cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Nagoya Protocol and Indigenous Peoples

This article is about Indigenous peoples’ involvement in the Nagoya Protocol negotiations from 2006 to 2010, as well as in its implementation to stop biopiracy in order to protect Pachamama, Mother Earth, and to ensure our survival and the survival of coming generations. The Nagoya Protocol is an international instrument that was adopted in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010 by the Conference of Parties (COP 10) and ratified by 51 countries in Pyeongchang, South Korea in October 2014 at COP 12. This protocol governs access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization (access and benefit sharing [ABS]). It has several articles related to Indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge, as well as: • The interrelation and inseparable nature between genetic resources and traditional knowledge; • The diversity of circumstances surrounding traditional knowledge ownership, including by country; • The identification of traditional knowledge owners; • The declaration of Indigenous peoples' human rights; and • The role of women in the biodiversity process. In addition, this protocol lays out obligations on access, specifically participation in equitable benefit sharing, the accomplishment of prior and informed consent, and the mutually agreed terms and elaboration of a national legal ABS framework with the participation of Indigenous peoples and local communities in order to have well-defined roles, responsibilities, and times of negotiations.
Recent advances in forensic anthropology.

Forensic anthropology involves diverse applications of anthropological knowledge to medico-legal problems. While the applications are evidence-driven, the available scientific methodology and found...
Investigative Drugs for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Novel Targets

The last 15 years has seen a revolution in the development of a drug therapy armamentarium for treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [1]. Prior to that general practitioners and rheumatologists were relatively limited in the number of agents which had shown clinical efficacy in the treatment of RA patients. Besides the use of gold in some RA patients, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) [2], corticosteroids [2] anti-malarial drugs [3], sulfasalazine [4], methotrexate [4], the latter employed as either a monotherapy or in combinations with salfasalzine and/or hydroxychloroquine [4], and leflunomide [5] were among the most commonly employed disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for the treatment of RA. However, research and development created a new class of biologic drugs which are now commonly prescribed for the medical therapy of RA, including those that have shown robust clinical efficacy through the blockade of several forms of interleukin and/or tumor necrosis factor-α. These developments arose after many years of basic research; first using in vitro pre-clinical model cell culture systems, the results of which were then extended for evaluation of these biologic drugs in well-validated rodent models of RA [6]. Most recently, the development of the selective small molecule inhibitors (SMIs) of Janus Kinase-3, exemplified by tofacitinib, have also significantly advanced the choices that rheumatologists have for RA therapy [7]. In fact, this novel discovery is likely to provide the impetus for further basic research into the nature of signal transduction pathways [8] which drive RA pathogenesis and progression in response to the abnormally elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules [9], and growth factors [10], all of which have been implicated as playing prominent roles in RA pathology.
Chapter IV – Diseases of the Liver and Biliary Tract correlated to the Oral Tissues

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the diseases of the liver and biliary tract correlated to the oral tissues. Biliary cirrhosis is because of obstruction or interference with the drainage of bile. There are two types of biliary cirrhosis. The first type is termed posthepatic biliary cirrhosis which is because of an obstruction outside the liver. Cholelithiasis, carcinoma of the head of the pancreas, neoplasms of the common duct, and enlargement or neoplasms of lymph-nodes around the bile ducts may result in posthepatic biliary cirrhosis. The second type of biliary cirrhosis is secondarily because of a primary cholangitis involving the small branches of the bile ducts. Cholangiolar proliferation of connective tissue occurs because of stasis in the small bile ducts and is termed Hanoi's cirrhosis or hypertrophic biliary cirrhosis. Oral sepsis may result in secondary infection by way of the bloodstream or microorganisms may pass from the infected oral tissue to the stomach and intestines. The gall bladder is an organ which is particularly prone to focal infection. Therefore, oral infections should be resolved promptly to prevent flooding the circulation with microorganisms beyond the bactericidal capacity of the liver. Gingival hemorrhages may accompany diseases of the biliary tract.
Neuroprotective role of natural polyphenols: a look to the potentiality of elderberry extracts

Neurodegenerative diseases cause a progressive functional alteration of neuronal systems often resulting in a state of dementia considered one of the most common psychiatric disorders of the elderly. The most common form of dementia is the Alzheimer’s disease (AD), characterized by accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that causes memory loss and impairment of multiple cognitive functions. The limited effectiveness of current therapies against AD highlights the need to intensify research aimed to develop new agents able to prevent or retard the disease progression. Polyphenols behave as potential neuroprotective agents since their ability to influence and modulate important cellular processes, such as signaling, proliferation, apoptosis, redox balance, and differentiation. A growing body of evidence suggest that the intake of polyphenols may contribute to counteract the neuronal injuries that trigger neurodegeneration, slowing the progression of the disease. Several studies support the neuroprotective abilities of pure herbal compounds (e.g., green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, resveratrol, curcumin, quercetin) and extracts enriched in polyphenols. In this contest, we demonstrated that an extract derived from elderberry, Sambucus nigra, possessing elevated polyphenolic content and antioxidant capacity is able to protect neuronal cells against oxidizing agents. In order to reproduce in vitro the characteristics of AD, we differentiated a human neuroblastoma cell line, the IMR-32 and subsequently, cells were treated with Beta amyloid peptide (fragment 25-35) or hydrogen peroxide. The pretreatment of differentiated cells with the Sambucus nigra extract reduced significantly the cell death induced by Aβ and H2O2. These results represent an initial indication that Sambucus nigra extract may find a space in future clinical trials addressed to prove the preventive and/or therapeutic potential of this natural extract against neurodegenerative disease.
La pensée systémique analysée à l’aune de l’entropie

Le courant de pensee appele « pensee systemique » est en relation avec la complexite des structures qui sous-tendent toute organisation. En effet, cette approche cognitive de l’approche des objets du monde peut etre abordee de multiples facons et ainsi generer des visions differentes de la realite. La pensee systemique peut-elle integrer l’entropie comme phenomene participant de la neguentropie dans le cadre d’une approche scalaire plus globale ?
1930s—The Best of Times

A Leonid meteor storm was anticipated in 1932 or 1933, the centennial anniversary of one in 1833 which filled the sky over the Americas with meteors and fireballs. That sight was so astonishing and terrifying that the unprepared populace thought the end of the world had arrived. Only coincidental with the centennial, 1932 and 1933 were tragic years when many a person’s economic world ended.
Enhancing Communication Determinism in Wi-Fi Networks for Soft Real-Time Industrial Applications

Communication over the ether is by nature erratic, and thus wireless networks are often deemed unsuitable to support time-critical distributed control applications, like those at the shop-floor of industrial plants. However, scheduling techniques derived from real-time operating systems, along with channel redundancy and runtime retransmission management, can be profitably applied to wireless networks to improve their determinism tangibly. This paper presents a novel approach that combines such solutions. A preliminary prototype implementation, which relies on IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), has been set up to assess feasibility and performance of the approach. Results show that determinism of data exchange can be improved to a degree that makes wireless networks actually suitable for many soft real-time applications.
Piecewise Affine Hybrid Automata Representation of a Multistage Fuzzy PID Controller

As cyber physical systems become more complex, modeling for the purposes of verification and validation (V&V) becomes a primary barrier. Additionally, this complexity drives an increased disconnect between the system implementation and the original human generated requirements. Therefore, a key challenge is to model cyber physical systems at the appropriate level of abstraction required for V&V while maintaining a clear and understandable linkage between the human designer and the system under design. Fuzzy logic is a method to synthesize linguistic, natural language requirements into real world models. It has also been shown that fuzzy logic is a suitable method to learn the behavior of a nonlinear system when a model is not present. A fuzzy logic controller is a special class of hybrid system and provides a mechanism to relate a system model to human specified requirements. Leveraging the wealth of verification techniques for hybrid systems, the goal of this paper is to provide a mechanism capable of modeling and analyzing the safety and stability of learning and adaptive systems while maintaining a direct relationship to the original system requirements. This paper focuses on the model synthesis of a multistage PID fuzzy controller designed for a second-order plant, converting it from linguistic rule based requirements into a piecewise affine hybrid system and simulated using Matlab.
Assessing Martian bedrock mineralogy through “windows” in the dust using near-infrared and thermal infrared remote sensing

Abstract Much of Mars' surface is mantled by bright dust, which masks the spectral features used to interpret the mineralogy of the underlying bedrock. Despite the wealth of near-infrared (NIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) data returned from orbiting spacecraft in recent decades, the detailed bedrock composition of approximately half of the Martian surface remains relatively unknown due to dust cover. To address this issue, and to help gain a better understanding of the bedrock mineralogy in dusty regions, Dust Cover Index results from the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and analysis of images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Color Imager (MARCI) were used to identify 63 small localized areas within the classical bright dusty regions of Arabia Terra, Elysium Planitia, and Tharsis Montes as potential “windows” through the dust; that is, areas where the dust cover is thin enough to permit infrared remote sensing of the underlying materials. The mineralogy of each candidate window was inferred using spectra from the Mars Express Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activite (OMEGA) NIR spectrometer and, where possible, TES. Twelve areas of interest returned spectra that are consistent with mineral species expected to be present at the regional scale, such as high- and low-calcium pyroxene, olivine, and iron-bearing glass. Distribution maps were created using previously defined index parameters for each species present within an area. High-quality TES spectra, if present within an area of interest, were deconvolved to estimate modal mineralogy and to support NIR interpretations. OMEGA data from Arabia Terra and Elysium Planitia are largely similar and indicate the presence of high-calcium pyroxene with significant contributions of glass and olivine, while TES data suggest an intermediate between the established compositions of the southern highlands and Syrtis Major. Limited data from Tharsis are consistent with low-calcium pyroxene mixed with lesser amounts of glass and high-calcium pyroxene. TES data from southern Tharsis correlate well with the previously inferred compositions of the Aonium and Mare Sirenum highlands immediately to the south. Of particular note is the detection of iron-bearing glass as a significant component of all three analyzed regions, especially in Tharsis. Overall, the underlying compositions of the classically dust-covered regions of Mars appear consistent with the compositions of adjacent and other low-albedo (not dust covered) regions of the planet identified in previous studies, with the noted contribution from iron-bearing glass.
Emphysematous pyelonephritis presenting in acute respiratory distress syndrome: a case report

Emphysematous pyelonephritis is a life-threatening infection of the kidneys characterized by acute necrosis with associated gas formation involving the renal parenchyma and perinephric tissues. It is a rare condition and occurs mostly in diabetic females, carrying a high mortality rate. The management involves antibiotics and surgical interventions. This is a case of an elderly lady, diabetic, who had fever and burning micturition and was initially treated with oral antibiotics. She later presented with fever, dyspnoea and dysuria, and was diagnosed to have emphysematous pyelonephritis with acute respiratory distress syndrome. She was successfully managed with broad spectrum antibiotics and percutaneous nephrostomy. As emphysematous pyelonephritis requires both medical and surgical interventions, this case, therefore, highlights the importance of its early detection, as it can be life-saving.
Development and Feasibility of a Structured Goals of Care Communication Guide.

Abstract Background: Discussing goals of care and advance care planning is beneficial, yet how to best integrate goals of care communication into clinical care remains unclear. Objective: To develop and determine the feasibility of a structured goals of care communication guide for nurses and social workers. Design/Setting/Subjects: Developmental study with providers in an academic and Veterans Affairs (VA) health system (n = 42) and subsequent pilot testing with patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart failure (n = 15) and informal caregivers (n = 4) in a VA health system. During pilot testing, the communication guide was administered, followed by semistructured, open-ended questions about the content and process of communication. Changes to the guide were made iteratively, and subsequent piloting occurred until no additional changes emerged. Measurements: Provider and patient feedback to the communication guide. Results: Iterative input resulted in the goals of care communication gui...
Collaborative Capitalism in American Cities: Reforming Urban Market Regulations

In many American cities, the urban cores still suffer. Poverty and unemployment remain endemic, despite policy initiatives aimed at systemic solutions. Rashmi Dyal-Chand's research has focused on how businesses in some urban cores are succeeding despite the challenges. Using three examples of urban collaborative capitalism, this book extrapolates a set of lessons about sharing. It argues that sharing can fuel business development and growth. Sharing among businesses can be critical for their economic survival. Sharing can also produce a particularly stable form of economic growth by giving economic stability to employees. As the examples in this book show, sharing can allow American businesses to remain competitive while returning more wealth to their workers, and this more collaborative approach can help solve the problems of urban underdevelopment and poverty.
A curriculum turnaround

When turning around a school, a focus on creating the right curriculum is the most important priority, according to headteacher Nadia Paczuska
An energy-balanced coding redundancy scheduling approach to support quality of service in battery-powered multi-hop wireless networks

Lifetime is a crucial issue for Multi-hop wireless network powered by size-limited batteries. There have been few algorithms proposed to solve such network lifetime challenge. Furthermore, the application of flexible channel coding redundancy scheduling to improve energy-balancing and energy-efficiency has seldom been reported in literature. In this paper, we propose a new approach to achieve energy-balancing of Multi-hop wireless networks while meeting the requirement of Quality of Service (QoS) by optimizing channel coding rates. In the proposed approach, we develop a scheme to select the optimal channel coding rate on each hop to approach a lower bound of quality requirement while achieving the best effort energy-balancing. Given a certain channel situation, a higher channel coding rate is assigned to reduce the error rate with a higher energy cost; or a lower channel coding rate is assigned to improve energy efficiency and energy-balancing at the cost of reduced QoS. The simulation results have shown that the proposed approach can significantly improve energy-balancing and prolong network lifetime of Multi-hop wireless networks within the QoS requirements.
Aircraft-Based Sensor for Fast Response Measurements of Atmospheric Trace Gases

An airborne, fast response carbon monoxide (CO) sensor denoted as DACOM (Differential Absorption CO Measurement) has, during the last 10 years, participated in atmospheric measurement programmes to study regional air pollution as well as programmes to investigate the remote clean troposphere. The DACOM instrument was originally developed in the mid-1970s and was first flown in May 1976 on board a NASA C-54 aircraft. This instrument represented the first airborne application of tunable diode lasers (TDLs) for making atmospheric trace gas measurements. A sensitivity on the order of 10 ppbv for a 10 second response time was typically achieved with the original version of the instrument. During the late 1970s DACOM participated in the SEVUPS (South Eastern Virginia Urban Plume Study) programme and provided information regarding the CO distribution downwind of an urban pollution source. These CO measurements provided a tracer of the urban plume and assisted in the study of photochemical production of O3 in an urban plume.
Azithromycin therapy reduces cardiac inflammation and mitigates adverse cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction: Potential therapeutic targets in ischemic heart disease.

Introduction Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a primary cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Macrophages are fundamental components of post-MI inflammation. Pro-inflammatory macrophages can lead to adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure while anti-inflammatory/reparative macrophages enhance tissue healing. Shifting the balance between pro-inflammatory and reparative macrophages post-MI is a novel therapeutic strategy. Azithromycin (AZM), a commonly used macrolide antibiotic, polarizes macrophages towards the anti-inflammatory phenotype, as shown in animal and human studies. We hypothesized that AZM modulates post-MI inflammation and improves cardiac recovery. Methods and results Male WT mice (C57BL/6, 6–8 weeks old) were treated with either oral AZM (160 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (control) starting 3 days prior to MI and continued to day 7 post-MI. We observed a significant reduction in mortality with AZM therapy. AZM-treated mice showed a significant decrease in pro-inflammatory (CD45+/Ly6G-/F4-80+/CD86+) and increase in anti-inflammatory (CD45+/Ly6G-/F4-80+/CD206+) macrophages, decreasing the pro-inflammatory/anti-inflammatory macrophage ratio in the heart and peripheral blood as assessed by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. Macrophage changes were associated with a significant decline in pro- and increase in anti-inflammatory cytokines. Mechanistic studies confirmed the ability of AZM to shift macrophage response towards an anti-inflammatory state under hypoxia/reperfusion stress. Additionally, AZM treatment was associated with a distinct decrease in neutrophil count due to apoptosis, a known signal for shifting macrophages towards the anti-inflammatory phenotype. Finally, AZM treatment improved cardiac recovery, scar size, and angiogenesis. Conclusion Azithromycin plays a cardioprotective role in the early phase post-MI through attenuating inflammation and enhancing cardiac recovery. Post-MI treatment and human translational studies are warranted to examine the therapeutic applications of AZM.
Gadamer and the Hermeneutics of Early Music Performance

The success of the early music movement raises questions about performing historical works: Should musicians perform on period instruments and try to reconstruct the original style? If a historically “authentic” performance is impossible or undesirable, what should be the goal of the early music movement? I turn to Gadamer to answer these questions by constructing the outlines of a hermeneutics of early music performance. In the first half of the paper, I examine Gadamer’s critique of historical reconstruction and argue that this critique sheds light on mistaken tendencies and misunderstandings within the early music movement, but it does not discredit the movement as such. In the second half of the paper, I attempt to show how Gadamer’s dialogical account of historical consciousness provides a framework for understanding what historically informed performance is seeking to accomplish, as well as its advantage over a Nietzschean approach.
Can Lung Transplant Surgeons Still Be Scientists? High Productivity Despite Competitive Funding

Background: Today’s declining federal budget for scientific research is making it consistently more difficult to become federally funded. We hypothesized that even in this difficult era, surgeon-scientists have remained among the most productive and impactful researchers in lung transplantation. Methods: Grants awarded by the NIH for the study of lung transplantation between 1985 and 2015 were identified by searching NIH RePORTER for 5 lung transplantation research areas. A grant impact metric was calculated for each grant by dividing the sum of impact factors for all associated manuscripts by the total funding for that grant. We used nonparametric univariate analysis to compare grant impact metrics by department. Results: We identified 109 lung transplantation grants, totaling approximately $300 million, resulting in 2304 papers published in 421 different journals. Surgery has the third highest median grant impact metric (4.2 per $100,000). The department of surgery had a higher median grant impact metric compared to private companies (P .05). Conclusions: Surgeon-scientists in the field of lung transplantation have received fewer grants and less total funding compared to other researchers but have maintained an equally high level of productivity and impact. The dual-threat academic surgeon-scientist is an important asset to the research community and should continue to be supported by the NIH.
Is co-location of services with HIV care associated with improved HIV care outcomes? A systematic review

This systematic review identifies models of service co-location, a structural intervention strategy to remove barriers to HIV care and services, and examines their associations with HIV care outcomes. A cumulative database (e.g., MEDLINE, EMBASE) of HIV, AIDS, and STI literature was systematically searched and manual searches were conducted to identify relevant studies. Thirty-six studies were classified into six models of co-location: HIV care co-located with multiple ancillary services, tuberculosis (TB) care, non-HIV specific primary care, drug abuse treatment, prevention of mother to child transmission programs (PMTCT), and mental health care. More evidence of a positive association was seen for linkage to care and antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake than for retention and viral suppression. Models of co-location that addressed HIV and non-HIV medical care issues (i.e., co-location with non-HIV specific primary care, PMTCT, and TB) had more positive associations, particularly for linkage to care and ART uptake, than other co-location models. While some findings are encouraging, more research with rigorous study designs is needed to strengthen the evaluation of, and evidence for, service co-location.
Ethics Training in U.S. Cities : Content, Pedagogy, and Impact

Ethics training is crucial to government and corporate compliance and values-oriented initiatives. Results from a national survey of cities indicate that about two-thirds of cities use some form of ethics training. It is mandatory in one-third of cities for all employees and voluntary in 43.5 percent. The mean duration of ethics training activities is approximately half a day. Ethics training is found to have a positive impact on the organizational culture.
Dickensian dramas: plays from Charles Dickens. Volume I / Dickensian dramas: plays from Charles Dickens. Volume II

Dickensian Dramas: Plays from Charles Dickens is a handsome two-volume modern scholarly edition collecting sixteen Victorian plays adapted from Charles Dickens’s fiction. The books’ persuasive argu...
Emergent symmetries in block copolymer epitaxy.

The directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) has shown promise in fabricating customized two-dimensional (2D) geometries at the nano- and meso-scale. Here, we discover spontaneous symmetry breaking and superlattice formation in DSA of BCP. We observe the emergence of low symmetry phases in high symmetry templates for BCPs that would otherwise not exhibit these phases in the bulk or thin films. The emergence phenomena are found to be a general behavior of BCP in various template layouts with square local geometry, such as 44 and 32434 Archimedean tilings and octagonal quasicrystals. To elucidate the origin of this phenomenon and confirm the stability of the emergent phases, we implement self-consistent field theory (SCFT) simulations and a strong-stretching theory (SST)-based analytical model. Our work demonstrates an emergent behavior of soft matter and draws an intriguing connection between 2-dimensional soft matter self-assembly at the mesoscale and inorganic epitaxy at the atomic scale. The directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) has shown great promise in fabricating customized two-dimensional (2D) geometries at the nano- and mesoscale. Here, the authors report the discovery of spontaneous symmetry breaking and superlattice formation in DSA of BCP.
Adolescent Bipolar Disorder

Manic—Depressive Illness, or Bipolar Disorder as it has been designated since DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980), has captured the interest of clinicians and nonclinicians virtually since the beginning of recorded history. It is at once fascinating and almost inconceivable that an illness could render its sufferer so maniacal one moment, so depressed and immobile the next, and so absolutely normal the third. While its recurrent nature and protean manifestations were recognized intermittently over the centuries, Kraepelin (1921) was the first person to systematically and prospectively study hundreds of people afflicted in such a way that patterns could be observed in terms of symptom cluster, periodicity, and mood oscillation. Although replicated, the many individual and committee hours spent on the task have not significantly improved on his work.
Robust explicit relaxation technique for solving the Green-Naghdi equations

Abstract This paper revisits an original relaxation technique introduced in Favrie and Gavrilyuk [9] for solving the Green-Naghdi equations. We propose a version of that method and a space/time approximation thereof that is scale invariant. The approximation in time is explicit and the approximation in space uses a length scale for the relaxation that is proportional to the mesh size. The new method is compatible with dry states and is provably positivity preserving under the appropriate CFL condition. The method is numerically validated against manufactured solutions and is illustrated by comparison with experimental results.
EFFECTS OF COMPETITION AND PREDATION ON DIVERSITY OF COMMUNITIES

ABSTRACT Consequences of persistence in a three species Lotka-Volterra model of competition and predation lead to two mechanisms which might help to elucidate aspects of diversity in communities. One phenomenon that is well documented in the literature, predator mediated coexistence, is found to exist in two arrangements of two species interactions. A mechanism that is rather poorly substantiated, competition induced coexistence, is formally identified and structured by two interaction forms.
A case study assessing possession regain patterns in English Premier League Football

Recent years have seen significant attention awarded to possession regains in football. This case study examines possession regain patterns of an elite English Premier League team across three seas...
EEG Analysis for Predicting Early Autism Spectrum Disorder Traits

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopment disorder associated with impairments in socio-communication, relationships, restrictions in thoughts, imagination, etc. Autism being identified as genetic, depending upon person to person and their socio-communication, it is important for computer science researchers to analyze the big data visualizations using phenotypic features (age, sex, etc.) of each patient. This paper aims to develop a framework in which the subject does not need to push emotions. It is done with machine learning algorithms and affective computing to produce a better man-machine interface. The emotion of disabled people was deduced through Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal by placing EEG headset electrodes on their scalp. To classify the emotions and to differentiate the person as autistic or neurotypical, and to extract features (wavelength, waveform, mean, etc.) from EEG signals, the machine learning algorithms K-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm, Random Forest Classifier, Support Vector Machines, and Logistic regression were used. Based on datasets for Autism in toddlers and Autism in adults, a prediction model is developed which predicts the chance of ASD characteristics so that parents/guardians can early steps and the performance rate of every method applied was determined to choose the best classifier model and precision rate achieved for best classifier model is 73%. This dataset supports the hypothesis that an electroencephalogram reveals information about the performance of the proposed methods and has the potential to benefit individuals with ASD.
Threat Recognition from Gait Analysis

Recent threats to public safety, such as terror attacks, mass shootings, and suicide bombings have made it very clear that law enforcement needs better tools for the protection of innocent people. The ability to identify and neutralize a target before it becomes a threat is a widely sought-after tool by law enforcement and military agencies. This paper proposes using a combination of existing technologies to identify threats prior to an incident, giving law enforcement time to deescalate or remove a threat before harm is done. Threat detection is accomplished by imaging the target area and using gait analysis to determine the emotional state of all people in the area. The gait analysis is enhanced using gait energy images in order to complete data acquisition from subjects with items that normally interfere with data acquisition. Data complexity can be reduced using techniques such as PCA, MDA, ACDA, or another reduction method. Each target is assigned a membership or classification rating in a given emotional class from collected data. The emotional classification values are then input to a neural network to determine whether the current subject matches the emotional characteristics of a perpetrator preparing to attack. Subjects who match sufficiently are flagged for further review by a human operator. This tool will help law enforcement or military agencies do more to protect the public without large additions in training or manpower.
Unraveling the RNA modification code with mass spectrometry

The discovery and analysis of modifications on proteins and nucleic acids has provided functional information that has rapidly accelerated the field of epigenetics. While protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), especially on histones, have been highlighted as critical components of epigenetics, the post-transcriptional modification of RNA has been a subject of more recently emergent interest. Multiple RNA modifications have been known to be present in tRNA and rRNA since the 1960s, but the exploration of mRNA, small RNA, and inducible tRNA modifications remains nascent. Sequencing-based methods have been essential to the field by creating the first epitranscriptome maps of m6A, m5C, hm5C, pseudouridine, and inosine; however, these methods possess significant limitations. Here, we discuss the past, present, and future of the application of mass spectrometry (MS) to the study of RNA modifications.
Alterations in default-mode network connectivity may be influenced by cerebrovascular changes within 1 week of sports related concussion in college varsity athletes: a pilot study

The goal of this pilot study is to use complementary MRI strategies to quantify and relate cerebrovascular reactivity, resting cerebral blood flow and functional connectivity alterations in the first week following sports concussion in college varsity athletes. Seven college athletes (3F/4M, age = 19.7 ± 1.2 years) were imaged 3-6 days following a diagnosed sports related concussion and compared to eleven healthy controls with no history of concussion (5M/6F, 18-23 years, 7 athletes). Cerebrovascular reactivity and functional connectivity were measured using functional MRI during a hypercapnia challenge and via resting-state regional partial correlations, respectively. Resting cerebral blood flow was quantified using arterial spin labeling MRI methods. Group comparisons were made within and between 18 regions of interest. Cerebrovascular reactivity was increased after concussion when averaged across all regions of interest (p = 0.04), and within some default-mode network regions, the anterior cingulate and the right thalamus (p < 0.05) independently. The FC was increased in the concussed athletes within the default-mode network including the left and right hippocampus, precuneus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (p < 0.01), with measures being linearly related to cerebrovascular reactivity in the hippocampus in the concussed athletes. Significant resting cerebral blood flow changes were not detected between the two groups. This study provides evidence for increased cerebrovascular reactivity and functional connectivity in the medial regions of the default-mode network within days of a single sports related concussion in college athletes. Our findings emphasize the utility of complementary cerebrovascular measures in the interpretation of alterations in functional connectivity following concussion.
Evaluation of a technology-enhanced intervention for older women with HIV infection: a proof of concept study.

The syndemic effects of HIV infection, side effects of highly active antiretroviral medications, and age-related changes lead to increased risk for comorbidities and functional decline for older pe...
Dimethyl Fumarate Reduces Oxidative Stress and Pronociceptive Immune Responses in a Murine Model of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

Background Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a highly disabling cause of pain often precipitated by surgery or trauma to a limb. Both innate and adaptive immunological changes contribute to this syndrome. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) works through the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) transcription factor and other targets to activate antioxidant systems and to suppress immune system activation. We hypothesized that DMF would reduce nociceptive, functional, and immunological changes measured in a model of CRPS. Methods Male C57BL/6 mice were used in the well-characterized tibial fracture model of CRPS. Some groups of mice received DMF 25 mg/kg/d orally, per os for 3 weeks after fracture versus vehicle alone. Homozygous Nrf2 null mutant mice were used as test subjects to address the need for this transcription factor for DMF activity. Allodynia was assessed using von Frey filaments and hindlimb weight-bearing data were collected. The markers of oxidative stress malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) were quantified in the skin of the fractured mice using immunoassays along with the innate immune system cytokines IL-1β and IL-6. The accumulation of IgM in the fractured limbs and lymph node hypertrophy were used as indexes of adaptive immune system activation, and the passive transfer of serum from wildtype fractured mice to B cell-deficient fractured muMT mice (mice lacking B cells and immunoglobulin) helped to assess the pronociceptive activity of humoral factors. Results We observed that oral DMF administration strongly prevented nociceptive sensitization and reduced uneven hindlimb weight bearing after fracture. DMF was also very effective in reducing the accumulation of markers of oxidative stress, activation of innate immune mediator production, lymph node hypertrophy, and the accumulation of IgM in fractured limbs. The sera of fractured vehicle-treated but not DMF-treated mice conferred pronociceptive activity to recipient mice. Unexpectedly, the effects of DMF were largely unchanged in the Nrf2 null mutant mice. Conclusions Oxidative stress and immune system activation are robust after hindlimb fracture in mice. DMF strongly reduces activation of those systems, and the Nrf2 transcription factor is not required. DMF or drugs working through similar mechanisms might provide effective therapy for CRPS or other conditions where oxidative stress causes immune system activation.
Patient-reported opioid use for tissue expander-based breast reconstruction.

Summary Introduction There is limited evidence for appropriate post-operative opioid prescribing in breast reconstruction patients. We sought to describe postoperative outpatient prescription opioid use patterns (quantity and duration) following discharge after immediate breast reconstruction with tissue expanders (TE) and to identify demographic and/or clinical risk factors associated with postoperative outpatient opioid use. Methods Patients 18 years and older undergoing immediate TE-based breast reconstruction were given a 28-day postoperative pain medication log book. Descriptive statistics were performed to describe the quantity and duration of opioid use. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative characteristics were examined and tested for their associations with postoperative opioid use. Results A total of 45 logbooks were completed. On average, patients used opioids for 7.42 days (SD = 6.45) after discharge home and used 15.9 (SD = 18.71) oxycodone 5 mg tablet equivalents (119.3 morphine milligram equivalents, SD = 140.31). The total number of oxycodone 5 mg equivalents consumed prior to discharge was associated with the amount of post-discharge opioid consumption (IRR=1.08, p Conclusions These patient-reported data will provide a benchmark which plastic surgeons can use to minimize narcotic use in patients and will help prevent issues of dependence, misuse, and diversion, while being mindful of adequate pain control. For patients discharging home after a one-night stay for immediate TE breast reconstruction, we recommend a prescription for 10 oxycodone 5 mg tablets, or 15 tablets if they are less than age 49 or have had high inpatient opioid use. Patients should also be counseled that the expected duration of outpatient opioid use is 7-11 days, and that 20 % of patients did not use any opioids following hospital discharge, making nonnarcotic pain regimens a real possibility.
A Novel Robust Design of Thermal Solar Power Station as the First Pilot Project in Palestine

Concentrating solar power (CSP) imposes itself as a new and efficient renewable energy technology. This technology will be extremely helpful in improving the quality of life for many people around the world who suffer from lack the energy needed to live a healthy life. However, the cost of electricity from contemporary solar thermal power plants remains high, despite several decades of development, and a step-change in technology is needed to drive down costs.Construction of the first thermal solar power plant in Palestine is complicated by the lack of an established, standardized and power plant configuration, which presents the designer with a large number of choices. To assist decision making, thermo-economic studies have been performed on a variety of different power plant configurations until reaching good results and performance. In this paper, a robust design of thermal solar power plant as a pilot project is designed. The design starts with modeling the solar radiation for Gaza Strip location, reviewing different parts of the system which are solar collectors, receivers, thermal storage system and power generation system, and ends with designing a solar power plant for the Turkish-Palestinian friendship hospital in Al-Zahra town with net output power of 5.40 MW. The technology of parabolic trough collector (PTC) is chosen, then modeling of the proposed system is done using system advisor model (SAM) software. This paper evaluates the designed method and shows good results in the presence of uncertainty and the project achieved better price for electricity than the present price in Gaza Strip by a percentage of 3.5% in addition to environmentally friendly power.
Age-related decline in osteoblastogenesis and 1α-hydroxylase/CYP27B1 in human mesenchymal stem cells: stimulation by parathyroid hormone.

With aging, there is a decline in bone mass and in osteoblast differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in vitro. Osteoblastogenesis can be stimulated with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2) D(3) ] and, in some hMSCs, by the precursor 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) (25OHD(3) ). CYP27B1/1α-hydroxylase activates 25OHD(3) and, to a variable degree, hMSCs express CYP27B1. In this study, we tested the hypotheses (i) that age affects responsiveness to 25OHD(3) and expression/activity of CYP27B1 in hMSCs and (ii) that parathyroid hormone (PTH) upregulates CYP27B1 in hMSCs, as it does in renal cells. There were age-related declines in osteoblastogenesis (n=8, P=0.0286) and in CYP27B1 gene expression (n=27, r= -0.498; P=0.008) in hMSCs. Unlike hMSCs from young subjects (≤50 years), hMSCs from older subjects (≥55 years) were resistant to 25OHD(3) stimulation of osteoblastogenesis. PTH1-34 (100 nm) provided hMSCs with responsiveness to 25OHD(3) (P=0.0313, Wilcoxon matched pairs test) and with two episodes of increased 1,25(OH)(2) D(3) synthesis, of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) activation, and of CYP27B1 upregulation. Both increases in CYP27B1 expression by PTH were obliterated by CREB-siRNA or KG-501 (which specifically inhibits the downstream binding of activated CREB). Only the second period of CREB signaling was diminished by AG1024, an inhibitor of insulin-like growth factor-I receptor kinase. Thus, PTH stimulated hMSCs from elders with responsiveness to 25OHD(3) by upregulating expression/activity of CYP27B1 and did so through CREB and IGF-I pathways.
STRAINS AND STRESSES IN MATRICES WITH INSERTS

This paper is a contribution to the experimental stress analysis of composite structures made of a matrix reinforced with fibers. The analysis is conducted in oversize transparent models in which the matrix is cast around inserts of different rigidities. The manufacturing of the models is described. Two- and three-dimensional photoelastic methods are used for the analysis. Stresses and strains along the interfaces, and near the fiber ends, for different fiber end configurations, are studied in detail. Bonded and unbonded interfaces are analyzed. Two loading conditions are considered: restrained shrinkage and mechanically applied loading. Several of the difficulties encountered in the analysis are pointed out. The methods developed will have application in the fields of fiber-reinforced plastic structures, whisker-reinforced metals, auto tires, ceramics and reinforced concrete, among others.
Purification of pyridine for voltammetric studies : Effect of impurities

Abstract Purification of pyridine by zone fractional crystallization reduces the concentration of prewave-producing contaminant below polarographic detection limits, i.e., 0.01 mM. A qualitative test based on the stability of the free radical diphenylpicrylhydrazyl has shown the method to be capable of reducing the concentration of proton-releasing impurities. Water is also removed. Investigation of the effect of the contaminants in normal reagent-grade pyridine on the electrocapillary curves and polarograms of pyridine solutions containing lithium perchlorate and tetraethylammonium perchlorate as background electrolytes in the presence and absence of oxygen, has indicated that the impurities are capable of changing the mechanism for the electrochemical reduction of oxygen in pyridine.
Process coupling of anaerobic and aerobic biofilms for treatment of contaminated waste liquids

Abstract Dehalogenation of highly substituted chloro-organics is more effective under anaerobic conditions compared to aerobic conditions. The less chlorinated homologs produced under anaerobic conditions are then mineralized more easily in a subsequent aerated unit. However an anaerobic/aerobic coupled biofilm single unit could be more effective due to the synergism created between the oxidative and reductive catabolisms. The bacterial granules of upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB)-like reactors showed an excellent resistance to the extensive presence of O 2 in reactor. It is believed that the granular biofilm's outermost layer whose members include facultative anaerobes was limiting the O 2 penetration into the biofilm and shielding the innermost methanogens against toxic levels of O 2 . These results suggested that is could be interesting to develop granular biofilms intergrating both aerobic and anaerobic populations and to apply such biosystems for complete mineralization of recalcitrant compounds. Treatment of resin acids-, pentachlorophenol (PCP)- and tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-containing effluents have been tested within both anaerobic and coupled anaerobic/aerobic systems (anaerobic granule beds supplied with pure O 2 ). As oxygenation rate was controlled in the coupled anaerobic/aerobic systems, most of the co-substrate carbon was still anaerobically converted. At the highest PCP and PCE loading, the coupled anaerobic/aerobic reactor showed a specific complete dehalogenation higher than that of the control UASB (10 against 7 mg PCP g −1 volatile suspended solid (VSS) d −1 and 3.1 against 1.2 mg PCE g −1 VSS d −1 , respectively). The coupled reactor also showed better overall performance in resin acid removal by having lower concentrations in their effluents and lower amounts adsorbed onto the biomass (8–12 mg resin acids/g VSS in the coupled reactor against 67, in the control UASB). It is thought that the oxygenated granules were colonized by aerobic or microaerobic bacteria which can complete the degradation process in mineralizing the less chlorinated intermediates, or in degrading the resin acids which otherwise accumulate in the reactor. The concept might thus be promising, namely because of its immediate application to large-scale processes.