarded. A new receiving method, based on an estimator which utilizes the discarded portion of the signal, is proposed in this paper, to generate an improved estimator for the transmitted signal. It is shown both theoretically and numerically that the new approach improves the receiver performance of the system by up to 3dB, achieving the efficiency of the latest ACO-OFDM methods, while preserving the PAPR advantage. With this approach, both the transmitter and the modulated signal are not changed while the additional receiver computational complexity is negligible.
The Publics of public health

Endangered Lives: Public Health in Victorian Britain. By Anthony S. Wohl. J.M. Dent: 1983. Pp.440. £17.50.
Collier Cobb and Allen D. Hole: Geologic mentors to early soil scientists

Many influential individuals involved in the early US soil survey program were trained as geologists rather than as agronomists or soil scientists. Several geology departments served as pipelines for students interested in a career in soil survey. This paper looks at the professional history of two early mentors of these geologists turned soil surveyors and some of the students they sent on to the US soil survey and other soil science careers. Collier Cobb sent over 10 students to the soil survey starting in 1900 when US soil survey was in its infancy, including individuals of note such as Hugh H. Bennett, George N. Coffey, Williamson E. Hearn, and Thomas D. Rice. Allen D. Hole worked on soil surveys for the state of Indiana and sent over a dozen students on to US soil survey careers between 1911 and 1937, including Mark Baldwin and James Thorp. Francis Hole and Ralph McCracken, other students of Allen Hole, also went on to have distinguished soil science careers. These mentors and students clearly show the close ties that existed between soil science and geology in the United States during the early 1900s.