cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hydrosilylation of m‐TMI: New siloxane based aliphatic polyisocynates

Polyfunctional aliphatic isocyanates were obtained by the hydrosilylation of m-isopropenyl-α,α-dimethylbenzyl isocyanate(m-TMI) with cyclic and acyclic hydrogenmethylsiloxanes. The products result exclusively from β-addition to m-TMI. Polymers with SiH groups are also effective hydrosilylating agents of m-TMI. The isocyanato siloxanes can be used as precursors for star and network polymers as well as other polyfunctional reagents, and examples of reactions with methoxy polyethylene glycol and with amine-containing compounds are discussed
Summer and Migrational Movements of Satellite-Marked Double-crested Cormorants from a Breeding Colony Managed by Egg-Oiling in Lake Ontario, USA

Abstract. A two-year satellite telemetry study was initiated in May 2000 at a Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) breeding colony on Little Galloo Island (LGI) in eastern Lake Ontario, New York, USA, which is managed by egg-oiling. The objective was to describe cormorant (N = 26/year) movements, specifically during the period of reproductive management by egg-oiling and seasonally (breeding, migration and wintering). Egg-oiling at two-week intervals resulted in a hatch success on LGI of 5.7% for 2000 and 2001, combined. The majority (97%) of core use areas of marked cormorants contained LGI throughout three egg-oiling treatments (six weeks), and 71% still contained LGI by the end of the final (fourth) treatment (eight weeks). Of cormorants that moved during or after control activities, three remained in the vicinity of active breeding colonies for over three months. Cormorants initiated fall migration over a 16-week period ranging from 12 July to 29 October, with a mean departure date of 6 Se...
PHYLOGENY OF THE THORACICAN BARNACLES BASED ON 18S rDNA SEQUENCES

Abstract The phylogeny of select Thoracican barnacles was estimated from 18S rDNA sequences. Six new sequences were included, Semibalanus cariosus, Tamiosoma aquila, Balanus glandula, Balanus nubilus, Megabalanus californicus, and Pollicipes polymerus. These were combined with previously published sequences from Genbank. Our maximum likelihood analysis of the data is congruent with previous morphological analyses but differs from the earlier analyses based on 18S sequences, especially in the position of Ibla. We also obtained greater resolution with a gene often considered too slowly evolving to be useful at higher taxonomic levels. Sessile barnacles appear to be monophyletic, but pedunculate barnacles may not be, with the Scapelloidea being the sister taxa to the sessile ones. The Balanidae also appears to be monophyletic, while the enigmatic Heterolepidae is strongly associated with the pedunculate barnacles Lepas and Octolasmus.
Evolution and function of the insect mushroom bodies: contributions from comparative and model systems studies

Comparative and model systems neurosciences represent complementary approaches to understanding nervous system function. The capacity for experimental manipulation of the Drosophila model system eclipses that available for other insect species, but data from a single laboratory model species provides little insight into the function of nervous systems in the natural environments for which they have evolved. Comparative studies can bridge this gap by first identifying conserved and derived aspects of neural circuits in different species, and second, associating features of neural circuits with adaptive behaviors produced in a particular species’ natural environment. The insect mushroom bodies provide an exemplary case of the power of the Drosophila model system for elucidating the structure and function of a neural circuit, while comparative studies show that these circuits are evolutionarily malleable and capable of different functional roles in other insect species. Although model systems and comparative studies of insect mushroom bodies represent nearly parallel fields, emerging technologies for manipulating gene expression such as CRISPR/Cas9 hold promise as a means to unite both approaches in a complementary manner.
Montague’s General Semiotic Program

Having worked our way in considerable detail through a particular grammatical and semantic proposal of Montague’s about English, we will step back at this juncture to gain a larger perspective on the general framework of description within which this proposal, and the preliminary ones we developed in earlier chapters of this book, are couched. Montague termed this framework his “universal grammar”, and it is his article of that title that we will now briefly explicate. (For a virtually line-by-line discussion of the article, see Halvorsen and Ladusaw [1979].) A word on terminology is in order to begin with, because Montague used the term “universal grammar” in a different sense than the one it has in linguistics. In the latter field, universal grammar is an account of those features that are common to all natural languages — in particular of the essential characteristics of natural languages, which distinguish them from other logically possible systems of communication such as artificial languages used in mathematics or computer programming, animal “languages” like that of bees, etc. In contrast to this conception, Montague used the term to refer to a mathematical framework sufficiently general to subsume a description of any system that might conceivably be termed a language, whether it is a possible natural language or not.
In Reply to Dr Lankford

To the Editor: We read with enthusiasm the letter from Dr Lankford in response to our recently published letter to the editor “Ultraendurance athletes with type 1 diabetes: Leadville 100 experience.” We are pleased that our findings have started to generate discussion among clinicians and researchers. As Dr Lankford mentioned in his letter, there is a lack of specific guidelines for endurance athletes with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1). Anecdotally, most of our athletes with DM1 did not use insulin pumps. Although we had glucose monitoring capabilities at our medical aid stations, most of our athletes with DM1 used their own glucose monitors. Unfortunately, we are unable to answer any other specific questions raised by Dr Lankford owing to the retrospective nature of our study. We hope this reply has made it clear that until we have large-scale prospective studies, an individualized and well-thought-out plan designed and reviewed by the athletes with DM1, the athletes’ physicians, and the race medical team should be used to achieve optimal glycemic control during these long races. In addition to the standard medical alert bracelets, we recommend using medical wristbands for each athlete highlighting the information about pertinent medical conditions, medications, and allergies.
Production, Capacity, and Liquidity of a Financially Constrained Firm

This paper studies the optimal coordination of operational and financial decisions of a firm with restricted and costly access to capital markets. The firm dynamically manages its production capacity and cash reserve by making production, divestment, investment, dividend, and capital injection decisions each period. The paper characterizes the optimal policy and shows that it corresponds to the optimal exercising of the real options embedded in the capacity and cash. A distinguishing feature of these real options is that they are embedded in each other, reflecting the fact that in a dynamic setting, exercising a real option in capacity or cash generates additional capacity or cash, thus additional real options. As the capital market becomes less frictional, the values of the real options in capacity and cash increase, and the firm is more likely to raise capital but less likely to issue dividends to exploit the higher values of the real options. As the firm places more emphasis on maximizing the operating profit rather than the shareholder's value, the values of the real options in capacity increase, and the firm exhibits a more aggressive investment attitude.
Discovering Design Principles for Persuasive Systems: A Grounded Theory and Text Mining Approach

Persuasive systems aim to change users' behavior and lifestyle. These systems have been gaining popularity with the proliferation of wearable devices and recent advances in information technology. In that regard, recent research aims at identifying system design principles that are specific to persuasive systems. In this article we extend the existing literature by discovering design principles for persuasive systems from a systematic analysis of users feedback from the actual use of persuasive systems. Specifically, we use grounded theory and text mining (topic modeling) to extract design concepts from online user reviews of mobile diabetes applications. Overall, the results extend existing findings by highlighting the necessity of going beyond the techno-centric approach used in current practice and incorporating the social and structural features into persuasive system design.
Multivariate Models for Normal and Binary Responses in Intervention Studies

Use of multivariate analysis (e.g., multivariate analysis of variance) is common when normally distributed outcomes are collected in intervention research. However, when mixed responses—a set of normal and binary outcomes—are collected, standard multivariate analyses are no longer suitable. While mixed responses are often obtained in intervention studies and analysis models that can simultaneously include such outcomes are available, we found very limited use of these models in intervention research. To encourage greater use of multivariate analysis for mixed outcomes, this article highlights the benefits and describes important features of models that can incorporate a mix of normal and binary outcomes. Models for intervention research are then fit using Mplus and results interpreted using data from an evaluation of the Early Head Start program, a randomized trial designed to improve child outcomes for an at-risk population. The models illustrated estimate treatment effects for mixed responses in standar...
Behavioral Responses of the Gypsy Moth in a Wind Tunnel to Air-Borne Enantiomers of Disparlure

Mate gypsy moths ( Lymantria dispar L.) in a wind tunnel fitted with a moving floor pattern to provide optomotor feedback to flying moths respond to (+)- cis -7,8-epoxy-2-methyloctadecane [(+)-disparlure] by flight with apparent positive optomotor anemotaxis and reversing anemomenotaxis (an upwind, zigzag flight). From quiesence, the latency to preflight wing fanning decreases with an increasing (+)-disparlure dispenser dosage. Ground speed of flight (the rate of floor movement required to maintain flight in the center of the wind tunnel) decreases with increasing (+)-disparlure concentration suggesting that the attractant concentration can provide an orthokinetic modulation of ground speed. The lowest dispenser dosages of (+)-disparlure tested (1 ng) resulted in greater lateral displacement in the zigzag than 10–1000 ng dosages. At wind velocities of 0.7 and 2.5 m/sec males maintained virtually identical ground speeds by adjusting their airspeed. The (−) enantiomer of disparlure when admixed to (+)-disparlure acts antagonistically to decrease the distance flown, the ground speed and the distance of flight, but the (−) enantiomer does not appear to affect preflight wing fanning latency. Considerable variation occurs in the mean ground speed of individuals, possibly optimum strategies related to orientation in well-defined aerial plumes (rapid flight) and meandering plumes (slow flight).
Photon pair generation in multimode optical fibers via intermodal phase-matching

A single optical fiber may support the propagation of several spatial modes. It is shown how one could take advantage of intermodal phase matching to engineer a flexible source of photon pairs, in this manner offering a way to produce multiple wavelength-tunable pure single photons.
Non-clinical evaluations of compound lipid-lowering agents

The considerations of non-clinical efficacy and safety research and evaluations of compound lipid-lowering agents are discussed in this paper,which based on characteristics of the combinations,the research intention,the indications and the subjects.
Retrospective Economic Analysis of Foot and Mouth Disease Eradication in the Latin American Beef Sector

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) damaged Latin America's beef sector through both production losses and limits to international market access in the early to mid-2000s. Using a base year of 2001, we utilize historical FMD outbreak data and a global economic model to estimate the consequences of FMD on domestic beef production, prices and trade across markets in multiple Latin American countries. Results show that, had FMD been prevented in 2001, Latin America may have benefited from increased access to the world market but relatively small impacts may have occurred on world beef prices. Regional welfare could have improved over observed 2001 market conditions. Regionally, Uruguay may have benefited most if production losses resulting from FMD would have been mitigated. [JEL Classifications: F10; Q11; Q17].
Near Theoretical Gigabit Link Efficiency for Distributed Data Acquisition Systems

Link efficiency, data integrity, and continuity for high-throughput and real-time systems are crucial. Most of these applications require specialized hardware and operating systems (OSs) as well as extensive tuning in order to achieve high efficiency. Here, we present an implementation of gigabit ethernet data streaming, which can achieve 99.26% link efficiency while maintaining no packet losses. The design and implementation are built on OpenPET, an opensource data acquisition platform for nuclear medical imaging, where: 1) a crate hosting multiple OpenPET detector boards uses a user datagram protocol over Internet protocol ethernet soft-core, which is capable of understanding PAUSE frames, to stream data out to a computer workstation; 2) the receiving computer uses Netmap to allow the processing software (i.e., user space), which is written in Python, to directly receive and manage the network card’s ring buffers, bypassing the OS kernel’s networking stack; and 3) a multithreaded application using synchronized queues is implemented in the processing software (Python) to free up the ring buffers as quickly as possible while preserving data integrity and flow continuity.
Impact of Cannabis Use on Treatment Outcomes among Adults Receiving Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for PTSD and Substance Use Disorders

Background: Research has demonstrated a strong link between trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) in general and cannabis use disorders in particular. Yet, few studies have examined the impact of cannabis use on treatment outcomes for individuals with co-occurring PTSD and SUDs. Methods: Participants were 136 individuals who received cognitive-behavioral therapies for co-occurring PTSD and SUD. Multivariate regressions were utilized to examine the associations between baseline cannabis use and end-of-treatment outcomes. Multilevel linear growth models were fit to the data to examine the cross-lagged associations between weekly cannabis use and weekly PTSD symptom severity and primary substance use during treatment. Results: There were no significant positive nor negative associations between baseline cannabis use and end-of-treatment PTSD symptom severity and days of primary substance use. Cross-lagged models revealed that as cannabis use increased, subsequent primary substance use decreased and vice versa. Moreover, results revealed a crossover lagged effect, whereby higher cannabis use was associated with greater PTSD symptom severity early in treatment, but lower weekly PTSD symptom severity later in treatment. Conclusion: Cannabis use was not associated with adverse outcomes in end-of-treatment PTSD and primary substance use, suggesting independent pathways of change. The theoretical and clinical implications of the reciprocal associations between weekly cannabis use and subsequent PTSD and primary substance use symptoms during treatment are discussed.
Nonexistence of baryon number for static black holes

Wheeler has conjectured that black holes should have no well-defined baryon number, and that as a result the law of conservation of baryons should be transcended in black-hole physics. We show here that a static black hole cannot have any exterior classical scalar or massive vector fields. We consider the modifications that would arise from a quantum-theoretical treatment, and we conclude that such a black hole cannot interact with the exterior world via virtual mesons such as the $\ensuremath{\pi}$ and $\ensuremath{\rho}$. Because of this we find no way for external measurements to assign unambiguously a baryon number to such a black hole in agreement with Wheeler's prediction.
People Prefer Educative Nudges (Kind Of)

There is a large and insufficiently explored difference between educative or System 1 nudges , which target or benefit from automatic processing, and noneducative or System 2 nudges, which target or benefit from deliberative processing. Graphic warnings and default rules are System 1 nudges; statistical information and factual disclosures are System 2 nudges. On philosophical grounds, it might seem tempting to prefer System 2 nudges, on the assumption that they show greater respect for individual dignity and promote individual agency. A nationally representative survey in the United States finds evidence that, in important contexts, most people do prefer System 2 nudges. At the same time, that preference is not fixed and firm.
Continuous conduction operation for mutually coupled switched reluctance machines

This paper introduces the benefits of using continuous conduction to improve the operation of a mutually coupled switched reluctance machine. Conventionally switch reluctance machines do not have a wide speed range; however, when continuous conduction control methods are used they provide an increased speed range in addition to increased torque per volume in the high-speed region. This paper discusses the benefits of continuous conduction control for motoring operation and shows these benefits through finite element analysis simulations.
The use of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Abstract Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is characterized by an enlarged prostate, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), and a decreased urinary flow rate. Common in older men, BPH is a progressive disease that can eventually lead to complications including acute urinary retention (AUR) and the need for BPH-related surgery. Both normal and abnormal prostate growth is driven by the androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is formed from testosterone under the influence of 5-alpha reductase. Thus, 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) effectively reduce the serum and intraprostatic concentration of DHT, causing an involution of prostate tissue. Two 5-ARIs are currently available for the treatment of BPH—finasteride and dutasteride. Both have been demonstrated to decrease prostate volume, improve LUTS and urinary flow rates, which ultimately reduces the risk of AUR and BPH-related surgery. Therefore, either alone or in combination with other BPH medications, 5-ARIs are a mainstay of BPH management.
ERPs Reveal Relationships Between Neural Orthographic Priming Effects and Reading Skill

Abstract. Masked priming has long been used to demonstrate the impact of brief presentations of orthographically related stimuli on visual word recognition. The aim of the present study was to examine neural correlates of orthographic priming produced by pronounceable and unpronounceable anagram primes. Crucially, we examined relationships between these priming effects and individual differences on a battery of measures assessing orthographic processing ability, current reading ability, and verbal intelligence in university students. Our study demonstrated group-level priming effects on the N200 and N400, with both components being primarily modulated by unpronounceable, orthographically illegal primes. Relationships between the extent of priming as indexed by N200 amplitude and speed of orthographic processing emerged, as reaction time (RT) on an orthographic choice task was associated with priming effects. Priming effects on N400 amplitude were related to phonological decoding efficiency. Those individu...
Industry Review of Cell Separation and Product Harvesting Methods

Abstract Once a therapeutic protein has been produced by a chosen production system, the product must be separated and recovered from the host system. Cell harvest and recovery serve this function by removing or isolating host cells so that the product can be recovered from the host system, and the product stream can be clarified prior to the purification process. These process steps are the link between the synthesis and the purification of the therapeutic products. They are critical to yield the product in its native form from the production system and require careful optimization.
Distribution system costs associated with the deployment of photovoltaic systems

Abstract The broadening of our energy system to include increasing amounts of wind and solar has led to significant debate about the total costs and benefits associated with different types of generators—with potentially far-reaching policy implications. This has included debate about the cost associated with integrating these generators onto the electric grid. For photovoltaics (PV), this encompasses costs incurred on both the bulk power and distribution systems, as well as the value provided to them. These costs and benefits, in particular those associated with integrating PV onto the distribution system, are not well understood. We seek to advance the state of understanding of “grid integration costs” for the distribution system by reviewing prior literature and outlining a transparent, bottom-up approach that can be used to calculate these costs. We provide a clear delineation of costs to integrate PV in to the distribution system within the larger context of total costs and benefits associated with PV generators. We emphasize that these costs are situationally dependent, and that a single “cost of integration” cannot be obtained. We additionally emphasize that benefits must be considered when evaluating the competitiveness of the technology in a given situation.
Survey of cytokines in normal canine tears by multiplex analysis: A pilot study.

Abstract Objectives The purpose of this pilot study was to use a multiplexed assay to measure cytokines in normal stimulated canine tears. Methods 25 healthy dogs were included in the study. Stimulated tears were collected in capillary tubes from the right (OD) and left (OS) eyes and stored at −80 °C until batch sample analysis was performed. The samples were analyzed utilizing Luminex® canine-validated multiplex beads on a Bio-Rad multiplex analyzer for IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ. Based upon previous human studies, tears were initially evaluated at a 1:10 dilution. Eight random samples were later re-analyzed without dilution. Results Diluting the samples 1:10 rendered all analytes undetectable except IL-8. A repeat analysis of eight randomly selected undiluted samples still demonstrated very low cytokine levels except for IL-8 (16/16 eyes; 2254 ± 1677 pg/ml OD, 1095 ± 786.8 pg/ml OS); and IFN-γ (15/16 eyes; 13.37 ± 13.08 pg/ml OD,16.08 ± 19.4 pg/ml OS). Conclusion This pilot study is the first to analyze cytokines in canine tears. This study demonstrated that IL-8 is consistently detected in both diluted and undiluted samples, but undiluted samples may be superior to 1:10 diluted samples for evaluation of other cytokines in canine tears.
Assessing the Effects of Imprinting and Maternal Genotypes on Complex Genetic Traits

A susceptibility variant may affect a trait not only through sequence variation, but also through parental origin, and even through combination with the maternal genotype. Although associations have been established for more than one thousand five hundred Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and over two hundred diseases through genome-wide association studies, imprinting and maternal genotype effects (collectively referred to as parent-of-origin effects) have largely not been taken into account. The ignorance of parent-of-origin effects may have adversely contributed to “missing heritability”; thus, attempts have been made to incorporate these two epigenetic factors when assessing the effect of a genetic variant on a complex trait. In this review, we will discuss the difference between retrospective and prospective studies in genetic analysis and indicate how this difference may influence the choice of methods for assessing parent-of-origin effects on the risk of complex genetic traits. We will provide expositions on several specific study designs and their associated analysis methods, including the case-parent triad design and designs that include control samples, such as the case-parent triads/control-parent triads design. Most available methods are for retrospective studies, but a handful of methods applicable to extended pedigrees from prospective studies also exist. Although log-linear or logistic models are frequently used to factor in parent-of-origin effects, we review non-parametric approaches as well for detecting imprinting effects. We further discuss implications of various assumptions made in the modeling to avoid overparameterization. In summary, a model factoring in epigenetically modulated gene variant effects is expected to be of greater value in risk assessment and prediction if such epigenetic factors indeed play a role in the etiology of the disease.
Gender and job status as contextual cues for the interpretation of facial expression of emotion

Participants' interpretations of facial expressions of emotion and judgments made about the poser as a function of gender, job status, and facial expression were examined. Two hypotheses regarding interpretation of expression stress either facial expression alone or a combination of facial expression and social context. Gender and status of target were expected to influence ratings of emotion and personality characteristics. In a 2 × 2 × 3 between-subjects design, 246 participants (90% non-Hispanic Whites) read a vignette of a workplace interaction manipulating gender and job status of target and viewed a slide of the target displaying a facial expression of emotion. Measures of perceived emotion and ratings of personality characteristics produced main effects and interactions in support of the context-specific hypothesis: Gender and job status were significant influences on interpretation.
An implantable dosage form for the treatment of bone infections.

The object of this investigation was the development of an implantable sustained-release dosage form, for the treatment of bone infections. Cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was used as the matrix material. The drug delivery system was prepared by incorporating tobramycin, as a free base (C18H37N5O9 · H2O) or as a sulfate salt [(C18H37N5O9)2 · 5H2SO4], into the matrix and molding into spherical beads. Following in vitro studies, the cumulative amount of drug released when plotted as a function of the square root of time was linear for both the base and the salt. The addition of glycerol to the matrix substantially accelerated the rate of drug release and the plots of cumulative amount of drug released continued to be linear as a function of the square root of time. The glycerol-incorporated beads swelled in contact with the aqueous medium but a negligible amount of glycerol was released even after exposure to the medium for 20 days. 13C solid-state and high-resolution NMR studies indicated that a fraction of the added glycerol participated in the cross-linking reaction of the polymer. The effect of the initial molecular weight of PDMS and the effect of the concentration of the cross-linker on the kinetics of drug release were investigated.
Endocytosis and Heterophagy

Lysosomes have been studied most extensively in the context of heterophagy (Fig. 2.1). This is so partly because there are readily obtainable cell types, like the mammalian phagocytes or protozoa, that show elaborate heterophagic apparatus, and use their lysosomes for easily identifiable, major cellular activities. Important phases of these activities can be studied in living cells. Moreover, heterophagic structures are accessible to many materials introduced into the extracellular environment, and this has greatly facilitated experimentation.
The influence of some dietary factors and/or treadmill exercise on rat and chicken tissue lipids and serum lipoproteins.

Four different experiments, one with cockerels and three with rats, are described which relate to the effect of dietary factors and/or exercise on serum and liver lipids as well as on serum lipoproteins. Several classes of lipoproteins were isolated by preparative ultracentrifugation, and their purity assessed by gel electrophoresis. The lipid composition and protein content of serum lipoproteins and tissue were also determined. Dietary cholesterol produced an enormous increase (200 fold) in serum very low density lipoproteins in cockerels. This lipoprotein was apparently of very large particle size because it failed to penetrate the spacer gel during disc electrophoresis. In rats fed a cholesterol-supplemented diet, the increase in very low and low density lipoproteins was relatively insignificant in comparison with the cockerels. However, in both species, the liver was overloaded with cholesterol. Further, the serum high density lipoproteins, HDL2 were greatly diminished in both species as a result of cholesterol ingestion for 7 weeks. As a possible explanation for these related observations, it was proposed that HDL2 was utilized in the formation of cellular membranes by cholesterol-burdened, hyperplastic livers. A very high level of dietary corn oil (40% by weight) caused drastic changes in rat liver lipid levels and in serum lipoprotein profiles. Specifically, liver cholesterol and triglycerides were increased about 200% over normal. In another experiment, tissue lipids and serum lipoprotein levels were determined in treadmill-exercised rats and in sedentary controls. Two levels (4 and 40%) of a fat mixture (1:1, hydrogenated coconut oil: corn oil) were used in this study. The serum cholesterol was unchanged in the 4 groups, while the serum triglycerides were reduced in exercised rats given 4% but not 40% fat as compared to respective controls. Rats fed 40% fat and exercised had near normal levels of liver lipids which was in sharp contrast to their sedentary controls. The low density lipoproteins were surprisingly higher in exercised rats given high fat than in sedentary controls. It was suggested that the direct synthesis of these lipoproteins by the liver may be necessitated under unusual conditions. In conclusion, considering the central role of liver in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, greater attention should be focused on this organ in future experiments on the control of hyperlipoproteinemia.
Machine learning method for real-time non-invasive prediction of individual thermal preference in transient conditions

Abstract This work introduces a new technique that provides real-time feedback to a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system controller with respect to the occupants' thermal preferences to avoid space overheating. We propose a non-invasive approach for automatic prediction of personal thermal comfort and mean time to warm discomfort using machine learning. The prediction framework described uses temperature information extracted from multiple local body parts to model an individual's thermal preference, with sensing measurements that capture local body part variance as well as differences between body parts. We compared the efficacy of using machine learning with classical measurements such as skin temperature along with our approach of using multi-part measurements and derived data. An analysis of the performance of machine learning shows that our method improved the accuracy of personal thermal comfort prediction by an average of 60%, and the accuracy of mean time to warm discomfort prediction by an average of 40%. The proposed thermal models were tested on subjects’ data extracted from an office setup with room temperature varying from low (21.11 °C) to high (27.78 °C). When all proposed features were used, personal thermal comfort was predicted with an accuracy higher than 80% and mean time to warm discomfort with more than 85% accuracy. Further analysis of the machine learning efficacy showed that temperature differences had the highest impact on performance of individual thermal preference prediction, while the proposed approach was found not sensitive to the actual machine learning algorithm.
INTERCULTURALIDADE NA FORMAÇÃO DE PROFESSORES/AS INDÍGENAS: REFLEXÕES A PARTIR DE UM OLHAR SOBRE O PENSAMENTO AMERÍNDIO

Este trabalho desenvolve reflexoes sobre interculturalidade na formacao continuada de professores indigenas, partindo de uma experiencia desenvolvida na Amazonia brasileira, em dialogo com autores que contribuem para uma maior compreensao do pensamento amerindio. O acompanhamento participativo e investigativo desse processo de formacao revelou a riqueza e a profundidade do conhecimento indigena, com seus grandes potenciais de contribuicao para a educacao em geral e para a sociedade como um todo, ressaltando a importância do apoio ao registro desses saberes, em diferentes formas e linguagens, tendo a arte uma funcao essencial.
Impact of CMV upon immune aging: facts and fiction

Aging is accompanied by significant defects in immunity and compromised responses to new, previously unencountered microbial pathogens. Most humans carry several persistent or latent viruses as they age, interacting with the host immune systems for years. In that context maybe the most studied persistent virus is Cytomegalovirus, infamous for its ability to recruit very large T cell responses which increase with age and to simultaneously evade elimination by the immune system. Here we will address how lifelong CMV infection and the immunological burden of its control might affect immune reactivity and health of the host over time.
Solving the Rubik’s cube with deep reinforcement learning and search

The Rubik’s cube is a prototypical combinatorial puzzle that has a large state space with a single goal state. The goal state is unlikely to be accessed using sequences of randomly generated moves, posing unique challenges for machine learning. We solve the Rubik’s cube with DeepCubeA, a deep reinforcement learning approach that learns how to solve increasingly difficult states in reverse from the goal state without any specific domain knowledge. DeepCubeA solves 100% of all test configurations, finding a shortest path to the goal state 60.3% of the time. DeepCubeA generalizes to other combinatorial puzzles and is able to solve the 15 puzzle, 24 puzzle, 35 puzzle, 48 puzzle, Lights Out and Sokoban, finding a shortest path in the majority of verifiable cases. For some combinatorial puzzles, solutions can be verified to be optimal, for others, the state space is too large to be certain that a solution is optimal. A new deep learning based search heuristic performs well on the iconic Rubik’s cube and can also generalize to puzzles in which optimal solvers are intractable.
Trauma Responsive School Project: Implementation in an Urban School Setting

ABSTRACTWe implemented three phases of training and programming on trauma responsiveness at an urban school that served students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Teachers, staff, students, and...
Experiences of Patient Incivility: A Qualitative Study:

Background:Incivility is one of the most prevalent forms of interpersonal mistreatment. Although studies have examined the full range of experiences of incivility against nurses and other hospital ...
Association between prediabetes diagnosis and body mass index trajectory of overweight and obese adolescents.

BACKGROUND Prediabetes awareness in adults has been associated with improved weight management. Whether youth with prediabetes diagnosis experience similar improvements is unknown. OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between prediabetes identification and body mass index (BMI) trajectory in overweight and obese adolescents. SUBJECTS Youth who were followed longitudinally in a large academic-affiliated primary care network and who were overweight/obese while 10 to 18 years old. METHODS Retrospective cohort study. Subjects were categorized as "screened" if at least 1 hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) result was available. Time series analysis was used to determine the difference in difference (DID) in BMI Z-score (BMI-Z) slope before and after HbA1c between: (a) screened youth found to have prediabetes-range HbA1c (5.7%-6.4%, 39-46 mmol/mol) versus normal HbA1c and (b) screened versus age-matched unscreened obese youth. RESULTS A total of 4184 (55.6% female) screened subjects (median follow-up 9.7 years) were included. In which, 637 (15.2%) had prediabetes-range HbA1c. Prediabetes was associated with a greater decrease in BMI-Z slope than normal HbA1c (DID: -0.023/year [95% CI: -0.042 to -0.004]). When compared to age-matched unscreened subjects (n = 2087), screened subjects (n = 2815) experienced a greater decrease in BMI-Z slope after HbA1c than unscreened subjects at a matched age (DID: -0.031/y [95% CI -0.042 to -0.021]). CONCLUSIONS BMI-Z trajectory improved more among youth with prediabetes-range HbA1c but also stabilized in screened youth overall. Prospective studies are needed to identify provider- and patient-level drivers of this observation.
A scalable approach of using biomass derived glycerol to synthesize cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Glycerol, a main byproduct of biodiesel, was used as the fuel agent in a scalable flame-assisted spray pyrolysis approach to synthesize micron-size cathode materials. Single droplet combustion, particle morphology, and electrochemical performance were examined considering the effects of salt concentration, water addition, and post-annealing time on synthesizing Li(Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3)O2 (NCM111) cathode materials. Single droplet tests showed that a sufficient amount of water in the glycerol-based precursor could delay droplet inflation and ignition. Moreover, using a two-fluid atomization nozzle, spray tests demonstrated that adding water would result in less wrinkled and more uniform particles. Nevertheless, increasing water proportion in the precursor could reduce the reaction heat, resulting in that samples prepared with water addition needed longer post-annealing time to improve their electrochemical performance. Using the precursor without water, the best performed NCM111 cathode material was synthesized with only 2 h of post-annealing. It has a discharge capacity of 163.3 mAh/g at 0.1C and 85.5% capacity retention at 1C after 100 cycles. The current work confirmed the capability of using glycerol as a sustainable fuel agent to synthesize NCM111 cathode materials, and also provided basic conditions for the development of large-scale production in the future.
Role of playing wind instruments and singing in snoring and obstructive sleep apnea

Citation:Baba RY. Role of playing wind instruments and singing in snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. J Clin Sleep Med. 2020;16(9):1429–1430.
Care Remains “Essential” in Education Today

Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, care emanates from so many PreK–12 and higher education professionals, community, healthcare, business, volunteer, and non-profit organizations. These entities ...
Detachment, peer pressure, and age of first substance use as gateways to later substance use.

Abstract Background Prior research using psychosocial developmental models have identified emotional detachment from family and susceptibility to peer pressure as predictors of adolescent substance use. Despite mixed support for the gateway hypothesis, less is known about how these psychosocial developmental factors facilitate adolescent substance use. The purpose of this study was to examine how age of first substance use, emotional detachment from parents, and susceptibility to peer pressure influence the progression from alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use to other illicit substance use (e.g., cocaine, hallucinogens). Method Data (N = 5792) were collected from high school students across seven semesters. Latent growth curve modeling was used to examine how age of first use of alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco predicted initial levels and changes in emotional detachment, peer pressure, and other illicit substance use. Results Earlier age of first use of alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco predicted detachment, peer pressure, and a greater likelihood of initial use of other illicit substances. More initial emotional detachment was associated with increases in other illicit substance use. Earlier ages of first use of alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco had indirect effects on initial use of other illicit substances through initial emotional detachment. Conclusion Emotional detachment from parents and peer pressure impact the likelihood of other illicit substance use across the high school years. Prevention programs may benefit by focusing on delaying the onset of first use of substance use and by preventing emotional detachment from parents and peer pressure.
Educational Thinking and the Conservation of the Revolutionary.

Background/ContextPrior work on Hannah Arendt and education has focused on democratic education, multicultural education, and conservatism in education. Most of these studies have concentrated on h...
How do upzonings impact neighborhood demographic change? Examining the link between land use policy and gentrification in New York City

Abstract As cities across the country face mounting pressures to address the housing affordability crisis, planners and policymakers have increasingly eyed upzonings as an instrument to alleviate rising housing costs. Yet, upzonings have emerged as a site of deep conflict, driving a wedge between groups advocating for supply-side solutions and those calling for added tenant protections and affordable housing preservation. Upzoning advocates–many affiliated with the yes-in-my-backyard (YIMBY) movement–have argued that in allowing for denser development, upzonings will help to lift artificial restrictions on supply and lower housing prices in the long run. Opponents, often representing tenant interests, have countered that upzonings will accelerate gentrification and displacement pressures. Despite these cleavages about the effects of upzonings on gentrification and displacement, minimal empirical research to date has examined the link between upzonings and neighborhood demographic change. To help fill this gap in the literature, this paper examines how upzoning activity is associated with subsequent change in the non-Hispanic white population in New York City between 2000 and 2010. Using New York as a case study, this paper finds that upzoning activity is positively and significantly associated with the odds of a census tract becoming whiter, suggesting that neighborhood upzonings might accelerate, rather than temper, gentrification pressures in the short term.
Dynamic fire and smoke detection and classification for flashover prediction

Flashover is a dangerous phenomenon caused by near-simultaneous ignition of exposed materials. It is one of the major causes of firefighter fatalities. Research has been done using CMOS vision cameras combined with thermal sensors to perform remote detection and dynamic classification of fire and smoke patterns. Tests and experiments have been done to detect fire and smoke remotely. The inexpensive visible and infrared sensors used in the tests corroborate and closely follow the detailed trends recorded by the more expensive (and less mobile) radiometers and thermocouples. Deep neural networks (DNN) have been used to detect, classify and track fire and smoke areas. Real-time segmentation is utilized to measure the fire and smoke boundaries. The segmentations are used to dynamically monitor fluctuations in temperature, fire size and smoke progression in the monitored areas. A fire and smoke progression curve has been drawn to predict the flashover point. In the paper, data analysis and preliminary results will be shown.
Resistance to Innate Immunity Contributes to Colonization of the Insect Gut by Yersinia pestis

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic and pneumonic plague, is typically a zoonotic vector-borne disease of wild rodents. Bacterial biofilm formation in the proventriculus of the flea contributes to chronic infection of fleas and facilitates efficient disease transmission. However prior to biofilm formation, ingested bacteria must survive within the flea midgut, and yet little is known about vector-pathogen interactions that are required for flea gut colonization. Here we establish a Drosophila melanogaster model system to gain insight into Y. pestis colonization of the insect vector. We show that Y. pestis establishes a stable infection in the anterior midgut of fly larvae, and we used this model system to study the roles of genes involved in biofilm production and/or resistance to gut immunity stressors. We find that PhoP and GmhA both contribute to colonization and resistance to antimicrobial peptides in flies, and furthermore, the data suggest biofilm formation may afford protection against antimicrobial peptides. Production of reactive oxygen species in the fly gut, as in fleas, also serves to limit bacterial infection, and OxyR mediates Y. pestis survival in both insect models. Overall, our data establish the fruit fly as an informative model to elucidate the relationship between Y. pestis and its flea vector.
Least Squares Regression and Correlation

In Chapter 13, we formulated the problem of linear regression for observation pairs (X,Y) as the problem of fitting a straight line y = a + βx to a scatter diagram representingNsample points (X1Y1),…,(XNYN). Following our usual approach, we defined sets of elementary estimates for the regression parameters a and β. These elementary estimates not only allowed us to find estimates for a and β, but also to determine a test for the independence of the variables X and Y as well as to measure the strength of relationship between X and Y by means of the Kendall correlation coefficient.
The Roles of Cellular Nanomechanics in Cancer

The biomechanical properties of cells and tissues may be instrumental in increasing our understanding of cellular behavior and cellular manifestations of diseases such as cancer. Nanomechanical properties can offer clinical translation of therapies beyond what are currently employed. Nanomechanical properties, often measured by nanoindentation methods using atomic force microscopy, may identify morphological variations, cellular binding forces, and surface adhesion behaviors that efficiently differentiate normal cells and cancer cells. The aim of this review is to examine current research involving the general use of atomic force microscopy/nanoindentation in measuring cellular nanomechanics; various factors and instrumental conditions that influence the nanomechanical properties of cells; and implementation of nanoindentation methods to distinguish cancer cells from normal cells or tissues. Applying these fundamental nanomechanical properties to current discoveries in clinical treatment may result in greater efficiency in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer, which ultimately can change the lives of patients.