cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Precise developmental regulation of Ets family transcription factors during specification and commitment to the T cell lineage

Ets family transcription factors control the expression of a large number of genes in hematopoietic cells. Here we show strikingly precise differential expression of a subset of these genes marking critical, early stages of mouse lymphocyte cell-type specification. Initially, the Ets family member factor Erg was identified during an arrayed cDNA library screen for genes encoding transcription factors expressed specifically during T cell lineage commitment. Multiparameter fluorescence-activated cell sorting for over a dozen cell surface markers was used to isolate 18 distinct primary-cell populations representing discrete T cell and B cell developmental stages, pluripotent lymphoid precursors, immature NK-like cells and myeloid hematopoietic cells. These populations were monitored for mRNA expression of the Erg, Ets-1, Ets-2, Fli-1, Tel, Elf-1, GABPalpha, PU.1 and Spi-B genes. The earliest stages in T cell differentiation show particularly dynamic Ets family gene regulation, with sharp transitions in expression correlating with specification and commitment events. Ets, Spi-B and PU.1 are expressed in these stages but not by later T-lineage cells. Erg is induced during T-lineage specification and then silenced permanently, after commitment, at the beta-selection checkpoint. Spi-B is transiently upregulated during commitment and then silenced at the same stage as Erg. T-lineage commitment itself is marked by repression of PU.1, a factor that regulates B-cell and myeloid genes. These results show that the set of Ets factors mobilized during T-lineage specification and commitment is different from the set that maintains T cell gene expression during thymocyte repertoire selection and in all classes of mature T cells.
Gender Differences in Alcohol Impairment of Simulated Driving Performance and Driving-Related Skills

AIMS: Considerable laboratory research indicates that moderate doses of alcohol impair a broad range of skilled activities related to driving performance in young adults. Although laboratory studies show that the intensity of impairment is generally dependent on the blood alcohol concentration, some reviews of this literature suggest that women might be more sensitive to the impairing effects of alcohol than men. The present study tested this hypothesis. METHODS: Drawing on data from previous experiments in our laboratory, we compared men and women in terms of the degree to which a challenge dose of alcohol (0.65 g/kg) impaired their simulated driving performance and measures of three separate behavioral and cognitive functions important to driving performance: motor coordination, speed of information processing and information-processing capacity. RESULTS: Alcohol significantly impaired all aspects of performance. Moreover, women displayed greater impairment than men on all behavioral tests and also reported higher levels of subjective intoxication compared with men. CONCLUSIONS: Both biological and social-cultural factors have been implicated in gender differences in the behavioral responses to alcohol. The current evidence of heightened sensitivity to alcohol in women highlights the need for better understanding the biological and environmental factors underlying this gender difference. Language: en
Robot in Charge: A Relational Study Investigating Human-Robot Dyads with Differences in Interpersonal Dominance

We present a controlled experiment exploring how people respond to video stimuli that depict relationships between humans and robots. How participants observed differences in interpersonal dominance in a human-robot pair was investigated using a "relational" study methodology. Participants were more trusting of and more attracted to both the robot and the person in a human-robot relationship where the robot was less dominant than the person compared to vice versa. These differences were not found for a human pair control condition, in which participants watched the same sequence of videos with two human confederates. Exploratory findings suggest that observers may prefer a person to be in charge and that human-robot relationships may be viewed differently than interpersonal ones.
Upregulation of DAF (CD55) on orbital fibroblasts by cytokines. Differential effects of TNF-beta and TNF-alpha.

Purpose. Decay accelerating factor (DAF) and membrane cofactor protein (MCP) are membrane complement regulators that protect self cells from deposition of autologous C3b on their surfaces. CD59, a third downstream regulator of the cascade, prevents the assembly on self cells of autologous membrane-attack complexes. All three proteins are highly expressed on corneal and conjunctival epithelia, and are present in lower levels on multiple intraocular and adnexal cell types. The purpose of this study was to determine whether, and if so, how DAF, MCP and CD59 expression by ocular and adnexyl cells is modulated by cytokines. Methods. Primary cultures of orbital fibroblasts and corneal epithelial cells were incubated with TNF-a, TNF-s, TGF-s1, IFN-?, MIF or blocking anti-MIF mABs and extracts of the cells quantitated for DAF, MCP and CD59 by two-site immunoradiometric assays. Where inductions occurred, the kinetics of the increases, the effect of combining cytokines, and the effect of protein kinase-C inhibition...
Autotuning GPU-Accelerated QAP Solvers for Power and Performance

The Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) is an important combinatorial optimization problem with applications in many areas including operations research and chip design. QAP is known to be NP-hard and requires heuristic approaches for most real data sets. Although many algorithms have been proposed for solving QAPs, few have attempted to exploit the fine-grain data parallelism available on accelerator architectures and none have considered aspects of energy efficiency. In this paper, we present GPU-accelerated implementations of two QAP algorithms. We parameterize each algorithmic variant along several dimensions including thread granularity, occupancy, shared memory usage and register pressure. We develop an autotuning framework that explores this space of execution parameters and yields CUDA binaries that are efficient in terms of both performance and power consumption. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our tuning framework on an Nvidia Tesla K20c. On a series of experiments on the well-known QAPLIB data sets, our autotuned solutions run at least an order-of-magnitude faster than baseline implementations. The experimental results also provide key insight into the performance characteristics of accelerated QAP solvers. In particular, the results reveal that both algorithmic choice and the shape of the input data sets are key factors in finding an efficient implementation.
Book Review: Gender and Violence in Haiti

Over the past two decades, international law has made great strides in recognizing and addressing gender-based violence. Sexual violence has become the dominant lens through which international law views gendered harms. In international criminal law, rape and sexual enslavement have been criminalized and prosecuted. Sex trafficking has become a global concern, and the topic of proliferating international and national legislation. Though these harms are real and powerful, the narrow focus on sexual and gender-based violence can obscure other harms experienced by women and similar harms experienced by men. The title of Prof. Benedetta Faedi Duramy’s book, Gender and Violence in Haiti: Women’s Path from Victims to Agents, demarcates a more nuanced approach that explores the roles women play not only as subjects but also as perpetrators of violence. The book contextualizes sexual violence, situating it within a cycle of inequality that begins by requiring young girls to be household servants and ends with the nearly complete exclusion of women from politics. Prof. Duramy’s in-depth case study contributes both substance and method to the burgeoning literature on gender violence and international law.
A reduced complexity framework to bridge the gap between AGCMs and cloud‐resolving models

The role of convective parameterizations at high horizontal resolution and their impacts on clouds, circulation, and precipitation processes represent large uncertainties in atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). As the statistical equilibrium in which radiative cooling is balanced by convective heating, radiative-convective equilibrium (RCE) offers a simplified framework to investigate such uncertainties. The Community Atmosphere Model 5 is configured in a RCE setup that consists of an ocean-covered planet with diurnally varying, spatially uniform insolation with no rotation effects. A series of simulations are performed in which the planetary radius is incrementally reduced. Because of the homogeneity of the setup, the effect is to reduce grid spacing, mimicking increased resolution without increasing the number of grid points. The results suggest that the reduced planet approach is able to reproduce the behavior of convection from full high-resolution simulations. At grid spacing less than 20 km, convective motions are predominantly produced by resolved scales.
Effect of Calcium on the Monomer-Dimer Association of Calcium-Binding Protein in the Serum of Laying Hens

SummaryA major calcium-binding protein of laying hen plasma was fractionated and partially characterized. After lipid flotation, approximately 80% of the total binding activity was localized in a high-density plasma fraction. Chromatography on Sepha-dex G-200 or Sepharose 6B gave a bimodal elution pattern. Sucrose gradient centrifugation yielded a similar bimodal pattern; the fast- and slow-sedimenting ultraviolet (UV) absorption peaks appeared identical to the first and second chromatographic elution peaks, respectively. Equilibrium dialysis localized the calcium-binding activity to the faster-sedimenting material. An orcinol-sulfuric acid test indicated a total carbohydrate content of 5% for the fast peak.Analytical velocity ultracentrifugation measurements of this calcium-binding component yielded varying amounts of two entities with sedimentation coefficients (S20,w) of approximately 16 and 8 S. The 16 S material was shown by equilbrium centrifugation (meniscus depletion) to have a 5.4 × 105Mr. Dialys...
Experimental nephrotoxic nephritis in the rat treated with ACTH or cortisone.

ConclusionBoth ACTH and cortisone failed to inhibit the development of renal lesions in the rat produced by the injection of rabbit anti-rat kidney serum.
Joint Role Investments and Synchronization of Retirement: A Sequential Approach to Couples' Retirement Timing

The AA. examine the linkage of couples' late-life work exit patterns with earlier work and family roles and estimate a sequential model of retirement timing of husbands and wives. The findings reveal the importance of the early « family organisational economy » in defining sequences of family events that combine with late-life events to influence the sequential synchronization of retirement timing.
Evaluation of Several Insecticides to Control the Onion Maggot

With the onset of resistance in 1958 to the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides, a search was started to find new materials to control the onion maggot, Hylemya antiqua (Meigen). Some organophosphates, such as diazinon, Nemacide® [ O- (2,4-dichlorophenyl) O,O- diethyl phosphorothioate], and ethion, had already been developed and they quickly replaced the faltering cyclodiene compounds. The search continued with field evaluation of newer chemicals and an account of these studies is reported for the period 1962 through 1964. The following organophosphates have proved effective: Bayer 25141 [ O,O -diethyl O-p (methylsulfinyl) phenyl phosphorothioate], Compound 4072 [2-chloro-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl) vinyl diethyl phosphate], Zinophos® ( O,O -diethyl O -2-pyrazinyl phosphorothioate), and Stauffer N-2790 [ O -ethyl- S -phenyl-ethylphosphonodithioate]. Carbamates worthy of future consideration for onion maggot control were: dimetilan; Bayer 37344 [4-(methylthio)-3,5-xylyl methylcarbamate], Baygon® (carbamic acid, methyl-, o -isoproporyphenyl ester) ; NIA 10242 (2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-7-benzofuranyl methylcarbamate) ; and UC 21149 [2-methyl-2-(methylthio) propionaldehyde O -(methylcarbamoyl) oxime].
Electrophysiological characteristics of primate spinothalamic neurons with renal and somatic inputs

1. Spinothalamic tract (STT) neurons in the T10-L3 segments were studied for responses to renal and somatic stimuli. A total of 90 neurons was studied in 25 alpha-chloralose anesthetized monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). All neurons were antidromically activated from the ventral posterior lateral nucleus of the thalamus. 2. Sixty-two cells were excited by renal nerve stimulation and six inhibited. Probability of locating cells with renal input was greatest in T11-L1. Cells were located in laminae I and IV-VII; however, most were located in laminae V-VII. Antidromic latencies averaged 4.61 +/- 0.32 (SE) ms, whereas antidromic conduction velocities averaged 43.23 +/- 9.03 m/s. 3. Cells with excitatory renal input received A delta input only (36 cells) or A delta- and C-fiber inputs (26 cells). Stimulation of A delta renal afferent fibers evoked bursts of 1-10 spikes/stimulus [mean 3.6 +/- 0.9 spikes/stimulus] with onset latencies of 10.7 +/- 0.5 ms. Stimulation of C-fibers evoked 1.3 +/- 0.5 spikes/stimulus with onset latencies of 61.7 +/- 11.1 ms. Magnitude of responses to A delta-fiber stimulation was greatest in T12 and decreased both rostrally and caudally. Inhibitory responses to renal nerve stimulation required activation of renal C-fibers. 4. All cells that responded to stimulation of renal afferent fibers received convergent inputs from somatic structures. Forty-four cells were classified as wide dynamic range, 10 were high threshold, 12 were high-threshold cells with inhibitory input from hair, 2 were deep, and 2 were low threshold. Somatic receptive fields were large and located on the flank and abdomen and/or the upper hindlimb. Fourteen cells had inhibitory receptive fields located on the contralateral hindlimb or one of the forearms. 5. It is concluded that T11-L1 STT cells in the monkey respond reliably to renal nerve stimulation. Thoracolumbar STT cells may thus play a role in pain that results from renal disease. The locations of the somatic receptive fields of the cells suggest that they are responsible for the referral of renal pain to the flank and abdomen.
The changing faces of cholangitis.

A variety of diseases are included under the umbrella term ‘cholangitis’, including hepatobiliary diseases with an autoimmune pathogenesis (such as primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cholangitis, and IgG4-associated sclerosing cholangitis) and disease processes associated with intraductal stones and infectious etiologies (such as ascending bacterial cholangitis, recurrent pyogenic cholangitis, and liver fluke-associated cholangitis). Recent advances in the pathophysiologic bases of these disorders, particularly with respect to the autoimmune variety, are allowing improved diagnosis and prognostication as well as providing the opportunity to refine and re-imagine treatment modalities. The aim of this review is to highlight selected advances in cholangitis research that point to novel insights into the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of this diverse array of disorders.
Perception, Knowledge, and Belief: Norms, History, and the Constitution of the Mental

No one doubts that the mind evolved. What would be surprising is if it had to evolve – if the mind not only had a history, but a history essential to its very existence. Surprising though it is, some people think this is so. Of those who think it so, some think it because they discern, or think they discern, a normative quality to mental affairs, a way mental states and activities (qua mental) are supposed to be , that can be understood only by conceiving of them as products of a historical process. Without a process like natural selection or learning, processes capable of grounding a difference between how things are and how they are supposed to be, there is nothing to provide the requisite contrast with existing fact, the sort of contrast we normally invoke by speaking of how things should be or behave. Objects that materialize wholly by accident, for instance, have, at the first moment of their existence (before acquiring an appropriate history), no purpose, no way they are supposed to be or behave. Such objects (so it is said) can harbor no meaning or content – hence, no capacity for reason, judgment, or experience – states and activities that presuppose norms. History is to minds what it is to fossils. Without the right history, there aren't any. Since the arguments for this view are not entirely convincing – even to someone like me who accepts their conclusion – and the consequences of the view, I keep being told, are preposterous, I take this occasion to reexamine the matter.
Cretaceous Foraminifera and the evolutionary history of planktic photosymbiosis

Ecotypic correlations between stable isotopic signals and skeletal size indicate that some Late Cretaceous serial planktic foraminifera were strongly photosymbiotic. In contrast, coeval trochospiral planktic foraminifera do not exhibit the isotope/size signatures that typify strongly photosymbiotic species. Comparison to Cenozoic taxa demonstrates that photosymbiosis has recurred throughout planktic foraminiferal history and has evolved independently in superfamilies characterized by very different gross skeletal morphologies. The historical contingency of that evolution is illustrated by the consequences of the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction, which terminated the Cretaceous lineages of photosymbiotic planktic foraminifera but did not permanently extinguish photosymbiont reliance by planktic foraminifera.
Spatially-resolved individual particle spectroscopy using photothermal modulation of Mie scattering.

We report a photothermal modulation of Mie scattering (PMMS) method that enables concurrent spatial and spectral discrimination of individual micron-sized particles. This approach provides a direct measurement of the “fingerprint” infrared absorption spectrum with the spatial resolution of visible light. Trace quantities (tens of picograms) of material were deposited onto an infrared-transparent substrate and simultaneously illuminated by a wavelength-tunable intensity-modulated quantum cascade pump laser and a continuous-wave 532 nm probe laser. Absorption of the pump laser by the particles results in direct modulation of the scatter field of the probe laser. The probe light scattered from the interrogated region is imaged onto a visible camera, enabling simultaneous probing of spatially-separated individual particles. By tuning the wavelength of the pump laser, the IR absorption spectrum is obtained. Using this approach, we measured the infrared absorption spectra of individual 3 μm PMMA and silica spheres. Experimental PMMS signal amplitudes agree with modeling using an extended version of the Mie scattering theory for particles on substrates, enabling the prediction of the PMMS signal magnitude based on the material and substrate properties.
Technology transfer of simulation analysis methodology: one man's opinion

In this tutorial I provide some thoughts based on my own experience about how the analysis methodology research community might be more successful in having a meaningful impact outside of our group. Areas discussed include why technology transfer has seemed to be more effective in optimization and statistics; the audience for analysis methodology; various modes of technology transfer; technology transfer specifically to commercial software; educating consumers of analysis methodology; and how we might think differently about research.
Article 1 [Purpose]

The proposal to include a specific article on the purpose of the CRPD emerged since the outset of negotiations, together with the idea to add a provision on the main principles underpinning the Convention that would have contributed to achieve the purpose (current Article 3). In the framework of international human rights treaties a stand-alone article on the purpose is an innovation, since the objectives of those treaties are usually deduced from the general obligations. The core purpose of Article 1, first paragraph, is to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy all existing human rights as everyone else, while the second paragraph identifies the holders of the rights set forth in the Convention.
The use of intensive insulin therapy and pentastarch resuscitation in patients with severe sepsis

Question: Is the use of intensive insulin therapy compared with conventional therapy (on the basis of Leuven titration protocol) and hydroxyethyl starch (HES) compared with Ringer lactate effective and safe in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock? Design: Randomized open-label controlled trial. Setting: Multicentre (18 academic tertiary hospitals in Germany). Patients: Six hundred patients with a diagnosis of severe sepsis or septic shock. Patients were deemed to be eligible if the onset of the syndrome was less than 24 hours before admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) or less than 24 hours after admission if the condition developed in the ICU. Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned in a 2 × 2 factorial design to receive either conventional (target blood glucose 180–200 mg/dL; n = 326) or intensive insulin therapy (target blood glucose 80–100 mg/dL; n = 274) or HES (n = 207) or Ringer lactate (n = 303). Main outcomes: Death from any cause at 28 days and morbidity measured by the mean score on the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) on a scale ranging from 0 to 4 for each of 6 organ systems with an aggregate score of 0–24 and higher scores indicating more severe organ dysfunction. Results: The mean morning blood glucose level was lower in the intensive therapy group (112 mg/dL [6.2 mmol/L]) than in the conventional therapy group (151 mg/dL [8.4 mmol/L]; p ≤ 0.001). However, at 28 days there were no significant differences between the groups in the rate of death or mean score for organ failure. The rate of severe hypoglycemia (glucose level ≤ 40 mg/dL [2.2 mmol/L]) was higher in the intensive therapy group than in the conventional therapy group (17% v. 4.1%; p ≤ 0.001), as was the rate of serious adverse events (10.9% v. 5.2%, p = 0.010). Hydroxyethyl starch therapy was associated with higher rates of acute renal failure and renal replacement therapy than Ringer lactate. Conclusion: The use of the intensive insulin therapy placed critically ill patients with sepsis at an increased risk for serious adverse events related to hypoglycemia. As used in this study, HES was harmful and its toxicity increased with accumulating doses.
Team Composition and Critical Team Members: Investigating Traits, Values, and Team Performance.

This paper examines the impact of team composition on team performance. It contributes to our understanding of team composition by including a consideration of the characteristics of the critical t...
The Adulteress and the Confines of Marriage: “The Return” and The Rescue

Conrad’s earlier Jamesian story “The Return” and his late novel The Rescue both consider the issue of women’s dissatisfaction in marriage and the problematic possibility of adultery. Featuring marriages based on illusion and presumption, Conrad initially poses extramarital relationships as a way for these heroines to escape to what may be a more equitable and affectionate union. Yet, both “The Return” and The Rescue ultimately demonstrate that the heroines’ frustration has less to do with their specific husbands than it does with the entrenched system of gender roles that proves to be at the root of their dissatisfaction.
Evidence Underpinning the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Management Bundle (SEP-1).

This systematic review examines whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sepsis performance measure has been shown to improve survival in adults with sepsis.
Curriculum-Based Language Assessment With Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in the Context of Mathematics

Purpose The purpose of this tutorial is to discuss the use of curriculum-based language assessment (CBLA) with students who are English language learners and students who speak nonmainstream variet...
Do men use more sexually aggressive tactics when intoxicated? A within-person examination of naturally occurring episodes of sex

Objective Men's alcohol use has been linked to sexual assault perpetration. Yet, it is unknown whether within naturally-occurring sexual encounters men use more sexually aggressive tactics when they are intoxicated. The present study considered whether college men's perceived intoxication at the time of sex increased their self-reported use of verbal persuasion, physical force, and encouraged intoxication of partner as tactics to convince a woman to have sex. Method As part of a 56-day daily report study, 298 college freshman males reported 1,832 episodes of sexual activity with female partners. Using multilevel modeling, we considered the within-person effects of subjective intoxication, sexual precedence (new versus previous partner), and perceived partner sexual interest on male use of sexually aggressive strategies within each sexual encounter. We also considered whether the impact of event-specific intoxication was moderated by individual differences in hostility toward women, delinquency, and impersonal sex. Results Greater subjective intoxication at the time of sex predicted greater use of verbal persuasion and encouraging intoxication of partner. Although intoxication did not predict physical force directly, there were indirect effects via greater verbal persuasion and encouraging partner intoxication. Event-specific intoxication did not interact with any of the individual difference variables and only hostility toward women contributed positively to use of event-specific sexually aggression. Conclusions Men's intoxication at the time of sexual activity increases their use of sexually aggressive strategies within naturally-occurring sexual encounters. Findings help to explain the robust relationship between alcohol use and sexual assault found in college populations.
Etiology of Stability and Growth of Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems Across Childhood and Adolescence

Internalizing and externalizing behaviors are heritable, and show genetic stability during childhood and adolescence. Less work has explored how genes influence individual differences in developmental trajectories. We estimated ACE biometrical latent growth curve models for the Teacher Report Form (TRF) and parent Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) internalizing and externalizing scales from ages 7 to 16 years in 408 twin pairs from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. We found that Intercept factors were highly heritable for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors (a2 = .61–.92), with small and nonsignificant environmental influences for teacher-rated data but significant nonshared environmental influences for parent-rated data. There was some evidence of heritability of decline in internalizing behavior (Slopes for teacher and parent ratings), but the Slope genetic variance was almost entirely shared with that for the Intercept when different than zero. These results suggest that genetic effects on these developmental trajectories operate primarily on initial levels and stability, with no significant unique genetic influences for change. Finally, cross-rater analyses of the growth factor scores revealed moderate to large genetic and environmental associations between growth factors derived from parents' and teachers' ratings, particularly the Intercepts.
Part C. – Restraint

Publisher Summary Various restraint methods are available for use with nonhuman primates. With an increased emphasis on reducing stress and assuring humane treatment, careful consideration is given to the methods selected. An increasing body of literature indicates that improperly performed restraint procedures can invalidate research data by disrupting the physiologic homeostasis of the animal. The development of innovative alternatives to the conventional restraint methods described in the literature should engender the development of improvements and alternatives which minimize some of the adverse effects of various restraint methods used today. The importance of training and adaptation of the nonhuman primate to the restraint method cannot be overemphasized. This not only reduces stress to the animal but also promotes safety and quality data collection. Suitable alternatives to restrictive restraint techniques continue to be developed. Restraint methods for nonhuman primates should continue to evolve as a safe, comfortable, relatively stress-free, and reliable way to utilize the unique resource that nonhuman primates represent to biomedical research.
What’s in a Betrayal? Trauma, Dissociation, and Hallucinations Among High-Functioning Ethnic Minority Emerging Adults

Objective. Interpersonal trauma is linked with mental health outcomes, including dissociation and hallucinations (Gomez & Freyd, 2017a). Betrayal trauma theory (BTT) identifies the closeness of the...
A Temperature-, pH- and Voltage-Responsive Nanogate with a Remarkably High Factor of Change in Ion Currents due to ON/OFF Switching

In biological cells, nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) embedded in cell membranes are capable of controlling the flow of ions, for example, Na+ , K+ , and Ca2+ by responding to stimuli, for example, pH and voltage. Inspired by NPCs, researchers have been endeavoring to develop nanogates to achieve the control of ion transport, but the developed nanogates only have a low factor of change in ion currents due to ON/OFF switching. As such nanopores with high temperature and pH responsivities were developed in this work. According to the experimental results, at a voltage of 3 V, the change in ion currents due to pH change is up to a factor of 170, which is remarkably high compared to other nanogates reported. Quantum chemical (QC) calculation results show that a protonated cytosine molecule (C+ ) and an unprotonated cytosine molecule (C) form three pairs of hydrogen bonds and consequently a nucleobase pair, CC+ , leading to the binding of various strands, assembly of a strand net, and blockage of ion transport. The nanogate developed is capable of responding to temperature change. At a voltage of 3 V, the factor of change in ion currents in response to temperature variation is as high as 110. Further experiments were performed to investigate the influence of the NaCl concentrations and small opening diameters exerted on nanogate performance.
Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music: Merriam Theater, Philadelphia, June 2 & 9, 2018

A few days after the second and final 12-hour installment of Taylor Mac’s Philadelphia performance, a friend emailed a handful of pals who had attended the concert, asking us to contribute to a list of the songs we had seen performed. This was no mean feat, given that Mac and his musicians had
Hydride transfer tunneling-ready-state structure as a function of donor-acceptor distance: A full gating coordinate for the vibrational tunneling-ready-state

Abstract The contemporary hydrogen-tunneling model involves a tunneling-ready-state (TRS) that is composed of activated structures of degenerate donor/acceptor (D/A) energies at various D-A distances (DADs). Current understanding of the DAD sampling over the gating coordinate is mainly from the observed temperature dependence of 1° KIEs, which only suggests broadness/narrowness of the sampling range. To better understand the gating coordinate of the TRS, computing TRS structures as a function of DAD is needed. Such computations have, however, been quite a challenge as in a real TRS the position of the hydrogen is uncertain and DAD is fluctuating. Using the self-exchange hydride transfer reaction from 2-propanol to protonated acetone as an example, an efficient set of dihedral angle restrictions in various initial activated donor/acceptor complexes were introduced to optimize to the TRS structures. The resulting gating coordinate suggests that the TRS could sample conformations of a wide range of DADs from 2.7 to 4.1 A, with two major populations centered at around 2.9 and 3.9 A, respectively. Zero-point energy, HOMO/LUMO energy, as well as the imaginary frequency for TRS structures, were calculated and their changes either along the H-tunneling coordinate or with the DAD were discussed to provide insight into the nature of H-tunneling.
Abstract 143: Spoke and Hub or Moat and Castle, Evolving Referral Patterns

Objective: Stony Brook University Renaissance Medical School and University Hospital [UH] is a tertiary care hospital in Sufflolk County, NY, an area covering 912 square miles [86 miles in length a...
Inhibition of calmodulin-dependent myosin light-chain kinase by growth-hormone-releasing factor and vasoactive intestinal peptide

In view of the ability of calmodulin to bind vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and growth-hormone-releasing factor (GRF) with high affinity [Stallwood, Brugger, Baggenstoss, Stemmer, Shiraga, Landers and Paul (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 19617-19621], the effects of these neuropeptides on a model calmodulin-dependent enzyme, myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK), were studied. Both peptides were potent inhibitors of MLCK activity. The inhibition of enzyme activity by VIP and GRF was progressively overcome with increasing calmodulin concentrations, with no inhibition observed at a saturating calmodulin concentration. Nanomolar concentrations of MLCK blocked the formation of calmodulin-[125I-Tyr10]VIP complexes. These data provide support for a functional role of VIP and GRF binding by calmodulin.
Brillouin zone spin filtering mechanism of enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance and correlation effects in a Co ( 0001 ) / h -BN / Co ( 0001 ) magnetic tunnel junction

The Brillouin zone spin filtering mechanism of enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) is described for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) and studied for an example of the MTJ with hcp Co electrodes and hexagonal BN $(h$-BN) spacer. Our calculations based on the local density approximation of density-functional theory (LDA-DFT) for $\text{Co}(0001)/h\text{-BN}/\text{Co}(0001)$ MTJ predict high TMR in this device due to Brillouin zone filtering mechanism. Owning to the specific complex band structure of the $h$-BN the spin-dependent tunneling conductance of the system is ultrasensitive to small variations of the Fermi energy position inside the BN band gap. Doping of the BN and, consequentially, changing the Fermi energy position could lead to variation of the TMR by several orders of magnitude. We show also that taking into account correlation effects on beyond DFT level is required to accurately describe position of the Fermi level and thus transport properties of the system. Our study suggests that new MTJ based on hcp Co-Pt or Co-Pd disordered alloy electrodes and $p$-doped hexagonal BN spacer is a promising candidate for the spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random-access memory.
Touching the Surface: Biological, Behavioural, and Emotional Aspects of Plagiocephaly at Harappa

In biology, the maternal–fetal interface refers specifically to the hemochorial, immunological, and hormonal relations between mother and offspring in placental mammals. Anthropologists broaden the definition to include sociocultural and behavioral aspects of the developmental environment, maternal-fetal relations, and identity construction. This chapter describes the differential diagnosis and a social bioarcheology interpretation of crania from two children, approximately 5 years old at death, interred in an ossuary (Area G) at the prehistoric city of Harappa, Pakistan (2000–1900 BCE). Both children were affected by variation in cranial shape known as plagiocephaly; viewed from above, the crania are asymmetrically distorted by flattening on one side of the frontal or occipital region. This striking variation in shape results when cartilaginous sutures that typically separate the bones of the cranial vault fail to form or prematurely close. Plagiocephaly can also be deformational. This chapter describes a biomedical method to tease apart intrauterine and postnatal causes of plagiocephaly—genetics, epigenetic factors, intrauterine constraints, plural birth, prolonged vertex molding, postnatal sleeping posture, supine positioning, and/or conditions that limit movement in young infants and children, such as torticollis—and the likely cognitive effects of the condition. The chapter then describes biocultural interpretations of these two individuals using a theoretical approach rooted in an archeology of emotion to explore social identity, motherhood, and the emotional response to plagiocephaly at Harappa.
Quantum Bridge Analytics I: a tutorial on formulating and using QUBO models

Quantum Bridge Analytics relates generally to methods and systems for hybrid classical-quantum computing, and more particularly is devoted to developing tools for bridging classical and quantum computing to gain the benefits of their alliance in the present and enable enhanced practical application of quantum computing in the future. This is the first of a two-part tutorial that surveys key elements of Quantum Bridge Analytics and its applications, with an emphasis on supplementing models with numerical illustrations. In Part 1 (the present paper) we focus on the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization model which is presently the most widely applied optimization model in the quantum computing area, and which unifies a rich variety of combinatorial optimization problems.
Stroke Thrombectomy Utilization Rates by Sex: What were Things Like before 2015?

Abstract Background: Little is known about any potential sex disparities in access to mechanical thrombectomy (MT), including before the pivotal clinical trials establishing MT as a standard of care for acute ischemic stroke management. Methods: All ischemic stroke patients included in the National Inpatient Sample between 2006 and 2014, were identified using the international classification of disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification 433.X1, 434.X1, and 436. Those who received MT were identified using the procedure code 39.74. We computed the rate and trend in MT utilization among stroke patient by sex. We also applied a logistic regression model to examine the association between sex and the rate of MT, accounting for potential extraneous confounders. Results: Of the 520,963 (weighted 1,032,940) with ischemic stroke, 6049 (.59%) received mechanical thrombectomy (MT), including 3012 (.58%) women and 3037 (.60%) men (P = .2807). For both men and women the rate of MT increased by nearly 30-fold from .04% in 2006 to 1.13% in 2014. On univariate analysis there was no difference in annual change in the utilization of MT; however, after adjusting for confounders, women with ischemic stroke were 12% more likely to have received treatment with MT than their male counterparts. Conclusion: The rate of MT has increased in both genders by nearly 30-fold in the 9 years preceding the publication of pivotal clinical trials on MT in 2015 with a 12% higher likelihood for women to receive MT after ischemic stroke.
Multi-overlap immunofluorescence techniques used in nerve cells based on morphology in brain injury models

Objective To explore the application of multi-overlap immunofluorescence techniques in the morphological research of nerve cells, and provide a new method of targeted research on nerve cells. Methods Ten Balb/c mice were selected and randomly divided into experimental group of severe traumatic brain injury (STBI) and sham control group (n=5); mice in the experimental group were induced STBI models by controlled cortical impact (CCI) method, and the neurological severity scale (NSS) scores were 8 in them. All animals were terminated on day 7. The gene and protein expressions of neuronal nuclei antigen (NeuN), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), and the morphology expression of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) were observed under confocal microscopy by applying multi-overlap immunofluorescence techniques. Results The images got by multi-overlap immunofluorescence techniques possessed the characteristics of bright and clear color, strong morphological sense on the expressions. The more obvious expressions of BrdU+NeuN+GFAP+DAPI in the STBI group could be noted as compared with those in the sham control group; the relative expression quantity of BrdU + NeuN + DAPI was significantly different between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion STBI in mice could induce self-regenerated phenomenon on cerebral neural cells or astrocyte; these new techniques provide new scientific means in the targeted study of development, proliferation, apoptosis or death of nerve cells and its mechanism. Key words: Multi-overlap immunofluorescence technique; Nerve cell; Traumatic brain injury
Fiber optic sensor embedded smart helmet for real-time impact sensing and analysis through machine learning.

Abstract Background Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) strongly associates with chronic neurodegenerative impairments such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild cognitive impairment. Early detection of concussive events would significantly enhance the understanding of head injuries and provide better guidance for urgent diagnoses and the best clinical practices for achieving full recovery. New method A smart helmet was developed with a single embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor for real-time sensing of blunt-force impact events to helmets. The transient signals provide both magnitude and directional information about the impact event, and the data can be used for training machine learning (ML) models. Results The FBG-embedded smart helmet prototype successfully achieved real-time sensing of concussive events. Transient data “fingerprints” consisting of both magnitude and direction of impact, were found to correlate with types of blunt-force impactors. Trained ML models were able to accurately predict (R2 ∼ 0.90) the magnitudes and directions of blunt-force impact events from data not used for model training. Comparison with existing methods The combination of the smart helmet data with analyses using ML models provides accurate predictions of the types of impactors that caused the events, as well as the magnitudes and the directions of the impact forces, which are unavailable using existing devices. Conclusion This work resulted in an ML-assisted, FBG-embedded smart helmet for real-time identification of concussive events using a highly accurate multi-metric strategy. The use of ML-FBG smart helmet systems can serve as an early-stage intervention strategy during and immediately following a concussive event.
Effect of a mentoring program for adolescents with physical disabilities attending a therapeutic camp

PURPOSE Youth with physical disabilities are at an elevated risk for poor psychosocial health. Pediatric medical camps are one common intervention utilized to provide short-term psychosocial support. However, there is a growing criticism that the effects of such programs diminish as participants return to home and school settings post residential camp experience. A post camp support intervention, the first known in the literature, was tested for perceptions of mattering and self-esteem. Specifically, this study examined the psychosocial effect of a year-round mentoring and online support program as an adjunct to residential camp (intervention) as compared to peers that attended only the summer residential experience (comparison group). METHODS A quasi-experimental design using an intervention and comparison group was implemented. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance to test for within group and between group effect. RESULTS A small effect (partial η2= 0.096) between groups (p< 0.17) and a moderate effect (partial η2= 0.133) within groups (p< 0.10) was detected for the mattering construct. A positive effect for self-esteem was not detected between or within groups. CONCLUSIONS The online and mentoring support program appeared to improve perceptions of mattering three months into implementation. Future implications center on the refinement of the support program and suggestions for further longitudinal research.
Preclinical efficacy of prexasertib in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The addition of molecularly targeted therapies to current chemotherapy regimens may improve acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) outcomes and reduce acute and late toxicities. Checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) orchestrates cell cycle checkpoint control in the setting of DNA damage. CHK1 is expressed in both T- and B-ALL and represents a promising therapeutic target. Herein, we show that prexasertib, a targeted CHK1 inhibitor, exhibits significant single-agent efficacy in vivo using ALL patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models and synergizes in vitro with a nucleoside analog. These results support further clinical testing of prexasertib in ALL.
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus incidentally diagnosed following two-years of non-productive cough

Abstract Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus is a rare primary thymic carcinoma. Radiologic imaging of this malignancy is rarely reported in literature. We present a patient who complained of a chronic cough for two years who was later found to have mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus. Chest radiograph revealed a large anterior mediastinal mass. Follow-up computed tomography of the thorax demonstrated a large, heterogeneous anterior mediastinal mass with traversing vessels. F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography demonstrated high avidity in the lesion with areas of diminished activity thought to represent necrosis. Following surgical resection, pathology revealed high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus extending into the skeletal muscle and pericardium with evidence of lymphovascular invasion. The patient received external beam radiation therapy and has remained disease-free for three years.
The Tax Section’s Ethics Debate - Historical Reflections

The recent American Bar Association Section of Taxation debate on standards of advice and disclosure is not new among tax lawyers. The legal ethics literature reports tax lawyers discussing these issues in the 1950s and 1960s. Having neither the benefit of formal ethics opinions or committee work, for good or not, the debate was more open-ended, oriented more around the ethics of lawyering than the law of lawyering.
The use of detection systems to improve the quality of the Italian Public Administration

This paper describes a software application, developed by the Istituto di Informatica e Telematica, which enables a monitoring of Public Administration services, through interactive interfaces and the use of emoticons. This application has been developed in the context of the pilot project named “Mettiamoci la Faccia” run by Italian Ministry of Public Administration and Innovation. The system has been developed for real time measuring of Customer Satisfaction through touch screens installed at individual front offices delivering services. It also enables the generation and automatic forwarding of statistical data on the services monitored by the Ministry. The software, based on a web application and distributed with a GPL GNU licence, enables a survey of Customer Satisfaction which is both cost-effective and easy to use.