cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Fitbit One Physical Activity Tracker in Men With Prostate Cancer: Validation Study.

Background: Physical activity after cancer diagnosis improves quality of life and may lengthen survival. However, objective data in cancer survivors are limited and no physical activity tracker has been validated for use in this population. Objective: The aim of this study was to validate the Fitbit One’s measures of physical activity over 7 days in free-living men with localized prostate cancer. Methods: We validated the Fitbit One against the gold-standard ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer in 22 prostate cancer survivors under free-living conditions for 7 days. We also compared these devices with the HJ-322U Tri-axis USB Omron pedometer and a physical activity diary. We used descriptive statistics (eg, mean, standard deviation, median, interquartile range) and boxplots to examine the distribution of average daily light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity and steps measured by each device and the diary. We used Pearson and Spearman rank correlation coefficients to compare measures of physical activity and steps between the devices and the diary. Results: On average, the men wore the devices for 5.8 days. The mean (SD) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; minutes/day) measured was 100 (48) via Fitbit, 51 (29) via ActiGraph, and 110 (78) via diary. The mean (SD) steps/day was 8724 (3535) via Fitbit, 8024 (3231) via ActiGraph, and 6399 (3476) via pedometer. Activity measures were well correlated between the Fitbit and ActiGraph: 0.85 for MPVA and 0.94 for steps (all P<.001). The Fitbit’s step measurements were well correlated with the pedometer (0.67, P=.001), and the Fitbit’s measure of MVPA was well correlated with self-reported activity in the diary (0.84; P<.001). Conclusions: Among prostate cancer survivors, the Fitbit One’s activity and step measurements were well correlated with the ActiGraph GT3X+ and Omron pedometer. However, the Fitbit One measured two times more MVPA on average compared with the ActiGraph. [JMIR Cancer 2017;3(1):e5]
Conceptual Models of the Effect of Information and Communications Technology on Long-Distance Travel Demand:

Rapidly evolving information and communications technology (ICT) poses a risk to the accuracy of long-distance travel (LDT) demand forecasts. The nature of this risk is multifaceted: ICT could reduce demand if people substituted virtual for physical travel, or it could serve as a complement and thereby induce more demand. This paper presents two conceptual models for better understanding the nature of those relationships. Both models start from an existing LDT model and envision how that model can be adapted to capture ICT effects, with one considering the effects explicitly and the other implicitly. When the effects of future technology are being forecast, data collected in the past or in the present, when the future technology does not exist, are inherently limited. In such situations, conceptual models such as these can be applied by using a scenario-based approach to explore a range of reasonable outcomes. This strategy can be an important tool not just for ICT, but also for understanding the risks po...
IEE Computing & Control Division: Chairman's address: Co-operative computing and control

The pace of innovation in the information technologies continues unabated, and massive investment in the digital infrastructure required for distributed information systems is proceeding steadily. The paper summarises some of the basic technology trends of the past five years and describes some of the consequent systems trends, including workstation networks, open system standards, digital communications and computer supported co-operative work. A key characteristic of most of these developments is the need for systems that support co-operation between people, between people and machines, between machines, and between organisations. Some examples of these are discussed including X400 electronic mail, CCITT SS7 separate channel signalling and electronic conferencing. Some of the newer disciplines required to support an engineering approach to building very large distributed information systems are then described, including protocol engineering, distributed systems architecture, object-oriented design and system control and management. The paper concludes by reviewing some of the issues these technologies raise for the engineering professional and the role of the IEE in the 1990s
Mineral content of eggs differs with hen strain, age, and rearing environment

Egg nutrient quality is strongly influenced by hen diet but is also affected by rearing environment, hen strain, and hen age. The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of: 1) conventional battery cages, 2) enrichable cage systems, 3) enriched colony housing, 4) cage-free, and 5) free-range rearing systems on mineral concentrations of whole, dried egg (yolk and albumen combined) from TA Tetra White (TW) and Hy-Line Brown (HB) hens at 44, 68, and 88 wk of age. We hypothesized that mineral concentration of eggs would differ among rearing systems but not between strains or with hen age. Hens held in enriched colony housing systems produced eggs with 10% lower Mg and 11% lower Mn levels than conventional hens. Concentrations of Ca and Cu were higher (7 and 8%, respectively) in eggs from TW hens than from HB hens. Eggs from HB hens had 8% higher concentrations of Fe, 6% higher Mg and 5% higher Mn than TW hens. Mn was higher in eggs from 44-wk hens than from 68- or 88-wk hens (16 and 11%, respectively). Interaction effects between rearing environment and hen age were observed for K and Mn concentrations. Eggs from 68-wk hens in conventional rearing systems contained 14 to 21% more K than eggs from conventional hens at 44- and 88 wk and 14 to 18% more than eggs from 68-wk hens in other rearing systems. At 88 wk of age, hens in conventional rearing systems produced eggs with higher Mn concentration than hens in enrichable or enriched colony housing systems (22 and 23%, respectively). Interactions between rearing environment, hen strain, and hen age were observed for egg Zn levels among 44- and 68-wk hens but were not detectable among 88-wk hens regardless of rearing system or hen strain. Observed differences in egg mineral content in our study were small and are unlikely to have substantial impact on human nutrition.
From Mealie Pap to Peanut Milk: The African Diaspora, Culinary Cosmopolitanism, and Mahatma Gandhi’s Evolving Views on Race and Diet

ABSTRACTIn jail in South Africa in January 1908, Mahatma Gandhi was served a South African breakfast staple known as mealie pap. Gandhi associated mealie pap with black South Africans and rejected it as unsuitable for Indians. One year later, however, he revised his opinion and actively encouraged Indians to eat mealie pap. Tracing Gandhi’s evolving approach to mealie pap reveals a profound shift in Gandhi’s views on race and diet. That shift was made visible some thirty years later when Gandhi turned to the African American scientist George Washington Carver in order to find a vegan alternative to milk.
Divergent Total Syntheses of Enmein‐Type Natural Products: (−)‐Enmein, (−)‐Isodocarpin, and (−)‐Sculponin R

Divergent total syntheses of the enmein-type natural products (-)-enmein, (-)-isodocarpin, and (-)-sculponin R have been achieved in a concise fashion. Key features of the strategy include 1) an efficient early-stage cage formation to control succeeding diastereoselectivity, 2) a one-pot acylation/akylation/lactonization to construct the C-ring and C8 quarternary center, 3) a reductive alkenylation approach to construct the enmain D/E rings and 4) a flexible route to allow divergent syntheses of three natural products.
The Complexity of Virus-Cell Interactions in Abelson Virus Infection of Lymphoid and Other Hematopoietic Cells

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the molecular processes involved in interaction of the cell with the v-abl gene. The chapter provides a baseline of the complex biological effects of Abelson virus. The murine retrovirus Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) has been particularly useful for studying the early stages of B cell development. Abelson virus rapidly transforms pre-B lymphocytes from mouse bone marrow or fetal liver that are at the stage of development when the immunoglobulin heavy chain genes are being rearranged. Such cell lines have been used both to analyze the early stages of B cell ontogeny and to prepare and characterize serological reagents that recognize antigens expressed by pre-B and B cells. Most of the A-MuLV-transformed cell lines are locked into a particular stage of maturation and cannot be induced by conventional methods to differentiate. However, rare cell lines have been discovered that retain the capacity to rearrange and sometimes express either the immunoglobulin heavy or light chain genes. The chapter focuses on two major areas concerning the complexity of A-MuLV interaction with the cell. One is the wide range of biological effects induced by A-MuLV as it is expressed in different hematopoietic cell types. The second is the process of oncogenic transformation by A-MuLV and the way transformation is augmented or complemented by the expression of cellular genes.
The Social Network as an Etiological Factor in Mental Illness and as a Therapeutic Approach

Although this paper has a number of aims and objectives, perhaps the most important objective is to show how the concept of the “Social Network,” as we have come to use it, evolved. In addition, we will show how the concept influenced the research program, that we have been carrying out, and its development. At the outset, it is necessary to indicate how our use of the concept differs from the prevailing usage in the literature. For our purposes, the “Social Network” is a group of individuals who interact with each other, and maintain an ongoing stable set of relationships. The network, as a consequence of the sustained interaction, takes on some of the qualities of a social system, e.g., class and status characteristics, value consensus, a system of rewards and punishments, cohesion, goals and aspirations, etc. The social network may also be seen as a micro social system. This concept is to be distinguished from the macro social system concept which refers to larger segments of society or even to the total society in which an individual is functioning.
Static and Dynamic Critical Phenomena near the Superfluid Transition in 4He

It is widely appreciated that the superfluid transition in liquid 4He is an exceptionally suitable system for detailed experimental investigations of continuous phase transitions. Its merits and limitations have been discussed in detail elsewhere, 1,2 and the experimental results on the static properties have been reviewed in detail.2 In the present lectures, I would like to provide a summary of some recent developments in our understanding of the static properties and then discuss the behavior of the singularities of transport properties. Before proceeding to this, however, it is useful to review recent more general developments not limited to the superfluid transition which pertain to the nature of confluent singularities. These singularities have a strong bearing on the interpretation of experimental results near phase transitions.
Ethanol washing effect on textural properties of the sodium silicate-derived silica xerogel

This study deals with the use of ethanol as washing solvent in the preparation of the silica gels from sodium silicate in order to enhance the textural properties, especially surface area. We here examined the effect of ethanol-washing on surface area, micro- and mesopore volume, and average pore size. The silica xerogels prepared from sodium silicate solution exhibited an extremely high surface area of 1139 m2/g by washing their hydrogels with ethanol. Compared to water-washed xerogels, ethanol-washed xerogels showed higher surface areas, total pore volumes, and larger average pore sizes. Unlike the surface area of water-washed xerogel, that of the ethanol-washed xerogel was not affected by the silica concentration of initial solution. This study indicates that the textural properties of sodium silicate-derived xerogels are further enhanced by using ethanol as washing solvent.
Monte Carlo Simulation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor

The three-dimensional continuous-energy MCNP Monte Carlo code is used to develop a versatile and accurate reactor physics model of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology research reactor II (MITR-II). The validation of the model against existing experimental data is presented. Core multiplication factors as well as fast neutron in-core flux measurements were used in the validation process. The agreement between the MCNP predictions and the experimentally determined values is very good, which indicates that the Monte Carlo model is correctly simulating the MITR-II
PATHOGENIC INSIGHTS INTO THE CARDIORENAL SYNDROME IN HEART FAILURE WITH PRESERVED EJECTION FRACTION

The lack of therapies for HFpEF suggests that identifying novel pathways is a priority. Clinical management of HF, particularly HFpEF is often challenged by concurrent renal dysfunction, known as the cardiorenal syndrome. In a murine HFpEF model, we previously demonstrated cardiac hypertrophy,
ElemCor: Accurate data analysis and enrichment calculation for high-resolution LC-MS stable isotope labeling experiments

The investigation of intracellular metabolism is the mainstay in the biotechnology and physiology settings. Intracellular metabolic rates are commonly evaluated using labeling pattern of the identified metabolites obtained from stable isotope labeling experiments. The labeling pattern or mass distribution vector describes the fractional abundances of all isotopologs with different masses as a result of isotopic labeling, which are typically resolved using mass spectrometry. Because naturally occurring isotopes and isotopic impurity also contribute to measured signals, the measured patterns must be corrected to obtain the labeling patterns. Since contaminant isotopologs with the same nominal mass can be resolved using modern mass spectrometers with high mass resolution, the correction process should be resolution dependent. Here we present a software tool, ElemCor, to perform correction of such data in a resolution-dependent manner. The tool is based on mass difference theory (MDT) and information from unlabeled samples (ULS) to account for resolution effects. MDT is a mathematical theory and only requires chemical formulae to perform correction. ULS is semi-empirical and requires additional measurement of isotopologs from unlabeled samples. We validate both methods and show their improvement in accuracy and comprehensiveness over existing methods using simulated data and experimental data from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The tool is available at https://github.com/4dsoftware/elemcor . We present a software tool based on two methods, MDT and ULS, to correct LC-MS data from isotopic labeling experiments for natural abundance and isotopic impurity. We recommend MDT for low-mass compounds for cost efficiency in experiments, and ULS for high-mass compounds with relatively large spectral inaccuracy that can be tracked by unlabeled standards.
Aerosol emission and superemission during human speech increase with voice loudness

Mechanistic hypotheses about airborne infectious disease transmission have traditionally emphasized the role of coughing and sneezing, which are dramatic expiratory events that yield both easily visible droplets and large quantities of particles too small to see by eye. Nonetheless, it has long been known that normal speech also yields large quantities of particles that are too small to see by eye, but are large enough to carry a variety of communicable respiratory pathogens. Here we show that the rate of particle emission during normal human speech is positively correlated with the loudness (amplitude) of vocalization, ranging from approximately 1 to 50 particles per second (0.06 to 3 particles per cm3) for low to high amplitudes, regardless of the language spoken (English, Spanish, Mandarin, or Arabic). Furthermore, a small fraction of individuals behaves as "speech superemitters," consistently releasing an order of magnitude more particles than their peers. Our data demonstrate that the phenomenon of speech superemission cannot be fully explained either by the phonic structures or the amplitude of the speech. These results suggest that other unknown physiological factors, varying dramatically among individuals, could affect the probability of respiratory infectious disease transmission, and also help explain the existence of superspreaders who are disproportionately responsible for outbreaks of airborne infectious disease.
The Longitudinal Association between Perceived Powerlessness and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Urban Youth: Mediating and Moderating Effects.

A distal psychosocial factor, perceived powerlessness, has been found to predict various sexual risk behaviors among youth, yet no studies have assessed mediators or moderators in this relationship. Using a demographically diverse, longitudinal sample of urban youth (N = 257), this study assessed whether the need for sexual validation mediates the relationship between perceived powerlessness and sexual risk behaviors and to assess whether this mediated pathway is moderated by socioeconomic status and gender. The mean age of the participants was 21 years old (range: 15–24) and the majority of the sample identified as Black (65%) and female (62%). The results of structural equation modeling showed that the need for sexual validation mediated perceived powerlessness and condomless sex at last sex among Black youth. The need for sexual validation mediated perceived powerlessness and concurrent sexual partnerships among White youth and depended on levels of socioeconomic status. Sexual risk behavior interventions should provide youth with increased opportunities that encourage feelings of validation from other personal achievements in addition to sex while simultaneously addressing the structural conditions that drive young people to feel powerless.
What do Infection Preventionists know about antimicrobial stewardship: a pilot study

BACKGROUND Infection preventionists (IPs) are important members of the antimicrobial stewardship (AS) team. However, not all IPs have the knowledge and skills to be contributing members of that team. The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the IPs knowledge and attitudes towards AS. METHODS In 2017 a descriptive survey was sent out to a convenience sample of IPs in the intermountain west. The questionnaire was adapted from a previously validated survey given to physicians and pharmacists. The questionnaire included 8 demographic questions and 15 questions with sub questions addressing 1) Overall knowledge; 2) Antimicrobial delivery; 3) Antimicrobial knowledge; 4) Antimicrobial resistance; and 5) Antimicrobial resources and education. RESULTS A total of 45 responses were received. The respondents were mostly registered nurses (88%), female (88%), had a bachelor's degree (56%), and worked in a hospital setting (65%). Although 80% of IPs reported having an AS program in their health care setting and 84% thought it extremely important, only 53% of IPs indicated being very familiar and engaged in AS practices. When asked about antimicrobial use 92% agreed that antimicrobials were overused nationally. However, when asked if antimicrobials were over used in their health care setting only 28% agreed. Further, 73% of IPs felt that staff nurses should be involved in AS, while only 60% felt that IPs should be involved in interventions aimed to improve appropriate antimicrobial use. Additionally, 73% of IPs believed that the spread of antimicrobial resistance can be reduced by changing infection control practices. CONCLUSIONS This study found that IPs believe AS is important although many are not engaged in AS. Interestingly, IPs recognize antimicrobial misuse as a problem nationally but not in their own setting. These findings can be used to engage and educate IPs about their role in AS.
Promoting the Rule of Law in Communities with Criminal Groups: Experimental Evidence from Lagos, Nigeria

How can the state promote the rule of law in communities with criminal groups? Criminal groups often engage in bloody turf battles with quasi-impunity, undermining the state's monopoly on violence. The state struggles to contain criminal violence partly given to a lack of police-citizen cooperation. Moving beyond theories that explain limited cooperation as exclusively a function of police illegitimacy, I argue that social psychological constraints prevent citizens from sharing information with the police. Criminal groups inflate citizens' judgements of retaliation risk and create misperceptions among citizens that few other community members support sharing information. I test strategies for overcoming these constraints in Lagos, Nigeria with the first large-scale survey experiment incorporating virtual reality. Witnesses share 17% more information when a tip line is made anonymous. They share 9% more information after becoming aware of others cooperating. Exposing witnesses to co-ethnic police officers also increases information-sharing by 15% but only for those that ex-ante trust the police.
A CPW Fed Patch Antenna Design for Weather Monitoring, Air Traffic Control and Defense Tracking Applications

Modern era require modern solutions and modern technologies. Thereby modernizing such in the domain of antennas, a new type of patch antenna intended for C-band applications is designed printing over a FR4_epoxy substrate. whose dimensions, is W$_{1} \times L_{1} \times h$ as 35mm $\times30$ mm $\times1.6$ mm the simulations results showed that the antenna works at a single resonant frequency 5.9Ghz, hence covering the applications like military, weather forecasting, defense tracking and air traffic control. The antenna feed with co-planar wave guide (CPW) is a simulation-based design and the parameters of antenna designed are optimized by making use of ANSYS HFSS software.
Pottery production in a limestone-poor region of the Maya lowlands: Thin section petrography and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS) analysis on pottery from Uxbenká, southern Belize

Abstract We use thin section petrography and SEM-EDS to analyze fabrics, slips, and paints on ceramics from the Classic Period Maya center of Uxbenka located in the Toledo District of southern Belize. Pottery produced in southern Belize differs from other regions of the Maya lowlands due to the underlying bedrock composed of interbedded calcareous sandstones and siltstone rather than limestone. Our analyses indicate that Late to Terminal Classic (c. CE 600-900) pottery at Uxbenka was produced in five primary fabric groups using locally available raw materials. The composition of red slips is indistinguishable from the associated ceramic fabrics. White and orange slips on polychrome vessels are composed of very fine calcareous sandstone rather than micritic limestone used in other regions. Pottery production changed over time from the Early Classic (c. AD 250/300-600) to the Late Classic Period when crystalline calcite temper was used less frequently. This is the first study to analyze pottery from southern Belize using petrography and SEM-EDS. These data provide information on pottery production practice at Uxbenka where potters did not have access to limestone derived raw materials and will aid in evaluating social and economic interactions between southern Belize and other regions of the Maya lowlands.
Immunoglobulins reduced oxidative stress in human microglial cells induced by high dose of acetoacetate.

Abstract Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) has been associated with cognitive impairment and structural alterations in the brain. There is increased evidence supporting the role of neuroinflammation in causing these alterations. In the present study, using human microglial cell line (CHME-5), we aimed to investigate the effect of immunoglobulins (IG) on survival, activation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cytokine production of microglia exposed to ketone bodies. We demonstrated that high and low dose of ketone bodies induced a significant increase in ROS within 1 h after exposure to CHME-5 cells with upregulation in mitochondrial superoxide level 5 min after exposure suggestive of early and selective impairment of mitochondrial function. A significant and delayed increase of apoptosis of CHME-5 cells was observed 4 days after ketone bodies exposure. Cytokine expression reached a peak within 1 h and persisted for 3 days after exposure to ketone bodies. IG significantly reduced ROS and transiently suppressed cytokine expression of CHME-5 cells after exposure to ketone bodies. However, no effect of IG on apoptosis was observed. Overall, these results supported that ketone bodies induced microglia activation with early and selective impairment of mitochondrial function, increased cytokines expression and delayed increase in apoptosis. IG suppressed microglia activation and transiently inhibited cytokines expression without affecting apoptosis. These results warrant further experimental work on the role of microglia and potential benefit of IG in brain structural changes induced by DKA.
Electrochemical Separation of Alkaline-Earth Elements from Molten Salts Using Liquid Metal Electrodes

Closing the nuclear fuel cycle requires recycling used nuclear fuel. Additional waste is generated during recycling due to fission products accumulating in processing salts (LiCl-KCl). Reducing was...
"Whip from the hip": thigh angular motion, ground contact mechanics, and running speed.

During high-speed running, lower limb vertical velocity at touchdown has been cited as a critical factor needed to generate large vertical forces. Additionally, greater leg angular velocity has also been correlated with increased running speeds. However, the association between these factors has not been comprehensively investigated across faster running speeds. Therefore, this investigation aimed to evaluate the relationship between running speed, thigh angular motion, and vertical force determinants. It was hypothesized that thigh angular velocity would demonstrate a positive linear relationship with both running speed and lower limb vertical velocity at touchdown. A total of 40 subjects (20 males, 20 females) from various athletic backgrounds volunteered and completed 40 m running trials across a range of sub-maximal and maximal running speeds during one test session. Linear and angular kinematic data were collected from 31–39 m. The results supported the hypotheses, as across all subjects and trials (range of speeds: 3.1–10.0 m s−1), measures of thigh angular velocity demonstrated a strong positive linear correlation to speed (all R2>0.70, p
Subanesthetic ketamine in the ambulatory setting for refractory cancer pain: a 6-year retrospective at a cancer center

Pain is common in advanced cancer is often refractory to standard treatment. Ketamine has shown promise as an effective adjuvant despite conflicting reports. The aim of this retrospective was to analyze the efficacy of subanesthetic ketamine infusion in the ambulatory setting over an extended follow-up period of 3 months for symptoms related to refractory cancer pain. Forty seven patients treated with intravenous ketamine infusion for refractory cancer pain at a tertiary referral cancer center. Patients demonstrated improvement from baseline in worst, mean, current and least pain immediately after treatment (p < 0.05), worst pain 1 month after treatment (p = 0.003), and current pain (p = 0.036) and worst pain (p = 0.002) 3 months after treatment. Symptoms of quality of life were followed 1 month after treatment.
Modular solid dosage form design – Application to pH-independent release of a weak-base API

Abstract A novel approach to solid dosage form design is investigated, whereby instead of blending the ingredients and subsequently compacting the mixture, the dosage form is made by assembling prefabricated components, each with a specific function. The approach was used to formulate a weak-base API (active pharmaceutical ingredient), such that the modular dosage forms exhibited pH-independent drug release. Tablet-like dosage forms of ciprofloxacin (CPR), used as model weak-base drug, were prepared in order to generate dosage forms exhibiting pH-independent drug release. The dosage forms were made by assembling two types of prefabricated modules onto 3D stacks. The modules were hydroxypropyl methylcellulose circular film wafers, loaded with either CPR or citric acid (CA). CA-wafers served the function of pH-modifier modules in the microenvironment of the dosage form during the dissolution process. In vitro drug release from dosage forms consisting of CA- and CPR-wafers stacked in alternate sequence was compared with the release from assemblies containing CPR-wafers only, under pH = 1.2 and pH = 6.8 conditions. In the absence of CA-wafers, CPR release was ~25-fold slower at pH = 6.8 compared to pH = 1.2. Inclusion of CA-wafers in the dosage form assembly accelerated and decelerated drug release at pH = 6.8 and pH = 1.2, respectively, which resulted in overlapping drug release profiles under the two pH conditions. The two drug release profiles met the criteria for sameness as assessed by the f1 (difference) and f2 (similarity) factors. Modeling of drug release kinetics pointed toward polymer erosion as the primary mechanism of drug release for the overlapping pH = 1.2 and pH = 6.8 profiles. In terms of their drug release properties, the multi-modular dosage form assemblies exhibited the attributes and behavior of single bodies, rather than the combined contributions from multiple individually-operating modules. The initial geometry of the dosage form, characterized by the surface area (SA), volume (V) and SA/V ratio accounted for drug release kinetics in the same fashion as for traditional tablet compacts.
Transferable representations of single-cell transcriptomic data

Abstract Advances in single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) technologies are enabling the construction of large-scale, human-annotated reference cell atlases, creating unprecedented opportunities to accelerate future research. However, effectively leveraging information from these atlases, such as clustering labels or cell type annotations, remains challenging due to substantial technical noise and sparsity in scRNA-seq measurements. To address this problem, we present HD-AE, a deep autoencoder designed to extract integrated low-dimensional representations of scRNA-seq measurements across datasets from different labs and experimental conditions (https://github.com/suinleelab/HD-AE). Unlike previous approaches, HD-AE’s representations successfully transfer to new query datasets without needing to retrain the model. Researchers without substantial computational resources or machine learning expertise can thus leverage the robust representations learned by pretrained HD-AE models to compare embeddings of their own data with previously generated sets of reference embeddings.
Accelerated Recovery After Renal Cell Carcinoma and Partial Nephrectomy With Lifestyle Modifications

Objective and subjective recovery times following a partial nephrectomy may exceed 1 year if patients adhere to the current Western lifestyle. This case demonstrates the rapid recovery of a 59-year...
What is the role of remdesivir in patients with COVID-19?

Purpose of review COVID-19 represents an unprecedented public health crisis caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The antiviral remdesivir is one component of treating COVID-19. Unfortunately, the trials evaluating remdesivir have reported mixed results, leading to uncertainty on when to use remdesivir. This review discusses the trials evaluating the efficacy of remdesivir for COVID-19 and other supporting data to help inform the role of remdesivir in patients with COVID-19. Recent findings Since the start of the pandemic, there have been four randomized trials of remdesivir in treating patients hospitalized with COVID-19. More recently, extensive observational studies have provided supportive data. Summary The majority of trials evaluating remdesivir suggest that remdesivir is effective in the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Although there may be a benefit in some subgroups more than others, there is insufficient data to make definitive statements about benefits or lack of benefits in particular groups. Remdesivir has demonstrated clinical benefits such as decreased time in the hospital, lower progression to mechanical ventilation, and decreased utilization of other hospital resources; it is unclear if it reduces mortality, but one randomized controlled trial suggested possible survival benefits. Based on the data available, remdesivir has been approved (or authorized for early use) in 48 countries.
Making Acquaintance: Second Hand Notes on James Wright

1. I WAS TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD and a senior in college when James Wright died. At Wittenberg University, Ohio, the curriculum scarcely ventured beyond the Second World War, and when it did, at the insistence of some young faculty member, the syllabus generally turned to poets already dead: Lowell, Berryman, Plath, Jarrell, Sexton, Roethke. There was always some encouragement if one knew where to look, but it was peripheral and unsanctioned. As an aspiring writer, however, I knew a little of Wright's work, although I knew little about the man, which didn't much concern me.
Simulating DNLS models

We present different techniques to numerically solve the equations of motion for the widely studied Discrete Nonlinear Schroedinger equation (DNLS). Being a Hamiltonian system, the DNLS requires symplectic routines for an efficient numerical treatment. Here, we introduce different such schemes in detail and compare their performance and accuracy by extensive numerical simulations.
Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Aging Rat Brain Following Transient Global Ischemia

Aged rat brain is more sensitive to reperfusion injury induced by cardiac arrest and resuscitation. The mitochondrial respiratory chain, the major source of free radicals during reperfusion, is likely to be the target of lipid peroxidation. Previous work has shown a higher mortality and lower hippocampal neuronal survival in older rats. 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), a major product of lipid peroxidation, was found to be elevated in cortex and brainstem after resuscitation. In this study we investigated the acute changes of mitochondrial function in aging rat brain following cardiac arrest and resuscitation; the effect of an antioxidant, alpha-phenyl-tert-butyl-nitrone (PBN) was also tested. Fischer 344 rats, 6 and 24-month old, were subjected to cardiac arrest (7–10 minutes) and allowed to recover 1 hour after resuscitation. Mitochondria of cortex and brainstem were isolated and assayed for respiratory function. Compared to their respective non-arrested control group, 1h untreated groups (both 6 month and 24 month) had similar state 3 (ADP-stimulated) but higher state 4 (resting state) respiratory rates. The respiratory control ratio (state 3/state 4) of cortex in the 1h untreated group was 26% lower than the non-arrested control group; similar results were found in brainstem. The decreased mitochondrial respiratory function was improved by PBN treatment. HNE–modified mitochondrial proteins were elevated 1h after resuscitation, with an evident change in the aged. Treatment with PBN reduced the elevated HNE production in mitochondria of cortex. The data suggest (i) there is increased sensitivity to lipid peroxidation with aging, (ii) mitochondrial respiratory function related to coupled oxidation decreases following cardiac arrest and resuscitation, and (iii) treatment with antioxidant, such as PBN, reduces the oxidative damage following cardiac arrest and resuscitation.
Connexins in neurons and glia: targets for intervention in disease and injury

Both neurons and glia throughout the central nervous system are organized into networks by gap junctions. Among glia, gap junctions facilitate metabolic homeostasis and intercellular communication. Among neurons, gap junctions form electrical synapses that function primarily for communication. However, in neurodegenerative states due to disease or injury gap junctions may be detrimental to survival. Electrical synapses may facilitate hyperactivity and bystander killing among neurons, while gap junction hemichannels in glia may facilitate inflammatory signaling and scar formation. Advances in understanding mechanisms of plasticity of electrical synapses and development of molecular therapeutics to target glial gap junctions and hemichannels offer new hope to pharmacologically limit neuronal degeneration and enhance recovery.
This Activist Court

This paper was written for a symposium celebrating the inaugural issue of the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy. It contains an overview mainly of the federalism cases in the Rehnquist Court, with commentary.
Endomorphisms of stable continuous-trace *-algebras

We classify C 0 (X)-endomorphisms of stable continuous-trace C*-algebras up to inner automorphism by a surjective multiplicative invariant taking values in finite-dimensional vector bundles over the spectrum. Specializing to automorphisms, this gives a different approach to results of Lance, Smith, Phillips and Raeburn.
A convenient preparation of indoline

An efficient method for chemically reducing indole to indoline using zinc dust and 85% phosphoric acid is described. 2, 3-Dimethylindole, 1,2,3, 4-tetrahydrocarbazole and N-methyl-l,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole are also reduced to the corresponding dihydroindoles in somewhat lower yields. Unlike earlier acid-metal reductions of indole little or no polymerization is observed.
The structure of acid-soluble basement membrane collagen from bovine anterior lens capsule: molecular parameters and thermal gelation properties.

Abstract Basement membrane collagen was extracted from bovine anterior lens capsules with acetic acid in the presence of protease and proteinase inhibitors. This undegraded soluble basement membrane has a sedimentation coefficient S020,W = 7.8 × 10-13 sec-1, a diffusion coefficient D020,w = 5.82 × 10-8 cm2/sec and a zero-shear intrinsic viscosity [***1)] = 2200 cm3/g. These data lead to a molecular weight, Mr of 1.1 × 106. Electron microscopic observation indicates that the molecules are rod-like in character with a length of 300 nm. Theoretical models describing the intrinsic viscosity in terms of the distribution of mass in such an elongated molecule show that a dumbbell-like structure is the only tenable model. In this model a single 300 nm rod-like region joins two more densely packed globular regions. The globular domains contain hydroxyproline and may have collagenase sensitive regions since digestion with purified bacterial collagenase at 37°C for 18 h degrades these domains as well as the central triple-helical domain. The intact acid-soluble basement membrane collagen precipitates from neutral pH solutions upon warming 4°C stable solutions. The pH, ionic strength and concentration dependence parameters of this thermal precipitation have been examined. The basement membrane collagen precipitation appears to be dominated by endregion domain hydrophobic interactions. The end-regions are required for precipitation in contrast to the Type I pro collagen situation wherein the intact end-regions inhibit thermal gelation. Electron microscopic examination of the basement membrane thermal gels shows networks of very thin filaments which may be related directly to the structure within intact basement membrane.
The impact of vertical resolution on regional model simulation of the west African summer monsoon

The RM3 regional climate model is used to simulate the west African summer monsoon for six June–September seasons using NCEP reanalysis data for lateral boundary forcing. The study compares the performance of the previously published 16-level version with a newly tested 28-level version, both running on a horizontal grid with 0.5° spacing, in order to determine what improvements in simulations are achieved by increased vertical resolution. Comparisons between the performances include diagnostics of seasonal mean precipitation rates and circulation, vertical profiles of cumulus heating rates, frequencies of shallow and deep convection and diagnostics related to transient African easterly waves (AEWs). The characteristics of a composite AEW simulated at both vertical resolutions are presented. Results show that the most significant impact of increasing the vertical resolution is stronger circulation, stronger vertical wind shear and higher amplitude AEWs. The simulations with higher vertical resolution also achieve higher peaks of cumulus latent heating rates. Spatial–temporal correlations between simulated daily 700 mb meridional winds versus corresponding NCEP reanalysis data and simulated daily precipitation versus estimates from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) archive were equally high at both vertical resolutions. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
MyCS: building a middle-years CS curriculum

In this poster we present a CS curriculum aimed at "middle-years" students. In the U.S., this corresponds roughly to middle school and early high-school, i.e., students aged 11-15. This MyCS curriculum provides a hands-on introduction to computer science through six distinct modules. Three programming modules use the Scratch environment to build computational sophistication and procedural intuition within an inviting development environment. Alternating with Scratch are three problem-solving modules whose activities deepen awareness and facility with computation through novel and adapted exercises. By carefully integrating novel activities with a targeted subset of the excellent resources from ECS, AP CS Principles, webdev tools, and CS unplugged, MyCS enables middle-school teachers without prior CS training to offer an 18-week course after only one week of summertime professional development. More than 25 classrooms and 900 students have participated in MyCS's pilot years within the Pomona, CA and Lihue, HI school districts. 2013-15 will see an expansion of its workshops, academic-year classes, and program evaluation. This poster shares our development and deployment of MyCS to date, and it invites feedback from the experiences of other institutions, worldwide, in their efforts to foster adolescents' computational identities.
Oxidative coupling of methane over Mg-Li oxide catalysts at relatively low temperature-the effect of steam

Abstract The paper reports on the catalytic oxidative coupling of methane to C 2 and higher hydrocarbons over magnesium-lithium oxide catalyst at low temperatures (≤600°C). in the presence of steam, and at low space velocity. It is shown that under these conditions active Mg-Li-O catalysts are able to facilitate the oxidative coupling of methane to give 18-22% conversion with selectivity to hydrocarbons ∼30%. The presence of steam is essential to the formation of the coupling products. In the absence of steam, partial oxidation to form syn-gas becomes dominant at these low temperatures.
Point-of-Care First Trimester Pelvic Ultrasonography for the Pediatric Emergency Physician

Ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of first trimester maternal death. It occurs between one half and one third of the rate in adolescents as it does in older women; yet, adolescents have the highest reported death rates from ectopic pregnancy among all age groups. For the past 2 decades, pelvic ultrasonography (transvaginal and transabdominal) has become a core application of emergency department ultrasound. The literature shows that point-of-care pelvic ultrasound is time-saving, should be incorporated into the overall physical examination of the pelvis, and reduces risks of complications by early diagnosis when ectopic pregnancy is suspected. This article will review the evidence base for point-of-care pelvic ultrasound.
Polarographic characteristics of chlorite

Solutions of chlorite in buffered aqueous solution have been investigated polarographically over the pH range 1–10. Chlorite produces a well defined, diffusion-controlled, but irreversible wave at pH <4.5; in solutions of higher pH the wave becomes more drawn out, less concentration dependent and kinetically controlled. In the optimum pH range, 4.2–4.5, the diffusion-limited wave height is proportional to concentration from. 0.2–2.0 mM; higher concentrations produce a large maximum on the top of the wave which is not removable by the ordinary suppressors. In solutions more acid than pH 4.2 chlorite decomposes too rapidly for polarographic analysis. On the basis of pH dependence of wave height and half-wave potential it is assumed that the overall electrode reaction is: HClO2 + 4e + 3 H+ → Cl− + 4 H2O
l p n Superspaces of spans of independent random variables

We show that for 1 ≦p 0 is small enough andX ≦Lp is the span ofn independent Rademacher functions orn independent Gaussian random variables, then any superspaceY ofX satisfyingd(Y,Lpm) ≦ 1 +ɛ has dimension larger thanrn, wherer =r(ɛ, p) > 1.
Tax Referenda and the Voluntary Exchange Model of Taxation: a Suggested Implementation

The voluntary exchange model of taxation implies that taxes are the price paid for public sector output. The current public sentiment for tax reduction and tax reform suggests that the present structure of taxes does not conform to this voluntary exchange model. This article presents a simple method of holding a referendum in order to allow the taxpayers themselves to determine both the level and mix of governmental expenditures. The method is simple enough for voters to understand, and provides the incentive for all voters to state their true preferences. The implementation of such a referendum system would make the tax structure more closely resemble the voluntary exchange model of taxation.
Oligosaccharide β-glucans with unusual linkages from Sarcina ventriculi

Abstract The structure of a family of unusual glucans from Sarcina ventriculi has been characterized by NMR spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and mass spectrometry. One is a trisaccharide containing a β -(1 → 3) and a β -(1 → 4)-linkage. The other is a hexasaccharide that is simply a 1,4-linked dimer of the trisaccharide unit. This is the first report of β-glucan biosynthesis in a Gram-positive organism. Their occurrence in these organisms supports an even more general link between their synthesis and the adaptability of bacteria.
Discrimination of Successiveness: A Test of a Model of Attention

Interpreting attention as a periodic phenomenon, we show its relevance to discriminating the successiveness of signals presented to separate sense modalities. Experiments confirm the expected linear relation between the probability of discriminating pairs of successive from pairs of simultaneous signals and make it possible to infer the period of attention.
Laser triangulation for liquid film thickness measurements through multiple interfaces

Laser triangulation is used to measure the thickness of a liquid film in a test section consisting of a quartz viewing window, a water layer, and a hydrophobic membrane. The triangulation sensor acquires measurements to the bounding surfaces of the film while peering through multiple interfaces. This allows the difference between the two measurements to constitute the local film thickness. A refraction model is developed and applied to the analysis of data collected from the experiment. For verification, an empirical method is also developed and compared to the analytical approach. The measurement technique is intended to assess the stability of liquid films for use as gas-liquid contactors.