cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enclosure Requirements to Protect Personnel from Spinning Rotor Frailures at the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center

Performance evaluation of electric motors is a major function of the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center (PEEMRC). Normally these motors have a fixed wire-wound stator and a rotating rotor, which may have conductors embedded in a ferromagnetic core (induction motors), magnets mounted on the surface of the ferromagnetic core with a thin metal or composite cylinder or ring to hold them in place, or magnets embedded in the ferromagnetic core. Most of the work currently involves the last two permanent magnet (PM) configurations. Although the stator of a radial-gap motor can absorb energy from many of the fragments ejected from the rotor during operation, the stator of an axial-gap motor is not positioned to provide significant protection. The housing of each motor can also absorb some of the energy. The most conservative approach, however, is to assume that all fragments from the rotor must be contained by a protective enclosure. An ideal enclosure is transparent. Manufacturers of such plastics as Lexan, Tuffak, and Cyrolon sell different variations of transparent enclosure material. Lexan is a polycarbonate sheet. Lexgard{reg_sign} is a penetration resistant material made by layering polycarbonate material between pieces of ordinary glass. A fragment striking a sheet of enclosure material will pierce the surface layer, but the layered polycarbonate-glass material is able to absorb the fragment's energy before it completes penetration. Tuffak{reg_sign} is Lexan polycarbonate. Cyrolon{reg_sign} bullet resistant material is acrylic sheet. The ability of the enclosure to stop a fragment depends on its thickness as well as the penetration capability of the fragment; for example, a lead fragment has much less penetrating capability than a steel fragment. Enclosure thicknesses are commercially available to provide several levels of protection. These levels depend on the momentum of the fragments and have been evaluated for some common types of ammunition. This summary quantifies four typical worst-case fragments which have maximum translational kinetic energy when ejected from a rotating annulus. (1) The first fragment is released from a rotating annular titanium ring. (2) The second fragment is a magnet released from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) 30-kW axial-gap PM motor. Analysis of the second fragment which is like a segment of half-angle, {alpha}, from a thin annular ring is similar to that of the titanium ring segment except that the angle is 10{sup o} instead of 133{sup o}. (3) The third fragment is a magnet from the radial-gap 6-kW fractional-slot surface-mounted PM (SPM) motor with concentrated windings. Analysis of the third fragment is similar to the analysis of the second fragment. (4) The fourth fragment is a 133{sup o} segment of an entire rotor which assumes that the laminates and magnets in the rotor fail as a single fragment, truly a worst case assumption.
WiFi Radar: Design and Implementation of an Infrastructure-less Location Tracking System for Pervasive Environment

We design and implement a low cost, easy to deploy and lightweight location tracking solution that operates without the need for a fixed infrastructure. We call it "WiFi radar," which uses the signal strength of radio transmissions to determine the position (distance and direction) of devices with near linear approximation. Notwithstanding the challenges that radio frequency signals pose for location determination, the accuracy and precision of our system is relatively high. Our application is user-friendly, customizable and shows graphical as well as list views of the located objects. To the best of our knowledge, our system is the first endeavor that implements a location tracking system without the use of any fixed infrastructure and it may be the cheapest solution built so far.
Evolutionary neural trees for modeling and predicting complex systems

Abstract Modeling and predicting the behavior of many technical systems is complicated because they are generally characterized by a large number of variables, parameters and interactions, and limited amounts of collected data. This paper investigates an evolutionary method for learning models of such systems. The models thus evolved are based on trees of heterogeneous neural units. The set of different neuron types is defined by the application domain, and the specific type of each unit is determined during the evolutionary learning process. The structure, size, and weights of the neural trees are also adapted by evolution. Since the genetic search used for training does not require error derivatives, a wide range of neural models can be constructed. This generality is contrasted with various existing methods for complex system modeling, which investigate only restricted topological subsets rather than the complete class of architectures. An improvement in the predictive accuracy and parsimony of models is reported, against backpropagation networks and other well-engineered polynomial-based methods for two problems: MacKey-Glass and Lorenz-like chaotic systems. The authors also demonstrate the importance of the selection pressure towards model parsimony for the improvement of prediction accuracy.
Comparing effects of mTR and mTERT deletion on gene expression and DNA damage response: a critical examination of telomere length maintenance-independent roles of telomerase.

Telomerase, the essential enzyme that maintains telomere length, contains two core components, TERT and TR. Early studies in yeast and mouse showed that loss of telomerase leads to phenotypes only after several generations, due to telomere shortening. However, recent studies have suggested additional roles for telomerase components in transcription and the response to DNA damage. To examine these potential telomere length maintenance-independent roles of telomerase components, we examined first generation mTR−/− and mTERT−/− mice with long telomeres. We used gene expression profiling and found no genes that were differentially expressed in mTR−/− G1 mice and mTERT−/− G1 mice compared with wild-type mice. We also compared the response to DNA damage in mTR−/−G1 and mTERT−/− G1 mouse embryonic fibroblasts, and found no increase in the response to DNA damage in the absence of either telomerase component compared to wild-type. We conclude that, under physiologic conditions, neither mTR nor mTERT acts as a transcription factor or plays a role in the DNA damage response.
Complex structural and regulatory evolution of the pro-opiomelanocortin gene family

The melanocortin system is a neuroendocrine machinery that has been associated with phenotypic diversification in a number of vertebrate lineages. Central to the highly pleiotropic melanocortin system is the pro-opiomelanocortin (pomc) gene family, a family of pre-prohormones that each give rise to melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH), adrenocorticotropic releasing hormone (ACTH), β-lipotropin hormone, and β-endorphin. Here we examine the structure, tissue expression profile, and pattern of cis transcriptional regulation of the three pomc paralogs (α1, α2, and β) in the model cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni and other cichlids, teleosts, and mammals. We found that the hormone-encoding regions of pomc α1, pomc α2 and pomc β are highly conserved, with a few notable exceptions. Surprisingly, the pomc β gene of cichlids and pomacentrids (damselfish) encodes a novel melanocortin peptide, e-MSH, as a result of a tandem duplication of the segment encoding ACTH. All three genes are expressed in the brain and peripheral tissues, but pomc α1 and α2 show a more spatially restricted expression profile than pomc β. In addition, the promoters of each pomc gene have diverged in nucleotide sequence, which may have facilitated the diverse tissue-specific expression profiles of these paralogs across species. Increased understanding of the mechanisms regulating pomc gene expression will be invaluable to the study of pomc in the context of phenotypic evolution.
Mammalian community response to the latest Paleocene thermal maximum: An isotaphonomic study in the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

New stratigraphic and paleontological information from the McCullough Peaks, northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, is incorporated into an isotaphonomic faunal database and used to investigate the impact of the latest Paleocene thermal maximum and coincident earliest Wasatchian immigration event on local mammalian community structure. Surface collections from Willwood Formation overbank deposits provide taphonomically consistent and stratigraphically resolved samples of the medium- to large-sized components of underlying mammalian communities. Rarefaction shows that the immigration event caused an abrupt and dramatic increase in species richness and evenness. After this initial increase, diversity tapered off to more typical Wasatchian levels that were still higher than those in the preceding Clarkforkian. Wasatchian immigrants were rapidly incorporated into the new community organization, representing ∼20% of the taxa and ∼50% of the individuals. Immigrant taxa generally had larger body sizes and more herbivorous and frugivorous dietary habits compared to endemic taxa, causing significant turnover in body-size structure and trophic structure. There was a significant short-term body-size decrease in many lineages that may have been prompted by the elevated temperatures and/or decreased latitudinal thermal gradients during the latest Paleocene thermal maximum. Rapid short-term climatic change (transient climates) and associated biotic dispersal can have abrupt and long-lasting effects on mammalian community evolution.
Purification and Characterization of Serine Proteases That Exhibit Caspase-Like Activity and Are Associated with Programmed Cell Death in Avena sativa

Victoria blight of Avena sativa (oat) is caused by the fungus Cochliobolus victoriae, which is pathogenic because of the production of the toxin victorin. The victorin-induced response in sensitive A. sativa has been characterized as a form of programmed cell death (PCD) and displays morphological and biochemical features similar to apoptosis, including chromatin condensation, DNA laddering, cell shrinkage, altered mitochondrial function, and ordered, substrate-specific proteolytic events. Victorin-induced proteolysis of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is shown to be prevented by caspase-specific and general protease inhibitors. Evidence is presented for a signaling cascade leading to Rubisco proteolysis that involves multiple proteases. Furthermore, two proteases that are apparently involved in the Rubisco proteolytic cascade were purified and characterized. These proteases exhibit caspase specificity and display amino acid sequences homologous to plant subtilisin-like Ser proteases. The proteases are constitutively present in an active form and are relocalized to the extracellular fluid after induction of PCD by either victorin or heat shock. The role of the enzymes as processive proteases involved in a signal cascade during the PCD response is discussed.
Restricted Infectivity of a Human-Lineage H3N2 Influenza A Virus in Pigs Is Hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase Gene Dependent

Influenza A viruses cause pandemics at sporadic intervals. Pandemic viruses can potentially be introduced into the human population through in toto transfer of an avian influenza virus or through reassortment between avian and human strains. Pigs are believed to play a central role in the creation of pandemic viruses through reassortment because of their susceptibility to infection with both avian and human influenza viruses. However, we recently found that a human-lineage H3N2 influenza virus was highly restricted in its ability to infect pigs after intranasal inoculation. We hypothesized that this restricted infectivity phenotype was controlled by the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). To test this, we infected pigs with reverse genetics-created HA plus NA reassortant viruses. Specifically, introduction of the HA and NA genes of a contemporary H3N2 swine virus into the genetic background of the wholly human virus resulted in a significant increase in virus shedding and pathogenicity. These data indicate that the HA/NA can play important roles in controlling human influenza virus infectivity in pigs. The results further support the premise that a barrier exists to human influenza virus infection in pigs, which may limit the role of pigs in pandemic virus creation through reassortment of human and avian influenza viruses.
Heat Transfer Dynamics During Treatment of Port Wine Stain Birthmarks With Multiple-Intermittent Cryogen Spurts and Laser Pulses

Port wine stain (PWS) is a congenital, progressive vascular malformation of human skin. Presently, all PWS patients are treated using single cryogen spurt and single laser pulse exposure (SCS-SLP), which does not produce complete lesion blanching in the vast majority of patients. In this study, the feasibility of applying multiple cryogen spurts intermittently with multiple laser pulse exposures (MCS-MLP) is studied numerically. Laser therapy of PWS was simulated with finite element heat diffusion and Monte Carlo light distribution models. Epidermal and thermal damage of PWS blood vessels of various diameters (50 – 130 μm) were calculated with an Arrhenius-type kinetic model. The results show that the proposed MCS-MLP approach can provide sufficient epidermal protection while at the same time achieving higher core intravascular temperatures over longer periods of time. PWS patients may benefit from the MCS-MLP approach, depending on PWS vessels diameter.
Improved detection of accessory pathways that bridge posterior septal and left posterior regions in the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

Abstract To improve the detection of accessory pathways that bridge the posterior septum and left posterior free wall, catheter maps of the coronary sinus from 21 patients (group I) who needed dissection of both these anatomic regions were compared with data from 23 (group II) with pathways confined to the posterior septum and from 9 (group III) with left posterior pathways. A decapolar catheter was used to map the coronary sinus in 0.5 to 1 cm steps. Intraoperative mapping was performed with a 16-electrode band. Catheter maps during atrial pacing and orthodromic supraventricular tachycardia were analyzed for the site of earliest activation and for differences in a new directional measure of conduction time between adjacent mapping sites. The site of earliest activation alone did not distinguish accessory pathways that bridged both anatomic regions, because 14 of 21 patients (66%) in group I would have been misclassified to either group II or III. In contrast, anterograde and retrograde directional conduction times distinguished patients in group I from those in groups II (p
Tests of adaptation: functional studies of pollen removal and estimates of natural selection on anther position in wild radish

†Background There are a number of difficulties associated with the study of adaptation. One is a lack of variation in the trait, which is common in adaptations because past selection has removed unfit variants. This lack of variation makes it difficult to determine the relationship between trait variation and fitness. Another difficulty is proving causation in this trait‐fitness relationship, because a correlated trait might be the actual adaptation. These difficulties can be ameliorated at least partially by combining studies of natural variation with studies of experimentally manipulated traits and traits whose variance has been augmented by artificial selection. †Scope We review here a number of our studies on the adaptive value of two aspects of anther position in wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum, Brassicaceae): anther exsertion, i.e. the degree to which anthers protrude from the mouth of the corolla tube, and anther height dimorphism, i.e. the difference in lengths of the filaments between the two short and four long stamens. We have used both functional analyses, in which the response variable is pollen removal, and measurements of selection, in which the response variable is lifetime male fitness estimated by molecular genetic paternity analyses. In these studies we use both the natural variation in populations as well as manipulated variation, the latter through both stamen removal and artificial selection, to recreate the ancestral trait conditions. †Conclusions Our work provides convincing evidence that intermediate anther exsertion values are adaptive, and that this is probably an adaptation to a subset of the pollinator fauna, small bees. The picture for anther height dimorphism is much less clear, as the weight of current evidence suggests that current values of this trait might actually be maladaptive; however, if this is true it is difficult to understand how the dimorphism is maintained across the family Brassicaceae.
O(1) Algorithms for Overlapping Group Sparsity

Sparsity based techniques have become very popular in machine learning, medical imaging and computer vision. Recently, with the emerging and development of structured sparsity, signals can be recovered more accurately. However, solving structured sparsity problems often involves much higher computational complexity. Few of existing works can reduce the computational complexity of such problems. Especially for overlapping group sparsity, the computational complexity for each entry is linear to the degree of overlapping, making it infeasible for large-scale problems. In this paper, we propose novel algorithms to efficiently address this issue, where the computational complexity for each entry is always O(1) and independent to the degree of overlapping. Experiments on 1D signal and 2D image demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our methods. This work may inspire more scalable algorithms for structured sparsity.
Effects of multiplication stimulating activity (MSA) on AIB transport into myoblast and myotube cultures

The effects of a somatomedian analog, Temin's multiplication stimulating activity (MSA), on amino acid transport into muscle cells have been characterized in a series of experiments on myoblasts and myotubes in culture. Addition of MSA to serum-starved L6 myoblasts increased the rate of aminoisobutyrate (AIB) uptake 50-150% within five hours. This early effect on transport was followed by increases in cell number, protein content and 3H-thymidine incorporation. Kinetic analyses indicated that MSA increased the maximal velocity of AIB uptake but had no effect on the KM for AIB. When myoblasts were allowed to fuse (and dividing cells eliminated by addition of 10(-4) M cytosine arabinoside) the AIB transport system(s) remained similarly responsive to MSA. In myoblasts and in myotubes, both the basal and MSA-stimulated rate of AIB uptake were sodium-dependent processes; little stimrulation occurred if sodium was absent from the labeling medium. Further suggesting the involvement of cations in response to hormone, MSA stimulated uptake of the potassium analog, 86Rb+, and increase net intracellular potassium in both myoblasts and myotubes. MSA was active at concentrations equivalent to in vivo levels of somatomedins; neither insulin nor growth hormone had any effect at or near physiological concentrations.
Evaluating the cytotoxicity of innate immune effector cells using the GrB ELISPOT assay

BACKGROUND: This study assessed the Granzyme B (GrB) ELISPOT as a viable alternative to the 51Cr-release assay for measuring cytotoxic activity of innate immune effector cells. We strategically selected the GrB ELISPOT assay because GrB is a hallmark effector molecule of cell-mediated destruction of target cells. METHODS: We optimized the GrB ELISPOT assay using the human-derived TALL-104 cytotoxic cell line as effectors against K562 target cells. Titration studies were performed to assess whether the ELISPOT assay could accurately enumerate the number of GrB-secreting effector cells. TALL-104 were treated with various secretion inhibitors and utilized in the GrB ELISPOT to determine if GrB measured in the ELISPOT was due to degranulation of effector cells. Additionally, CD107a expression on effector cells after effector-target interaction was utilized to further confirm the mechanism of GrB release by TALL-104 and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells. Direct comparisons between the GrB ELISPOT, the IFN-gamma ELISPOT and the standard 51Cr-release assays were made using human LAK cells. RESULTS: Titration studies demonstrated a strong correlation between the number of TALL-104 and LAK effector cells and the number of GrB spots per well. GrB secretion was detectable within 10 min of effector-target contact with optimal secretion observed at 3-4 h; in contrast, optimal IFN-gamma secretion was not observed until 24 h. The protein secretion inhibitor, brefeldin A, did not inhibit the release of GrB but did abrogate IFN-gamma production by TALL-104 cells. GrB secretion was abrogated by BAPTA-AM (1,2-bis-(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N', N'-tetraacetic acid tetra(acetoxymethyl) ester), which sequesters intracellular Ca2+, thereby preventing degranulation. The number of effector cells expressing the degranulation associated glycoprotein CD107a increased after interaction with target cells and correlated with the stimulated release of GrB measured in the ELISPOT assay. CONCLUSIONS: Because of its high sensitivity and ability to estimate cytotoxic effector cell frequency, the GrB ELISPOT assay is a viable alternative to the 51Cr-release assay to measure MHC non-restricted cytotoxic activity of innate immune cells. Compared to the IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay, the GrB ELISPOT may be a more direct measure of cytotoxic cell activity. Because GrB is one of the primary effector molecules in natural killer (NK) cell-mediated killing, detection and enumeration of GrB secreting effector cells can provide valuable insight with regards to innate immunological responses.
Biological production of ethanol from CO 2 produced by a fossil-fueled power plant

Carbon dioxide, as the end product of fossil fuel combustion, is responsible for the global warming. To decrease emissions of CO2, a new method that directly converts CO2 into ethanol is proposed here, and hydrogen is demonstrated to be the most suitable electron donor. The bacteria, Clostridium ljungdahlii and Moorella sp. HUC22-1, are anaerobic microorganisms which may be used to facilitate the conversion. An ethanol production facility located adjacent a fossil fuel electric power plant was simulated in SuperPro Designer. For C. ljungdahli, the production cost of ethanol was estimated at $0.83/gal, which compares quite favorably to a current ethanol selling price of $3.43/gal. For Moorella, the ethanol production cost was much higher than for C. ljungdahli. However the latter bacterium also produced significant quantities of acetate, which is sellable. For neither scenario were economic credits taken for reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Based on the preliminary economics provided by the simulations, further research is warranted into electricity-ethanol co-generation.
Investigator Profile An Interview with Lilianna Solnica-Krezel, Ph.D.

Dr. Solnica-Krezel is Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She received a Master's degree in molecular biology from Warsaw University, Poland, and a Ph.D. in oncology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. Dr. Solnica-Krezel's research focuses on the mechanisms of gastrulation using zebrafish as a model organism.
Design, Fabrication, Assembly and Initial Testing of a SMART Rotor 1

Sandia National Laboratories has designed and built a full set of three 9m blades (based on the Sandia CX-100 blade design) equipped with active aerodynamic blade load control surfaces on the outboard trailing edges. The design and fabrication of the blades and active aerodynamic control hardware and the instrumentation are discussed and the plans for control development are presented. , Albuquerque, NM 87185-1124
Surveillance on foodborne pathogens in Liaoning,2012: analysis results

Objective To learn the distribution of foodborne pathogens in food in Liaoning and provide scientific evidence for effective prevention and control of foodborne pathogens. Methods 1,824 food samples were collected from 7 categories of food( cooked meat,egg products,frozen rice products,etc.) from 8 cities of Liaoning province in 2012,and detected according to the operating procedures for monitoring food-borne pathogens established by the Nutrition and food safety institution of China's CDC. Results The total detection rate was 11. 24%. The detection rate of Vibrio parahaemolyticus was the highest at 19. 78%,followed by that of Bacillus cereus( 10. 04%). Conclusion The main categories of food in Liaoning were contaiminated by foodborne pathogens to different extents. It is important to strengthen the surveillance of pathogens for ready-to-eat food and prevent the outbreak of foodborne diseases.
Simple Colorimetric Method for Determination of Episulfides, Using, 4-(p-Nitrobenzyl)-Pyridine

Episulfides were determined by a simple colorimetric assay using 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)-pyridine, which has been used previously for the detection and analysis of epoxides, organophosphates, and other alkylating agents. With episulfides, absorbance was directly proportional to concentration up to an absorbance of at least 1.0. No interference was observed with a variety of non-episulfide sulfur-containing substances. The colorimetric method is useful monitoring 1-cyanoepithioalkane formation from the degradation of glucosinolates containing terminal double bonds.
Pylon: Towards an integrated customizable volume diagnosis infrastructure

This paper describes a volume diagnosis infrastructure built on open-source software, which addresses practical challenges in a foundry environment by integrating various data sources from design, manufacturing process and test to enable rapid root-cause identification.
You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial: The unique role of imaginativeness in new venture ideation

Abstract Bestsellers like The Lean Startup and Business Model Generation have suggested that ideation—the generation and selection of ideas—is important to new venture creation; yet, little empirical research on the topic has been conducted. Using a creative problem-solving approach, we developed and tested a new scale that found imaginativeness predicts new venture ideation over and above the effects of the usual suspects of attitude, knowledge, and evaluation. Imaginativeness is an ideational skill that combines task-relevant knowledge in three distinct domains—creative, social, and practical—with the latent ability of imagination. In this article, we explain why a new scale was needed, why imaginativeness appears to be especially useful to individuals who lack entrepreneurial experience, and how imaginativeness enables just about anyone to generate and select new venture ideas with the proficiency of a habitual entrepreneur.
Rapid evolution of a divergent ecogeographic cline in introduced lady beetles

The evolution of ecogeographic clines in recently introduced species is often rapid and predictable, as introduced populations often converge on the same or similar clines found among native populations. In contrast, we demonstrate the rapid evolution of a divergent ecogeographic cline among introduced populations of the seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata. In the native range of Eurasia, this species follows Gloger’s rule—a positive correlation between melanin and precipitation. However, over several decades, introduced populations in North America have developed a divergent ecogeographic cline, Bogert’s rule, in which melanin is negatively correlated with temperature. Our common garden experiment indicates that this new pattern is not simply a plastic response to temperature, but likely reflects evolutionary change in North America. Furthermore, this new cline is not correlated with colonization history or sample collection time, but is convergent on a pattern found in other species of insects including other lady beetles. The rate of melanin evolution in North America was rapid (6897–10,000 darwins and 0.051–0.077 haldanes) and among the highest rates found in introduced insects. We propose that high levels of genetic diversity from human mediated admixture combined with altered selection pressures may have contributed to the rapid evolution of this unpredicted ecogeographic cline.
Prospective assessment of social network quality among depressed mothers treated with brief psychotherapy: The Social Network Quality (SNQ) scales.

Abstract Objective Social relationships play important roles in emotional health, and are common targets of psychotherapeutic interventions. To better evaluate social relationship structure and function in the context of psychotherapy trials, this study introduces and psychometrically evaluates the Social Network Quality (SNQ) scales, which supplement the Social Network Index (SNI). The original SNI evaluates social network structure (i.e., extent of participation in diverse social roles and number of social relationships). The SNQ adds two social network quality scales evaluating levels of: (a) positivity/support, and (b) negativity/stress, within and across specific social roles. Method Participants included 168 depressed mothers of psychiatrically-ill children participating in a psychotherapy treatment trial utilizing interpersonal therapy (IPT) and brief supportive therapy (BSP). The SNI, SNQ, and measures of social functioning and psychopathology were collected at baseline and at 3-month intervals over a one-year period. Results SNQ scores showed meaningful concurrent relationships with measures of social support and interpersonal distress, as well as incremental utility in explaining variance in relationship and mood outcomes above and beyond the SNI. SNQ scores also detected global and relationship-specific changes in social relationship quality following psychotherapy treatment. Conclusion This report demonstrates that SNQ scales reliably assess psychotherapy-induced changes in relationship quality.
An acetylation–phosphorylation switch that regulates tau aggregation propensity and function

The aberrant accumulation of tau protein is a pathological hallmark of a class of neurodegenerative diseases known as tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. On the basis of previous observations that tau is a direct substrate of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), we sought to map all HDAC6-responsive sites in tau and determine how acetylation in a site-specific manner affects tau's biophysical properties in vitro. Our findings indicate that several acetylation sites in tau are responsive to HDAC6 and that acetylation on Lys-321 (within a KCGS motif) is both essential for acetylation-mediated inhibition of tau aggregation in vitro and a molecular tactic for preventing phosphorylation on the downstream Ser-324 residue. To determine the functional consequence of this HDAC6-regulated phosphorylation event, we examined tau's ability to promote microtubule assembly and found that phosphorylation of Ser-324 interferes with the normal microtubule-stabilizing function of tau. Tau phosphorylation of Ser-324 (pSer-324) has not previously been evaluated in the context of tauopathy, and here we observed increased deposition of pSer-324–positive tau both in mouse models of tauopathy and in patients with Alzheimer's disease. These findings uncover a novel acetylation–phosphorylation switch at Lys-321/Ser-324 that coordinately regulates tau polymerization and function. Because the disease relevance of this finding is evident, additional studies are needed to examine the role of pSer-324 in tau pathobiology and to determine whether therapeutically modulating this acetylation–phosphorylation switch affects disease progression in vivo.
In vitro chemosensitivity of feline injection site-associated sarcoma cell lines to carboplatin.

Objective To determine the in vitro chemosensitivity of feline injection site-associated sarcoma (FISAS) cells to carboplatin concentrations generated by elution of carboplatin-impregnated calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CI-CSH) beads. Study design In vitro study. Sample Five immortalized cell lines from histologically confirmed, primary FISASs. Methods For each cell line, one 96-well microplate was used for each time point (24, 48, 72 hours). In each microplate, 3 wells were seeded with ∼7.5 × 103 cells per well for every carboplatin treatment added, ranging from 5 to 450 µM. Microculture plates were incubated for 24, 48, or 72 hours. Drug efficacy was assessed via a bioreductive fluorometric assay. For apoptosis analysis, 3 wells were seeded with ∼5 × 104 cells per well for every carboplatin treatment added, ranging from 5 to 450 µM. Flow cytometry was performed and the relative percentages of viable, apoptotic, and late apoptotic/necrotic cells were reported. All experiments were run in triplicates. Results Carboplatin exerted dose-dependent and time-dependent effects on FISAS cell viability. The IC50 values were within the range of carboplatin concentrations eluted from CI-CSH beads. Conclusion Elution of carboplatin from CI-CSH beads generate concentrations sufficient to result in 50% growth inhibition of FISAS cells in vitro. Local tumor control might be achieved by implantation of CI-CSH beads immediately following radical or marginal excision of the primary tumor or by implantation without tumor resection.
Capital Structure and Systematic Risk

Systematic risk is an important determinant of corporate capital structure. A one standard deviation increase in asset beta corresponds to a decrease in leverage of 13%, controlling for total asset volatility. This evidence is consistent with recent dynamic capital structure models that relate financing decisions to macroeconomic factors and provides further impetus for exploring the impact of systematic risk on corporate decisions.
Multi-objective simplified swarm optimization with weighting scheme for gene selection

Abstract Gene selection can be regarded as a multi-objective problem which involves both minimizing the size of a gene subset and maximizing the prediction performance. This work proposes a hybrid filter/wrapper method for gene selection based on multi-objective optimization. In this method, an emerging aggregate filter method is adopted as a filter with which to choose the most informative genes; in addition, a multi-objective simplified swarm optimization (MOSSO) is proposed and integrated with a support vector machine as a wrapper to seek an optimal gene subset from the selected genes. Unlike most current multi-objective based methods employed to handle gene selection problems, the proposed MOSSO uses a weighting scheme to guide the search towards the interesting regions as defined by the preference, which means that not all Pareto optimal solutions are generated, but only the ones gene selection prefers. The proposed method is validated using ten gene expression datasets, and the corresponding results are compared with those obtained with existing works. Statistical analysis indicates that the proposed method is highly competitive and, can be considered a promising alternative for dealing with gene selection problems.
A HEART CELL GROUP MODEL FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIA

Due to the increasing prices of medical care, and especially due to cardiovascular injury; scientists are looking for inexpensive and less invasive ways to diagnose myocardial ischemia. Many studies have shown that the variations of the ST-segment in the ECG signal are an indicator for ischemia. For this purpose, this work proposes an approach based on a heart cell group model and principle component analysis, using a decision tree classifier to differentiate between the ischemic and healthy beats. The cardiac based model is based on a physiological model of the electrical cycle of depolarization and repolarization of the atria and ventricles. The model parameters are estimated by minimizing the squared error between the generated signal and the recorded ECG. The approach is applied to beats from the Long-Term ST database, which consists of 86 subjects and more than 20,000 beats in which 80% of the beats are ischemic and 20% are healthy. A 10-fold cross validation test is performed over the dataset. The accuracy of this approach is 91.62%, with sensitivity of 95.09% and specificity of 75.66%.
Characterization of Bioactive Organotin Polymers: Fractionation and Determination of MW by SEC-GFAA

Organometallic polymers (OMP’s), incorporating biocidal triorganotin moieties, chemically bonded to carboxyl groups pendant along polymer chains, are undergoing intensive development as longterm controlled-release, marine antifouling agents.1 Materials in this general class have been prepared by copolymerizing methyl-methacrylate and organotin-substituted methacrylates in a free radical initiated process.2 The polymers are incorporated within a polymeric binding substrate and coated over surfaces that are to be exposed to a marine-service environment. Tin-containing fragments tailored3 to prevent build-up of fouling micro-organisms4 are slowly leached out of the coating.5 The protective mechanism is not necessarily a simple chemical or physical process, and the macromolecular materials break down over a period of years.1,2
Glycolysis Paradigm Shift Dictates a Reevaluation of Glucose and Oxygen Metabolic Rates of Activated Neural Tissue.

In 1988 two seminal studies were published, both instigating controversy. One concluded that "the energy needs of activated neural tissue are minimal, being fulfilled via the glycolytic pathway alone," a conclusion based on the observation that neural activation increased glucose consumption, which was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in oxygen consumption (Fox et al., 1988). The second demonstrated that neural tissue function can be supported exclusively by lactate as the energy substrate (Schurr et al., 1988). While both studies continue to have their supporters and detractors, the present review attempts to clarify the issues responsible for the persistence of the controversies they have provoked and offer a possible rationalization. The concept that lactate rather than pyruvate, is the glycolytic end-product, both aerobically and anaerobically, and thus the real mitochondrial oxidative substrate, has gained a greater acceptance over the years. The idea of glycolysis as the sole ATP supplier for neural activation (glucose → lactate + 2ATP) continues to be controversial. Lactate oxidative utilization by activated neural tissue could explain the mismatch between glucose and oxygen consumption and resolve the existing disagreements among users of imaging methods to measure the metabolic rates of the two energy metabolic substrates. The postulate that the energy necessary for active neural tissue is supplied by glycolysis alone stems from the original aerobic glycolysis paradigm. Accordingly, glucose consumption is accompanied by oxygen consumption at 1-6 ratio. Since Fox et al. (1988) observed only a minimal if non-existent oxygen consumption compared to glucose consumption, their conclusion make sense. Nevertheless, considering (a) the shift in the paradigm of glycolysis (glucose → lactate; lactate + O2 + mitochondria → pyruvate → TCA cycle → CO2 + H2O + 17ATP); (b) that one mole of lactate oxidation requires only 50% of the amount of oxygen necessary for the oxidation of one mole of glucose; and (c) that lactate, as a mitochondrial substrate, is over eight times more efficient at ATP production than glucose as a glycolytic substrate, suggest that future studies of cerebral metabolic rates of activated neural tissue should include along with the measurements of CMRO2 and CMRglucose the measurement of CMRlactate.
Positive and Z-operators on Closed Convex Cones

Let $K$ be a closed convex cone with dual $\dual{K}$ in a finite-dimensional real Hilbert space. A \emph{positive operator} on $K$ is a linear operator $L$ such that $L\of{K} \subseteq K$. Positive operators generalize the nonnegative matrices and are essential to the Perron-Frobenius theory. It is said that $L$ is a \emph{\textbf{Z}-operator} on $K$ if % \begin{equation*} \ip{L\of{x}}{s} \le 0 \;\text{ for all } \pair{x}{s} \in \cartprod{K}{\dual{K}} \text{ such that } \ip{x}{s} = 0. \end{equation*} % The \textbf{Z}-operators are generalizations of \textbf{Z}-matrices (whose off-diagonal elements are nonpositive) and they arise in dynamical systems, economics, game theory, and elsewhere. In this paper, the positive and \textbf{Z}-operators are connected. This extends the work of Schneider, Vidyasagar, and Tam on proper cones, and reveals some interesting similarities between the two families.
Carbon Nanofiber Surface Roughness Increases Osteoblast Adhesion

The present study demonstrated for the first time desirable cytocompatibility properties of carbon nanofibers pertinent for bone prosthetic applications. Specifically, osteoblast (boneforming cells), fibroblast (cells contributing to callus formation and fibrous encapsulation events that result in implant loosening), chondrocyte (cartilage-forming cells), and smooth muscle cell (for comparison purposes) adhesion were determined on carbon nanofibers in the present in vitro study. Results provided evidence that nanometer dimension carbon fibers promoted select osteoblast adhesion, in contrast to the performance of conventional carbon fibers. Moreover, adhesion of other cells was not influenced by carbon fiber dimensions. To determine properties that selectively enhanced osteoblast adhesion, similar cell adhesion assays were performed on poly-lactic-co-glycolic (PLGA) casts of carbon fiber compacts previously tested. Compared to PLGA casts of conventional carbon fibers, results provided the first evidence of enhanced select osteoblast adhesion on PLGA casts of nanophase carbon fibers. The summation of these results demonstrate that due to a high degree of nanometer surface roughness, carbon fibers and PLGA with nanometer surface dimensions may be optimal materials to selectively increase osteoblast adhesion necessary for successful orthopedic implant applications.
The Commute: The Bend in Progress, Reproduction on The Road

This chapter is about Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka’s 1965 play The Road as a play about commuting. In particular, I argue that The Road takes up commuting as a moment of transition between the working day and the day without work, between the hope of progress and the despair of deindustrialization, between production and anti-production, or the break-down of the machine in the space of reproduction. The play is critical of the postcolonial state for its failures to deliver on the road to prosperity, and, at the same time, it presents the coming-apart of old paradigms of progress through work and gives a sense of their replacement by a metaphysics of indebtedness, or sacrifice to the gods. The Road magnifies the marginal social situation of Nigeria’s drivers (touts) that becomes the dominant paradigm of global labor under a later era financial globalization. The Road thus stands at the crux between local and global culture, between nostalgia for old class alliances and archaic ritualistic practices on the one hand and, on the other, a recognition of new forms of global accumulation
Algorithmic Fairness: Measures, Methods and Representations

What happens when we replace - or augment - human decision-making with algorithms? This is a simple question, but the answers now define a new field of study - a field that I call algorithmic fairness, and that spans issues of fairness, discrimination, accountability, transparency, interpretability and responsibility, and so much more. While some of the early work in the area came out of data mining and machine learning, the field is now truly transdisciplinary, with contributions from all across computer science, as well as from all disciplines that touch on aspects of society - whether it be economics, philosophy, sociology, political science, or communication. In this tutorial, I'll try to do three things: I'll survey the main questions and some of the key insights we've developed over the years. I'll explain the web of connections between the technical and the social disciplines that make up this area, and I'll point to exciting directions that remain to be explored in both technical and social dimensions. Along the way I hope to illustrate what I think are some interesting "collisions" between computer science and the social sciences, and call for a reimagining of core ideas in our field, including the very idea of how we think about data representation.
A systematic overview of systematic reviews evaluating medication adherence interventions.

Purpose To systematically summarize evidence from multiple systematic reviews (SRs) examining interventions addressing medication nonadherence and to discern differences in effectiveness by intervention, patient, and study characteristics. Summary MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects were searched for papers published from January 2004 to February 2017. English-language SRs examining benefits of medication adherence interventions were eligible. Inclusion was limited to adult patients prescribed medication for 1 of the following disease conditions: diabetes and prediabetes, heart conditions, hypertension and prehypertension, stroke, and cognitive impairment. Non-disease-specific SRs that considered medication adherence interventions for older adults, adults with chronic illness, and adults with known medication adherence problems were also included. Two researchers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles. They then extracted key variables from eligible SRs, reconciling discrepancies via discussion. A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) was used to assess SRs; those with scores below 8 were excluded. Conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness were extracted. Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology was applied to assess evidence quality. Results Of 390 SRs, 25 met the inclusion criteria and assessed adherence as a primary outcome. Intervention types most consistently found to be effective were dose simplification, patient education, electronic reminders to patients, and reduced patient cost sharing or incentives. Of 50 conclusions drawn by the SRs, the underlying evidence was low or very low quality for 45 SRs. Conclusion Despite an abundance of primary studies and despite only examining high-quality SRs, the vast majority of primary studies supporting SR authors' conclusions were of low or very low quality. Nonetheless, health system leaders seeking to improve medication adherence should prioritize interventions that have been studied and found to be effective at improving patient adherence, including dose simplification, education, reminders, and financial incentives.
Protecting the Texas Electric Grid: A Cybersecurity Strategy for ERCOT and the PUCT

The electrical system serves as the fundamental base of a country's economic activity, and it is therefore, a likely target for cyberattacks. As the modern economy continues its evolution towards greater digitization and interconnectedness, policymakers must outline and enforce regulations protecting those critical assets, without which the economy would suffer. The Texas Interconnection, due to being independently operated and to a large-extent legislated by the state of Texas, enjoys a simpler regulatory environment than its national counterparts. We exploit this relative independence to offer policy solutions to better protect Texas against a cyberattack on its electric grid. Specifically, ERCOT and the PUCT have the authority and ability to streamline and simplify the potentially confusing protocols enforced by NERC to make adoption more likely. We also discuss grant programs for smaller utilities and the role of cyber-insurance in helping utilities navigate the difficulties in understanding the protocols so that compliance can occur.