cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of a large library of macrocyclic peptides containing multiple and diverse N-alkylated residues

Large combinatorial libraries of macrocyclic peptides are a useful source of bioactive compounds. However, peptides are not generally cell permeable, so there is great interest in the development of methods to create large libraries of modified peptides. In particular, N-alkylation of peptides is known to improve their bioavailability significantly. Incorporation of some level of N-methylated amino acids into peptide libraries has been accomplished with ribosome display or related methods, but the modest efficiency and the inability to employ more diverse N-alkylated amino acids in this type of system argue for the development of synthetic libraries. Here we present optimized procedures for synthesizing macrocyclic peptides containing multiple N-alkylated units and show that this chemistry is efficient enough for the creation of high quality combinatorial libraries by split and pool solid-phase synthesis.
An integral approach to drug craving

Drug craving is thought to be a critical factor in compulsive drug use and relapse after treatment; yet there has been little attempt to integrate the disparate research and theoretical writing on the topic from neurobiology, pharmacology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and religious/spiritual traditions into a cohesive theory of craving. As a result, the field lacks clear definitions from which to develop useful assessment tools and effective treatment interventions for craving. This article selectively reviews the current scientific literature on drug craving, and proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework that integrates western science with eastern and indigenous philosophical perspectives that have the potential to add rich texture to our understandings of craving.
A framework for streamlining Globally Integrated services

Enterprises are transforming to Globally Integrated Enterprises wherein, among other things, the delivery of services is globally distributed spanning divisions, suppliers and geographies. A service itself can be at the level of business processes like processing expenses or personnel re-location (assignment), or IT changes like applying a patch. Given this trend, streamlining to reduce the time and cost effort needed to perform a service is more important than ever before. The reduction can come due to better coordination among activities, elimination of redundant activities, avoidance of situations that lead to additional costs and finally, automation of repetitive activities wherever possible. We propose a unified framework for streamlining services and apply it to cases from business and IT services.
Thyroglobulin Degradation: Particulate Intermediates Produced in Vivo

The 800–15,000 ig fraction of thyroid has previously been shown to contain colloid droplets, lysosomes and phagolysosomes. When this fraction was resuspended at acid pH, the release of iodoamino acids from their peptide linkage in thyroglobulin was observed and this release was enhanced by prior injection of TSH in vivo. In the present study 19S thyroglobulin along with 12–13S and 4–6S intermediates of thyroglobulin digestion have been demonstrated within this fraction. The smaller intermediates account for 40–60% of the iodoprotein of this fraction of thyroid and their concentration increases after TSH administration in vivo. These iodoproteins correspond to those found previously during in. vitro studies of thyroglobulin proteolysis in the presence of reduced glutathione (GSH) and a lysosomal enzyme preparation and also to thyroglobulin subunits produced by chemical disulfide reduction. Evidence is presented that these iodoprotein intermediates represent degradation products of thyroglobulin and not new...
A unified framework for model-based clustering

Model-based clustering techniques have been widely used and have shown promising results in many applications involving complex data. This paper presents a unified framework for probabilistic model-based clustering based on a bipartite graph view of data and models that highlights the commonalities and differences among existing model-based clustering algorithms. In this view, clusters are represented as probabilistic models in a model space that is conceptually separate from the data space. For partitional clustering, the view is conceptually similar to the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. For hierarchical clustering, the graph-based view helps to visualize critical/important distinctions between similarity-based approaches and model-based approaches. The framework also suggests several useful variations of existing clustering algorithms. Two new variations---balanced model-based clustering and hybrid model-based clustering---are discussed and empirically evaluated on a variety of data types.
Effect of Different Anti-Aβ Antibodies on Aβ Fibrillogenesis as Assessed by Atomic Force Microscopy

Extensive data suggest that the conversion of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide from soluble to insoluble forms is a key factor in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In recent years, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has provided useful insights into the physicochemical processes involving Aβ morphology, and it can now be used to explore factors that either inhibit or promote fibrillogenesis. We used ex situ AFM to explore the impact of anti-Aβ antibodies directed against different domains of Aβ on fibril formation. For the AFM studies, two monoclonal antibodies (m3D6 and m266.2) were incubated in solution with Aβ1–42 with a molar ratio of 1:10 (antibody to Aβ) over several days. Fibril formation was analyzed quantitatively by determining the number of fibrils per μm2 and by aggregate size analysis. m3D6, which is directed against an N-terminal domain of Aβ (amino acid residues 1–5) slowed down fibril formation. However, m266.2, which is directed against the central domain of Aβ (amino acid residues 13–28) appeared to completely prevent the formation of fibrils over the course of the experiment. Inhibition of fibril formation by both antibodies was also confirmed by thioflavin-T (ThT) fluorescence experiments carried out with Aβ1–40 incubated for five days. However, unlike AFM results, ThT did not differentiate between the samples incubated with m3D6 versus m266.2. These results indicate that AFM can be not only reliably used to study the effect of different molecules on Aβ aggregation, but that it can provide additional information such as the role of epitope specificity of antibodies as potential inhibitors of fibril formation.
How Does Assortment Affect Grocery Store Choice

Abstract The authors investigate the impact of product assortments, along with convenience, prices, and feature advertising, on consumers' grocery store choice decisions. Extending recent research on store choice, they add assortments as a predictor, specify a general structure for heterogeneity, and estimate store choice and category needs models simultaneously. Using household-level market basket data, the authors find that, in general, assortments are more important than retail prices in store choice decisions. They find that the number of brands offered in retail assortments has a positive effect on store choice for most households, while the number of stockkeeping units per brand, sizes per brand, and proportion of stockkeeping units that are unique to the store (a proxy for presence of private labels) have a negative effect on store choice for most households. They also find more heterogeneity in response to assortment than to either convenience or price. Therefore, optimal assortments depend on the...
Numerical Analysis for Hydrostatic and Nonhydrostatic Equations of Inertial-Internal Gravity Waves

Abstract A modified forward-backward scheme applied to the anelastic system is proposed. This modified scheme not only retains all the advantages of the conventional forward-backward scheme but also is more consistent with the original differential equations. This scheme is used to investigate inertial waves and internal gravity waves in three different lattices. It is found that the lattice C proposed by Deardorff is better than either lattice A or lattice B when applied to internal gravity waves and thermal convection in the atmosphere. The difference between a hydrostatic system and a nonhydrostatic system is also discussed in detail in this paper. Here we propose to apply Shuman's smoothing on a hydrostatic system to filter out the undesirably, highly oscillatory short waves, or stroll small-scale convection, so that we may produce reasonable results compared with those of a nonhydrostatic system. The validity of this method has been proved by the numerical results of a study on the mesoscale cloud ba...
Identifying Proactive Collaboration Strategies for Teacher Readiness for Marginalized Students.

This research discusses the value of collaborating to develop strategies that enhance teacher readiness for the marginalized student and the use of qualitative data that can lead to student academic and social success. Education domains include the learning environment, technology, and building parent and community connections. This research includes data from participants of an educators’ professional development workshop regarding the use of appropriate and proactive pedagogical strategies and theories.
Frequency of Proterozoic geomagnetic superchrons

Abstract Long-term geodynamo evolution is expected to respond to inner core growth and changing patterns of mantle convection. Three geomagnetic superchrons, during which Earth's magnetic field maintained a near-constant polarity state through tens of Myr, are known from the bio/magnetostratigraphic record of Phanerozoic time, perhaps timed according to supercontinental episodicity. Some geodynamo simulations incorporating a much smaller inner core, as would have characterized Proterozoic time, produce field reversals at a much lower rate. Here we compile polarity ratios of site means within a quality-filtered global Proterozoic paleomagnetic database, according to recent plate kinematic models. Various smoothing parameters, optimized to successfully identify the known Phanerozoic superchrons, indicate 3–10 possible Proterozoic superchrons during the 1300 Myr interval studied. Proterozoic geodynamo evolution thus appears to indicate a relatively narrow range of reversal behavior through the last two billion years, implying either remarkable stability of core dynamics over this time or insensitivity of reversal rate to core evolution.
Converting an existing communication system into SCA compliant SDR

This paper presents an implementation of converting an existing Digital Communication System which uses Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components and any standard interface like PCI, USB, or Ethernet, to an SCA compliant SDR. Since the initiation of Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program, the concept of Software Defined Radio (SDR) has received considerable attention. Converting the existing Commercial receivers into SCA compliant Receiver requires special consideration as it needs direct hardware interfacing. This paper presents a general implementation that uses drivers and system level calls to build a glue layer to make an existing communication system SCA compliant. The paper uses Open Source SCA Implementation Embedded (OSSIE) for demonstration.
Electroluminescent Display

Although there is considerable interest today in electroluminescent display devices, interest in this subject has varied greatly in the past. As far back as 1937 Destriau carried out experiments on phosphor powders and discovered that luminescence could be produced by the direct application of an electric field.3 Unfortunately his work was either ignored or looked upon with suspicion by the scientific community until 1950 when workers at the Sylvania Co. demonstrated that practical largetrea luminescent panels12 could be made, bsed on Destriau's work. The ensuing few years saw much activity as individuals at various laboratories undertook the study of electrically addressing such panels with the thought of flat-panel TV displays as their ultimate goal. The confidence tnd euphoria initially prevailing soon gave way to widespread pessimism as it became evident that some very difficult problems stood in the way. Aside from the fact that relatively high voltages were required to excite electroluminescent layers, the low average brightness obtained under pulsed or intermittent excitation when sequentially addressing elements seemed discouraging. In addition it was found that the addressing of selected elements by arrays of X-Y conductors caused excessive excitation of other elements, making the contrast of any image impractically low. Equally discouraging was the fact that the operating life of early layers was frequently only a few hundred hours.
The Relation of Pteroylglutamic Acid to Metal-Porphyrin Enzymes.∗

SummaryStreptococcus faccalis was grown in the usual PGA-deficient medium containing graded amounts of PGA, to which either 0.05% potassium cyanide, 0.5% caffeine, or 0.012% hydrogen peroxide was added as an inhibitor. The inhibition induced by any of these three substances was partially reversed by large amounts of PGA. In control experiments where the Ca pantothenate content of the medium was varied but the PGA content kept constant, no such reversal of inhibition was found even with high levels of Capantothenate. these data lend additional support to the suggestion that PGA is involved in thc synthesis of the porphyrin portions of metal-porphyrin enzymes.
A Cytological Comparison of Germinating Aeciospores In The Cronartium Coleosporioides Complex

Different patterns of nuclear behavior are found in the aecial stages of members of the Cronartium coleosporioides complex. Nuclear behavior in the heteroecious members, Peridermium stalactiforme a...
On emergencies and emigration: how (not) to justify compulsory medical service

I have argued that the best way to understand the supposed right to restrict emigration is with reference to the concept of an emergency; restrictions on emigration are permitted, if at all, only as responses to an emergency situation, and must be judged with reference to the ethics of responding to such an emergency. Eszter Kollar argues, against this, that the concept of ‘emergency’ fails to describe the actual situation in low/middle-income countries, in which shortages of medical personnel are long-standing problems; she also argues that there is no need to invoke the concept of an emergency, when we might simply discuss these restrictions with reference to the relative importance of the human goods and interests involved. I argue, against Kollar, that we have no reason to think that an emergency must involve novelty; if the moral stakes are significant enough, we have reason to think of a situation as an emergency, regardless of when that situation began. I argue, too, that we have reason to differentiate between restrictions of liberties undertaken as part of the process of specifying liberal freedoms and emergency restrictions of those liberties defended by liberalism itself. The latter, I suggest, ought to be recognised and defended as a distinct moral category, if only to recognise the continuing moral remainder when a liberal right is temporarily suspended under emergency circumstances. I conclude that a permission to restrict emigration is, if at all, only justifiable as an emergency response to unfavourable circumstances, and ought not to be analysed in the more conventional liberal terms Kollar deploys.
TU-D-201-05: Validation of Treatment Planning Dose Calculations: Experience Working with MPPG 5.a

Purpose: Newly published medical physics practice guideline (MPPG 5.a.) has set the minimum requirements for commissioning and QA of treatment planning dose calculations. We present our experience in the validation of a commercial treatment planning system based on MPPG 5.a. Methods: In addition to tests traditionally performed to commission a model-based dose calculation algorithm, extensive tests were carried out at short and extended SSDs, various depths, oblique gantry angles and off-axis conditions to verify the robustness and limitations of a dose calculation algorithm. A comparison between measured and calculated dose was performed based on validation tests and evaluation criteria recommended by MPPG 5.a. An ion chamber was used for the measurement of dose at points of interest, and diodes were used for photon IMRT/VMAT validations. Dose profiles were measured with a three-dimensional scanning system and calculated in the TPS using a virtual water phantom. Results: Calculated and measured absolute dose profiles were compared at each specified SSD and depth for open fields. The disagreement is easily identifiable with the difference curve. Subtle discrepancy has revealed the limitation of the measurement, e.g., a spike at the high dose region and an asymmetrical penumbra observed on the tests with an oblique MLC beam. The excellent results we had (> 98% pass rate on 3%/3mm gamma index) on the end-to-end tests for both IMRT and VMAT are attributed to the quality beam data and the good understanding of the modeling. The limitation of the model and the uncertainty of measurement were considered when comparing the results. Conclusion: The extensive tests recommended by the MPPG encourage us to understand the accuracy and limitations of a dose algorithm as well as the uncertainty of measurement. Our experience has shown how the suggested tests can be performed effectively to validate dose calculation models.
Associations and Trends in Cause-Specific Rates of Death Among Persons Reported with HIV Infection, 23 U.S. Jurisdictions, Through 2011.

Background Published death rates for persons with HIV have not distinguished deaths due to HIV from deaths due to other causes. Cause-specific death rates would allow better assessment of care needs. Methods Using data reported to the US national HIV surveillance system, we examined a) associations between selected decedent characteristics and causes of death during 2007-2011, b) trends in rates of death due to underlying causes among persons with AIDS during 1990-2011, and among all persons with diagnosed HIV infection (with or without AIDS) during 2000-2011. Results During 2007-2011, non-HIV-attributable causes of death with the highest rates per 1,000 person-years were heart disease (2.0), non-AIDS cancers other than lung cancer (1.4), and accidents (0.8). During 1990-2011, among persons with AIDS, the annual rate of death due to HIV-attributable causes decreased by 89% (from 122.0 to 13.2), and the rate due to non-HIV-attributable-causes decreased by 57% (from 20.0 to 8.6), while the percentage of deaths caused by non-HIV-attributable causes increased from 11% to 43%. During 2000-2011, among persons with HIV infection, the rate of death due to HIV-attributable causes decreased by 69% (from 26.4 to 8.3), and the rate due to non-HIV-attributable causes decreased by 28% (from 10.5 to 7.6), while the percentage of deaths caused by non-HIV-attributable causes increased from 25% to 48%. Conclusion Among HIV-infected persons, as rates of death due to HIV-attributable causes decreased, rates due to non-HIV-attributable causes also decreased, but the percentages of deaths due to non-HIV-attributable causes, such as heart disease and non-AIDS cancers increased.
Computed Tomographic Analysis of the Composition of Renal Calculi

The recent advent of percutaneous removal of renal calculi — including extraction, dissolution, and ultrasonic or electromechanical destruction of calculi — makes it important to determine the chemical composition of a patient’s calculus prior to deciding upon the best method of therapy. While blood chemistry, examination of the urine sediment, and review of the patient’s clinical history are helpful in this regard, the true nature of a calculus often remains in doubt. The experiment detailed in this report represents an initial, ex vivo evaluation of computed tomography (CT) as a method of improving the categorization of calculi prior to deciding upon a treatment plan. Our results indicate that CT may prove to be a useful adjunct to traditional clinical and laboratory methods for discriminating among types of renal calculi.
Cryopreservation of Client Depositor Semen

The primary purpose of the Andrology Center and Reproductive Tissue Bank is to provide quality sperm cryopreservation service to those patients who have been diagnosed with cancer and will undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy. This service is also provided to pre-vasectomy patients, patients undergoing vasectomy reversals, as well as those needing sperm for IVF backup or general fertility preservation purposes.
Advanced Photoelectrochemical Characterization: Principles and Applications of Dual-Working-Electrode Photoelectrochemistry

The performance of a photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production can be enhanced by integrating an overlayer of electrocatalyst (EC) with the light-absorbing semiconductor (SC). However, the mechanisms through which the EC overlayer improves performance of composite photoelectrodes are not well understood. While the simple view is that the addition of the EC increases reaction kinetics, real systems are more complicated due to the existence of multiple, interacting components. Knowledge about the dynamic state of each critical component in complex photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems such as catalyzed photoelectrodes (and, e.g., dye-sensitized solar cells) could provide important insights. This information, however, is typically not directly accessible through a conventional three-electrode PEC cell setup with a single-working electrode (SWE) connected to the SC, a counter electrode, and a reference electrode. In this chapter we discuss the “dual-working-electrode” (DWE) PEC experimental technique that features an additional working electrode, which could be used to directly monitor or control the state of crucial components, such as the EC layer of a composite photoelectrode. We illustrate how this DWE PEC technique was employed to directly measure the in situ properties of SC|EC junctions in model water-oxidizing photoanodes and thus help answer the question of how the EC layer improves the PEC performance of composite photoelectrodes. We further discuss directions for future efforts in this area.
Molecular characterization of the tubulin-related gene families in herbicide resistant and susceptible goosegrass (Eleusine indica).

Goosegrass, wide spread throughout the tropics and subtropics, is one of the most noxious weeds known. Recently, biotypes of goosegrass have been found resistant to the dini- troaniline herbicides. An alteration in the structure/compo- sition of a tubulin protein has been postulated as an explanation for the hyperstable microtubules and the resis- tant phenotype. Our study was initiated to investigate the structure of the alpha (a)-, beta (ji)- and gamma (y)-tubulin related gene sequences in resistant, intermediately resistant, and susceptible biotypes. Heterologous tubulin gene clones were used as probes of restriction endonuclease-digested genomic DNA from each biotype, to determine gene size and copy number and to screen for restriction fragment length polymorphisms. The tubulin genes are organized into gene families. There are three to five a-tubulin genes, four to seven j-tubulin genes, and four to eight y-tubulin genes. There was no evidence of multiple copies or tandem repeats of any individual gene sequence. Although RFLPs were observed, no significant difference in the banding pattern between the resistant and the susceptible biotypes was found for either ot-, i-, or -y-tubulin gene families. Therefore, it is unlikely that the difference between the herbicide-response phenotypes can be attributed to large deletions or insertions in a tubulin gene. Nomenclature: Goosegrass, Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. #3 ELEIN, green foxtail, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. #
Impact of wind turbine modeling on a hybrid renewable energy system

This paper investigates the impact of the wind turbine (WT) modeling on a hybrid wind-photovoltaic (PV) system installed in a city in Jordan. A closer look is taken at the parameters affecting the output power to accurately model the system. This helps in monitoring the turbine performance, sizing of the wind farm and the entire hybrid system, which will definitely affect the annual energy extracted (AEE) from a single WT as well as the entire wind turbines (WTs). Also, the cost of the hybrid system such as the net present cost (NPC), the grid operating cost (GOC) and the cost of energy (COE) will be affected. Six WT models are added to Hybrid Optimization Multiple Energy Resources software in order to see the sizing and cost effects of the new system. A step-by-step analysis and design of each proposed WT model and its effects on the hybrid system are presented. Results show that as the WT simplified models change from the cubic, quadratic, toward the linear one, the resulting system has a significant percentage error in the estimation of the cost as well as AEE. Also, the number of WTs increases at the system level till it becomes a wind only configuration in the linear model. But, this is at the penalty of the imprecise sizing solution, which leads to wrong estimates for the project investment. Therefore, the WT has to be modeled accurately by considering many parameters such as the air density, e.g., geographic elevation. The results show that the WT model designed at sea level shows error estimates in both AEE and the system cost from the one designed at actual temperature or elevation above sea level (a.s.l). The simple WT models will not deliver the AEE theoretically calculated. This energy deficit will be substituted by the more expensive on-grid conventional power plant fuel energy. In other words, in order to solve a real problem, the real values for parameters affecting the WT model have to be considered. The same procedure can be applied in other locations around the world.
Transfusion Requirements in ESRD Patients Admitted with GI Hemorrhage Undergoing Inpatient Endoscopy.

OBJECTIVES To date there are no studies evaluating the utilization of blood products in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) with gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage. This study estimated transfusion needs and determined predictors available at the time of admission for patients with ESRD admitted to a university hospital with GI bleeding requiring inpatient endoscopy. METHODS A retrospective chart review was performed on all patients with ESRD who underwent inpatient endoscopy for suspected GI bleeding between 2009 and 2015. RESULTS Ninety-nine hospital admissions from 76 patients met the inclusion criteria. Patients received mean 2.9 ± 2.6 red blood cell (RBC) units. In the multivariate analysis, increased prothrombin time, low initial hemoglobin, admission to intensive care unit, congestive heart failure, white race (P = 0.08), and syncope (P = 0.09) were independent predictors of RBC transfusion. A total of 28% received fresh frozen plasma and 8% received platelets. Prolonged prothrombin time was the only independent predictor of fresh frozen plasma transfusion (P < 0.001). Platelet transfusion was predicted by thrombocytopenia at platelet counts <100,000/mm3 (P < 0.001) and white race. Coronary artery disease was associated with reduced platelet transfusion. Other baseline comorbidities, bleeding source, and active/recent hemorrhage on endoscopy did not predict transfusion. Desmopressin use was not associated with reduced RBC needs, even after adjusting for other covariates. Ninety-seven percent of patients survived to discharge. CONCLUSIONS Patients with ESRD admitted to the hospital with GI bleeding have high blood transfusion requirements, which are predicted by variables available at the time of admission. Rockall score and most other predictors of mortality did not predict transfusion.
Comparative evaluation of the stability of two different dental implant designs and surgical protocols—a pilot study

The purpose of this study was to compare a parallel wall design implant to a tapered apex design implant when placed in the posterior maxilla using two different surgical protocols. Twenty-seven patients (30 implants) were divided into three groups. All implants were 4 mm wide in diameter and 8 mm long. Group A received 10 tapered implants (OSPTX) (Astra Tech OsseoSpeed TX™) using the soft bone surgical protocol (TXSoft). Group B received 10 tapered implants (OSPTX) (AstraTech OsseoSpeedTX™) using the standard surgical protocol (TXStd). Group C received 10 parallel wall implants (OSP) (AstraTech OsseoSpeed™) using the standard surgical protocol (OStd). All implants were placed in the posterior maxilla in areas with a minimum of 8-mm crestal bone height. Resonance frequency measurements (implant stability quotient (ISQ)) and torque values were recorded to determine initial implant stability. All implants were uncovered 6 weeks after placement and restored with a functionally loaded resin provisional screw-retained crown. Resonance frequency measurements were recorded at the time of implant placement, at 6 weeks and 6 and 12 months. Twelve months after implant placement, the stability of the implants was recorded and the final restorations were placed using custom CAD/CAM fabricated abutments and cement-retained PFM DSIGN porcelain crowns. After implant restoration, bone levels were measured at 6 and 12 months with standardized radiographs. Radiographic mean bone loss was less than 0.5 mm in all groups, with no statistically significant differences between the groups. Implant survival rate at 1 year was 93.3%, with 2/30 implants failing to integrate prior to functional loading at 6 weeks. No statistically significant difference was found between ISQ measurements between the three groups at all time intervals measured. Strong positive correlations were found between overall bone loss at 6 months and insertion torque at time of placement. A very weak correlation was found between insertion torque and ISQ values at time of implant placement. Survival and stability of OSPTX and OSP implants is comparable. Osteotomy preparation by either standard or soft bone surgical protocol presented no significant effect on implant survival and stability for the specific implant designs.
Dyonic Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorem and symmetry protected topological phases in decorated dimer models

Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) theorem and its various generalizations provide powerful guidance towards the search for novel phases of matter. Here, the authors propose and prove a generalized LSM theorem suitable for 2+1D lattice models of interacting bosons or spins, with both magnetic flux and fractional spin in the unit cell. One outcome of this theorem is that, under certain conditions, the gapped ground states preserving all symmetries must be a nontrivial symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase. Such symmetry-enforced SPTs display a dyonic character in that they associate charge with symmetry flux, which is demonstrated using quasiexactly solvable models constructed by decorating quantum dimer models.
What Moral Distress in Nursing History Could Suggest about the Future of Health Care

The concept of moral distress was defined in 1984 as (a) the psychological distress of (b) being in a situation in which one is constrained from acting (c) on what one knows to be right. A substantial literature on the subject has developed, primarily in nursing ethics. The aforementioned elements of distress are applied here to areas of clinical and organizational significance: (a) distress from causing intimate pain during care of the dying, (b) constraints stemming from proximate and background challenges of health care organizations, and (c) changing perspectives on therapeutic technologies derived from global environmental perspectives. Although moral distress may be increasing in clinical settings, nursing advocates are developing positive ways to cope with it that can help clinicians in general.
Male territorial aggression does not drive conformity to local vocal culture in a passerine bird

In many songbird species, young individuals learn songs from neighbors and then settle nearby, thus creating neighborhoods of conformity to local vocal culture. In some species, individuals appear to postpone song learning until after dispersal, possibly to facilitate conformity to local dialects. Despite decades of study, we still lack a consensus regarding the selective pressures driving this delayed song learning. Two common hypothetical benefits to conformity, and thus delayed song learning, are rooted in territorial interactions; individuals preferentially produce local song either to avoid detection as new arrivals (deceptive mimicry) or to be more effectively recognized as conspecific territory holders. The dickcissel (Spiza americana) is an ideal species in which to study these hypotheses. Males of this species appear to delay song learning until they arrive at their first adult territory, each individual sings a single song type, and conformity to the local song culture is high. Using playback, we contradicted both of the territorial hypotheses described above; male dickcissels did not respond differentially to local vs foreign song playback treatment. We are confident in this lack of difference because dickcissels clearly responded less strongly to a third treatment, neighbor song, than to the other two treatments, demonstrating sufficient power in our experimental design (and providing the first evidence of the dear-enemy effect in dickcissels). Our results raise the question of why dickcissels respond equally aggressively to both local and foreign songs when other bird species often show reduced aggression toward foreign song. If reduced aggression to foreign song is not ubiquitous in species that achieve conformity through delayed learning, then selection from aggressive territorial interaction seems unlikely to be a general explanation for such delayed learning. Reduced aggression in response to foreign songs in other species may be due to reduced exposure to the stimulus of foreign song or to different cost-benefit trade-offs when responding to songs that deviate from the local average.
Priced out: Stuyvesant Town and the loss of middle class neighborhoods

New York City has one of the most expensive housing markets in the United States and the world. In response, the city has long imposed rent regulations and has itself subsidized housing both for lo...
Hadamard-Encoded Multipulses for Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging

The development of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging offers great opportunities for new ultrasound clinical applications such as myocardial perfusion imaging and abdominal lesion characterization. In CEUS imaging, the contrast agents (i.e., microbubbles) are utilized to improve the contrast between blood and tissue based on their high nonlinearity under low ultrasound pressure. In this paper, we propose a new CEUS pulse sequence by combining Hadamard-encoded multipulses (HEM) with fundamental frequency bandpass filter (i.e., filter centered on transmit frequency). HEM consecutively emits multipulses encoded by a second-order Hadamard matrix in each of the two transmission events (i.e., pulse-echo events), as opposed to conventional CEUS methods which emit individual pulses in two separate transmission events (i.e., pulse inversion (PI), amplitude modulation (AM), and PIAM). In HEM imaging, the microbubble responses can be improved by the longer transmit pulse, and the tissue harmonics can be suppressed by the fundamental frequency filter, leading to significantly improved contrast-to-tissue ratio (CTR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, the fast polarity change between consecutive coded pulse emissions excites strong nonlinear microbubble echoes, further enhancing the CEUS image quality. The spatial resolution of HEM image is compromised as compared to other microbubble imaging methods due to the longer transmit pulses and the lower imaging frequency (i.e., fundamental frequency). However, the resolution loss was shown to be negligible and could be offset by the significantly enhanced CTR, SNR, and penetration depth. These properties of HEM can potentially facilitate robust CEUS imaging for many clinical applications, especially for deep abdominal organs and heart.
Maximum Margin Reward Networks for Learning from Explicit and Implicit Supervision

Neural networks have achieved state-of-the-art performance on several structured-output prediction tasks, trained in a fully supervised fashion. However, annotated examples in structured domains are often costly to obtain, which thus limits the applications of neural networks. In this work, we propose Maximum Margin Reward Networks, a neural network-based framework that aims to learn from both explicit (full structures) and implicit supervision signals (delayed feedback on the correctness of the predicted structure). On named entity recognition and semantic parsing, our model outperforms previous systems on the benchmark datasets, CoNLL-2003 and WebQuestionsSP.
Recovery of Fuel-Precursor Lipids from Oleaginous Yeast

Bioderived lipids offer a potentially promising intermediate to displace petroleum-derived diesel. One of the key challenges for the production of lipids via microbial cell mass is that these products are stored intracellularly and must be extracted and recovered efficiently and economically. Thus, improved methods of cell lysis and lipid extraction are needed. In this study, we examine lipid extraction from wet oleaginous yeast in combination with seven different cell lysis approaches encompassing both physical and chemical techniques (high-pressure homogenization, microwave and conventional thermal treatments, bead beating, acid, base, and enzymatic treatments) to facilitate lipid extraction from a model oleaginous yeast strain, Lipomyces starkeyi. Of the seven techniques investigated, acid treatment led to the highest lipid recovery yields. Further exploration of acid treatment and integration with an economic model revealed that treatment at 170 °C for 60 min at 1 wt % H2SO4 and 8 wt % yeast solids re...
Genetic control of host resistance to diseases

Resistance to disease can be attributed to multiple host genes. One important set of genes that has been demonstrated to be associated with resistance/susceptibility to such diverse diseases as arthritis of the spine, herpes virus induced Marek’s diseases, and diabetes, is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The MHC codes for cell surface proteins that regulate a wide range of host cellular and humoral immune responses. For this paper, the epidemiologic and breeding data showing MHC association for several diseases is presented, and the potential mechanisms involved in causing this genetic regulation is discussed. In addition, the importance of MHC genes in predicting responses to small proteins and, for the future, to genetically engineered peptide vaccines is examined. Then, as a background for analyzing the molecular biology of MHC genes, the genetic structure of the MHC and the current status of monoclonal antibody reagents that react with specific MHC cell surface antigens is reviewed. DNA cloning of individual MHC genes and the potential for restriction fragment length polymorphism mapping of MHC genes is analyzed. Finally, future prospects for altering immune responses associated with diseases by producing transgenic animals are discussed.
Beliefs Underlying Stress Reduction and Depression Help-Seeking among College Students: An Elicitation Study.

Objective: This study illustrates how a theory-based approach can identify college students’ beliefs about stress reduction activities and help-seeking for depression. These beliefs are the basis f...
Modular Forensic Architectures

We describe modular (hybrid) forensic architectures for verification (‘surveillance’), gender and ethnic classification of human faces and show their feasibility using a collection of 3,006 face images corresponding to 1,009 subjects from the FERET database. The hybrid approach consists of two modules : an ensemble of connectionist networks — radial basis functions (RBF) — and an inductive decision tree (DT). The specific functionalities of our hybrid architecture include (a) query by consensus provided by the ensemble of networks to cope with the inherent variability of the image formation and data acquisition process, (b) categorical classification provided by decision trees, and (c) flexible and adaptive thresholds as opposed to ad hoc and hard thresholds provided by DT as well. Experimental results prove the feasibility of our approach as they yield (i) 96% accuracy, for the verification task, (ii) 96% accuracy on gender classification, and (iii) 94% accuracy on the ethnic classification task.
Frequency Domain Processing

In this chapter we review some of the techniques proposed in the literature to deal with the problem of robustness to noise and tilt in the spectrum. These techniques were adapted to our present system and modified when necessary. Several approaches have been tried in conjunction with our census database and the Sphinx system. Specifically, we will describe the use of multi-style training in the case of multiple acoustical environments, and combinations of spectral subtraction and equalization algorithms.
Phosphorus retention in corn, spray dried plasma protein, soybean meal, meat and bone meal, and canola meal using a precision-fed rooster assay.

ABSTRACT Four experiments were conducted to evaluate the precision-fed rooster assay for determining excreta phosphorus retention values for 5 feed ingredients in which roosters were precision-fed the ingredients and excreta were collected quantitatively for 48 h. The first rooster assay determined the effects of increasing P intakes on excreta P retention values for corn. This assay involved feeding either 20 g of corn or 20 g of corn supplemented with increasing amounts of KH2 PO4 to provide total P intakes of 51 to 351 mg and non-phytate P intakes of 16 to 316 mg. The excreta P retention value for corn fed alone was 75% but decreased greatly when non-phytate P intakes were 76 mg or higher for the corn diets containing added KH2 PO4. The second precision-fed rooster assay involved feeding increasing amounts of spray dried plasma protein (SDPP) (5 to 20 g) which provided non-phytate P intakes of 61 to 242 mg. Excretion of P increased and excreta P retention values decreased from 94 to 60% as SDPP intake increased from 5 to 20 g. Experiment 3 determined excreta P retention values for solvent extracted dehulled soybean meal (SBM) (24 g intake) and also the effect of increasing intakes of SDPP (5 to 10 g) and meat and bone meal (MBM) (1.5 to 10 g) on their excreta P retention values. The excreta P retention value for SBM was 41%. Excreta P retention values for SDPP again decreased as P intake increased. Excreta P retention values for MBM were low (27 to 35%) at all intakes. In Experiment 4, roosters were tube-fed 8, 16, or 24 g of canola meal and excreta P retention values varied from 23 to 35% among intake levels. The results of this study indicated that excreta P retention values often varied greatly among different levels of ingredient and non-phytate phosphorus intake and suggest that the precision-fed assay may be useful for determining bioavailability of P only if non-phytate P intakes are low. In addition, the assay may not be accurate for ingredients which contain high Ca levels such as MBM.
The Physical Activity Patterns of Greenway Users Playing Pokémon Go: A Natural Experiment

Abstract Objective: The aim of the study was to compare objectively measured physical activity (PA) between greenway users playing and not playing Pokemon Go. Materials and Methods: A sample of 100...
Tales of the structures of molecules

Through an overview of James Watson’s recounting of the discovery of the structure of DNA, Chris Toumey illustrates the value to be found in the stories of the interaction among scientists behind great scientific discoveries.
Photon-induced suppression of interlayer tunneling in van der Waals heterostructures

We develop a theory for interlayer tunneling in van der Waals heterostructures driven under a strong electromagnetic field, using $\text{graphene}/h\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{BN}/\text{graphene}$ as a paradigmatic example. Our theory predicts that strong antiresonances appear at bias voltage values equal to an integer multiple of the light frequency. These features are found to originate from photon-assisted resonant tunneling transitions between Floquet sidebands of different graphene layers, and are unique to two-band systems due to the interplay of both intraband and interband tunneling transitions. Our results point to the possibility of tunneling localization in van der Waals heterostructures using strong electromagnetic fields.
Mixed-integer optimization methods for online scheduling in large-scale HVAC systems

Due to time-varying utility prices, peak demand charges, and variable-efficiency equipment, optimal operation of heating ventilation, and air conditioning systems in campuses or large buildings is nontrivial. Given forecasts of ambient conditions and utility prices, system energy requirements can be reduced by optimizing heating/cooling load within buildings and then choosing the best combination of large chillers, boilers, etc., to meet that load while accounting for switching constraints and equipment performance. With the presence of energy storage, utility costs can be further reduced by temporally shifting production, which adds an additional layer of complexity. Furthermore, due to changes in market and weather conditions, it is necessary to revise a given schedule regularly as updated information is received, which means the problem must be tractable in real time (e.g., solvable within 15 min). In this paper, we present a mixed-integer linear programming model for this problem along with reformulations, decomposition approaches, and approximation strategies to improve tractability. Simulations are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of these methods. By removing symmetry from identical equipment, decomposing the problem into subproblems, and approximating longer-timescale behavior, large instances can be solved in real time to within 1% of the true optimal solution.
Original research articleUmbilical cord transection to induce fetal demise prior to second-trimester D&E abortion☆

Objective Induction of fetal demise via transabdominal injection has been used to facilitate second-trimester abortion but requires a second procedure and has associated risks. The method of amniotomy, cord transection and documentation of fetal asystole immediately prior to dilation and evacuation (DE however, characteristics of this method have not been described.
Adoptive Transfer Colitis.

Lymphocytes are an important component of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis. T cells in particular are potent inducers of inflammation in this disease as well as recurrent players in chronic lesion formation. Here we describe a method for adoptive transfer colitis in mice, which serves as a T cell-based model of inflammatory bowel disease. Adoptive transfer utilizes naive CD4+ T cells that are administered to immunodeficient mice, which then induce a chronic pancolitis. Here, protocols are provided for the isolation and purification of naive CD4+ T cells, as well as proper administration to test mice and important points to consider in monitoring disease progression and potential downstream applications. This method provides a way to target the contribution of T cells to IBD models, as well as providing a repeatable and physiologically relevant model of disease.