cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Binuclear, Phosphine-Bridged Complexes: Progress and Prospects

As the existence of this volume attests, transition metal complexes with phosphine ligands have proven to be useful and versatile catalysts for homogeneous reactions. Recently, binuclear metal complexes, particularly those with bridging phosphine ligands, have begun to attract interest because of their potential as catalysts and because of their novel structural and reactive features. The interest in binuclear complexes arises because of anticipation that they should allow for increased versatility in catalyst design. Complexes with two (or even more) metal atoms can have several advantages over a catalyst containing only a single metal. Small molecules, particularly those like dinitrogen and nitriles which are notoriously difficult to reduce, may be more readily activated by attachment to several metal centers.(1) In catalysts containing two metal centers, one may act to bind the substrate, while the second acts to feed or remove electrons from the first site. The presence of two metal atoms may facilitate multielectron redox reactions which could not be handled by only a single metal atom.(2)
Social Networks and Delinquency in Adolescence: Implications for Life-Course Criminology

Over the last decade, social networks have become a focal concern for research seeking to understand the etiology of delinquent behavior. The study of the role of peers in the perpetuation of delinquency during adolescence has been reinvigorated by the theoretical and empirical rigor relational data and social network analysis brings to the study of human relationships. The development and availability of statistical models designed to account for the inherent dependencies in relational data, such as stochastic actor-oriented models (e.g., SIENA), exponential random graph models (ERGM), and actor–partner interdependence models (APIM), have led to a greater understanding of the role of selection, homophily, and socialization in the study of crime and delinquency. Furthermore, longitudinal data sets, such as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), have yielded invaluable insights into the dynamic nature of the adolescent social landscape over time and the mapping of behavioral pathways to this context. However, the focus on the adolescent time frame provides insights into relationships for only a portion of the human life cycle. Therefore, in this chapter, we provide a broad overview of the changing nature of adolescent peer networks and their importance for delinquency and crime. We place particular emphasis on the implications for understanding trajectories of crime and turning points in the life course. Our goal is to provide the reader with a greater understanding of dyadic, egocentric, and global network structures in which people are embedded and how each of these relationship levels can be set in motion to capture the continuity and change common to the human social experience. We develop an ambitious research agenda that involves a unifying discussion of social networks and social capital in criminological theory. We put forth topics for an innovative research agenda grounded in the relevant literature with the goal of articulating a research plan that will help spark empirical and theoretical advancements in life-course criminology.
Store-operated calcium entry and diabetic complications

Store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE) is mediated by the store-operated Ca(2+) channel (SOC) that opens upon depletion of internal Ca(2+) stores following activation of G protein-coupled receptors or receptor tyrosine kinases. Over the past two decades, the physiological and pathological relevance of SOCE has been extensively studied. Recently, accumulating evidence suggests associations of altered SOCE with diabetic complications. This review focuses on the implication of SOCE as it pertains to various complications resulting from diabetes. We summarize recent findings by us and others on the involvement of abnormal SOCE in the development of diabetic complications, such as diabetic nephropathy and diabetic vasculopathy. The underlying mechanisms that mediate the diabetes-associated alterations of SOCE are also discussed. The SOCE pathway may be considered as a potential therapeutic target for diabetes-associated diseases.
The Network Politics of International Organizations: Structural Inequality in the International System

This paper concerns the rise and evolution of structural inequality in world politics created by the global network of IOs. We take as our starting point the assumption, widely disregarded in political science,that organizations create social networks. In the same way that firms organize corporate networks of relations or that schools organize social interactions among children, IOs structure international relations among nations, binding states together in affiliation networks created by joint membership.
Efficacy of intralesional immunotherapy for the treatment of warts: A review of the literature

Warts are common epidermal growths caused by human papillomavirus that often cause significant discomfort and embarrassment. Current treatment options include topical therapies, cryotherapy, laser vaporization, and surgical excision. Many of these options are destructive and may result in scarring, while less aggressive approaches can lead to lesion recurrence. Additionally, these local modalities are not practical for patients with a large number of warts. Systemic approaches such as immunotherapy have demonstrated success in treating multiple lesions by combining a targeted approach with upregulation of the host immune system. An extensive literature review was performed to evaluate the various vaccine antigens that have been used intralesionally to treat cutaneous and anogenital warts. The specific intralesional immunotherapies that have been studied include: Candida albicans; measles, mumps, and rubella; Trichophyton; and tuberculin antigens such as purified protein derivative, Mycobacterium w vaccine, and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin. Intralesional vaccine injection represents a safe, effective, and tolerable treatment for warts, including recalcitrant and anogenital warts. This approach has been somewhat overlooked in the past despite substantial evidence of high response rates with a low side effect profile. Large comparative trials are necessary to determine the most effective immunotherapy treatment option as well as the most appropriate dosing parameters.
On Nuclear Deterrence: The Correspondence of Sir Michael Quinlan

On Nuclear Deterrence: The Correspondence of Sir Michael Quinlan, Tanya Ogilvie-White (ed.). Abingdon: Routledge for the International Institute of Strategic Studies, 2011, pp. 408, £44.99 (hardbac...
Purification and Analysis of Hempa by Chromatographic Techniques2

Paper chromatography was of little value in determining the purity of hempa because of co-chromatography. Thin-layer chromatography in 8:2 benzene: ethanol on silica gel G successfully separated hempa from 7 contaminating materials. Also, gas chromatography on an 8-foot column of 6% (w/w) DEGS separated the 8 components present in a sample of C14-labeled hempa. The quantitation of the mass and radioactive responses was linear from 0.2 ng to at least 20 ng.
Crystal Ion-Slicing of Magnetic and Ferroelectric Oxide Films

The epitaxial separation of single-crystal magnetic and ferroelectric oxide films is presented. Ion implantation is used to create a buried damage layer beneath the surface. The high etch-selectivity of this sacrificial layer makes it possible to detach high quality single-crystal films from bulk samples. Magnetic and electrical properties of the films are discussed.
Responses of bird populations in a Puerto Rican forest to Hurricane Hugo : the first 18 months

Bird populations in a subtropical wet forest were monitored every two to three weeks with mist nets and point counts beginning two weeks after the passage of Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. The results were compared with those of a pre-hurricane study in the same locations in which birds were sampled in forest understory and openings. Capture rates were initially higher than in the previous study, due to displaced canopy dwellers foraging in the understory. The shift ofcanopy dwellers may have obscured expected declines in nectarivores and fruit/seedeaters and contributed to increased detections of omnivores and insectivores. Bird captures and fruit production peaked 93-156 days after the storm in pre-existing gaps, where higher capture rates and a distinct assemblage of birds occurred in contrast to sites without fruit (forest understory and a powerline opening). Captures in pre-existing gaps decreased as fruit production ceased, and overall captures declined to baseline levels after 198 days. After one year of recovery, new gaps and forest understory became distinguishable on the basis of their unique foliage profiles. Although different bird assemblages had been found in forest understory and in gaps prior to the hurricane, these assemblages lost their distinctiveness after the storm. It may take many years after a hurricane for forest understory and gaps to become sufficiently distinct in structure and resources before birds differentiate between the two habitats.
Tet proteins enhance the developmental hourglass

A new study compares DNA methylation profiles in developing zebrafish, Xenopus tropicalis and mice and suggests roles for Tet proteins in demethylating conserved gene enhancers during the phylotypic period of early development. These findings provide an epigenetic underpinning for the 'hourglass' model.
Entropy-Based Multi-Resolution Head/Media Contact Detection for Hard Disk Drive

A double entropy-based characterization methodology is proposed for the hard disk drive (HDD) head/media contact detection operation. At first, signal entropy minimization is used to extract the head/media modulation-induced proximity sensor response converting it into four compact and descriptive parameters derived from an adaptive discrete wavelet transform (ADWT). The second stage and the head/media contact decision process involve statistical screening of moving entropies derived from the four ADWT parameters. This double entropy methodology provides significantly improved head/media contact decision fidelity and targets modern HDD products.
A method for leukokinetic study in the nonsteady state.

In these studies, the DF32P leukokinetic technique has been modified so that neutrophil kinetics may be studied in the nonsteady state. In order to achieve this modification, an acid citrate solution was used in preparing leukocytes for radioactive assay. This results in a suspension free of cell agglutination so that a specific activity related only to neutrophils is obtained. This technique has been successfully employed in the study of the early phase of cortisol-induced granulocytosis, allowing measurement of cell flow rate in and out of the circulating granulocyte pool. This method is also useful in the study of subjects with pronounced neutropenia.
Congenital Heart Disease and ADHD

Risk factors for inattention, hyperactivity and impaired school performance were examined in 109 children, 5 to 10 years of age, who had undergone newborn cardiac surgery for complex congenital heart disease (CHD) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA.
The Effect of Subject Person in Auxiliary Movement Acquisition by Korean-English Bilingual Children

The present study provides new evidence that Korean-English (K-E) bilingual children show an effect of subject person in their acquisition of subject-auxiliary inversion (SAI). Twenty-one preschool-aged K-E bilingual children and 19 English monolingual proficiency-matched children were recruited for an elicitation study testing the effect of person on the use of SAI. Results indicated a main effect for group; the K-E group showed a significant effect for subject person on SAI, while no effect was found for the monolingual children. A generative account of the findings will be provided in the analysis.
Secure access delegation of encrypted medical information

The design of modern medical data information systems is driven by the need to collect and present data to authorized users. For collected medical data to be effective and improve patient treatment it must be transported from a device, aggregated, and analyzed to produce results that can be shared with care providers. Medical data may be analyzed and used years after collection at different locations because data sources and care providers often operate on different time scales and are geographically distributed. The need for distributed and long-term medical data storage thus requires an effective security model to delegate data access. Current data access delegation models do not provide end-to-end protection. An effective delegation model must keep data encrypted at all times and avoid the need to share decryption keys to avoid security vulnerabilities. We present a secure information architecture and prototype to implement such a model with end-to-end data encryption while restricting data access to designated recipients. Our architecture integrates recent Proxy Re-Encryption (PRE) advances into a client-server based security model that can be applied to open Internet communications. We discuss design tradeoffs and show experimental results. Our architecture lowers health care data management costs by enabling the secure outsourcing of data hosting to low-cost cloud computing environments. The architecture will also reduce the vulnerability of health care data systems to security challenges such as attacks compromising confidentiality and malicious insiders.
Applying Flow Theory to Predict User-Perceived Performance of Tablets

A users’ perception of interactive device performance is influenced by their feeling of being in control and that there is a sense of constant progress. A system will be able to keep users in the flow by meeting expectations and keeping up with their inputs and commands. The concept of flow has been discussed since the 1960’s and has been used in the context of computing devices; however, the ability to operationally define and quantitatively measure this construct is limited. This paper describes a study that tested a new framework for measuring flow as it relates to User-Perceived Performance (UPP) of tablets.
Health-Related Quality of Life following Reconstruction for Common Head and Neck Surgical Defects.

BACKGROUND Improved understanding and management of health-related quality of life represents one of the greatest unmet needs for patients with head and neck malignancies. The purpose of this study was to prospectively measure health-related quality of life associated with different anatomical (head and neck) surgical resections. METHODS A prospective analysis of health-related quality of life was performed in patients undergoing surgical resection with flap reconstruction for stage II or III head and neck malignancies. Patients completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality-of-Life Questionnaire-30 and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Head and Neck Cancer Module-35 preoperatively, and at set postoperative time points. Scores were compared with a paired t test. RESULTS Seventy-five patients were analyzed. The proportion of the cohort not alive at 2 years was 53 percent. Physical, role, and social functioning scores at 3 months were significantly lower than preoperative values (p < 0.05). At 12 months postoperatively, none of the function or global quality-of-life scores differed from preoperative levels, whereas five of the symptom scales remained below baseline. At 1 year postoperatively, maxillectomy, partial glossectomy, and oral lining defects had better function and fewer symptoms than mandibulectomy, laryngectomy, and total glossectomy. From 6 to 12 months postoperatively, partial glossectomy and oral lining defects had greater global quality of life than laryngectomies (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Postoperative health-related quality of life is associated with the anatomical location of the head and neck surgical resection. Preoperative teaching should be targeted for common ablative defects, with postoperative expectations adjusted appropriately. Because surgery negatively impacts health-related quality of life in the immediate postoperative period, the limited survivorship should be reviewed with patients. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic, IV.
Towards a Universal Genomic Positioning System: Phylogenetics and Species IDentification

Technology to gather biomic data now far exceeds the capabilities of tools to extract useful information and knowledge from it, a challenging predicament facing demands in our time, such as personalized medicine. We propose a new family of data structures to represent and process omics data in a way that is more anchored in biological reality and processed by algorithms that are more consistent with it, so that DNA itself can be used to process it to extract useful knowledge, organize and store it as needed. These structures enable much more efficient crunching of genomic and proteomics data and can be used as a foundation of a truly universal Genomic Positioning System (GenIS). The power of this approach is illustrated by applications to two important problems in biology, a new universal set of biomarkers and methods to do phylogenetic analysis and species identification and classification. We show that certain metrics on these representations can be used to obtain ab initio, from genomic data alone (possibly including full genomes), in a matter of minutes or hours, well established and accepted phylogenies crafted in biology (such as the 16S rRNA-based plylogenies) in the course of the last 50 years. We also show how the same representation can also be used to solve recognition problems associated with genomic data, which includes in particular the problem of species identification and a solution to the problem of storing large genomes into compact representations while preserving the ability to query them efficiently. We also sketch other applications to be explored in the future, including objective criteria to produce biological taxonomies to produce a truly universal and comprehensive “Atlas of Life”, as it is or as it could be on earth.
Choice between delayed food and immediate opioids in rats: treatment effects and individual differences.

Addiction involves maladaptive choice behavior in which immediate drug effects are valued more than delayed nondrug rewards. To model this behavior and extend our earlier work with the prescription opioid oxycodone, we allowed rats to choose between immediate intravenous delivery of the short-acting opioid remifentanil and delayed delivery of highly palatable food pellets. Treatment drugs were tested on a baseline where remifentanil was preferred over food. Treatment with a high dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone decreased but did not reverse the preference for remifentanil. Treatment with the serotonin 5-HT2C agonist lorcaserin decreased remifentanil and food self-administration nonselectively. Across conditions in which the alternative to delayed food was either a moderate dose of oxycodone, a moderate or high dose of remifentanil, a smaller more immediate delivery of food, or timeout with no primary reinforcement, choice was determined by both the length of the delay and the nature of the alternative option. Delayed food was discounted most steeply when the alternative was a high dose of remifentanil, which was preferred over food when food was delayed by 30 s or more. Within-subject comparisons showed no evidence for trait-like impulsivity or sensitivity to delay across these conditions. Choice was determined more by the current contingencies of reinforcement than by innate individual differences. This finding suggests that people might develop steep delay-discounting functions because of the contingencies in their environment, and it supports the use of contingency management to enhance the relative value of delayed nondrug reinforcers.
Big data trends in stroke epidemiology in the United States: But are they good data?

Based on prior epidemiologic studies in the United States, approximately 80% of first-time strokes can be explained by modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, and therefore optimal control or elimination of known risk factors might prevent these strokes.1 Campaigns such as the American Heart Association (AHA) initiative, Life's Simple 7, have set ambitious goals for optimal cardiovascular and stroke risk factor control; in addition, a wealth of online resources are available for an increasingly health-conscious society.2 There are indeed some glimmers of hope. Efforts to prevent stroke, in large part from emphasis on improved detection and behavioral and pharmacologic treatment of risk factors, have led to substantial declines in stroke incidence and mortality in Western countries over the last several decades.3
Early in the Life Course: Time for Obesity Prevention

One of the reasons for the intractability of childhood obesity is the underappreciation of the complexity and interconnectedness of contributing factors across the life course. A multilevel approach for obesity prevention takes into account individual risk factors that operate “above water” (family, neighborhood, policies) and the interaction with biology and “underwater” influences (genetics, epigenetics, physiology) and recognizes that these factors also interact across the life course, starting before birth. We organize this chapter to reflect phases of life course health development, prenatally through adolescence, that appear to be most important for the development of obesity and present key examples to illustrate important risk factors, mechanisms, and gaps in research. One of the challenges to understanding influences on obesity risk is the extent to which associations described in observational studies are causal. We present alternative methodological approaches, including sibling-pair design, maternal versus paternal effects, Mendelian randomization, cohorts with different confounding structures, and randomized controlled trials, that can help disentangle causal associations. We conclude with recommendations for future work on methodology, research in emerging areas, and implications for practice and policy based on the current evidence.
Amikacin: Uses, Resistance, and Prospects for Inhibition

Aminoglycosides are a group of antibiotics used since the 1940s to primarily treat a broad spectrum of bacterial infections. The primary resistance mechanism against these antibiotics is enzymatic modification by aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes that are divided into acetyl-transferases, phosphotransferases, and nucleotidyltransferases. To overcome this problem, new semisynthetic aminoglycosides were developed in the 70s. The most widely used semisynthetic aminoglycoside is amikacin, which is refractory to most aminoglycoside modifying enzymes. Amikacin was synthesized by acylation with the l-(−)-γ-amino-α-hydroxybutyryl side chain at the C-1 amino group of the deoxystreptamine moiety of kanamycin A. The main amikacin resistance mechanism found in the clinics is acetylation by the aminoglycoside 6′-N-acetyltransferase type Ib [AAC(6′)-Ib], an enzyme coded for by a gene found in integrons, transposons, plasmids, and chromosomes of Gram-negative bacteria. Numerous efforts are focused on finding strategies to neutralize the action of AAC(6′)-Ib and extend the useful life of amikacin. Small molecules as well as complexes ionophore-Zn+2 or Cu+2 were found to inhibit the acetylation reaction and induced phenotypic conversion to susceptibility in bacteria harboring the aac(6′)-Ib gene. A new semisynthetic aminoglycoside, plazomicin, is in advance stage of development and will contribute to renewed interest in this kind of antibiotics.
Underwater Dry TIG Welding Using Wire Brush Nozzle

In an underwater dry welding in a deep water, mixed gas of helium and oxygen is used as the environmental atmospheric gas and to reduce the fume and the spatter, the most suitable welding method is TIG welding. However the helium gas as the shielding gas has such drawbacks as tungsten electrode is eroded seriously and arc-starting is difficult in high pressure, while argon gas is superior to helium gas in the said characteristic but argon is about twice as narcostic as nitrogen, thus a special wire brush nozzle which consist of dual nozzle was developed: Argon was flowed out from a inner nozzle and the gas was inhaled by a vacuum pump from a circular gap between the inner nozzle and the outer nozzle having wire brush which prevented to leak the argon to the environmental atmosphere. With this nozzle as the result that inhalation ratio is selected 2.0 under the current of 200A, satisfactory welds could be obtained even in a water depth of 200m and welding could be done comparatively in long time under the condition that the shielding gas and the fume did not leak to the environmental atmosphere.
Bladder Filling and Storage: “Compliance”

Compliance is a reproducible and reliable urodynamic measurement to evaluate urine storage pressures and the risk of upper tract damage. There is no agreed upon normative value for compliance but most sources cite that it lies somewhere between 10 and 20 ml/cm H2O and can be calculated by evaluating the change in volume compared to the change in detrusor pressure at two given points. Normally, the bladder accommodates filling and stores urine at low pressures due to the viscoelastic properties of the bladder, but various pathologies can cause abnormalities in bladder compliance. This chapter discusses the clinical evaluation, urodynamic tracing, and differential diagnosis of many conditions associated with abnormal compliance such as cerebrovascular accident, bladder outlet obstruction, spinal cord injury, transverse myelitis, multiple sclerosis, and pelvic surgery. It also reviews clinical scenarios that can be falsely interpreted as abnormal compliance. Therefore, the urodynamic compliance measurement provides invaluable information about a patient’s bladder filling and urinary storage and also helps to guide medical and surgical treatment options which are discussed throughout this chapter.
Stability of Single Class Queueing Networks

The stability of queueing networks is a fundamental problem in modern communications and computer networks. Stability (or recurrence) is known under various independence or ergodic conditions on the service and interarrival time processes if the “fluid or mean approximation” is asymptotically stable. The basic property of stability should be robust to variations in the data. Perturbed Liapunov function methods are exploited to give effective criteria for the recurrence under very broad conditions on the “driving processes” if the fluid approximation is asymptotically stable. In particular, stationarity is not required, and the data can be correlated. Various single class models are considered. For the problem of stability in heavy traffic, where one is concerned with a sequence of queues, both the standard network model and a more general form of the Skorohod problem type are dealt with and recurrence, uniformly in the heavy traffic parameter, is shown. The results can be extend ed to account for many of the features of queueing networks, such as batch arrivals and processing or server breakdown. While we concentrate on the single class network, analogous results can be obtained for multiclass systems.
Structured learning environments are required to promote equitable participation

It is critical that we understand and address features of learning environments that encumber students historically underrepresented in STEM fields. Here we consider social elements of group work that can either support or impede learning. We tracked gender-bias in student–teaching assistant (TA) interactions in 184 small groups across 27 introductory chemistry laboratories in fall 2017. We demonstrate that in some environments male students interacted with TAs disproportionately more than female students. To promote verbal participation of women in introductory chemistry courses, we advocate for improved TA training programs that teach a host of equitable teaching strategies to enhance the climate of the classrooms and consequently, improve learning. Fostering a structured, inclusive classroom environment is the first step towards achieving equity more broadly across STEM.
Acculturation of Halal Food to the American Food Culture through Immigration and Globalization

Abstract The purpose of this meta-analysis study is to examine the acculturation process of halal food to the American food culture. Further, is to determine the effects the acculturation of halal food on the consumer and food economy in the U.S. and globally. Irrespective of where a Muslim resides or travels to, consuming halal food is an obligatory religious dietary requirement for all Muslims worldwide. According to recent census estimates, there are nearly 3.3 million Muslims living in the U.S. This number represents nearly 1% of the total U.S. population. By 2050, this number will more than double. The U.S. is considered a melting pot of a melange of many ethnic groups and is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse countries in the world. Through both Muslims immigration to the U.S. and trade globalization, halal food was introduced to the American food culture. Migrant Muslims have not brought only their Islamic religious traditions to the U.S., but also their traditional halal food preparation, including butchering of animals for consumption, their distinct cooking styles, and other Islamic dietary practices. This paper offers an analysis of the process of acculturation and transition of halal food products to both the Muslim and non-Muslim American consumers. This paper further examines the impact of the burgeoning halal food economy on the U.S. food industry and its share of the growing global halal food economy. There a need for further research to study the long-term socioeconomic and environmental sustainability impact on growing global Muslim populations living in low-income counties.
Integrated Sustainable Waste Management in Tourism Markets: The Case of Bali:

The analysis presented here will apply the integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) model to Bali’s tourism industry to contemplate the viability of introducing to the island tech-based infra...
Fragility and risk assessment of aboveground storage tanks subjected to concurrent surge, wave, and wind loads

Abstract Comprehensive tools to assess the performance of aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) under multi-hazard storm conditions are currently lacking, despite the severe damage suffered by ASTs in past storms resulting in the release of hazardous substances. This paper presents a rigorous yet efficient methodology to develop fragility models and perform risk assessments of ASTs subjected to combined surge, wave, and wind loads. Parametrized fragility models are derived for buckling and dislocation from the ground. The buckling strength of ASTs is assessed using finite element analysis, while the stability against dislocation is evaluated using analytical limit state functions with surrogate modeling-based load models. Scenario and probabilistic risk assessments are then performed for a case study region by convolving the fragility models with hazard models. Results demonstrate that the derived fragility models are efficient tools to evaluate the performance of ASTs in industrial regions. Insights obtained from the fragility and risk assessments reveal that neglecting the multi-hazard nature of storms, as existing studies have done, can lead to a significant underestimation of vulnerability and risks. This paper also highlights how using surrogate model techniques can facilitate and reduce the computational complexity of fragility and risk assessments, particularly in multi-hazard settings.
Synthesis and biological evaluation of calcioic acid

Abstract Herein, we describe the synthesis of calcioic acid following a recently developed synthetic strategy for calcitroic acid. Several improvements to reaction conditions were made, which resulted in higher yields. The improved workup and isolation procedures are described. Furthermore, we investigated the interaction between the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and calcioic acid. Calcioic acid was able to bind VDR with a binding constant of 71 µM. In cells, calcioic acid reduced the transcription of VDR target gene CYP24A1 in the presence 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) but did not induce the transcription of CYP24A1. Therefore, calcioic acid is a very weak VDR antagonist. With the generation of gram quantities, further studies are expected to reveal if calcioic acid is solely a water-soluble metabolite of vitamin D or if it mediates other biological functions through biomolecules other than VDR.
Powerball, Expected Value, and the Law of (Very) Large Numbers.

In this paper, we consider some combinatorial and statistical aspects of the popular “Powerball” lottery game. It is not difficult for students in an introductory statistics course to compute the p...
Early visual and neuro-development in preterm infants with and without retinopathy.

Abstract Background Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is often associated with visual impairment and multiple developmental disabilities. Aims As most of the previous studies include infants with brain lesions, that can determine visual impairment per se, a cohort of low neurological risk preterm infants without ROP and with various degree of severity of ROP was assessed in order to establish visual and neurodevelopmental outcome. Study design Preterm infants born at Subjects One hundred and five infants were included in the study: 42 infants did not develop ROP, 7 reached stage 1 in zone 2 ROP, 37 reached prethreshold (untreated) type 2 ROP. The remaining 19 infants were classified as type 1 ROP. Outcome measures Visual function (including fixing, tracking, visual acuity, visual field, attention at distance and nystagmus) were assessed at 12 months corrected age and Griffiths Scales at 2 years corrected age. Results The severity of ROP was strongly correlated (p Conclusions Infants with no or milder retinopathy showed normal visual function at 1 year and neurodevelopment at 2 years. Infants who underwent treatment more frequently showed abnormal results on several aspects of visual function. Presence of nystagmus appeared to increase the risk for abnormal visual function and neurodevelopmental outcome.
Legality and Discretion in the Distribution of Criminal Sanctions

The judicial system now responds to criminal conduct in two rather divergent steps. A judge or jury first determines if a defendant should be held liable for a criminal offense. If so, then the judge or jury goes on to choose a penalty. Precise rules, designed to ensure fairness and predictability, govern the first stage, liability assignment. In the second stage, sentencing, however, judges and juries exercise broad discretion in meting out sanctions. In this Article, Professor Robinson argues that both liability assignment and sentencing are part of a single process of punishing criminal behavior and should be made more uniform. Decisionmakers would receive greater discretion when they assign liability and more guidance when they prescribe sanctions. Criminal codes, he contends, should explicitly give judges and juries the flexibility to incorporate normative judgments into their decisions on liability. Sentencing guidelines, however, should be more detailed and precise. Professor Robinson offers several strategies to address the practical difficulties of drafting sentencing guidelines that firmly direct judges and juries in dealing with complex issues, and he illustrates how criminal codes could give decisionmakers more discretion in certain circumstances.
Precipitate Patterns in a Hele-Shaw Cell with Small Sinusoidal Height Variations

Inorganic precipitation reactions can self-organize a multitude of complex macroscopic patterns. The striking precipitate tubes in chemical gardens are a classic example which recently have been st...
Pandemic and protest in 2020: Questions and considerations for social work research

The convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and social/political protest concerning structural anti-Black racism marks a moment for deep reflection and revision of many taken-for-granted assumptions about our research and academic lives as social work scholars. In this reflexive essay we, as two non-Black qualitative social work scholars, explore some of the questions and considerations for social work research that have surfaced since the emergence of these complex social, political, and economic crises. We organize our reflection around what we study, why, and how we go about studying it. We then offer a discussion of various constraints and challenges that emerge in this type of reflective scholarly practice, including an analysis of how contexts of white supremacy culture and neoliberalism shape social work scholarship. We close the essay with a number of recommendations for further reflection for social work scholars, such as reviewing research practices, seeking external research funding, practicing reflexivity, interrogating assumptions about knowledge production, self and community care, and integrating scholarly work into social work curriculum.
Framework for Country-Level Sustainable Transportation Policy Learning using Public Support as a Measure of Cultural Distance:

As the world shapes a global agenda to mitigate climate change, national governments are looking to define sustainable development strategies for the transportation sector. In this international la...
Miami in Transformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Participatory Visual Culture Analysis

While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt around the world, Miami, Florida is one example of the specific and unique ways in which this pandemic is experienced. Drawing on the concepts of visual culture analysis and disaster literature, this article analyses how the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the everyday lives of people living in this subtropical American city. Specifically, this study draws on data collected from a digital participatory photography project implemented in July 2020, as the novel coronavirus began to rapidly spread. Through an inductive thematic analysis of participants’ photographs and captions, we discovered that the COVID-19 pandemic transformed not only basic daily needs but also lead to recognition of privilege and an awareness of the needs and vulnerabilities of others. While many of the complexities illustrated in this study are left unresolved, the photos and captions are useful examples of how visual depictions can be used to inform and realign the ways in which people interpret and respond to global public health crises.
Using ultrasound tongue imaging to study covert contrasts in second-language learners’ acquisition of English vowels

Research attempting to understand the intermediate stages of first-language acquisition and disordered speech has led to the discovery of covert contrast. A covert contrast is a statistically relia...
The non-monotonic dose dependence of protein expression in cells transfected with self-amplifying RNA.

Abstract Self-amplifying(sa) RNA molecules – “replicons” – derived from the genomes of positive-sense RNA are receiving increasing attention as gene and vaccine delivery vehicles. This is because mRNA forms of genes of interest can be incorporated into them and strongly amplified, thereby enhancing target protein expression. In this report, we demonstrate a non-monotonic dependence of protein expression on the mass of transfected replicon, in contrast to the usual, monotonic case of non-sa RNA transfections. We lipotransfected a variety of cell lines with increasing masses of enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) as a reporter gene in sa form and found that there is a “sweet spot” at which protein expression and cell viability are optimum. To control the varying mass of transfected replicon RNA for a given mass of lipofectamine, the replicons were mixed with a “carrier” RNA that is neither replicated nor translated; the total mass of transfected RNA was kept constant while increasing the fraction of the replicon from zero to one. Fluorescence microscopy studies showed that the optimum protein expression and cell viability are achieved for replicon fractions as small as one tenth of the total transfected RNA, and these results were quantified by a systematic series of flow cytometry measurements.
With No Lysine Kinase 1 Promotes Metabolic Derangements and RV Dysfunction in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Summary Small molecule inhibition of with no lysine kinase 1 (WNK1) (WNK463) signaling activates adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase signaling and mitigates membrane enrichment of glucose transporters 1 and 4, which decreases protein O-GlcNAcylation and glycation. Quantitative proteomics of right ventricular (RV) mitochondrial enrichments shows WNK463 prevents down-regulation of several mitochondrial metabolic enzymes. and metabolomics analysis suggests multiple metabolic processes are corrected. Physiologically, WNK463 augments RV systolic and diastolic function independent of pulmonary arterial hypertension severity. Hypochloremia, a condition of predicted WNK1 activation in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, is associated with more severe RV dysfunction. These results suggest WNK1 may be a druggable target to combat metabolic dysregulation and may improve RV function and survival in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Threshold for shock formation in the hyperbolic Keller–Segel model

Abstract We identify a sub-threshold for finite time shock formation in solutions to the one-dimensional hyperbolic Keller–Segel model. The main result states that under some assumptions on the initial potential, if the slope of the initial density is above a threshold at even one location, the solution must become discontinuous in finite time.
INTRACRANIAL (IC) HYPERINSULINISM DECREASES WHILE SYSTEMIC HYPERINSULINEMIA (SI) AND ALLOXAN (AL) INDUCED MATERNAL DIABETES (MD) DO NOT ALTER FETAL (F) BRAIN (B) INSULIN (I) RECEPTORS (R)

INTRACRANIAL (IC) HYPERINSULINISM DECREASES WHILE SYSTEMIC HYPERINSULINEMIA (SI) AND ALLOXAN (AL) INDUCED MATERNAL DIABETES (MD) DO NOT ALTER FETAL (F) BRAIN (B) INSULIN (I) RECEPTORS (R)
Accidental and experimentally induced 5‐fluorouracil toxicity in dogs

Objective To summarize the literature involving 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) toxicosis in dogs. Etiology 5-Fluorouracil's mechanism of action revolves around the metabolism of 5-FU into fluorouridine triphosphate which then interferes with RNA synthesis and function as well as the inhibition of thymidylate synthase which ultimately impairs DNA stability. Toxicity of 5-FU is the most pronounced on rapidly dividing cells. Toxicity manifests itself mainly in the neurologic, gastrointestinal, respiratory, or hematopoietic systems. Diagnosis History of accidental exposure to 5-FU-containing products. Therapy Therapy for 5-FU toxicosis involves typical decontamination procedures and symptomatic therapy for the subsequent toxicity. Seizure control and treatment of the severe gastrointestinal signs that follow are the primary goals in the acute setting. As the disease progresses, management of the sequelae to bone marrow suppression and pulmonary complications are essential. Prognosis The prognosis for dogs with ingestion of 5-FU is dependent on the amount consumed, with severe intoxication carrying a poor prognosis. Toxic doses can be as little as 5 mg/kg, and doses ≥40 mg/kg are reported to be uniformly fatal.
Healing and growth of half-eye "compound eyes" in Xenopus: application of an interspecific cell marker

Surgically constructed compound eyes have been widely used to examine the development of retinotectal projections in amphibians. Such studies have been limited, however, by the lack of an adequate cellular marker with which to assess the contributions of grafted and host tissues to the later larval and adult retina. We have followed the growth of graft- and host-derived ocular tissues in interspecific compound eyes prepared by orthotopic and heterotopic exchanges of half-eye fragments between pigmented Xenopus borealis and albino Xenopus laevis embryos. This genotypic combination allowed the growth of graft-derived choroid and pigment epithelium to be studied in the living animal, and permitted cell-by-cell resolution of graft- and host-derived neurons in quinacrine-stained paraffin sections. At mid- and late-larval stages graft-derived neurons occupied large and usually coherent territories of retina in all classes of orthotopic and heterotopic compound eyes. In successfully healed cases, sample means of the percentage of the total retina occupied by graft-derived neurons ranged from 43 to 51%. Graft-derived territories originated near the optic nerve head and extended into the germinal neuroepithelium at the retinal periphery. As compared to orthotopic compound eyes, graft-derived territories in all classes of heterotopic compound eyes were slightly smaller and significantly more variable. Despite this variability, the correlation between graft-derived pigment epithelial and retinal territories was quite good in heterotopic compound eyes. While graft-host borders were generally sharp, there was also evidence of local cell mixing over distances of several cell diameters in the inner nuclear and ganglion cell layers. Single displaced cells, isolated from other members of their genetic cohort by 5 or more cell diameters, were also present in the inner nuclear and ganglion cell layers.
RANDOM FLUCTUATIONS IN PERIOD-METER INDICATIONS

Measurement of reactor period at low power levels (from 10-10 to 10-5 of full power) during start-up is desirable to permit the full power level to be reached rapidly yet safely. At low flux levels...
A comparative study of requests in heritage speaker Spanish, L1 Spanish, and L1 English:

Although requests are the most widely studied speech act, there has not been extensive research on the requests produced by heritage speakers of Spanish in the United States. This study compares the requests of three groups: Spanish heritage speakers, Mexican native speakers of Spanish, and native speakers of English. The first research question examines the level of directness of the requests combined with the frequency of downgraders. The following two research questions analyzed separately the level of directness of the head act and frequency of downgrading mechanisms. Differences between the two L1 groups are found to be statistically significant for all three of the categories investigated. In contrast, the heritage speakers differ significantly from their Mexican monolingual counterparts in the level of directness of the head act, producing Spanish requests more in line with the tendency in English to employ indirect strategies. Although the heritage speakers differ from the L1 Spanish group on this one dimension, the fact that they share other characteristics with both L1 groups suggests the existence of a unique intercultural style. The findings of this study also indicate that heritage speakers display many of the same characteristics as L2 learners reported in previous research.