cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Concentration of Endogenous Estrogens and Estrogen Metabolites in the NCI-60 Human Tumor Cell Lines

Background Endogenous estrogens and estrogen metabolites play an important role in the pathogenesis and development of human breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. Increasing evidence also supports their involvement in the development of certain lung, colon and prostate cancers.
The Integrated Phenotype

Proper functioning of complex phenotypes requires that multiple traits work together. Examination of relationships among traits within and between complex characters and how they interact to function as a whole organism is critical to advancing our understanding of evolutionary developmental plasticity. Phenotypic integration refers to the relationships among multiple characters of a complex phenotype, and their relationships with other functional units (modules) in an organism. In this review, I summarize a brief history of the concept of phenotypic integration in plant and animal biology. Following an introduction of concepts, including modularity, I use an empirical case-study approach to highlight recent advance in clarifying the developmental and genomic basis of integration. I end by highlighting some novel approaches to genomic and epigenetic perturbations that offer promise in further addressing the role of phenotypic integration in evolutionary diversification. In the age of the phenotype, studies that examine the genomic and developmental changes in relationships of traits across environments will shape the next chapter in our quest for understanding the evolution of complex characters.
Mapping of generalized template matching onto reconfigurable computers

Image processing algorithms for template matching, two-dimensional (2-D) digital filtering, morphologic operations, and motion estimation share some common properties. They can all benefit from using reconfigurable computers that use coprocessor boards based on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chips. This paper characterizes those applications as generalized template matching (GTM) operations and describes the mapping of the GTM operations onto reconfigurable computers. A three-step approach is described. The first two steps enumerate and prune the design space of basic GTM building blocks, which consist of FPGA buffers and GTM computation cores. The last step is to achieve a solution through an optimal combination of these building blocks where the cost function is the FPGA computation time and the constraints are FPGA coprocessor board resources. Various FPGA buffers are presented so as to introduce design options of basic GTM building blocks. Algorithms used for the mapping are described. Experimental results are summarized to reveal the relationship between the GTM mapping results and FPGA board resource parameters.
Perception of sports photographs: a multidimensional scaling analysis.

Some sports photographs are remarkable for how animate they appear. whereas others seem particularly static or frozen. To explore the aspects of still photographs that might produce a sense of action, 34 observers viewed all possible pairs of 14 previously published images depicting sports figures in action and were asked to judge their similarity under two conditions, image-focus (how similar are the images) or movement-focus (how similar is the type of movement). A separate group of observers also rated each image on eight scales. Multidimensional scaling analyses suggested that in the image-focus condition, subjects tended to organize their judgments around three general dimensions, e.g., on-ground versus off-ground, while in the movement-focus condition the subjects were more likely to cluster the images along the lines of the particular activity, throwing, running, or jumping. We discuss the problem of movement depiction in sports photographs and make suggestions for research on the effects of facial...
Insect herbivore stoichiometry: the relative importance of host plants and ant mutualists

1. Mutualistic associations can vary over spatial and ecological gradients. For herbivorous insects that engage in mutualisms with ants, plant quality can be a particularly important source of variation, because of the upward transfer of nutrients from plants to herbivores to ants. 2. A previous study demonstrated that mutualistic ants, Formica obscuripes, exert a top-down effect on the carbon and nitrogen concentrations (stoichiometry) in an herbivorous membracid, Publilia modesta. We characterised the consequences of mutualism for carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry between the same species pair, yet on an alternative, geographically-distinct host plant. 3. We found no top-down effect of ants on the carbon or nitrogen in the herbivore, but a strong, bottom-up effect of individual plants on membracid nitrogen concentration. 4. These results suggests that spatial heterogeneity in host plant traits, and ultimately the diet breadth of herbivore mutualists, may be important factors mediating stoichiometric patterns in mutualistic associations.
Towards collaborative and adversarial learning

Soccer is a rich domain for the study of multiagent learning issues. Not only must the players learn lower-level skills, but they must also learn to work together and to adapt to the behaviors of different opponents. We are using a robotic soccer system to study these different types of multiagent learning: low-level skills, collaborative and adversarial. Here we describe in detail our experimental framework. We present a learned, robust, low-level behavior that is necessitated by the multiagent nature of the domain, viz. shooting a moving ball. We then discuss the issues that arise as we extend the learning scenario to require collaborative and adversarial learning.
Relation between house-dust endotoxin exposure, type 1 T-cell development, and allergen sensitisation in infants at high risk of asthma

Summary Background Bacterial endotoxin is known to induce interferon -γ and interleukin 12 production, and therefore has the potential to decrease allergen sensitisation. To find out the role of early chronic endotoxin exposure in the development of allergen sensitisation and asthma, we compared concentrations of endotoxin in house dust with allergen sensitisation in infants at high risk for developing asthma. Methods 61 infants 9–24 months old with at least three physician-documented episodes of wheezing were studied. Concentrations of house-dust endotoxin and allergens were measured in the infants' homes. Allergen sensitisation was measured by skin-prick testing with a panel of common inhalant and food allergens. In a subset of these infants, proportions of T lymphocytes producing interferon γ, and interleukins 4, 5, and 13 were calculated by cell-surface and intracellular cytokine staining, with flow cytometry. Findings House-dust endotoxin concentrations ranged from 104 to 10 000 endotoxin units (EU) per ml (geometric mean 912 EU/mL). Concentrations did not vary significantly over a 6-month interval. Ten infants (16%) were sensitised to at least one allergen. The homes of allergen-sensitised infants contained significantly lower concentrations of house-dust endotoxin than those of non-sensitised infants (mean 468 vs 1035 EU/mL, respectively; p=0·01). Increased house-dust endotoxin concentrations correlated with increased proportions of interferon-y-producing CD4 T cells (p=0·01). Such concentrations did not correlate with proportions of cells that produced interleukins 4, 5, or 13. Interpretation This study may provide the first direct in-vivo evidence that indoor endotoxin exposure early in life may protect against allergen sensitisation by enhancing type 1 immunity.
The challenges of graphics processing in the avionics industry

Today's design of avionics is being pulled in two opposite directions — increased use of COTS and more requirements for certification. In particular, graphics processing has largely relied upon COTS devices even though the need for certification of GPUs has been amplified. This paper provides a background on graphics processing, summarizes the avionics requirements, surveys the options for graphics processing in avionics, and presents an architecture for an FPGA-based graphics processor.
Bowling Alone but Online Together: Social Capital in E-Communities

In this paper, we present a non-technical overview of new forms of voluntary association called online (or e-) communities and explore the implications they present for community development theory...
Experiments with Very High Power RF Pulses at SLAC

Experiments in which the powers of two SLAC klystrons were combined and fed into a resonant cavity pulse-compression system (SLED) are described. Pulse powers up to 65 MW into SLED were reached. The corresponding instantaneous peak power out of SLED was 390 MW. After normal initial aging, no persistent RF breakdown problems were encountered. X-radiation at the SLED cavities was generally less than 400 mR/hr after aging. The theoretical relationship between x-radiation intensity and RF electric field strength is discussed.
Globalization: Its Effects

A global culture is now increasingly emerging. The process of globalization is facilitated by technology. This technology comes from but one place – education. The primary way to accept (or fight it) globalization is through knowledge. Education is the main way to facilitate interaction and increase the quality of life for people everywhere.
Cancellation of jammers and jammer multipath in a GPS receiver

It is demonstrated by simulation that jammers and jammer multipath can be cancelled using an adaptive space-time array, leading to nearly ideal GPS performance.
Analysis and Implementation of Asynchronous Physical Layer Network Coding

Physical layer network coding has attracted extensive theoretical interest, although relatively little research has been done in support of deployment to wireless networks where internode synchronization is difficult to achieve. In particular, wireless networks constructed with inexpensive and commercially available software defined radio technology, or more generally, radio front-end samplers connected to internet-based remote processors (i.e., the Internet of Things network) may exhibit large time, frequency, and phase offsets that are difficult to control. In this paper, we define an asynchronous discrete-time model that accounts for these impairments as part of the information transfer between network users and a relay. Derived from this model are maximum likelihood algorithms for relay parameter estimation and a symbol decoder inspired from asynchronous multi-user detection. Additionally, null space-based frequency offset estimation that reduces computational complexity is proposed. Simulation results and the design and performance of a two-user system implemented with the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) platform and GNU radio are included to demonstrate the proof of concept. Our results indicate that the physical layer network coding technique can be successfully deployed and yields significant benefits even in the presence of impairments found in practical settings.
An ethics of the academy's embrace: the writer, the screen and the new literacies

ABSTRACTDespite the regular recognition today of such literacies as ‘information literacy’, ‘media literacy', ‘digital literacy' and such broadly defined competencies as ‘cultural literacy' or ‘social literacy' the weight of ethics continues to lie in recognition of literacy related to the literary text. The same moral panic that attached itself three-quarters of a century ago to the impact of television on the reading abilities and propensities of the population attaches itself to the notion of the teaching and research of screenwriting and the notion that it should occupy a place of equality in the company of literary prose and poetry. Fail to put the case forward for a contemporary ethics of literacy that includes understanding screen texts and engaging in writing for the screen and we fail to ground the research or teaching of screenwriting in higher education in any strong or sustainable sense. We need to declare today a new ethics of literacy in which the ability to write for the screen stands equal...
Speculation as a Learned Behavior? Adaptive Rationality Among New Investors and the Evolution of a Nascent Market

This inductive study examines the extent to which small, newly recruited investors learn to mimic the trading behaviors of experienced institutional investors in an emerging capital market characterized by policies that incentivize speculative trading in IPO shares. Theoretically, I explore how small, inexperienced investors learn to trade shares more effectively and how the ordering and attributes of listing firms facilitate or impede this learning process. Empirically, I model rates of speculative IPO trading for investors based on portfolio value, registration type (individual vs. company), and previous experience in the Kenyan IPO market and chart the relative rates of speculative trading between investor groups over the course of successive IPOs. Analysis of individual data for 1.4 million domestic investors across six consecutive IPOs in Kenya’s nascent stock market from 2006 to 2008 suggests that low portfolio value individual investors are initially much less likely than institutional investors to act on short-term profit opportunities, but small increases in experience levels quickly produce rates of speculative trading by small investors that matches those of the largest investors. However, this learning process can be disrupted by differences in share price trajectories between IPOs as well as characteristics of listing firms, as smaller investors are more likely to formulate unreasonable expectations of share price gains in IPOs of high status firms and in IPOs that follow offers with abnormally high returns. Results are discussed as a theory of nascent market evolution, where I argue that the investing public’s learned orientation to short-term share ownership forces a reconsideration of state-level regulatory policies as well as firm level decisions about when to list in an emerging market.
Exiled at Home: Daughters of the Dust and the Many Post-Colonial Conditions

Red-haired, light-skinned African American Trula emerges as a striking image of an exiled and marginalized lesbian woman in Julie Dash's film Daughters of the Dust. This film tells the story of an African American family's migration from the Georgia Sea Islands to the US mainland in the early 1900s. Some members of the family already live on the mainland and return to the Sea Islands to celebrate the formal migration. Trula, a "friend," accompanies family member Yellow Mary Peazant. Trula's abundant and flamboyant hair and her excessive "whiteness" place her exterior to the predominantly dark-skinned female community of Ibo Landing in the Georgia Sea Islands. Trula's position as outsider emanates not only from these markers of difference or excess, but astonishingly, also from the Ibo belief that "[o]n the day of the blood relatives, friends go" (qtd. in Pendit and McGuire 6). This belief forges and legitimates her ostracism. Thus at the moment of migration and leave-taking, the women of the Peazant family, the "blood relatives," enact an unapologetic exile on Trula while simultaneously confronting varying degrees of self-exile. Trula's overt silence and her refulgent presence signify a gaping wound in the text of the film, a laceration deliberately inflicted by Dash to warn that no unified moment or place of safety exists for all post-colonial African American female figures. Trula, perpetually in exile, is not safe on the Sea Island; she is not welcome; she is not at home. And yet, we argue, so too are all the other women depicted in the film. Dash risks projecting black women as divisive, and in particular, as homophobic when she portrays the variety of womanhoods occupied by individual black women. Making
Human male germ cell tumor resistance to cisplatin is linked to TP53 gene mutation

Male germ cell tumors (GCTs) are uniquely sensitive to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, with more than 90% of newly diagnosed cases cured. The underlying cause for resistance to treatment in 20-30% of metastatic lesions remains to be identified. Unlike other solid tumors, no mutations in the TP53 gene have been identified to date in random panels of GCT specimens, which could account for the exquisite sensitivity of these tumors to genotoxic insult. However, in a panel of resistant GCTs that did either not respond to cisplatin-based chemotherapy or subsequently relapsed and resulted in the death of the patient, we have now identified a subset of tumors to contain TP53 mutations within exons 6-9. A cell line derived from one of these tumors (228A) displayed the same TP53 mutation as the tumor specimen, expressed only mutant TP53 mRNA, and exhibited a relative resistance to cisplatin in vitro in comparison to a cell line (218A) derived from a responsive tumor with wild-type TP53. The resistant cell line displayed a much reduced apoptotic cell death and did not exhibit an induction of transcription of the p53-responsive genes WAF1 and MDM2 following cisplatin treatment, compared to that observed in the sensitive cell line. The levels of bax, an agonist of apoptosis, were found to be reduced in the resistant cell line. The simplest explanation for the resistance of this subset of GCTs that are resistant to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, is the inability of the cells to mount an apoptotic response following exposure due to a functionally inactivating mutation in the TP53 gene.
Systems Theory and Foreign Policy RestructuringDistance Change in Latin America, 1953–1970

Although international politics is in the midst of major structural changes, neither decision makers nor scholars have shown an ability to deal with major change before a specific case emerges. Our study focuses on the value of systems theory in explaining and predicting the occurrence of major structural changes in foreign policy orientations between Latin America and the United States. By using distance change as our dependent variable, we wish not only to demonstrate the importance of system-level variables per se, but also to illustrate the impact of system-level considerations as contextual variables when examining other types of explanations for foreign policy reorientation.
Lead Testing in a Pediatric Population: Underscreening and Problematic Repeated Tests.

Context Underscreening and problematic repeat lead testing in children. Objective Identify proportion of underscreening for elevated blood-lead levels in children. For children who receive a lead test, measure the level of problematic repeat lead tests, defined as those with a high probability of not meeting recommended guidelines for lead testing in children measured using a combination of patients' age, test type and sequencing, days between tests, and encounter diagnosis coding. Design A population-based retrospective cross-sectional design. Setting All health care services organizations in the state of Minnesota that delivered health services to the defined study population. Participants The study population was a Medicaid cohort of 12 436 children aged 0 to 18 years observed over a 1-year period. Main outcome measures Proportion of eligible children not receiving at least 1 lead test; proportion of problematic repeat lead tests. Results Thirty-five percent of children who should have received at least 1 lead test (n = 1714) during the study period did not. A total of 1856 children had at least 1 lead test and 190 had 2 or more. Fifty percent (50%) of the repeat tests were identified as problematic, representing 5.1% of the lead tests performed. Repeat tests performed in different health systems than the systems where the initial tests were performed had 5.3 times greater odds (adjusted odds ratio: 5.3 [95% confidence interval, 2.8-9.9]) of being problematic. Conclusions The current approach to delivering mandatory lead testing across the state Medicaid population does not ensure that children are appropriately tested and has potential inefficiencies in that testing when it does take place. Use of multiple health care systems is associated with increased potential inefficiencies. Future Medicaid accountable care agreements between the state Medicaid program and participating health systems should emphasize clear population accountability for test screenings to improve patients' safety. A central queryable health resource or health information exchange may enable this.
Surgery for Advanced Thyroid Malignancy

Advanced thyroid malignancy can occur early in the course of the disease, or as late as 20 to 25 years after the initial diagnosis. The basic treatment is total thyroidectomy with central node dissection regardless of the histologic type. The nonresectable disease is treated with 131I if the tumor has iodine uptake. Further ablative surgery for resectable disease is governed by location and histologic cell type. Otherwise external radiation and chemotherapy (Adria-mycin) is used. Anaplastic, primary squamous cell and pure papillary and some predominantly papillary carcinomas and some Hurthle cell carcinomas do not have 131I uptake and fall into this latter category. The surgeon must be aware of this problem in the noniodine uptake tumors and take special care to remove all surgically resectable disease.
Teaching the Classics: The "Origin of Species" as a Case Study.

Many (including the author) argue that reading the classics in the field should be part of a scientist’s education. However, how you read the classics can be very different depending on whether you read them as a historian or as a practicing scientist. This point will be made by comparing two readings of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, and by looking at the use that Stephen Jay Gould made of the history of science in his quest to promote his scientific ideas.
GATA3 immunohistochemical expression in urothelial carcinoma.

e16135Background: GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) is a transcription factor, which belongs to a distinct family of tumor suppressor genes. It is involved in human cancer cell growth and differentiat...
Determinanten erwarteter Renditen am deutschen Aktienmarkt — Eine empirische Untersuchung anhand ausgewählter Kennzahlen

The paper explores the cross-sectional determinants of stock returns in Germany, using the following variables: beta, earnings yield, cash flow yield, financial leverage, size, and book-to-market equity. Various statistical specifications are applied to a comprehensive data set that extends from 1967 to 1994. The findings reveal a significant relation between expected returns and the two variables cash flow yield and book-to-market equity. The impact of size appears to be less pronounced. In general, the portion of the explained variation in average stock returns is rather small. The results bear a striking resemblance to the evidence on the cross-section of expected stock returns accumulated in some other European countries and especially the U.S. and Japan. Some findings point to market overreaction causing the dependencies, whereas we do not find evidence in favor of the hypothesis that the fundamental variables proxy for omitted risk factors.
Personal responsibility in the age of user-controlled neuroprosthetics

Deep-brain stimulation systems are an accepted and clinically effective form of neuroprosthetic treatment for a variety of common and debilitating neurological movement disorders: Essential Tremor, Parkinson's, and others. Most current implementations of DBS are "open-loop:" they remain active continuously, whether or not the user is experiencing symptoms. Recent research suggests that it is possible to devise more advanced systems where stimulation is delivered on demand. Their research offers a proof-of-concept for a Brain–Computer Interface-triggered DBS (BCI-DBS) system capable of detecting either signs of tremor or the user's neural commands through an additional set of co-implanted sensors. The system then delivers stimulation to meet the user's needs or demands. These technologies, however, come with a set of moral problems—in particular, problems for personal responsibility. This paper investigates whether giving users moment-to-moment neural control over their DBS system is ethically responsible given that users can make bad choices and thus harm others. We also ask what responsibilities medical professionals have have to support users as they learn to adapt to neuroprosthetic use. We guide our exploration of these issues through a series of hypothetical scenarios that BCI-DBS users may face.
A situated vacuuming robot

We undertook this project as an opportunity to explore design ideals of the embodied approach. At our disposal was a Pioneer robot and its Saphira software (ActivMedia 1996). Similar to subsumption architecture (Brooks 1986), the Saphira software tackles the dilemma of how to implement layered control design within a system which is inherently centralized. Brooks saw each layer as a simple and almost independent computational entity and, likewise, Saphira allows us to create a hierarchy of behaviors that each have the capacity to function simultaneously and yet asynchronously. Just as Brooks proposed a means by which one level can subsume a lower level by inhibiting its output, so behaviors can each be assigned a priority. The main strength of Saphira’s behavioral approach is not its ability to subsume or inhibit, but rather its capacity to blend behaviors. Non-conflicting behaviors run simultaneously and independently. If behaviors do conflict, their output can be combined in a number of ways. For example, if TurnSUDegrees has highest priority and gives commands on the turn channel and Constant_VeZocity is of lower priority and gives commands on the speed channel, then both behaviors will run completely independently. However, if TurnSODegrees gives commands on the speed channel, those commands override the activity of Constant_ Velocity. If instead, both Constant-Velocity and TurnSODegrees have equal priorities then their activities will be blended, allowing smooth transitions between them.
Dyslipidemia and its Association with Meibomian Gland Dysfunction: A Systematic Review

To perform a systematic review of the literature examining the association between meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) and dyslipidemia. A systematic literature search was performed using the Medline database. A total of four studies directly relevant to our search are reviewed here. In a series of four studies, all but one found that the prevalence of dyslipidemia was significantly higher in those with MGD compared to those without. Factors such as age, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides demonstrated a significant association whereas sex, BMI, serum creatinine, and serum glucose did not. Various subsets within the MGD group, such as males between the ages of 24–64, were found to have higher total cholesterol levels compared to controls, highlighting the association of dyslipidemia with sex and age. While each study carried its own limitations preventing a causal relationship from being established, it is evident that a strong positive correlation exists between dyslipidemia and MGD. As such, eye care practitioners, through the detection of MGD, may be identifying patients with dyslipidemia who were previously believed to have normal serum lipid profiles. This may imply that eye care providers have a role in detecting a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Additionally, if prospective studies can demonstrate a temporal relationship with MGD preceding dyslipidemia, clinicians could consider lipid-lowering agents as management for both conditions.
Regulating microRNA expression: at the heart of diabetes mellitus and the mitochondrion

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. Uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus results in a systemic milieu of increased circulating glucose and fat...
A disconnect between precursor frequency, expansion potential, and site-specific CD4+ T cell responses in aged mice

T cell recognition of peptides presented within self-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) molecules is essential for long-lived protective immunity. As mice age the number of naive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells declines. However, unlike for CD8+ T cells, there are more naive and memory phenotype CD4+ T cells that bind foreign pMHCII in old mice (18-22 months) than adults (12-15 weeks), suggesting increased promiscuity of pMHCII recognition with aging. Here we asked if CD4+ T cell responses to immunization or infection increase with aging since the magnitude of a CD4+ T cell response to a foreign pMHCII is proportional to the size of the precursor population in adult mice. We observed no difference in the number of pMHCII-specific CD4+ T cells in adult versus old mice for pooled secondary lymphoid organs after immunization, bacterial infection, or viral infection, but we did observe diminished numbers of pMHCII-specific CD4+ T cells in both the draining lymph node and brain of old mice after West Nile virus infection. These data indicate that an increased precursor frequency does not translate into more robust responses upon immunization or infection in old mice.
Image compression and reconstruction using feature extraction

Considerable research has been devoted to the development of methods for reducing the transmission bandwidth of video signals such that the reconstructed image is of a high quality. Typically, these methods perform a statistical encoding of the intensity levels of a quantized picture, or they perform some transformation and subsequent data reduction in order to achieve bandwidth reduction [3]. Such methods rarely achieve data compression ratios in excess of ten-to-one without noticeable loss of quality in the reconstructed picture.
On Auxiliary Functions in Molecular Integrals

A brief review of work on an analytical solution to three center nuclear attraction integrals and relationship among selected auxiliary functions is presented. The review is preceded by an outline of a few concepts from graph theory -- the subject of current intensive interest of the author. Graphs already play useful role in molecular calculations, even in some problems involving molecular integrals and graph theory deserves a better exposure. In the spirit of graph theoretical tradition, the problem of solving of four center integrals has been here exalted to a conjecture that such integrals can be evaluated analytically. While believers will try to prove the conjecture, now there is also a burden on non-believers to disprove it! In a more solemn direction, the contribution suggests that overlap integrals play a role of auxiliary functions and some hope is expressed that additional molecular integrals will be expressed in terms of general overlap integrals or as some function of overlap integrals.
Role of unsaturated derivatives of spermidine as substrates for spermine synthase and in supporting growth of SV-3T3 cells

Synthetic unsaturated analogues of the natural polyamine were examined as possible substrates for spermine synthase and as replacements for spermidine in supporting the growth of SV-3T3 cells. It was found that N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-cis-but-2-ene [the cis isomer of the alkene analogue of spermidine] was a good substrate for spermine synthase, but that the trans isomer [N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-trans-but-2-ene] and the alkene analogue [N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diaminobut-2-yne] were not substrates. These results provide the first demonstration of stereospecificity in the spermine synthase reaction. All three of the unsaturated spermidine analogues described above and the cis-alkene analogue of spermine [N1N4-bis-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-cis-but-2-ene] were able to support the growth of SV-3T3 cells that were prevented from the endogenous synthesis of spermidine by treatment with alpha-difluoromethylornithine. Since N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-trans-but-2-ene] and N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diaminobut-2-yne were not converted into a spermine derivative, it is apparent that this conversion is not needed for the stimulation of growth. However, since N1N4-bis-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-cis-but-2-ene was also able to support growth and was not degraded to the spermidine derivative, it appears that either polyamine can be effective in this respect. All of the unsaturated analogues tested accumulated in the SV-3T3 cells to a much greater extent than spermidine itself. This indicates that these compounds are substrates for the polyamine transport system, but that they are less effective than the natural polyamines in the feedback regulation of this system.
The Race to the Chesapeake between Destouches and Arbuthnot, March 1781

Naval historians have discussed the battle of Cape Henry, which occurred on 16 March 1781, between the French and British fleets during the War of American Independence, as an important precursor t...
Parameter Estimation using Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy Temperature Measurements and Approximate Bayesian Computation

We use approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) to estimate parameters in a 3D high-temperature turbulent buoyant jet large-eddy simulation (LES). Wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) provides reference temperature measurements. Parameters provide close agreement between simulation and experiment.
Interdiffusion and Association Phenomena in some Oxide Systems

The mechanism of interdiffusion in systems AO-B2O3 is discussed. The experimental data obtained on interdiffusion of B3+ ions (e.g., Cr3+ and Al 3+) in an AO compound (e.g., MgO and NiO) show that the relationship \( \tilde D\) NB is only an approximation which implies that no association of defects occurs. This relationship was observed in systems Cr2O3-MgO and Cr2O3-NiO at temperatures higher than 1300°C. In the systems where the association energy of defects (???F) is high, the association effects cannot be neglected even at high temperatures or low concentration of B3+ ions.
Orientation mapping of graphene in a scanning electron microscope

Abstract A scanning transmission electron diffraction method is developed for use in the scanning electron microscope to perform orientational characterization of 2D materials. The method can generate orientation maps of monolayer graphene over a field of view up to ≈ 50 μ m in just a few minutes and can distinguish twisted bilayers from aligned bilayers. This method holds promise to bring electron-diffraction-based orientation measurements of 2D materials to a broader audience.
Screening for Opioid Misuse in the Nonhospitalized Seriously Ill Patient.

Abstract Background: Responding to an epidemic of opioid-related deaths, guidelines and laws have been implemented to promote safe opioid prescribing practices. Objective: This study evaluates diff...
Short-term ambient particle radioactivity level and renal function in older men: Insight from the Normative Aging Study.

Abstract Background Whole-body and thoracic ionizing radiation exposure are both associated with the development of renal dysfunction. However, whether low-level environmental radiation from air pollution affects renal function remains unknown. Objectives We investigated the association of particle radioactivity (PR) with renal function defined by the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the Normative Aging Study. Methods This longitudinal analysis included 2491 medical visits from 809 white males enrolled between 1999 and 2013. The eGFR was calculated using the CKD-EPI and MDRD equations, and CKD cases were identified as those with an eGFR 2 . Gross β activity measured by five monitors of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's RadNet monitoring network was utilized to represent PR. Results Ambient PR levels from 1 to 28 days prior to clinical visit demonstrated robust negative associations with both forms of eGFR, but not with the increased odds of CKD. An interquartile range higher 28-day average ambient PR level was significantly associated with 0.83-mL/min/1.73 m 2 lower eGFR estimated by the CKD-EPI equation (95% confidence interval: −1.46, −0.20, p-value = 0.01). Controlling for PM 2.5 or black carbon in the model slightly attenuated the PR effects on eGFR. However, in individuals with the highest levels (3rd tertile) of C-reactive protein (CRP) or fibrinogen, we observed robust associations of PR with eGFR and CKD, suggesting that systemic inflammation may modify the PR-eGFR and PR-CKD relationships. Conclusions Our study reveals adverse health effects of short-term low-level ambient PR on the renal function, providing evidence to guide further study of the interplay between PR, inflammation, and renal health.
Investors’ Response to the #MeToo Movement: Does Corporate Culture Matter?

This paper provides evidence that the #MeToo movement revised investors’ beliefs about the costs (benefits) of fostering an exclusive (inclusive) culture, as reflected by the absence (presence of a critical mass) of women directors in the board room. Tracking the timeline of events associated with the #MeToo movement, beginning with the Harvey Weinstein expose in October of 2017 in the New York Times, we document contrasting market reactions to the movement depending upon the existing culture of the firm. While firms that historically have excluded women from their board experienced a negative market response as momentum for the cause increased, firms that historically embraced the inclusion of women on their board enjoyed positive returns as #MeToo events unfolded. In contrast, examining randomly generated pseudo-events occurring during the same time frame, we do not detect differences in the market’s response to these pseudo-events when comparing firms with exclusive and inclusive cultures. In the context of increased regulator attention to board gender diversity as well as the ESG activist campaigns by large institutional investors, our study documents a shift in investors’ beliefs about the risks associated with future revelations of misconduct and also about the value of having women in the board room shaping the culture of the firm.
Development and validation of a reporter cell line for rapid AAV quality control assessment

Adenovirus-associated virus is a powerful vector system for transducing cells in vivo. It is widely used in animal systems due to high transduction efficiency of non-dividing cells with more than a dozen serotypes that have preferential tissue tropism. The viral genome remains episomal in the nucleus but maintains sustained expression in terminally differentiated cells for several weeks to months. Despite the popularity of recombinant AAV (rAAV) vectors, quality control testing of the virus after production is largely limited to physical characteristics such as viral genomes/ml determinations and silver staining acrylamide gels to determine purity. Functional testing, in vivo, is not practical due to high cost and restricted access of animal care and long duration of the assay (2-3 weeks). Some functional testing can be accomplished in cultured cells such as HEK293 cells, but HEK293 cells limit the types of rAAV constructs that can be tested. Many rAAV constructs are designed to study neurons in the brain with neural-specific promoters and many are floxed with loxp sites to be "activated" only in Cre-expressing neurons in transgenic animals. To develop a reporter cell line for rapid rAAV quality control assessment of these neural-specific, floxed rAAV constructs, we used the lentiviral system to stably express Cre recombinase in the SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line. •A simple and economic method to evaluate recombinant AAV in vitro.•Allows functional validation of rAAV across a wide range of serotypes and promoters.•Allows functional validation of Cre-dependent rAAV constructs.
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Transcarotid Artery Revascularization with Dynamic Flow Reversal Versus Transfemoral Carotid Artery Stenting and Carotid Endarterectomy.

Background Transfemoral carotid artery stenting (TFCAS) was introduced as a less invasive option for carotid revascularization in patients at high risk for complications from carotid endarterectomy (CEA). The increased perioperative stroke and death risk of TFCAS has however prevented TFCAS from widespread acceptance as an alternative to CEA in high-risk patients. Recent research suggests that transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) may be associated with a low stroke and death risk and potentially meet the needs of patients at high surgical risk. We aimed to estimate the 30-day risk of stroke or death of TCAR and compare it to TFCAS and CEA. Methods We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and Scopus for studies of patients treated with TCAR. Meta-analysis was conducted when appropriate. A logistic-normal random-effects model with logit transformation was used to estimate the pooled event rates after TCAR. Pooled Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios (ORs) of events comparing TCAR to TFCAS and CEA were calculated using a fixed-effects model. Heterogeneity among studies was quantified with the chi-squared statistic of the likelihood ratio (LR) test that compares the random-effects and fixed-effects models. Results Nine nonrandomized studies evaluating 4012 patients who underwent TCAR were included. The overall 30-day risks after TCAR were stroke/death, 1.89% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.50, 2.37); stroke, 1.34% (95% CI: 1.02,1.75); death, 0.76% (95% CI: 0.56, 1.08); myocardial infarction (MI), 0.60% (95% CI: 0.23, 1.59); stroke/death/MI, 2.20% (95% CI: 1.31, 3.69); cranial nerve injury (CNI), 0.31% (95% CI: 0.12, 0.83). The failure rate of TCAR was 1.27% (95% CI: 0.32, 4.92). Two nonrandomized studies suggested that TCAR was associated with lower risk of stroke and death as compared with TFCAS (1.33% vs. 2.55%, OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.74 and 0.76% vs. 1.46%, OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.84, respectively). Four nonrandomized studies suggested that TCAR was associated with a lower risk of CNI (0.54% and 1.84%, OR: 0.52, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.74) than CEA, but no statistically significant difference in the 30-day risk of stroke, stroke/death, or stroke/death/MI. Conclusions Among patients undergoing TCAR with dynamic flow reversal for carotid stenosis the 30-day risk of stroke or death was low. The perioperative stroke/death rate of TCAR was similar to that of CEA while CNI risk was lower. Larger prospective studies are needed to account for confounding factors and provide higher certainty.
Orthorhombic alloys of Ga 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3

Ga 2 O 3 has attracted significant attention as a wide-bandgap material for electronic applications. The orthorhombic κ phase is of interest due to its large predicted spontaneous electrical polarization. Here, we use density functional theory and hybrid functionals to investigate how alloying Ga 2 O 3 with Al 2 O 3 can be used to modify lattice constants, bandgaps, and conduction-band offsets. We find that increasing the Al content decreases lattice constants linearly, but that the increase in bandgaps and conduction-band offsets is non-linear, with a bowing of 1.41 eV. Structurally, there is a strong energetic preference of Al atoms to occupy octahedrally coordinated sites, and of Ga atoms to occupy tetrahedral sites. Ga will also occupy pentahedral sites, but at a small energy cost. The formation enthalpy of alloys is smaller than that of the pure materials, with ordered alloys with 50% Al having especially low formation enthalpies. These quantitative results can be used to guide experimental device design.
Development and validation of four environmental DNA assays for species of conservation concern in the South-Central United States

We describe the development and testing of qPCR assays to detect four species of amphibians and reptiles of conservation concern in the South Central United States through environmental DNA (eDNA) samples. The target species include the Ringed Salamander (Ambystoma annulatum), Three-toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma tridactylum), Crawfish Frog (Rana areolata), and Chicken Turtle (Deirochelys reticularia). A set of primers and probes amplifying a 64–72 bp target regions were designed for each species from DNA sequence data for either the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I or Cytochrome B gene. All assays were assessed for target specificity, with no evidence of amplification in closely related or sympatrically-distributed non-target species. In vitro tests indicate that all assays consistently detect focal species down to concentrations of 2 × 10− 9 pg/µL. We evaluated the utility of qPCR assays on the eDNA samples collected during field surveys across Eastern Oklahoma, focusing on counties with vouchered historical records for the target species. Although detection rates were low for field applications of the assays, positive detection of Ambystoma annulatum, Rana areolata, and Deirochelys reticularia, but not Amphiuma tridactylum, were recorded. These assays can provide a practical tool for a non-invasive, genetic monitoring program that allows for both rapid detection and tracking of native aquatic and semi-aquatic amphibian and reptile species of conservation concern.
Quality issues in emergency colorectal surgery

Abstract Emergency colorectal surgery is significantly different from elective surgery in terms of the conditions under which it is performed, as well as the patients for whom it is necessary. As a result of its suboptimal circumstances, emergency surgery incurs substantially higher morbidity and mortality, and represents an area where quality improvement efforts can achieve high impact. Given the fundamental differences between emergency and elective procedures, emergency colorectal surgery should be considered and evaluated as a distinct entity. Using the Donabedian healthcare quality framework of structure, process, and outcome, we attempt to highlight areas that have been examined in recent literature related to the quality of emergency colorectal surgery.
A 0.1–4.0-GHz Inductorless Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum-Based Ground-Penetrating Radar System-on-Chip

This letter presents a 0.1–4.0-GHz broadband serial direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DS/SS)-based inductor-free ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system-on-chip (SoC). A time-domain digital correlation-based time-of-flight measurement is employed for radar ranging instead of using a frequency chirp or pulse, which allows a higher degree of flexibility. With no conventional RF up/down conversion present, the radar offers complete programmability over frequency and bandwidth (BW) up to 4.0 GHz. In-field GPR test with actual rover prototype is performed to validate the capability and characterize the overall performance of the DS/SS radar system. Implemented in 28-nm CMOS, the demonstrated prototype radar SoC offers a fine resolution of 3.75 cm and consumes 46.2 mW from 1-V supply. This makes it suitable for low-power applications such as planetary exploration.
Differences in medication usage of dental patients by age, gender, race/ethnicity and insurance status.

BACKGROUND Limited studies have investigated the medication profile of young adult dental patients despite the high prevalence of prescription opioid abuse in this population. OBJECTIVE This study investigated the extent and differences in medication usage of dental patients older than 18 years by age, race/ethnicity, gender, insurance status and mechanism of action in an academic dental clinic setting. METHODS Using an automated approach, medication names in the electronic dental record were retrieved and classified according to the National Drug Code directory. Descriptive statistics, multivariable ANOVA and Post hoc tests were performed to detect differences in the number of medications by patient demographics. RESULTS Of the 11,220 adult patients, 53 percent reported taking at least one medication with significant differences in medication usage by demographics. Hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (21-36%), and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (19-23%) ranked the top two medication classes among patients 55 years and older. Opioid agonists (7-14%), and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) (5-12%) ranked the top two medication classes among patients aged 18-54 years. CONCLUSIONS The results underscore the importance of dental providers to review medical and medication histories of patients regardless of their age to avoid adverse events and to determine patient's risk for opioid abuse.