cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A forest vulnerability index based on drought and high temperatures

ABSTRACT Increasing forest stress and tree mortality has been directly linked to combinations of drought and high temperatures. The climatic changes expected during the next decades – large increases in mean temperature, increased heat waves, and significant long-term regional drying in the western USA – will likely increase chronic forest stress and mortality. The aim of this research is to develop and apply a new forest vulnerability index (FVI) associated with drought and high temperatures across the Pacific Northwest region (PNW; Oregon and Washington) of the USA during the MODIS Aqua era (since 2003). Our technique incorporates the alterations to canopy water and energy exchange processes caused by drought and high temperatures with spatially continuous MODIS land surface temperature (LST) and evapotranspiration (ET), and with Parameter-elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) precipitation (P) data. With P and ET, we calculate a monthly water balance variable for each individual pixel normalized by forest type group (FTG), and then difference the water balance with the corresponding normalized monthly mean LST to calculate a monthly forest stress index (FSI). We then extract the pixel-specific (800-m resolution) statistically significant temporal trends of the FSI from 2003 to 2012 by month (April to October). The FVI is the slope of the monthly FSI across years, such that there is a FVI for each month. Statistically significant positive slopes indicate interannual increases in stress leading to expected forest vulnerability (positive FVI) for a given month. Positive FVI values were concentrated in the months of August and September, with peak vulnerability occurring at different times for different FTGs. Overall, increased vulnerability rates were the highest in drier FTGs such as Ponderosa Pine, Juniper, and Lodgepole Pine. Western Larch and Fir/Spruce/Mountain Hemlock groups occupy moister sites but also had relatively high proportion of positive FVI values. The Douglas-fir group had the second largest total area of increased vulnerability due to its large areal extent in the study area. Based on an analysis using imagery viewed in Google Earth, we confirm that areas with increased vulnerability are associated with greater amounts of stress and mortality. The FVI is a new way to conceptualize and monitor forest vulnerability based on first-order principles and has the potential to be generalized to other geographical areas.
Control of Inter-fiber Fusing for Nanofiber Webs via Electrospinning

Electrospinning provides a viable method to produce both single fibers and mats of nonwoven fibers. For a nonwoven mat, fusing of the fibers at intersections produces an integrated structure. The a...
AUTOMATIC GENERATION OF COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURES

In this paper, we propose automatic generation of bus-based communication architectures from an abstract model reflecting only the communication topology. Tasks include protocol selection for each bus, master/slave assignment for each component, interrupt handling and addressing for synchronization between components, and arbitration to resolve multiple accesses on a bus. We present a set of experimental results demonstrating how the proposed approach works on typical system designs. Experimental results show the benefits of our methodology and demonstrate the effectiveness of automatic model generation for communication design.
Law, Science, and the New Biology

Today, scientific work is less a basic expression of the “ancient aristocratic ethos of the love of knowledge” than a mere job to be done—by entrepreneurs, employees, or others who have independent funding.1 In 1980, Genentech—a San Francisco based biotechnology company—was the first such company to issue shares on the over-the-counter market. Among its products are a hormone capable of stimulating human growth, mass-produced human insulin which would allow a substantial reduction in cost of the treatment of diabetes, and interferon which may prove to be the long awaited “miracle” drug to combat cancer. In 1984, the Office of Technology Assessment estimated conservatively that some 225 firms are engaged in “commercializing biotechnology.”2
Uterine bleeding in the rhesus monkey in response to various designs of intrauterine devices.

To study quantitative menstrual blood loss (MBL) 10 normally rhesus monkeys and 18 ovariectomized hormonally supplemented monkeys (estradiol and progesterone) were inserted with IUDs: a silastic cylinder and 3 modifications the polyethylene Tatum T device. A 92% increase (p<.01) in MBL was noted in the Y-T device monkeys (n=7) and a 70% increase (p<.05) in the large oval T ones (n=5). MBL was unaffected by the small oval T and by the cylindrical Silastic devices after the second postinsertion period. Intermenstrual bleeding was observed in 4 of 7 Y-T device animals but was uncorrelated with MBL. It was concluded that rhesus monkeys may serve as good research models for designing human IUDs.
Combined Use of Surface Electromyography and 31P-NMR Spectroscopy for the Study of Muscle Disorders

This article describes the use of combining spectral electromyographic signal techniques with phosphorus magnetic resonance (31P-NMR) spectroscopy for the purpose of studying muscle disorders. The quantification of muscle fatigue by electromyographic spectral variables such as the median frequency is summarized. Its development as a laboratory and clinical tool is presented, with an emphasis toward its potential as an assessment procedure. Similarly, the use of 31P-NMR spectroscopy for noninvasive measurement of phosphate metabolites and intracellular pH during fatigue are described. The limitations of this procedure are presented and compared with surface electromyographic techniques. Suggestions are made for combining these techniques for the purpose of monitoring muscle metabolic and electrophysiologic changes in situ during fatiguing exercises. A recent study in which these techniques were combined to evaluate the underlying mechanisms of fatigue in patients with fibromyalgia is described.
Mucosal Immunity: The Role of Secretory Immunoglobulin a in Protection Against the Invasive Pathogen Salmonella typhimurium

Many pathogens gain entry into a host organism by crossing the epithelia of the digestive, respiratory or genital tracts. The main defense against this entry is the mucosal immune system. In the gut mucosa, antigen sampling sites contain organized mucosal lymphoid tissue including lymphoid follicles. These cellular assemblies, which form large aggregates in Peyer’s patches, sample lumenal antigens, resulting in the stimulation of both T cells and B lymphoblasts, committed to IgA synthesis. This leads to the production of secretory antibodies of the IgA isotype. Secretory IgA (slgA) antibodies are thought to act by immune exclusion. That is, slgA prevents the pathogen from contacting the mucosal surface by agglutination, entrapment of immune complexes in the mucus, and clearance by peristalsis (Brandtzaeg, 1989; Childers, et al., 1989; Mestecky, 1988).
Temperature gradients drive radial fluid flow in Petri dishes and multiwell plates.

Liquid in a Petri dish spontaneously circulates in a radial pattern, even when the dish is at rest. These fluid flows have been observed and utilized for biological research, but their origins have not been well-studied. Here, particle-tracking to measure velocities of radial fluid flows, which are shown to be linked to evaporation, is used. Infrared thermal imaging was used to identify thermal gradients at the air-liquid interface and at the bottom of the dish. Two-color ratiometric fluorescence confocal imaging was used to measure thermal gradients in the vertical direction within the fluid. A finite-element model of the fluid, incorporating the measured temperature profiles, shows that buoyancy forces are sufficient to produce flows consistent with the measured particle velocity results. Such flows may arise in other dish or plate formats, and may impact biological research in positive or negative ways. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2227–2233, 2016
Determination of Interference Using Multiple Regression

An interference study is an important parameter in the evaluation of an analytical method’s performance. The interference of a testing method is determined conventionally by measuring the magnitude of effect caused by an interfering substance alone. Clinical chemists and technologists also can calculate the interference using the interaction between the analyte ( A ) and interfering substance ( I ). With this method, a multiple regression model— Y ( A , I ) = β + β1A + β2I + β3A–I —is used to assess the significance of interference contributed by analyte-independent and analyte-dependent factors. I describe the process by which this model is used to determine the magnitude of tyrosine’s interference with the enzymatic assay for measuring phenylalanine in serum.
Visualization of Steam Flow Condensation in Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Mini-Gaps

An experimental, flow visualization study was conducted for flow condensation in 1-mm diameter mini-gaps with a visualization window. The hydrophilic channel was composed of bare copper, while the hydrophobic channel was coated with Teflon AF™. An open loop steam experimental apparatus was constructed, and single-phase validation tests are presented. For flow condensation in the hydrophilic gap, filmwise condensation was observed for all cases with a mass flux range of 30–100 kg/m2s. In contrast, the hydrophobic channel promoted dropwise condensation at mass fluxes of 30 and 50 kg/m2s. Cycles of droplet nucleation, growth and coalescence, and sweeping were identified at both mass fluxes in the hydrophobic channel at steady state. Droplets departed at a smaller sizes and more frequently at the higher mass flux, demonstrating the effects of shear forces on droplet sweeping. Based on flow visualizations, three droplet sweeping methods were identified: interfacial shear stress, upstream droplets, and absorbing into rivulets.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Evaluation of a New Pregnancy Test Claiming β-Subunit Specificity

A comparison was made between a new hemagglutination-inhibition tube test for human chorionic gonadotropin said to be beta-subunit specific and a widely used similar test that is not beta specific. The latex agglutination-inhibition slide test from the same manufacturer and a similar non-beta-subunit specific slide test were also compared. The study group was made up of random urine specimens submitted for pregnancy tests for 251 patients at a large county hospital in Miami Florida. The tests were conducted between April and August 1978 among a group of patients who had a large variety of problems including menstrual and hormonal irregularities acute vaginal bleeding or abdominal emergencies. The directions of the manufacturers were followed for the 4 pregnancy kits evaluated. The test results were recorded as either positive or negative. Of the 251 patients tested 48 were pregnant 161 were not pregnant and 43 had insufficient follow-up for diagnosis. For 37 of the 48 patients with clinical or tissue diagnoses of pregnancy all 4 of the tests were performed and were positive. 135 nonpregnant patients had negative results for all 4 tests. 8 patients who were pregnant had negative results by either 1 or more of the 4 tests and the majority of the false-negatives were for those who were in early pregnancy or for patients who were aborting. The new tube test showed good sensitivity but false-positives still occurred in the perimenopausal age group.
The relationship between performance on computer-based clinical simulations and two written methods of evaluation: cognitive examination and self-evaluation of expertise

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between computer-based clinical simulation performance and two commonly used methods of evaluation: cognitive examination and self-evaluation of expertise. The convenience sample of 68 critical care nurses completed the Basic Knowledge Assessment Tool for Critical Care (BKAT), a cardiovascular self-assessment tool (CST), and two computer-based clinical simulations requiring the management of myocardial infarction patients with tachydysrhythmias (atrial flutter and ventricular tachycardia). Simulation performance was measured by proficiency score and patient outcome (live/die). Proficiency on the atrial simulation was significantly correlated with knowledge as measured by the BKAT (r = 0.46, p 0.001) and with self-evaluation of clinical expertise (r = 0.32, p = 0.008). Atrial patient outcome was also significantly correlated with the BKAT (r = 0.28, p = 0.006) and the CST score (r = 0.22, p = 0.036). However, in the ventricular simulation only proficiency score and self-evaluation of expertise were significantly correlated (r = 0.24, p = 0.049). The modest relationships found in this study may indicate that, while clinical simulation performance is related to knowledge and self-evaluation of expertise, the constructs measured are not synonymous. This evidence provides support for the use of clinical simulations as an adjunct to other methods of evaluation.
Experimentally increasing sedentary behavior results in increased anxiety in an active young adult population.

Abstract Introduction Knowledge regarding the effects of sedentary behavior on anxiety has resulted mainly from observational studies. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a free-living, sedentary behavior-inducing randomized controlled intervention on anxiety symptoms. Methods Participants confirmed to be active (i.e., acquiring 150 min/week of physical activity) via self-report and accelerometry were randomly assigned into a sedentary behavior intervention group (n=26) or a control group (n=13). For one week, the intervention group eliminated exercise and minimized steps to ≤5000 steps/day whereas the control group continued their normal physical activity levels. Both groups completed the Overall Anxiety Severity Impairment Scale (OASIS) pre- and post-intervention, with higher OASIS scores indicating worse overall anxiety. The intervention group resumed normal physical activity levels for one week post-intervention and then completed the survey once more. Results A significant group x time interaction effect was observed (F(1,37)=11.13; P=.002), with post-hoc contrast tests indicating increased OASIS scores in the intervention group in Visit 2 compared with Visit 1. That is, we observed an increase in anxiety levels when participants increased their sedentary behavior. OASIS scores significantly decreased from Visit 2 to Visit 3 (P=.001) in the intervention group. Conclusion A one-week sedentary behavior-inducing intervention has deleterious effects on anxiety in an active, young adult population. To prevent elevated anxiety levels among active individuals, consistent regular physical activity may be necessary. Clinicians treating inactive patients who have anxiety may recommend a physical activity program in addition to any other prescribed treatment.
Deploying carrier-grade WiFi: offload traffic, not money

WiFi data offloading provides a promising auxiliary to alleviate network congestion by diverting traffic from the cellular infrastructure onto WiFi access points (APs). Despite the importance and momentum of this method, the current deployment of APs by the carriers follows mostly a heuristic approach. In addition, the prevalent free-of-charge WiFi access approach may result in significant opportunity costs for the carriers as this traffic could yield non-negligible revenues. In this paper, we propose and study the problem of optimizing the deployment of WiFi offloading infrastructure, and pricing the offloading service with the goal of maximizing carrier profits. Addressing this problem is a prerequisite for the efficient integration of WiFi technology to next generation of cellular systems and the development of carrier-grade offloading solutions. Our framework considers a fundamental, intuitive model of carrier costs and revenues, and two demand models that predict how traffic will change in response to alteration in the price and the set of deployed APs. We present both analytical and approximate solutions for this intricate problem, and reveal how key network parameters shape the offloading benefits. Using a dataset of WiFi access patterns collected from real users, we evaluate the impact of offloading for different regional markets around the world. We find that in mature markets WiFi can help carriers reduce their costs, while charging users up to 50% lower than the cellular service. The gains are higher for small "virtual carriers" who resell other's mobile data services (up to a factor of 2). However, in less mature markets where the AP deployment or access costs are higher, deploying APs can actually lead to a net loss for the carrier. Our evaluation code is publicly available for the benefit of research community.
Clopidogrel plus Aspirin for Symptomatic Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis: A Pilot Study.

Background and Purpose: There are limited data on the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy for secondary stroke prevention in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease. Methods: Consecutive patients presenting with high-grade (70-99%) symptomatic intracranial stenosis from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013, and evaluated within 30 days of the index event were eligible for this analysis. All patients underwent treatment with aspirin plus clopidogrel for a target duration of 12 months along with aggressive medical management based on the Stenting and Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent Stroke in Intracranial Stenosis (SAMMPRIS) protocol; all patients were given gastrointestinal prophylaxis for the duration of their aspirin and clopidogrel treatment. Clinical and safety outcomes of our cohort were compared with the medical arm of the SAMMPRIS trial cohort (n = 227). Results: Our cohort included 25 patients that met the inclusion criteria. Achievement of blood pressure and LDL cholesterol targets were similar between our cohort and the SAMMPRIS cohort. At 1 year, the rates of stroke, myocardial infarction or vascular death were 0% in our cohort and 16% in the SAMMPRIS cohort (p = 0.03). At 1 year, major bleeding rates were similar between our cohort and the SAMMPRIS cohort (4 vs. 2.2%, p = 1.0). Conclusion: A prolonged course of dual antiplatelet therapy for symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease may be associated with less vascular events with no increase in hemorrhagic complications.
Yttrium Oxide (Y2O3)

Publisher Summary Yttrium sesquioxide (yttria) is a body-centered cubic material with bixbyite or cubic-C structure. Yttrium ions occupy two different sites: eight octahedral sites with C 3i point symmetry and 24 prismatic sites with C 2 symmetry. Six oxygen ions surround each yttrium ion. Ion positions in the unit cell are known from both X-ray and neutron-diffraction measurements. Optical-quality, single-crystal yttria is typically made by the flame-fusion technique, and optical-quality sintered polycrystalline yttria is available in a variety of window shapes. Yttria is an excellent trivalent-ion host material for solid-state lasers. A variety of candidate metal-ion dopants and many other rare earth metals have been investigated. Yttria has a band gap of approximately 6.0 eV. This chapter provides an overview of the measurements performed on the optical constants of yttria. The lowest frequency electronic feature of the yttria spectrum is an exciton peak at 6.0 eV. The peak sits on the edge of a broad resonance structure extending from 6.5–15 eV at room temperature. This broad feature arises from interband transitions between the upper valence band of oxygen to the conduction band of yttrium. Weaker absorption in the 15–27 eV region may be caused by transitions from the upper valence band of oxygen to higher excited conduction bands of doubly ionized yttrium.
The Elusive Concept of Culture and the Vivid Reality of Personality

The domain of political psychology is broad and variegated, for it encompasses a boundless variety of topics and methodologies, as the authors of this book manifestly demonstrate. Whereas other academic disciplines seem ever intent upon narrowing their focuses in order to concentrate energies on select minutiae, political psychology has constantly opened its arms to welcome new issues, insights and approaches. This is understandable, given the subject matter of the field and the numerous parent disciplines of its practitioners. Political life, defined in a variety of ways, can be thought of as always taking in some aspect or another of basic human behavior. Thus just about every field in the humanities and social sciences can legitimately hold that it has a contribution to make to the understanding of the workings of the human factor in politics.
Dietary factors during early life program bone formation in female rats

Nutritional status during intrauterine and early postnatal life impacts the risk of chronic diseases; however, evidence for an association between early-life dietary factors and bone health in adul...
The Flipside of the Power of Engineered T Cells: Observed and Potential Toxicities of Genetically Modified T Cells as Therapy.

Autologous T cells modified to recognize novel antigen targets are a novel form of therapy for cancer. We review the various potential forms of observed and hypothetical toxicities associated with genetically modified T cells. Despite the focus on toxicities in this review, re-directed T cells represent a powerful and highly effective form of anti-cancer therapy; we remain optimistic that the common toxicities will become routinely manageable and that some theoretical toxicity will be exceedingly rare, if ever observed.
Why science thrives on criticism

George Steiner once proposed a challenging thought experiment. He suggested that we imagine a world without art critics. What would it be like, asked Steiner, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Geneva, if artists were supported and encouraged, while all art critics, commentators and interpreters were banned from the media and the academic world? What would it be like if, but for explicative and historically contextualizing commentary, "all talk about the arts, music and literature [were] prohibited [and] held to be illicit verbiage"?
A Small Gain Theorem for Parametric Assume-Guarantee Contracts

The problem of verifying properties of large, networked cyber-physical systems (CPS) is beyond the reach of most computational tools today. Two common "divide-and-conquer" techniques for CPS verification are assume-guarantee contracts from the formal methods literature and input-output properties from the control theory literature. Combining these two approaches, we first introduce the notion of a parametric assume-guarantee contract, which lets reason about system behavior abstractly in a parameter domain. We next show how a finite gain property can be encoded in this form and provide a generalized small-gain theorem for parametric assume-guarantee contracts. This theorem recovers the classical small gain theorem as a special case and its derivation highlights the connection between assume-guarantee reasoning and small-gain results. This new small-gain theorem applies to behaviors beyond bounded deviation from a nominal point to include a fragment of linear temporal logic with parametrized predicates that can encode safety, recurrence, and liveness properties. Our results are validated with an example which certifies that the interconnection of two freeway segments experiences intermittent congestion.
Histopathological Diagnosis for Viable and Non-viable Tumor Prediction for Osteosarcoma Using Convolutional Neural Network

Pathologists often deal with high complexity and sometimes disagreement over Osteosarcoma tumor classification due to cellular heterogeneity in the dataset. Segmentation and classification of histology tissue in H&E stained tumor image datasets is challenging due to intra-class variations and inter-class similarity, crowded context, and noisy data. In recent years, deep learning approaches have led to encouraging results in breast cancer and prostate cancer analysis. In this paper, we propose a Convolutional neural network (CNN) as a tool to improve efficiency and accuracy of Osteosarcoma tumor classification into tumor classes (viable tumor, necrosis) vs non-tumor. The proposed CNN architecture contains five learned layers: three convolutional layers interspersed with max pooling layers for feature extraction and two fully-connected layers with data augmentation strategies to boost performance. We conclude that the use of neural network can assure high accuracy and efficiency in Osteosarcoma classification.
Molecular Imaging with Sum-frequency Generation Microscopy

We compare the imaging properties of polarization resolved sum-frequency generation (SFG) microscopy with the imaging capabilities of second harmonic generation (SHG).
Secretion of Gonadotropins in Response to a Novel Kiss-1 Receptor Agonist, RF9 in the Mare: Modulation by Estradiol-17β and Half-Life of RF9 in the Peripheral Circulation

Abstract Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of the kisspeptin receptor agonist, 1-adamantanecarbonyl-RF-NH2 (RF9) on the secretion of gonadotropins, the role of estradiol-17β in modulating this response, and the metabolic half-life of RF9 in the mare. During the luteal phase of the estrous cycle (experiment 1), light horse mares were treated with sequential I.V. injections of RF9 (0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg) within a 1-hour interval to determine effects on coincident secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Dose-dependent increases (P
The high-temperature and radiative effect on concrete

Phenomenological models of the high-energy radiation effect on a condensed medium such as rocks and structural materials are summarized. The degradation of the medium exposed to ionizing radiation and high-temperature heating is considered. The time of creation of the lava-like fuel-containing material after the Chernobyl NPP Unit 4 explosion is estimated based on the kinetics of the three-phase model of concrete. A calculation technique of the neutron irradiation characteristics of concrete using the Geant4 software package is described. The phenomenological model of the behavior of concrete under radiation and hightemperature conditions is proposed.
Coordinated activity of sleep and arousal neurons for stabilizing sleep/wake states in Drosophila

The output arm of the sleep homeostat in Drosophila is a group of neurons with projections to the dorsal fan-shaped body (dFSB) of the central complex in the brain. However, neurons that regulate the sleep homeostat remain poorly understood. Using neurogenetic approaches combined with ex vivo Ca2+ imaging, we identify two groups of sleep-regulatory neurons that modulate the activity of the sleep homeostat in an opposing fashion. The sleep-promoting neurons activate the sleep homeostat with glutamate, whereas the arousal-promoting neurons down-regulate the sleep homeostat output with dopamine. Co-activating these two inputs leads to frequent shifts between sleep and wake states. We also show that dFSB sleep homeostat neurons release the neurotransmitter GABA that inhibits octopaminergic arousal neurons. Taken together, we suggest coordinated neuronal activity of sleep- and arousal-promoting neurons is essential for stabilizing sleep/wake states.
Quantifying flow and stress in ice mélange, the world's largest granular material.

Tidewater glacier fjords are often filled with a collection of calved icebergs, brash ice, and sea ice. For glaciers with high calving rates, this "melange" of ice can be jam-packed, so that the flow of ice fragments is mostly determined by granular interactions. In the jammed state, ice melange has been hypothesized to influence iceberg calving and capsize, dispersion and attenuation of ocean waves, injection of freshwater into fjords, and fjord circulation. However, detailed measurements of ice melange are lacking due to difficulties in instrumenting remote, ice-choked fjords. Here we characterize the flow and associated stress in ice melange, using a combination of terrestrial radar data, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations. We find that, during periods of terminus quiescence, ice melange experiences laminar flow over timescales of hours to days. The uniform flow fields are bounded by shear margins along fjord walls where force chains between granular icebergs terminate. In addition, the average force per unit width that is transmitted to the glacier terminus, which can exceed 107 N/m, increases exponentially with the melange length-to-width ratio. These "buttressing" forces are sufficiently high to inhibit the initiation of large-scale calving events, supporting the notion that ice melange can be viewed as a weak granular ice shelf that transmits stresses from fjord walls back to glacier termini.
Regulation of Gastric Lgr5+ve Cell Homeostasis by Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) Signaling and Inflammatory Stimuli.

Background & Aims Gastric Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) cells exert important functions during injury and homeostasis. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling regulates gastric inflammation and epithelial homeostasis. We investigated if BMP signaling controls the fate of Lgr5+ve cells during inflammation. Methods The H+/K+-adenosine triphosphatase β-subunit promoter was used to express the BMP inhibitor noggin (Nog) in the stomach (H+/K+-Nog mice). Inhibition of BMP signaling in Lgr5 cells was achieved by crossing Lgr5-EGFP-ires-CreERT2 (Lgr5-Cre) mice to mice with floxed alleles of BMP receptor 1A (Lgr5-Cre;Bmpr1aflox/flox mice). Lgr5/GFP+ve cells were isolated using flow cytometry. Lineage tracing studies were conducted by crossing Lgr5-Cre mice to mice that express Nog and tdTomato (Lgr5-Cre;H+/K+-Nog;Rosa26-tdTom). Infection with Helicobacter felis was used to induce inflammation. Morphology of the mucosa was analyzed by HEBmpr1aflox/flox mice showed diminished expression of Bmpr1a in Lgr5/GFP+ve cells. Infection of Lgr5-Cre;Bmpr1aflox/flox mice with H felis led to enhanced inflammation, increased cell proliferation, parietal cell loss, and to the development of metaplasia and dysplasia. Infected Lgr5-Cre;H+/K+-Nog;Rosa26-tdTom mice, but not control mice, showed the presence of tomato+ve glands lining the lesser curvature that stained positively with Griffonia (Bandeiraea) simplicifolia lectin II and Ulex europaeus agglutinin 1, and with anti-IF, -CD44, -CD44v9, and -bromodeoxyuridine antibodies. Conclusions Inflammation and inhibition of BMP signaling activate Lgr5+ve cells, which give rise to metaplastic, dysplastic, proliferating lineages that express markers of mucus neck and zymogenic cell differentiation.
miRNAs reshape immunity and inflammatory responses in bacterial infection.

Pathogenic bacteria cause various infections worldwide, especially in immunocompromised and other susceptible individuals, and are also associated with high infant mortality rates in developing countries. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs with evolutionarily conserved sequences, are expressed in various tissues and cells that play key part in various physiological and pathologic processes. Increasing evidence implies roles for miRNAs in bacterial infectious diseases by modulating inflammatory responses, cell penetration, tissue remodeling, and innate and adaptive immunity. This review highlights some recent intriguing findings, ranging from the correlation between aberrant expression of miRNAs with bacterial infection progression to their profound impact on host immune responses. Harnessing of dysregulated miRNAs in bacterial infection may be an approach to improving the diagnosis, prevention and therapy of infectious diseases. Changes in production of tiny cellular RNAs in response to bacterial infection could guide the development of better diagnostics and therapies. MicroRNAs regulate other genes by binding to messenger RNA strands and controlling their translation into proteins. Xikun Zhou, Min Wu and colleagues of the University of North Dakota have now reviewed current knowledge about how microRNA levels shift during infection with various bacterial pathogens. These microRNAs can modulate the immune response as well as pathways that influence metabolic activity and cell survival. Increasing studies have indicated that shifts in microRNA levels in response to different infections could provide a potential bacterial ‘fingerprint’ for achieving accurate diagnosis. With deeper insight into how different microRNAs influence infection, it might one day day become possible to target these molecules with ‘antisense’ or ‘agonist’ drugs that modulate their activity.
Multi-task formation of multi-spacecraft via distributed hierarchical control

This paper considers the multi-task formation control problem of a group of spacecrafts. Control objectives include: collision avoidance, connectivity maintenance, and achieving the desired configuration. The main underlying idea is to develop a new distributed hierarchical control protocol, which provides a hierarchical structure for preserving the network connectivity, thus making it a less conservative way to achieve multi-task formation. A novel Lyapunov-like barrier function is constructed for encoding the objectives of hierarchical connectivity maintenance and collision avoidance. Then, a distributed gradient-based controller is proposed such that the multi-task formation can be achieved. A numerical example illustrates the effectiveness of proposed method.
The Design Process for Concurrent Engineering

This paper lays a foundation for the construction of computerized concurrent engineering systems, by analyzing and outlining the design process of mechanical components in a way that readily lends its self to computer application. The design process is broken down to two phases that account for manufacturing and life-cycle issues. Two levels, that address component and assembly specifics are also considered.
The Non-Perturbative Renormalization Of (λϕ4)3

The λϕ4 model in three space-time dimensions provides us with one of the few examples of the success of renormalization theory that goes beyond perturbation theory. The counter-terms (over and above Wick ordering) required by the Euclidean Green’s functions are summarized in the table below.
Postmenopausal hormone treatment alters neural pathways but does not improve verbal cognitive function.

OBJECTIVE Cognitive outcomes in trials of postmenopausal hormone treatment have been inconsistent. Differing outcomes may be attributed to hormone formulation, treatment duration and timing, and differential cognitive domain effects. We previously demonstrated treatment benefits on visual cognitive function. In the present study, we describe the effects of hormone treatment on verbal outcomes in the same women, seeking to understand the effects of prior versus current hormone treatment on verbal function. METHODS This is a cross-sectional evaluation of 57 women (38 hormone users [25 prior long-term users and 13 current users] and 19 never-users). Hormone users took identical formulations of estrogen or estrogen + progestin (0.625 mg/d conjugated equine estrogens with or without medroxyprogesterone acetate) for at least 10 years, beginning within 2 years of menopause. Women were evaluated with tests of verbal function and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of a verbal discrimination task. RESULTS All women scored similarly on assessments of verbal function (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test and a verbal discrimination task performed during the fMRI scanning session); however, women ever treated with hormones had more left inferior frontal (T = 3.72; P < 0.001) and right prefrontal cortex (T = 3.53; P < 0.001) activation during the verbal task. Hormone-treated women performed slightly worse on the verbal discrimination task (mean accuracy 81.72 ± 11.57 ever-treated, 85.30 ± 5.87 never-treated, P = 0.14), took longer to respond (mean reaction time 1.10 ± 0.17 s ever-treated, 1.02 ± 0.11 never-treated, P = 0.03), and remembered fewer previously viewed words (mean accuracy 62.21 ± 8.73 ever-treated, 65.45 ± 7.49 never-treated, P = 0.18). Increased posterior cingulate activity was associated with longer response times (R = 0.323, P = 0.015) and worse delayed verbal recall (R = -0.328, P = 0.048), suggesting that increased activation was associated with less efficient cognitive processing. We did not detect between group differences in activation in the left prefrontal cortex, superior frontal cortex, thalamus, or occipital/parietal junction. CONCLUSIONS Although current and past hormone treatment was associated with differences in neural pathways used during verbal discrimination, verbal function was not higher than never-users.
An algorithm for burst reservation packet service

Assumes an integrated fast-packet environment that recognizes two kinds of transport services: low delay tolerant isochronous transport and bursty variable-bandwidth transport with some delay tolerance. To deal with both but in particular the latter, the authors present an algorithm to implement a burst reservation discipline. The algorithm also addresses the problem of overload occurring when the instantaneous traffic from several sources is targeted for a single destination, thus exceeding its output buffer capacity and resulting in packet loss. The authors propose a centralized scheme of burst communications reservations which gives the receivers at each destination the capability to control the incoming traffic mix with the objective of avoiding packet losses and maximizing the received load. The proposed new algorithm can also be used end-to-end in a network between cooperating subscribers or within a switch transparently to the subscribers. >
Human Physiology and Countermeasures for Spaceflight from the Perspective of an ISS Astronaut

The human body changes while in the microgravity environment and NASA has developed countermeasures to reduce or mitigate some of these changes such as bone loss and muscle atrophy. The countermeasures equipment also help keep astronauts in good cardiovascular condition while in this environment. While this equipment, the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED), the treadmill (T2), and the cycle ergometer with vibration isolation and stabilization (CEVIS) do help tremendously, there is still room for improvement. This paper will discuss physiological changes experienced by the author, not only from microgravity, but also possibly from other sources on the ISS. And correspondingly, discuss how well the countermeasures worked for him and discuss the issues he had using these countermeasures. And areas these countermeasures were deficient, such as core strength.
Covalent Complex of DNA and Bacterial Topoisomerase: Implications in Antibacterial Drug Development

A topoisomerase-DNA transient covalent complex can be a druggable target for novel topoisomerase poison inhibitors that represent a new class of antibacterial or anticancer drugs. Herein, we have investigated molecular features of the functionally important Escherichia coli topoisomerase I (EctopoI)-DNA covalent complex (EctopoIcc) for molecular simulations, which is very useful in the development of new antibacterial drugs. To demonstrate the usefulness of our approach, we used a model small molecule (SM), NSC76027, obtained from virtual screening. We examined the direct binding of NSC76027 to EctopoI as well as inhibition of EctopoI relaxation activity of this SM via experimental techniques. We then performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the dynamics and stability of EctopoIcc and EctopoI-NSC76027-DNA ternary complex. Our simulation results show that NSC76027 forms a stable ternary complex with EctopoIcc. EctopoI investigated here also serves as a model system for investigating a complex of topoisomerase and DNA in which DNA is covalently attached to the protein.
Accelerating Block-Circulant Matrix-Based Neural Network Layer on a General Purpose Computing Platform: A Design Guideline

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have become a powerful tool and enabled the state-of-the art accuracy on many challenging tasks. However, large-scale DNNs highly consume both computational time and storage space. To optimize and improve the performance of the network while maintaining the accuracy, the block-circulant matrix-based (BCM) algorithm has been introduced. BCM utilizes the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) with block-circulant matrices to compute the output of each layer of the network. Unlike conventional pruning techniques, the network structure is maintained while using the BCM. Compared to conventional matrix implementation, the BCM reduces the computational complexity of a neural network layer from O(n^2) to O(n^2/k), and it has been proven to be highly effective when implemented using customized hardware, such as FPGAs. However, its performance suffers from overhead of FFT and matrix reshaping on general purpose computing platforms. In certain cases, using the BCM does not improve the total computation time of the networks at all. In this paper, we propose a parallel implementation of the BCM layer and guidelines that generally lead to better implementation practice is provided. The guidelines run across popular implementation language and packages including Python, numpy, intel-numpy, tensorflow, and nGraph.
In the Face of Tragedy – Nanga Parbat and National Socialist Radio

During the 1930s, Nanga Parbat, like no other mountain, captured the imagination of German mountaineers, mountaineering officials, and the public alike. Referred to as the ‘mountain of destiny’ due...
CEO Regulatory Focus and Strategic Change: The Importance of Context

This research extends upper echelons theory by exploring the impact of CEO personality factors, specifically regulatory focus, within various contexts. Findings reveal that CEO regulatory focus can...
Local Calibration of Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical Faulting Reliability using Pavement Management Data:

The Pavement ME transverse joint faulting model incorporates mechanistic theories that predict development of joint faulting in jointed plain concrete pavements (JPCP). The model is calibrated usin...
Insight into Selecting Adolescents for Drinking Intervention Programs: a Simulation Based on Stochastic Actor–Oriented Models

Adolescent drinking remains a prominent public health and socioeconomic issue in the USA with costly consequences. While numerous drinking intervention programs have been developed, there is little guidance whether certain strategies of participant recruitment are more effective than others. The current study aims at addressing this gap in the literature using a computer simulation approach, a more cost-effective method than employing actual interventions. We first estimate stochastic actor–oriented models for two schools from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). We then employ different strategies for selecting adolescents for the intervention (either based on their drinking levels or their positions in the school network) and simulate the estimated model forward in time to assess the aggregated level of drinking in the school at a later time point. The results suggest that selecting moderate or heavy drinkers for the intervention produces better results compared to selecting casual or light drinkers. The intervention results are improved further if network position information is taken into account, as selecting drinking adolescents with higher in-degree or higher eigenvector centrality values for intervention yields the best results. Results from this study help elucidate participant selection criteria and targeted network intervention strategies for drinking intervention programs in the USA.
Shared decision making in pediatric dermatology: context, opportunities, and practical examples.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Shared decision making (SDM) is an important part of patient-centered care. However, it is neither widely practiced nor researched in pediatric dermatology. In this article, we provide practical examples of how to engage in SDM in pediatric dermatology, and identify future areas of research. RECENT FINDINGS: Children and parents/guardians desire SDM in clinical encounters. The process is applicable to discussions of medical as well as surgical care. Additionally, SDM can help prepare children for the transition from pediatric to adult/general providers. Clinicians often want more guidance on its implementation, and there is a dearth of research on SDM or decision tools specific to pediatric dermatology. SUMMARY: SDM is underused and understudied in pediatric dermatology. This article highlights how to engage in SDM and presents opportunities for research and implementation in pediatric dermatology.
Relations of cognitive styles, depressive symptoms, and blood pressure in community college students.

Objective We proposed cognitive styles described in the Hopelessness Theory would be associated with depressive symptoms and Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and that depressive symptoms mediate these associations. Participants This cross-sectional study had 324 community college student participants (ages: 18 to 62 years, M = 24.08, SD = 9.10; 57.3% female; 57.3% White, 29.8% Black, 8.8% Latinx, 8.8% Other). Methods Besides self-reports of cognitive styles and depressive symptoms, resting blood pressure was measured three times at 1-min intervals and the mean was used in the analysis. Results Path analyses demonstrated differing associations between each cognitive style and SBP and no mediation, suggesting cognitive styles and depressive symptoms are independently associated with SBP. Conclusions When conceptualizing and measuring the associations of cognitive styles with depressive symptoms and SBP, the styles should be evaluated individually. Interventions targeting cognitive styles might be especially beneficial as changing them might improve mental and physical health.
Robert K. Merton’s Approach to Teaching the Classics in Sociology

The main purpose of this article is to provide some guidance and inspiration for the teaching of the classics in sociology by taking a close look at the way in which Robert K. Merton taught this topic at Columbia University. The course was entitled “History of Sociological Theory (Sociology 150)” and was given between 1958 and 1968. With the help of archival material, the article reconstructs what Merton said during his lectures, which texts he assigned, what kind of tests he gave, and what type of paper the students should write. Merton did not want the students to only study the texts of the classics but also try to figure out how these went about their research and were able to formulate their theories. This meant that he emphasized how the classics approached such activities as problem-finding, problem-solving and looking for strategic research sites. In the concluding section, the broad approach to theory in Merton’s teaching is contrasted to the more narrow one he presented in Social Theory and Social Structure. Positive and negative aspects of Merton’s approach to the classics are also discussed.