cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conditioned tone control of brain reward behavior produces highly specific representational gain in the primary auditory cortex

Primary sensory cortices have been assumed to serve as stimulus analyzers while cognitive functions such as learning and memory have been allocated to “higher” cortical areas. However, the primary auditory cortex (A1) is now known to encode the acquired significance of sound as indicated by associatively-induced specific shifts of tuning to the frequencies of conditioned stimuli (CS) and gains in area of CS representations. Rewarding brain stimulation can be a very powerful motivator and brain reward systems have been implicated in addictive behavior. Therefore, it is possible that a cue for brain reward will gain cortical territory and perhaps thereby increase its control of subsequent behavior. To investigate the effect of brain reward on cortical organization, adult male rats (n = 11) were first tested with varying amounts of stimulation of the ventral tegmental area (VTAstm) to generate sigmoidal psychometric functions of nose poke (NP) rates as a function of reward magnitude (duration). Next, we attempted to accomplish tone control of NPs by maintaining intertrial NPs using a low reward duration and presenting a 20 s tone (2.0 kHz, 70 dB) which signaled an increase in reward to a high magnitude 10 s after tone onset. Tone control was demonstrated by a significant increase in the rate of NPs during the first 10 s of tone presentation, which anticipated the delivery of the high magnitude of reward. Tone control was achieved in seven of 11 subjects. This was accompanied by a highly specific and significant gain in representational area, specifically for the half-octave range centered on the CS frequency. However, this plasticity developed only in tone-controlled (TC) animals. The auditory cortex of non-tone-controlled subjects (n = 4) did not differ from that of naive controls (n = 9) although their VTAstm was as rewarding as for the TC group. These findings reveal that auditory instrumental behavior can be controlled by rewarding VTAstm and that such control appears necessary for the highly specific recruitment of cortical cells to increase the representation of a sound that acquires behavioral importance.
Parallel end-butt coupling for optical integrated circuits.

The method of parallel end-butt coupling has been used to couple GaAs laser diodes to Ta 2O5 thin film waveguides. Theoretical caluclations predict that a coupling efficiency into the lowest order waveguide mode of 90% is achievable if the thicknesses of the waveguide (tg) and the laser light emitting layer (tL) are equal. Experimentally, efficiencies as high as 45.1% have been measured for laser and waveguide combinations with t/tL = 0.34. The tolerance to misalignment of the laser and waveguide has been theoretically and experimentally evaluated.
Mobility Disability in Older Adults: At the Intersection of People and Places

Purpose: Mobility disability is associated with poor lower body function among older adults. This study examines whether specific types of neighborhood characteristics moderate that association. Design and Methods: This study is based on a cross-sectional sample of 884 people aged ≥ 65 years identified through service organizations in Alameda County, CA; Cook County, IL; Allegheny County, PA; and Wake and Durham counties, NC. In-person interviews focus on neighborhood characteristics, physical and cognitive function, depression, and walking. Functional capacity is tested using objective measures of lower body strength, balance, and walking speed. Mobility disability, the main study outcome, is measured as self-reported level of difficulty in walking 2–3 neighborhood blocks. Estimates of main and interactive effects are derived from logistic regression models. Results: Among older adults with poor lower body function, those who repor t less proximity to goods and services and barriers to walking report more mobility disability than other older adults. In contrast, among older adults with good lower body function, there is a low prevalence of mobility disability and little association between perceptions of the neighborhood and mobility disability. Implications: In addition to more refined longitudinal studies, this researc h provides a foundation for innovative place-based rehabilitation and hospital discharge programs for older adults newly diagnosed and treated for chronic health conditions.
Melanoma and seborrheic keratosis differentiation using texture features.

Purpose: To explore texture features in two-dimensional images to differentiate seborrheic keratosis from melanoma. Methods: A systematic approach to consistent classification of skin tumors is described. Texture features, based on the second-order histogram, were used to identify the features or a combination of features that could consistently differentiate a malignant skin tumor (melanoma) from a benign one (seborrheic keratosis). Two hundred and seventy-one skin tumor images were separated into training and test sets for accuracy and consistency. Automatic induction was applied to generate classification rules. Data analysis and modeling tools were used to gain further insight into the feature space. Result and Conclusions: In all, 85–90% of seborrheic keratosis images were correctly differentiated from the malignant skin tumors. The features correlation_average, correlation_range, texture_energy_average and texture_energy_range were found to be the most important features in differentiating seborrheic keratosis from melanoma. Over-all, the seborrheic keratosis images were better identified by the texture features than the melanoma images.
GRB2 and phospholipase C-gamma 1 associate with a 36- to 38-kilodalton phosphotyrosine protein after T-cell receptor stimulation.

Abstract GRB2, a 25-kDa protein comprising a single SH2 domain flanked by two SH3 domains, has been implicated in linking receptor protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) to the Ras pathway by interacting with the guanine nucleotide exchange protein SOS. Previous studies have demonstrated that GRB2 directly interacts with Shc, a proto-oncogene product that is tyrosine phosphorylated upon receptor and nonreceptor PTK activation. In this report, we detected low levels of tyrosine phosphorylation of Shc and induced association with GRB2 upon T-cell receptor (TCR) stimulation. Instead, a prominent 36- to 38-kDa tyrosine phosphoprotein (pp36-38) associated with the SH2 domain of GRB2 and formed a stable complex with GRB2/SOS upon TCR stimulation. Cellular fractionation studies showed that whereas both GRB2 and SOS partitioned to the soluble and particulate fractions, pp36-38 was present exclusively in the particulate fraction. This phosphoprotein had the same apparent mobility in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as the phosphoprotein that associates with phospholipase C-gamma 1 (PLC-gamma 1). Furthermore, following partial immunodepletion of GRB2 and of the associated pp36-38, there was a significant reduction in the amount of the 36-kDa phosphoprotein associated with PLC-gamma 1, suggesting that a trimeric PLC-gamma 1/pp36-38/GRB2 complex could form. In support of this notion, we have also been able to detect low levels of PLC-gamma 1 in GRB2 immunoprecipitates. We suggest that pp36-38 may be a bridging protein, coupling different signalling molecules to cytoplasmic PTKs regulated by the TCR.
Oxygen consumption in an antarctic hemoglobin-free fish, Pagetopsis macropterus, and in three species of Notothenia.

The rate of oxygen consumption was determined in an Antarctic hemoglobin-free fish, Pagetopsis macropterus, and in three species of Notothenia, all of which have hemoglobin. In P. macropterus, the consumption at 0 degrees C ranged from 0.012 to 0.022 ml O2/g per hr, one-half to one-quarter of that in other fishes. In all cases, the rate was little affected by the oxygen tension in the water when it was lowered from approximately 160 to 20 mm Hg for Notothenia, or to 30 mm Hg for P. macropterus. In spite of the lack of hemoglobin, P. macropterus appears to have an efficient and well-regulated system for oxygen uptake.
Enhancement of ultrasound images by displacement, averaging, and interlacing

Ultrasound is a widely used medical imaging methodol- ogy because it is safe and relatively inexpensive. However, the qual- ity of the images is affected by the point-spread function of the sys- tem, medium effects (such as refraction, reflection, and attenuation), and coherent wave interference or speckle. The present research studies the averaging of images that have been displaced laterally and displays them using an interlaced grid. The main goals are to reduce speckle and improve contrast-to-noise ratio and resolution. The point-spread function of the ultrasound scanner was estimated using a thin nylon thread within a water bath. Then, a set of images of a breast phantom (having lateral displacements smaller than the width of the point spread function) were averaged and interlaced. The results show significant improvements in signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio. © 2010 SPIE and IS&T.
Effects of Dietary Menhaden Oil on Fertility and Sperm Quality of Broiler Breeder Males

SUMMARY To assess the effects of dietary fat source on semen quality and fertility, either poultry fat or menhaden oil (MO) was included in broiler breeder male diets. Males received diets containing either poultry fat or MO from 0 to 65 wk of age. When males were 47 wk of age, hens were inseminated every third week through 65 wk with 7.5 × 10 7 sperm. Fertility and hatch data were collected by incubating eggs laid during each 2-wk post-insemination (WPI) period. The approximate number of sperm that penetrated the perivitelline membrane of the ovum was determined from eggs laid on the eighth daypost-insemination. Sperm mobility index was measured at 60 and 63 wk of age from all males producing semen. When males were provided MO, fertility and hatchability of eggs set from the second WPI were greater by 6.4 and 6.9%, respectively. Testis weight, sperm mobility index, sperm holes in the ovum, and the number of males producing semen were similar between treatments. Although most reproductive characteristics were similar, fertility during the second WPI was significantly enhanced by providing dietary MO. This suggests that sperm from males consuming MO may have persisted in sperm storage tubules for longer periods.
Measuring lignin in human and rat faeces

The two objectives of these experiments were to evaluate solvent systems for removal of artefact lignin from crude faecal lignin and to determine the effect of the solvents on the neutral sugar content of faeces. Four human and three rat faecal samples collected during different dietary intakes were extracted with a 1:1 (v) mixture of ethyl acetate and acetic acid (EAc) or with water followed by EAc. Crude lignin (CL), determined as the insoluble material after a Saeman acid hydrolysis, was measured in the faeces and its various fractions, and compared with Klason lignin, the residue after sulphuric acid treatment of acid detergent fibre, and with permanganate lignin. EAc extraction significantly reduced the CL content of all samples. Water extraction alone generally did not lower faecal CL contents as much as did EAc extraction. EAc extraction alone, or in combination with water, of two rat faecal samples indicated zero CL, consistent with the zero CL content of dietary cellulose; in all other samples, human cellulose and wheat bran and rat wheat bran faeces, Klason lignin and permanganate lignin were lower than CL. The two-step extraction did remove more nitrogen than EAc alone. EAc extracted 1 to 2% of the faecal total neutral sugars and water extracted 2–5% total neutral sugars from six of the samples; 11 and 35% respectively of total neutral sugars were extracted from fibre-free human faeces. Analysis of cellulose-containing rat faeces with and without cholesterol and cholic acid suggested that sterols or their microbial metabolic products, as well as nitrogenous compounds, were part of the artefact lignin.
Reassessing the ratio of glyoxal to formaldehyde as an indicator of hydrocarbon precursor speciation

Abstract. The yield of formaldehyde (HCHO) and glyoxal (CHOCHO) from oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) depends on precursor VOC structure and the concentration of NOx (NOx = NO + NO2). Previous work has proposed that the ratio of CHOCHO to HCHO (RGF) can be used as an indicator of precursor VOC speciation, and absolute concentrations of the CHOCHO and HCHO as indicators of NOx. Because this metric is measurable by satellite, it is potentially useful on a global scale; however, absolute values and trends in RGF have differed between satellite and ground-based observations. To investigate potential causes of previous discrepancies and the usefulness of this ratio, we present measurements of CHOCHO and HCHO over the southeastern United States (SE US) from the 2013 SENEX (Southeast Nexus) flight campaign, and compare these measurements with OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite retrievals. High time-resolution flight measurements show that high RGF is associated with monoterpene emissions, low RGF is associated with isoprene oxidation, and emissions associated with oil and gas production can lead to small-scale variation in regional RGF. During the summertime in the SE US, RGF is not a reliable diagnostic of anthropogenic VOC emissions, as HCHO and CHOCHO production are dominated by isoprene oxidation. Our results show that the new CHOCHO retrieval algorithm reduces the previous disagreement between satellite and in situ RGF observations. As the absolute values and trends in RGF observed during SENEX are largely reproduced by OMI observations, we conclude that satellite-based observations of RGF can be used alongside knowledge of land use as a global diagnostic of dominant hydrocarbon speciation.
The Muropeptide Composition of the Peptidoglycan of Staphylococcus aureus Determined with Reversed-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography

While extensive early studies on the chemical composition of the cell walls of Staphylococcus aureus have been described in the literature (e.g., Tipper and Strominger, 1965), the high resolution technique of reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), recently developed by Glauner et al. (1988), has not been applied to staphylococcal cell walls until now. In this communication, we report the results of studies in which the HPLC method, adapted to staphylococci, was used to determine the muropeptide composition of a highly methicillin resistant isolate of S. aureus and some of its transposon mutants with decreased antibiotic resistance.
The Derbid Planthopper Cedusa hedusa McAtee (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea): Description of the Fifth-Instar Nymph and Notes on Biology

Abstract. Little is known about the life history of derbid planthoppers, some of which have been implicated as potential vectors of phytoplasmas. Among species of Cedusa, only the nymph and nymphal habitat of C. inflata (Ball) is currently known. Here we report fifth-instar nymphs of Cedusa hedusa McAtee, subsequently reared to adult, collected from mats of the moss Polytrichum commune Hedw. (Bryophyta: Polytrichaceae) in Alabama. We describe and illustrate the fifth instar and provide information on the nymphal habitat. Additional study is needed to determine if nymphs of C. hedusa feed on fungi within mats of P. commune or the moss itself, as well as oviposition sites and feeding preferences of the adults.
Tracheal and phrenic responses to neurotensin applied to ventral medulla

Respiratory activity and airway tone can be significantly affected by perturbations confined to superficial areas of the ventrolateral surface of the medulla (VMS). It is not clear which neuromedia...
Dynamic nuclear polarization of biocompatible 13C-enriched carbonates for in vivo pH imaging

A hyperpolarization technique using carbonate precursors of biocompatible molecules was found to yield high concentrations of hyperpolarized 13C bicarbonate in solution. This approach enabled large signal gains for low-toxicity hyperpolarized 13C pH imaging in a phantom and in vivo in a murine model of prostate cancer.
The Effects of Gender Cues and Political Sophistication on Candidate Evaluation A Comparison of Self-Report and Eye Movement Measures of Stereotyping

Gender-based political stereotypes pervade the media environment in the United States, and this may cause voters to automatically activate these stereotypes while evaluating politicians. In the research reported here, we investigate whether voters are able to reduce the automatic activation of unwanted stereotypes and how political sophistication influences this capacity. The current experiment uses self-reports to measure controlled stereotyping, and we develop a new eye movement metric to measure automatic stereotyping. We find that political sophisticates are more effective than novices at reducing unwanted gender-based political stereotypes. This study has two main implications for communication research. First, the results suggest that the effects of gender-based automatic stereotyping—induced by the information environment—on political judgments may not be as powerful as some of the current literature portrays them to be. Second, this study adds eye movements to the arsenal of tools available to com...
Automated generation of interaction graphs for value-factored dec-POMDPs

The Decentralized Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (Dec-POMDP) is a powerful model for multiagent planning under uncertainty, but its applicability is hindered by its high complexity - solving Dec-POMDPs optimally is NEXP-hard. Recently, Kumar et al. introduced the Value Factorization (VF) framework, which exploits decomposable value functions that can be factored into subfunctions. This framework has been shown to be a generalization of several models that leverage sparse agent interactions such as TI-Dec-MDPs, NDPOMDPs and TD-POMDPs. Existing algorithms for these models assume that the interaction graph of the problem is given. In this paper, we introduce three algorithms to automatically generate interaction graphs for models within the VF framework and establish lower and upper bounds on the expected reward of an optimal joint policy. We illustrate experimentally the benefits of these techniques for sensor placement in a decentralized tracking application.
Ray theory model for spatially multiplexed helically propagating skew ray channels in step-index fibers

Spatial domain multiplexing/space division multiplexing (SDM) increases data carrying capacity of existing and futuristic optical fibers systems, irrespective of the number of cores within the fiber. Helical ray theory model for SDM channels is presented.
Aortic cholesterol and the plasma lipoproteins of the cholesterol-fed cockerel.

SummaryIn an experiment with 75 cholesterol-fed cockerels, in which deposition of cholesterol in the aortic wall was correlated with the various lipoprotein lipids, it was found that no significant correlation existed with the heavy density lipoprotein fraction. Significant correlations were present with the Sf0-12, Sf12-20 and Sf20 cholesterol after 10 weeks. In fact, the variance in aortic cholesterol could be largely explained by Sf20 lipoprotein cholesterol. None of the measured plasma lipid parameters correleated with aortic phospholipid or total fatty acids as well as with the aortic cholesterol.
Results and Analysis on Individual Dose Level of External Exposure to Radiation for Radiology Specialized Workers Employed by SCDC in Shanghai

[Objective] To find out individual dose level of external exposure to radiation for radiology specialized workers employed by SCDC from 2002 to 2004 in Shanghai. [Methods] Thermoluminescence dosimetry method was used to monitor individual dose level for external exposure to radiation for the above mentioned specialized workers,who were engaged in the work about radioactive isotope and radiation equipment. Altogether 5627 person-times have been monitored. [Results] The average annual individual effective dose was 0.551 mSv·a-1 during three years. The average annual individual effective dose of industrial gamma defect detecting workers was 0.815 mSv·a-1,higher than that of any other work type. The individual average dose levels of all work type were generally lower than that of the whole city and the whole nation. [Conclusion] The annual individual effective doses of all radiology specialized workers employed by SCDC were under the dose limit of national standard which is 20 mSv.
Monitoring and analysis of iodine nutritional status of students from 2004 to 2008 in Dongtou

Objective:For the purpose of providing the scientific basis for the prevention and control work,analyze the situation of monitoring of students iodine nutrition from 2004 to 2008 and study the current Iodine nutritional status of students in Dongtou County.Methods:By descriptive analysis of the results of five years monitoring iodine nutrition in Dongtou County from 2004 to 2008.Results:The rate of five years′ qualified iodized salt in Dongtou County was 88.65%,The median urinary iodine was 258.2 μg/L,the quantities of the median urinary iodine between 200 μg/L～299 μg/L are 127,Accounted for 36.60% of the total sample,the quantities 300.0 μg/L are 91,Accounted for 26.22% of the total sample,Both of two accounted for 62.22% of the total sample.0.4% of students were in a goiter,neonatal Hypothyroidism incidence were 0.14% in this county.Conclusion:Dongtou students′ iodine nutrition was in good condition,the students′ iodine nutrition higher than the appropriate amount recommend by the WHO,salt intake among insular county population should taken properly.
Self-Assembled Amphiphilic Macromolecule Coatings: Comparison of Grafting-From and Grafting-To Approaches for Bioactive Delivery.

Although drug-eluting stent technologies have significantly improved clinical outcomes over the past decade, substantial issues with postimplantation vessel reocclusion still remain. To combat these issues, bioactive amphiphilic macromolecules (AMs), comprised of a functional end group, a branched hydrophobic domain, and a hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) tail, were investigated as a therapeutic coating to reduce smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and platelet adhesion. In this study, grafting-from and grafting-to approaches for AM surface functionalization were compared to determine the effects of fabrication method on bioactive delivery characteristics, including the AM loading, release, and biological activity. Grafted-from coatings were formed by stepwise synthesis of phosphonate AMs, 1pM, on the substrate, first by alkyl phosphonate coordination to stainless steel and subsequent carbodiimide coupling to conjugate the hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains. In contrast, grafted-to monolayers were as...
A survey of unmanned ground vehicles with applications to agricultural and environmental sensing

Unmanned ground vehicles have been utilized in the last few decades in an effort to increase the efficiency of agriculture, in particular, by reducing labor needs. Unmanned vehicles have been used for a variety of purposes including: soil sampling, irrigation management, precision spraying, mechanical weeding, and crop harvesting. In this paper, unmanned ground vehicles, implemented by researchers or commercial operations, are characterized through a comparison to other vehicles used in agriculture, namely airplanes and UAVs. An overview of different trade-offs of configurations, control schemes, and data collection technologies is provided. Emphasis is given to the use of unmanned ground vehicles in food crops, and includes a discussion of environmental impacts and economics. Factors considered regarding the future trends and potential issues of unmanned ground vehicles include development, management and performance. Also included is a strategy to demonstrate to farmers the safety and profitability of implementing the technology.
Proarrhythmic and antiarrhythmic actions of ion channel blockers on arrhythmias in the heart: model study

We explain why 1) some class I and IV antiarrhythmia drugs could exert proarrhythmic action, 2) some class III drugs are effective in controlling reentrant arrhythmias, and 3) cycle length (CL) oscillation is involved in the termination or initiation of reentry. To explain these phenomena, we employ the following three means: bifurcation analysis, simulation, and model construction. Antiarrhythmia drugs are modeled by varying maximal conductances of Na + , Ca 2+ , and time-dependent delayed rectifying and time-independent inward rectifying K + channels in the Beeler-Reuter model, where the model cells are arranged in a ring. Bifurcation analysis predicts that there is a critical ring size (CRS) at which infinite ring behavior suddenly breaks down. Channel blockers can affect CRS in different manners: Na + and Ca 2+ blockers shorten CRS, whereas delayed rectifying K + channel blockers and the inward K + channel blockers lengthen CRS. This differential explains why some antiarrhythmia drugs are proarrhythmic (i.e., shorten CRS) whereas others are antiarrhythmic (i.e., lengthen CRS). Simulation is then used to investigate how the drugs affect reentrant rhythms in the neighborhood of the CRS. We find that, in this region, CL, conduction velocity, and action potential duration become oscillatory. As ring size shrinks, the pattern of the oscillation becomes more complex. When the ring shrinks to a certain size, reentry can no longer be sustained, and it terminates after a few oscillatory cycles. To explain the basic mechanism involved in CL oscillation, we then construct a minimal model that contains a low-threshold fast inward current and a high-threshold slow inward current. With this model, we show that the two inward currents, with vastly different activation and inactivation kinetics, cause CL oscillations. Our results thus give theoretical explanations for the experimental finding of Frame's group in canine atrial tricuspid ring in vitro that class IC drugs can bring about stable reentry from nonsustained transient reentry, whereas class III drugs transform stable reentry to complex oscillations in CL. Our results also support the result of Frame's group, in that, in adjustable tricuspid rings, CL oscillation becomes more complex and its period becomes shorter as an excitable gap is shortened.
Necrotizing soft-tissue infections.

Practicing surgeons encounter a variety of soft-tissue infections, most of them minor. However, some patients with necrotizing soft-tissue sepsis initially may have minimal symptoms, masking a severe deep infection. Treatment includes broad spectrum antibiotics, early surgical debridement of all necrotic tissue, and a planned second-look operation. A high index of suspicion is necessary to minimize morbidity and mortality.
Prison and Jail Grievance Policies: Lessons from a Fifty-State Survey

This report summarizes information gathered by analysis of prisoner grievance policies from 53 Departments of Correction (for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico), and the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan jails. Each policy itself — obtained via the web or by Freedom of Information Act requests — is available at http://clearinghouse.net/policy. They exhibit significant variation. It is this variation that allows us to present the recommendations below. Where we observed particular grievance rules that seemed troubling — unfair, especially onerous for prisoners, etc. — and those rules are unusual, we recommend the more common practice. Other recommendations work the converse way: where some jurisdictions have unusual but very appealing rules, we highlight those as promising practices for others to follow.
Reappraisal of hemiblock.

Sudden, marked left or right axis deviation is almost always indicative of hemiblock, a condition in which blockage occurs in either the anterior or the posterior division of the left bundle branch. The most common cause is coronary or hypertensive heart disease or both.
The Battle of Warsaw as Witnessed by the Participants

The Battle of Warsaw of 1920 has often been compared to the Battle of the Marne of 1914, both in terms of strategies employed and in terms of historical significance. Yet, whereas the latter has been the subject of several volumes written in the English language, there does not exist a comparable work on the ‘Miracle of the Vistula’, as it is often called. Some writers who have touched on the subject have noted the mysterious aspect of the battle. Winston Churchill, for instance, comparing the Polish counterattack and the rapid Russian retreat which occurred on 16–17 August to the battle which took place near Paris almost exactly six years earlier, wrote:
Hematology-Related Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: A Content Analysis and Verification of Claims from Print Media.

Background: Patient-directed marketing of hematology medications is an increasingly prevalent and controversial practice. Content analysis of hematology-related direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), with attention to how benefit and risk/side effect information is presented as well as assessment of the appeals and claims made, is essential to understanding its potential effect on patient outcomes. Methods: We reviewed all DTCA for hematological medications appearing in 2005 in the largest circulation patient-focused bleeding-disorder and cancer magazines ( Hemaware and CURE ), as well as a sample of popular magazines. We assessed the Flesch reading ease score (FRES) for the benefit and risk/side effect text presented in each advertisement. Ranging from 0 to 100, a FRES of 65 or higher is considered understandable for the average person. We also assessed the proportion of text dedicated to, and the largest type size of, benefit and risk/side effect information, as well as the nature and content of the advertisements’ appeals. We then attempted to link the advertisements’ main efficacy or safety appeal to the hematological literature based upon references available from a Medline search for the claim and the drug name. Results: Of 134 total ads reviewed, 20 unique advertisements were analyzed (the remainder were repeats). Overall, the ratio of number of words devoted to benefit text versus risk/side effect text was 1.33. The mean FRES for benefit information was 39.0, while the mean FRES for risks/side effects was 23.7, a difference of 15.3 [95% CI: 6.4, 24.2]. The mean largest benefit type size was 6.1 mm, while the mean largest risk/side effect type size was 2.3 mm, a difference of 3.8 mm [95% CI: 1.7, 5.6]. 65% of ads made appeals to social-psychological enhancements (eg: regaining a normal life). 88% of the ads made appeals to efficacy, and 53% to safety; we were able to verify all of these except one through Medline. Conclusion: Hematology print DTCA is difficult to read. When compared to risks/side effects, benefits often comprise more text, appear in larger typeface, and are presented in language that is somewhat more readable. Appeals to efficacy and safety are common, and, for the most part, easy to verify with Medline. Although the ultimate effects of hematology DTCA for patients and providers remain to be elucidated, awareness of its characteristics is a vital first step toward better informing its regulation.
Effect of Thinning and Clear-cuts on the Transmission of Fire in Slash Pine Plantations during Restoration to Longleaf Pine

Restoration of the Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) bunch grass ecosystem that once dominated the southeastern coastal plain has become a goal for many managers on public lands. However, fire exclusion and conversion to Pinus elliottii (slash pine) plantations has provided the conditions for much of the forest to become susceptible to what Lindenmayer et al. (2011) call a “landscape trap,” where ecological processes no longer function to maintain the ecosystem. For the longleaf pine-bunchgrass ecosystem, the trap occurs when fire-dependent herbaceous vegetation have been replaced with woody shrubs, and there are no fine fuels that will readily transmit frequent fire. Restoration of slash pine plantations to longleaf pine forest will require continued transmission of fire across the restoration areas. With the cooperation of the US Forest Service, we conducted an experiment to study the effectiveness of thinning and patch clear-cuts in slash pine plantations and compared the burnability of these treatments. Eighty percent of the thinned plots burned, but only 12% of the patch clear-cuts did. These differences resulted from reduced needle cast in the clear-cuts. Plots in which the ground cover was dominated by herbaceous vegetation were significantly more likely to burn (97%) than those dominated by woody vegetation (38%). Plots without fire for eight years prior to the experimental burn did not burn across the clearcut patches that had no recent needle cast from canopy trees. Maintenance of the canopy is important in fire transmittal because fire allows longleaf pine restoration without expensive site preparation and groundcover reintroduction.
Chronic Granulomatous Disease and Aspergillosis

The phagocyte NADPH oxidase is rapidly activated as an emergency response to infection. Activation of the NADPH oxidase requires translocation of cytoplasmic constituents to a membrane-bound flavocytochrome, and results in the conversion of molecular oxygen to superoxide anion and downstream reactive oxidant metabolites. Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an inherited disorder of the NADPH oxidase characterized by recurrent and severe bacterial and fungal infections. Invasive aspergillosis and other filamentous fungi are the major causes of mortality in CGD. CGD is also characterized by inflammatory disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, obstructive granulomata of the genitourinary tract, and pneumonitis. These findings underscore the dual role of NADPH oxidase as a critical component of host defense and as a modulator of inflammation. Management of CGD patients involves antibacterial and antifungal prophylaxis, recombinant interferon-γ, and early diagnosis and treatment of infections. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a potentially curative treatment for CGD, and is being used with greater frequency. Knowledge gained from CGD patients and engineered mouse models have resulted in important insight regarding host and fungal pathogen interactions that determine control versus progression of infection and pathways that activate and limit inflammatory responses. This knowledge is broadly important to our understanding of innate immunity and for the development of novel immunotherapy approaches.
Lymphovascular invasion and survival in breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

1025Background: A number of prognostic indicators have been investigated in those with operable invasive breast cancer (BC) receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Our study seeks to examine if l...
“I’m Not Your Stereotypical Mormon Girl”: Mormon Women’s Gendered Resistance

Research on women in gender-traditional religions has shown that women often exercise agency within the gendered confines of their religious institutions. This paper builds on the growing literature on women’s agency in gender-traditional religions by exploring whether and why some active Mormon women resist the gendered expectations of their faith more strongly than others. Drawing on interviews with women members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS Church, Mormon), we find that eight of the 30 women interviewed strongly resisted traditional Mormon gender expectations. We then explore their patterns of resistance and provide possible explanations for why they resist gender traditionalism more than the other participants. We discuss the wider implications of our findings, including a call for further examinations of the ways in which women’s religious experiences include both accommodation and resistance to traditional ideas about gender.
Perceptions of control and improved psychological, physical, and social functioning in postmenopausal women.

Throughout life, social messages about women’s bodies put them at greater risk of specific psychological health conditions than men; yet little is known about what psychological factors can help pr...
Minimalism and Paradoxes

This paper argues against minimalism about truth. It does so by way of acomparison of the theory of truth with the theory of sets, and considerationof where paradoxes may arise in each. The paper proceeds by asking twoseemingly unrelated questions. First, what is the theory of truth about?Answering this question shows that minimalism bears important similaritiesto naive set theory. Second, why is there no strengthened version ofRussell's paradox, as there is a strengthened Liar paradox? Answering thisquestion shows that like naive set theory, minimalism is unable to makeadequate progress in resolving the paradoxes, and must be replaced by adrastically different sort of theory. Such a theory, it is shown, must befundamentally non-minimalist.
Ligament and Tendon Enthesis: Anatomy and Mechanics

The insertions of ligaments and tendons to bone are morphologically and biomechanically complex. Within a short distance, the insertion (“enthesis”) is transformed from soft connective tissue to hard bone. In this chapter, we discuss the anatomy of the enthesis, including a review of the gross morphology as well as histology and appearance of two distinct types of insertions: the direct and indirect insertions to bone. The biomechanical function of insertion sites is then presented, including some challenges with methods involved in determining their properties. We then review the changes that occur across the insertion site during growth and skeletal maturity, using the femur-MCL-tibia complex as an example. The negative effects of immobilization on the insertion and its slow recovery following remobilization, together with positive effects of exercise, will then be presented.
DELAY SYSTEMS IN BIOLOGICAL MODELS: APPROXIMATION TECHNIQUES

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses approximation techniques for delay systems in biological models. Delay systems play an important role in the modeling of a number of biological systems. The chapter gives a brief indication of several areas where delay systems models appear to be very useful and perhaps even essential in some cases. Because of an increased use of delay system models in biological applications, recent literature has evidenced an interest by some investigators in approximation techniques. The chapter discusses some approximation ideas that are believed to be useful in the study of delay systems such as those currently under investigation in connection with several of the biomodels as well as in the study of more traditional delay systems models of dynamical systems arising in mechanical, physical, chemical, aerodynamical, etc., modeling projects. The chapter describes protein synthesis models. It also discusses respiratory–circulatory models, ecological models, and population and epidemic models.
Non-uniqueness for the Fokas–Olver–Rosenau–Qiao equation

Abstract For the Fokas–Olver–Rosenau–Qiao equation (FORQ), on both the line and the circle, it is proved that there exist initial data in the Sobolev spaces H s , with s 3 / 2 , which have nonunique solutions. This phenomenon is demonstrated by constructing a 2-peakon solution with an asymmetric peakon–antipeakon initial profile. The peakon and antipeakon eventually collide, and the solution at the collision time coincides with a second solitary peakon solution. Using the time-reversibility of the equation, this scenario proves nonuniqueness.
Mathematical modelling of energy harvesting in piezo embedded electric vehicle tyres together with self-health assessment of suspension system

This paper proposes embedding piezoelectric material inside the electric vehicle (EV) tyres. The paper focuses on two aspects: one pertains to the mathematical modelling of energy harvesting through piezoelectric energy conversion inside the tyre, and the other to collecting and processing the mechanical stress data obtained from the embedded piezoelectric material. The electrical energy generated due to mechanical strain of the piezoelectric material is utilised to charge the battery. Concurrently the material stress-strain data generated by, and collected from the piezoelectric material, is used to extract valuable real-time information. This information is used for condition based maintenance of tyres and suspension system that includes remaining useful life of tyres, uneven or excessive tyre wear, need for wheel balancing, suspension system health assessment, and wheel alignment. Thus, the proposed system will not only reduce the driving range anxiety, it will also enhance vehicle health and safety and lead to concomitant savings.
Abstract P135: Regional Differences in Epidemiology and Outcomes of Heart Failure Admissions Across the United States

Introduction: Periodic surveillance of geographical variations in cardiovascular health is important to achieve the goal of reducing regional disparities in healthcare delivery. We aimed to study d...
Time, space, strategy: fan blogging and the economy of knowledge at San Diego Comic-Con

My essay examines the blogging culture surrounding San Diego Comic-Con. Con-bloggers share desirable strategies for navigating the convention, including access to tickets, hotel rooms, and panels. ...
Quantum dynamics of vibration-assisted excitation energy transfer in phycobiliprotein light-harvesting complex.

Phycobiliprotein is a light-harvesting complex containing linear tetrapyrrole bilin pigments that are responsible for absorption and funneling the sun’s energy in cryptophytes algae. In particular, the protein structure determines relative positions and orientations of the pigments and thus controls energy transfer pathways. The present research reveals the impact of molecular vibrations (in the 850–2700 cm−1 region) on excitation energy transfer in phycobiliprotein. The analysis of the excitation energy transfer pathways indicates a possibility of the coherent mechanism of energy transfer (delocalization) in central dihydrobiliverdin pigments and incoherent vibration-assisted energy transfer to peripheral phycocyanobilin pigments at a sub-picosecond time scale. A computational approach that enables modeling the dynamics of the excitation energy transfer with the quantum master equation formalism employing Huang-Rhys factors to describe electronic-vibrational coupling has been developed. The computational methodology has been implemented in PyFREC software.
Simulation-Based Assessment of Postearthquake Functionality of Buildings with Disruptions to Cross-Dependent Utility Networks

AbstractBuildings are central to the vitality of any community, and assessing their time-dependent functionality following a hazard event is central to resilience quantification. Such an assessment...
Deracialization, Dissent, and Terrorism in the FBI’s Most Wanted Program:

In the war on terror, the state frames terrorism as an exceptional form of violence. This research examines the role of race in that framing. Analysis of the 2017 Federal Bureau of Investigation mo...
The “Economy of Beauty and Culture”. Routes for the Integrated Sustainable Enhancement of the Internal Areas of Alta Irpinia

The internal areas of Alta Irpinia, long considered marginal, represent a reservoir of material and immaterial cultural resources which, suitably valued, can contribute to the development of historical centres and villages whose characteristic system of social and economic relationships, which has survived over the centuries, risks disappearing. From the analysis of the strengths and critical points detected and the initiatives activated within the National Strategy for the Internal Areas, a picture emerges that identifies the local cultural, historical-artistic and architectural heritage as the poles around which to start redevelopment strategies place-based focused on knowledge and on the “beauty and culture market” as policies for sustainable tourism aimed at promoting environmental, cultural and territorial resources. The critical issues on which to intervene suggest the strengthening of the cultural identity of the places starting from the construction of a territorial system of analysis and knowledge of the local heritage as a primary resource to invert the alarming unemployment trend and avoid abandonment and desertification phenomena. Starting from these considerations, particular attention was paid to the links between architecture, urban fabrics and the environment to outline long-term sustainable integrated valorisation scenarios where cultural resources and local development support each other in the belief that “the knowledge aspect represents the first form of protection” [1].
Community Mitigation: A Data-driven System for COVID-19 Risk Assessment in a Hierarchical Manner

The fast evolving and deadly outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed grand challenges to human society. To slow the spread of virus infections and better respond with actionable strategies for community mitigation, leveraging the large-scale and real-time pandemic related data generated from heterogeneous sources (e.g., disease related data, demographic data, mobility data, and social media data), in this work, we propose and develop a data-driven system (named α-satellite), as an initial offering, to provide real-time COVID-19 risk assessment in a hierarchical manner in the United States. More specifically, given a location (either user input or automatic positioning), the system will automatically provide risk indices associated with the specific location, the county that location is in and the state as a whole to enable people to select appropriate actions for protection while minimizing disruptions to daily life to the extent possible. In α-satellite, we first construct an attributed heterogeneous information network (AHIN) to model the collected multi-source data in a comprehensive way; and then we utilize meta-path based schemes to model both vertical and horizontal information associated with a given location (i.e., point of interest, POI); finally we devise a novel heterogeneous graph neural network to aggregate its neighborhood information to estimate the risk of the given POI in a hierarchical manner. To comprehensively evaluate the performance of α-satellite in real-time COVID-19 risk assessment, a set of studies are first performed to validate its utility; based on a real-world dataset consisting of 6,538 annotated POIs, the experimental results show that α-satellite achieves the area of under curve (AUC) of 0.9378, which outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines. After we launched the system for public tests, it had attracted 51,190 users as of May 30. Based on the analysis of its large-scale users, we have a key finding that people from more severe regions (i.e., with larger numbers of COVID-19 cases) have stronger interests using the system for actionable information. Our system and generated benchmark datasets have been made publicly accessible through our website.
Linear-Quadratic Stochastic Differential Games on Random Directed Networks

Author(s): Feng, Yichen; Fouque, Jean-Pierre; Ichiba, Tomoyuki | Abstract: The study of linear-quadratic stochastic differential games on directed networks was initiated in Feng, Fouque amp;amp; Ichiba \cite{fengFouqueIchiba2020linearquadratic}. In that work, the game on a directed chain with finite or infinite players was defined as well as the game on a deterministic directed tree, and their Nash equilibria were computed. The current work continues the analysis by first developing a random directed chain structure by assuming the interaction between every two neighbors is random. We solve explicitly for an open-loop Nash equilibrium for the system and we find that the dynamics under equilibrium is an infinite-dimensional Gaussian process described by a Catalan Markov chain introduced in \cite{fengFouqueIchiba2020linearquadratic}. The discussion about stochastic differential games is extended to a random two-sided directed chain and a random directed tree structure.