cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Direct Monitoring of the Reaction between Photochemically Generated Nitric Oxide and Mycobacterium tuberculosis Truncated Hemoglobin N Wild Type and Variant Forms: An Assessment of Computational Mechanistic Predictions

The previously reported nitric oxide precursor [Mn(PaPy2Q)NO]ClO4 (1), where (PaPy2QH) is N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-amine-N-ethyl-2-quinoline-2-carboxamide, was used to investigate the interaction between NO and the protein truncated hemoglobin N (trHbN) from the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Oxy-trHbN is exceptionally efficient at converting NO to nitrate, with a reported rate constant of 7.45 × 10(8) M(-1) s(-1) [Ouellet, H., et al. (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99, 5902] compared to 4 × 10(7) M(-1) s(-1) for oxy-myoglobin [Eich, R. F., et al. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 6976]. This work analyzed the NO dioxygenation kinetics of wild type oxy-trHbN and a set of variants, as well as the nitrosylation kinetics for the reduced (red-trHbN) forms of these proteins. The NO dioxygenation reaction was remarkably insensitive to mutations, even within the active site, while nitrosylation was somewhat more sensitive. Curiously, the most profound change to the rate constant for nitrosylation was effected by deletion of a 12-amino acid dangling N-terminal sequence. The deletion mutant exhibited first-order kinetics with respect to NO but was zero-order with respect to protein concentration; by contrast, all other variants exhibited second-order rate constants of >10(8) M(-1) s(-1). trHbN boasts an extensive tunnel system that connects the protein exterior with the active site, which is likely the main contributor to the protein's impressive NO dioxygenation efficiency. The results herein suggest that N-terminal deletion abolishes a large scale conformational motion, in the absence of which NO can still readily enter the tunnel system but is then prevented from binding to the heme for an extended period of time.
Application-Aware Online Testing for Many-Core SoC

As the many-core system-on-chip becomes the predominant architecture in safety-critical applications, online testing will be required to ensure availability and reliability of these systems. To be accepted as a feasible solution, any online testing technique must satisfy time and power constraints while not interfering with concurrently running safety-critical applications. Previous research has not considered the effect of application interference during online test delivery, which can lead to increased application execution time and possible deadline misses - an unacceptable condition in safety-critical, hard real time systems. In this paper, we propose and analyze two complementary methods of minimizing online testing interference with safety-critical applications. We show that test delivery blocking can eliminate interference at the cost of increased testing time, while test redundancy can reduce interference by 47% while only increasing test delivery time by 15% on average.
The general belongingness scale (gbs): Assessing achieved belongingness

Abstract Belongingness has emerged as a central construct of theoretical importance in the last two decades; however, little attention has been given to develop a brief, psychometrically sound measure of general belongingness. Three studies were conducted to develop a 12-item measure to assess a sense of general belongingness. Students were recruited to participate in online computer-administered surveys (N = 81, 875, and 213, respectively). High reliability and strong patterns of validity estimates are established. EFA and CFA results indicate a 2-factor structure (Acceptance/Inclusion and lack of Rejection/Exclusion), with a high inter-factor correlation. The current investigation is the first to document that achieved belongingness is distinct from the need to belong, and to show strong associations between belongingness and the Big Five personality traits of Neuroticism (r = −.51) and Extraversion (r = .46).
Anorectal Complaints in the Emergency Department

Patients commonly present to the emergency department with anorectal complaints. Most of these complaints are benign and can be managed conservatively; however, there are a few anorectal emergencies that clinicians must be aware of in order to prevent further complications. The history and physical examination are especially important so that critical disorders can be recognized and specific treatment plans can be determined. It is important to maintain a broad differential diagnosis of anorectal disease and to distinguish benign from serious processes.
Supporting Older Adults and Families with Transitions to Long-Term Care and with Insomnia

Fellow clinical gerontologists, in this issue we feature articles with intriguing implications for practice and research.One thing seems clear—compared with 30 years ago, issues surrounding transit...
Hippelates Flies and Certain other Pests of the Coachella Valley, California.

The Coachella Valley (California) borders upon Salton Sea, it lies on an average of about 125 feet below sea level and has a population of about seven thousand inhabitants among whom are many Mexicans and many transient negroes during the cotton picking season. During the past ten or more years Hippelates flies ( Hippelates flavipes ) have become increasingly numerous, until now they are a veritable pest and together with numerous cases of so-called “pink eye” affecting the people of the valley and the known relation of this fly to the disease, there exists a really serious situation. The breeding habits of the fly remain unknown as yet. The black widow spider, Latrodectes mactans , occurs in the Valley in considerable numbers and several serious cases of spider bite have been reported with one fatality. The German cockroach ( Blatella germanica ) is increasing enormously in this region and is rapidly becoming a real pest.
Some biases in the recovery of archaeological faunal remains

Non-hominid faunal remains associated with cultural deposits have long been of interest to archaeologists. Recent archaeological work (Coutts and Higham, 1971; Daly, 1969; Drew et al., 1971; Flannery, 1966; Higham and Leach, 1971; Shawcross, 1967; Ucko and Dimbleby, 1969) is showing an increased utilization of these associated faunal remains for detailed analysis of prehistoric man's environment, hunting techniques, dietary habits, the effects of domestication upon animals, changes in these over time, and seasonal dating.As analysis becomes more detailed and the need to extract increased amounts of relevant and sophisticated data from faunal remains grows more demanding, the representative quality of our samples of faunal remains becomes more critical. Many of the demands made upon our samples require that increased attention be paid to the recovery and analysis of some of the less obvious constituents of these faunal assemblages.
Nitric Oxide Release from a Nickel Nitrosyl Complex Induced by One-Electron Oxidation

Reaction of [Ni(NO)(bipy)][PF6] (2) with AgPF6 or [NO][PF6] in MeCN results in formation of [Ni(bipy)x(MeCN)y]2+ and release of NO gas in moderate yields. In contrast, the addition of the inner sphere oxidant Ph2S2 to 2 does not result in denitrosylation. Instead, the diphenyldisulfide adduct [{(bipy)(NO)Ni}2(μ-S2Ph2)][PF6]2 (3) is formed in good yield. However, oxidation of 2 with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) does results in cleavage of the Ni–NO bond and generation of NO. The metal-containing product, [(bipy)Ni(η2-TEMPO)][PF6] (4), can be isolated as an orange-brown solid in excellent yields. In the solid state, complex 4 contains a side-on bound TEMPO– ligand, which is characterized by a long N–O bond length [1.383(2) A]. The contrasting reactivity of Ph2S2 and TEMPO likely relates to their different redox potentials, as Ph2S2 is a relatively weak oxidant. Finally, the addition of pyridine-N-oxide to 2 results in the formation of the adduct, [(bipy)Ni(NO)(ONC5H5)][PF6] (5). No evidence ...
Sufi Turuq and the politics of democratization in Senegal

AbstractThe Senegalese example is often used to suggest that Muslim-majority countries are capable of democratizing if the state is equidistant from all religions. Historically, Islam lacks a hegemonic status in Senegal’s legal order, and national politics exhibits the “twin tolerations,” the mutually respectful relationships between religious and governmental authorities that are necessary for democracy. These continuities cannot explain why Sufi orders (turuq) changed from supporting a single-party authoritarian system in the 1960s–1980s to reinforcing serious electoral contestation as of the 1990s; economic crisis fostered the change. During structural adjustment in the 1980s, economic shocks weakened the ruling party, inducing it to negotiate a democratic electoral code with opponents. The reforms significantly increased electoral uncertainty by the late 1990s, which changed the behavior of state and religious actors. Abdoulaye Wade broke the tradition of presidential neutrality towards religion, favo...
How cynical can ideal theory be

This article characterizes the aims of a practice-based method of justification and explains why its form of “ideal theory” need to only assume that a group of agents “ideationally” endorse an aim or end. Our interpretation of a practice, according to its aims or ends, can thus be quite realistic about the selfish or corrupt motives of any particular agent. This helps to answer “selectorate theory” cynics that view rules (in trade, etc.) as equilibrium solutions among elites optimizing for their personal “political survival.” Even when that is so, reason can still have an audience in politics in the “ideational” recognition of values (e.g. as upheld in the classical theory of free trade).
Anti-class II MHC antibody induces multinucleated giant cell formation from peripheral blood monocytes

Multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) are an in- tegral part of the host immune response to infectious dis- ease and are seen in granulomas induced by pathogens and inorganic substances. We have developed a novel sys- tern for the production and study of MGCs: Peripheral blood monocytes, when cultured in the presence of anti-class II major histocompatibility complex rnonoclonal antibodies (MHC mAb's) and lymphocyte- conditioned medium form MGCs within 48 h. MGC for- mation was strictly dependent on the presence of anti-class II MHC mAb's and lymphocyte-conditioned medium. MGC formation was not induced by mAb's to ther monocyte surface proteins. None of the previously dentified macrophage fusion factors (calcitriol, interleu- in 4, interferon--y) were able to substitute for the ymphocyte-conditioned medium in our assay; however, he conditioned medium could be replaced by the phorbol ster phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. We have also emonstrated that the induction of MGCs by anti-class II HC antibody and phorbol ester requires protein kinase activity, because MGC formation was totally inhibited y the protein kinase C inhibitors staurosporine and H-7. n analyzing the signal induced by anti-class II MHC Ab's we have demonstrated that cross-linking of the lass II MHC antigens with intact mAb's, or with F(ab')2 ragments of anti-class II MHC mAb's and F(ab')2 frag- ents of rabbit antimouse (RAM) immunoglobulin G, roduced an intracellular calcium rise. Furthermore, us- ng the calcium channel blocker verapamil, it was demon- trated that calcium channel activity is necessary for GC formation. These data support the view that MGC ormation is a tightly regulated differentiative pathway of eripheral blood monocytes that is dependent on protein inase C second messtnger systems and involves an in- rease in intracellular calcium concentration. J. Leukoc. iol. 51: 199-209; 1992.
The rest of the story: understanding small-group case interpretation performance and capability in middle-school project-based inquiry classrooms

Learning from use of cases has been the hallmark of several approaches to education. From the perspective of learning, the ability to interpret and apply cases is a skill that is key to successful transferable learning. Our study explored the development and transfer of case use skills in middle-school project-based inquiry classrooms. Contrary to our expectations, group performance and capability did not improve uniformly over time, but fluctuated from episode to episode, leading us to examine what seemed to influence this fluctuation. We discovered that the character of group discussions and the impact of those discussions on the group's reasoning about the case were strong indicators of group performance and capability. In this paper, we describe case use and examine the character of group discussions reasoning about expert cases from episode to episode of case interpretation, exploring how these factors indicate or predict group interpretation performance and capability over time.
Recent developments in interband cascade infrared photodetectors.

We investigate high-temperature and high-frequency operation of interband cascade infrared photodetectors (ICIPs)-two critical properties. Short-wavelength ICIPs with a cutoff wavelength of 2.9 μm had Johnson-noise limited detectivity of 5.8×109 cmHz1/2/W at 300 K, comparable to the commercial Hg1-xCdxTe photodetectors of similar wavelengths. A simple but effective method to estimate the minority carrier diffusion length in short-wavelength ICIPs is introduced. Using this approach, the diffusion length was estimated to be significantly shorter than 1 μm at high temperatures, indicating the importance of a multiple-stage photodetector (e.g., ICIPs) at high temperatures. Recent investigations on the high-frequency operation of mid-wavelength ICIPs (λc=4.3 μm) are discussed. These photodetectors had 3-dB bandwidths up to 1.3 GHz with detectivities exceeding 1x109 cmHz1/2/W at room temperature. These results validate the ability of ICIPs to achieve high bandwidths with large sensitivity and demonstrate the great potential for applications such as: heterodyne detection, and free-space optical communication.
New Frontiers in Transdiagnostic Treatment: Youth Psychotherapy for Internalizing and Externalizing Problems and Disorders

Comorbidity is common among youths referred for mental health treatment. Yet, the majority of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for young people are focal, addressing one or a homogeneous cluster of disorders or problems. In addition, most of these EBTs have been developed and tested in research settings under controlled conditions that are useful experimentally but may limit the generalizability of findings to referred youths in clinical practice treated by real-world practitioners. Recently, researchers have begun to develop transdiagnostic treatments that may support implementation in everyday practice. Here, we describe a transdiagnostic program called MATCH (Modular Approach to Therapy for Children With Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems; MATCH-ADTC), which employs a modular design to facilitate personalizing treatment to fit individual youths. We summarize evidence to date supporting the effectiveness of MATCH with youths treated by practitioners in community clinic and school settings....
Colony-Stimulating Factors Signal for Increased Transport of Vitamin C in Human Host Defense Cells

Although serum concentrations of ascorbic acid seldom exceed 150 micromol/L, mature neutrophils and mononuclear phagocytes accumulate millimolar concentrations of vitamin C. Relatively little is known about the mechanisms regulating this process. The colony-stimulating factors (CSFs), which are central modulators of the production, maturation, and function of human granulocytes and mononuclear phagocytes, are known to stimulate increased glucose uptake in target cells. We show here that vitamin C uptake in neutrophils, monocytes, and a neutrophilic HL-60 cell line is enhanced by the CSFs. Hexose uptake studies and competition analyses showed that dehydroascorbic acid is taken up by these cells through facilitative glucose transporters. Human monocytes were found to have a greater capacity to take up dehydroascorbic acid than neutrophils, related to more facilitative glucose transporters on the monocyte cell membrane. Ascorbic acid was not transported by these myeloid cells, indicating that they do not express a sodium-ascorbate cotransporter. Granulocyte (G)- and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulated increased uptake of vitamin C in human neutrophils, monocytes, and HL-60 neutrophils. In HL-60 neutrophils, GM-CSF increased both the transport of dehydroascorbic acid and the intracellular accumulation of ascorbic acid. The increase in transport was related to a decrease in Km for transport of dehydroascorbic acid without a change in Vmax. Increased ascorbic acid accumulation was a secondary effect of increased transport. Triggering the neutrophils with the peptide fMetLeuPhe led to enhanced vitamin C uptake by increasing the oxidation of ascorbic acid to the transportable moiety dehydroascorbic acid, and this effect was increased by priming the cells with GM-CSF. Thus, the CSFs act at least at two distinct functional loci to increase cellular vitamin C uptake: conversion of ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid by enhanced oxidation in the pericellular milieu and increased transport of DHA through the facilitative glucose transporters at the cell membrane. These results link the regulated uptake of vitamin C in human host defense cells to the action of CSFs.
Exploring Black-White Differences in the Relationship Between Inflammation and Timing of Menopause

Understanding the biosocial context of menopausal timing offers insight into social and health inequalities. Prior research on inflammatory chronic conditions suggests that inflammation may predict how early women experience menopause. We explore the ability of black race to moderate the overall relationship between chronic inflammation and timing of menopause. We use data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project on inflammation, age of last menstruation, and race as well as relevant social and medical covariates. We conduct event history modeling to predict age at menopause by inflammatory biomarker levels. Using interaction analysis, we investigate whether being black may shape the overall relationship between inflammation status and menopause timing. Our analyses find no significant statistical interactions between black race and inflammation in predicting menopausal onset. However, we do identify independent correlational relationships between inflammation and black race (r = 0.136) and between menopausal timing and black race (r = −0.129) as well as inflammation (r = −0.138) that emerge as significant in corresponding regression models. We conclude that race probably does not moderate associations between inflammation and menopause. Yet, we also note that the original parameter estimate for black race’s impact on menopausal onset (HR = 1.29, p < 0.05) becomes non-significant in a model that includes inflammation (HR = 1.06, p < 0.01). To translate our findings into policy and practice implications, we present alternate conceptualizations of black-white disparity in the inflammation-menopause relationship and recommend future research using mediation modeling.
Opportunities for pharmacists in clinical research.

Drug development requires the cooperation and efforts of industry and investigators. If the process is to be successful (i.e., FDA approval), then both industry and investigators must be committed and clearly understand the goals and objectives of the other. The clinical pharmacist is an important part of the development process and has participated in all phases of the research effort. Because of their unique role in the health care system, they have provided industry with a perspective which has contributed immensely to the drug approval process.
Grain Storage Systems Design

Agricultural grains, including cereal grains such as wheat, corn and rice, and oil seeds such as soybeans and canola, must be stored, transported, and conveyed using methods that preserve their quality as seeds, food stuffs, or raw materials. Grain quality is maintained by drying grain to moisture contents suitable for long-term storage on farm or in commercial facilities. Grain storage facilities must be designed to withstand loads imposed by the grain along with other environmental loads. Methods to calculate loads on storage structures and applicable design codes are outlined. Methods of handling and transporting grain and modeling techniques to model loads and flow behavior are explained.
Acridine Orange Indicates Early Oxidation of Wood Cell Walls by Fungi

Colonization of wood blocks by brown and white rot fungi rapidly resulted in detectable wood oxidation, as shown by a reduced phloroglucinol response, a loss of autofluorescence, and acridine orange (AO) staining. This last approach is shown to provide a novel method for identifying wood oxidation. When lignin was mildly oxidized, the association between AO and lignin was reduced such that stained wood sections emitted less green light during fluorescence microscopy. This change was detectable after less than a week, an interval that past work has shown to be too short for significant delignification of wood. Although fungal hyphae were observed in only a few wood lumina, oxidation was widespread, appearing relatively uniform over regions several hundred micrometers from the hyphae. This observation suggests that both classes of fungi release low molecular weight mild oxidants during the first few days of colonization.
Lotus Leaves: Humble Beauties

The lotus flower is famous around the world across many cultures and religions. For example, it is considered to be a sacred flower by Buddhists, symbolizing cosmic harmony and spiritual illumination. It is even believed to have birthed the sun, an Egyptian myth inspired by the fact that the flower opens in the morning and closes by evening (The Flower Expert, Lotus flowers, http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/exoticflowers/lotus, 2005). What many people do not know, however, is that its counterpart—the wide, flat leaf of the lotus plant—albeit not as bright and delicate as the flower, is a hidden beauty all its own. The lotus leaf has been the subject of great interest in recent scientific research because of its superhydrophobicity, which is otherwise known as the Lotus Effect (Forbes, Self-cleaning materials: lotus leaf-inspired nanotechnology, http://insurftech.com/docs/links/Related-Papers/Article-1-Scientific-American-Self-Cleaning-Materals-Lotus-Effect.pdf, 2008). The lotus leaf’s superhydrophobic, self-cleaning surface is seen as an evolutionary advantage that benefits the life and longevity of the plant in a variety of ways, such as decreasing the leaching of nutrients and reducing dust and contaminating particles that can inhibit photosynthesis (Solga et al., Bioinsp Biomim 2:S126–S134, 2007). The wettability of the lotus leaf surface is one mechanism that contributes to this intriguing characteristic. Wettability is determined by measuring the contact angle between the liquid and the surface, and contact angle is governed by Young’s law (McHale et al., Beilstein J Nanotechnol 2:145–151, 2011). The surface roughness of lotus leaves also plays an important role in the leaves’ superhydrophobicity and is characterized by a hierarchical structure consisting of papillae and nano-scale, tubule-like asperities that minimize contact area (Bhushan and Jung, Prog Mater Sci 56(1):1–108, 2011). The wonders of the Lotus Effect have been taken advantage of in a wide variety of markets, ranging from self-cleaning windows to stain-resistant clothing. Self-cleaning paint has also been developed based on the Lotus Effect, which helps prevent the growth of numerous fungi, algae, and bacteria that attach to and colonize building structures, diminishing the need for harmful biocides (Solga et al., Bioinsp Biomim 2:S126–S134, 2007). As is evident in this chapter, despite being the seemingly humble counterpart to the elegant lotus flower, the lotus leaf boasts many remarkable characteristics that engineers have been inspired by and have tried to mimic.
The role of information security learning and individual factors in disclosing patients' health information

Conceptualize a health information security awareness (HISA).Identify the relationship among HISA and personal values.Find how personal values affect intention to disclose health information.Organize HISA instructional methods for nursing education. One of the most vulnerable stakeholders that may violate health information privacy prescribed in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) are nursing students who have some limited access to EMR systems to retrieve health records while freely communicating with patients and relevant stakeholders. However, limited attention has been given to nursing students' deviant behaviors. To fill this gap, this study develops a research model of a nursing student's behavior of disclosing health information by identifying the deterrent effects of health information security awareness (HISA) nurtured by nursing schools and personal values such as personal norms and self-control.Our study empirically tests the model and found that three learning components ((1) general information security awareness, (2) health information security regulation awareness, and (3) punishment severity awareness) are significantly important to develop HISA. We find that HISA significantly affects personal norms and self-control which play as deterrence against the intention to disclose patients' health information.As the importance of complying with HIPAA regulations and information security policies by employees who work in health care industry increases, our findings shed new light on the role of HISA and personal values in nursing education and the health care industry's efforts to protect patients' health information.
Meet with Journal Editorial Reviewers: An Interactive Q&A Discussion on the Difficulties and Issues that Create a Rejection Assessment in the Journal Review Process: An Abstract

With the existing insights on writing and publishing marketing journal articles and the discipline’s rapid expansion of publishing opportunities in new US and international marketing journals, one intuitive prediction is marketing scholars’ publishing success of important scientific articles is rapidly becoming a more common occurrence. Yet this trend prediction is perplexing and contradictive because the prestigious and top 25 ranked marketing-oriented journals consistently report annual acceptance rates ranging between 7 % and 18 %. The low acceptance suggest a disconnect gap between conducting important, relevant quality research and ultimately publishing that research in quality journals.
Mapping Urban Landscapes Along Streets Using Google Street View

City streets are a focal point of human activity in urban centers. Citizens interact with the urban environment through its streetscape and it is imperative to, not only map city streetscapes, but quantify those interactions in terms of human well-being. Researchers now have access to fully digitized representation of streetscapes through Google Street View (GSV), which captures the profile view of streetscapes and, thus, shares equivalent viewing angles with those of the citizen. These two facets—a wealth of streetscape photographs at city-scale and a shared perspective with the end user—underscore the potential of these data in street-level urban landscape mapping. In this study, we introduce two examples that demonstrate GSV as a high-quality data source for mapping street greenery and openness. First, the modified green view index, which estimates the visibility of street greenery, was applied to static GSV images in order to map the spatial distribution of street greenery. Second, GSV panoramas were used to quantify and map the openness of street canyons by applying a geometrical transformation and image classification to the panoramas. The results of these two novel applications of street-level photographic data illustrate its utility for quantifying and mapping key urban environmental features at the same viewpoint in which we, as citizens, experience the urban landscape.
Introduction: New Pan African Economics

The chapter serves as an introduction and overview of the book’s topic, arguments, thesis, and methodological framework about cultural identity, development, and political economic change in the contemporary global political economy as it affects the African continent. The thesis, embodied in the book title, Pan Africa Rising, underscores the significance of Afri-capitalism and Ubuntu business models as exemplars of culturally driven responses to the global political economy that infuse African identities and self-determined aspirations into global development discourses. Using cultural political economy as a methodological framework, this will be a book about Africa in the global political economy that engages crucially important research questions about the role that culture plays in improving our understanding of social and political changes that are transforming Africa today.
Adverse childhood experiences in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Purpose of reviewRecent years have shown an uptick in studies assessing bullying and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This article reviews extant findings, and points to gaps in the literature.Recent findingsChildren with ASD are bullied by
Sparse generalized linear model with L 0 approximation for feature selection and prediction with big omics data

Feature selection and prediction are the most important tasks for big data mining. The common strategies for feature selection in big data mining are L 1, SCAD and MC+. However, none of the existing algorithms optimizes L 0, which penalizes the number of nonzero features directly. In this paper, we develop a novel sparse generalized linear model (GLM) with L 0 approximation for feature selection and prediction with big omics data. The proposed approach approximate the L 0 optimization directly. Even though the original L 0 problem is non-convex, the problem is approximated by sequential convex optimizations with the proposed algorithm. The proposed method is easy to implement with only several lines of code. Novel adaptive ridge algorithms (L 0ADRIDGE) for L 0 penalized GLM with ultra high dimensional big data are developed. The proposed approach outperforms the other cutting edge regularization methods including SCAD and MC+ in simulations. When it is applied to integrated analysis of mRNA, microRNA, and methylation data from TCGA ovarian cancer, multilevel gene signatures associated with suboptimal debulking are identified simultaneously. The biological significance and potential clinical importance of those genes are further explored. The developed Software L 0ADRIDGE in MATLAB is available at https://github.com/liuzqx/L0adridge .
A 113 pW fully integrated CMOS temperature sensor operating at 0.5 V

This paper discusses design techniques that enable transduction and digitization of temperature at very low power levels. An example architecture is presented that transduces temperature in a fully-integrated CMOS chip by charging a pair of digitally-controllable integrated capacitors with a pair of pA current sources that are proportional-to and constant-with temperature, respectively, and digitally controlling the charge time between the two paths via a discrete-time feedback loop for direct temperature digitization. The 0.15 mm2 65 nm temperature sensor is shown to achieve a resolution of 0.21 °C and a maximum inaccuracy of ±1.93 °C, all at an average power of 113 pW.
Antiviral activity of pyrrole-imidazole polyamides against SV40 and BK polyomaviruses.

Abstract The ability of antiviral polyamides (AVP) to act upon polyomaviruses (PyV) was evaluated. Initial studies found that a single treatment of AVP protected SV40-infected BSC-1 cells from cytopathic effect (CPE) for as long as 11 days p.i.. AVP substantially suppressed SV40 genome copy numbers over the duration of the experiment. Immunofluorescence analysis of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) activation and large T antigen (LTag) expression clearly demonstrated that AVP treatment at day 1 p.i. delayed the onset of productive SV40 replication by approximately 3 days, and substantially limited the infection relative to vehicle-treated controls. AVP dose-response experiments recorded IC50s in the low nM range that were similar to IC50s previously reported for HPV16. The ability of AVPs to act on BKPyV was next examined. Again, IC50s in the low nM range were obtained with the exception of an AVP (PA1) that gave an IC50 of 437 nM against the BKPyV Dunlop strain. The Mre11 inhibitor Mirin substantially reduced the AVP IC50 against SV40 demonstrating that Mre11 protects PyV genomes from AVP action as previously shown for HPV. Together these experiments show that AVPs are potent antiviral agents for PyV that act via a mechanism with similarities to that found for HPV. The results demonstrate that AVPs are useful tools for controlling and studying PyV biology. The potential use of these agents against BKPyV and other PyV pathogens also has clinical implications.
Computational Investigation of the Effect of Backbone Chiral Inversions on Polypeptide Structure.

Studying a set of helix-folding polyalanine peptides with systematically inserted chiral inversions in explicit water, we investigate quantitatively the effect of chiral perturbations on the structural ensembles of the peptides, thereby assessing the extent to which the backbone structure is able to fold in the presence of systematic heterochiral perturbations. Starting from the homochiral l-Ala20 peptide, we invert the backbone chiralities of Ala residues one by one along a specific perturbation pathway, until reaching the homochiral d-Ala20 peptide. Analysis of the helical contents of the simulated structural ensembles of the peptides shows that even a single inversion in the middle of the peptide completely breaks the helical structure in its vicinity and drastically reduces the helical content of the peptide. Further inversions in the middle of the peptide monotonically decrease the original helical content, that is, the right-handed helical content for l-Ala, and increase the helical content of the o...
How to Conduct Cell Culture

Cell culture is an invaluable tool for the experimental researcher. It allows for greater variable control and faster hypothesis testing, and it is cheaper than animal models. A thorough understanding of both the theory behind cell culture experiments and the techniques involved is paramount for a successful research career. In this chapter we cover the basics of cell culture and give you the tools to start working with cells. We begin by describing the technical aspects of cell culture and the importance of establishing good cell culture practices. Following this simple advice will make a huge difference in your experimental success rate. We then discuss theoretical aspects for relevant experimental design, including considerations about selecting the appropriate cell type and environment, and how this selection process directly affects your results. Carefully designed cell experiments will save you time and money and give you a better understanding of the problem you are trying to address.
Shaping America's health care professions: how the health sector will respond to "generation X".

At the beginning of the 20th century, Americans could be expected to live to their early 40s. By the close of the century, they had added more than 35 years, almost doubling their life span. We often use these data to mark the aging of the US population, but they also dramatically point to another important phenomenon: the rise of generational consciousness. This awareness is a by-product of more generations being around. Four discernable generations now live in the United States. Their names and age ranges often vary, but they are commonly referred to as the “silent” (aged >55 years), “boomers” (aged >41 to 21 to <41) and “millennial” (aged <21).1 Generational consciousness has also been highlighted by an extraordinary increase in the rate of change in society, particularly in technology, economics, media, education, and transportation. Such dramatic change in our lifetime means that a single generation can have entirely different cultural milieu in which to be born, come of age, and leave the family. Howe and Strauss have raised generational awareness to the level of a social mechanism rivaling the religion or individualism of earlier periods in American history.2
Teenage mother's narratives of self: An examination of risking the future

The conventional wisdom that teenage mothering risks the future disregards the fact that the young mother's experience and understanding of her past as well as her anticipation of the future are intimately tied to the social world she inhabits.To recover the contextual and temporal nature of teenage
Life-history variation of two inland salmonids revealed through otolith microchemistry analysis

Increasingly, otolith microchemistry analysis is used as a tool to trace fish migrations, especially migrations of diadromous fishes. Yet, few studies have used otolith microchemistry to trace migr...
The effects of parent-implemented language interventions on child linguistic outcomes: A meta-analysis

Abstract Intervening early is important to minimize persistent difficulties in language and related domains in young children with or at-risk for language impairment (LI; Rescorla, 2009). Because language is first learned in caregiver–child interactions, parent-implemented interventions are potentially an important early intervention for children with or at-risk for LI. Previous meta-analyses have examined outcomes of parent-implemented interventions for children with primary and secondary LI, but have not included children at-risk for LI due to low SES. A systematic review of the literature identified 25 randomized controlled trials of parent-implemented language interventions examining linguistic outcomes for young children. Studies included 1734 participants (M = 3.7 years) with or at-risk for LI due to low SES. Results of these meta-analyses indicated modest improvements in expressive vocabulary and small improvements in expressive language for children with or at-risk for LI. The effect size for expressive vocabulary outcomes was significant for shared book reading interventions (g = 0.37, 95% CI [0.15–0.59]) and interventions implemented in play and/or routines (g = 0.50, 95% CI [0.05–0.95]). The effect size for expressive language was significant (g = 0.42, 95% CI [0.19–0.65]), but not for receptive language (g = 0.07, ns), and the effect size for receptive vocabulary was not significant (g = 0.18, ns). Sub-group analyses for expressive vocabulary and expressive language indicated moderate to large significant effects for children with or at-risk for primary LI and smaller, non-significant effects for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Findings are generally consistent with a previous meta-analysis (Roberts & Kaiser, 2011), indicating parent-implemented language interventions may have positive effects on linguistic outcomes for young children with or at-risk for LI. Limited measures of parent training procedures and varied measures of parent outcomes limited the analysis of how child outcomes were achieved.
Winter damage is more important than summer temperature for maintaining the krummholz growth form above alpine treeline

Understanding the processes that control alpine treelines, the elevational limits of tree growth forms, has been a central question in ecology and is growing in importance with concern over climate change. Cool summer air temperatures are currently thought to be the ultimate limiter of upright tree growth at alpine treelines globally. However, winter damage has long been recognized as a shaping force near alpine treelines. Low‐growing krummholz growth forms provide an opportunity to test hypotheses about the controls of upright growth in environments above current treelines. To distinguish between effects of growing season temperature, winter damage and their interaction on preventing upright growth in krummholz, we conducted a field experiment on krummholz growth forms of Pinus albicaulis over the summer and winter of 2015–2016 at 10 mountain top sites in the Tobacco Root Mountains, Montana, USA. We experimentally manipulated four factors using a fully crossed design: shoot position (natural low position in the krummholz mat vs. propped up above the krummholz mat), summer warming (warming chamber vs. ambient), winter exposure (shelter cage vs. exposed), and elevation position (local high vs. low krummholz limits). We also conducted an observational study of the climatic conditions associated with recent natural emergent stem establishment from krummholz. Experimentally propped shoots that were exposed in winter experienced the highest mortality (10%–50%), while propped shoots in shelter cages and shoots located within the krummholz mat, whether caged or not, had low mortality (0%–10%). Summer warming had little influence on shoot mortality. Surviving mat shoots had marginally higher growth rates than surviving propped shoots during the early growing season after treatments were established. Natural emergent stem establishment was associated with warmer than average summer temperatures, but also warmer winter temperatures, lower winter wind speeds, and lower snowpack. Synthesis. Our results suggest winter damage plays a more important role than does growing season temperature in maintaining the krummholz growth form. While warming may increase opportunities for emergent shoot establishment above krummholz mats, establishment of upright trees in the krummholz zone will also require climatic change that reduces wind and snow transport which cause winter damage.
The Delocalization of the Local Election

Local elections are no longer just influenced by, marketed toward, or relevant to only a small, geographically constrained electorate. Social media increasingly connect politics to publics that may...
SIZE PRECEDENCE AND SHARE VOLUME: THE CASE OF THE PSX EXCHANGE

Most equity exchanges operate with a price-time priority market structure. Using a natural experiment, this study examines the ability of an exchange to attract share volume when size is the second...
Epidemiology and Outcomes of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Following Isolated Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at risk for extra-cranial complications, such as the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We conducted an analysis of risk factors, mortality, ...
Calpains play an essential role in mechanical ventilation-induced diaphragmatic weakness and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Abstract Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a life-saving intervention for many critically ill patients. Unfortunately, an unintended consequence of prolonged MV is the rapid development of diaphragmatic atrophy and contractile dysfunction, known as ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction (VIDD). Although the mechanism(s) responsible for VIDD are not fully understood, abundant evidence reveals that oxidative stress leading to the activation of the major proteolytic systems (i.e., autophagy, ubiquitin-proteasome, caspase, and calpain) plays a dominant role. Of the proteolytic systems involved in VIDD, calpain has received limited experimental attention due to the longstanding dogma that calpain plays a minor role in inactivity-induced muscle atrophy. Guided by preliminary experiments, we tested the hypothesis that activation of calpains play an essential role in MV-induced oxidative stress and the development of VIDD. This premise was rigorously tested by transgene overexpression of calpastatin, an endogenous inhibitor of calpains. Animals with/without transfection of the calpastatin gene in diaphragm muscle fibers were exposed to 12 h of MV. Results confirmed that overexpression of calpastatin barred MV-induced activation of calpain in diaphragm fibers. Importantly, deterrence of calpain activation protected the diaphragm against MV-induced oxidative stress, fiber atrophy, and contractile dysfunction. Moreover, prevention of calpain activation in the diaphragm forstalled MV-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and prevented MV-induced activation of caspase-3 along with the transcription of muscle specific E3 ligases. Collectively, these results support the hypothesis that calpain activation plays an essential role in the early development of VIDD. Further, these findings provide the first direct evidence that calpain plays an important function in inactivity-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in skeletal muscle fibers.
Persistent Laplacians: properties, algorithms and implications.

We present a thorough study of the theoretical properties and devise efficient algorithms for the \emph{persistent Laplacian}, an extension of the standard combinatorial Laplacian to the setting of pairs (or, in more generality, sequences) of simplicial complexes $K \hookrightarrow L$, which was recently introduced by Wang, Nguyen, and Wei. In particular, in analogy with the non-persistent case, we first prove that the nullity of the $q$-th persistent Laplacian $\Delta_q^{K,L}$ equals the $q$-th persistent Betti number of the inclusion $(K \hookrightarrow L)$. We then present an initial algorithm for finding a matrix representation of $\Delta_q^{K,L}$, which itself helps interpret the persistent Laplacian. We exhibit a novel relationship between the persistent Laplacian and the notion of Schur complement of a matrix which has several important implications. In the graph case, it both uncovers a link with the notion of effective resistance and leads to a persistent version of the Cheeger inequality. This relationship also yields an additional, very simple algorithm for finding (a matrix representation of) the $q$-th persistent Laplacian which in turn leads to a novel and fundamentally different algorithm for computing the $q$-th persistent Betti number for a pair $(K,L)$ which can be significantly more efficient than standard algorithms. Finally, we study persistent Laplacians for simplicial filtrations and present novel stability results for their eigenvalues. Our work brings methods from spectral graph theory, circuit theory, and persistent homology together with a topological view of the combinatorial Laplacian on simplicial complexes.
Thermal image processing for feature extraction from encapsulated phase change materials

Encapsulated inorganic particles with high melting points (>300°C) are desired as high-temperature Phase Change Materials (PCMs) for next-generation Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) systems. One of the many challenges during the development of PCMs is to achieve a high throughput that in turn depends on accurately modeling the relation between process parameters and geometric and thermal properties of the PCMs particle. During the production of the PCMs, a high-speed infrared camera is used to acquire images of the encapsulated material under controlled illumination conditions. This research article focuses on the development of image processing techniques for both geometric and thermal feature extraction during the development of the PCMs. A user-friendly GUI has been designed in MATLAB and preliminary experimental results have demonstrated that the method is fast, accurate and reliable for a high throughput production. The extracted features will be used to develop Machine Learning (ML) models to predict the geometric and thermal properties of the PCM based on the process parameter settings. The ML model will accelerate the search for the optimized process settings to boost the throughput of the production.