cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sequence and position requirements for uridylate-rich downstream elements of polyadenylation signals.

Abstract We have defined the positional and sequence requirements of U-rich downstream elements using a simian virus 40 late polyadenylation signal containing a substituted downstream region. A UUUUU element will significantly increase the efficiency of 3' end processing when placed between 6 and 25 bases downstream from the cleavage site. Positions in this interval closer than 15 bases from the cleavage site, however, were noticeably less efficient. Placement of the UUUUU element between +20 and +25 caused a partial shift in cleavage site usage to a CA motif at +4. Mutational analysis indicated that the sequence requirements at individual positions of the UUUUU element were somewhat flexible. Changing more than one base of the UUUUU sequence, however, severely diminished the ability of the element to mediate efficient 3' end processing. Finally, although hnRNP C proteins specifically interact with U-rich sequences, this protein--RNA interaction is not required for efficient in vitro polyadenylation.
Degradation of leakage currents in solid tantalum capacitors under steady-state bias conditions

Degradation of leakage currents in various types of solid tantalum capacitors under steady-state bias conditions was investigated at temperatures from 105 °C to 170 °C and voltages up to two times the rated voltage. Variations of leakage currents with time under highly accelerated life testing (HALT) and annealing, thermally stimulated depolarization currents, and I-V characteristics were measured to understand the conduction mechanism and the reason for current degradation. During HALT the currents increase gradually up to three orders of magnitude in some cases, and then stabilize with time. This degradation is reversible and annealing can restore the initial levels of leakage currents. The results are attributed to migration of positively charged oxygen vacancies in tantalum pentoxide films that diminish the Schottky barrier at the MnO2/Ta2O5 interface and increase electron injection. A simple model allows for estimation of concentration and mobility of oxygen vacancies based on the level of current degradation.
Catalytic activation of hydrogen, silicon, and fluorine by transition-metal complexes

The remarkable versatility of palladium catalysis is exemplified by recent work in two distinct areas. Firstly, coupling chemistry is discussed, in which the reactive entity is gen- erated by cleavage of a C-H or C-Si bond. The second part concerns the activation of allylic C-F bonds, where divergence from the normal stereochemical pattern of the reaction was ob- served.
Recent developments in solar water-splitting photocatalysis

Although photovoltaic cells have great potential for supplying carbon-free energy, they suffer from the lack of an efficient and cost-effective energy storage process that can supply energy for transportation and nighttime use. A direct way to convert solar energy into chemical fuels would solve this problem. Of several possible schemes, the photon-driven electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen and oxygen has been studied most. Photoelectrolysis of water can be achieved with either self-supported catalysts or with photoelectrochemical cells. This article will introduce the basic principles of solar water splitting and highlight recent developments with semiconductor light absorbers and co-catalysts. The role of combinatorial approaches in identifying new metal oxide visible light-absorbing semiconductors will be briefly described, and the potential of using nanomaterials for more efficient devices will be discussed. Separate articles in this special issue will focus on recent developments in water-splitting concepts.
FACTORS IMPACTING FUTURE WEDDING TRENDS OF THE AMERICAN MILLENNIAL GENERATION

In contrast to dominant methods of information collection about wedding trends that survey women after their big day has already passed, a survey approach was used to quantify future wedding trends of brides-to-be in the American millennial generation. As research on wedding trends is limited, the study is exploratory in nature. Results identified ten significant factors pertaining to the wedding trends of the American millennial generation.
Finite Fields I: Basic Properties

In this chapter and the next, we study finite fields, which play an important role in the applications of field theory, especially to coding theory, cryptology and combinatorics. For a thorough treatment of finite fields, the reader should consult the book Introduction to Finite Fields and Their Applications, by Lidl and Niederreiter, Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Pursuing “model care” of transient ischemic attacks

It is never good to be a “high-risk” patient. For health care systems, however, high-risk patient populations provide high-value opportunities to improve outcomes. Patients with TIA represent such a targetable high-risk group. The high short-term risk of stroke after TIA and substantial proportion of strokes preceded by TIA1 imply that focusing on risk reduction in these patients can meaningfully reduce stroke incidence. The prevalence of systems designed to reduce stroke risk after TIA reflects the importance of this opportunity. In this issue of Neurology ®, Ranta and Barber2 present a narrative review of 7 such systems. These models originate from 5 different countries and differ considerably in their design and implementation.
Everyday Inclusions: Rethinking Ethnocracy, Kafala, and Belonging in the Arabian Peninsula

Scholarship on Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) states, which have the highest proportions of migrants in the world, usually explores how they are unique in their patterns of non-citizen exclusion. However, state discourses, geographies, and the heterogeneity of migration to the Gulf share similar traits with contemporary nations and states. Non-citizens are, as they are everywhere, active participants in Gulf state- and nation-building projects. Aiming to advance scholarship on belonging in the GCC states, in this paper, we propose a shift in focus from exclusion to inclusion in the way research questions are asked about Gulf societies and the people who reside in them. Doing so, we suggest, requires unpacking two hegemonic concepts in the regional studies scholarship: ‘ethnocracy’ and kafala. In their current usage, both terms have become ‘black boxed’, or reified, such that scholars have largely come to accept and reproduce the exceptionalism of the Gulf and refrain from asking a number of critical questions about the region, which might highlight the GCC states' fundamental normalcy. Through a reflexive approach that draws from our own previous and current research in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, we suggest ways that we might move beyond the rigidity of exclusion-centred narratives about the Gulf and instead consider the various ways that Gulf nationalisms themselves hail the non-citizen presence, and how non-citizens participate in discourses and practices of nationalism as well as statecraft in ways that cannot be reduced to nationality, class, race, or religion.
Medical Nutrition Therapy in Chronic Kidney Disease and Other Disorders

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) often coexists with cardiovascular disease and diabetes and requires medical nutrition therapy for optimal outcomes. Effective nutritional management should be correlated to the stage of CKD as dietary restriction will vary according to stage. Prevention of malnutrition is an important goal of medical nutrition therapy. Management of blood pressure and diabetes will have the greatest impact on delaying the progression of chronic kidney disease. Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Nutritional requirements in acute renal failure encompass both the catabolic state and the needs of the patient in renal failure.
A Virtual Id Routing Protocol for Future Dynamics Networks and Its Implementation Using the SDN Paradigm

In this paper, we propose Virtual Id Routing (VIRO) a novel "plug-&-play" non-IP routing protocol for future dynamics networks. VIRO decouples routing/forwarding from addressing by introducing a topology-aware, structured virtual id layer to encode the locations of switches and devices in the physical topology. It completely eliminates network-wide flooding in both the data and control planes, and thus is highly scalable and robust. VIRO effectively localizes the effect of failures, performs fast re-routing and supports multiple (logical) topologies on top of the same physical network substrate to further enhance network robustness. We have implemented an initial prototype of VIRO using Open vSwitch, and we extend it (both within the user space and the kernel space) to implement VIRO switching functions in VIRO switches. In addition, we use the POX SDN controller to implement VIRO's control and management plane functions. We evaluate our prototype implementation through emulation and in the GENI (the Global Environment for Network Innovations) testbed using many synthetic and real topologies. Our evaluation results show that VIRO has better scalability than link-state based protocols (e.g. OSPF and SEATTLE) in terms of routing-table size and control overhead, as well as better mechanisms for failure recovery.
Metal-cation-based anion exchange membranes.

Here we present the first metal-cation-based anion exchange membranes (AEMs), which were synthesized by copolymerization and cross-linking of a norbornene monomer functionalized with a water-soluble bis(terpyridine)ruthenium(II) complex and dicyclopentadiene. Each ruthenium complex has two associated counteranions, unlike most ammonium- and phosphonium-based membranes with single cation–anion pairs. The resulting AEMs show anion conductivities and mechanical properties comparable to those of traditional quaternary-ammonium-based AEMs as well as good alkaline stability and methanol tolerance. These results suggest that metal-cation-based polymers hold promise as a new class of materials for anion-conducting applications.
CULCULATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE IN ELECTROMAGNETIC STIRRING DURING CONTINUOUS CASTING OF STEEL

By using a transformed model equation of rotating magnetic field and the boundary renewal method, a numerical model has been developed to analyze the electromagnetic force field produced by the rotating magnetic field in electromagnetic stirring processing of continuous casting of steel. The model is used to calculate the magnetic fields in billets with different sizes. Results show that the calculated magnetic flux density agrees well with the experimental one. At the same time, the 3D distributions of electromagnetic forces are given in detail under variable parameters.
Detection of Histone(Nucleosome) and Its Value in Children with Lupus Nephritis

Objective Nucleosome is composed of histones and DNA.This study is aimed to discuss the deposition of nucleosome in kidney and its value by detecting histones in the kidney of children with lupus nephritis(LN).Method The deposition of histones and anti-IgG antibody was detected in 27 children with LN and 10 normal controls in frozen tissue sections by indirect immunofluorescence.In parallel,antibodies against ds-DNA,histones,and nucleosome in the serum samples were tested by ELISA.Result Of the 27 children with LN,21 were positive to histones(1 case of typeⅡ,3 cases of typeⅢ,14 cases of typeⅣ,and 3 cases of typeⅤ).There was no statistical significant difference of staining intensity of histones among different pathological types(H=8.71,P0.05).Positive stains were mainly located in the mesangial region and basement membrane while all nephron from normal controls were negative to histonesstain.Among the 21 children with LN who were positive to histone stain,1 case was negative to anti-IgG antibody stain in kidney.The anti-IgG antibody stain of the other 6 children with LN were negative but were positive to histone stain.In all of the serum samples of 27 children with LN,antibodies against ds-DNA,histones,and nucleosome could be detected in different degree.Conclusion Histones(nucleosome) deposition in kidney is related to the ocurrence of LN in children.However,the pathogenesis of LN is complex.Immunocomplex deposition mediated by histones(nucleosome) may be not the only mechanism for the development of lupus nephritis in children.
Accretion physics: It's not U, it's B

Black holes grow by accreting mass, but the process is messy and redistributes gas and energy into their environments. New evidence shows that magnetic processes mediate both the accretion and ejection of matter.
Methods and Concepts of Biometrics Applied to Teratology

Some procedures are described which are used frequently in the statistical analysis of data from teratological studies. For the most part, the discussion here focuses on those species that produce litters with more than one offspring. There is a question of what teratological indices provide the most useful information. A discussion is presented on the proper choice of the experimental unit, the litter or fetus, for determining sample sizes. Owing to the large experimental variation often encountered in teratological studies, the desirability of replicated experiments is stressed. Measures of lethality and teratogenicity are discussed. Statistical tests for comparing treated and control animals are given. The use of fitting mathematical models to describe doseresponse relationships is discussed.
Cancer patients at high risk for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting – prediction assessments/tools

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is associated with a significant deterioration in quality of life and is perceived by patients as a major adverse effects of the treatment.Areas covered: In order to minimize the effects of CINV on patients’ quality of life, practitioners should prescribe prophylactic antiemetics using the recommendations of the various international antiemetic guidelines. In addition, patients’ specific risk factor for CINV should be assessed to determine if additional interventions should be implemented for specific patients prior to the first course of chemotherapy.Expert commentary: If patients develop breakthrough, refractory, and/or anticipatory CINV despite the use of guideline directed antiemetics, additional antiemetics and/or non-pharmacologic interventions should be implemented. The purpose of the review is to outline an approach for the assessment and implementation of effective prophylactic measures to prevent CINV.
Impact of 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists (ASCO/CAP) guidelines on HER2 fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) testing in breast cancers: Experience from a national reference laboratory.

e23188Background: Accurate HER2 testing is expected to identify patients who will benefit from HER2 directed therapy (HDT) minimizing false positive and negatives. Like many biologic processes, HER...
The physics of long- and intermediate-wavelength asymmetries of the hot spot: Compression hydrodynamics and energetics

The effect of asymmetries on the performance of inertial confinement fusion implosions is investigated. A theoretical model is derived for the compression of distorted hot spots, and quantitative estimates are obtained using hydrodynamic simulations. The asymmetries are divided into low ( l < 6 ) and intermediate ( 6 < l < 40 ) modes by comparison of the mode wavelength with the hot-spot radius and the thermal-diffusion scale length. Long-wavelength modes introduce substantial nonradial motion, whereas intermediate-wavelength modes involve more cooling by thermal losses. It is found that for distorted hot spots, the measured neutron-averaged properties can be very different from the real hydrodynamic conditions. This is because mass ablation driven by thermal conduction introduces flows in the Rayleigh–Taylor bubbles that results in pressure variations, in addition to temperature variations between the bubbles and the neutron-producing region. The differences are less pronounced for long-wavelength asymme...
Rational design of molecular crystals for enhanced charge transfer properties

Here, using solution based self-assembly, we contrast a three-dimensional co-crystal, where a [1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT) based donor and a tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) based acceptor leads to a mixed stacking sequence with pronounced intermolecular hybridization, with the donor–acceptor bilayer. Despite a comparable increase in conductivity, we observe a co-crystal with unique mechano-pyro-electric coupling properties.
Molecular changes associated with increased TNF-α-induced apoptotis in naïve (TN) and central memory (TCM) CD8+ T cells in aged humans.

Progressive T cell decline in aged humans is associated with a deficiency of naive (TN) and central memory (TCM) T cells. We have previously reported increased Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced apoptosis in TN and TCM T cells in aged humans; however, the molecular basis of increased apoptosis remains to be defined. Since expression of TNF receptors (TNFRs) was reported to be comparable in young and aged, we investigated signaling events downstream of TNFRs to understand the molecular basis of increased TNF-α-induced apoptosis in aged TN and TCM CD8+ cells. The expression of TRAF-2 and RIP, phosphorylation of JNK, IKKα/β, and IκBα, and activation of NF-κB activation were significantly decreased in TN and TCM CD8+ cells from aged subjects as compared to young controls. Furthermore, expression of A20, Bcl-xL, cIAP1, and FLIP-L and FLIP-S was significantly decreased in TN and TCM CD8+ cells from aged subjects. These data demonstrate that an impaired expression/function of molecules downstream TNFR signaling pathway that confer survival signals contribute to increased apoptosis of TN and TCM CD8+ cells in aged humans.
The archaeology and remote sensing of Santa Elena's four millennia of occupation

In this study, we present the results of a comprehensive, landscape-scale remote sensing project at Santa Elena on Parris Island, South Carolina. Substantial occupation at the site extends for over 4000 years and has resulted in a complex array of features dating to different time periods. In addition, there is a 40-year history of archaeological research at the site that includes a large-scale systematic shovel test survey, large block excavations, and scattered test units. Also, modern use of the site included significant alterations to the subsurface deposits. Our goals for this present work are threefold: (1) to explicitly present a logical approach to examine sites with long-term occupations; (2) to examine changes in land use at Santa Elena and its implications for human occupation of this persistent place; and (3) to use the remote sensing program and past archaeological research to make substantive suggestions regarding future research, conservation, and management of the site. Our research provides important insight into the distribution of cultural features at this National Historic Landmark. While the majority of archaeological research at the site has focused on the Spanish period, our work suggests a complex and vast array of archaeological features that can provide insight into over 4000 years of history in the region. At a gross level, we have identified possible Late Archaic structures, Woodland houses and features, Late Prehistoric and early Historic council houses, and a suite of features related to the Spanish occupation which builds on our previous research at the site. In addition to documenting possible cultural features at the site, our work illustrates the value of multiple remote sensing techniques used in conjunction with close-interval shovel test data.
The First Eight Years of Radial Velocity Studies at Fick Observatory

The stellar radial velocity (RV) observations collected during the first eight years (1976–1984) of operation of the Fick Observatory photoelectric RV spectrometer have been tabulated for publication (Beavers and Eitter, 1986). Included are 16,000 observations of over 2,000 late-type stars. For these observations at the coude focus of the 61 cm telescope the velocity zero-point is virtually the same as that for the early Lick radial velocity survey (Campbell and Moore, 1928), i.e. Lick-Fick = -0.08±0.08 km/sec. The zero-point comparison for DAO spectrometer measurements is DAO-Fick = -0.54±0.05 km/sec. During the last four years of this study the error of the “high quality dip” observations is ±0.8 km/sec. Thirty-three of these stars have been selected for use as future bright (m < 7.0) velocity standards at Fick Observatory.
The polluter pays principle and Everglades restoration

Florida’s Agricultural Privilege Tax (APT) is a unique example of the “polluter pays principle” applied to reduce nonpoint source pollution. It has been more than 20 years since the APT was enacted as a building block for restoration of the Everglades ecosystem, the most extensive environmental restoration project in the world. This article provides a historical perspective on the environmental, socio-political, and institutional factors that led to the enactment and evolution of the APT. The efficiency and equity of the tax as part of a broader program to achieve water quality goals for the Everglades are also evaluated. A key result of this evaluation is that the APT has encouraged reductions in nutrient loads from agricultural areas, but these contributions have been limited. Dramatic increases in abatement costs to treat nonpoint outflows with stormwater treatment areas have occurred, and the timeline to achieve water quality objectives has been pushed forward by decades beyond the original goal. Contrary to the polluter pays principle, political compromises that have shaped the APT since its inception have shifted an increasing share of the burden to the public to reduce the flow of nutrients into the Everglades. An inconsistent regulatory approach to reduce nonpoint sources throughout the Everglades watershed may be the most important impediment to Everglades restoration.
Depression predicts longitudinal declines in social support among women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.

Objective Among breast cancer survivors, low social support is associated with adverse clinical and psychosocial outcomes. This study prospectively examined longitudinal trends in perceived social support in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer as a function of depression status prior to initiation of cancer treatment. Methods One hundred ten patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer and 59 age-matched noncancer controls completed behavioral measures at four assessments: prior to treatment and at 1 month, 1 year, and 2 years post-treatment. Participants reported their perceived tangible and emotional/informational support using the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey and were categorized as "depressed" or "non-depressed" based on the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18). Analyses first compared longitudinal trends in support between patients and controls and then examined differences in longitudinal trends as a function of depression status in patients only, controlling for key covariates. Results Both tangible and emotional/informational support decreased among breast cancer patients but increased or remained unchanged among noncancer controls across the assessments. Among patients, depressed individuals experienced a significant decline in both tangible (P = 0.004) and emotional/informational support (P = 0.013) between 1 month and 1 year post-treatment, which remained unchanged between 1 year and 2 years post-treatment. In contrast, nondepressed individuals had stable levels across all assessments. Depressed patients also had lower levels of both support types compared with nondepressed patients across all assessments. Conclusions Breast cancer patients with depressive symptomatology have an elevated risk for declines in perceived social support over time.
Metric dimension of fullerene graphs

A resolving set W is a set of vertices of a graph G ( V , E ) such that for every pair of distinct vertices u , v ∈ V ( G ) , there exists a vertex w ∈ W satisfying d ( u , w ) ≠ d ( v , w ) . A resolving set with minimum number of vertices is called metric basis of G . The metric dimension of G , denoted by dim( G ) , is the minimum cardinality of a resolving set of G . In this paper, we consider (3, 6) -fullerene and (4, 6) -fullerene graphs and compute the metric dimension for these fullerene graphs. We also give conjecture on the metric dimension of (3, 6) -fullerene and (4, 6) -fullerene graphs.
Giant Dendritic Struvite Calculus Associated with Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Ipsilateral Renal Pelvis and Bladder: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

AbstractRenal calculi weighing in excess of 100gm. are rare, since most stones cause arrest of renal function before they reach giant proportions. We report a rare case of a 100 per cent struvite calculus weighing 698gm., associated with transitional cell carcinoma of the ipsilateral renal pelvis. A summary of the large calculi reported in the recent literature is included.
Long-term fatigue damage assessment for a floating offshore wind turbine under realistic environmental conditions

Abstract Offshore wind energy has gained widespread attention and experienced a rapid development due to the significantly increasing demand for renewable energy over the past few years. Currently, the development of offshore floating wind turbines attracts lots of attention to harvest more energy from a sustained higher speed of offshore wind away from the coastline. With stronger cyclic wind and wave loadings, the floating wind turbine could possibly experience severe fatigue damages at certain critical locations, which might lead to a catastrophic failure. Evaluating accumulated fatigue damage for a floating wind turbine during its entire lifetime, therefore, becomes essential and urgent. As demonstrated in the codes, specifications, or design practices, fatigue assessments require massive computational costs and pose challenges to numerical simulations since lots of dynamic analyses under different environmental scenarios need to be performed. To reduce the calculation cost for this time-consuming process while maintaining high accuracy, a probabilistic long-term fatigue damage assessment approach is proposed in the present study by implementing a C-vine copula model and a surrogate model. The C-vine copula model provides a multivariate dependency description for the on-site wind and wave-related environmental parameters. Two surrogate models, including the Kriging model and the artificial neural network (ANN), are implemented to efficiently predict the short-term fatigue damages at critical locations of the floating wind turbine. The proposed long-term fatigue damage assessment framework is accurate and suitable for evaluating structural long-term fatigue damages accumulated in a real environment especially when effects from more environmental parameters are to be considered. Based on surrogate models, sensitivity analyses are carried out to investigate the relative significance of each environmental parameter on short-term fatigue damages. In addition, uncertainties from short-term fatigue damages are also incorporated into the probabilistic fatigue evaluation framework to assess the accumulated long-term fatigue damages for a spar type floating wind turbine.
CaMKII antagonism in the ventral tegmental area impairs acquisition of conditioned approach learning in rats

Abstract This study investigated the role of calcium2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), a protein in the second messenger pathway of NMDA receptors, in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the acquisition and performance of conditioned approach learning. Male Long-Evans rats (N = 79) were exposed to 3 (to test acquisition) or 7 (to test performance) conditioning sessions in which they received 30 paired presentations of a light stimulus (CS) and a food pellet (US) on a random time schedule. These conditioning sessions were then followed by one 30-min session without the CS or US and lastly by a CS-only test session, where only the light stimulus was presented (without food) according to the same schedule as the conditioning sessions. Bilateral intra-VTA injections of KN93 (vehicle, 3.0, 4.5 or 6.0 μg/0.5 μL), a CaMKII inhibitor, were administered prior to each conditioning session to test effects on the acquisition of conditioned approach or prior to the CS-only test session to test effects on the performance of conditioned approach. KN93, when given prior to conditioning sessions, significantly reduced the number of conditioned approach responses emitted during CS presentations in the CS-only test. When KN93 was given prior to the CS-only test it had no effect. These results suggest that CaMKII activation in the VTA is necessary for the acquisition, but not the performance, of reward-related learning.
Findings of routine nocturnal polysomnography in children with Down syndrome: a retrospective cohort study.

Abstract Study objective Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at risk for sleep disorders including; obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Although OSA is diagnosed by polysomnography (PSG), the practicality of PSG in DS is questionable. Further, OSA treatment efficacy in DS is largely unknown given the challenges of PSG. Our aims were to review (i) the feasibility of PSG, and (ii) the efficacy (improvement in obstructive apnea hypopnea index (OAHI)) of OSA treatment using follow-up PSG in DS. Methods Retrospective review of patients aged Results Among 248 patients with DS, only 11(4.4%) had unsuccessful PSG (TST Conclusions In a large cohort of DS children, PSG was well tolerated. Following AT or PAP therapy, post treatment PSG confirmed efficacy, although residual OSA was identified. PSG is thus both feasible and useful in identifying OSA, OSA treatment response and should guide in decision making in children with DS.
Robust and specific secretory IgA against SARS-CoV-2 detected in human milk.

The SARS-CoV-2 immune response in human milk has not yet been examined, although protecting infants and young children from COVID-19 is critical for limiting community transmission and preventing serious illness and death. Here, milk samples from eight COVID-19-recovered and seven COVID-19-suspected donors were tested for antibody (Ab) binding to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. All samples exhibited significant specific IgA reactivity to the full Spike, whereas 80% exhibited significant IgA and secretory (s)Ab binding to the Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD). Additionally, 67% samples exhibited IgG and/or IgM binding to RBD. IgA and sAb titers were highly correlated, indicating most IgA to be sIgA. Overall, these data indicate that a robust sIgA-dominant SARS-CoV-2 Ab response in human milk after infection should be expected in a significant majority of individuals. Further research is highly warranted to determine Ab functionality and the potential for exploiting extracted milk sIgA for therapeutic use.
Effectiveness of disinfectants against the spread of tobamoviruses: Tomato brown rugose fruit virus and Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus

Tobamoviruses, including tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) on tomato and pepper, and cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) on cucumber and watermelon, have caused many disease outbreaks around the world in recent years. With seed-borne, mechanical transmission and resistant breaking traits, tobamoviruses pose serious threat to vegetable production worldwide. With the absence of a commercial resistant cultivar, growers are encouraged to take preventative measures to manage those highly contagious viral diseases. However, there is no information available on which disinfectants are effective to deactivate the virus infectivity on contaminated hands, tools and equipment for these emerging tobamoviruses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a collection of 16 chemical disinfectants for their effectiveness against mechanical transmission of two emerging tobamoviruses, ToBRFV and CGMMV. Bioassay was used to evaluate the efficacy of each disinfectant based on virus infectivity remaining in a prepared virus inoculum after three short exposure times (10 s, 30 s and 60 s) to the disinfectant and inoculated mechanically on three respective test plants (ToBRFV on tomato and CGMMV on watermelon). Percent infection of plants was measured through symptom observation on the test plants and the presence of the virus was confirmed through an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with appropriate antibodies. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA based on data collected from three independent experiments. Through comparative analysis of percent infection of test plants, a similar trend of efficacy among 16 disinfectants was observed between the two pathosystems. Four common disinfectants with broad spectrum activities against two different tobamoviruses were identified. Those effective disinfectants with 90–100% efficacy against both tobamoviruses were 0.5% Lactoferrin, 2% Virocid, and 10% Clorox, plus 2% Virkon against CGMMV and 3% Virkon against ToBRFV. In addition, SP2700 generated a significant effect against CGMMV, but poorly against ToBRFV. Identification of common disinfectants against ToBRFV and CGMMV, two emerging tobamoviruses in two different pathosystems suggest their potential broader effects against other tobamoviruses or even other viruses.
Locality: The 3rd Wall and the Need for Innovation in Parallel Architectures

In the past we have seen two major “walls” (memory and power) whose vanquishing required significant advances in architecture. This paper discusses evidence of a third wall dealing with data locality, which is prevalent in data intensive applications where computation is dominated by memory access and movement – not flops, Such apps exhibit large sets of often persistent data, with little reuse during computation, no predictable regularity, significantly different scaling characteristics, and where streaming is becoming important. Further, as we move to highly parallel algorithms (as in running in the cloud), these issues will get even worse. Solving such problems will take a new set of innovations in architecture. In addition to data on the new wall, this paper will look at one possible technique: the concept of migrating threads, and give evidence of its potential value based on several benchmarks that have scaling difficulties on conventional architectures.
Does the precision and stability of value-added estimates of teacher performance depend on the types of students they serve?

Abstract In this paper, we investigate how the precision and year-to-year stability of a teacher’s value-added estimate relate to student characteristics. We find that teachers serving initially higher performing students have more precise value-added estimates and in most cases have higher year-to-year stability levels than teachers with lower performing students. We also decompose the variation in value-added estimates into components that reflect persistent and transitory variation in true teacher performance as well as variation caused by imprecision in the estimates. We find that teachers with lower performing students have less precision in their estimates and more transitory variation in value-added from year to year than other teachers. Our estimates imply that if teachers serving initially lower performing students had levels of precision and transitory variation in their value-added estimates equal to those serving higher performing students, the year-to-year stability in their estimates would actually exceed that of teachers with initially higher performing students.
Developing Peer Review of Instruction in an Online Master Course Model

In this study we looked at how participation in a peer-review process for online Statistics courses utilizing a master course model at a major research university affects instructor innovation and instructor presence. We used online, anonymous surveys to collect data from instructors who participated in the peer-review process, and we used descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis to analyze the data. Our findings indicate that space for personal pedagogical agency and innovation is perceived as limited because of the master course model. However, responses indicate that participating in the process was overall appreciated for the sense of community it helped to build. Results of the study highlight the blurred line between formative and summative assessment when using peer review of instruction, and they also suggest that innovation and presence are difficult to assess through short term observation and through a modified version of a tool (i.e., the Quality Matters rubric) intended for the evaluation of an online course rather than the instruction of that course . The findings also suggest that we may be on the cusp of a second stage for peer review in an online master course model, whether in-person or online. Our findings also affirm the need for creating a sense of community online for the online teaching faculty. The experiences of our faculty suggest that peer review can serve as an integral part of fostering a departmental culture that leads to a host of intangible benefits including trust, reciprocity, belonging, and, indeed, respect.
Clinical trial challenges, design considerations, and outcome measures in rare CNS tumors

Clinical research for patients with rare cancers has been very challenging. First and foremost, patient accrual to clinical trials typically requires a network, cooperative group, or even international collaboration in order to achieve the necessary numbers of patients to adequately evaluate a new treatment or intervention. Similar limitations in preclinical models and in the understanding the natural history of the disease or pertinent prognostic factors further impede the development of hypothesis-based, appropriately powered clinical trials. However, despite these challenges, several studies in rare cancers, including ependymoma and subependymal giant cell astrocytoma, have helped to establish new treatment regimens. Importantly, in these seminal trials, patient outcomes measures were critical in describing the clinical benefit derived from the therapy, underscoring the need to incorporate these measures in future trials. While obstacles still remain, novel and creative approaches to clinical trial designs have been developed that can be used to study new treatments for patients with rare cancers, thereby addressing a significant unmet need.
Videotaping the Will Execution Ceremony—Preventing Frustration of the Testator's Final Wishes

The legal system has increasingly utilized modern technology in carry out its duties including, more recently, the videotape. It thus would seem that serious consideration of using videotapes in a will situation is warranted. This article delineates the uses of videotaping will execution ceremonies and the theories of admissibility of the videotape to prove the testator's statements made contemporaneously with the will execution. This can be distinguished from the more traditional and established methods of acquiring admission of the testator's declarations. Also detailed are the substantive and technical contents of the videotaped will execution ceremony. The article further presents the benefits as well as the potential difficulties of using videotape for this purpose. The author concludes with a look to the future: the possibility that a will execution videotape could serve as the will itself.
An (architecture-centric) approach for tracing, organizing, and understanding events in event-based software architectures

Applications built in a strongly decoupled, event-based interaction style have many commendable characteristics, including ease of dynamic configuration, accommodation of platform heterogeneity, and ease of distribution over a network. It is not always easy, however, to humanly grasp the dynamic behavior of such applications, since many threads are active and events are asynchronously (and profusely) transmitted. This paper presents a novel, complete approach that aids in the understanding, debugging, and visualization of the behaviors of event-based applications. It applies to real, implemented systems, without requiring the presence of component source code, and supports partial or incomplete, heuristic behavior specifications. A prototype implementation of our approach was applied to two systems, including the prototype itself, indicating that our approach is feasible, scalable, and shows promising results in terms of increasing the understandability of these types of systems.
A Heuristic Program for Solving a Scientific Inference Problem: Summary of Motivation and Implementation

The “scientific method” involves two very different kinds of intelligent behavior, sometimes called induction and deduction respectively. A theory is somehow “induced”, sometimes out of sheer speculation, in order to account for some hitherto baffling or provocative observations of nature. Then, the theory is applied deductively, i.e., logically or mathematically rigorous conclusions are made. If the theory is true, then certain results must be obtained. Philosophers of science are now generally agreed that a theory can never be proven or logically derived from factual data. We accept a theory as true when it has made some new predictions, different from the predictions of other theories, which survive the test of experimental measurement.
Outside Directors, Politics, and Firm Performance

A substantial number of outside directors have experience in non-business arenas, especially in government and in the private practice of law. Moreover, for most of these directors, the entirety of their experience is outside of business. We propose a political role for such directors and argue that they are selected, at least in part, because of their value in enlisting government favors or forestalling government constraints. To assess this possibility, we analyze the backgrounds of the 3,220 directors of 264 large U.S. manufacturing firms. We also compile a novel dataset that contains detailed measures of the importance of politics to firms. We have three main findings. First, we find that outside directors with political and legal backgrounds appear to be chosen, at least in part, because of this experience. Second, we find that such directors are more common on the boards of firms for which politics is more important. Both findings are consistent with a political role for these outside directors. Third, we explore the possibility that recent findings showing a negative relation between firm performance and both board size and the proportion of outside directors could be driven by politics. Specifically, politics may lead simultaneously to larger and more outsider oriented boards and to poorer firm performance. We assess this possibility by including, first, the incidence of directors with political or legal backgrounds and, second, our measures of the importance of politics in regressions that find this negative effect of board size and composition on firm performance. Although our results are modest, the added political variables are typically negatively related to firm performance and the addition of these variables weakens the effect of both board size and board composition on firm performance. This is evidence consistent with politics underlying the negative relation between board size and composition and firm performance. Overall, this paper provides empirical evidence on an important, but neglected, role of corporate boards and provides a rational explanation of the otherwise puzzling negative relation between firm performance and both board size and the proportion of outside directors.
REVIEW OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE RELEASE OF WATER FROM CELLULOSIC FIBERS DURING PAPER MANUFACTURE

The ease with which water is released from cellulosic fiber material during the manufacturing of paper can affect both the production rate and the consumption of energy during the manufacturing process. Important theoretical contributions to dewatering phenomena have been based on flow through packed beds of uniformly distributed fibers. Such descriptions are able to explain why resistance to dewatering increases as a function of the hydrodynamic surface area of fibers. More recent studies have demonstrated a critical role of finely divided matter. If the fines are unattached to fibers, then they tend to move freely through the fiber mat and plug channels in the paper web during the dewatering process. Dewatering also is affected by the deformability of cellulosic fibers and by whether the fibers easily slide past each other, thereby forming a dense mat. By emphasizing the role of fine matter, colloidal forces, and conformability of cellulosic materials, one can gain a more realistic understanding of strategies that papermakers use to enhance initial drainage and vacuum-induced dewatering.
The Nature of Binding of Competitive Inhibitors to Alcohol Dehydrogenases

Two classes of metal ion binding sites in horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase are distinguished by the observed rates of replacement of zinc by cobalt in acetate and in 2-(N-morpholino)-ethane sulfonic acid buffers. Hybrid enzymes containing both zinc and cobalt metal ions have been prepared and exhibit visible absorption maxima at 655 nm and 740 nm. Binding of azide, a substrate-competitive inhibitor, to yeast alcohol dehydrogenase and to native and metallo hybrid horse liver alcohol dehydrogenases has been investigated. The infrared absorption maximum for azide bound to yeast alcohol dehydrogenase in the presence of NAD+ is 2070 cm-1, and that for azide bound to native horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase is 2065 cm-1. The frequency of azide in a solution of a hybrid liver enzyme is within experimental error equal to that observed upon binding to the zinc enzyme. Kinetic analysis also indicates that the binding of azide to zinc and hybrid liver enzymes is similar. No change is observed in the visible spectrum of the hybrid enzyme upon binding of azide. No change in the visible spectrum is observed upon binding of pyrazole, a neutral substrate-competitive inhibitor, to hybrid horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase. Stopped flow measurements show that the rate of binding of pyrazole to the hybrid enzyme is at least as great as, and perhaps greater by a factor of two than, binding to the native enzyme. Similarly, 1,10-phenanthroline binds twice as fast to the hybrid enzyme as to the zinc enzyme, and no change in the visible spectrum is observed upon binding of this coenzyme-competitive inhibitor. These results may be interpreted to indicate that none of these inhibitors binds to the "easily exchangeable" metal ions in horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase.
Thrombospondin-1 Acts Via IAP/CD47 to Synergize With Collagen in 2β1-Mediated Platelet Activation

Integrin-associated protein (IAP; or CD47) is a receptor for the cell binding domain (CBD) of thrombospondin-1 (TS1). In platelets, IAP associates with and regulates the function of IIbβ3 integrin (Chung et al, J Biol Chem 272:14740, 1997). We test here the possibility that CD47 may also modulate the function of platelet integrin 2β1, a collagen receptor. The CD47 agonist peptide, 4N1K (KRFYVVMWKK), derived from the CBD, synergizes with soluble collagen in aggregating platelet-rich plasma. 4N1K and intact TS1 also induce the aggregation of washed, unstirred platelets on immobilized collagen with a rapid increase in tyrosine phosphorylation. The effects of TS1 and 4N1K on platelet aggregation are absolutely dependent on IAP, as shown by the use of platelets from IAP−/− mice. Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) prevents 4N1K-dependent aggregation on immobilized collagen but does not inhibit the 4N1K peptide stimulation of 2β1-dependent platelet spreading. Finally, a detergent-stable, physical association of IAP and 2β1 integrin is detected by coimmunoprecipitation. These results imply a role for IAP and TS1 in the early activation of platelets upon adhesion to collagen.