cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of cystatin C proteoforms with estimated glomerular filtration rate

Abstract Background Cystatin C (CysC), a marker for chronic kidney disease, exists as three sequence proteoforms, in addition to the wild-type sequence: one contains hydroxyproline at position 3 (3Pro-OH), the two others have truncated sequences (des-S and des-SSP). Here, we examine correlations between each of these CysC proteoforms and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a diagnostic criterion for chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods CysC proteoform concentrations were determined from the plasma of 297 diabetes patients at a baseline time point and nine-months later, using a mass spectrometric immunoassay, and were correlated with eGFR calculations. Results In all samples, 3Pro-OH was the most abundant CysC proteoform, followed by the wild-type proteoform. Least abundant were the truncated CysC proteoforms, des-S and des-SSP, although they demonstrated stronger negative correlation with eGFR than the 3Pro-OH and wild-type proteoforms. The des-SSP truncated proteoform exhibited negative predictive value for eGFR. Conclusions The truncated CysC proteoforms show potential for clinical and prognostic utility in CKD staging. This could be useful in populations where current methods do not provide satisfactory solutions.
Insights for Practicing Engineers from a Formal Verification Study of the Linux Kernel

Formal verification of large software has been an illusive target, riddled with the problem of scalability. Even if the obstacle of scale may be cleared, major challenges remain to adopt formal verification in practice. This paper presents an empirical study using a top-rated formal verification tool for Linux, and draws insights from the study to discuss the intrinsic challenges for adopting formal verification in practice. We discuss challenges that focus on practical needs: (a) facilitate crosschecking of verification results, (b) enable the use of formal verification for certification, and (c) integrate formal methods in a development environment. Leaning on visionary papers by Turing Award recipients, we present novel ideas for advancing formal verification in new directions that would help practicing engineers.
Nanofluid flow and heat transfer in boundary layers at small nanoparticle volume fraction: Zero nanoparticle flux at solid wall

The continuum formulation is applied to the developing boundary layer problem, which approximates the entrance region of nanofluid flow in micro channels or tubes. The thermophysical properties are expressed as “equations of state” as functions of the local nanofluid volume fraction. Based on experimental utilization of nanofluid prevalently at small volume fraction of nanoparticles, a simple perturbation procedure is used to expand dependent variables in ascending powers of the volume fraction. The zeroth order problems are the Blasius velocity boundary layer and the Pohlhausen thermal boundary layer. These are accompanied by the volume fraction diffusion equation. In detailed applications, the boundary condition of zero-volume flux at a solid wall is specified and yields an “insulated wall” solution of constant volume fraction. Two property cases are calculated as comparisons: one is the use of mixture properties for the nanofluid density and heat capacity and the transport properties prevalently used in the literature attributed to Einstein and to Maxwell. Results for alumina are compared to experiments. The theory underestimates the experimental results. This leads to the second comparison, between “conventional” properties and those obtained from molecular dynamics computations available for gold-water nanofluids. The latter properties considerably increased the heat transfer enhancement relative to “conventional” properties and heat transfer enhancement is comparable to the enhanced skin friction rise. To fully appreciate the potential of nanofluids and heat transfer enhancement, further molecular dynamics computations of properties of nanofluids, including transport properties, accompanied by careful laboratory experiments on velocity and temperature profiles are suggested.
Comparison of turnaround time and total cost of HIV testing before and after implementation of the 2014 CDC/APHL Laboratory Testing Algorithm for diagnosis of HIV infection

Abstract Background Updated recommendations for HIV diagnostic laboratory testing published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Association of Public Health Laboratories incorporate 4th generation HIV immunoassays, which are capable of identifying HIV infection prior to seroconversion. Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare turnaround time and cost between 3rd and 4th generation HIV immunoassay-based testing algorithms for initially reactive results. Study Design The clinical microbiology laboratory database at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN was queried for 3rd generation (from November 2012 to May 2014) and 4th generation (from May 2014 to November 2015) HIV immunoassay results. All results from downstream supplemental testing were recorded. Turnaround time (defined as the time of initial sample receipt in the laboratory to the time the final supplemental test in the algorithm was resulted) and cost (based on 2016 Medicare reimbursement rates) were assessed. Results A total of 76,454 and 78,998 initial tests were performed during the study period using the 3rd generation and 4th generation HIV immunoassays, respectively. There were 516 (0.7%) and 581 (0.7%) total initially reactive results, respectively. Of these, 304 (58.9%) and 457 (78.7%) were positive by supplemental testing. There were 10 (0.01%) cases of acute HIV infection identified with the 4th generation algorithm. The most frequent tests performed to confirm an HIV-positive case using the 3rd generation algorithm, which were reactive initial immunoassay and positive HIV-1 Western blot, took a median time of 1.1 days to complete at a cost of $45.00. In contrast, the most frequent tests performed to confirm an HIV-positive case using the 4th generation algorithm, which included a reactive initial immunoassay and positive HIV-1/-2 antibody differentiation immunoassay for HIV-1, took a median time of 0.4 days and cost $63.25. Overall median turnaround time was 2.2 and 1.5 days, and overall median cost was $63.90 and $72.50 for 3rd and 4th generation algorithms, respectively. Conclusions Both 3rd and 4th generation HIV immunoassays had similar total numbers of tests performed and positivity rates during the study period. A greater proportion of reactive 4th generation immunoassays were confirmed to be positive, and the 4th generation algorithm identified several cases of acute HIV infection that would have been missed by the 3rd generation algorithm. The 4th generation algorithm had a more rapid turnaround time but higher cost for confirmed positive HIV infections and overall, compared to the 3rd generation algorithm.
O43 Therapeutic vaccination against breast cancer in a transgenic mouse model

Aim Class I MHC mediated immune responses to tumors are complex and poorly understood, and enhanced tools for studying tumor immunity are needed. One such tool is the MMTV-PyMT mouse – a breast cancer model in an immune-competent FVB strain. PyMT is a viral oncogene expressed as a transgene under a mammary gland-selective promoter. MMTV-PyMT mice exhibit clinically relevant mammary adenocarcinoma development and spontaneous metastasis. Here, we develop an MHC class I presented tumor-antigen vaccine in these mice that enables us to track T cell responses during primary tumor growth and utilize this knowledge to guide T cell immune-therapy development. Methods The MMTV-PyMT mouse vaccine model is composed of the following: (1) PyMT DNA vaccination and anti-tumor efficacy, (2) ex vivo PyMT epitope mapping and H2-q characterization, and (3) in vivo validation of H-2q/PyMT peptide epitopes in vaccination and checkpoint blockade settings. The FVB mice have MHCI molecules of the uncharacterized H-2 “q” haplotype, thus we use soluble MHCI to identify H-2D q -presented PyMT peptides. PyMT and soluble H2-Dq were co-transfected into an immortalized cell line. Secreted MHCI were purified and PyMT-specific peptides directly eluted from the Class I. Following mass spectrometry identification, PyMT peptides were validated in vaccinated FVB mice via IFN- γ ELISpot. Candidate peptides will be tested in MMTV-PyMT mice treated with the checkpoint inhibitors α -CTLA4/PD1. Results DNA vaccination with PyMT and an adjuvant significantly inhibited tumor growth. PyMT MHCI epitope discovery using soluble H2-D q identified >6000 peptides, including 2 PyMT-specific peptides. Peptides are currently being tested on vaccinated or checkpoint blockade treated animals. Together, these data have generated the first H-2D q binding motif and refined current ligand prediction tools for the “q” haplotype. Conclusions Identification of immunodominant MHCI PyMT peptides in vaccinated and checkpoint-inhibitor treated, tumor-bearing mice uniquely allows tracking of antigen-specific responses in FVB mice. Completion of this project generates the first model antigen vaccine in a highly utilized, spontaneously metastatic model of breast cancer, empowering cancer biologists to study antigen-specific T cell responses in breast cancer.
Neo-pragmatism: an ethical anticipatory system

In 1906 and 1907 William James delivered a series of lectures in Boston and New York. Those lectures later were distilled into a paper entitled PRAGMATISM A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking. In 1972 Robert Rosen began to develop the model that resulted in the publication of his breakthrough work Anticipatory Systems. Seven years later, with the publication of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature Richard Rorty began to develop the interpretation of Pragmatism, which has come to be known as neo-Pragmatism. The theory of anticipatory systems as articulated by Robert Rosen argues that the activity of anticipation occurs through the encoding of models of the future and so, a deciduous tree will lose its leaves upon the shortening of daylight—an environmentally neutral event—which is the precursor to winter. The tree anticipates (through the process of encoding its environmental cycle) the coming of winter and diverts sap, its lifeblood, underground to its roots and essentially hibernates during the cold time. Rosen shows that this quality of anticipation can be said to be the defining element of all life. Ethics are models that encode our values and operate upon the contingencies of the past in the adjudicatory function or the possible contingencies of the future in the heuristic function. Of all the mainstream ethical models pragmatism is the only approach that expressly acknowledges that the results of our decisions may either conflict with or harmonize with our values. The form of pragmatism known as neo-pragmatism looks to the communicative justification of our past or future actions in relationship to our values to determine whether they are good or bad. In this sense neo-pragmatism constitutes moral anticipation, as much encoded in human society as the dropping of leaves is encoded in a deciduous tree.
The Influence of the Dynamic Environment on Man in Space Flight

Possible stresses in space flight include a broad mechanical spectrum. In this paper most of the emphasis will be placed on transient and prolonged linear accelerations though it is recognized that vibrations and rotations could become important.
Audiologic Natural History of Small Volume Cochleovestibular Schwannomas in Neurofibromatosis Type 2.

Objective To characterize the audiometric natural progression in patient-ears with small volume ( Study design Prospective, longitudinal cohort study. Setting Quaternary medical research institute. Patients One hundred eleven ears in 71 NF2 patients with small, treatment-naive CVSs observed from July 2006 to July 2016. Intervention Serial audiometric testing, including pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Outcome measures Four-frequency pure tone average (4f-PTA) of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz and word recognition score (WRS) were recorded. Their changes were compared with MRI changes in CVS volume over time. Times to significant hearing loss (10 dB loss in 4f-PTA) and WRS based on 95% critical difference were measured. Results Linear regression analysis showed a significant correlation with baseline hearing level (4f-PTA) and internal auditory canal (IAC) tumor volume to annual hearing decrease rate (AHDR) (p = 0.003, p = 0.0004). Hearing level at baseline and tumor volume correlate with AHDR while tumor volume growth rate does not. Two-way analysis of variance found significant differences in AHDR, risk of significant hearing loss, and risk of critical difference in WRS based on baseline hearing level (abnormal or normal) and IAC tumor volume (greater or less than 200 mm). Conclusion Subjects with normal baseline hearing and small IAC tumor component had a low AHDR and low risk of significant hearing loss and may warrant conservative management while the presence of baseline hearing loss and large IAC volume resulted in higher ADHR and greater risk for further hearing loss and may benefit from early treatment interventions.
Circulating Tumor Cells in Stage IV Melanoma Patients.

Background Management of stage IV melanoma patients remains a challenge. In spite of promising new therapies, many patients develop resistance and progression. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are associated with shortened (180-day) progression-free survival (PFS) after a baseline CTC assessment in stage IV melanoma patients. Study Design A baseline CTC assessment was performed in 93 stage IV melanoma patients using a commercially available immunomagnetic system. The presence of 1 or more CTC was considered a positive result. A Cox multivariable regression model was used to evaluate the association between presence of CTCs at baseline and PFS, after adjusting for covariables. Kaplan-Meier curves and a log-rank test were used to summarize and compare unadjusted PFS for patients stratified by CTC positivity. Results Median follow-up was 17 months; mean age was 55 years. Thirteen of 93 (14%) patients had no evidence of disease (NED) at baseline CTC assessment. One or more CTC was detected in 39 of 93 (42%) of patients at baseline; CTCs were not associated with primary melanoma features or NED status. Twenty-eight of 93 (30%) patients progressed within 180 days of baseline draw, with 20 of 39 (51%) of the CTC-positive patients relapsing compared with 8 of 54 (15%) of the CTC-negative patients. In adjusted Cox models, a significant association was found suggesting worse PFS within 180 days for CTC-positive patients at baseline (vs CTC-negative) (hazard ratio 4.69, 95% CI 1.59 to 13.77, p = 0.005). Conclusions One or more CTCs at baseline were associated with progression within 180 days in stage IV melanoma patients. This information warrants further study of CTCs as a means of identifying patients at high-risk for disease progression.
Improving Oncologic Outcomes After Robotic Radical Prostatectomy

The oncologic efficacy of robotic assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy vs an open surgical approach is the key comparative outcome measure. Proponents of open surgery emphasize the importance of tactile feedback while robotic surgeons extoll the advantages of magnified visualization. With both approaches, the experience and skill of the surgeon are highly influential. Comparison of positive margin rates between different series is problematic because of differences in the manner of pathologic preparation and reporting. Evaluation of biochemical recurrence is more objective measure. Although some studies show superior results for one approach over another, the balance of studies show oncologic equivalence between different surgical approaches
Evidence of Inverted Undercutting of a Solid Metal Substrate by a Liquid Ceramic Sessile Specimen at Elevated Temperatures

When a drop of liquid is placed on a solid substrate, a metastable configuration, illustrated in Fig. 1, is often achieved instantaneously. This configuration may be maintained for a very long period of time, if the temperature is substantially below the melting point of the solid. This configuration is only an approximation of the final equilibrium state, because the surface free energy vectors do not balance. However, as θ decreases toward zero the approximation becomes closer. As the magnitude of the vector Glv decreases relative to Gls and Gsv, once again, the approximation becomes closer. As we approach the melting point of the solid, mass transport in it becomes measureable, and the rate of achieving equilibrium becomes much greater.
RobotStudio: a universal IDE for teaching undergraduate computer system courses

Computer system courses lie at the core of undergraduate Computer Science curricula and are essential for solid understanding of modern systems. However, these courses are traditionally taught in an ad-hoc fashion: each course uses separate materials and artifacts, with little coherence and connection between courses. Furthermore, instructors need to strike a careful balance between complexity and accessibility in designing student assignments. This paper presents RobotStudio---a universal and modular IDE framework for teaching undergraduate computer system courses. RobotStudio builds on Eclipse IDE, targeting a simple yet versatile educational robotic platform. RobotStudio can be used in typical system courses to teach the subject matter; it can also be used as a common assignment infrastructure, and student projects are developed as plugin modules to form a comprehensive IDE system.
Somatic Trp53 mutations differentially drive breast cancer and evolution of metastases.

TP53 mutations are the most frequent genetic alterations in breast cancer and are associated with more aggressive disease and worse overall survival. We have created two conditional mutant Trp53 alleles in the mouse that allow expression of Trp53R172H or Trp53R245W missense mutations in single cells surrounded by a normal stroma and immune system. Mice with Trp53 mutations in a few breast epithelial cells develop breast cancers with high similarity to human breast cancer including triple negative. p53R245W tumors are the most aggressive and exhibit metastases to lung and liver. Development of p53R172H breast tumors with some metastases requires additional hits. Sequencing of primary tumors and metastases shows p53R245W drives a parallel evolutionary pattern of metastases. These in vivo models most closely simulate the genesis of human breast cancer and will thus be invaluable in testing novel therapeutic options. Mutations in TP53 gene are very common in cancer development. Here the authors take advantage of murine models to show that somatic Trp53 mutations differentially drive breast cancer and evolution of metastases.
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy with Instillation and Dwell for the Management of a Complex Burn: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Research over the last 50 years has led to significant improvements in outcomes for burn victims. Advances in infection control, attenuation of the hypermetabolic response, and new improved surgical approaches have led to decreased morbidity and mortality. Early wound excision eliminates the devitalized tissue, which is the main reservoir for pathogen propagation. Immediate autografting reestablishes the natural barrier of the skin, which blocks pathogen access to the host. Advances in burn care have increased treatment options for patients with devastating injuries presenting with multiple comorbidities. Over the last 20 years, negative pressure assisted wound therapy (NPWT) has shown to improve wound management and healing as well as decrease the length of recovery in burn patients. As NPWT applications evolve, the development of negative pressure wound therapy with instillation and dwell time (NPWTi-d) for the management of complex and infected wounds has proven vital for patient care. We present the case of a 68-year-old male patient presenting with a three-day-old third-degree burn wound spanning 46% of the total body surface area (TBSA). After the infected wound was treated unsuccessfully with the standard of care (excision, debridement, and grafting), the team utilized NPWTi-d in order to mitigate the infection and promote the formation of granulation tissue, leading to the successful grafting of the burn wound. NPWTi-d was a useful adjunct in treating and stimulating wound healing in a complex patient. This is the first case report of its kind, utilizing a whole-body vacuum assisted closure (VAC) with NPWTi-d, with successful results showing a decreased bacterial burden, decreased morbidity and mortality, and patient wound closure.
Oligomerization, Isomerization and Carboxylation of Alkanes and Alkenes with Galvanostatically Generated Superoxide in the Al/O 2 Electrochemical Cell

Conversion of low-value, but thermodynamically stable chemical byproducts such as alkanes or CO2 to more valuable feedstocks is of broad-based interest. These so-called up-conversion processes are expensive because they require energy-intensive and catalytic interventions to drive reactions against thermodynamic gradients. Here we show that the nucleophilic characteristics of superoxides, generated galvanostatically in an Aluminum/O2 electrochemical cell, can be used in tandem with the intrinsic catalytic properties of an imidazolium/AlCl3 electrolyte to facilely upgrade alkanes (n-decane), alkenes (1-decene), and CO2 feedstocks. The aluminum/O2 electrochemical cell used to generate the superoxide intermediate is also reported to deliver large amounts of electrical energy and therefore offers a system for high-energy density storage and for chemical up-conversion of low-value compounds. Chronopotentiometry, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance were used to investigate the electrochemical features of the system and to analyze the discharge products. We find that even at room temperature, alkanes and alkenes are facilely oligomerized and isomerized at high conversions (>97 %), mimicking the traditionally produced refined products. Incorporating CO2 in the alkane feed leads to formation of esters and formates at moderate yields (21 %).
PRACTICAL TREATMENT PLANNING

A consequence of ovarian irradiation is not only sterility or genetic impairment but also suppression of female hormone production. In the male, however, hormone production by the gonad is not as linked to reproductive capacity as in the female and testicular hormone production may remain sufficient despite a sterilizing dose. This chapter describes impotence as a distinct sequel of high dose pelvic irradiation, especially after external prostatic irradiation of 6500–7000 rad with a 50–70% frequency. In other situations where high dose pelvic irradiation is contemplated, such as postoperative irradiation for rectal carcinoma with known residual tumor, impotence has, usually, already occurred due to surgical interruption of pelvic nerves. Surgical implantation of a prosthesis that restores rigidity of the penis is a palliative remedy for impotence. It is a common practice to avoid irradiation of the male urethra for 6–8 weeks after transurethral prostatic resection. Earlier, irradiation is associated with a higher probability that uretheral stenosis will develop. The female urethra is shorter, is rarely traumatized to the same extent as with transurethral surgery in the male, and is rarely included in a volume of high dose irradiation resembling the treatment of prostatic carcinoma. Therefore, female urethral stenosis is very rare after radiotherapy.
Inactivation of avirulent Yersinia pestis in Butterfield's phosphate buffer and frankfurters by UVC (254 nm) and gamma radiation.

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague. Although rare, pharyngeal plague in humans has been associated with consumption or handling of meat prepared from infected animals. The risks of contracting plague from consumption of deliberately contaminated food are currently unknown. Gamma radiation is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation, and UVC radiation is used for decontamination of liquids or food surfaces. Gamma radiation D10-values (the radiation dose needed to inactivate 1 log unit pathogen) were 0.23 (±0.01) and 0.31 (±0.03) kGy for avirulent Y. pestis inoculated into Butterfield's phosphate buffer and onto frankfurter surfaces, respectively, at 0°C. A UVC radiation dose of 0.25 J/cm2 inactivated avirulent Y. pestis suspended in Butterfield's phosphate buffer. UVC radiation doses of 0.5 to 4.0 J/cm2 inactivated 0.97 to 1.20 log units of the Y. pestis surface inoculated onto frankfurters. A low gamma radiation dose of 1.6 kGy could provide a 5-log reduction and a UVC radiation dose ...
Computational Studies of Cardiac and Skeletal Troponin

Troponin is a key regulatory protein in muscle contraction, consisting of three subunits troponin C (TnC), troponin I (TnI), and troponin T (TnT). Calcium association to TnC initiates contraction by causing a series of dynamic and conformational changes that allow the switch peptide of TnI to bind and subsequently cross bridges to form between the thin and thick filament of the sarcomere. Owing to its pivotal role in contraction regulation, troponin has been the focus of numerous computational studies over the last decade. These studies elegantly supplemented a large volume of experimental work and focused on the structure, dynamics and function of the whole troponin complex, individual subunits, and even on segments of the thin filament. Molecular dynamics, Brownian dynamics, and free energy simulations have been used to elucidate the conformational dynamics and underlying free energy landscape of troponin, calcium, and switch peptide binding, as well as the effect of disease mutations, small molecules and post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation. Frequently, simulations have been used to confirm or explain experimental observations. Computer-aided drug discovery tools have been employed to identify novel potential calcium sensitizing agents binding to the TnC-TnI interface. Finally, Markov modeling has contributed to simulating contraction within the sarcomere on the mesoscale. Here we are reviewing and classifying the existing computational work on troponin and its subunits, outline current gaps in simulations elucidating troponin's role in contraction and suggest potential future developments in the field.
A four-phase process for translating research into police practice

This article presents a framework that extends the discussion of translational criminology and the dynamic process of translating research to practice. The goal is to provide an explicit dissection...
Restoration of the Topological Organization of the Trigeminal System Following Trigeminal Nerve Root Injury in the Lamprey

Two issues were examined regarding the trigeminal system in larval lampreys: (1) for normal animals, double labeling was used to confirm that the trigeminal system has a topological organization; (2) following trigeminal nerve root transections, double labeling was used to test whether the topological organization of the trigeminal system is restored. First, for normal animals, Alexa 488 dextran amine applied to the medial oral hood (anterior head) labeled trigeminal motoneurons (MNs) in the ventromedial part of the trigeminal motor nuclei (nVm) and axons of trigeminal sensory neurons (SNs) in the ventromedial part of the trigeminal descending tracts (dV). Also, Texas red dextran amine (TRDA) applied to the lateral oral hood labeled trigeminal MNs in the dorsolateral nVm and sensory axons in the dorsolateral dV. These results confirm the topological organization of the trigeminal system of normal lampreys. Second, following trigeminal nerve root transections, the physical integrity of the nerves was restored during growth of trigeminal sensory and motor axons. In addition, double labeling indicated a restoration and refinement of the topological organization of the trigeminal system with increasing recovery times, but mainly for nVm. Despite the paucity of growth of trigeminal sensory axons in dV even at long recovery times (12-16 wks), a substantial percentage of experimental animals recovered trigeminal-evoked swimming responses and trigeminal-evoked synaptic responses in reticulospinal (RS) neurons. Following trigeminal nerve root injury, several mechanisms, including axonal guidance cues, probably contribute to the substantial restoration of the topological organization of the lamprey trigeminal system.
Overview: Ice Sheets and Polar Deserts—Ice of Life

Abstract Life near the poles is tough but vulnerable. The very adaptations that allow both marine and terrestrial life to survive the bitterly cold winters and short, cool summers can become liabilities in a rapidly warming world. Ecological patterns and long-term species associations are already starting to break down in some Arctic regions. Thus far, the marine biota of Antarctic waters has not experienced such high rates of environmental change, but incursions of warm water caused by changes in wind patterns and ocean circulation will wreak havoc if they melt the sea ice and cause changes in krill distribution patterns.
Multi-mission capable 1550 nm lasercom terminal for space applications

General Atomics Electromagnetics (GA-EMS) has developed a free space optical laser communication terminal (LCT) for space applications. The system operates at 1550 nm and utilizes on-off keying to support a data rate of up to 5 Gbps. The system architecture is expandable regarding total output power and can support links from various orbits up to and including GEO-GEO as predicted from the amplifier testing and link budget analysis. The amplifier is based off of a TRL9 system originally used by GA-EMS for airborne applications that has been redesigned for space applications and is currently TRL6 based on a TVAC test conducted in 2018. The system utilizes a software defined modulation scheme that can change between non-return to zero (NRZ) and return to zero (RZ) to support various cross link distances by transitioning between RZ and NRZ. While the current LCT uses OOK, the architecture can support multiple modulation schemes including DPSK, which was tested as part of the 2018 T-VAC test. The LCT uses a novel acquisition scheme which is introduced here that enables rapid acquisition for systems even when the bus level pointing accuracy is in excess of 350urad. This results in a bus agnostic LCT architecture that can be used on multiple mission without necessitating extensive redesign and qualification. GA-EMS plans to launch two of these terminals in cubesats to host an on orbit demonstration of crosslinks between the two terminals and downlinks to a ground station.
Comparing and Modeling the Thermal Inactivation of Bacteriophages as Pathogenic Viruses Surrogates in Chicken Litter Compost

The aim of this study was to compare and model the thermal inactivation of bacteriophages as surrogates for pathogenic viruses, such as avian influenza virus, in chicken litter compost. Three bacte...
The Language of Brain Signals: Natural Language Processing of Electroencephalography Reports.

Brain signals are captured by clinical electroencephalography (EEG) which is an excellent tool for probing neural function. When EEG tests are performed, a textual EEG report is generated by the neurologist to document the findings, thus using language that describes the brain signals and its clinical correlations. Even with the impetus provided by the BRAIN initiative (brainitititive.nih.gov), there are no annotations available in texts that capture language describing the brain activities and their correlations with various pathologies. In this paper we describe an annotation effort carried out on a large corpus of EEG reports, providing examples of EEG-specific and clinically relevant concepts. In addition, we detail our annotation schema for brain signal attributes. We also discuss the resulting annotation of long-distance relations between concepts in EEG reports. By exemplifying a self-attention joint-learning to predict similar annotations in the EEG report corpus, we discuss the promising results, hoping that our effort will inform the design of novel knowledge capture techniques that will include the language of brain signals.
Task-induced neural covariability as a signature of approximate Bayesian learning and inference

Summary Perception can be characterized as an inference process in which beliefs are formed about the world given sensory observations. The sensory neurons implementing these computations, however, are classically characterized with firing rates, tuning curves, and correlated noise. To connect these two levels of description, we derive expressions for how inferences themselves vary across trials, and how this predicts task-dependent patterns of correlated variability in the responses of sensory neurons. Importantly, our results require minimal assumptions about the nature of the inferred variables or how their distributions are encoded in neural activity. We show that our predictions are in agreement with existing measurements across a range of tasks and brain areas. Our results reinterpret task-dependent sources of neural covariability as signatures of Bayesian inference and provide new insights into their cause and their function. Highlights General connection between neural covariability and approximate Bayesian inference based on variability in the encoded posterior density. Optimal learning of a discrimination task predicts top-down components of noise correlations and choice probabilities in agreement with existing data. Differential correlations are predicted to grow over the course of perceptual learning. Neural covariability can be used to ‘reverse-engineer’ the subject’s internal model.
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Posttraumatic Stress, Grief, Burnout, and Secondary Trauma of Social Workers in the United St ates .

The purpose of this study is to measure posttraumatic stress, grief, burnout, and secondary trauma experienced by employed social workers in the United States and to describe organizational support provided to social workers during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study used data from the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Emotional Well-Being Study, a prospective panel study examining the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes a sample of 181 social workers. We conducted univariate analyses. Over a quarter (26.21%) of social workers met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and 16.22% reported severe grief symptoms. While 99.19% of the sample reported average to high compassion satisfaction, 63.71% reported average burnout and 49.59% reported average secondary trauma. Findings indicate that social workers are reporting higher than national estimates of PTSD, indicating a greater need for more emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the significance and severity of the pandemic, it is essential that organizations provide resources for both immediate and ongoing support for the emotional well-being of their employees.
Awake suppression after brief exposure to a familiar stimulus.

Newly learned information undergoes a process of awake reactivation shortly after the learning offset and we recently demonstrated that this effect can be observed as early as area V1. However, reactivating all experiences can be wasteful and unnecessary, especially for familiar stimuli. Therefore, here we tested whether awake reactivation occurs differentially for new and familiar stimuli. Subjects completed a brief visual task on a stimulus that was either novel or highly familiar due to extensive prior training on it. Replicating our previous results, we found that awake reactivation occurred in V1 for the novel stimulus. On the other hand, brief exposure to the familiar stimulus led to ‘awake suppression’ such that neural activity patterns immediately after exposure to the familiar stimulus diverged from the patterns associated with that stimulus. Further, awake reactivation was observed selectively in V1, whereas awake suppression had similar strength across areas V1–V3. These results are consistent with the presence of a competition between local awake reactivation and top-down awake suppression, with suppression becoming dominant for familiar stimuli. Bang & Rahnev tested whether awake reactivation occurs differentially for new and familiar stimuli, given that reactivating all experiences can be wasteful. They expose participants to brief visual tasks in which the stimulus was either novel or familiar. They observed that whilst novel stimuli were associated with reactivation of cortical area V1, familiar stimuli led to ‘awake suppression’ in which neural activity diverged from patterns previously associated with that stimulus. The results support the existence of competition between local awake reactivation and top-down awake suppression, with suppression being dominant for familiar stimuli.
Implicit and explicit aggression among restaurant employees: The moderating effect of perceived support

The present study examined how restaurant employees’ perceptions of supervisory and organizational support moderate the influence of implicit aggression on the explicit behavioral outcomes of anger...
Bilinear Dynamical Networks Under Malicious Attack: An Efficient Edge Protection Method

In large-scale networks, agents and links are often vulnerable to attacks. In this paper, we focus on continuous-time bilinear networks, where additive disturbances model attacks or uncertainties on agents/states (node disturbances), and multiplicative disturbances model attacks or uncertainties on couplings between agents/states (link disturbances). We then investigate network robustness notion in terms of the underlying digraph of a network, and the structure of exogenous uncertainties and attacks. Specifically, we define the robustness measure using the $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ -norm of the network and calculate it in terms of the reachability Gramian of the bilinear system. The main result is that under certain conditions, the measure is supermodular over the set of all possible attacked links. The supermodularity property facilitates the efficient solution of the optimization problem. We conclude with a few examples illustrating how different structures can make the system more or less vulnerable to malicious attacks on links.
From Atomic-Level Structure to Supramolecular Organization in the Photosynthetic Unit of Purple Bacteria

The purple bacterial photosynthetic unit (PSU) is a macromolecular assembly of remarkable simplicity that harvests sunlight with the cooperation of only half a dozen different kinds of proteins. This chapter provides a summary of recent research on the architectural and biophysical aspects of the PSU and its constituents. First, a brief overview is provided of the structure of light-harvesting components. Then the effects of thermal disorder and spectral universality on the light-harvesting function of the pigment-protein complexes is discussed, followed by an account of the physical constraints that shape the evolution of light-harvesting complexes in general. Finally, a summary is provided of recent research on the in silico assembly of an entire PSU in atomic detail. This supramolecular reconstruction of the PSU is made possible by the recent availability of not only the structural data on the individual constituent proteins but also on their global arrangement. The reconstruction is performed by combining data from X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, cryo-electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy using computational modeling. The architecture of the PSU vesicle that emerges constitutes nearly two hundred light-harvesting proteins, containing around four thousand chlorophylls, which act cooperatively to maintain a very high quantum yield in a pigment array distributed over a pseudo-spherical intracytoplasmic membrane domain with an inner diameter of 60 nm.
History of pediatric critical care medicine

OBJECTIVES: to review and cite important individuals and events in the development of pediatric critical care medicine (PCCM). DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE search was performed looking for citations of the history of PCCM. This yielded 85 citations of which 46 were obtained. Thirty nine of the 85 were rejected as inappropriate either by title (e.g., pediatric emergency medicine) or because they were in a foreign language only. After review of the 46, 21 were included in this review and the others rejected as inappropriate. Textbooks of PCCM were reviewed for chapters on the history of PCCM and four were included. Forty-eight personal communications were made to individuals and four to organizations to elicit and verify information. One speech is referenced and from these sources, a total of 37 additional textbooks, monographs and chapters and 47 journal manuscripts and reference sites were found and included. SELECTION AND EXTRACTION: Materials pertinent to the specific disciplines, individuals and events in the development of CCM(Critical care medicine) and PCCM were included in this review. CONCLUSIONS: PCCM owes a great debt to the expertise in anesthesiology, neonatology, pediatric cardiology, pediatric general and cardiovascular surgery and nursing for its evolution. The modern PCCM unit and service is more the result of the need to treat and organize care for critically ill and injured patients than to any developments in technology.
Panel Session: Object Technology and Systematic Reuse

The continuous demand for software of ever-increasing complexity will change our current approach to software development. In the future, the creation of software will apply increasing levels of automation to the development process. The application of componentware will become commonplace and development will move from the back office to the application user’s workstation. All of these developments point to an essential increase in the many forms of software reuse. This panel brought together experts in object technology and reuse to explore issues relating to object technology and the impact it has on systematic software reuse.
Abstract 12456: Mitochondrial Protein ES1 Deficiency Leads to Cardiac Hypertrophy Due to Disturbances in Mitochondrial Energy Metabolism

Defects in myocardial energy metabolism have been linked to pathological cardiac hypertrophy and congestive heart failure; however, the regulation of myocardial energy metabolism remains obscure. ATP synthase is an enzyme complex in the mitochondria and plays a central role in energy metabolism. In the present study, we identified ES1, a mitochondrial protein with unknown function, as a key determinant of myocardial energy metabolism via controlling ATP synthase activities. We uncovered that ES1 interacts with both α and β subunit of ATP synthase, and its expression levels in cultured H9c2 cardiomyocytes were directly correlated to ATP synthesis and inversely to ATP hydrolysis. Cellular energetic analysis revealed that ES1 levels in H9c2 cardiomyocytes were directly correlated with mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. We have generated an ES1 knockout mouse (ES1-/-) line. Echocardiography revealed substantially cardiac dysfunction with decreased ejection fraction (EF%) (55.3 ± 2.4 vs 46.1 ± 1.7) and fractional shortening (FS%) (28.6 ± 1.6 vs 22.8 ± 1.0) in 3-month-old ES1-/- mice compared with controlled littermates (ES1f/f) under a basal condition. As a result, ES1-/- mice showed increased left ventricular mass compared. Morphometric assessment confirmed that heart weight to body weight ratio was increased by 23% in ES1-/- vs controlled mice. Masson’s Trichrome blue and Sirius red staining on heart sections of ES1-/- mice showed markedly increased interstitial fibrosis. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) examination revealed substantial loss of mitochondrial cristae structure on ES1-/- knockout hearts. ATP synthase activity assays on isolated mitochondria revealed that ATP synthesis activities decreased and hydrolysis activities increased in cardiac mitochondria from ES1-/- mice compared with those of ES1f/f control mice. These results indicate that ES1 is a novel and important ATP synthase regulator and its deficiency causes mitochondrial energy metabolism dysfunction in the heart followed by cardiac pathology. Therefore, ES1 is a important determinant of cardiac pathophysiology and a potential therapeutic target in treating cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure.
Heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility of thulium ethylsulfate

The magnettc heat capacity and the single crystal magnetic susceptibilities of TmE.S. were measured in the range l2 to 300 deg K and l.4 to 200 deg K, respectively. The magnetic heat capacity of LuE.S. is measured to evaluate the lattice contribution to TmE.S. Two maxima were observed in the magnetic heat capacity at l9 and 80 deg K. The magnetic heat capacity and susceptibilittes were calculated using the crystalline field approximation and two different sets of crystalline field constants. In neither case was close agreement obtained between theory and experiment, although the calculated and experimental perpendicular susceptibilities were in agreement. It is not obvious whether the lack of good agreement between experiment and theory is a result of a poor choice of crystal field parameters, a complete failure of the crystal field approximation in this case, or a breakdown of the assumpttons involved in calculating the term intervals and splittings for trivalent Tm. (auth)
Antitrust Remedies (US)

This article identifies the various forms of remedial action available to the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission for criminal and civil violations of the US antitrust laws. The article also identifies the relief from antitrust injury which is available through private litigation, and some of the benefits and potential drawbacks of a private damages system. In addition, the Department of Justice's corporate amnesty program for whistleblowers involved in price fixing and similar conspiracies which violate the Sherman Act is detailed, as are some of the economic incentives which have resulted in its success. Keywords: antitrust; price fixing; whistleblower
A new tone reservation scheme for PAPR reduction in FBMC/OQAM systems

Filter Bank Multicarrier with Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (FBMC/OQAM) is recognized as an appropriate modulation scheme for 5G wireless technologies. With an extremely low Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR), FBMC/OQAM scheme is a suitable candidate for cognitive radio (CR) applications. Like all multicarrier systems, FBMC/OQAM suffers from the high Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR). Because of its overlapping signal structure, the direct application of the PAPR reduction schemes proposed for the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal to FBMC/OQAM one is not effective. In this investigation, the main contribution is a novel PAPR reduction scheme based on the extension of the current Tone Reservation (TR) scheme as used in OFDM to FBMC/OQAM. Based on simulation results, the proposed scheme shows almost the same PAPR reduction performance when compared with that of the conventional TR method originally proposed for OFDM.
Ripple-modulated electronic structure of a 3D topological insulator.

The formation of structural ripples has been shown to control the local electronic properties in graphene. Okada et al. use scanning tunnelling microscopy to study the effects of ripples in Bi2Te3 topological insulators, and find that buckling modulates the Dirac surface-state dispersion.