cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Young Adults and Higher Education: Barriers and Breakthroughs to Success

Summary Although access to higher education has increased substantially over the past forty years, student success in college—as measured by persistence and degree attainment—has not improved at all. Thomas Brock reviews systematic research findings on the effectiveness of various inter ventions designed to help at-risk students remain in college. Brock shows how changes in federal policy and public attitudes since the mid-1960s have opened up higher education to women, minorities, and nontraditional students and also shifted the “center of gravity” in higher education away from traditional four-year colleges toward nonselective community colleges. Students at two-year colleges, however, are far less likely than those at four-year institutions to complete a degree. Brock argues that the nation’s higher education system must do much more to promote student success. Three areas, he says, are particularly ripe for reform: remedial education, student support services, and financial aid. In each of these three areas, Brock reviews programs and interventions that community colleges have undertaken in order to raise completion rates. Some colleges have, for example, experimented with remedial programs that build social cohesion between students and faculty and integrate content across courses. Other colleges have tested student support service programs that offer counseling and advising that are regular, intensive, and personalized. Still others have experimented with ways to simplify the financial aid application process and incen tivize students to earn good grades and persist in school. Research shows that such programs and interventions can improve student outcomes, but Brock argues that more must be done to bring proven practices to scale and to test new ideas that might lead to better results. Institutions that most need help are those that provide the greatest access to nontraditional and underprepared students in community colleges and less selective universities.
Development of the rhopalial nervous system in Aurelia sp.1 (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa).

We examined the development of the nervous system in the rhopalium, a medusa-specific sensory structure, in Aurelia sp.1 (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) using confocal microscopy. The rhopalial nervous system appears primarily ectodermal and contains neurons immunoreactive to antibodies against tyrosinated tubulin, taurine, GLWamide, and FMRFamide. The rhopalial nervous system develops in an ordered manner: the presumptive gravity-sensing organ, consisting of the lithocyst and the touch plate, differentiates first; the “marginal center,” which controls swimming activity, second; and finally, the ocelli, the presumptive photoreceptors. At least seven bilaterally arranged neuronal clusters consisting of sensory and ganglion cells and their neuronal processes became evident in the rhopalium during metamorphosis to the medusa stage. Our analysis provides an anatomical framework for future gene expression and experimental studies of development and functions of scyphozoan rhopalia.
p53R2 inhibits the proliferation of human cancer cells in association with cell-cycle arrest

Deregulation of the expression of p53R2, a p53-inducible homologue of the R2 subunit of ribonucleotide reductase, has been found in various human cancer tissues; however, the roles p53R2 plays in cancer progression and malignancy remain controversial. In the present study, we examined changes in gene expression profiles associated with p53R2 in cancer cells, using the analysis of cDNA microarray. Gene set enrichment analysis identified that the gene set regulating cell-cycle progression was significantly enriched in p53R2-silencing human oropharyngeal carcinoma KB cells. Attenuation of p53R2 expression significantly reduced p21 expression and moderately increased cyclin D1 expression in both wild-type p53 cancer cells (KB and MCF-7) and mutant p53 cancer cells (PC3 and MDA-MB-231). Conversely, overexpression of p53R2-GFP resulted in an increase in the expression of p21 and decrease in the expression of cyclin D1, which correlated with reduced cell population in S-phase in vitro and suppressed growth in vivo. Furthermore, the MAP/ERK kinase inhibitor PD98059 partially abolished modulation of p21 and cyclin D1 expression by p53R2. Moreover, under the conditions of nonstress and adriamycin-induced genotoxic stress, attenuation of p53R2 in KB cells significantly increased phosphorylated H2AX, which indicates that attenuation of p53R2 may enhance DNA damage induced by adriamycin. Overall, our study shows that p53R2 may suppress cancer cell proliferation partially by upregulation of p21 and downregulation of cyclin D1; p53R2 plays critical roles not only in DNA damage repair but also in proliferation of cancer cells. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(2); 269–78. ©2011 AACR .
DNA‐binding by Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles: Mechanism and Structural Requirements

A family of nanoparticles featuring surfaces of varying hydrophobicity was synthesized. The efficiency of DNA-binding was determined, demonstrating in a fivefold modulation in binding a 37-mer DNA strand. Nanoparticle-binding causes a reversible conformational change in the DNA structure, as demonstrated by circular dichroism and fluorescence experiments. Furthermore, the affinity of the nanoparticle for the DNA can be regulated by external agents, though stability of the complex is observed at relatively high ionic strengths.
A Survey of Perceptions by School Psychologists of the Stanford-Binet IV.

School psychologists were surveyed as to their perception and opinion of the fourth edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. The survey indicated that the majority of school psychologists feel they need additional training in administering, scoring, and interpreting the test; however, few have received such training. A small number of practicing school psychologists have adopted the revised instrument in their practice or sponsoring agency. When asked to rank, in order, instruments of choice, the Wechsler followed by the Kaufman were scales of choice.
Efficient and Sensitive Energy Harvesting Using Piezoelectric MEMS Compliant Mechanisms

Piezoelectric energy harvesters typically perform poorly in the low frequency, low amplitude, and intermittent excitation environment of human movement. In this paper, a piezoelectric compliant mechanism (PCM) energy harvester is designed, modeled, and analyzed that consists of a PZT unimorph clamped at the base and attached to a compliant mechanism at the tip. The compliant mechanism has two flexures that amplify the tip displacement to produce large motion of a proof mass and a low frequency first mode with an efficient (nearly quadratic) shape. The compliant mechanism is fabricated as a separate, relatively rigid frame with flexure hinges, simplifying the fabrication process and surrounding and protecting the PZT unimorph. The bridge structure of the PCM also introduces an axial tensioning nonlinearity that self-limits the response to large amplitude impacts, improving the robustness of the device. Comparing the time domain performance based on realistic wrist acceleration data, the PCM produces 6 times more average power than a proof mass cantilever with the same unimorph area and natural frequency.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Multisensory part-based representations of objects in human lateral occipital cortex

The format of high-level object representations in temporal-occipital cortex is a fundamental and as yet unresolved issue. Here we use fMRI to show that human lateral occipital cortex LOC encodes novel 3-D objects in a multisensory and part-based format. We show that visual and haptic exploration of objects leads to similar patterns of neural activity in human LOC and that the shared variance between visually and haptically induced patterns of BOLD contrast in LOC reflects the part structure of the objects. We also show that linear classifiers trained on neural data from LOC on a subset of the objects successfully predict a novel object based on its component part structure. These data demonstrate a multisensory code for object representations in LOC that specifies the part structure of objects.
EVOLUTION OF THE PREDATOR ISOCLINE.

Many people have talked about a prudent balance between predator and victim, but no one has ever done anything about proving its existence (e.g., Roeder, 1967, p. 101; Marler and Hamilton, 1966, p. 291; Brower and Brower, 1964; Ross, 1962, p. 230). Instead, we learn from the work of Rosenzweig and MacArthur (1963), Maly (1969), Rosenzweig (1969, 1973), that evolution in an exploitative ecosystem may endanger the prudence of the victimization: the predator is being forced by natural selection to attempt to become imprudent, to overexploit its victim, to be capable of successful reproduction in the presence of such a small density of victims that the predator's steady state is destroyed. In this paper I shall attempt to do two things. First, I analyze several descriptive models of exploitation which have at their core the general functional response of predators (Watt, 1959; Holling, 1965; Ivlev, 1961). Using these I strengthen the conviction that there is danger to the exploitational system from natural selection. Second, I show that the evolutionary process does not result in a randomly prudent interaction. On the contrary, it produces a degree of prudence which, although probably different in exact value for each predator, is at the same time predestined for each predator. If this degree of prudence does not produce an oscillation whose minimal densities are so
Role Boundary Permeability Theory

How much do individuals really want to tell their co-workers about their personal lives and views? This study examines the types of boundaries individuals construct around their domains and what fa...
Evaluation of power transformer loses measurements methods under nonlinear load conditions

Efficiency of the transformer is in the range of 95–99%, which means that up to 5% of the energy is wasted in the losses of the power transformer. The efficiency of power transformers is defined as the ratio between output and input power. Input power is the sum of the output power and transformer losses.
Calibration of a Radiometer—A Detailed Example

This chapter provides an overview of the basic philosophy of calibration as applied to the specific case of a radiometer along with techniques and the associated calibration equipment. The final product of the calibration of a radiometer is a mathematical equation that gives the desired flux in terms of the instrument output. The chapter also explains the specifications of the Utah State University radiometer, which was designed to make extended source measurements of high-altitude emissions of the atmosphere from a rocketsonde carrier. The distant small area source consists of a collimator system that can be cooled with liquid nitrogen or liquid helium when necessary. The cryogenic radiometer must be interfaced with the collimator to provide vacuum, cold shield, and optical baffling continuity. The radiometer and the collimator are mated, vacuum pumped, and cooled prior to calibration. This operation usually requires about 48 hours. The calibration is a seven-step process, which involves the dark-noise test, field of view survey, linearity test, absolute calibration test, field of view—near field, field of view—far field, and spectral bandpass calibration. The calibration equations are derived from the raw data by best-fit techniques.
Unaccentedness in Japanese

A characteristic, though not necessary, property of so-called pitch accent languages is the existence of unaccented words. Work on unaccentedness in Japanese has found a concentration of such words in very specific areas of the lexicon, defined in prosodic terms. While unaccentedness might be some kind of default, the prosodic rationale for the way it is distributed over the lexicon is far from clear. This article investigates the underlying structural reasons for the distribution and develops a formal Optimality Theory account, which involves two well-known constraints: Rightmost and Nonfinality. The tension between the two, usually resolved by ranking (Nonfinality Rightmost), finds another surprising resolution in unaccentedness: no accent, no conflict. Besides providing a more detailed analysis of Japanese word accent, which takes into consideration other mitigating phonological and morphological factors, the article aims to gain an understanding of the similarities and differences between pitch accent and stress accent languages.
Introduction to the Special Issue: Implementing the Grand Challenge of Reducing and Preventing Alcohol Misuse and Its Consequences

The Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative, launched by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) in 2012, identified a series of 12 broad social work challenges. Each ch...
An infrared optical pacing system for high-throughput screening of cardiac electrophysiology in human cardiomyocytes (Conference Presentation)

Cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPS-HCM) have the potential to provide individualized therapies for patients and to test drug candidates for cardiac toxicity. In order for hiPS-CM to be useful for such applications, there is a need for high-throughput technology to rapidly assess cardiac electrophysiology parameters. Here, we designed and tested a fully contactless optical mapping (OM) and optical pacing (OP) system capable of imaging and point stimulation of hiPS-CM in small wells. OM allowed us to characterize cardiac electrophysiological parameters (conduction velocity, action potential duration, etc.) using voltage-sensitive dyes with high temporal and spatial resolution over the entire well. To improve OM signal-to-noise ratio, we tested a new voltage-sensitive dye (Fluovolt) for accuracy and phototoxicity. Stimulation is essential because most electrophysiological parameters are rate dependent; however, traditional methods utilizing electrical stimulation is difficult in small wells. To overcome this limitation, we utilized OP (λ = 1464 nm) to precisely control heart rate with spatial precision without the addition of exogenous agents. We optimized OP parameters (e.g., well size, pulse width, spot size) to achieve robust pacing and minimize the threshold radiant exposure. Finally, we tested system sensitivity using Flecainide, a drug with well described action on multiple electrophysiological properties.
Evolutionary Trends in Phenotypic Elements of Seasonal Forms of the Tribe Junoniini (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Seasonal polyphenism in insects is the phenomenon whereby multiple phenotypes can arise from a single genotype depending on environmental conditions during development. Many butterflies have multiple generations per year, and environmentally induced variation in wing color pattern phenotype allows them to develop adaptations to the specific season in which the adults live. Elements of butterfly color patterns are developmentally semiautonomous allowing for detailed developmental and evolutionary changes in the overall color pattern. This developmental flexibility of the color pattern can result in extremely diverse seasonal phenotypes in a single species. In this study, we asked the following questions: (a) How do wing phenotype elements such as shape and pattern vary between seasonal forms? (b) Can this variation be explained phylogenetically? (c) If so, what are the various pattern development strategies used to achieve crypsis in the dry season form? To answer these questions, we used high-resolution images to analyze pattern element variation of 34 seasonally polyphenic butterfly species belonging to the tribe Junoniini (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). We show that forewing shape and eyespot size both vary seasonally and that the methods by which phenotype elements change in the dry season forms are different in different clades and may therefore have independent and diverse evolutionary origins.
Cysteines and N-Glycosylation Sites Conserved among All Alphaherpesviruses Regulate Membrane Fusion in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection.

Neurotropism is a defining characteristic of alphaherpesvirus pathogenicity. Glycoprotein K (gK) is a conserved virion glycoprotein of all alphaherpesviruses that is not found in other herpesvirus subfamilies. The extracellular amino terminus of gK has been shown to be important to the ability of the prototypic alphaherpesvirus herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) to enter neurons via axonal termini. Here, we determined the role of the two conserved N-linked glycosylation (N48 and N58) sites of gK in virus-induced cell fusion and replication. We found that N-linked glycosylation is important to the regulation of HSV-1-induced membrane fusion since mutating N58 to alanine (N58A) caused extensive virus-induced cell fusion. Due to the known contributions of N-linked glycosylation to protein processing and correct disulfide bond formation, we investigated whether the conserved extracellular cysteine residues within the amino terminus of gK contributed to the regulation of HSV-1-induced membrane fusion. We found that mutation of C37 and C114 residues led to a gK-null phenotype characterized by very small plaque formation and drastic reduction in infectious virus production, while mutation of C82 and C243 caused extensive virus-induced cell fusion. Comparison of N-linked glycosylation and cysteine mutant replication kinetics identified disparate effects on infectious virion egress from infected cells. Specifically, cysteine mutations caused defects in the accumulation of infectious virus in both the cellular and supernatant fractions, while glycosylation site mutants did not adversely affect virion egress from infected cells. These results demonstrate a critical role for the N glycosylation sites and cysteines for the structure and function of the amino terminus of gK. IMPORTANCE We have previously identified important entry and neurotropic determinants in the amino terminus of HSV-1 glycoprotein K (gK). Alphaherpesvirus-mediated membrane fusion is a complex and highly regulated process that is not clearly understood. gK and UL20, which are highly conserved across all alphaherpesviruses, play important roles in the regulation of HSV-1 fusion in the context of infection. A greater understanding of mechanisms governing alphaherpesvirus membrane fusion is expected to inform the rational design of therapeutic and prevention strategies to combat herpesviral infection and pathogenesis. This work adds to the growing reports regarding the importance of gK to alphaherpesvirus pathogenesis and details important structural features of gK that are involved in gK-mediated regulation of virus-induced membrane fusion.
Comparing the predictive validity of the four-factor and five-factor (bifactor) measurement structures of the drinking motives questionnaire

Introduction The Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ-R) is the most widely administered instrument to assess reasons for consuming alcohol and is conventionally premised on a four-factor structure. Recent research instead reveals that a bifactor measurement model of five motive factors (one general and four specific) represents a superior psychometric embodiment of the scale. The current study evaluated and compared the predictive validity of the four-factor and five-factor models of drinking motives in longitudinally explaining alcohol use and problems.
Infection control in the delivery suite and the role of protective clothing

Pregnancy and childbirth, although natural physiological processes, are not without risk of infection and cross infection to mother, baby and health care personnel. In an effort to maintain a relaxed atmosphere, many midwives have been more reluctant than their counterparts in general nursing to adopt the use of protective clothing. The recognition of blood-borne viruses has, however, necessitated a review of practice.
Contents, Followers, and Retweets of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office of Advanced Molecular Detection (@CDC_AMD) Twitter Profile: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The Office of Advanced Molecular Detection (OAMD), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), manages a Twitter profile (@CDC_AMD). To our knowledge, no prior study has analyzed a CDC Twitter handle’s entire contents and all followers. Objective: This study aimed to describe the contents and followers of the Twitter profile @CDC_AMD and to assess if attaching photos or videos to tweets posted by @CDC_AMD would increase retweet frequency. Methods: Data of @CDC_AMD were retrieved on November 21, 2016. All followers (N=809) were manually categorized. All tweets (N=768) were manually coded for contents and whether photos or videos were attached. Retweet count for each tweet was recorded. Negative binomial regression models were applied to both the original and the retweet corpora. Results: Among the 809 followers, 26.0% (210/809) were individual health professionals, 11.6% (94/809) nongovernmental organizations, 3.3% (27/809) government agencies’ accounts, 3.3% (27/809) accounts of media organizations and journalists, and 0.9% (7/809) academic journals, with 54.9% (444/809) categorized as miscellaneous. A total of 46.9% (360/768) of @CDC_AMD’s tweets referred to the Office’s website and their current research; 17.6% (135/768) referred to their scientists’ publications. Moreover, 80% (69/86) of tweets retweeted by @CDC_AMD fell into the miscellaneous category. In addition, 43.4% (333/768) of the tweets contained photos or videos, whereas the remaining 56.6% (435/768) did not. Attaching photos or videos to original @CDC_AMD tweets increases the number of retweets by 37% (probability ratio=1.37, 95% CI 1.13-1.67, P=.002). Content topics did not explain or modify this association. Conclusions: This study confirms CDC health communicators’ experience that original tweets created by @CDC_AMD Twitter profile sharing images or videos (or their links) received more retweets. The current policy of attaching images to tweets should be encouraged. [JMIR Public Health Surveill 2018;4(2):e33]
Evaluation of the detection and mitigation of time synchronization attacks on the global positioning system

This paper provides an evaluation of the proposed Time Synchronization Attack Rejection and Mitigation (TSARM) technique. The evaluation platform includes a real GPS spoofing mechanism available in TEXBAT and applied on the raw GNSS measurements obtained from a commercial GPS receiver. The key signatures to observe are the deviations on the clock bias and drift of the receiver under spoofed and normal conditions. The numerical evaluation substantiates the strengths of TSARM and renders great insight to its practicality in mitigating the effects of a real spoofer.
The Construction of Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) Libraries

Cloning of exogenous DNA into bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) pro vides a new approach to the analysis of the genomes of higher organisms [1]. BAC libraries containing large genomic DNA inserts are important tools for positional cloning, physical mapping and genome sequencing. A number of human and plant BAC libraries have been constructed (e.g., human: [2], Arabidopsis: [3], rice: [4], sorghum: [5]). Bacterial artificial chromosome vectors utilize the rE. coli single-copy fertility plasmid and can maintain genomic DNA fragments up to 350 kb. Very little or no rearrangement of the inserts or chimerism have been observed [1, 5–7]. Other systems for the cloning of large DNA fragments have been developed. The development of yeast artificial chromosome vectors (YAC: [8]) permits cloning of fragments of greater than 500 kb. However, some disadvantages of the YAC system include a high degree of chimerism and insert rearrangement that limit its usefulness [9–11]. Systems based on the bacterial F-factor (BAC: [1]) and bacteriophage Pl (PAC: [12]) have much higher cloning efficiencies, improved fidelity, and greater ease of handling as compared to the YAC system. Table 1 shows a comparison between the two most common large DNA fragment cloning systems, YACs and BACs. Because of BAC clone stability and ease of use, the BAC cloning system has emerged as the system of choice for the construction of large insert genomic DNA libraries.
Theory of Ionic Solutions at Equilibrium

The pair correlation function theory of ionic interactions in solution is developed using cluster theory methods. Fluctuation theory provides a natural entry to McMillan-Mayer solution theory. It is complemented by a similar operation on the Ornstein-Zernike equation which leads to important conditions on the solvent-averaged interactions among the ions. Certain inconsistencies in the theory which are identified seem to have remarkably little effect on the success of model calculations with solvent-averaged pair potentials, even for electrolyte mixture coefficients which depend on interactions in ion triples and larger clusters, and even for the rate constants of activation-controlled reactions of ionic species.
Exponential Combinatorial Extrema

We study the following type of problem. For each K we have a family { X i K : i ∈ I K } of random variables which are dependent but identically distributed; and |I K | → ∞ exponentially fast as K → ∞. We are interested in the behavior of \( {M_K} = {\kern 1pt} {\max _{i \in {I_K}}}{\kern 1pt} X_i^K \). Suppose that there exists c* ∈ (0,∞) such that (after normalizing the X’s, if necessary) $$ \begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {\left| {{I_K}} \right|P(X_i^K > c) \to 0}&{as{\kern 1pt} K \to \infty }&{all{\kern 1pt} c > c * } \\ {\left| {{I_K}} \right|P(X_i^K > c) \to \infty }&{as{\kern 1pt} K \to \infty }&{all{\kern 1pt} c > c * } \end{array} $$ Then Boole’s inequality implies $$ P({M_k} > c) \to 0asK \to \infty ;allc > c* $$ (Gla) Call c* the natural outer bound for M K (for a minimization problem the analogous argument gives a lower bound c)*; we call these outer bound for consistency
Angebotserstellung und Netzplantechnik

Bisher wurde uber die Anwendung des Operations Research im Bereiche des betrieblichen Entscheidungsprozesses gesprochen, und zwar mit der Absicht, zu grundsatzlichen Erkenntnissen fur die Produktionsplanung zu gelangen. Dieses Kapitel behandelt die Anwendung der Netzplantechnik, und zwar des PERT1)-Verfahrens, in komplexen Situationen, z. B. auf dem Gebiet der Angebotserstellung, und zeigt Anhaltspunkte, um die Faktoren, die derartigen Problemen zugrunde liegen, miteinander in Verbindung zu bringen.
Komplikation durch Kombination

Die Umwelt eines Kleinkindes ist geheimnisvoll und voller neuer Eindrucke. Nie wieder im Leben hat ein Mensch mit einer so ungeheuren Informationsflut zu kampfen, hat er so viele neue Daten zu bewaltigen, wie als Baby. Selbst wenn wir uns vorzustellen versuchen, wir seien mitten im Urwald ausgesetzt worden und dauernd einer neuen akustischen und optischen Kulisse gegenubergestellt, konnen wir nur schwer ermessen, wie schwierig die Umweltsverarbeitung fur ein Kleinkind ist.
Epitaxial entropy-stabilized oxides: growth of chemically diverse phases via kinetic bombardment

This paper explores thin films of the entropy-stabilized oxide (ESO) composition MgxNixCoxCuxZnxScxO (x~ 0.167) grown by laser ablation in incremental gas pressures and O2/Ar ratios to modulate particle kinetic energy and plume reactivity. Low pressures supporting high kinetic energy adatoms favor the kinetic stabilization of a single rocksalt phase, while high pressures (low kinetic energy adatoms) result in phase separation. The pressure threshold for phase separation is a function of O2/Ar ratio. These findings suggest large kinetic energies facilitate the assembly and quench of metastable ESO phases that may require immoderate physical or chemical conditions to synthesize using near-equilibrium techniques.
Transnationalism in Iranian Political Thought: The Life and Times of Ahmad Fardid

During the Iranian Revolution of 1978/9, the influence of public intellectuals was widespread. Many espoused a vision of Iran freed from the influences of 'Westtoxification', inspired by Heideggerian concepts of anti-Western nativism. By following the intellectual journey of the Iranian philosopher Ahmad Fardid, Ali Mirsepassi offers in this book an account of the rise of political Islam in modern Iran. Through his controversial persona and numerous public and private appearances before, during and particularly after the Revolution, Fardid popularised an Islamist vision militantly hostile to the modern world that remains a fundamental part of the political philosophy of the Islamic Republic to this day. By also bringing elements of Fardid's post-revolutionary thought, as well as a critical analysis of Foucault's writings on 'the politics of spirituality', Mirsepassi offers an essential read for all those studying the evolution of political thought and philosophy in modern Iran and beyond.
Studies on the Synthesis of Acanthodoral and Nanaimoal: Evaluation of Cationic Cyclization Routes

Intramolecular Lewis acid-promoted reactions of α,β-unsaturated ketone 6 and aldehydes 7 and 8 were examined as potential routes to acanthodoral (1), a structurally interesting natural product. Ketone 6 afforded ene product 22 exclusively, and both 7 and 8 gave mixtures of bicyclic aldehydes 3 and 26 and tricyclic aldehyde 25. The latter most likely results from 7 by intramolecular cyclization of the alkene onto the Lewis acid-activated carbonyl moiety affording carbocation 31 followed by a 1,2-hydride shift and ring closure. Starting from 8, tricyclic aldehyde 25 apparently forms by cyclization to cation 35 and ring closure to cyclobutane 36, followed by ring opening to 31, the same cation as formed in reactions of 7. Nanaimoal (3) results from loss of H+ from 31, and bicyclic aldehyde 26 may be formed in a similar manner or by a concerted ene reaction. The configuration of 25 establishes that the stereochemistry of the initial cyclization to 31 precludes the possible use of this strategy for the synthes...
Genome-wide methylation in alcohol use disorder subjects: implications for an epigenetic regulation of the cortico-limbic glucocorticoid receptors (NR3C1)

Environmental factors, including substance abuse and stress, cause long-lasting changes in the regulation of gene expression in the brain via epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation. We examined genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in the prefrontal cortex (PFC, BA10) of 25 pairs of control and individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), using the Infinium® MethylationEPIC BeadChip. We identified 5254 differentially methylated CpGs (pnominal < 0.005). Bioinformatic analyses highlighted biological processes containing genes related to stress adaptation, including the glucocorticoid receptor (encoded by NR3C1). Considering that alcohol is a stressor, we focused our attention on differentially methylated regions of the NR3C1 gene and validated the differential methylation of several genes in the NR3C1 network. Chronic alcohol drinking results in a significant increased methylation of the NR3C1 exon variant 1H, with a particular increase in the levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine over 5-methylcytosine. These changes in DNA methylation were associated with reduced NR3C1 mRNA and protein expression levels in PFC, as well as other cortico-limbic regions of AUD subjects when compared with controls. Furthermore, we show that the expression of several stress-responsive genes (e.g., CRF, POMC, and FKBP5) is altered in the PFC of AUD subjects. These stress-response genes were also changed in the hippocampus, a region that is highly susceptible to stress. These data suggest that alcohol-dependent aberrant DNA methylation of NR3C1 and consequent changes in other stress-related genes might be fundamental in the pathophysiology of AUD and lay the groundwork for treatments targeting the epigenetic mechanisms regulating NR3C1 in AUD.
The opioid prescribing practices of surgeons: A comprehensive review of the 2015 claims to Medicare Part D.

Abstract Background The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared that the United States is amidst a continuing opioid epidemic, with drug overdose–related death tripling between 1999 and 2014. Among the 47,055 overdose-related deaths that occurred in 2014, 28,647 (60.9%) of them involved an opioid. Methods To determine if there are specific trends in opioid prescribing practices of specific groups of surgeons to better describe any regional or subspecialty trends that exist, the Part D Prescriber Public Use File was used to evaluate all prescription drug orders for Medicare beneficiaries with a Part D prescription drug plan for the 2015 calendar year. Only those providers with the specialty description corresponding to a surgical specialty were included in this study, using the provider's Part B claims. Results A total of 65,277,932 claims made to Part D by 90,253 surgeons in the 2015 service year were analyzed in this study, demonstrating statistically significant differences in the opioid prescribing practices of surgeons from different states, cities, practice settings, and subspecialties (P Conclusion All health professionals with opiate prescribing privileges are entrusted with and responsible for the use of these medications; therefore, physicians have a crucial role in ensuring safe and effective use of this treatment option and the deterrence of its abuse. This is true in particular for surgeons given the acuity level and context of their practice.
New opportunities in transmission electron microscopy of polymers

Abstract Recent advances in instrumentation for transmission electron microscopy have pushed the resolution limit, leading to remarkable instruments capable of imaging at 0.5 A. But, when imaging soft materials, the resolution is often limited by the amount of dose the material can handle rather than the instrumental resolution. Despite the strong constraints placed by radiation sensitivity, recent developments in electron microscopes have the potential to advance polymer electron microscopy. For example, the focused ion beam creates opportunities for site-specific imaging, recently developed sample holders enable liquid TEM, monochromated sources lead to spectroscopy and imaging based on the valence electronic structure, and direct electron detectors minimize the required dose for imaging. Transmission electron microscopy has transformed the field of polymer science, and it is poised to do so again in the near future.
Language, Culture, and Pedagogy: A Response to a Call for Action

This paper describes a collaborative project between Tsuut’ina Education and St. Mary’s University, Faculty of Education. The project addresses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) (2015) Calls to Action in reference to language and culture. Our work with the Gunaha instructors of Tsuut’ina Education was carried out with the intent that the collaboration would benefit not only Tsuut’ina Education students but also the Tsuut’ina community. For carrying out our work with Tsuut’ina Education, we identified the following four principles as relevant to our collaboration: The research (a) is relevant to community needs and priorities and increases positive outcomes; (b) provides opportunities for co-creation; (c) honors traditional knowledge and knowledge holders and engage existing knowledge and knowledge keepers; and (d) builds respectful relationships (Riddell, Salamanca, Pepler, Cardinal, & McIvor, 2017). Finally, we discuss three implications from our partnership: reciprocal relationships, shared expertise, and respect for worldviews. Our collaboration with Tsuut’ina Education offered us an opportunity to embrace an alternate way of knowing and to appreciate the responsibility that we have to listen and learn from others.Keywords: language and culture; collaboration; partnership; reciprocal relationships; shared expertise; respect for worldviews
Vasectomy in Men without Children: Demographics and Family Planning Attitudes from the National Survey for Family Growth

AbstractIntroduction:To investigate the ethically challenging scenario of a childless man requesting a vasectomy, we compared vasectomy reversal rates and family planning attitudes in men who under...
Early Brain Injury and Adaptive Functioning in Middle Childhood: The Mediating Role of Pragmatic Language.

OBJECTIVE Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) often adversely affect adaptive functioning (AF). However, the cognitive mechanisms by which AF is disrupted are not well understood in young children who sustain TBI. This study examined pragmatic language (PL) and executive functioning (EF) as potential mechanisms for AF disruption in children with early, predominantly mild-complicated, TBI. METHOD The sample consisted of 76 children between the ages of 6 and 10 years old who sustained a TBI (n = 36) or orthopedic injury (OI; n = 40) before 6 years of age and at least 1 year prior to testing (M = 4.86 years, SD = 1.59). Children's performance on a PL and an expressive vocabulary task (which served as a control task), and parent report of child's EF and AF were examined at two time points 1 year apart (i.e., at age 8 and at age 9 years). RESULTS Injury type (TBI vs. OI) significantly predicted child's social and conceptual, but not practical, AF. Results indicated that PL, and not expressive vocabulary or EF at time 1, mediated the relationship between injury type and both social and conceptual AF at time 2. CONCLUSIONS A TBI during early childhood appears to subtly, but uniquely, disrupt complex language skills (i.e., PL), which in turn may disrupt subsequent social and conceptual AF in middle childhood. Additional longitudinal research that examines different aspects of PL and adaptive outcomes into adolescence is warranted.
Tiny Regulators of Massive Tissue: MicroRNAs in Skeletal Muscle Development, Myopathies, and Cancer Cachexia

Skeletal muscles are the largest tissues in our body and the physiological function of muscle is essential to every aspect of life. The regulation of development, homeostasis, and metabolism is critical for the proper functioning of skeletal muscle. Consequently, understanding the processes involved in the regulation of myogenesis is of great interest. Non-coding RNAs especially microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression and function. MiRNAs are small (~22 nucleotides long) noncoding RNAs known to negatively regulate target gene expression post-transcriptionally and are abundantly expressed in skeletal muscle. Gain- and loss-of function studies have revealed important roles of this class of small molecules in muscle biology and disease. In this review, we summarize the latest research that explores the role of miRNAs in skeletal muscle development, gene expression, and function as well as in muscle disorders like sarcopenia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Continuing with the theme of the current review series, we also briefly discuss the role of miRNAs in cancer cachexia.
Developing and Supporting STEM Undergraduate Teaching Assistants as Partners in Teaching

Research to Practice Full Paper: The reliance on undergraduate students to take on key aspects of college level courses, such as grading, holding office hours, and facilitating small group work, has been growing with the increased enrollment in many introductory STEM courses. There is an urgent need to understand how these undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) approach and engage their roles in the wake of the increasing dependency on these students to facilitate learning within courses. Over the past few years at Brown University, and many others, UTAs have been hired at a growing rate and have been expected to take on new responsibilities. However, institutional policies and guidelines have not changed to reflect these new conditions, raising the question as to what are points of tension in the UTA experience and what are the causes of such tensions. This paper aims to address this concern by identifying and analyzing these tensions that arise as UTAs work to be successful educators.To further understand the tensions and pressures experienced by these student workers, we interviewed UTAs in engineering, physics, computer science, and one UTA in engineering and computer science (n=5). The departments vary according to the size and scope of their respective UTA programs. We use the framework of Activity Systems Analysis (ASA) in an effort to identify areas of tension and improvement in current teaching and support practices. The ASA framework allows researchers to narrow their focus on human activity and experiences, in this case those of the UTA, while not losing sight of the cultural and historical contexts in which this activity and these experiences take place. The framework also allows for the identification of systemic tensions that tie human activities and environments to undesired outcomes at an individual or systemic level. We identify tensions from the UTA experiences, provide recommendations for ways to better support and develop STEM UTAs, and identify future areas of research.
Race, Culture, and Ethnicity in ADHD

The US Census Bureau projects that by 2020, greater than 50% of the nation’s youth will be from minority racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is therefore increasingly important to evaluate the impact of race, ethnicity, and cultural differences on ADHD diagnosis and treatment. The need to approach ADHD from a multifaceted perspective is further highlighted by known racial and ethnic disparities around ADHD. This chapter uses cultural humility and racial justice lenses to explore the following domains. First, general expectations for adolescence and factors leading to variations in expectations are explored. We then explore the intersection between racial, cultural, and ethnic diversity regarding diagnosis and treatment of ADHD from the perspective of parents, healthcare professionals, and educators. The chapter that follows delves more deeply into the absolute disparities in diagnoses and treatment that result. We provide suggestions for acknowledging and addressing differences in individual perspectives and larger systemic barriers as a means of mitigating diagnostic and therapeutic inequities.
Retail Bank Deposits: Sluggish Dynamics

In the first eight months of 2018 retail bank deposits turned out to be the primary source of expanding the resource base of the Russian banking sector. Retail deposits, however, posted almost the slowest dynamics over a longterm period of monitoring. This is what restricts opportunities of the banking sector to steadily increase lending to the economy.
Towards reducing the number of crashes during hurricane evacuation: Assessing the potential safety impact of adaptive cruise control systems

Abstract Ensuring safer mobility for evacuee drivers during a hurricane evacuation has always been a major concern for traffic managers. That concern has grown further, particularly after recent hurricanes, which forced millions of people to evacuate, causing significant congestion and a high number of traffic crashes. Though several strategies have been deployed to manage the heavy traffic demand during a hurricane evacuation, current approaches seem to have less impact on traffic safety. In a situation where people are ordered to evacuate to a safer place involving long hours of driving, perception related errors are inevitable. In such conditions, advanced driving assistance system or vehicle automation can have a positive impact. In this study, we assess the safety impact of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems during an evacuation. We develop a microscopic simulation model of evacuation traffic in SUMO and calibrate it using real-world traffic data collected during the evacuation period of hurricane Irma for a segment in the Interstate highway in Florida. To evaluate the safety impact of ACC systems, we adopt two surrogate measures: time to collision (TTC) and deceleration rate to avoid a collision (DRAC). Our simulation experiments show that, during the evacuation, about 49.7% of traffic collisions can be reduced at a 25% market penetration of ACC equipped vehicles. Our result has potential implications for hurricane evacuation management since a modest decrease in the number of crashes can help reduce the massive delays most commonly experienced during a major evacuation.
Casting Shadows: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin and the Misplaced Fear of "Too Much" Diversity

"Well, I thought that the whole purpose of affirmative action was to help students who come from underprivileged backgrounds, but you make a very different argument that I don't think I've ever seen before." Justice Alito.Justice Alito’s comment, made during the recent oral argument before the Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin , is troubling on many levels. Significantly, the comment suggests that Justice Alito has not recently re-read Regents of the University of California v. Bakke or Grutter v. Bollinger — the two Supreme Court decisions that will likely control the outcome in Fisher. This is because both Bakke and Grutter acknowledge two distinct justifications for race-conscious admissions policies, and the justification these cases ultimately endorse is the one Justice Alito appears to be unfamiliar with.
The sirtuins: Markers of metabolic health

The sirtuins represent a class of proteins first discovered orthologus to the yeast silent information regulator 2 protein that have been retained in mammalian species. Currently, seven sirtuins have been identified in humans, and their functions currently surpass their originally identified role as histone deacetylase and chromatin silencers to encompass nutrient sensing and metabolic function. All seven sirtuins require NAD(+) in order to carry out their enzymatic activity, and thus become activated in conditions of nutrient depletion, starvation, and cellular stress. Caloric restriction and increased physical activity have been postulated, though perhaps controversially, to mediate sirtuin function. Here, we review the current literature surrounding the functions of the seven human sirtuins, mediators of their function, and the roles they play in metabolic health related to dietary and physical activity interventions. Despite the controversy surrounding sirtuin function with regard to longevity, we have aimed to show that regardless of its effects on aging, sirtuin function is pivotal to pathways involving metabolic health, and should therefore be investigated with regard to improving metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Stochastic Switching of Cell Fate in Microbes

Microbes transiently differentiate into distinct, specialized cell types to generate functional diversity and cope with changing environmental conditions. Though alternate programs often entail radically different physiological and morphological states, recent single-cell studies have revealed that these crucial decisions are often left to chance. In these cases, the underlying genetic circuits leverage the intrinsic stochasticity of intracellular chemistry to drive transition between states. Understanding how these circuits transform transient gene expression fluctuations into lasting phenotypic programs will require a combination of quantitative modeling and extensive, time-resolved observation of switching events in single cells. In this article, we survey microbial cell fate decisions demonstrated to involve a random element, describe theoretical frameworks for understanding stochastic switching between states, and highlight recent advances in microfluidics that will enable characterization of key dyn...
BOOK REVIEW: A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE, F. GONZALEZ-CRUSSI

This concise but informative and pleasingly readable book takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the history of medicine from ancient civilizations to modern times. The book represents t...