cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development of an ultra fast online-solid phase extraction (SPE) liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) based approach for the determination of drugs in pharmacokinetic studies

High-throughput analyses of a large number of samples for pharmacokinetic (PK) studies are essential in drug development. Analysis of drug candidates from blood using LC-ESI-MS generally requires separation of the plasma fraction followed by various offline sample preparation procedures. This step is a bottleneck that impedes throughput. In order to overcome this difficulty and accelerate analysis in PK and other studies, we developed an approach allowing the direct analysis of low volumes of whole blood (10 µL) after dilution and centrifugation. Samples were injected in an online-SPE-LC-ESI-MS/MS setup allowing a total run time of only 126 s for a full gradient separation. Analytes were extracted from the matrix within 30 s by turbulent flow chromatography. Subsequently, a full gradient separation was carried out within 1.5 minutes on a 50 × 2.1 mm (1.7 µm) RP-18 column and the analytes were sensitively detected by ESI-MS/MS in SRM mode. The performance of this new ultra fast online SPE-LC-ESI-MS/MS approach was demonstrated by the analysis of diclofenac (DCF), a widely used anti-inflammatory drug. DCF eluted at stable retention times (±0.33%) with narrow peak width (FWHM 3.3 ± 0.15 s). The method displays excellent analytical performance, with a limit of detection of 6 fmol on column, a linear range of over four orders of magnitude and a negligible carry over of 0.12 ± 0.03% for DCF. The PK profile of DCF administered by topical and intraperitoneal routes in rats and by oral route in one human volunteer is investigated using this method. Finally, general applicability of the approach for drugs is demonstrated by analysis of rofecoxib and several inhibitors of the soluble epoxide hydrolase. This new method requires only readily available, off the shelf standard LC instrumentation, and is compliant with the requirements of green analytical chemistry.
Magnesium chloride supported high mileage catalysts for olefin polymerization. XXI. Isospecific and regiospecific vanadium catalyst for propylene polymerization

Several CW–V catalysts were prepared by supporting VCl4 on Mg Cl2 with ethyl benzoate and CH–V catalysts prepared by reacting MgCl2.ROH, phthalic anhydride, and VCl4. These vanadium catalysts, activated with TEA (triethyl aluminum)/MPT (methyl-p-toluate) produce mainly (88–96%) refluxing n-heptane insoluble isotactic PP. The active site has for the isospecific ones and for the nonspecific sites. Catalyst of VCl3 supported on MgCl2 has comparable productivity as the VCl4/MgCl2 catalyst but catalyst of VCl2 supported on MgCl2 exhibit only one-ninth of the productivity. Extensive comparison has been made between the CW–V and the CW–Ti systems which revealed striking similarities between their polymerization behaviors. MgCl2 exerts profound influence on the stereochemical control of the vanadium ion on its activity for monomer coordination and insertion.
Optimizing Chinese Word Segmentation for Machine Translation Performance

Previous work has shown that Chinese word segmentation is useful for machine translation to English, yet the way different segmentation strategies affect MT is still poorly understood. In this paper, we demonstrate that optimizing segmentation for an existing segmentation standard does not always yield better MT performance. We find that other factors such as segmentation consistency and granularity of Chinese "words" can be more important for machine translation. Based on these findings, we implement methods inside a conditional random field segmenter that directly optimize segmentation granularity with respect to the MT task, providing an improvement of 0.73 BLEU. We also show that improving segmentation consistency using external lexicon and proper noun features yields a 0.32 BLEU increase.
The Psychosocial Consequences of Emotional Labor

Understanding the psychological consequences of emotional labor for workers has been an ongoing project among students of emotional labor. Drawing on Hochschild's pathbreaking work in this area, five major streams of qualitative and quantitative research have emerged, including (1) the experiences of workers who perform emotional labor; (2) comparisons between performers and nonperformers of emotional labor; (3) the conditions under which emotional labor may be positive or negative; (4) variations between workers that condition their responses to emotional labor; and (5) consequences of emotional labor at work for workers' private lives. This article reviews each area and concludes with suggestions for future research on the psychological consequences of emotional labor.
Progesterone and Glucocorticoid Receptors Recruit Distinct Coactivator Complexes and Promote Distinct Patterns of Local Chromatin Modification

It is well established that steroid receptor function requires interaction with coactivators. However, the mechanisms through which steroid receptors elicit precise assembly of coactivator complexes and the way the steroid activation signal is transduced remain elusive. Using a T47D cell line stably integrated with a mouse mammary tumor virus-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (MMTV-CAT) reporter, we demonstrate that specific steroid receptors exhibit preferential recruitment of SRC-1 family coactivators, which determines the subsequent recruitment of specific downstream coregulator molecules. Upon ligand treatment, progesterone receptor (PR) interacted preferentially with SRC-1, which recruited CBP and significantly enhanced acetylation at K5 of histone H4. In contrast, activated glucocorticoid receptor (GR) preferentially associated with SRC-2 (TIF-2/GRIP-1), which subsequently recruited pCAF and led to specific modification of histone H3, suggesting that specific coactivators recruit distinct histone acetyltransferases to modulate the transcription of steroid-responsive genes. Loss-of-function experiments further support the predicted roles of SRC-1 and SRC-2 in, respectively, PR- and GR-mediated transcription on the MMTV promoter. This study indicates that differential recruitment of coactivators by nuclear receptors determines the assembly of coactivator complexes on target promoters to mediate specific transcription signals.
Genes Galore: A Summary of Methods for Accessing Results from Large-Scale Partial Sequencing of Anonymous Arabidopsis cDNA Clones

High-throughput automated partial sequencing of anonymous cDNA clones provides a method to survey the repertoire of expressed genes from an organism. Comparison of the coding capacity of these expressed sequence tags (ESTs) with the sequences in the public data bases results in assignment of putative function to a significant proportion of the ESTs. Thus, the more than 13,400 plant ESTs that are currently available provide a new resource that will facilitate progress in many areas of plant biology. These opportunities are illustrated by a description of the results obtained from analysis of 1500 Arabidopsis ESTs from a cDNA library prepared from equal portions of poly(A+) mRNA from etiolated seedlings, roots, leaves, and flowering inflorescences. More than 900 different sequences were represented, 32% of which showed significant nucleotide or deduced amino acid sequence similarity to previously characterized genes or proteins from a wide range of organisms. At least 165 of the clones had significant deduced amino acid sequence homology to proteins or gene products that have not been previously characterized from higher plants. A summary of methods for accessing the information and materials generated by the Arabidopsis cDNA sequencing projects is provided.
K-12 education outreach at Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories has established an Education Outreach Division which consists of both a kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) program group and a university/college (post secondary) program group. The projects under the responsibility of the K-12 program group are described. Attention is given to the science advisor project, voluntary projects, and sponsored/voluntary projects. >
Control of sex ratio by female spider mites

Control of sex ratio in the progenies of mated female spider mites was investigated in two laboratory experiments. In Experiment I, a single strain of Tetranychus urticae Koch was reared in four different environments. In Experiment II, 4 different geographic strains of T. urticae were reared in a single environment. Results indicated that spider mite females were able to control the sex ratio of their progeny at two levels: an initial control of mean population ratio according to ovipositional environment. In addition, a secondary control resulted in an approximately uniform daily ratio. Although each parental female produced a varying number of eggs from day to day, a more or less constant fraction of those eggs were fertilized every day. It is concluded that both of these characteristics are probably important to the colonizing ability of the species. RESUME Regulation du sexe de la descendance par des femelles d'acariens L'etude de la regulation du sexe de la descendance de femelles inseminees d'acariens est basee sur deux experiences de laboratoire. Dans l'experience I, une lignee de Tetranychus urticae a ete elevee dans deux conditions differentes de qualite des feuilles pendant le developpement des parents, d'une part, pendant leur ponte et le developpement de la descendance d'autre part. Dans l'experience II, quatre souches geographiques differentes de T. urticae ont ete elevees dans les memes conditions. Il est apparu nettement que les femelles dans des conditions differentes ont donne des descendances avec des taux sexuels variant dans certaines limites. Ces differences etaient statistiquement significatives dans les deux lots de donnees experimentales. Les taux sexuels des populations d'acariens variaient aussi avec les conditions ecologiques. Dans les bonnes conditions, la proportion de femelles dans la descendance etait la plus elevee. Les taux sexuels des populations variaient aussi entre les quatre souches geographiques. Les analyses ont aussi revele que les femelles d'acariens sont capables de controler le taux sexuel a deux niveaux: une regulation initiale du taux de la population en fonction des conditions ecologiques ou de la lignee geographique et un controle secondaire qui s'est traduit par un taux quotidien approximativement uniforme. En utilisant un argument mathematique simple incorporant la fecondite caracteristique des acariens, nous avons conclu que ces deux caracteristiques de la regulation sont probablement d'une importance capitale pour le pouvoir colonisateur de cette espece.
Counseling Psychology and Health Applications

Roles for psychologists in health settings have greatly expanded over the past two decades. Although early goals of counseling psychology aligned with health promotion concepts, counseling psychologists have been slow to assert themselves in the health field Opportunities for the future involvement of counseling psychologists in health applications are examined in terms of (a) evolving definitions of health specialties; (b) changes currently taking place in conceptual models for health, disease, and medicine; and (c) issues related to the future involvement of counseling psychologists in the health field
Optimum Coherent Linear Demodulation

Presented is the performance analysis for four types of linear-modulated communication systems where the message to be transmitted comes from one of two classes of stochastic processes, and the additive channel noise is white and Gaussian. The two classes of stochastic processes which are used to modulate the transmitter are taken to be the "maximally flat" and "asymptotically Gaussian" processes. Demodulation is accomplished at the receiver by coherent frequency translation using a noisy replica of the carrier and filtering the result with one of two types of Wiener filters. These are commonly referred to as the zero-lag (realizable) and infinite-lag (nonrealizable) Wiener filters. The four types of modulation considered are: linear-modulation, double-sideband (DSB); linear-modulation, double-sideband, suppressed carrier (DSB/SC); linear-modulation, single-sideband (SSB); and linear-modulation, single-sideband, suppressed carrier (SSB/SC).
Data Mining for Identifying Novel Associations and Temporal Relationships with Charcot Foot

INTRODUCTION. Charcot foot is a rare and devastating complication of diabetes. While some risk factors are known, debate continues regarding etiology. Elucidating other associated disorders and their temporal occurrence could lead to a better understanding of its pathogenesis. We applied a large data mining approach to Charcot foot for elucidating novel associations. METHODS. We conducted an association analysis using ICD-9 diagnosis codes for every patient in our health system (n = 1.6 million with 41.2 million time-stamped ICD-9 codes). For the current analysis, we focused on the 388 patients with Charcot foot (ICD-9 713.5). RESULTS. We found 710 associations, 676 (95.2%) of which had a P value for the association less than 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ and 603 (84.9%) of which had an odds ratio > 5.0. There were 111 (15.6%) associations with a significant temporal relationship (P < 1.0 × 10⁻³). The three novel associations with the strongest temporal component were cardiac dysrhythmia, pulmonary eosinophilia, and volume depletion disorder. CONCLUSION. We identified novel associations with Charcot foot in the context of pathogenesis models that include neurotrophic, neurovascular, and microtraumatic factors mediated through inflammatory cytokines. Future work should focus on confirmatory analyses. These novel areas of investigation could lead to prevention or earlier diagnosis.
Expanding the Construct Validity of the Relationship Profile Test: Associations With Physical Health and Anaclitic and Introjective Traits:

The authors examined the construct validity of the Relationship Profile Test (RPT) with respect to measures of two related constructs—physical health and well-being (functional health status), and depression-linked personality type (anaclitic vs. introjective). In Study 1, the authors administered the RPT, Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (MOS SF-20) to 116 undergraduate students. In Study 2, the RPT, DEQ, and MOS SF-20 were administered to 110, mostly African American female, primary care outpatients. Destructive Overdependence was posi- tively correlated with anaclitic and introjective trait scores in both samples. Dysfunctional Detachment was positively corre- lated with introjective scores in both samples and with anaclitic scores in the primary care sample. Healthy Dependency was negatively correlated with introjective scores in both samples and with anaclitic scores in the primary care sample. These studies support the construct validity of the RPT in ethnically diverse nonclinical and clinical samples, and extend previous findings documenting links between RPT subscale scores and scores on measures of other theoretically related constructs.
Temporal and stagewise distribution of high frequency EEG activity in patients with primary and secondary insomnia and in good sleeper controls

In the present study, we evaluate the temporal and stagewise distribution of high frequency EEG activity (HFA) in primary and secondary insomnia. Three groups (n=9 per group) were compared: primary insomnia (PI), Insomnia secondary to major depression (MDD), and good sleeper controls (GS). Groups were matched for age, sex and body mass. Average spectral profiles were created for each sleep epoch. Grand averages were created for each NREM cycle and each stage of sleep after removing waking and movement epochs and epochs containing micro or miniarousals. It was found that HFA (in terms of relative power) tends to increase across NREM cycles, occurs maximally during stage 1 and during REM sleep, and that both these effects are exaggerated in patients with PI. In addition, HFA was found to be inversely associated with Delta activity and the three groups in our study appear to exhibit characteristic Delta/Beta patterns. Our data are consistent with the perspective that HFA is related to CNS arousal to the extent that Beta/Gamma activity occurs maximally during shallow stages of sleep and maximally in subjects with PI.
Age as affecting the osmotic and mechanical fragility of dog erythrocytes tagged with radioactive iron.

Radioactive iron was administered to three normal dogs, two of which had previously been bled, in order to tag a group of erythrocytes of approximately known age. The osmotic fragility of the newly formed tagged cells was significantly greater than that of the general cell population during the first few days after injection of the iron, while the mechanical fragility of the young cells was less than that of the general red cell population. As the cells aged and approached the end of their life span, their susceptibility to destruction by trauma inflicted by rolling glass beads exceeded that of the general cell population. The osmotic behavior of the old cells was not distinctive. The increased mechanical fragility of senescent cells suggests that the life span of erythrocytes may be limited at least in part by changes within the cell which render it more susceptible to destruction by mechanical wear and tear in the circulation. It is emphasized, however, that the trauma produced by rolling glass beads may be quite unlike that inflicted upon red cells in vivo. A decrease in circulating radioactive iron was observed in each experiment soon after the mechanical fragility of the tagged cells began to exceed that of the total cell population. The lowest point on the curve representing circulating radioiron was noted at 119, 119, and 122 days respectively after injection of iron in the three experiments. Estimates of the life span of dog erythrocytes obtained in this way agree with those provided by other methods.
Surgical management of unruptured ectopic pregnancy.

There is an increasing frequency of early diagnosis of unruptured tubal ectopic pregnancy.This is due primarily to better diagnostic testing, such as the. use of ultrasound and radioimmunoassay for the β -subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin. The more stable conditions of the patients at the time of surgery caused us to reconsider the need for laparotomy in these cases. Therefore, an attempt was made to definitively treat 18 patients with ectopic pregnancy utilizing laparoscopic techniques. Eighteen patients had signs, symptoms, and diagnostic test results suggestive of unruptured ectopic pregnancy. Laparoscopy was employed to confirm the diagnosis. If the tubal swelling was
Quantitative FRET Microscopy of Live Cells

Quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy is a powerful tool for analyzing dynamic protein-protein interaction within living cells. FRET microscopy is increasingly employed to access the molecular mechanisms governing diverse cellular processes such as vesicular transport, signal transduction and the regulation of gene expression. However, evaluation of experi- mental approaches for FRET microscopy and the data they produce requires an appreciation of the techniques at the photophysical, molecular and data-acquisition level. This chapter aims to provide a conceptual framework for comparing FRET technologies and interpreting the data they produce. We begin with a qualitative discussion of FRET physics and the molecular interactions that can be probed by FRET. The discussion then shifts to the aspects of quantitative microscopy neces- sary for FRET-based measurements. With this foundation, we move to an overview of the current techniques in FRET microscopy, including acceptor photobleaching, spectral fingerprinting, FRET stoichiometry, and polarization FRET. Lastly, we discuss interpretation of FRET data and emerging applications to protein network analysis. Altogether, this chapter provides a progressive overview of FRET micro- scopy, beginning with fluorescent excited states, moving to detection methods and ending with interpretation of cell biology data.
Effects of co-occurring Wolbachia and Spiroplasma endosymbionts on the Drosophila immune response against insect pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria

Background Symbiotic interactions between microbes and animals are common in nature. Symbiotic organisms are particularly common in insects and, in some cases, they may protect their hosts from pathogenic infections. Wolbachia and Spiroplasma endosymbionts naturally inhabit various insects including Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies. Therefore, this symbiotic association is considered an excellent model to investigate whether endosymbiotic bacteria participate in host immune processes against certain pathogens. Here we have investigated whether the presence of Wolbachia alone or together with Spiroplasma endosymbionts in D. melanogaster adult flies affects the immune response against the virulent insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens and against non-pathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria.
Conformational Order in Aggregates of Conjugated Polymers

With the abundant variety and increasing chemical complexity of conjugated polymers proliferating the field of organic semiconductors, it has become increasingly important to correlate the polymer molecular structure with its mesoscale conformational and morphological attributes. For instance, it is unknown which combinations of chemical moieties and periodicities predictably produce mesoscale ordering. Interestingly, not all ordered morphologies result in efficient devices. In this work we have parametrized accurate classical force-fields and used these to compute the conformational and aggregation characteristics of single strands of common conjugated polymers. Molecular dynamics trajectories are shown to reproduce experimentally observed polymeric ordering, concluding that efficient organic photovoltaic devices span a range of polymer conformational classes, and suggesting that the solution-phase morphologies have far-reaching effects. Encouragingly, these simulations indicate that despite the wide-ran...
Schumacher Expanded: Ethically Implementing Appropriate Technology Through National Information Technology Plans

In the last quarter of the twentieth century, three independent processes came together, ushering in a new social structure predominantly based upon networh: the needs of the economy for managementflexibility andfor the globalization of capital, production, and trade; the demands of society in which the values of individualfreedom and open communication became paramount, and the extraordinary advances in computing and telecommuni cations .... Under these conditions, the Internet.. . became the lever for the transition to a new society?the network society?and with it a new economy. Manuel Castells (2001, p. 2)
A Mutation in TM7 of Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters Disrupts the Substrate-Dependent Gating of the Intrinsic Anion Conductance and Drives the Channel into a Constitutively Open State

In the mammalian central nervous system, excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) are responsible for the clearance of glutamate after synaptic release. This energetically demanding activity is crucial for precise neuronal communication and for maintaining extracellular glutamate concentrations below neurotoxic levels. In addition to their ability to re-capture glutamate from the extracellular space, EAATs exhibit an uncoupled sodium- and glutamate-gated anion conductance. Here we show that substitution of a conserved positively charged residue (R388, hEAAT1) in transmembrane domain 7 (TM7) with a negatively charged amino acid, dramatically disrupt the gating of the substrate activated anion conductance. When expressed in oocytes, R388D or R388E mutants show no increase in anion current amplitude upon application of saturating concentrations of sodium and glutamate, but exhibit permeation properties similar to wild type carriers and retain the ability to transport substrate. These findings suggest that in the mutant transporters, the associated ion channel preferentially exist in a sodium- and glutamate-independent constitutive open state. In addition, the accessibility of cytoplasmic residues to membrane-permeant modifying reagents supports the idea that this substrate-independent open state correlates with a more inwardly-oriented conformation of the transport domain. Our results are in agreement with recent structural and electrophysiological data that suggest that the permeation pathway opens as the protein transitions through intermediate outward-facing conformations. Our data provide additional insights into the mechanism by which substrates gate the anion conductance in EAATs and suggest that arginine-388 is a critical component of the gating mechanism of the EAAT-associated anion channel.
Malaria in vietnam veterans.

At the Cincinnati Veterans Administration Hospital, physicians treated 22 Vietnam veterans for malaria in a 16 month period. Most of the patients had chills, fever and headache, and all had a Plasmodium vivax infection. Chloroquine phosphate given for the first three days, followed by a combination tablet of primaquine and chloroquine given once weekly for eight weeks, was an effective treatment.
Effectiveness analysis of education activities of the healthy life style among residents in Gangzha District of Nantong City

Objective To understand the effectiveness of education activities of the healthy life style among the residents in Gangzha District of Nantong City,and to provide scientific evidence for carrying out education activities of the healthy life style in the future. Methods 500 permanent residents aged 15-69 years old in Gangzha District of Nantong City were selected by stratified sampling method and were investigated. A questionnaire investigation was conducted by face to face. Results The awareness rates of balanced diet and normal blood pressure range of residents who participated in education activities of the healthy life style were 93. 6% and 80. 7%,while the behavior rates of salt and oil intake controlling were 84. 2% and 77. 8%,respectively. The knowledge and practice of residents who participated in education activities of the healthy life style were obviously higher than the control. The difference was statistically significant( all P 0. 05). The konwledge is associated with the corresponding practice of the healthy life style. Conclusions Education activities of the healthy life style increases the knowledge and practice of the healthy life style. Continuous health education and health promotion activities are necessitated.
Thin films of copper indium selenide fabricated with high atom economy by electrophoretic deposition of nanocrystals under flow

Abstract Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) under flow is explored as a general method for the fabrication of semiconducting thin films. For photovoltaic applications, a low process voltage is highly desirable to avoid damaging the accreting semiconductor. Here we report a continuous flow reactor design that can operate at reduced voltage compared to a traditional batch reactor while preserving the electrophoretic velocity of the NCs by utilizing narrow electrode spacing. In a batch reactor, the low ratio of reactor volume to electrode surface area dictated by such a narrow spacing of the electrodes would impose a limit on the mass of nanocrystals that are resident in the reactor and therefore the thickness of the films that can be deposited. By continuously flowing the colloidal dispersion of NCs this limitation is obviated and thick films can be deposited. Through modeling and experiment we demonstrate the process parameters necessary to completely utilize the NCs in the feed solution, thereby achieving nearly 100% atom economy in the deposition process. The reactor design is compatible with large area substrates and is specifically designed to enable continuous, high-rate fabrication of the active layer of photovoltaic cells.
Modified sliding control for tumbling satellite capture with robotic arm

The capability to capture uncooperative, tumbling space objects is a critical requirement for any on-orbit servicing or space debris removal system. For successful capture, the chaser spacecraft must be able to navigate to the target and reach the desired grasping or docking feature. In order for the forces during grasping on both the grasping mechanism and the target object not to exceed structural limits, the chaser must perform formation flight with low relative velocity for the duration of the capture process. This paper presents a robust control approach for the capture of an uncooperative, tumbling target based on the Clohessy-Wiltshire equations of motion. As the capture maneuver must be tuned to accommodate the capabilities of the capture mechanism, a conceptual design for a possible grasping mechanism is also presented. The capabilities of this mechanism help define the constraints of the numerical simulations of the capture maneuvers.
Agency and Existence

Let us first recapitulate the account developed so far. A human action is analyzable both as an originary causal act of an agent for a desired end via means describable in physical terms, and thus as mediated by a bodily exertion. Actions that are intentional refrainings from movement also involve bodily exertions either not to act so as to maintain a state of affairs or not to interfere with a change of state taking place. As a bodily exertion, an action is subject to multiple descriptions, linked to the causal effects of the action, of which only one is attributable to the agent’s end. The exertion need not be in fact visible to an external observer, but it is in principle observable. Two elicited acts are involved in an action: the desire of a possible but currently non-existent end and the choosing the means to that end based on generalized probabilities (beliefs) about their efficacy. The agent cause, which is the bringing about of the change in the thing linked to the means, can be conditioned but in fact cannot be caused, by the elicited acts. They are necessary but not sufficient for it. They constitute the double existentiality of all action.
High-speed autonomous obstacle avoidance with pushbroom stereo

We present the design and implementation of a small autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle capable of high-speed flight through complex natural environments. Using only onboard GPS-denied sensing and computation, we perform obstacle detection, planning, and feedback control in real time. We present a novel integrated approach to perception and control using pushbroom stereo, which exploits forward motion to enable efficient obstacle detection and avoidance using lightweight processors on an unmanned aerial vehicle. Our use of model-based planning and control techniques allows us to track precise trajectories that avoid obstacles identified by the vision system. We demonstrate a complete working system detecting obstacles at 120 Hz and avoiding trees at up to 14 m/s (31 MPH). To the best of our knowledge, this is the fastest lightweight aerial vehicle to perform collision avoidance using three-dimensional geometric information.
Correlation Between Interfacial Water Properties and Hydrodynamic Boundary Conditions

Using molecular dynamics simulation I investigate the correlation between interfacial water properties and the hydrodynamic boundary condition. The most important results presented demonstrate that water can slip on hydrophilic surface. The contact angle larger than 90° is not necessary to attain hydrodynamic slip. Instead, microscopic properties of water in the first hydration layer, which are controlled by the strength of water-solid interactions and surface morphology, are responsible for this surprising result. When favourable adsorption sites exist, but are separated from each other by well-defined sub-nanometer distances, no slip is observed. When favourable adsorption sites are present that are close to each other, liquid slip can occur, provided water-solid attractions are not too strong. My results shed a new light into the molecular-level understanding of hydrophobic effects and their macroscopic consequences. This understanding will benefit many applications including the design of hydrophilic nano-porous membranes with high permeation and self-cleaning hydrophilic surfaces.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender inclusion: Survey of campus climate in colleges and schools of pharmacy

Abstract Background and purpose To quantify the implementation of inclusive policies and benefits as well as institutional commitment to support LGBT faculty, staff, and students in pharmacy schools nationwide. Educational activity and setting An anonymous, electronic survey was sent to administrators at 130 pharmacy schools. Forty-four survey responses were received, indicating a 34% response rate. The survey included questions relating to campus climate, inclusive policies and benefits, and institutional commitments to the LGBT community. Findings Approximately half of the survey respondents reported that their school has public written statements about diversity and multiculturalism that include sexual orientation and/or gender identity. About one-fifth of the respondents indicated that their school has inclusive materials for faculty, staff, and student information regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. Nearly one-fourth of schools of pharmacy had participated in a voluntary LGBT training program, such as Safe Zone, Safe Space, or Ally Program. Over half of the respondents reported having access to LGBT organizations on campus, with two schools reporting having pharmacy organizations that specifically focus on LGBT student pharmacists and allies. Less than one-tenth of schools reported offering gender-neutral/single-occupancy restrooms and no schools reported knowledge of LGBT-related scholarships. Summary Room for improvement exists regarding the implementation of inclusive practices to improve campus climate for LGBT students, faculty, and staff. Areas with the largest room for improvement include accessible gender-neutral restrooms and availability of LGBT trainings, scholarships, and events.
How Does CD47-SIRPα ‘Don’t Eat Me Signal’ Physically Signal Self

Resident macrophages in spleen and liver are particularly adept at recognizing foreign pathogens through recognition of ‘non-self’ proteins on the pathogen surface but also through the absence of ‘self’ proteins that are highly displayed on circulating blood cells. Red blood cells display a ‘marker of self’ protein CD47 which increases the in vivo half-life and decreases red-pulp splenic macrophage uptake of mouse RBC (Oldenborg et al, Science 2000) and also of particles displaying human-CD47 in recent studies by our group (Rodriguez et al, Science 2013). CD47 signals self through its counter receptor SIRPa, which is highly expressed on the surfaces of myeloid cells but also highly polymorphic. The CD47 protein functions in vitro as a marker of self toward human SIRPa on human macrophages and monocytes, inhibiting accumulation of myosin II motor protein to the phagocytic synapse (Tsai 2008). The work here aims to clarify when and how CD47-SIRPa inhibition physically signals ‘self’ during macrophage phagocytosis uptake. While it is clear that CD47 reduces the number of uptake events, here we use time-lapse and confocal microscopy to examine the forces of distortion imparted by phagocytes on opsonized red blood cell targets during uptake. Glutaraldehyde-fixed RBC are also used as a model to assess the affects of cell rigidity in this self-recognition process, since rigidity is relevant to processes as diverse as RBC aging and sickle RBC to malaria but also because adhesion (by macrophages) is expected to activate the myosin-II contractility system and oppose CD47 signaling. Through blocking and pharmacological approaches, we parse the pathways between foreign, self, and rigidity sensing. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Hemophilia Management via Data Collection and Reporting: Initial Findings from the Comprehensive Care Sustainability Collaborative.

BACKGROUND: Despite being a rare disorder, hemophilia represents a significant driver of health care resource utilization and requires expert hematologic and multidisciplinary services to achieve optimal outcomes. Since their inception nearly 40 years ago, hemophilia treatment centers (HTCs) have served as centers of excellence in providing the intensive care and ancillary services necessary for this unique patient base; however, the full capabilities of these centers may be underused in the current framework of managed care, largely because of a lack of communication and information shared between payers and HTC stakeholders. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: In an effort to enact tangible change toward improving the quality of care for bleeding disorders, the National Hemophilia Foundation developed an ongoing initiative among 18 leading clinicians and managed care decision makers called the Comprehensive Care Sustainability Collaborative (CCSC). The primary aim of the CCSC is to develop a framework for quality impr...
Distinct Lattice Structure Altreations in DCM and HCM Mouse Models Associated with Mutations in Myosin Regulatory Light Chain

In this study we used small angle X-ray diffraction to analyze changes in the interfilament lattice spacing (IFS) and equatorial reflections’ intensity ratio (I1,1/I1,0) due to mutations in myosin RLC shown to cause hypertrophic (HCM) or dilated (DCM) cardiomyopathy. In mice, D166V was found to result in systolic and diastolic dysfunction, reduced contractile force and abnormally high Ca2+-sensitivity, highlighting the severity of the HCM phenotype. The D94A mutation resulted in DCM manifested by increased LV-chamber diameter and reduced ejection fraction with no changes in maximal force production but with D94A-induced decrease in the Ca2+-sensitivity of force. In this report we collected the X-ray data on skinned papillary muscles from D166V-HCM and D94A-DCM vs. WT mice at serial pCa (8, 7, 6, 5.4, 5.2, and 4) and at SL=2.1µm. For D166V-HCM vs. WT-fibers, IFS was significantly increased in pCa8, 6 and 5.4 but significantly decreased at pCa4. For D94A-DCM and for WT, no significant changes in IFS were observed within or between the groups for each pCa. There was a clear correlation between I1,1/I1,0 readings vs. increasing [Ca2+] for all three groups of fibers. A significant increase in I1,1/I1,0 for all pCa solutions (except pCa4) was observed in D166V-HCM vs. WT fibers. These data correlated with D166V-induced changes in force/Ca2+-sensitivity observed in fiber mechanics study. For D94A-DCM, a near significant decrease in I1,1/I1,0 at pCa 5.2 vs. WT was observed (WT:0.43±0.08 vs. D94A: 0.35±0.09 P=0.072). Fitting I1,1/I1,0 –pCa plots yielded pCa50=5.2±0.03 (WT), 4.98±0.05 (D94A) and 5.43±0.10 (D166V), showing a clear correlation in pCa50-values between X-ray and fiber mechanics experiments. Our collective data indicate that RLC mutations lead to HCM or DCM through structural rearrangements of myosin cross-bridge mass with D166V bringing it closer to actin, and D94A moving it farther away from the thin-filaments. Supported by NIH-HL123255 (DSC).
Food for Africa : investing in the future : by invitation

Multinational agricultural companies have the capacity and expertise to provide African countries with the inputs needed to grow farming operations - even in challenging climatic conditions, according to DuPont Pioneer president Paul E Schickler.
Cytochromes P450 for natural product biosynthesis in Streptomyces: sequence, structure, and function

Covering: up to January 2017 Cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s) are some of the most exquisite and versatile biocatalysts found in nature. In addition to their well-known roles in steroid biosynthesis and drug metabolism in humans, P450s are key players in natural product biosynthetic pathways. Natural products, the most chemically and structurally diverse small molecules known, require an extensive collection of P450s to accept and functionalize their unique scaffolds. In this review, we survey the current catalytic landscape of P450s within the Streptomyces genus, one of the most prolific producers of natural products, and comprehensively summarize the functionally characterized P450s from Streptomyces. A sequence similarity network of >8500 P450s revealed insights into the sequence–function relationships of these oxygen-dependent metalloenzymes. Although only ∼2.4% and <0.4% of streptomycete P450s have been functionally and structurally characterized, respectively, the study of streptomycete P450s involved in the biosynthesis of natural products has revealed their diverse roles in nature, expanded their catalytic repertoire, created structural and mechanistic paradigms, and exposed their potential for biomedical and biotechnological applications. Continued study of these remarkable enzymes will undoubtedly expose their true complement of chemical and biological capabilities.
Influence of Roundup Ready Soybean and Roundup Ultra Herbicide on Geocoris punctipes (Say) (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) in the Laboratory

Roundup Ready® crops have become the dominant weed control system throughout the United States. Therefore, laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of Roundup Ready soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, and glyphosate on the fecundity and mortality of Geocoris punctipes (Say). Mortality of third instars and adults (∼30 d old) and fecundity of females exposed to glyphosate by direct spray application or residual on soybean foliage were not affected over a 10-d posttreatment period. Mortality of nymphs and adults exposed to transgenic soybean foliage did not differ from mortality of nymphs and adults exposed to foliage of conventional, glyphosate-susceptible soybean. Exposure of G. punctipes eggs to glyphosate spray had no effect on egg hatch. The knowledge of the minimal effects of Roundup Ready soybeans and glyphosate on predaceous arthropods promotes the use of the Roundup Ready soybean system.
Decaffeinated green and black tea polyphenols decrease weight gain and alter microbiome populations and function in diet-induced obese mice.

Decaffeinated green tea (GT) and black tea (BT) polyphenols inhibit weight gain in mice fed an obesogenic diet. Since the intestinal microflora is an important contributor to obesity, it was the objective of this study to determine whether the intestinal microflora plays a role in the anti-obesogenic effect of GT and BT. C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat/high-sucrose diet (HF/HS, 32% energy from fat; 25% energy from sucrose) or the same diet supplemented with 0.25% GTP or BTP or a low-fat/high-sucrose (LF/HS, 10.6% energy from fat, 25% energy from sucrose) diet for 4 weeks. Bacterial composition was assessed by MiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. GTP and BTP diets resulted in a decrease of cecum Firmicutes and increase in Bacteroidetes. The relative proportions of Blautia, Bryantella, Collinsella, Lactobacillus, Marvinbryantia, Turicibacter, Barnesiella, and Parabacteroides were significantly correlated with weight loss induced by tea extracts. BTP increased the relative proportion of Pseudobutyrivibrio and intestinal formation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) analyzed by gas chromatography. Cecum propionic acid content was significantly correlated with the relative proportion of Pseudobutyrivibrio. GTP and BTP induced a significant increase in hepatic 5′adenosylmonophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation by 70 and 289%, respectively (P < 0.05) determined by Western blot. In summary, both BTP and GTP induced weight loss in association with alteration of the microbiota and increased hepatic AMPK phosphorylation. We hypothesize that BTP increased pAMPK through increased intestinal SCFA production, while GTPs increased hepatic AMPK through GTP present in the liver.
Characterizing topological order by the information convex

Motivated by previous efforts in detecting topological orders from the ground state(s) wave function, we introduce a new quantum information tool, coined the information convex, to capture the bulk and boundary topological excitations of a 2D topological order. Defined as a set of reduced density matrices that minimizes the energy in a subsystem, the information convex encodes not only the bulk anyons but also the gapped boundaries of 2D topological orders. Using untwisted gapped boundaries of non-Abelian quantum doubles as an example, we show how the information convex reveals and characterizes deconfined bulk and boundary topological excitations, and the condensation rule relating them. Interference experiments in cold atoms provide potential measurements for the invariant structure of information convex.
Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics

This volume argues that international human rights law has made a positive contribution to the realization of human rights in much of the world. Although governments sometimes ratify human rights treaties, gambling that they will experience little pressure to comply with them, this is not typically the case. Focusing on rights stakeholders rather than the United Nations or state pressure, Beth Simmons demonstrates through a combination of statistical analyses and case studies that the ratification of treaties leads to better rights practices on average. Simmons argues that international human rights law should get more practical and rhetorical support from the international community as a supplement to broader efforts to address conflict, development, and democratization.
Not So Straight Shooters: Queering the Cyborg Body in Masculinized Gaming

Piqued by instances of homoerotic aggression in both online and physical contexts of play, this chapter explores the potentially queering aspects of gaming between straight white men. In contradiction to hegemonic masculine ideal of an impermeable and agential male body, players’ bodies are played upon by pulses of affect originating from the game and/or from the bodily/machinic exertions of other players’ button mashing.
Lightweight Carbon Fiber Mirrors for Solar Concentrator Applications

Lightweight parabolic mirrors for solar concentrators have been fabricated using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and a nanometer scale optical surface smoothing technique. The smoothing technique improved the surface roughness of the CFRP surface from $\sim 3\mu\mathrm{m}$ root mean square (RMS) for as-cast to ~5 nm RMS after smoothing. The surfaces were then coated with metal, which retained the sub-wavelength surface roughness, to produce a high-quality specular reflector. The mirrors were tested in an 11x geometrical concentrator configuration and achieved an optical efficiency of 78% under an AM0 solar simulator. With further development, lightweight CFRP mirrors will enable dramatic improvements in the specific power, power per unit mass, achievable for concentrated photovoltaics in space.
Bouncing Back Together: Toward a Theoretical Model of Work Team Resilience

In today’s turbulent business environments, work teams frequently face a variety of adverse conditions and, as a result, can experience process breakdowns and performance declines. Despite existing...