cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Estimation of field-scale soil hydraulic and dielectric parameters through joint inversion of GPR and hydrological data

[1] A method is described for the joint use of time-lapse ground-penetrating radar (GPR) travel times and hydrological data to estimate field-scale soil hydraulic parameters. We build upon previous work to take advantage of a wide range of cross-borehole GPR data acquisition configurations and to accommodate uncertainty in the petrophysical function, which relates soil porosity and water saturation to the effective dielectric constant. We first test the inversion methodology using synthetic examples of water injection in the vadose zone. Realistic errors in the petrophysical function result in substantial errors in soil hydraulic parameter estimates, but such errors are minimized through simultaneous estimation of petrophysical parameters. In some cases the use of a simplified GPR simulator causes systematic errors in calculated travel times; simultaneous estimation of a single correction parameter sufficiently reduces the impact of these errors. We also apply the method to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford site in Washington, where time-lapse GPR and neutron probe (NP) data sets were collected during an infiltration experiment. We find that inclusion of GPR data in the inversion procedure allows for improved predictions of water content, compared to predictions made using NP data alone. These examples demonstrate that the complimentary information contained in geophysical and hydrological data can be successfully extracted in a joint inversion approach. Moreover, since the generation of tomograms is not required, the amount of GPR data required for analyses is relatively low, and difficulties inherent to tomography methods are alleviated. Finally, the approach provides a means to capture the properties and system state of heterogeneous soil, both of which are crucial for assessing and predicting subsurface flow and contaminant transport.
Preparing for the next pandemic

The fragile and limited production capacity of our 1950s egg-based technology for producing influenza vaccine and the lack of a national commitment to universal annual influenza vaccination mean that influenza epidemics will continue to present a substantial public health challenge. Dr. Michael Osterholm asks, So how can we prepare?
Computed Tomography for the Evaluation of Suspected Airway Foreign Bodies

The prompt diagnosis of foreign body aspiration (FBA) in children is essential to avoid complications such as postobstructive pneumonia and bronchiectasis. The conventional approach of diagnosing FBA by clinical history, physical examination, and chest radiography is limited by the modest sensitivity and specificity of these techniques, and diagnostic laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy is limited by operative risks and high costs. Chest computed tomography is highly sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of FBA and for conditions that can mimic the clinical presentation of FBA. The judicious use of chest computed tomography in selected children with suspected FBA can help achieve a favorable balance between the risks of ionizing radiation, misdiagnosis, and negative diagnostic laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy.
Transport of Organic Xenobiotics in the Environment

To become “available” to a target organism, organic xenobiotics in subsurface environments have to satisfy at least one of a number of conditions. They have to be able to migrate themselves to the immediate vicinity of the organism. Alternatively, extracellular enzymes or surfactants released by the organism have to reach the xenobiotic molecules, wherever they are located, and the products of their interaction have to migrate back to the organism. In any of these situations, chemical compounds (xenobiotic molecules, exoenzymes, biosurfactants, and reaction products) are moving in the liquid phase within the pores of the subsurface material. During this transport, the molecules in motion are subjected to an array of concurrent physical processes (e.g., dispersion, mass flow of the liquid phase, immiscible displacement), all of which can affect significantly the motion of the molecules, and ultimately how available the xenobiotics will be to the target organism. The present chapter provides an overview of these different physical processes. The focus is purposedly on the physics of the processes rather than on their mathematical description, in an attempt to keep this chapter accessible to scientists who come to the bioavailability debate from the biology side and may therefore not be entirely familiar with the mathematical tools traditionally used in the literature on transport phenomena in natural porous media.
A Seat at the Table: Transitional Justice in Colombia and the Release of Simón Trinidad

As negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC gain traction, it is increasingly important that the U.S. government do all in its power to support an end to the longest-running conflict in the Americas. At the start of the negotiations in Havana, Simon Trinidad was named by the FARC as one of their five representatives in the process, despite the impossibility of his participating. The extradition and imprisonment of Simon Trinidad in an American super-max prison is viewed by the FARC (and thus, potentially also by the Colombian government) as a significant stumbling block to the advancement of the peace process. This paper describes at least seven routes by which the U.S. could, within the boundaries of domestic and international law, return Trinidad to Colombia. This memorandum encourages the U.S. Administration to continue its investment in the long-term peace and stability of Colombia, and of the Americas, through pursuing one of these described courses of action resulting in Trinidad’s return to Colombia.
Evidence for Charge Transfer and Impact of Solvent Polar Properties on Aminobenzonitrile Adsorption on Silver Nanostructures

Aminobenzonitrile adsorption on silver nanoparticles (SNPs) was studied with SERS, SEIRA, and DFT. It was found that 4-aminobenzonitrile (4ABN) and 2-aminobenzonitirle (2ABN) could resonantly distribute an amino group charge so that the cyano group could strongly interact with the SNPs in the mono/multilayer. Cyano stretching frequency shifts in SEIRA spectra showed that a 4ABN multilayer interacted strongly with the SNPs when deposited using an alkane solvent with nonpolar bonds. 2ABN could interact with the SNPs even when deposition occurred using a solvent with polar bonds because intramolecular hydrogen-bonding in 2ABN limited solvation. 3-Aminobenzonitrile (3ABN) never interacted strongly with the SNPs in the multilayer because it could not resonantly distribute the amino group charge. 2ABN also formed C–H hydrogen-bonds with n-heptane, which could interact with both the amino and cyano groups of 2ABN. Charge transfer between adsorbed ABN isomers and the SNPs is evidenced in SERS spectra by the prese...
Changes in serum proteins during growth of malignant cells in vitro.

SummaryThe changes that occur in the serum protein fractions of the tissue culture medium during growth of 2 rat and one human tumorous cell strains maintained in continuous tissue culture were studied. Electrophoretic studies on the culture fluids by the moving boundary, and as well the paper electrophoresis technics, revealed a significant decrease of the levels of alpha and beta globulins of the serum nutrient during specific periods of growth. These findings are supported by microanalytical data.
Contradictory Concepts in the Etiology and Regression of Kaposi's Sarcoma. The Ferenc Györkey Memorial Lecture.

The Introduction is an overview of 3 decades of works performed by Professor Ferenc Gyorkey† (in many cases in collaboration with the author) and aimed at the elucidation of viral participation in the etiology of arteriosclerosis, SLE, hairy cell leukemia, HD, AIDS and KS. Controversial issues surrounding the etiology, treatment and regression of KS are discussed in terms of paracrine and autocrine loops of growth factors; protooncogene-oncogene activations, immunosuppression and retro-and/or herpesviral etiology. In regressing KS lesions the roles played by Fas, Bcl-2, Bax, TNFs; apoptotic-antiapoptotic events; and antiangiogenesis agents especially that of Hu-r-IFNα are elaborated on.
Acute lung injury and predictors of mortality.

the report from Prabhakaran et al., one of the current articles in focus, also a Translational Physiology article (Ref. [5][1], see [p. L20][2] in this issue), presents a study about the fibrinolytic protease inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), in 26 patients with acute lung injury
Subacute left ventricular outflow tract obstruction after transapical closure of a mitral paravalvular leak in the region of the aortomitral curtain

We report a rare case of progressive left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction after percutaneous device closure of a mechanical prosthetic mitral valve (MV) paravalvular leak (PVL) in the region of aortomitral curtain in a patient who also had small mechanical aortic valve prosthesis with patient–prosthesis mismatch.
Rilke’s “Der Geist Ariel”: An Interpretation

(1957). Rilke’s “Der Geist Ariel”: An Interpretation. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 35-44.
How State Education Agencies Are Administering School Turnaround Efforts: 15 Years After No Child Left Behind:

School turnaround—the rapid improvement of student achievement in low-performing schools—is increasingly a major topic of interest in K-12 public education. Federal legislation has left varying deg...
Incorporating Basic Systems Thinking and Systems Engineering Concepts in a Sophomore-Level Product Design and Development Course

Although many US undergraduate mechanical engineering programs formally expose students to the basic concepts, methodologies, and tools used for the design and development of new products, the scope is usually limited to products of low complexity. There is a need to include activities in the undergraduate curriculum that allow students to learn basic systems engineering concepts, that promote the development of their systems thinking skills, and that allow them to practice these skills. This paper describes an initial effort at integrating systems engineering concepts in the curriculum focusing on a sophomore-level product development course. The paper discusses the approach that was used to identify topics related to systems thinking and systems engineering, provides the list of topics that were selected, and outlines the approach that will be used to incorporate those topics in the course. In addition, it provides the results of a pilot self-efficacy survey focusing on some of the topics selected that was delivered to junior students who had already taken a formal product development course. Although a specific course was considered, the same approach could be used in the context of the entire mechanical engineering undergraduate curriculum. Also, the results presented in the paper could be easily adapted to similar courses at other institutions.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Subspecific and breeding status of the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Hidalgo County, Texas

Abstract We confirmed the breeding of the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) during 2008–2015 at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and presented measurement evidence that individuals belong to the Brownsville Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas insperata. This expands the known breeding distribution for this rare and local subspecies.
Bank competition and the cost of bank loans

I comprehensively study the effect of bank competition on the cost of bank loans using U.S. bank loan data from 1995 to 2010. The cost of bank loans is analyzed with regard to loan spreads and covenant intensity. I show that loan spreads and covenant intensity are negatively related to bank competition. I also find that non-investment grade and financially constrained firms benefit more from bank competition than investment grade and financially unconstrained firms do. Lenders with low market power are more willing to reduce loan price than lenders with high market power in competitive lending markets. The results suggest that lenders give favorable loan terms to borrowers in competitive loan markets.
RhoGAP DLC-1 tumor suppression and aberrant Rho GTPase activation in lung cancer

4125 The deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC-1) gene was originally identified as a tumor suppressor gene whose expression was lost in hepatocellular carcinomas. Subsequently, reduced expression of DLC-1 mRNA was reported in breast, colon, prostate, gastric, and lung cancers, with reduced transcript expression of DLC-1 in 95% of primary non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and nearly 60% of NSCLC cell lines. DLC-1 encodes a RhoGAP domain (GTPase activating protein for Rho family small GTPases) that is hypothesized to be responsible for the tumor-suppressor function of DLC-1. In vitro studies have demonstrated that DLC-1 inactivates the small GTPase RhoA by catalyzing GTP hydrolysis activity. However, whether the tumor suppressor function of DLC-1 is a consequence of the inhibition of RhoA, and whether RhoA activation is important for the aberrant growth of NSCLCs have not been determined. We have performed western blot analysis on a panel of six NSCLC cell lines, and have demonstrated that DLC-1 expression is lost in A549, H23, H358, and H2228 cells. Ectopic restoration of DLC-1 expression in DLC-1 deficient cell lines resulted in reduced proliferation on plastic as well as reduced anchorage-independent growth. Pull down analyses with the GTP-binding fragment of the RhoA effector Rhotekin has shown that DLC-1 expression results in reduced RhoA-GTP levels in vivo . We have also utilized short interfering RNA (siRNA) to knockdown endogenous DLC-1 in the DLC-1 positive NSCLC lines, and are currently assessing the impact of reduced DLC-1 expression on the transforming properties and Rho signaling pathways of these cells.
Harnessing innate immune responses to enhance anti-HIV-1 therapies

Innate immune responses represent the first line of defense against invading microbes including HIV-1. Macrophages and other myeloid cell populations mediate responses to viruses, bacteria and fungi in a rapid, non-specific manner following binding of moieties from these pathogens to innate immune receptors. Macrophages express several types of innate immune receptors called “pattern recognition receptors” that bind distinct pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Chief among the innate immune receptors in macrophages are a family of receptors called the Toll-like receptors that reside on the plasma membrane as well as within endosomal vesicles. The binding of ligand to Toll-like receptors and other types of innate immune receptors triggers a down-stream signaling cascade designed to rapidly induce expression of inflammatory mediators and innate immune molecules to thwart infection. Several nucleic acid based approaches have been developed to block or eliminate HIV-1 infection of macrophages and other myeloid cells, including the use of short-interfering RNA to block viral and cellular protein expression, and more recently, genomic engineering with CRISPR/Cas to cleave viral or cellular genes important in HIV-1 infection and replication. However, because these constructs are comprised of nucleic acids, they function as powerful ligands to activate select innate immune receptors, triggering anti-viral responses that effectively inhibit HIV-1 infection. This review will summarize the potential dual-benefits of nucleic acid-based therapies to block HIV-1 infection of macrophages.
Gabapentin Improves Symptoms of Functional Dyspepsia in a Retrospective, Open-label Cohort Study.

GOALS We sought to determine the efficacy of gabapentin in the treatment of functional dyspepsia among an observational cohort of patients. BACKGROUND Gabapentin has an established role in the treatment of neuropathic pain, with evidence supporting a benefit in visceral hypersensitivity. There is currently no data on the use of gabapentin for the treatment of functional dyspepsia. STUDY Consecutive patients presenting to a tertiary motility clinic for the evaluation of functional dyspepsia without concurrent gastric emptying delay completed a baseline Patient Assessment of Gastrointestinal Disorders-Symptom Severity Index (PAGI-SYM) before evaluation and were started on gabapentin for functional dyspepsia by their providers. The primary endpoint was change in total PAGI-SYM score between initial and subsequent visits. RESULTS Of 110 patients enrolled, 62 patients with functional dyspepsia completed pregabapentin and postgabapentin surveys. Subjects' mean PAGI-SYM score decreased by 0.44 (P<0.0001) with significant changes in all subscales (including upper abdominal pain, lower abdominal pain, postprandial fullness) except for bloating. Multivariable analysis showed that worsening pretreatment symptom severity was independently associated with improvement. Seven (11.3%) patients discontinued gabapentin with 5 (71.4%) discontinuing due to side effects. Using the minimum significant PAGI-SYM score change threshold, ≥50% of the cohort had significant improvement in their overall, postprandial fullness, and upper abdominal pain subscores. CONCLUSIONS In a retrospective, open-label cohort of patients treated with gabapentin for functional dyspepsia, there were significant improvements in dyspeptic symptoms interpreted within the limitations of an open-label study design. Further studies are needed to place gabapentin in the functional dyspepsia treatment algorithm.
Catalytic decomposition of benzyl alcohol using copper aluminate

Copper aluminate prepared by co-precipitation method catalyses the decomposition of benzyl alcohol forming benzaldehyde, toluene, water and hydrogen. Single phase formation of copper aluminate has been identified using X-ray diffraction technique. Copper aluminate acts as a dehydrogenating catalyst forming benzaldehyde. Toluene formation may be due to hydrogenolysis of benzyl alcohol. The effect of temperature and contact time has been studied. Energy of activation has been calculated from the Arrhenius plot. Partial pressure studies have been conducted using benzaldehyde to study the mechanistic aspects. Addition of benzaldehyde inhibits dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol. Desorption of benzaldehyde can therefore be considered the rate-determining step.
Performance of a Microwave Clock Based on a Laser-Induced Stimulated Raman Interactions

Recent experimental work1 has demonstrated that a microwave oscillator can be stabilized using a stimulated-resonance Raman transition in a sodium atomic beam. This Raman technique is of interest because optical lasers rather than microwaves are used in the interaction, and, aside from fundamental interest, the greater flexibility of optical systems may make it possible eventually to develop more-stable and moreportable atomic clocks.
Kappa light chain nephropathy. A pathologic study.

Percutaneous renal biopsies from 4 patients with clinically unsuspected kappa light chain nephropathy were studied using light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. The diagnosis in each case was established by demonstrating monoclonal kappa light chain deposits in basement membranes and basement membrane-like structures of glomeruli, tubules, and blood vessels by immunofluorescence microscopy. Characteristic electron dense deposits occurred in every case but the intensity and distribution of electron densitites did not correlate with the immunofluorescence findings. When light chain aggregation occurred, as evidenced by the distribution of electron dense deposits, it was proportional to the amount of basement membrane-like material as if these immunoglobulins had a particular affinity for structures chemically related to basement membranes. Although active tubulointerstitial lesions were prominent in all biopsies, there was considerable variation in glomerular pathology with only 1 case exhibiting the typical nodular glomerulosclerosis. Correlation of the light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopic findings in these cases suggests that the pathogenesis of kappa light chain nephropathy is related to light chain nephrotoxicity directed to basement membrane-like structures with subsequent alterations in hemodynamics and structural renal damage.
Longitudinal IQ Trends in Children Diagnosed with Emotional Disturbance: An Analysis of Historical Data.

The overwhelming majority of the research on the historical impact of IQ in special education has focused on children with cognitive disorders. Far less is known about its role for students with emotional concerns, including Emotional Disturbance (ED). To address this gap, the current study examined IQ trends in ED children who were repeatedly tested on various combinations of the WISC, WISC-R, and WISC-III using a geographically diverse, longitudinal database of special education evaluation records. Findings on test/re-test data revealed that ED children experienced IQ trends that were consistent with previous research on the Flynn effect in the general population. Unlike findings associated with test/re-test data for children diagnosed with cognitive disorders, however, ED re-diagnoses were unaffected by these trends. Specifically, ED children’s declining IQ scores when retested on newer norms did not result in changes in their ED diagnosis. The implications of this unexpected finding are discussed within the broader context of intelligence testing and special education policies.
Judicial Decision Making

This chapter reviews research on individual and situational differences in judicial decision making and proposes a framework for the study of judicial decision making that emphasizes the judge’s place within an accountability matrix provided by the legal system and the players within that system. The chapter closes with a discussion of the norms that one may use to analyze the quality of judicial decision making.
Body Mass Index and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Variables in Patients with Heart Failure

Background Obesity is often associated with reduced exercise capacity, but the impact of elevated body mass index (BMI) on CPET performance in patients with heart failure (HF) is incompletely understood. We sought to define the relationship between BMI, peak oxygen consumption (pkVO2) and minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production slope (VE/VCO2). A greater body mass should generate greater O2 consumption and CO2 production, but the interaction between BMI and minute ventilation is less clear, leaving uncertainty as to whether BMI has an independent relationship with VE/VCO2. Methods We retrospectively reviewed cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPETs) from 4/2017 to 11/2018 at a tertiary center. Patients with congenital or valvular heart disease were excluded. Baseline demographics, BMI on the day of testing, and key CPET parameters were recorded. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the BMI and key CPET parameters, and multivariable linear regression models constructed to identify independent relationships. Results There were 142 CPETs performed during the study period, of which 121 met inclusion criteria. The cohort (n=121) was 30% female, with median age 59 years and BMI 28.9 kg/m2. The primary cardiac condition was non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in 38%, ischemic cardiomyopathy in 40%, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 14% and HF with preserved ejection fraction in 8%. Median CPET parameters were exercise time 9.2 min, metabolic equivalents (METS) 5.4, respiratory exchange ratio (RER) 1.09, pkVO2 1.23 L/min, weight-adjusted pkVO2 14.6 mL/kg/min, VE/VCO2 34. There was a positive correlation between BMI and pkVO2 in L/min (r=0.40, p Conclusions Higher BMI was associated with greater pkVO2 (L/min) as expected, but this relationship was accounted for by using the weight-adjusted pkVO2 in mL/kg/min. Higher BMI was also independently associated with lower VE/VCO2, which is not routinely expressed in a weight-adjusted format. This highlights the importance of understanding interactions between BMI and CPET variables, including the finding that obesity may negatively bias the VE/VCO2 in patients with HF.
Alcohol abuse promotes breast cancer development and progression via StarD10 phosphorylation

BackgroundEpidemiological studies demonstrated that ethanol administration promotes breast cancer development and metastasis. Human breast cancer cells or mammary epithelial cells with a high expre...
Calcium Supplement Use Is Associated With Less Bone Mineral Density Loss, But Does Not Lessen the Risk of Bone Fracture Across the Menopause Transition: Data From the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Diet is a modifiable factor that is related to bone mass and risk for fractures; however, the use of calcium supplements for bone health is controversial, with little scientific agreement. The purpose of this analysis was to estimate the change in lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD and the risk of bone fracture by the use of calcium supplements among the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) participants. SWAN is a multicenter, multiethnic, community-based longitudinal cohort designed to examine the health of women across the menopause transition (n = 1490; aged 42 to 52 years at baseline in 1996 to 1997 and followed annually until 2006 to 2008). A mixed-effect model for repeated measures was used to estimate annualized BMD change across time between supplement users and nonusers, unadjusted or fully adjusted (age, race, height, weight, menopausal status [pre-, early peri-, late peri-, and postmenopausal], DXA scanner mode, alcohol intake, vitamin D supplement use, smoking, and physical activity) and a log-linear model with repeated measures was used to estimate the relative risk of fracture by calcium supplement use. All models were also stratified by baseline menopausal status. In fully adjusted models, calcium supplement use was associated with less annualized loss of femoral neck BMD (-0.0032 versus -0.0040 g/cm2/year; p < .001) and lumbar spine BMD (-0.0046 versus -0.0053 g/cm2/year, p = 0.021) in the complete cohort. However, this protective association of calcium supplement use with BMD loss was significant only among premenopausal women (femoral neck: -0.0032 versus -0.0042 g/cm2/year; p = 0.002; lumbar spine: -0.0038 versus -0.0050 g/cm2/year, p = 0.001); no significant differences in BMD were observed among women who were early perimenopausal by calcium supplement use at baseline. No significant differences in the relative risk of fracture were observed, regardless of baseline menopausal status. The use of calcium supplements was associated with less BMD loss over more than a decade, but was not related to the risk of incident bone fracture across the menopause transition. © 2019 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Reduced Intensity Conditioning Regimens in Combination with Total Marrow and Lymphoid Irradiation

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) following myeloablative chemotherapy (MAC) has been established as a proven treatment modality in patients with hematological malignancies. Total body irradiation (TBI) as an element of MAC has been shown to have a potent antileukemic effect, but it is associated with a high rate of toxicity at the standard levels of 12–15 Gy delivered to all organs. However, its use is limited due to a high rate of life-threatening toxicities, evident particularly in older patients and in patients with preexisting morbidities. Reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens were developed in an attempt to expand the curative potential of HCT to patients who are not eligible for a fully MAC regimens. Fludarabine (FLU) and melphalan (MEL) are two of the most commonly agents used in RIC. Multiple reports have demonstrated that long-term survival and disease control can be obtained with HCT following RIC; however, patients with advanced disease at the time of transplantation have suffered significantly higher rates of relapsed leukemia. That led to an assumption that the reduction in treatment intensity associated with the use of RIC may have a negative impact on long-term leukemic control. A sound hypothesis is that technologies that may improve the antileukemic effect of treatment while maintaining a low rate of toxicities may improve outcome of RIC. Total marrow and lymphatic irradiation (TMLI) using intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) enables the delivery of effective antileukemic doses to the marrow and lymphatic organ, and at the same time, delivering less lower doses to the adjacent organs, resulting in reduced toxic exposure to these organs. The chapter summarizes the experience of using helio-tomotherapy, an IMRT modality in combination with FLU/MEL, to augment the antileukemic effects of a standard RIC regimen without increasing the toxicity of the regimen.
Effects of configuration around the chiral carbon atoms on the crystal properties of ephedrinium and pseudoephedrinium salicylates.

The physicochemical properties and crystal structures of the crystalline salts formed by the interaction of an achiral anion, salicylate, with homochiral and racemic ephedrinium and pseudoephedrinium cations were determined. The interaction of ephedrinium or pseudoephedrinium with salicylate in aqueous solution yielded crystalline salts with the notable exception of homochiral ephedrinium. Evaporation of the solvent from solutions of homochiral ephedrine and salicyclic acid in various organic solvents, as well as grinding together solid homochiral ephedrine and solid salicylic acid, yielded viscous semisolids suggesting that homochiral ephedrinium salicylate has a low melting point and/or a high aqueous solubility. Mixing of the two viscous solids, obtained by grinding each of the opposite enantiomers of ephedrine with equimolar salicylic acid, resulted in the formation of racemic ephedrine and subsequently, upon heating, in the formation of racemic ephedrinium salicylate. While racemic ephedrinium salicylate exists as a crystalline compound (P21/n space group) with an equal number of opposite enantiomers in the unit cell, its diastereomer, racemic pseudoephedrinium salicylate, exists as a conglomerate, i.e. a physical mixture, of the homochiral crystals of the opposite enantiomers (each P21 space group). The inability of homochiral ephedrinium to exist as a crystalline salicylate salt at 20–25°C is attributed to its high energy conformation and/or to the poor packing of homochiral ephedrinium salicylate molecules in the crystal lattice.
Economically-Optimal Control of Electric Taxicab for Urban Driving Cycle

Electric taxicabs could potentially help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the life span of the electric taxicab's battery depends on the driving pattern and charging strategy. This paper investigates the optimal driving pattern and charging strategy for a plug-in electric taxi to maximize its operating profit by determining the optimal scheduling decision throughout its lifespan, which is equally divided into a set of consecutive time slots. For each time slot, there are four possible operations: driving, slow driving, parking, and charging. Instead of solving the scheduling problem for the whole batteries' lifespan as a single problem, to reduce the computational complexity, the whole problem is broken down to a series of sub-problems which are built for a short timespan. To address the real-world problem, the sub-problems are integrated with an electric vehicle simulation model, which provides the initial parameters. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can lower the daily battery cost by 2.2% and reduce the daily electricity cost.
Garden-based interventions and early childhood health: an umbrella review

Garden-based interventions show promise for improving not only child nutrition, but other indicators of child health. Yet, existing systematic reviews of garden-based interventions often focus on one particular health outcome or setting, creating a need to holistically summarize review-level evidence on the role of garden-based interventions in early childhood. To fill this gap, we performed an umbrella review of garden-based interventions to examine their role in early childhood health promotion for children ages 6 years and younger, examining effective components of garden-based interventions and critically evaluating existing evidence. We searched the following databases: PubMed, PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, OVID-Agricola, and CAB Direct, limiting to reviews published from 1990 to August 2019. Of the 9457 references identified, we included a total of 16 unique reviews for analysis. Across reviews, garden based-interventions were most effective at improving nutrition-related outcomes for children, including nutritional status and fruit and vegetable consumption. Few reviews examined child health outcomes of garden-based interventions that were not nutrition related, such as physical activity, or academic performance. Across settings, there was the most evidence in support of garden-based interventions conducted in home gardens, compared to evidence from early care and education or community settings. We were unable to report on most effective components of garden-based interventions due to limitations of included reviews. Existing evidence is difficult to interpret due to methodological limitations at both the review and primary study level. Therefore, the lack of evidence for certain child health outcomes should not necessarily be interpreted as an absence of an effect of garden-based interventions for specific outcomes, but as a product of these limitations. Given the breadth of evidence for garden-based interventions to improve a number of dimensions of health with older children and adult populations, we highlight areas of future research to address evidence gaps identified in this umbrella review. Further research on the role of garden-based interventions, including their impact on non-nutrition early childhood health outcomes and how effectiveness differs by setting type is necessary to fully understand their role in early childhood health promotion. CRD42019106848 .
Pregnancy, Birthing, and Postpartum Experiences During COVID-19 in the United States

The research aims of this project were to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnancy, birthing, and postpartum experiences in the United States. Our data include responses from 34 states within the US. Findings from our analyses indicate that higher perceived social support predicted higher scores of well-being, while higher scores of perceived loneliness predicted lower scores of well-being, and higher trauma predicted lower well-being measured as satisfaction with life. Qualitative data support these findings, as well as the finding that there were various sources of stress for respondents during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum timeframe-particularly in terms of managing work/occupation obligations and childcare. Additionally, this research fills a gap in understanding infant feeding in emergencies. Respondents perceived that early release from the hospital reduced access to lactation support, and many respondents reported receiving free samples of breastmilk substitutes through a variety of sources.
MicroRNA Regulates Early-Life Stress–Induced Depressive Behavior via Serotonin Signaling in a Sex-Dependent Manner in the Prefrontal Cortex of Rats

Abstract Background The underlying neurobiology of early-life stress (ELS)-induced major depressive disorder is not clearly understood. Methods In this study, we used maternal separation (MS) as a rodent model of ELS and tested whether microRNAs (miRNAs) target serotonin genes to regulate ELS-induced depression-like behavior and whether this effect is sex dependent. We also examined whether environmental enrichment prevents susceptibility to depression- and anxiety-like behavior following MS and whether enrichment effects are mediated through serotonin genes and their corresponding miRNAs. Results MS decreased sucrose preference, which was reversed by enrichment. Males also exhibited greater changes in forced swim climbing and escape latency tests only following enrichment. Slc6a4 and Htr1a were upregulated in the frontal cortex following MS. In male MS rats, enrichment slightly reversed Htr1a expression to levels similar to control rats. miR-200a-3p and miR-322-5p, which target SLC6A4, were decreased by MS, but not significantly. An HTR1A-targeting miRNA, miR-320-5p, was also downregulated by MS and showed slight reversal by enrichment in male animals. miR-320-5p targeting of Htr1a was validated in vitro using SHSY neuroblastoma cell lines. Conclusions Altogether, this study implicates miRNA interaction with the serotonin pathway in ELS-induced susceptibility to depression-related reward deficits. Furthermore, because of its recovery by enrichment in males, miR-320 may represent a viable sex-specific target for reward-related deficits in major depressive disorder.
Particle Accelerators: Their Triumphant History and Uncertain Future

The history of particle physics can be considered nothing less than a huge triumph for science. Over the course of a little more than a century of effort, our understanding of the world of atomic and subatomic physics went from a vague understanding of atoms, to one that is much more detailed. Early in this hundred-year-long period, we learned about electrons (1897), then how they circle a dense nucleus (1911), followed by the discovery of the protons (1917) and neutrons (1932) that form the nucleus. From the 1930s onward, researchers used both cosmic rays and particle accelerators to discover antimatter (1932), and particles that don’t exist in atoms (e.g., the muon [1936] and neutrino [1956], as well as a huge number of others).
Immigrant Identity in the U.S.: Black But Immigrant

This chapter addresses the challenges Ethiopian immigrants in the U.S. face when navigating the host country. As they attempt to survive in their new environment, they often struggle in determining whether to maintain native culture or embrace American culture. Navigating hegemonic structures and racial stereotypes and expectations inappropriately forced on them, they find that coping with anxieties associated with preserving, relinquishing, or assimilating their culture is a major challenge. Based on our findings, the women in our study negotiated between the use of the terms Ethiopian and Black versus African American. This chapter further explains what it means to be an immigrant and be classified as Black in America.
Doubly Robust Interval Estimation for Optimal Policy Evaluation in Online Learning

Evaluating the performance of an ongoing policy plays a vital role in many areas such as medicine and economics, to provide crucial instruction on the early-stop of the online experiment and timely feedback from the environment. Policy evaluation in online learning thus attracts increasing attention by inferring the mean outcome of the optimal policy (i.e., the value) in real-time. Yet, such a problem is particularly challenging due to the dependent data generated in the online environment, the unknown optimal policy, and the complex exploration and exploitation trade-off in the adaptive experiment. In this paper, we aim to overcome these difficulties in policy evaluation for online learning. We explicitly derive the probability of exploration that quantifies the probability of exploring the non-optimal actions under commonly used bandit algorithms. We use this probability to conduct valid inference on the online conditional mean estimator under each action and develop the doubly robust interval estimation (DREAM) method to infer the value under the estimated optimal policy in online learning. The proposed value estimator provides double protection on the consistency and is asymptotically normal with a Wald-type confidence interval provided. Extensive simulations and real data applications are conducted to demonstrate the empirical validity of the proposed DREAM method.
Do Pre-Main-Sequence Stars Drive Bipolar Molecular Outflows?

In some interpretations, the onset of a high velocity molecular outflow signals the end of the Class I stage of pre-main-sequence stellar life and marks an evolutionary period after which a Class II pre-main-sequence star remains. Since all but a handful of the hundreds of known molecular outflow sources are associated with Class I sources, this interpretation appears reasonable. The handful of more evolved Class II sources that apparently drive outflows are exceptions. In our infrared, polarimetric imaging program, we have made serendipitous discoveries that indicate the number of Class II sources that drive outflows may now be smaller by at least two than was previously thought.
Transient Analysis of Deterministic and Stochastic Petri Nets

Deterministic and stochastic Petri nets (DSPNs) are recognized as a useful modeling technique because of their capability to represent constant delays which appear in many practical systems. If at most one deterministic transition is allowed to be enabled in each marking, the state probabilities of a DSPN can be obtained analytically rather than by simulation. We show that the continuous time stochastic process underlying the DSPN with this condition is a Markov regenerative process and develop a method for computing the transient (time dependent) behavior. We also provide a steady state solution method using Markov regenerative process theory and show that it is consistent with the method of Ajmone Marsan and Chiola.
Self-stabilizing publish/subscribe protocol for p2p networks

In this paper, we develop a new self-stabilizing (fault tolerant) protocol for publish/subscribe scheme in a P2P network. We provide a complexity analysis of the recovery (stabilization) time of the protocol after arbitrary failures in the network. The protocol converges in at most $n^{2}({\it \Delta}+1)m+n^{3} - n$ time in the worst case where n, m, and ${\it \Delta}$ denote respectively the number of nodes, edges, and the maximum degree of a node in the system graph (network). We also propose a a space efficient way to utilize this self-stabilizing publish/subscribe scheme, which allows flexibility in implementations.
A social cognitive explanation of situational and individual effects on moral sensitivity

Models of moral decision making describe the process as beginning with the recognition of moral content in the decision environment. This recognition ability, or moral sensitivity, represents a key input to moral decision making. Adopting a social cognitive perspective, this paper studies the degree to which moral sensitivity is explained in terms of moral schema activation. In a single experiment, two situational factors (moral content priming and issue moral intensity) and two individual characteristics (moral identity and need for cognition) are tested for their effects on moral sensitivity. Results support the social cognitive explanation of moral sensitivity. The moral schema's propensity for activation, development, and accessibility significantly influence the ability to recognize moral issues in the decision environment.
Genetic analysis of G protein-coupled receptor genes.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the genetics of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) genes. GPCRs share a common structural topology characterized by seven hydrophobic domains, each 20–27 amino acids in length and presumed to correspond to transmembrane-spanning segments. N termini are extracellular, C termini are intracellular, and the intervening transmembrane segments are connected by three extracellular and three intracellular loops. GPCRs can be broadly classified into three distinct classes. Class I GPCRs are rhodopsin-like receptors. This is the largest class of GPCRs, with rhodopsin and the α-adrenergic receptor being the mostly extensively characterized. While some specific residues tend to be conserved within the entire class, distinct residues are generally conserved within specific subclasses. The second class of GPCRs are glycoprotein hormone receptors. This class includes receptors for secretin, glucagon, VIP, calcitonin, and PTH. This class has the seven transmembrane topology but lacks the structural signature sequences of class I receptors.
Perceived ethics of online retailers and consumer behavioral intentions: The mediating roles of trust and attitude

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of consumers' perception of online retailers' ethical behavior on consumer purchase and revisit intentions.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 259 online shoppers was employed to test the relationships between perceived ethics of online retailers and the intention to revisit and purchase. The measurement model and structural relationships were estimated using AMOS 18.Findings – Results show that perceived ethics of an Internet retailer's website significantly affect consumers' trust and attitudes to the retailer's website that eventually have positive impacts on purchase and revisit intentions. Website trust was positively related to attitude toward the site. The results do not show support for a direct effect between perceived ethics and behavioral intentions, but attitude and trust toward the website mediate these effects.Practical implications – The findings support the idea that despite the physical distance between online retailers a...
Prevalence of Speech Delay in 6-Year-Old Children and Comorbidity With Language Impairment

We estimate the prevalence of speech delay (L. D. Shriberg, D. Austin, B. A. Lewis, J. L. McSweeny, & D. L. Wilson, 1997b) in the United States on the basis of findings from a demographically repre...
Discrepancies in Autologous Bone Marrow Stem Cell Trials and Enhancement of Ejection Fraction (DAMASCENE): Weighted Regression and Meta-Analysis

Objective To investigate whether discrepancies in trials of use of bone marrow stem cells in patients with heart disease account for the variation in reported effect size in improvement of left ventricular function. Design Identification and counting of factual discrepancies in trial reports, and sample size weighted regression against therapeutic effect size. Meta-analysis of trials that provided sufficient information. Data sources PubMed and Embase from inception to April 2013. Eligibility for selecting studies Randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of autologous bone marrow stem cells for heart disease on mean left ventricular ejection fraction. Results There were over 600 discrepancies in 133 reports from 49 trials. There was a significant association between the number of discrepancies and the reported increment in EF with bone marrow stem cell therapy (Spearman’s r =0.4, P=0.005). Trials with no discrepancies were a small minority (five trials) and showed a mean EF effect size of −0.4%. The 24 trials with 1-10 discrepancies showed a mean effect size of 2.1%. The 12 with 11-20 discrepancies showed a mean effect of size 3.0%. The three with 21-30 discrepancies showed a mean effect size of 5.7%. The high discrepancy group, comprising five trials with over 30 discrepancies each, showed a mean effect size of 7.7%. Conclusions Avoiding discrepancies is difficult but is important because discrepancy count is related to effect size. The mechanism is unknown but should be explored in the design of future trials because in the five trials without discrepancies the effect of bone marrow stem cell therapy on ejection fraction is zero.