cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The coalescent in an exponentially growing metapopulation and its application to Arabidopsis thaliana.

NATURAL selection affects the amount and pattern of DNA variation maintained in a population. However, it is very difficult to find evidence for natural selection from data of nucleotide sequence variation because there are many other factors affecting DNA polymorphism. One of the main factors is
Isolated hepatic cholinergic denervation impairs glucose and glycogen metabolism

Background. Hepatic innervation plays an essential role in insulin extraction and glucose production, but the specific role of hepatic cholinergic innervation remains unclear. We sought to establish a model of isolated hepatic cholinergic denervation (IHCD), and to assess whether glycogen storage or the control of net hepatic glucose production (HGP) was altered by IHCD. Materials and Methods. Sprague–Dawley rats underwent either hepatic vagotomy or sham operation. Liver tissue was stained for vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) and (nonspecific neural) protein gene product 9.5 (PGP) for verification of IHCD. Liver glycogen content was quantified in fed and fasted IHCD or sham-operated animals. HGP was determined after single-pass isolated liver perfusion, during which a 30-min 12 ng/ml glucagon infusion was begun after equilibration, and after 10 min, a 200 μU/ml insulin infusion was added. Results. Uniform staining of PGP and absence of VAChT staining in hepatic vagotomized rats demonstrated the validity of our model. Glycogen content of sham-operated livers (n = 8) increased from 6.0 ± 1.7 in the fasting state to 10.6 ± 1.8 mg/g liver, after feeding (P < 0.05). IHCD livers (n = 8) showed no comparable increase (3.5 ± 0.6 to 4.0 ± 0.7 mg/g liver). Perfusion with glucagon alone resulted in less HGP in IHCD livers (n = 12) compared with sham-operated livers (n = 10) (integrated HGP 3.3 ± 0.3 mg/g liver min−1 vs 5.1 ± 0.5 mg/g liver min−1, P < 0.05). Insulin infusion revealed impaired responsiveness to insulin after IHCD; the ratio of HGP in the final 10 min of perfusion (glucagon and insulin) to HGP in the initial 10 min (glucagon alone) was 90.3 ± 2.4% for IHCD livers versus 68.1 ± 4.4% for sham-operated controls, respectively (P = 0.0002). Conclusions. Our study shows that IHCD results in significant impairment in liver glycogen storage and impaired hepatic sensitivity to glucagon and, possibly, to insulin. We conclude that hepatic cholinergic integrity is essential to normal hepatic glucose metabolism.
Energy-efficient self-adapting online linear forecasting for wireless sensor network applications

New energy-efficient linear forecasting methods are proposed for various sensor network applications, including in-network data aggregation and mining. The proposed methods are designed to minimize the number of trend changes for a given application-specified forecast quality metric. They also self-adjust the model parameters, the slope and the intercept, based on the forecast errors observed via measurements. As a result, they incur O(1) space and time overheads, a critical advantage for resource-limited wireless sensors. An extensive simulation study based on real-world and synthetic time-series data shows that the proposed methods reduce the number of trend changes by 20%~50% over the existing well-known methods for a given forecast quality metric. That is, they are more predictive than the others with the same forecast quality metric
Thermal characterization of a mercury arc lamp for a projection display system

Avionics displays that operate in high temperature, low-pressure environments are challenging to design. Since the trend has been to reduce the physical dimensions of the electronics while increasing the effective display area with higher luminance and optical performance, the thermal design of this type of display product is a critical step in the design process. At the heart of one such display product is a high-pressure mercury arc lamp module, comprising of an arc tube and reflector housing. It dissipates roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the total power in a display enclosure. The methods used to cool a high power light source could have a dramatic effect on the performance and the reliability of the other electrical components within the display enclosure. This paper will discuss the thermal design of the light source, a custom-designed high-pressure mercury arc lamp module for a projection display used in an avionics application. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to characterize the heat transfer path from the plasma arc to the lamp's outer housing and rest of the electronics within the enclosure. A few of the higher end CFD companies have developed plasma capabilities within their codes. These codes typically do not have the functionality to solve electronics box type problems efficiently. On the other hand, the "electronics specific" CFD codes do not have the higher end computational capabilities or the ability to mesh complex geometry. Because of this, both a general purpose and an electronics specific CFD code were used to accurately predict the temperatures in a projection enclosure used for an avionics display. To establish the complete model, a series of optical measurements was conducted on a typical arc tube and real lamp to obtain the critical parameters that are too complicated or impossible to generate by modeling alone. These parameters include the total radiant power of the lamp, radiant power distribution in different wavelength range, and the optical properties of the optical surfaces. Also measured was the temperature distribution of the lamp at predetermined points in well-controlled conditions. This optical and thermal data are used in the modeling process so the model can produce consistent and convergent results.
Equine Farm Operators: An Underserved Target Audience for Conservation Practice Outreach?

Equine farms account for an increasing proportion of land use in many areas of the United States. Despite this, equine farm operators have often been neglected by researchers and resource professionals when land management decisions are concerned and little is understood of this community's awareness and use of conservation practices. This study assessed the prevalence of conservation messages in equine-related trade magazines using content analysis. In-depth interviews were also conducted with equine farm operators to assess their understanding and use of conservation practices. Conservation-related material in equine media is relatively rare when compared with traditional livestock magazines. Equine and stable owners are generally motivated to protect on-farm resources but are not very aware of the off-farm effects of their operations. Several common livestock conservation practices are being used by many facilities, but the motivation for their use is not based on environmental concern, and operators are generally unaware of the environmental benefits of these practices. More outreach and education directed at equine farm operators is needed.
Rock 'n Roll Ventricle of the Dyssynchronous Heart: Clinical Significance of Rocking Motion in Selection of Patient for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Because a substantial subset of patients who receive cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) do not improve when selected based on QRS prolongation, numerous investigations have been performed to find other measures of intraventricular dyssynchrony, seeking better identification of patients who
Definition of Chromatography

Chromatography is a method of separation based on differential migration. The separation of mixtures into individual components depends upon the differential sorption of the components by an active stationary phase. Migration through the stationary phase is produced by a driving force—the flow of a usually nonselective, mobile fluid phase. In gas—liquid chromatography one is concerned with that major subdivision of chromatography in which the mobile phase is an inert gas.
The Notice Requirement in Administrative Rulemaking: An Analysis of Legislative and Interpretive Rules

At its Fifteenth Plenary Session, held December 9-10, 1976, the Administrative Conferences of the United States adopted Recommendation 76-5, which urged federal agencies to utilize the procedures set forth in subsection 4(b) and (c) of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (the APA) before they issue, amend or repeal an interpretive rule of general applicability which is likely to have a substantial impact on the public. This would be accomplished by publishing each interpretive rule in the Federal Register, with a concise statement of its basis and purpose and an invitation for written comments. While the differences give rise to legal consequences of crucial importance to the administrative lawyer, many administrative agencies have indiscriminately mingled “legislative” and “interpretive” rules in such a way as to make their use and understanding very difficult. The relevance of the distinction, found in Section 4 of the APA, is that an agency is not required to provide notice or an opportunity to participate to interested parties before issuance of an “interpretive rule” (unless otherwise required by statute), whereas an agency must do so before issuance of a “substantive” rule. Agencies traditionally have exercised broad discretion in their characterizations of agency action. In this article, the author addresses whether an agency’s failure to afford minimal procedural protections to the public is a violation of Section 4 of the APA. After defining the two types of regulations, the author considers the origin of the distinction. He then discusses the procedural protection afforded through the embodiment of the distinction in the APA. Finally, the author analyzes in-depth the judicial interpretations of Section 4. Although certainty in recognizing a legislative rule or an interpretive rule will always be difficult to achieve, his analysis of the distinction provides a considerable degree of predictability.
What's in a Name: IRS' Attempts to Tax Nonprofits on the Exploitation of the Organization's or Its Members' Names

For nearly twenty years IRS has been attempting to limit a nonprofit organizations' ability to financially exploit its name property by imposing an income tax on any income generated by the exploitation. Two primary methods nonprofits attempt to exploit their name are: (1) selling mailing lists containing the organization members' names to third parties (mailing lists) and (2) authorizing, for a fee, the issuance of credit cards to members and nonmembers that carry the organization's name and logo (affinity cards). Both the United States Tax Court and several federal courts have reviewed IRS' regulation of each of these name exploitation methods. However, the Supreme Court has yet to definitively address the limits of the IRS' ability to tax this exploitation income. Thus, the limits of IRS' ability to tax a nonprofit's sale of its membership lists or affinity card arrangements are unclear. While several recent federal cases help to clarify and define the issue, there remain cases around the country, which may be appealed. This Article is an attempt to outline the nonprofit tax issues relative to name exploitation and make some predictions as to how the U.S. Supreme Court might, and should, rule relative to these issues.
On the performance and complexity of a class of hybrid controller switching policies

Based on observations of the past inputs and outputs of an unknown system Σ, a countable set of predictors O p , p e P, is used to predict the system output sequence. Using performance measures derived from the resultant prediction errors a decision rule is to be designed to select a peP at each time k. We study the structure and memory requirements of decision rules that converge to some qeP such that the qth prediction error sequence has desirable properties, e.g., is suitably bounded or converges to zero. In a very general setting we give a positive result that there exist stationary decision rules with countable memory that converge (in finite time) to a ‘good’ predictor. These decision rules are robust in a sense made precise in the paper. In addition, we demonstrate that there does not exist a decision rule with finite memory that has this property. This type of problem arises in a variety of contexts but one of particular interest is the following. Based on the decision rule's selection at time k a controller for the system Σ is chosen from a family Π p , p e P, of predesigned control systems. We show t for certain mimo linear systems the resultant closed loop controlled system is stable and can asymptotically track an exogenous reference input.
Myxoma of the jaws

Abstract 1. 1. An osteogenic myxoma was removed from the maxilla of a 31-year-old man, with apparent eradication of the lesion. Successful rehabilitation was accomplished with the help of a dental obturator. 2. 2. An osteogenic myxoma was removed by partial resection of the mandible of a 35-year-old man. Four years later the patient developed a primary chondrosarcoma of the sacrum which led to his death. There had been no evidence of recurrence of the myxoma of the mandible. The two lesions were considered to be unrelated primary tumors. 3. 3. Myxomas occurring in the jaws are thought to arise from cells of the dental papilla as well as from undifferentiated stem cells of the bone or periosteum. 4. 4. The result of surgical removal of myxomas of the jawbones is somewhat better than is generally noted in the case of myxomas in other areas of the body.
Instability and Transition due to Near-Critical Roughness in a Hypersonic Laminar Boundary Layer

Measurements of instability and transition were obtained in the wake of a cylindrical roughness within the laminar nozzle-wall boundary layer of the Purdue Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel. Using wall-mounted pressure transducers along the wake centerline, the root-meansquare pressure and power spectra were computed to find evidence of instabilities within the roughness wake. The roughness height was adjusted to explore the case of incipient transition on the nozzle wall. It appeared that small variations in the experimental parameters could have a large effect on transition for the near-critical case. Several dominant disturbance frequencies were identified for a range of conditions. These disturbances appear to be due to instabilities developing within the wake of the roughness. The streamwise evolution of these disturbances are reported, as well as the spanwise distribution at one streamwise location within the wake. These results can be used as a test case to continue to develop methods for computing the stability of roughness wakes.
A Novel Frequency Measuring Algorithm for the Power System Based on a Linear Amplitude Model

A novel frequency measuring algorithm for the power system is presented based on a model with linear current amplitude during a brief time.The frequency measuring algorithm provided is used to obtain accurate instantaneous parameters for the power system.In the algorithm,the amplitudes of four consecutive sampling currents are supposed to be linear.After rigorous mathematical deduction,including Taylor series expansion and the geometric proportion theorem,the instantaneous frequency can be derived.The errors due to the linear amplitude model are analyzed qualitatively and those of the A/D converter and Taylor series expansion are considered.By the proposed technique,without any digital filters,the measured frequency can be derived easily,quickly and accurately.The simulation results show that swing or not,gentle or violent,the algorithm proposed is highly accurate and easily adapted to the random noise in the current.
Analysis on Surveillance of Plague Host Animals in Guangzhou City from 2005 to 2006

Objective To study the composition and distribution of the host animals of plague in Guangzhou city.Method Rodents were captured by cages and identified down to species.Flea was counted and antibody of plague F1 was detected by IHA.Result 1797 rodents,including 1707 rattus and 90 Insectivora,were caught,which were belonged to 6 species,4 genera,and 2 families.Total densities of rodents and density of rattus were 10.80% and 10.26%,respectively.265 fleas were caught and belonged to Xenopsylla cheopis from 61 rattus among 171 rodents.The total flea index was 1.55.No F1 antibody of plague was detected.Conclusion The major rodent species and the dominant species with fleas in Guangzhou city were Rattus norvegicus and Xenopsylla cheopis,respectively.No plague was found,but we should pay attention to the high flea index of Xenopsylla cheopis.
pMD-Membrane: A Tool to Determine Allosteric Binding Pockets in Membrane-Bound Biomolecules

Probe-based molecular dynamics (pMD) simulation is a useful approach to determine druggable binding sites. The premise of pMD is similar to multi-solvent crystallography or NMR fragment-based screening. Applying pMD in the presence of membrane poses a challenge because the probe molecules can partition into the bilayer affecting its structure. We developed an approach, pMD-membrane, where we modify the force field parameters to alleviate this effect. This involves reducing the pairwise non-bonded interaction between selected probe and lipid atoms. We applied pMD-membrane to identify allosteric binding sites in a well-known cancer target, Ras. Ras is a lipid-modified GTPase and is involved in a plethora of signaling pathways. Membrane binding is essential for Ras biological function. Mutations in Ras are associated with a variety of cancers including pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Of the three major human Ras isoforms H-, N- and K-Ras, cancers associated with mutant K-Ras are the most lethal. Although there is strong evidence for the existence of different orientations of H-Ras with respect to membrane plane, the data on K-Ras was not conclusive. Therefore, first, we performed ∼8μs all-atom MD simulations of full-length oncogenic (G12D) K-Ras bound to a heterogeneous membrane. MD-derived populations revealed that the K-Ras catalytic domain interacts directly with the membrane with two predominant and distinct modes of interaction. Of the two modes only one was found capable of effector binding. Next, we applied pMD-membrane on the two orientations of membrane-bound K-Ras and different K-Ras mutants, G13D and G12D. The results suggest differential dynamics of the allosteric pockets significantly affect accessibility to probes. Using these and other examples, we will discuss how pMD-membrane can be used to track isoform-dependent or mutation-induced differences in the ligand binding potential of pockets on the surface of Ras proteins.
The Marketing of Aiesec, A Non-Profit, Service Organization

AIESEC is a non-profit, international association designed to give business students professional experience through an exchange program. The authors describe how such an organization, using current state-of-the-art information, has succeeded in accomplishing its goals.
The Global Financial Crisis

By 2007, the first cracks in the financial ceiling started to show. The US housing market was over its peak, oil prices were spiraling out of control, and consumer confidence sank. As people started to lose their jobs, default rates on mortgages started to creep up, affecting initially the subprime mortgages, but later on, prime mortgages as well. In June 2007, two Bear Stearns hedge funds collapsed. It would take another year for the fire to spread to other Wall Street banks. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers, governments on either side of the pond scrambled to rescue their banks as European banks had invested heavily in American toxic mortgages. Amid the financial panic, the huge imbalances within the euro area became apparent too.
"Am I about to Lose my Job?!": A Comment on "Computer-Extracted Texture Features to Distinguish Cerebral Radiation Necrosis from Recurrent Brain Tumors on Multiparametric MRI: A Feasibility Study".

After reading the accompanying article,[1][1] and especially the sensationalistic comments that will inevitably appear in the lay press, more than one neuroradiologist will ask the terrifying question, “If computers are now superior to human radiologists, am I about to lose my job?” In this
Effects of secondary tasks on auditory detection and crossing thresholds in relation to approaching vehicle noises.

Abstract Research suggests an association between distracting environmental sound stimuli and poorer performance in detecting and localizing approaching vehicles using auditory cues. However, no studies have investigated the distractive potential posed by intrapersonal distractors in the context of pedestrian auditory perception. We examined the effects of holding naturalistic vocal and texting cell phone conversations on participants’ auditory detection of approaching vehicles and crossing thresholds in a non-visual simulated setting. Ninety-nine adults were randomly assigned to conditions of vocal conversation, texting conversation, or a control group and completed an auditory vehicle detection task. Participants in the vocal cell phone conversation group detected vehicles at significantly shorter distances than participants in the control group. The concurrence of a secondary task did not affect the distances at which participants deemed vehicles noise too close for them to safely cross (i.e., crossing thresholds). Implications for future research and injury prevention are discussed.
T-cell rosettes in nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.

![Figure][1] A 35-year-old man presented with axillary adenopathy. A biopsy was performed. Microscopic evaluation demonstrated a nodular lymphoid proliferation composed of scattered large atypical lymphoid cells in a background of small mature lymphocytes. Many of the atypical cells had
Hydrogen Electrooxidation in Ionic Liquids Catalyzed by the NTf2 Radical

Hydrogen electrooxidation via a “hydrogen abstraction” mechanism in an aprotic ionic liquid 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) [Bmpy][NTf2] under anaerobic conditions was investigated using cyclic voltammetry and density functional theory (DFT). It is found that a platinum bound NTf2 radical (NTf2•) formed by the oxidation of NTf2– at anodic potential can catalyze the oxidation of hydrogen and enhance its reaction rate. Both experimental and theoretical studies (DFT) have supported a mechanism involving a NTf2• radical intermediate that catalyzes the hydrogen redox processes.
Microgrids with Storage

The existing electrical grid infrastructure is aging and based on century old systems and ap-proaches to electrical delivery. Microgrid technology oers many advancements and benets to thefuture of the electrical grid. This paper looks at the inner makings of microgrids and their imple-mentation. This paper examines various storage methods within microgrids, a key benet to theirutilization, as well as a brief look at various microgrid control functions and issues. Regulatoryissues are covered to address the potential wide spread expansion of microgrids and their ability tobe the cornerstone of the electrical grid in the future.
Magneto-Electric Effect Modeled in a Nonlinear Experiment

This letter presents a nonlinear model and experimental assessment of a magneto-electric (ME) device fabricated using a hexaferrite film and a spiral coil. In both the model and experiment, two sources are applied to the ME film and the spiral coil. The ME effect is modeled by two equation-based sources for generating the ME effect from the ME film to the spiral coil (and vice versa). A simple equivalent circuit model is used. In the nonlinear experiment, the two different sources are applied in a frequency range of 1-40 MHz. The voltage across the coil is measured as a function of the two sources with coupled frequencies and amplitude. In the simulation, the voltage on the spiral coil is a combination of the two sources modulated in the frequency domain; moreover, they are in agreement with experimental results showing that the output voltage of the spiral coil is a function of not only its direct source, but also the source on the ME film (so arising from the ME coupling). Between the experiment and simulation, the average amplitude difference is approximately 20%, whereas the resonance peaks are in agreement.
Gender and Race in Congressional National News Media Appearances in 2008

Media coverage of women and black members of Congress and presidential candidates often relies on gender and racial stereotypes, providing distorted coverage of these members and their agendas. This study analyzes national news media appearances of House members discussing the 2008 presidential election to examine whether the increased salience of race and gender due to the presence of nonwhite male presidential and vice presidential candidates resulted in greater media visibility for female and black representatives. Female and black House members, particularly those Democrats who endorsed a candidate, appeared in the media more often in 2008, driven by the media's interest in connecting their gender and racial identities to evaluations of Clinton, Palin, and Obama. With the national media's attention drawn to conflict, members with perceived conflicts among their intersectional identities drew greater media attention, especially Republican and black women. Overall, the media rendered black and female members as mainly surrogate representatives for black and women voters. The results suggest that black and female sources may secure national media exposure through the strategic use of their perceived raced-gendered expertise but at the risk of reinforcing stereotypes, and female or minority presidential candidates may influence the visibility of these members to voters.
Design of Clinical Trials and Studies

This chapter reviews several notable clinical trial designs, emphasizing the importance of matching the specific design selected to both the purpose of the trial and where the specific question being addressed sits on the spectrum of the research continuum. The most important first step is clearly articulating the research question to be answered, followed by a clear understanding of the existing scientific literature and the existing gaps in knowledge. General characteristics of early-, middle-, and late-stage clinical studies are reviewed, particularly in relationship to how these characteristics inform design decisions. Other critical issues in trial design, such as blinding (masking), choosing a comparison group, intervention development, and characteristics of placebos are discussed. The chapter ends with a discussion of key mistakes that can be made in designing a clinical trial and steps to alleviate them.
Peptide Sequencing Directly on Solid Surfaces Using MALDI Mass Spectrometry

There are an increasing variety of applications in which peptides are both synthesized and used attached to solid surfaces. This has created a need for high throughput sequence analysis directly on surfaces. However, common sequencing approaches that can be adapted to surface bound peptides lack the throughput often needed in library-based applications. Here we describe a simple approach for sequence analysis directly on solid surfaces that is both high speed and high throughput, utilizing equipment available in most protein analysis facilities. In this approach, surface bound peptides, selectively labeled at their N-termini with a positive charge-bearing group, are subjected to controlled degradation in ammonia gas, resulting in a set of fragments differing by a single amino acid that remain spatially confined on the surface they were bound to. These fragments can then be analyzed by MALDI mass spectrometry, and the peptide sequences read directly from the resulting spectra.
Metaphors of International Political Economy

At the intersection of economics and political science lies the field of political economy, combining both disciplinary perspectives and conceptual metaphors borrowed from both academic traditions. The narrative of international political economy (IPE) in particular is the story of how the politics of international economics fits into a larger preoccupation with the nature of world political affairs. Seen as “low” politics, IPE is at once relegated to a secondary role but at the same time offers a wide range of often imprecise and ambiguous ways of thinking about trade, commerce, and international monetary and financial affairs. This chapter discusses how metaphors determine what is important in this narrative, but also what is complicated and problematic.
Peptide Solubility Limits: Backbone and Side-Chain Interactions

We calculate the solubility limit of pentapeptides in water by simulating the phase separation in an oversaturated aqueous solution. The solubility limit order followed by our model peptides (GGRGG > GGDGG > GGGGG > GGVGG > GGQGG > GGNGG > GGFGG) is found to be the same as that reported for amino acid monomers from experiment (R > D > G > V > Q > N > F). Investigation of dynamical properties of peptides shows that the higher the solubility of a peptide is, the lower the time spent by the peptide in the aggregated cluster is. We also demonstrate that fluctuations in conformation and hydration number of peptide in monomeric form are correlated with the solubility of the peptide. We considered energetic mechanisms and dynamical properties of interbackbone CO-CO and CO···HN interactions. Our results confirm that CO-CO interactions more than the interbackbone H-bonds are important in peptide self-assembly and association. Further, we find that the stability of H-bonded peptide pairs arises mainly from coexisting CO-CO and CO···HN interactions.
Endocrinologic Sequelae of Anorexia Nervosa and Obesity

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric and medical condition. Eighty-five percent of patients with AN present between the ages of 13 and 20 years during a critical period for growth, pubertal development, and maximal bone accretion that culminates in peak bone mass. The disorder can result in a compromise in each of these important endocrinologic events, with lifelong sequelae. Recent trends demonstrate an earlier age of onset of AN, and it is recognized that onset at a young age is associated with poor growth and bone health outcomes. More boys are also presenting with restricted eating, with accompanying testosterone deficiency and other endocrine alterations. Patients with AN have a characteristic clinical picture of endocrine dysfunction, including amenorrhea in girls, abnormal temperature regulation, elevated growth hormone (GH) levels, hypercortisolemia, and abnormal eating suggestive of hypothalamic or pituitary dysfunction. Therefore, endocrine function has been studied extensively in these patients. The multiple endocrine abnormalities appear to represent an adaptation to the starvation state.
Perceptually aware image inpainting

Abstract Image inpainting is a process of reconstructing missing regions, or removing unwanted objects automatically by propagating intensity and texture information from surrounding parts of the image in a visually plausible manner. We propose a new exemplar-based image inpainting algorithm, which uses the recently developed metric called the perceptual-fidelity aware mean squared error (PAMSE). The PAMSE is a Gaussian-smoothed mean squared error (MSE) and approximates a weighted sum of the gradient of MSE, the Laplacian of MSE, and MSE itself. We show that, compared to MSE, PAMSE is a promising perceptual fidelity metric for application to image inpainting and leads to better performance in propagating texture and geometric structure simultaneously.
Allergic and Immunologic Testing in Children with Respiratory Disease

Allergic and immunologic diseases frequently present with pulmonary manifestations; the pediatric pulmonologist is often confronted with the need to perform diagnostic testing for these conditions. In this chapter we review allergic and immunologic diseases that are commonly associated with pulmonary complications. We briefly discuss the clinical features of these diseases and appropriate diagnostic testing.
Synchrotron radiation sources for photobiology and ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectroscopy

Maxwell’s equations show that an accelerating electrical charge emits electromagnetic radiation. The emission of radio waves by electrons oscillating within an antenna is a familiar example of this effect. Electrons moving through a vacuum can be accelerated radially by a magnetic field oriented perpendicularly to their direction of motion. The high energy electrons circulating within a synchrotron experience a centripetal acceleration each time they pass through a bending magnet. Electrons whose path is bent by the magnetic field emit photons along the direction tangential to their path. Thus at each bending magnet around a synchrotron ring, radiation is emitted in a fan-shaped distribution; the limits of the “fan” are the directions of travel of the electrons before entering and after leaving the bending magnet. The radiation covers a very broad spectral range as shown in Fig. 1; this is the most important feature of synchrotron radiation.
Bed mobility task performance in older adults.

Difficulty in transferring, the ability to rise in and out of a bed and chair, is a common problem in older adults, particularly those residing in skilled nursing facilities. Focusing on one aspect of transferring, rising from supine to sitting position, we devised a set of bed mobility tasks to test key arm, leg, and trunk movements that likely contribute to successful rising from bed. Healthy young controls (YC, n=22, mean age 23), and older adults (aged 60 and over) either residing independently in congregate housing (CH, n=29, mean age 84) or undergoing rehabilitation in a skilled nursing facility (SNF, mean age 77) were assessed in the time to rise from supine to sitting and in the ability or inability to perform 16 other bed mobility tasks. Trunk function-related tasks, specifically those requiring trunk elevation and trunk balance, were most difficult for the SNF, followed by CH, and then YC. Tasks focusing on trunk flexion strength (sit up arms crossed, bilateral heel raise) and lateral trunk strength/balance were the most difficult for both SNF and CH, although there was minimal difference in the percent unable to complete each task. The major CH-SNF differences occurred in trunk elevation tasks where the upper limb was important in facilitating trunk elevation (sit up with head of bed elevation with use of arms, sit up with the use of a trapeze, or sit up with use of arms from a flat bed position). These findings suggest that to improve frail older adult performance on bed mobility tasks, and specifically in rising from supine to sitting, training should move beyond improving trunk function (i.e., trunk strength). There should be an additional focus, either through therapy or bed design modifications, on how upper limb movements and positioning can be used to assist in trunk elevation.
Models for Thinking About Human Settlements

Bowen and Gleeson begin their book by proposing a new model to describe urban decision-making that helps readers understand the evolution of human settlements. The model can improve urban management and policy making as we enter the early years of the Anthropocene. They begin with Bertalanffy’s classic approach (1952) to general systems theory (GST) and adapt it using Hofkirchner’s (2017) call to improve science-based decision-making with a GST-based transdisciplinary science of systemism. Bowen and Gleeson offer their model as one step toward a new “science of urbanism.” Each urban area is considered to be a series of sub-systems within a broader system. Three most important sub-systems are identified: material systems, living systems, and social systems.
A combined compression molding, heating, and leaching process for fabrication of micro-porous poly(ε-caprolactone) scaffolds.

Biomaterial scaffolds have been increasingly used for tissue engineering applications as well as three dimensional (3D) cell culture models. Herein, we report a simple procedure combining compression molding, heating, and leaching methods for the fabrication of 3D micro-porous poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) biomaterial scaffolds. In this procedure, PCL micro particles are mixed with NaCl of defined sizes and compression molded, followed by heating and subsequent leaching of NaCl particles. This technique eliminates the gas foaming method, which is commonly used in the fabrication of PCL scaffolds. Process and scaffold parameters (i.e., heating time, NaCl concentration, and NaCl particle size) were varied and analyzed to determine their impact on the overall scaffold structural and mechanical properties. An increase in NaCl particle size led to an increase in pore area but did not significantly impact the mechanical properties of the scaffolds. Additionally, NaCl concentration did not show a significant effect on pore area, but considerably impacted the mechanical properties, water absorption capacity and porosity of the scaffolds. Variations in the heating time did not have an effect in the pore area, porosity, water absorption capacity or mechanical properties of the scaffolds. We also demonstrated the ability of these scaffolds to support the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Overall, these results elucidated structure-property relationships in the fabricated micro-porous PCL scaffolds. Further, this procedure could be potentially scaled up for the fabrication of micro-porous PCL scaffolds.
Supercharged Assembly: A Broad-Spectrum Mechanism of Action for Drugs that Undermine Controlled HIV-1 Viral Capsid Formation

The early and late stages of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication are orchestrated by the capsid (CA) protein, which self-assembles into a conical protein shell during viral maturation. Small molecule drugs known as capsid inhibitors (CIs) impede the highly-regulated activity of CA. Intriguingly, a few CIs, such as PF-3450074 (PF74) and GS-CA1, exhibit effects at multiple stages of the viral lifecycle at effective concentrations in the pM to nM regimes, while the majority of CIs target a single stage of the viral lifecycle and are effective at nM to μM concentrations. In this work, we use coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that enable CIs to have such curious broad-spectrum activity. Our quantitatively analyzed findings show that CIs can have a profound impact on the hierarchical self-assembly of CA by perturbing the population of small CA oligomers. The self-assembly process is accelerated by the emergence of alternative assembly pathways that favor the rapid incorporation of CA pentamers, and leads to increased structural pleomorphism of mature capsids. Two relevant phenotypes are observed: (1) eccentric capsid formation that may fail to encase the viral genome and (2) rapid disassembly of the capsid, which express at late and early stages of infection, respectively. Finally, our study emphasizes the importance of adopting a dynamical perspective on inhibitory mechanisms and provides a basis for the design of future therapeutics that are effective at low stoichiometric ratios of drug to protein.
Minimal effective Gibbs ansatz: A simple protocol for extracting an accurate thermal representation for quantum simulation

Quantum Gibbs state sampling algorithms generally suffer from either scaling exponentially with system size or requiring specific knowledge of spectral properties a priori. These algorithms also require a large overhead of bath or scratch or ancilla qubits. We propose a method, termed the minimal effective Gibbs ansatz (MEGA), which uses a quantum computer to determine a small effective ensemble of pure states that accurately reproduce thermal averages of an objective dynamic correlation function. This technique employs properties of correlation functions that can be split into lesser and greater parts; here, we primarily focus on single-particle Green's functions and density-density correlators. When properly measured, these correlation functions provide a simple test to indicate how close a given pure state or ensemble of pure states is to providing accurate thermal expectation values. Further, we show that, when properties such as the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis hold, this approach leads to accurate results with a sparse ensemble of pure states; sometimes only one suffices. We illustrate the ansatz using exact diagonalization simulations on small clusters for the Fermi-Hubbard and Hubbard-like models. Even if the MEGA becomes as computationally complex as other Gibbs state samplers, it still gains an advantage due to its ease of implementation without any a priori information about the Hamiltonian and in the efficient allocation of available qubits by eliminating bath qubits and using a minimal number of ancillas.
Animal-Use Antibiotics Induce Cross-Resistance in Bacterial Pathogens to Human Therapeutic Antibiotics

Exposure of bacteria to a sub-lethal dosage of antibiotic is one the major causes for the onset of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, we aimed to assess the emergence of antibiotic cross-resistance in bacteria after exposure to a sub-lethal dose of veterinary feed directive (VFD) antibiotics, tilmicosin, and florfenicol. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of tilmicosin and florfenicol against Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes were determined. Next, the pathogens were exposed to a sub-inhibitory concentration of tilmicosin (0.5, 5, 20 µg/ml) and florfenicol (1, 20 µg/ml) for 24 h and 48 h, and acquired cross-resistance to human therapeutic antibiotics was measured by determining the increase in MIC values. MICs of ampicillin, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, and meropenem against Salmonella and Klebsiella were in the range of 20–1000 µg/ml, 5–62.5 µg/ml, 5–125 µg/ml, and 0.05–0.1 µg/ml, respectively, whereas MICs against Staphylococcus and Listeria were 2.5–10 µg/ml, 2.5 µg/ml, 62.5–500 µg/ml, and 0.1–0.2 µg/ml, respectively. Pre-exposure of these bacteria to a sub-inhibitory concentration of tilmicosin and florfenicol, increased cross-resistance against ampicillin, tetracycline, and nalidixic acid from 1.25- to 40-fold compared to the antibiotic unexposed bacteria with the exception of meropenem, which did not show increased resistance. This study could serve as a foundation to understand the mechanisms of acquired cross-resistance to traditional therapeutic antibiotics, and to develop strategies to alleviate such problem by using alternative antimicrobials.
Feasibility Study of Single-Crystal Si Island Manufacturing by Microscale Printing of Nanoparticles and Laser Crystallization

Nonvacuum printing of single crystals would be ideal for high-performance functional device (such as electronics) fabrication yet challenging for most materials, especially for inorganic semiconductors. Currently, the printed films are dominant in amorphous, polycrystalline, or nanoparticle films. In this article, manufacturing of single-crystal silicon micro/nano-islands is attempted. Different from traditional vapor deposition for silicon thin-film preparation, silicon nanoparticle ink was aerosol-printed followed by confined laser melting and crystallization, allowing potential fabrication of single-crystal silicon micro/nano-islands. It is also shown that as-fabricated Si islands can be transfer-printed onto polymer substrates for potential application of flexible electronics. The additive nature of this technique suggests a scalable and economical approach for high-crystallinity semiconductor printing.
Key Points to Consider When Studying RNA Remodeling by Proteins

Cellular RNAs depend on proteins for efficient folding to specific functional structures and for transitions between functional structures. This dependence arises from intrinsic properties of RNA structure. Specifically, RNAs possess stable local structure, largely in the form of helices, and there are abundant opportunities for RNAs to form alternative helices and tertiary contacts and therefore to populate alternative structures. Proteins with RNA chaperone activity, either ATP-dependent or ATP-independent, can promote structural transitions by interacting with single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) to compete away partner interactions and then release ssRNA so that it can form new interactions. In this chapter we review the basic properties of RNA and the proteins that function as chaperones and remodelers. We then use these properties as a foundation to explore key points for the design and interpretation of experiments that probe RNA rearrangements and their acceleration by proteins.
How neuroscience labs can limit their environmental impact.

Neuroscience laboratories can take steps to ‘go green’ in a number of ways, including curbing unnecessary energy usage and reducing plastic waste. Such measures often rely on behavioural changes but need not affect scientific output.
A Person- and Time-Varying Vector Autoregressive Model to Capture Interactive Infant-Mother Head Movement Dynamics

Head movement is an important but often overlooked component of emotion and social interaction. Examination of regularity and differences in head movements of infant-mother dyads over time and across dyads can shed light on whether and how mothers and infants alter their dynamics over the course of an interaction to adapt to each others. One way to study these emergent differences in dynamics is to allow parameters that govern the patterns of interactions to change over time, and according to person- and dyad-specific characteristics. Using two estimation approaches to implement variations of a vector-autoregressive model with time-varying coefficients, we investigated the dynamics of automatically-tracked head movements in mothers and infants during the Face-Face/Still-Face Procedure (SFP) with 24 infant-mother dyads. The first approach requires specification of a confirmatory model for the time-varying parameters as part of a state-space model, whereas the second approach handles the time-varying parameters in a semi-parametric ("mostly" model-free) fashion within a generalized additive modeling framework. Results suggested that infant-mother head movement dynamics varied in time both within and across episodes of the SFP, and varied based on infants' subsequently-assessed attachment security. Code for implementing the time-varying vector-autoregressive model using two R packages, dynr and mgcv, is provided.
Health Insurance Status as a Predictor of Mode of Colon Cancer Detection but Not Stage at Diagnosis: Implications for Early Detection:

ObjectiveFor colon cancer patients, one goal of health insurance is to improve access to screening that leads to early detection, early-stage diagnosis, and polyp removal, all of which results in e...
Baseball Rule May Be Near the End after 100 Years

Many fans are struck by balls and bats at games each year. While most only suffer minor injuries, a few have been critically injured or killed. After incidents like these, the long-standing legal controversy surrounding Major League Baseball and legal liability for foul-ball injuries and fan safety is reignited. For more than a century, MLB teams have been shielded from liability due to a limited duty referred to as the “Baseball Rule.” Courts have long recognized the Baseball Rule, which generally states that teams are only required to provide protective screening to fans seated in especially dangerous zones, which includes seats behind and near home plate.
Air Pollution in Small Island Developing States: A Growing but Avoidable Challenge Requiring Multilevel Interventions

Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like many other places globally, are dealing with air pollution challenges. While not considered as expansive a challenge as perhaps the largest urban cities in the developing world, SIDS fragile economic and environmental conditions, limited technological and human capacities, small economies of scale, high vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change exacerbate the magnitude of stressors like poor air quality (Singh, 2014; Thomas et al., 2020).