cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thyroid hormone alters in vitro DNA binding of monomers and dimers of thyroid hormone receptors.

T3 binds to intranuclear thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) on target DNA elements and exerts profound influences on gene expression by mechanisms not yet characterized. We used gel shift assays and cross-linking experiments to demonstrate that T3 greatly induced the monomeric binding of the hTR beta produced in Escherichia coli to DNA. T3 also increased the gel mobility of these monomer-DNA complexes suggesting they undergo a ligand-induced conformational change. This effect did not depend on the orientation and spacing of the half-site motifs within the DNA structure. In contrast, T3 had diverse effects on the dimeric interaction. T3 increased the dimeric interaction to the palindrome GGTCA.TGACC (an effect lost by spacing the half-sites with 3 base pairs) and decreased the dimeric interaction to the inverted palindrome containing the TGACC.GGTCA motif. Scatchard analyses indicated that the T3 enhancement on binding was due to an increase in the number of TR with high affinity DNA-binding activity and not ...
Discovery of an O VI-emitting Nebula around the Hot White Dwarf KPD 0005+5106

A survey of diffuse interstellar sight lines observed with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer has led to the serendipitous discovery of a high-ionization nebula around the hot white dwarf KPD 0005+5106. The nebula has an O VI λ1032 surface brightness of up to 25,000 photons s-1 cm-2 sr-1, making it the brightest region of extended O VI emission in our survey. Photoionization models using the incident white dwarf continuum successfully reproduce the observed O VI intensity. The O VI emission arises in the highly ionized inner region of a planetary nebula around KPD 0005+5106. This newly discovered nebula may be one member of a class of high-ionization planetary nebulae that are difficult to detect in the optical, but that can be easily identified in the ultraviolet.
Disparity Between Diastolic Mitral Flow Characteristics and Left Ventricular Mass in Essential Hypertension

Because left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and aging have been associated with abnormal LV relaxation, this study evaluated the impact of LV mass on the filling patterns derived by Doppler in a large population aged > or =50 years. Results suggest that in essential hypertension the intrinsic myocardial composition is more important than cardiac hypertrophy in determining LV diastolic properties. This apparent discrepancy between LV mass and diastolic filling patterns highlights the difficulty in establishing the diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction in elderly hypertensives.
Polyglutamine Disease Modeling: Epitope Based Screen for Homologous Recombination using CRISPR/Cas9 System.

We have previously reported the genetic correction of Huntington's disease (HD) patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells using traditional homologous recombination (HR) approaches. To extend this work, we have adopted a CRISPR-based genome editing approach to improve the efficiency of recombination in order to generate allelic isogenic HD models in human cells. Incorporation of a rapid antibody-based screening approach to measure recombination provides a powerful method to determine relative efficiency of genome editing for modeling polyglutamine diseases or understanding factors that modulate CRISPR/Cas9 HR. Abstract We have previously reported the genetic correction of Huntington's disease (HD) patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells using traditional homologous recombination (HR) approaches. To extend this work, we have adopted a CRISPR-based genome editing approach to improve the efficiency of recombination in order to generate allelic isogenic HD models in human cells. Incorporation of a rapid antibody-based screening approach to measure recombination provides a powerful method to determine relative efficiency of genome editing for modeling polyglutamine diseases or understanding factors that modulate CRISPR/Cas9 HR. Abstract We have previously reported the genetic correction of Huntington's disease (HD) patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells using traditional homologous recombination (HR) approaches. To extend this work, we have adopted a CRISPR-based genome editing approach to improve the efficiency of recombination in order to generate allelic isogenic HD models in human cells. Incorporation of a rapid antibody-based screening approach to measure recombination provides a powerful method to determine relative efficiency of genome editing for modeling polyglutamine diseases or understanding factors that modulate CRISPR/Cas9 HR.
The Utility of Scientific Jury Selection Still Murky After 30 Years

Many attorneys place considerable importance on the jury selection process. In order to more effectively screen potential jurors, attorneys involved in major litigation frequently hire jury selection consultants. Consultants use a variety of survey and observational approaches based on social science research techniques to conduct scientific jury selection (SJS). Over the past three decades, psychologists have engaged in research that has implications for evaluating the utility of SJS. In some cases, these research endeavors have examined the general relationship between background characteristics of research participants and their inclinations to either convict or acquit a defendant. In other cases, SJS techniques have been studied in actual trials, as well as mock trial simulations. In this article, I review these lines of research and conclude that while SJS may have some utility, methodological flaws associated with existing research prevent clear conclusions from being drawn. There is currently a str...
One Insider's Reflections on White Privilege, Race and their Professional Relevance

White privilege is the term used to refer to institutional race-based inequities that advantage some and disadvantage others. In this article, I introduce the construct of White privilege, provide ...
Plasma Fluorescent Oxidation Products: Independent Predictors of Coronary Heart Disease in Men

Fluorescent oxidation products in plasma are stable with routine blood collection methods and reflect oxidation in food, animals, and in vitro. Whether plasma fluorescent oxidation products predict future coronary heart disease has not been established. Among US men without cardiovascular disease who provided blood specimens in 1994 in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the authors confirmed 266 incident nonfatal myocardial infarction or fatal coronary heart disease endpoints during 6 years of follow-up. Using a nested case-control design, they measured baseline levels of fluorescent oxidation products. Each case was matched with two controls according to age, smoking status, and time of blood draw. The relative risk of coronary heart disease between extreme quintiles was 1.83 (95% confidence interval: 1.07, 3.13; p for trend = 0.005) in the multivariate analysis controlling for other cardiovascular risk factors and traditional lipid markers. Further adjustment for C-reactive protein and glycated hemoglobin A(1c) did not materially attenuate this association. The multivariate-adjusted relative risk between extreme quintiles was 3.36 (95% confidence interval: 1.33, 8.48; p for trend = 0.005) when the analysis was restricted to men who had fasted for more than 10 hours before blood draw. The authors found that plasma fluorescent oxidation products significantly and independently predicted coronary heart disease incidence among men without previous cardiovascular events.
Local on-line planning in biped robot locomotion amongst unknown obstacles

The focus of this work is on sensor-based motion planning for a biped robot operating in a scene with unknown obstacles. Using on-line sensor information about its surroundings, the robot negotiates obstacles on its way. Depending on the obstacle's shape, size, and location, the decision-making system chooses an appropriate walking pattern. The robot then negotiates the obstacle and resumes stable motion. The walking pattern is chosen from a small number of precomputed patterns that together cover a reasonably wide range of possible situations. The overall control strategy is based on the concept of Zero Moment Point. Each precomputed pattern guarantees dynamically stable motion; its stability is obtained by adjusting the swing leg center of mass and hip position trajectories. The approach is fast enough for real-time implementation. Simulation experiments demonstrate stability of motion when negotiating various obstacles.
Rejecting the American Dream: Men Creating Alternative Life Goals

This article uses ethnographic research to explore the dynamics of belief, morality, and life change within the mythopoetic men's movement. Examining the creation of local meaning within this context shows that its members have developed a significant criticism of the material values and work ethic connected to what has been called the American Dream. They are generally upper and upper middle-class white men who have come out ahead in the economic competition and yet have found it emotionally damaging and unfulfilling for themselves and their wives, children, and others in their lives. As a result, they take significant steps to change their lives, deprioritizing work and economic success in favor of emotional values and spiritual well-being. The analysis synthesizes ethnography with cultural sociology to explore this curious critique of modern culture and the corresponding efforts at microlevel social change.
GridForce: a comprehensive model for improving the technical preparedness of our workforce for the Grid

An enormous challenge when the Internet matured into a mainstream technology was meeting the information technology workforce needs in a competitive business environment. In anticipation of a similar scenario for upcoming Grid technology we are in the process of implementing a comprehensive multi-tier NSF-supported adaptation of Grid technology in education. The project addresses the abovementioned challenge at three important levels of our educational system: the undergraduate, the graduate and the industrial training. Our Grid technology-based curriculum has been developed for a sequence of two new courses for senior level undergraduates. Some courses would be taught at the graduate level with emphasis on research. Additionally, seminars are planned for spreading Grid awareness to the local businesses and industries by using domain-dependent Grid applications. This work presents the details of the model we call GridForce (Grid For Research Collaboration and Education) and our experiences with its implementation, with the objective of improving the technical preparedness of the workforce for the Grid.
Rethinking Replacement and Resistance

Before 2000, the year in which the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7; Prevnar, Wyeth) was introduced into the US infant immunization schedule, most antibiotic-resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae belonged to serotypes included in PCV7. During just the first 3 years after vaccine introduction, we observed profound reductions in the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (e.g., bacteremia and meningitis) caused by vaccine serotypes and their associated antibiotic-resistant strains, not only among vaccinated children but also among persons too young [1] and too old [2] to receive the vaccine. The dramatic success of PCV7 in reducing pneumococcal disease in wealthy countries [3-6] and the potential benefits to poor countries [7, 8] have led to World Health Organization recommendations for the global introduction of conjugate vaccines [9] and to extraordinary efforts to finance vaccine purchase and delivery to the poorest countries of the world [10]. At the same time we were heralding the benefits of PCV7, we were alert to the unintended consequence of serotype replacement. This phenomenon, demonstrated convincingly in randomized, controlled trials [11], occurs when serotypes not included in a conjugate vaccine colonize the nasopharynx and "replace" the vaccine serotypes whose colonization is prevented by the vaccine. The net effect is that PCV7 does not reduce the overall prevalence of nasopharyngeal colonization. PCV7 serotypes are, on average, better suited to causing invasive disease than non-PCV7 serotypes [12, 13]; therefore, vaccine-induced elimination of PCV7 serotypes from the nasopharynx leads to a net reduction in invasive disease and antibiotic resistance. Of all the serotypes, 19A may come closest to having certain characteristics that make it a successful
Physical‐Organic Chemistry: A Swiss Army Knife

Physical-organic chemistry "i st he nam eg iven to as ubfield of chemistry that applie sp hysical-chemica lt ech- niques to problems in organic chemistry (especially prob- lems involvin gr eaction mechanisms) ." Physical-organic" is, however ,a lso as hort-hand term that describes as trategy for exploratory experimental research in aw ide rang eo f fields (organic, organometallic, and biological chemistry; surface and materials science ;c atalysis ;a nd others )i n which the key element is the correlation of systematic changes in molecular structure with changes in properties and function so fi nterest (reactivity ,m echanism, physical or biological characteristics). This perspective gives ap ersonal view of the historical development, and of possible future applications ,o ft he physical-organic strategy.
From Royal to Parliamentary Rule Without Revolution, Credible Commitments and the Market for Power within Divided Governments

The domain of possible power assignments within a multicameral government is multidimensional and essentially continuous. This allows policymaking authority to be divided in many ways and also allows constitutional exchange to take place along many margins of power. This internal market for authority over budgets and public policy allows policymaking power without threat of civil war or violent revolution. Both external political and economic developments can create opportunities for mutually beneficial reassignments of policymaking power, which in unusual circumstances can lead to parliamentary supremacy. Historical examples from English history are used to demonstrate the relevance of the analysis.
Exploration of a Metastable Normal Spinel Phase Diagram for the Quaternary Li–Ni–Mn–Co–O System

In an attempt to enlarge the normal spinel phase diagram for the quaternary Li–Ni–Mn–Co–O system, the transformation at moderate temperatures (150–210 °C) of layered Li0.5(Ni1–y–zMnyCoz)O2 (R3m), which were obtained by an ambient-temperature extraction of lithium from Li0.5(Ni1–y–zMnyCoz)O2, into normal spinel-like (Fd3m) Li(Ni1–y–zMnyCoz)2O4 has been investigated. The phase-conversion mechanism has been studied by joint time-of-flight (TOF) neutron and X-ray diffractions, thermogravimetric analysis, and bond valence sum map. The ionic diffusion of lithium (3a, 6c) and nickel (3a, 3b) ions has been quantified as a function of temperature. The investigated spinel phases are metastable, and they are subject to change into rock-salt phases at higher temperatures. The phases have been characterized as cathodes in lithium-ion cells. The study may serve as a strategic model to access other metastable phases by low-temperature synthesis approaches.
Teaching NeuroImages: Severe vasospasm in traumatic brain injury

A 45-year-old man had a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) with multicompartmental hemorrhages (figure 1). He was initially noted to be awake and following commands with his right side. Two weeks later, his examination deteriorated to coma with flaccid quadriplegia. Initial workup, including EEG, was unrevealing. MRI brain showed new multiterritorial infarcts (figure 1); a catheter-based angiogram confirmed severe vasospasm in several large vessels (figure 2).
Investigation of the Interaction of Sodium Chloride and Two Amino Sulfonic Acids, HEPES and MOPSO, by EMF Measurements

Ionic interactions in the two systems NaCi-HEPES (N-2-hydroxyetliylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid ) and NaCl-MOPSO (3-(N-Morpholino)-2hydroxypropanesulfonic acid) have been studied in terms of their mutual influence on the respective activity coefficients of each component. Activity coefficients for each component of the two systems and for corresponding buffers are calculated from emf measurements of solutions containing NaCl, the aminosulfonic acid, and its conjugate base in a NalSE/solution/ AgCI-Ag cell at 5, 15, 25, and 37 °C.
Inhibition and stimulation of growth of Pythium by streptomycin.

Streptomycin inhibits the growth of some Oomycetes; for a review of the several possible modes of action of streptomycin in this group of fungi see Gottlieb and Shaw (3). As with many growth factors (hormones, antibiotics), the exact mechanism by which streptomycin influences the organism is only partially understood (4). In this context of uncertainty, the study of the growth of an isolate of Pythium aphanidermvaturm (Eds.) Fitzp. that is either inhibited, stimulated or not affected by streptomycin depending on environmental factors, will enlarge the picture of growth-regulating substances in fungi. Pythium irregulare Buis. and two different isolates of P. aphanidermatlum (No. 1 and 2) were used in this study. They were grown on a basal medium of Machlis solution (6) (containing 1lo glucose, 0.005M (NH4)2HPO4), with Na2SO4 H40 substituted for methionine) (1). The media consisted of either this basal medium alone, the basal medium amended with streptomycin sulfate (Nutritional Biochemicals Corp.) or these media amended with 0.015M glycine. The fungi were grown in 150 ml of these solutions in 250-ml flasks at 22 and 28 C for varying periods of time. Growth was determined by removing the mycelium from the liquid and weighing it after it had dried at 65 C for 24 h.
Observation of Therapeutic Effects of Early Hemoperfusion on Patients with Severe Acute Pancreatitis

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of early hemoperfusion on patients with severe acute pancreatitis(SAP).Methods12 patients with SAP were first given conventional treatment,then followed by hemoperfusion as soon as the circulation became steady,2 hours each time,3～5 times depending on patient′s condition.Result12 patients′s condition was significantly stable after hemoperfusion,5 times at most.All the patients recovered and were discharged after successful treatment.ConclusionFor the SAP,early hemoperfusion can efficiently improve the clinical symptoms,maintain the internal milieu and microcirculation,decrease the mortality,and it is worth clinical application.
Determination of the beam centroid of an obstructed focused Gaussian laser beam

Diffraction of an obstructed focused Gaussian laser beam has been treated theoretically using the Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral and was found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements. The obstruction is a vertically oriented opaque cylinder treated as a flat hard aperture. Measurements and calculations are compared for the diffracted irradiance profile and the beam centroid as a function of cylinder diameter and lateral and longitudinal placement along the optic axis. The cylinders used were gauge pins and/or wires with diameters from 0.5 to 100 mil.
The Frobenius Problem

This paper considers the “Frobenius problem” : Given n natural numbers a1, a2, ... a n such that the greatest common divisor of a1,a2, ... a n equal to 1, find the largest natural number that is not expressible as a nonnegative integer combination of them. This problem is NP-hard; but for the cases n=2, 3 polynomial time algorithms are known to solve it. Here a polynomial time algorithm is given for every fixed n. This is done by first proving an exact relation between the Frobenius problem and a geometric concept called the “covering radius”. Then a polynomial time algorithm is developed for finding the covering radius of any polytope in a fixed number of dimensions. The last algorithm relies on a structural theorem proved here that describes for any polytope K, the set K + Zn = {x : x ∈ Rn; x = y + z; y ∈ K; z ∈ Zn∼. The proof of the structural theorem relies on some recent developments in the Geometry of Numbers. In particular, it draws on the notion of “width” and covering radius introduced in Kannan and Lovasz [7], a theorem of Hastad [5] bounding the width of lattice-point-free convex bodies and the techniques of Kannan, Lovasz and Scarf [8] to study the shapes of a polyhedron obtained by translating each facet parallel to itself. The concepts involved are defined from first principles.
Economic Partner and Exotic Other: China and Japan at San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition

China's and Japans role in San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition demonstrates that although both nations sought to use the fair to construct themselves as progressive, modern nations, they faced entrenched anti-Asian racism in California, which contributed to the production of contradictory representations of the Chinese and Japanese at the fair.
Abstract 1626: Krüppel-like factor 8 activates the transcription of C-X-C cytokine receptor type 4 to promote breast cancer cell invasion, transendothelial migration and metastasis

Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA Kruppel-like factor 8 (KLF8) has been strongly implicated in breast cancer metastasis. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here we report a novel signaling from KLF8 to C-X-C cytokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) in breast cancer. Overexpression of KLF8 in MCF-10A cells induced CXCR4 expression at both mRNA and protein levels, as determined by quantitative real-time PCR and immunoblotting. This induction was well correlated with increased Boyden chamber migration, matrigel invasion and transendothelial migration (TEM) of the cells towards the ligand CXCL12. On the other hand, knockdown of KLF8 in MDA-MB-231 cells reduced CXCR4 expression associated with decreased cell migration, invasion and TEM towards CXCL12. Histological and database mining analyses of independent cohorts of patient tissue microarrays revealed a correlation of aberrant co-elevation of KLF8 and CXCR4 with metastatic potential. Promoter analysis indicated that KLF8 directly binds and activates the human CXCR4 gene promoter. Interestingly, a CXCR4-dependent activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a known upregulator of KLF8, was highly induced by CXCL12 treatment in KLF8-overexpressing, but not KLF8 deficient cells. This activation of FAK in turns induced a further increase in KLF8 expression. Xenograft studies showed that overexpression of CXCR4, but not a dominant-negative mutant of it, in the MDA-MB-231 cells prevented the invasive growth of primary tumor and lung metastasis from inhibition by knockdown of KLF8. These results collectively suggest a critical role for a previously unidentified feed-forward signaling wheel made of KLF8, CXCR4 and FAK in promoting breast cancer metastasis and shed new light on potentially more effective anti-cancer strategies. Citation Format: Debarati Mukherjee, Heng Lu, Lin Yu, Satadru K. Lahiri, Tianshu Li, Jihe Zhao. Kruppel-like factor 8 activates the transcription of C-X-C cytokine receptor type 4 to promote breast cancer cell invasion, transendothelial migration and metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1626.
A Randomized Controlled Trial to Increase Navy Bean or Rice Bran Consumption in Colorectal Cancer Survivors.

ABSTRACTConsumption of navy beans (NB) and rice bran (RB) have been shown to inhibit colon carcinogenesis. Given the overall poor diet quality in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors and low reported intake of whole grains and legumes, practical strategies to increase consumption merit attention. This study determined feasibility of increasing NB or RB intake in CRC survivors to increase dietary fiber and examined serum inflammatory biomarkers and telomere lengths. Twenty-nine subjects completed a randomized controlled trial with foods that included cooked NB powder (35 g/day), heat-stabilized RB (30 g/day), or no additional ingredient. Fasting blood, food logs, and gastrointestinal health questionnaires were collected. The amount of NB or RB consumed equated to 4–9% of subjects' daily caloric intake and no major gastrointestinal issues were reported with increased consumption. Dietary fiber amounts increased in NB and RB groups at Weeks 2 and 4 compared to baseline and to control (P ≤ 0.01). Telomere length...
Medicaid And Private Insurance: Evidence And Implications

Health insurance coverage of women and children in the United States over the past decade has been marked by two striking trends. The first is a dramatic increase in coverage through Medicaid—the public insurance program that covers low-income women and children, among others. The second is an equally dramatic decline in private coverage. Medicaid coverage of children rose from 15 percent in 1987 to 21 percent in 1992, but private insurance coverage declined by almost the same amount (from 77 percent to 69 percent). On net, the uninsurance rate was unchanged. For women of childbearing age (ages fifteen to forty-four), Medicaid coverage rose from 8 percent to 11 percent, but the rate of private coverage fell from 76 percent to 71 percent. On net, the rate of uninsurance rose by approximately two percentage points. The similarity between the increase in Medicaid coverage and the reduction in private coverage for these two groups leads one to ask whether these two trends are related. One natural linkage between them is the “substitution hypothesis;” that is, persons who are made eligible for Medicaid may drop their private insurance in favor of the public program. Since the average privately insured family pays more than $1,000 out of pocket for health care each year (including premium contributions and cost sharing) andMedicaid is essentially free, this is not an implausible hypothesis. The extent of insurance substitution cannot be inferred from time-series data alone. There was a sizable recession in 1990–1991, and there is always less private coverage and more public coverage during such a time. Also, there has been a long-term secular decline in private insurance coverage in the United States, related to changes in the nature of employment and employers’ views about the benefits they need to offer to attract workers. Determiningwhether there is some substitution of public for private insurance among these other trends is an important issue. Here we review our research on this question. n Methods. The major hurdle for any attempt at measuring the degree of substitution is figuring out how to differentiate between substitution and the other hypotheses noted above for changes in insurance coverage. There is no “correct” way to do this. If this were a controlled trial, we would randomly make some persons eligible for public insurance and others ineligible.We then would examine how many of those eligible for public insurance moved from private to public insurance and compare that with the change in private insurance in the control group. Of course, no experiment of this form has
Raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) as Sentinels of Trace Element Contamination and Physiological Effects of Exposure to Coal Fly Ash

Anthropogenic pollutants disrupt global biodiversity, and terrestrial sentinels of pollution can provide a warning system for ecosystem-wide contamination. This study sought to assess whether raccoons (Procyon lotor) are sentinels of local exposure to trace element contaminants at a coal fly ash site and whether exposure resulted in health impairment or changes in the intestinal helminth communities. We compared trace element accumulation and the impact on health responses and intestinal helminth communities of raccoons inhabiting contaminated and reference sites of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (South Carolina, USA). Data on morphometry, hematology, histopathology, helminth community and abundance, and liver trace element burdens were collected from 15 raccoons captured adjacent to a coal fly ash basin and 11 raccoons from a comparable uncontaminated site nearby. Of eight trace elements analyzed, Cu, As, Se, and Pb were elevated in raccoons from the contaminated site. Raccoons from the contaminated site harbored higher helminth abundance than animals from the reference site and that abundance was positively associated with increased Cu concentrations. While we found changes in hematology associated with increased Se exposure, we did not find physiological or histological changes associated with higher levels of contaminants. Our results suggest that raccoons and their intestinal helminths act as sentinels of trace elements in the environment associated with coal fly ash contamination.
Resource Contracts for Java

Writing specifications about program behavior is hard. Writing specifications about non-functional effects such as resource usage is often even harder. If manually instrumenting the program is not an option, programmers have to rely on comment-based specification languages like JML to introduce ghost variables and other fairly abstract concepts that are complicated and hard to maintain. Even worse, most static analysis tools nowadays operate on bit- or bytecode and cannot process those type of specificationsTo address this problem, we propose a library-based specification formalism for time complexity in Java. The approach is inspired by the success of assertion libraries like CodeContracts and Guava. Our library provides a set of methods and enumerated types that allow the user to write complexity assertions in a 'human' readable form and without instrumenting the code. On the backend, we provide a bytecode rewriting tool that uses these assertions to automatically instrument the program with counter variables. The transformed program can then be checked via testing or off-the-shelf automated static analyzers
WITHDRAWN: Exact Statistical Mechanics of a One-Dimensional System with Coulomb Forces

A system consisting of an equal number of positively and negatively charged “sheets” is considered in thermal equilibrium, with motion restricted to one dimension. The configurational part of the partition function can be represented as a sum of terms, each a simple algebraic expression. The summation is performed with the technique of generating functions. The asymptotic form in the limit of an infinite system is obtained from the pole of the generating function closest to the origin. This pole is the solution of a certain transcendental equation for which an explicit analytic representation in terms of an infinite continued fraction is available. It is shown that this equation is identical with the characteristic equation associated with the even Mathieu functions of even order. In the limit, when the ratio of interparticle force to pressure is small, the system behaves as an ideal gas, the deviations from this state being expandable in powers of the square root of this ratio. In the opposite limit of large ratio, the particles associate in pairs of opposite charge, thus behaving like an ideal gas of neutral “molecules” which have an internal vibrational degree of freedom. The analysis may be generalized to include the effect of a constant external electric field. For a given pressure there is a critical field which can never be surpassed without disrupting equilibrium.
Fast Embedding of Constrained Satisfaction Problem to Quantum Annealer with Minimizing Chain Length

Recent research has demonstrated promising results in solving constrained satisfaction problem (CSP) using D-Wave quantum annealer. However, the embedding of the CSP suffers drawbacks such as long embedding time in addition to poor quality due to long chains that reduce the ground state probability. To address those issues, we propose an effective embedding technique that reduces the embedding time and minimizes the chain length. We compared to the most recent method published in DAC 2016. Experiments using existing D-Wave 2× quantum annealer show that the proposed embedding technique increases the ground state probability by 29% on average. Furthermore, to demonstrate the efficiency, we embedded large problems onto a predicted C100 D-Wave Chimera architecture. Experimental results show that our approach reduces the run-time by 3.4× on average with reduced longest chain length.
Real-Time Metabolic Interactions between Two Bacterial Species Using a Carbon-Based pH Microsensor as a Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy Probe.

We have developed a carbon-based, fast-response potentiometric pH microsensor for use as a scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) chemical probe to quantitatively map the microbial metabolic exchange between two bacterial species, commensal Streptococcus gordonii and pathogenic Streptococcus mutans. The 25 μm diameter H+ ion-selective microelectrode or pH microprobe showed a Nernstian slope of 59 mV/pH and high selectivity against major ions such Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+. In addition, the unique conductive membrane composition aided us in performing an amperometric approach curve to position the probe and obtain a high-resolution pH map of the microenvironment produced by the lactate-producing S. mutans biofilm. The x-directional pH scan over S. mutans also showed the influence of the pH profile on the metabolic activity of another species, H2O2-producing S. gordonii. When these bacterial species were placed in close spatial proximity, we observed an initial increase in the local H2O2 concentration of ...
Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Infliximab in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Infliximab was the first monoclonal antibody to be approved for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). It has been shown to induce and maintain both clinical remission and mucosal healing in pediatric and adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who are unresponsive or refractory to conventional therapies. The administration of infliximab is weight-based and the drug is administered intravenously. The volume of distribution of infliximab is low and at steady state ranges from 4.5 to 6 L. Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, such as immunoglobulins, are cleared from the circulation primarily by catabolism. Median infliximab half-life is approximately 14 days. Infliximab concentration–time data in patients with CD and UC have been shown to be highly variable within an individual patient over time and between individuals by multiple population pharmacokinetic models. Covariates that have been identified to account for a part of the observed inter- and intra-individual variability in clearance are the presence of antidrug antibodies, use of concomitant immunomodulators, degree of systemic inflammation, serum albumin concentration, and body weight, which can affect the pharmacodynamic response. This article provides a comprehensive review of the clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of infliximab, as well as the role of therapeutic drug monitoring in the treatment of IBD.
The paradox of care in behavioral epigenetics: Constructing early-life adversity in the lab.

Many epigenetic studies focus on how stress, trauma, and care become molecularly embodied, affect gene expression without changing DNA sequence, and produce changes that influence the health and behavior of individuals, their offspring, and future generations. This article describes how care has become central in research on the epigenetic effects of early-life adversity. My analysis draws on ethnographic research in a behavioral epigenetics laboratory in the United States. Building on traditions in feminist science studies, I document how care is enacted with research samples, experimental protocols, and behavioral endpoints in experiments with model organisms. My findings point to tensions between researchers’ care for the data and their measurement of adversity as a discrete variable in the form of maternal interaction, neglect, and abuse in mice. I argue that these tensions suggest a ‘paradox of care’ that is actively shaping how epigenetic knowledge is produced and its impacts both within and beyond the lab, including for understandings of how early-life experiences shape human health, and our social expectations of mothers. This study suggests that more complex explanations of health and development promised by epigenetics are simultaneously constructed and constrained by caring practices in the laboratory.
Endoscopic Ear Surgery Skills Training Improves Medical Student Performance.

Objective Analyze medical student performance using an endoscopic ear surgery (EES) skills trainer over time. Design Simulation experience. Setting Surgical skills lab. Participants Five medical students and 1 expert surgeon completed 3 training sessions using an EES trainer to practice specific tasks designed to improve instrument control. During each session, participants performed 3 tasks, such as placing beads onto wires, 5 times per session for a total of 15 trials per task. Exercises were scored based on completion time. Results were compared before and after training. Pre- and post-task surveys were administered. Results Prior to skills training, 0% of medical students reported feeling comfortable holding an endoscope or ear instruments. For students, overall mean completion times decreased significantly for each exercise by the conclusion of the training experience: placing beads on wires improved from 152 to 44 seconds (p Conclusions Novice surgeons can exhibit significant skill improvement with repetitive practice on an EES trainer. Variable baseline skill and improvement rates highlight the individual characteristics of skill acquisition, which may be important factors during otolaryngology and endoscopic ear surgery training.
Base-controlled Fe(Pc)-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of thiols for the synthesis of S-S and S-P(O) bonds.

Fe(Pc)-Catalyzed aerobic oxidation of thiols for the synthesis of disulfides has been developed under mild reaction conditions. In addition, an aerobic oxidative cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) reaction of thiols with P(O)–H compounds (H-phosphonates and H-phosphine oxide) for the formation of S–P(O) bonds has been demonstrated under the Fe(Pc) catalysis system with a base additive. Control experiments revealed that the use of a base (DIPA) in this system controls the synthetic pathways in which thiophosphates are formed.
Effects of Low-Level Flow Orientation and Vertical Shear on the Structure and Intensity of Tropical Cyclones

AbstractThis article explores the simultaneous effect of vertical wind shear (VWS) and low-level mean flow (LMF) on tropical cyclone (TC) structure evolution. The structural evolution of 180 wester...
B-Cell Precursor Cell Lines

Many BCP cell lines have been described, but most are used only for a specific purpose, and few have been adequately characterized. Cell lines provide a useful laboratory tool, but scientists should be aware of their limitations and care should be taken in extrapolating data to in vivo situations.
Future Perspectives on Knee Ligament Surgery

Knee ligament injury is one of the most common injuries in sports medicine. Operative treatment has changed over the years from tenodesis to diagnostic open anatomic reconstruction too fast, and efficient arthroscopic transtibial techniques and now back to anatomic reconstructions. Recent literature has suggested the adoption of the anatomic approach to ligament reconstruction, with the goal of restoring normal knee kinematics and preserving long-term knee health. Emphasis is placed on long-term knee health as previous reconstruction techniques were showing to be associated with a high incidence of osteoarthritis. This chapter will focus on the current state of knee ligament surgery, as well as discuss the future as it relates to surgical technique, biologics, imaging, and kinematics.
Diversity and composition of cave methanotrophic communities

ABSTRACT Methane oxidizing microorganisms (methanotrophs) are a major sink for the greenhouse gas methane (CH4), and have been investigated in several environments. Recent studies show that CH4 consumption in caves is pervasive and is a result of active methanotrophy. However, little is known about what controls the distribution and abundance of methanotrophs in caves. We sampled 42 sediments from 21 caves in North America to elucidate the factors shaping cave methanotroph communities. We hypothesized that cave methanotroph communities should be related to cave-air CH4 concentrations and exhibit dispersal-limited biogeographical patterns due to the insular nature of caves. Using 16S rRNA sequencing, we recovered methanotrophs from 88 % of samples collected, including locations in caves where CH4 concentrations were at or below detection limits (≤ 0.3 ppmv). Methanotrophs from the Methylocystaceae (Type II) were the dominant methanotrophs as has been seen in other environments with low CH4 concentrations. Despite being insular ecosystems, we found that the composition of methanotrophs did not vary with distance, both within and among caves. Instead, we found evidence for a core microbiome, perhaps suggesting that high-affinity methanotrophs are not dispersal limited. Additionally, we observed that the relative abundance of methanotrophs was positively related the proportion of gravel in cave sediments and the relative abundance of methylotrophs. Last, we found that the relative abundance of methanotrophs was inversely correlated with cave-air CH4 concentrations. Our results suggest that methanotrophs in caves have influences on cave biogeochemistry beyond CH4 oxidation and that high-affinity methanotrophs may disperse easily into caves. IMPORTANCE Recent observations have shown that the atmospheric greenhouse gas methane (CH4) is consumed by microorganisms (methanotrophs) in caves at rates comparable to CH4 oxidation in surface soils. Caves are abundant in karst landscapes that comprise 14 % of Earth’s land surface area, and therefore may be acting as a substantial CH4 sink. A detailed ecological understanding of the forces that shape methanotrophic communities in caves is lacking. We sampled cave sediments to better understand the community composition and structure of cave methanotrophs. Our results show that the relative abundance of methanotrophs was negatively correlated with CH4 concentrations in cave air and that methanotrophic communities were similar to each other over distances of 10s of m to 100s of km.
Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Positive Psychology Intervention on Depression and Optimism in a Heart Failure Clinic: A Program Design and Evaluation Initiative

Purpose Depression, a significant problem in the Heart Failure (HF) population, is associated with increased hospital readmissions and doubled mortality risk when compared to non-depressed HF patients. It is not known whether a Positive Psychology Intervention (PPI) can result in increased optimism and improved depression symptoms. Our aim was to examine the efficacy of a 6-week, phone-based, PPI in patients with heart failure. In this prospective study we explored the feasibility of implementing this approach in a HF clinic (HFC) at a large, academic institution. All patients attending a HFC complete the patient-reported outcomes assessment including the PROMIS Depression (PROMIS-D). Patients with PROMIS-D score greater than or equal to 55 were eligible for the pilot. Study interventions consisted of a 6-week PPI with treatment manual along with serial PHQ-9, one Likert-style optimism question, and repeat PROMIS-D. Results Out of 305 patients screened, 47 were approached for PROMIS-D scores greater than or equal to 55, 37 started the PPI with 13 completing at least 3 exercises and 6 completing the full 6-week course. Average completion time among finishers was 7.5 weeks (range 47-60 days). The PPI resulted in promising decreases in PHQ-9 scores (median difference= -1, p=0.15) and PROMIS-D scores (median difference= -7, p=0.05) and an increase in optimism score (median difference= +1, p=0.15). Conclusions For HF patients completing at least three weeks of PPI, promising improvement was observed in patient-reported symptoms of depression and optimism. Approaches to improve patient acceptance and adherence to PPI should be explored coupled with repeated testing of this PPI with larger samples. This project will continue to evolve in Cardiac Rehabilitation, where it is anticipated that flexible workflow dynamics and increased follow-up will improve adherence.
Transitioning from flexible to structured heavy haul operations to expand the capacity of single-track shared corridors in North America:

North American freight railroads typically exhibit flexible operations with variable train schedules where freight trains are dispatched when filled to length or weight capacity, and train dispatch...
Psychometric testing of the developmental care scale for neonates with congenital heart disease.

PURPOSE Developmental care of neonates with CHD is essential for proper neurodevelopment. Measurement of developmental care specific to these neonates is needed to ensure consistent implementation within and across cardiac ICUs. The purpose of this study was to psychometrically test the Developmental Care Scale for Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease, which measures the quality of developmental care provided by bedside nurses to neonates in the cardiac ICU. METHODS Psychometric testing was conducted with 119 cardiac ICU nurses to provide evidence of internal consistency reliability and construct validity. Participants were predominantly young (median = 32 years), white (90%) females (93%) with bachelor's degrees (78%) and a median experience in the cardiac ICU of 7 years. RESULTS Evidence of internal consistency reliability (α =.89) was provided with corrected item-total correlations ranging from .31 to .77. Exploratory factor analysis provided evidence of construct validity as a unidimensional scale, as well as a multidimensional scale consisting of four subscales: creating the external environment, assessment of family well-being, caregiver activities toward the neonate, and basic human needs. CONCLUSIONS Evidence of reliability and validity of the 31-item Developmental Care Scale for Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease was established with nurses caring for neonates in the cardiac ICU. This instrument will serve as a valuable outcome measure tasked with improving developmental care performance and makes it possible to identify relationships between developmental care performance and neonatal neurodevelopmental outcomes in future research.
Introducing the Peabody-Yale Reference Obsidians (PYRO) sets: Open-source calibration and evaluation standards for quantitative X-ray fluorescence analysis

Abstract A series of well-characterized specimens, known as the Peabody-Yale Reference Obsidians (PYRO) sets, has been designed to aid with calibrating and assessing X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) data, including portable XRF (pXRF) measurements, for obsidian sourcing. Each of these ten matched sets consists of 35 specimens: 20 specimens for calibration and 15 specimens for evaluation. These sets include not only obsidians with common geochemical compositions (i.e., alkaline rhyolites) but also rarer ones (i.e., peralkaline rhyolitic, trachytic, and andesitic specimens, including East African Rift obsidians). When used as described, the PYRO sets are suitable to calibrate and evaluate XRF data for obsidians worldwide. A set can be borrowed following loan policies of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, which will also accession a set. Publishing all source information – from their names and GPS coordinates to the datasets used for the recommended values – not only allows the sets to be replicated by others but also fulfills the demands of scientific transparency. Their main purpose is facilitating collaborations and “big data” projects, and the PYRO sets were designed to complement existing protocols for calibration and evaluation. In short, the sets are intended as a tool for almost anyone (e.g., a student who borrows an instrument to source artifacts) to meet – and even exceed – experts' practices involving transparency, accuracy, and reproducibility.