cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A lavish new treatment of Antarctic mosses

Few bryologists are likely to have the opportunity to venture to Antarctica so this magnificently produced moss flora will have to serve as the next best option. While many bryologists will find the cost to acquire this moss flora ranging from well beyond one’s comfort level to exorbitant, it is, nonetheless, worthy of investment. Read on. Before this book arrived for review I was already excited about the task at hand since I have in my library a copy of The Moss Flora of King George Island by Ryszard Ochrya (1998). I’ve now gone through this new moss flora cover to cover and I am impressed with the care and attention to detail that the authors have spent on its contents. The book is rather large with dimensions of 22 3 28 3 3.5 cm, yet there is no wasted space among its pages with text extending to within a few mm of the top and bottom page margin. The binding and paper are of a high quality standard. The beginning of the book contains a set of Roman numeral pages that address taxonomic and nomenclatural novelties, a foreword, preface and acknowledgments. The first 58 pages contain five chapters which include an introduction, history of muscological investigations in Antarctica, terrestrial environment and moss ecology of Antarctica, diversity and phytogeography of the moss flora and background to the flora. These introductory pages are jammed full of important information and provide the context for the flora that follows. I found this section of this work to be exceptionally well written. The next 600+ pages contain the systematic account of the taxa followed by a glossary, references, and index to Latin plant names. The references section is extremely detailed with nearly 2000 entries. This section provides a remarkable assemblage of literature related to Antarctic mosses. A set of color plates is inserted between pages 46–47. There are 36 half page photographs and six full-page color plates. While these plates provide many landscape views, most images are of moss communities. These photographs offer a glimpse of the open and barren terrain of Antarctica. I was particularly moved by an image of an Andreaea community (closed stand) covering an area of approximately 1 ha! To me, however, many of the images are rather dark colored, therefore they lack crisp detail. The moss community images generally have better color contrast than the landscape images.
Base change functors in the {$\Bbb A\sp 1$}-stable homotopy category

We relate base change functors of sheaves in A 1 -homotopy theory to group change functors from equivariant homotopy theory, and use these functors to construct elements of the Picard group of the A 1 -stable homotopy category. We also prove
3D immersive visualization and evaluation of mesoscale model outputs simulating hurricane Lili's (2002) rapid weakening

Mesoscale models are routinely used in the forecasting of hurricanes. The accuracy of these model outputs vary depending on the model in use as well as the initial conditions. In this paper, we study 3D immersive visualization as a method for the comparison and analysis of model outputs. We observe that 3D immersive visualization can be an effective tool in the perception, evaluation and the understanding of large geophysical phenomena like hurricanes. We present our study of the unique case of Hurricane Lili, which weakened to a category 1 hurricane from a category 4, in a period of just over 13 hours. This weakening is attributed to a stream of dry air entering the hurricane system from the southwest and weakening the eye wall. Different models have been used by researchers to simulate the events in the 13 hour period and our visualization recreates those events and provides a framework for the comparison of the different model runs.
Accounting for crustal magnetization in models of the core magnetic field

The problem of determining the magnetic field originating in the earth's core in the presence of remanent and induced magnetization is considered. The effect of remanent magnetization in the crust on satellite measurements of the core magnetic field is investigated. The crust as a zero-mean stationary Gaussian random process is modelled using an idea proposed by Parker (1988). It is shown that the matrix of second-order statistics is proportional to the Gram matrix, which depends only on the inner-products of the appropriate Green's functions, and that at a typical satellite altitude of 400 km the data are correlated out to an angular separation of approximately 15 deg. Accurate and efficient means of calculating the matrix elements are given. It is shown that the variance of measurements of the radial component of a magnetic field due to the crust is expected to be approximately twice that in horizontal components.
Soil Contamination in the White Mountains, Eastern California

Mineralogical investigation of lithosols formed on dolomite in a semiarid, subalpine environment reveals up to 30 percent contamination of the very fine sand fraction by rhyolitic ash from a distant source and as much as 50 percent local contamination of the silt fraction, largely attributable to aeolian processes. Total extraneous particles range from 3 to 73 percent in sand or silt fractions of a given soil sample. Short-term dust-trap and snow-residue collections place minimum aeolian deposition at approximately 0.00014 grams sq cm −1 yr −1 , a rate sufficient to account for the amounts of observed contamination. The data emphasize the need for precaution in interpretation of soil mineralogy and chemistry, under many climatic and topographic influences and in areas subject to Pleistocene volcanism.
A Mobile Agent-Supported Web Services Testing Platform

The Web services technology receives significant momentum in recent years, because it allows people to easily utilize and integrate existing software applications to rapidly create new business services. However, how to ensure the trustworthiness of a Web services-oriented system remains a big challenge. One critical issue is how to test a Web service in an effective and efficient manner. In this paper, we report our design and development of a novel mobile agent-based testing platform oriented to Web services. We seamlessly integrate an existing testing tool (HP LoadRunner) with a mobile agent technology (IBM Aglet) to build a practical environment for testing Web services.
Quantitative Proteomic Identification of MAZ as a Transcriptional Regulator of Muscle-Specific Genes in Skeletal and Cardiac Myocytes

We identified a conserved sequence within the Muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter that is critical for high-level activity in skeletal and cardiac myocytes (MCK Promoter Element X [MPEX]). After selectively enriching for MPEX-binding factor(s) (MPEX-BFs), ICAT-based quantitative proteomics was used to identify MPEX-BF candidates, one of which was MAZ (Myc-associated zinc finger protein). MAZ transactivates the MCK promoter and binds the MPEX site in vitro, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis demonstrates enrichment of MAZ at the endogenous MCK promoter and other muscle gene promoters (Skeletal α-actin, Desmin, and α-Myosin heavy chain) in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Consistent with its role in muscle gene transcription, MAZ transcripts and DNA-binding activity are upregulated during skeletal myocyte differentiation. Furthermore, MAZ was shown to bind numerous sequences (e.g., CTCCTCCC and CTCCACCC) that diverge from the GA box binding motif. Alternate motifs were identified in many muscle promoters, including Myogenin and MEF2C, and one motif was shown to be critical for Six4 promoter activity in both skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Interestingly, MAZ occupies and is able to transactivate the Six4 promoter in skeletal but not cardiac myocytes. Taken together, these findings are consistent with a previously unrecognized role for MAZ in muscle gene regulation.
Combined hepatitis A and B vaccine: providing a bright future for preventing hepatitis

The first combined hepatitis A and B vaccine has been available in the United States since 2001. The vaccine provides protection against viral hepatitis with rapid seroprotection and lasting immunogenicity. This review outlines the product's components, clinical efficacy and opportunities for use in special circumstances. The vaccine has a good safety profile and has good tolerability. The combined hepatitis A and B vaccine is a well studied vaccine that provides rapid seroconversion with a good safety profile.
On the Milankovitch sensitivity of the Quaternary deep-sea record

Abstract. The response of the climate system to external forcing (that is, global warming) has become an item of prime interest, especially with respect to the rate of melting of land-based ice masses. The deep-sea record of ice-age climate change has been useful in assessing the sensitivity of the climate system to a different type of forcing; that is, to orbital forcing, which is well known for the last several million years. The expectation is that the response to one type of forcing will yield information about the likely response to other types of forcing. When comparing response and orbital forcing, one finds that sensitivity to this type of forcing varies greatly through time, evidently in dependence on the state of the system and the associated readiness of the system for change. The changing stability of ice masses is here presumed to be the chief underlying cause for the changing state of the system. A buildup of vulnerable ice masses within the latest Tertiary, when going into the ice ages, is thus here conjectured to cause a stepwise increase of climate variability since the early Pliocene.
The role of cardioplegia induction temperature and amino acid enrichment in neonatal myocardial protection.

Abstract Background . Warm cardioplegic induction improves the ischemically "stressed" adult heart. However, it is rarely used in infants, despite the fact that many newborn hearts are stressed by other factors such as hypoxia. The need for amino acids as well as their mechanism of action has also not been studied. Methods . We first assessed the role of cardioplegic induction temperature in 10 nonhypoxic neonatal piglets undergoing 70 minutes of multidose blood cardioplegic arrest. Five piglets (group 1) received a cold (4°C) induction, and 5 (group 2) a warm (37°C) induction. Twenty-six other piglets underwent ventilator hypoxia (fraction of inspired oxygen, 8% to 10%) for 60 minutes before cardiopulmonary bypass (stress). Six piglets (group 3) then underwent 70 minutes of cardiopulmonary bypass without ischemia (hypoxia controls), and 20 underwent 70 minutes of cardioplegic arrest. Five of these (group 4) received cold cardioplegic induction, and 15 received warm induction; in 5 of these (group 5), the warm cardioplegic solution contained amino acids, in 5 others (group 6), it was unsupplemented, and in the remaining 5 (group 7), nitroglycerin was added to determine the role of vasodilation. Myocardial function was assessed by pressure-volume loops (expressed as a percent of control), and coronary vascular resistance was measured with cardioplegic infusions. Results . In nonhypoxic (normal) piglets, cold (group 1) and warm (group 2) induction completely preserved systolic function (end-systolic elastance, 100% versus 104%) and preload recruitable stroke work (100% versus 102%), with minimal increase in diastolic compliance (162% versus 156%). Hypoxia–reoxygenation alone (group 3) depressed systolic function (end-systolic elastance, 51% ± 2%) and preload recruitable stroke work (54% ± 3%), and raised diastolic stiffness (260% ± 15%). The detrimental effects of reoxygenation persisted (unchanged from reoxygenation alone) with cold induction (group 4) or warm induction without amino acids (groups 6 and 7). In contrast, warm induction with amino acids (group 5) restored systolic function (end-systolic elastance, 105% ± 3%; p p p Conclusions . Cardioplegic induction can be given either warm or cold in nonhypoxic neonatal hearts. In contrast, only warm induction with amino acids repairs the hypoxic injury, but the primary mechanism of action is not related to increased metabolic activity or vasodilation.
PERSPECTIVE:SIGN EPISTASIS AND GENETIC CONSTRAINT ON EVOLUTIONARY TRAJECTORIES

Epistasis for fitness means that the selective effect of a mutation is conditional on the genetic background in which it appears. Although epistasis is widely observed in nature, our understanding of its consequences for evolution by natural selection remains incomplete. In particular, much attention focuses only on its influence on the instantaneous rate of changes in frequency of selected alleles via epistatic contribution to the additive genetic variance for fitness. Thus, in this framework epistasis only has evolutionary importance if the interacting loci are simultaneously segregating in the population. However, the selective accessibility of mutational trajectories to high fitness genotypes may depend on the genetic background in which novel mutations appear, and this effect is independent of population polymorphism at other loci. Here we explore this second influence of epistasis on evolution by natural selection. We show that it is the consequence of a particular form of epistasis, which we designate sign epistasis. Sign epistasis means that the sign of the fitness effect of a mutation is under epistatic control; thus, such a mutation is beneficial on some genetic backgrounds and deleterious on others. Recent experimental innovations in microbial systems now permit assessment of the fitness effects of individual mutations on multiple genetic backgrounds. We review this literature and identify many examples of sign epistasis, and we suggest that the implications of these results may generalize to other organisms. These theoretical and empirical considerations imply that strong genetic constraint on the selective accessibility of trajectories to high fitness genotypes may exist and suggest specific areas of investigation for future research.
KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION IN CHILDREN: A SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE

AbstractPurpose: We reviewed our most recent 10-year experience with kidney transplantation in children to determine the morbidity and mortality of the procedure, and to identify factors that affected outcome.Materials and Methods: A total of 107 renal transplants were done in 95 children 1 to 17 years old (mean age 10.9) during the 10-year period ending January 1, 1997. The 4 most common causes of end stage renal disease were renal dysplasia, reflux nephropathy, obstructive uropathy and systemic immunological diseases. Cyclosporine based immunosuppression was used in all but 2 recipients. After April 1991 antilymphocyte antibody induction, coagulopathy screening, systemic anticoagulation and cytomegalovirus prophylaxis were incorporated into the protocols. The effects of kidney source, recipient gender, recipient age, preformed anti-HLA antibody level, preemptive renal transplantation, cytomegalovirus risk, antilymphocyte antibody induction therapy and date of renal transplantation on kidney graft surviv...
Effect of Depression on Diagnosis, Treatment, and Mortality of Men With Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer

Purpose Although demographic, clinicopathologic, and socioeconomic differences may affect treatment and outcomes of prostate cancer, the effect of mental health disorders remains unclear. We assessed the effect of previously diagnosed depression on outcomes of men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. Patients and Methods We performed a population-based observational cohort study using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare linked data of 41,275 men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer from 2004 to 2007. We identified 1,894 men with a depressive disorder in the 2 years before the prostate cancer diagnosis and determined its effect on treatment and survival. Results Men with depressive disorder were older, white or Hispanic, unmarried, resided in nonmetropolitan areas and areas of lower median income, and had more comorbidities (P .05 for all), but there was no variation in clinicopathologic characteristics. In adjusted analyses, men with depressive disorder were more likely to undergo expectant management for low-, intermediate-, and high-risk disease (P .05, respectively). Conversely, depressed men were less likely to undergo definitive therapy (surgery or radiation) across all risk strata (P .01, respectively). Depressed men experienced worse overall mortality across risk strata (low: relative risk [RR], 1.86; 95% CI, 1.48 to 2.33; P .001; intermediate: RR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.49; P .01; high: RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.32; P .02). Conclusion Men with intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer and a recent diagnosis of depression are less likely to undergo definitive treatment and experience worse overall survival. The effect of depression disorders on prostate cancer treatment and survivorship warrants further study, because both conditions are relatively common in men in the United States. J Clin Oncol 32:2471-2478. © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology
Metabolizable energy of corn (maize) gluten feed and apparent digestibility of the fibrous components for gestating sows

Abstract The metabolizable energy (ME), metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (MEn) and digestible energy (DE) of corn (maize) gluten feed (CGF) and apparent digestibility coefficients of its components were determined for gestating sows. Seven multiparous Yorkshise × Landrace sows at days 60–75 of gestation were placed in metabolism stalls. After a 14 day adjustment period, total collection of faeces and urine using bladder catheters was made for 7 days. The diet was 97% CGF fed at 2.6 kg day−1 (93% dry matter). Determined CGF energy values (±SD), on an as-fed basis, were 14.86 (±0.84) MJ DE kg−1, 13.84 (±0.93) MJ ME kg−1 and 13.61 (±0.85) MJ MEn kg−1. The sows retained 17.2 (±9.0) g day−1 nitrogen. Corn (maize) gluten feed apparent digestibility coefficients were: nitrogen, 72.3 (± 3.1)%; ether extract, 35.4 (± 12.0)%; neutral detergent fibre, 51.6 (± 9.1)%; acid detergent fibre, 47.4 (±8.4)%; lignin, 45.3 (± 15.8)%; cellulose, 54.3 (±6.5)%; and hemicellulosc, 54.0 (± 9.7)%. The energy values were 13–20% greater than the published CGF energy values for swine, probably because of the sow's greater ability to utilize fibre compared with growing pigs. The data have implications for the formulation of sow diets using CGF. However, because of the fibrous properties of CGF, the efficiency of ME utilization is likely to be low and thus, the net energy of CGF is considerably lower than the determined DE and ME values.
Microstrip discontinuity modeling for high-speed interconnects

The development of lumped-element models for arbitrary microstripline discontinuities is described. An EM-based methodology is employed, consisting of initial characterization of the discontinuities using exact EM field solvers, and subsequent fitting of the results to simple equivalent circuits. The applicability of the method is illustrated by considering a microstrip slit example.
Paxos replicated state machines as the basis of a high-performance data store

Conventional wisdom holds that Paxos is too expensive to use for high-volume, high-throughput, data-intensive applications. Consequently, fault-tolerant storage systems typically rely on special hardware, semantics weaker than sequential consistency, a limited update interface (such as append-only), primary-backup replication schemes that serialize all reads through the primary, clock synchronization for correctness, or some combination thereof. We demonstrate that a Paxos-based replicated state machine implementing a storage service can achieve performance close to the limits of the underlying hardware while tolerating arbitrary machine restarts, some permanent machine or disk failures and a limited set of Byzantine faults. We also compare it with two versions of primary-backup. The replicated state machine can serve as the data store for a file system or storage array. We present a novel algorithm for ensuring read consistency without logging, along with a sketch of a proof of its correctness.
Immobilization of insulin-like growth factor-1 onto thermosensitive hydrogels to enhance cardiac progenitor cell survival and differentiation under ischemic conditions

Stem cell therapy is a promising approach to treat myocardial infarction. However, direct delivery of stem cells into hearts experiences poor cell engraftment and differentiation, due to ischemic conditions (low nutrient and oxygen) in the infarct hearts. Development of suitable cell carriers capable of supporting cell survival and differentiation under these harsh conditions is critical for improving the efficacy of current stem cell therapy. In this work, we created a family of novel cell carriers based on thermosensitive hydrogels and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), and investigated if these cell carriers can improve cell survival and differentiation under ischemic conditions. The thermosensitive hydrogels were synthesized from N-isopropylacrylamide, acrylic acid, acrylic acid N-hydroxysuccinicimide ester, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-oligo(hydroxybutyrate). The hydrogel solutions can be readily injected through 26G needles, and can quickly solidify at 37 °C to form highly flexible hydrogels. IGF-1 was immobilized into the hydrogels in order to support long-term cell survival and differentiation. Different amount of IGF-1 was immobilized by using hydrogels with different content of N-hydroxysuccinicimide ester groups. Cardiosphere derived cells were encapsulated in the hydrogels and cultured under ischemic conditions. The results demonstrated that a significant improvement of cell survival and differentiation was achieved after IGF-1 immobilization. These IGF-1 immobilized hydrogels have the potential to improve cell survival and differentiation in infarct hearts.
Health As Expanding Consciousness Clinical Reasoning in Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Clinical reasoning has been identified as a necessary skill to practice nursing. Multiple studies suggested that a gap exists between the education of nurses and their ability to transition into practice. Newman's theory of health as expanding consciousness and research as paxis methodology was used to collect and analyze data of seven senior baccalaureate nursing students. Patterns of individual and across participants revealed the emergence of patterns of relating, knowing, and clinical decision-making as contributing to the evolving pattern of clinical reasoning. The findings of this study were consistent with Newman's theory and support the theoretical framework and methodology.
ELECTRIC OVER-SPEED PROTECTION CONTROL DEVICE FOR STEAM TURBINE OF ULTRA-SUPERCRITICAL UNITS AND DEBUGGING METHOD THEREOF

The electric over-speed protection control device for steam turbine of ultra-supercritical unit includes 110% over-speed trip,TAB test,automatic data logging test,and fault alarm functions.The various functions of said device have been presented,the main points and methods of debugging,such as circuits of wiring connection,parameter setting of E16 device,110% over-speed trip,speed-rising sequence control test,automatic data logging test,and joint test for reliability of fault alarms,etc.,being put forward.
Problems and hazards of illegal pharmaceutical advertising in China

In this paper,we analyzed potential problems and hazards of illegal pharmaceutical advertising,and pointed out the phenomenon of more serious illegal actions which are conducted in various ways.This phenomenon has negative effect on social environment,including damaging human health,increasing burden on consumers,reducing the credibility of government,causing unfair competition in the industry,declining the innovation,polluting the ecological environment and bringing about moral crisis.
Transient stability probability assessment and risk indexes for large scale power systems

Due to the limitations of traditional deterministic analysis and the complexity of power system integration for multiple existing power sources,a probability model considering multiple uncertainties is built from the perspective of risk for the faults of elements and system. The probability of system transient stability is assessed based on Monte Carlo simulation and time-domain simulation. While a risk index system is built for the single sampling containing power angle,voltage,power flow,etc.,an overall probability of transient stability and a risk margin index are proposed,which can effectively quantify the ability of system coping with the transient disturbance. Results of assessment for New England 10-generator 39-bus system verify the feasibility of the proposed method.
Training peer specialists with mental illness in motivational interviewing: A pilot study.

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of providing motivational interviewing (MI) training to peer specialists in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health-care system. Methods Fourteen peer specialists at a local VA medical center received a 2-day workshop on MI and 2 monthly booster sessions afterward. A total of 55 therapy sessions between peer specialists and their peer service recipients were audio-recorded and independently rated on MI fidelity before the workshop and each month after the workshop for 3 months. Sessions were rated on fidelity scales assessing Fundamental MI Adherence and Competence, Advanced MI Adherence and Competence, and MI Inconsistent Adherence scales. One item was created for this study that assessed Sharing Lived Experiences. Repeated measures analysis was conducted to examine change in MI fidelity over time. Results Peer specialists had a significant decline in MI Inconsistent Adherence scale scores over time. Specifically, they showed reductions in providing unsolicited advice and emphasizing absolute abstinence. Peer specialists also showed a significant decline in the Sharing Lived Experience Adherence item score. There were no significant changes on MI Fundamental and Advance scale scores. Conclusions and implications for practice Training peer specialists in MI is feasible and may lead to some change in practices, but comprehensive training and ongoing supervision is needed to incur and sustain changes. Guidance and assessment of how peer specialists share their lived experiences with fellow veterans may be needed to capitalize on their unique experiences and skill sets. (PsycINFO Database Record
The effect of ambulatory status on outcomes of percutaneous vascular interventions and lower extremity bypass for critical limb ischemia in the Vascular Quality Initiative.

Abstract Objective Ambulatory status has been shown to be an important predictor of postoperative morbidity and mortality for a variety of surgical procedures. We sought to assess contemporary practice patterns in treating critical limb ischemia (CLI) and outcomes based on ambulatory status. Methods The Vascular Quality Initiative (2010-2015) was queried for patients undergoing percutaneous vascular interventions (PVIs) or lower extremity bypass (LEB) for CLI. Ambulatory status was classified as ambulatory, ambulatory with assistance, and nonambulatory (composite of wheelchair bound and bedridden). Perioperative and postoperative outcomes were recorded. Multivariable analyses were performed to identify the effect of ambulatory status. Results There were 11,522 ambulatory (PVI, 63%; LEB, 37%), 4443 ambulatory with assistance (PVI, 67%; LEB, 33%), and 1732 nonambulatory (PVI, 77%; LEB, 23%) patients with CLI treated ( P P Conclusions In the Vascular Quality Initiative, as ambulatory status declines, perioperative morbidity and mortality increase. Impaired ambulatory patients are more likely to receive PVI than LEB for the treatment of CLI, although even among nonambulatory patients, there are still a significant number who receive LEB.
Lynch syndrome-associated upper tract urothelial cancer: Assessment of clinical screening criteria and tissue-based point of care testing.

371Background: Lynch syndrome (LS) is an inherited syndrome that places patients at risk for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). Our goal was to identify the most reliable means of screening for LS in patients with UTUC at the point of care (POC). Methods: Patient information was retrospectively collected in an IRB-approved protocol on UTUC patients. LS screening was universally performed on all patients presenting from 1/2013-7/2016. We evaluated patient and family history (Amsterdam I and II criteria; AMS1 and AMS2, respectively), tumor immunohistochemistry (IHC) for 4 mismatch repair proteins (MMRP), tumor and normal tissue polymerase-chain reaction for microsatellite instability (MSI), and clinical genetic analysis and counseling (GAC), in those with undiagnosed LS. Patients who were AMS 2 positive, MSI positive, or IHC positive were considered as presumed Lynch syndrome (PLS) and were referred for GAC. Results: 101 UTUC patients without a history of LS were universally screened during clinical f...
Current management of primary central nervous system lymphoma

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare but treatable disease. The hallmark therapy is based on the use of high-dose intravenous methotrexate (HDMTX), with clinical trial data suggesting that a more aggressive and targeted chemoimmunotherapeutic approach, to include the use of targeted therapy with rituximab (RTX) and the addition of other chemotherapeutic agents, may improve prognosis and reduce or defer the need for radiation therapy. Understanding of the molecular basis of tumor growth and proliferation may allow for the use of new targeted agents.
Corpus Linguistics and 'Officers of the United States'

With the Supreme Court set to decide Lucia v. SEC this term, it has a chance to revisit the meaning of “officers of the United States.” Forty years of court precedent argue the term means one exercising significant government authority, though that precedent did not seek to determine the term's original meaning. Recent scholarship by Jenn Mascott contends that the term’s original meaning is much broader, encompassing anyone employed by the government who has a continuing duty. To find such, Professor Mascott performed, in part, “corpus linguistic-like” analysis on the papers of six founders, covering 1783-1789, a total of about 7.7 million words from 16,000 texts. By turning to the new beta version of the Corpus of Founding Era American English, we take this analysis one step further on several different dimensions. First, we survey a larger number of dictionaries to try and get a preliminary idea of the attested senses of “officer” at the founding. Next, we expand the time period of our corpus linguistic inquiry from 1760-1799. Third, across this time period we look not only at these six founders’ papers, but also documents from the Evans Early American Imprint Series, which contains texts from more ordinary Americans, a wider variety of types of texts, and on a wider variety of subjects than the founders’ writings. Additionally, we also look at legal documents from Hein Online’s collection. In all, these three different sources consist of about 150 million words from 120,000 texts. Finally, we expand our search beyond just “officer(s)” or “officer(s) of the United States” to include officer within 5 words of the words public or civil; other officer(s) of (the) (federal) government; officer(s) of (the) (federal) government; and variations on publicly employed. We sample approximately 150 instances from each of these four searches, balancing across all three sources of documents (Founders, Evans, and Hein). We find the original meaning of “officers of the United States” is messy, but arguably closer to Professor Mascott’s views than the Supreme Court’s. In other words, a definition of "officer of the United States" that is a person exercising significant government authority appears too narrow. But a definition that was anyone working for the government would seem too broad. Further corpus linguistic research as well as other originalist methodologies are necessary. We also note the limitations to our methodology and thus our findings.
Interannual snow accumulation variability on glaciers derived from repeat, spatially extensive ground-penetrating radar surveys

Abstract. There is significant uncertainty regarding the spatiotemporal distribution of seasonal snow on glaciers, despite being a fundamental component of glacier mass balance. To address this knowledge gap, we collected repeat, spatially extensive high-frequency ground-penetrating radar (GPR) observations on two glaciers in Alaska during the spring of 5 consecutive years. GPR measurements showed steep snow water equivalent (SWE) elevation gradients at both sites; continental Gulkana Glacier's SWE gradient averaged 115 mm 100 m −1 and maritime Wolverine Glacier's gradient averaged 440 mm 100 m −1 (over > 1000 m). We extrapolated GPR point observations across the glacier surface using terrain parameters derived from digital elevation models as predictor variables in two statistical models (stepwise multivariable linear regression and regression trees). Elevation and proxies for wind redistribution had the greatest explanatory power, and exhibited relatively time-constant coefficients over the study period. Both statistical models yielded comparable estimates of glacier-wide average SWE (1 % average difference at Gulkana, 4 % average difference at Wolverine), although the spatial distributions produced by the models diverged in unsampled regions of the glacier, particularly at Wolverine. In total, six different methods for estimating the glacier-wide winter balance average agreed within ±11 %. We assessed interannual variability in the spatial pattern of snow accumulation predicted by the statistical models using two quantitative metrics. Both glaciers exhibited a high degree of temporal stability, with ∼85 % of the glacier area experiencing less than 25 % normalized absolute variability over this 5-year interval. We found SWE at a sparse network (3 stakes per glacier) of long-term glaciological stake sites to be highly correlated with the GPR-derived glacier-wide average. We estimate that interannual variability in the spatial pattern of winter SWE accumulation is only a small component (4 %–10 % of glacier-wide average) of the total mass balance uncertainty and thus, our findings support the concept that sparse stake networks effectively measure interannual variability in winter balance on glaciers, rather than some temporally varying spatial pattern of snow accumulation.
Non-Gadolinium-Based MRI Contrast Agents

Contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging based on metal ions other than gadolinium(III) including manganese(II), manganese(III), iron(III) and copper(II), have been investigated over the past decade. Although the intrinsic properties of these metal ions tend to make these agents less attractive than gadolinium(III)-based agents, the large volume of literature on the biochemistry of these metal ions has allowed for the development of viable contrast agents. Agents specific for tissues such as the liver, pancreas, adrenals, cancerous tumors, and even the insides of cells and neuronal tracts as well as non-specific agents have been developed and tested in animal models. Two manganese(II)-based agents, the liver-specific agent manganese(II)-dipyridoxal diphosphate (Teslascan®) and an oral agent containing manganese(II) chloride (Lumen Hance®), and one ferric ammonium citrate-containing oral agent (FerriSeltz®) are available clinically for human use. Information on the toxicity, relaxivity, image enhancement, and tissue specificity of agents is discussed here. In addition to agents designed for use in living systems, contrast agents that measure pH and redox reactions in non-living systems have also been investigated and will be discussed.
Intersectional Trauma-Responsive Care: A Framework for Humanizing Care for Justice Involved Girls and Women of Color

ABSTRACTPrevious scholarship around intersectional frameworks and theories of gendered pathways has provided an invaluable lens in which to view women’s contact with the justice system. The current...
PCB-Based Magnetometer as a Platform for Quantification of Lateral-Flow Assays

This work presents a proof-of-concept demonstration of a novel inductive transducer, the femtoMag, that can be integrated with a lateral-flow assay (LFA) to provide detection and quantification of molecular biomarkers. The femtoMag transducer is manufactured using a low-cost printed circuit board (PCB) technology and can be controlled by relatively inexpensive electronics. It allows rapid high-precision quantification of the number (or amount) of superparamagnetic nanoparticle reporters along the length of an LFA test strip. It has a detection limit of 10−10 emu, which is equivalent to detecting 4 ng of superparamagnetic iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles. The femtoMag was used to quantify the hCG pregnancy hormone by quantifying the number of 200 nm magnetic reporters (superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles embedded into a polymer matrix) immuno-captured within the test line of the LFA strip. A sensitivity of 100 pg/mL has been demonstrated. Upon further design and control electronics improvements, the sensitivity is projected to be better than 10 pg/mL. Analysis suggests that an average of 109 hCG molecules are needed to specifically bind 107 nanoparticles in the test line. The ratio of the number of hCG molecules in the sample to the number of reporters in the test line increases monotonically from 20 to 500 as the hCG concentration increases from 0.1 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL. The low-cost easy-to-use femtoMag platform offers high-sensitivity/high-precision target analyte quantification and promises to bring state-of-the-art medical diagnostic tests to the point of care.
The global proteome and phosphoproteome landscape of sepsis-induced kidney injury

Sepsis-induced acute kidney injury (S-AKI) is the most common complication in hospitalized and critically ill patients, highlighted by a rapid decline of kidney function occurring a few hours or days after sepsis onset. Systemic inflammation elicited by microbial infections is believed to lead to kidney damage under immunocompromised conditions. However, while AKI has been recognized as a disease with long-term sequelae, partly due to the associated higher risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), the understanding of kidney pathophysiology at the molecular level and the global view of dynamic regulations in situ after S-AKI, including transition to CKD, remains limited. Existing studies of S-AKI mainly focus on deriving sepsis biomarkers from body fluids. In the present study, we constructed a mid-severity septic murine model using cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), and examined the temporal changes to the kidney proteome and phosphoproteome at day 2 and day 7 after CLP surgery, corresponding to S-AKI and the transition to CKD, respectively by employing an ultrafast and economical filter-based sample processing method combined with the label-free quantitation approach. Collectively, we identified 2,119 proteins and 2,950 phosphosites through multi-proteomics analyses. Here we denote the pathways that are specifically responsive to S-AKI and its transition to CKD, which include regulation of cell metabolism regulation, oxidative stress, and energy consumption in the diseased kidneys. Our data can serve as an enriched resource for the identification of mechanisms and biomarkers for sepsis-induced kidney diseases.
Democratizing AI?: experience and accessibility in the age of artificial intelligence

The societal implications of computing are far-reaching. Whether it is building technologies that might save lives in the medical sector, intuitive apps that can transform personal routines at scale, or enterprise systems that ease and enhance the everyday experiences of workers, many are drawn to computing because of its potential to improve the human experience. This article considers the relationship between technology and societal transformation by looking at the topic of accessibility.
How deliberative designs empower citizens’ voices: A case study on Ghana’s deliberative poll on agriculture and the environment:

Empowering ordinary citizens with the capacity to deliberate is a core issue in science communication. Despite growing deliberative practices in developed nations, it is significantly less understood how public deliberation can happen among populations who live with limited educational resources and poor urban infrastructure in developing countries. This article studied a case of a well-designed deliberation method, Deliberative Poll, in Tamale, Ghana. I analyzed the stimulus information video and thousands of speech acts from deliberation transcripts to examine how expertise was used and what was deliberated in public dialogue. A broad range of expertise and interests were represented. Participants had thoughtful discussions on complex policy issues and their discussion results were considered by local policymakers. This article contributes to our understanding of how to effectively foster public deliberation among populations in the Global South and measure the nuances of expertise and public reasoning on science.
Saturating Single-Cell atlas Datasets

Abstract High throughput methods for profiling the transcriptomes of single cells have recently emerged as transformative approaches for large-scale population surveys of cellular diversity in heterogeneous primary tissues. Efficient generation of such an atlas will depend on sufficient sampling of the diverse cell types while remaining cost-effective to enable a comprehensive examination of organs, developmental stages, and individuals. To examine the relationship between cell number and transcriptional heterogeneity in the context of unbiased cell type classification, we explicitly explored the population structure of a publically available 1.3 million cell dataset from the E18.5 mouse brain. We propose a computational framework for inferring the saturation point of cluster discovery in a single cell mRNA-seq experiment, centered around cluster preservation in downsampled datasets. In addition, we introduce a “complexity index”, which characterizes the heterogeneity of cells in a given dataset. Using Cajal-Retzius cells as an example of a limited complexity dataset, we explored whether biological distinctions relate to technical clustering. Surprisingly, we found that clustering distinctions carrying biologically interpretable meaning are achieved with far fewer cells (20,000). Together, these findings suggest that most of the biologically interpretable insights from the 1.3 million cells can be recapitulated by analyzing 50,000 randomly selected cells, indicating that instead of profiling few individuals at high “cellular coverage”, the much anticipated cell atlasing studies may instead benefit from profiling more individuals, or many time points at lower cellular coverage. Recent efforts seek to create a comprehensive cell atlas of the human body1,2 Current technology, however, makes it precipitously expensive to perform analysis of every cell. Therefore, designing effective sampling strategies be critical to generate a working atlas in an efficient, cost-effective, and streamlined manner. The advent of single cell and single nucleus mRNA sequencing (RNAseq) in droplet format3,4 now enables large scale sampling of cells from any tissue, and a recently released publicly available dataset of 1.3 million single cells from the E18.5 mouse brain generated with the 10X Chromium5 provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between population structure and the number of sampled cells necessary to reveal the underlying diversity of cell types. Here, we present a framework for how researchers can evaluate whether a dataset has reached saturation, and we estimate how many cells would be required to generate an atlas of the sample analyzed here. This framework can be applied to any organ or cell type specific atlas for any organism.
Does graduate economics education address the cognitive challenges of effective teaching

What do we know about how well graduate teaching in economics addresses cognitive challenges to learning? In short, very little. There is a dearth of research that investigates how graduate student...
Evaluation of a progressive algorithmic approach for the treatment of unresectable colon polyps using colon conservation techniques

The majority of endoscopically unresectable colon polyps (EUCP) are treated by segmental colectomy. However, up to 90% of EUCP do not harbor malignancy, making colectomy an unnecessary procedure. To minimize unnecessary segmental colectomy, we established a progressive treatment algorithm utilizing colon conservation techniques (CCT). In our progressive CCT algorithm, patients with EUCP first underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). If unsuccessful, they progressed to combined endo-laparoscopic surgery (CELS) and ultimately to segmental colectomy, if necessary. We performed a retrospective analysis of all patients treated by our progressive CCT algorithm from August 2015 to April 2019. Demographic information, polyp characteristics, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. We also compared the outcomes of our CCT algorithm group to 156 patients undergoing segmental colectomy for EUCP at related institutions from August 2015 to August 2018. A total of 102 EUCP in 97 patients were treated with our progressive CCT algorithm. Of these, 76 of 102 (75.5%) EUCP were removed without requiring segmental colectomy, with 42 EUCP removed via ESD and 34 via CELS. Interval surveillance colonoscopy confirmed that 72 of 97 (74.2%) patients with EUCP treated by CCT completely avoided segmental colectomy. Polyps > 5 cm in size was a significant predictor of CCT failure (OR 3.83, P = 0.03). When compared to an external cohort of patients undergoing segmental colectomy for EUCP, the CCT algorithm was associated with longer operative time, but shorter length of stay, with no difference in postoperative complications. The estimated total healthcare cost of the CCT algorithm was lower than segmental colectomy ($10,956.77 versus $16,692.94), with more dramatic cost savings seen in ESD ($4,492.70) and CELS ($8,507.06). An established progressive CCT algorithm can result in high colon conservation rate and decrease associated health care costs compared to segmental colectomy. It is a reasonable treatment strategy for patients with EUCP.
Association of Substance Use Disorders with Engagement in Care and Mortality among a Clinical Cohort of People with HIV in Washington, DC

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are common among people with HIV and can prevent achievement of optimal health outcomes. Using data from a longitudinal HIV cohort study in the District of Columbia (2011-2018), we calculated the prevalence and correlates of SUD (alcohol, stimulant, and/or opioid use disorders) and determined the association of SUD with engagement in HIV care, ART prescription, viral suppression, and mortality. Of 8420 adults, 3168 (37.6%) had a history of any SUD, most commonly history of alcohol use disorder (29.6%). SUDs disproportionately affected Black individuals (aOR 1.33) and heterosexuals (aOR 1.18), and women had a lower risk of SUD (aOR 0.65). SUD was not associated with engagement in care, ART prescription, or viral suppression. SUD was associated with mortality (aHR 1.31). Addressing alcohol use disorder and preventable causes of death among people with HIV and substance use disorders should be priorities for clinical care and public health.
Ecotourism’s ethics: Self-organization and care in urban Guyana:

In this article, I shed light on the ethical orientations of people who labour and invest in ecotourism, and the conditions through which ecotourism becomes recognizable as a neoliberal practice. I...