cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of platelet-derived growth factor on DNA synthesis and gene expression in bone marrow stromal cells derived from adult and old rats.

The effects of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) on DNA synthesis and mRNA expression of osteoblast markers in marrow stromal cells derived from adult (6 months) and old (24 months) rats were examined. Treatment of stromal cells from adult rats with dexamethasone induced the appearance of osteoblast-like cells. PDGF partially also inhibited the differentiation of stromal cells induced by dexamethasone. In cultures of serum-starved stromal cells, PDGF stimulated [3H]-thymidine incorporation into DNA in a dose-dependent manner with a maximum stimulation of 15-fold at 500 ng/ml. By comparison, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) has a small effect on [3H] -thymidine incorporation. The effect of PDGF and IGF-I on DNA synthesis was additive. Treatment of the confluent stromal cells from adult rats with PDGF increased the mRNA level of osteopontin fourfold without any significant effect on alkaline phosphatase and type I collagen mRNAs. In contrast, dexamethasone stimulated the mRNA expression of alkaline phosphatase, type I collagen, and osteopontin 2.1-, 2.3-, and 14-fold, respectively. Addition of PDGF to dexamethasone-treated cells failed to induce any further increase in osteopontin expression whereas the expression of alkaline phosphatase and type I collagen was partially reduced. The expression of osteocalcin mRNA was negligible in stromal cells but stimulated several fold by dexamethasone and 1,25(OH)2D3. PDGF inhibited drastically the elevation of osteocalcin mRNA. In contrast, IGF-I stimulated type I collagen expression 100% without any appreciable effect on the expression of osteopontin and alkaline phosphatase. The stimulatory effect of PDGF on osteopontin expression was augmented by IGF-I. Furthermore, PDGF attenuated the stimulatory effect of IGF-I on type I collagen expression. The responses of cultured cells from old rats to growth factors were also examined. PDGF or PDGF plus IGF-I increased [3H]-thymidine incorporation in stromal cells from old rats but to a lesser extent. However, PDGF was equally effective in stimulating osteopontin expression in cells from both adult and old rats. We concluded that PDGF is a potent mitogen but that the response of stromal cells from old rats is impaired. In addition, PDGF stimulates osteopontin expression in stromal cells and this effect is not age dependent. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Beyond "spatial ability": examining the impact of multiple individual differences in a perception by proxy framework

Prior research has proposed the use of a Perception by Proxy framework that relies on human perception to support actions of autonomy. Given the importance of human perception, this framework highlights the need to understand how human cognitive abilities factor into the human-robot dynamic. The following paper uses a military reconnaissance task to examine how cognitive abilities interact with the gradual implementation of autonomy in a Perception by Proxy framework (i.e., autonomy to detect; autonomy to support rerouting) to predict three dimensions of sequential performance (i.e., speeded detection; target identification; rerouting). Results showed that, in addition to effects of autonomy and task setting, different individual abilities predicted unique aspects of performance. This highlights the need to broaden consideration of cognitive abilities in HRI.
Gonococcal Cervicitis: A Role for Biofilm in Pathogenesis

Neisseria gonorrhoeae forms a biofilm in flow cells on glass coverslips as well as on primary cervical epithelial cells. Electron microscopic studies of cervical biopsy specimens from 10 patients with culture-proven N. gonorrhoeae infection revealed evidence of biofilm formation in 3 of the biopsy specimens. These biofilms showed gonococci in networks of bacterial membrane within the biofilm structure. This finding was also observed in biofilms formed over glass cover slips and after infection of primary cervical tissue in vitro. The importance of membranous networks in Neisseria biofilm formation was demonstrated with N. gonorrhoeae strain 1291-msbB, which shows a markedly decreased ability to bleb. This mutant formed significantly less biofilm over glass surfaces and cervical epithelial cells, and complementation showed reversion to wild-type biofilms. Gonoccal biofilms, as part of the cervical infection, may be involved in the mechanisms by which asymptomatic infections, persistence, and increased antibiotic resistance occur.
Parallel algorithms for on-line dynamic data compression

The authors consider parallel algorithms for online (real-time) data compression that use dynamic (adaptive) learning by textual substitution. The author's model of computation is a systolic pipe, in which processors are arranged in a linear array (each processor connected only to its left and right neighbors). He first considers an array of processors that is large enough to accommodate one dictionary entry per processor. He then discusses using an existing parallel machine where the number of available processors might be limited. >
Birth Assistance in the Rural Area: Patterns of Delivery Assistance

According to the Bariba ideal, a pregnant woman during her first pregnancy will be tutored by relatives and friends in appropriate behavior and interdictions. During subsequent pregnancies, she is expected to be self-sufficient and not to need counsel except in the event of abnormalities. Additionally, the ideal woman delivers alone, calling for assistance to cut the cord after the delivery of the child. Even a primipara is expected to try to deliver alone.
Anesthetic effects on the thalamus, reticular formation and related systems

Anesthetics are used extensively clinically and in research. However, the mechanisms by which anesthetics act to produce the desired end-points of unconsciousness, amnesia and immobility are only beginning to be understood. Recent evidence indicates that the immobilizing effect of anesthetics occurs largely in the spinal cord, whereas it is assumed that the sedative and amnesic actions occur in the brain. Our recent studies, however, indicate that anesthetics exert an indirect, spinal effect on reticulo-thalamo-cortical mechanisms of arousal and, thus, might affect consciousness and memory. These data are consistent with reports of reduced anesthetic requirements for sedation during neuroaxial blockade by spinal anesthesia. The presumed mechanism is decreased afferent impulses to the brain, which reduces arousal and, thereby, reduces sedative requirements. We have used the complementary approaches of single-unit recording and intracranial electrical stimulation to investigate the effects of a common inhaled anesthetic, isoflurane, on reticulo-thalamo-cortical arousal in a goat preparation. The excitatory responses of single neurons in the midbrain reticular formation (MRF) to noxious somatic stimulation are significantly attenuated when the concentration of systemically delivered isoflurane was increased above 1 MAC (the minimum alveolar concentration required to prevent coordinated movement in response to a noxious stimulus), in parallel with a loss of stimulus-evoked desynchronization of the cortical electroencephalogram (EEG). Part of this depressant effect is mediated indirectly in the spinal cord because selectively reducing the concentration of isoflurane delivered differentially to the spinal cord enhances MRF neuronal responses and cortical arousal. In goats anesthetized with isoflurane at ∼1 MAC, electrical stimulation at distinct sites, including the MRF, peduncolopontine tegmentum (PTT), and medial/intralaminar thalamus, elicits desynchronization of the cortical EEG. Increasing the concentration of isoflurane above 1 MAC abolished this effect. In goats prepared for differential delivery of anesthetic to the cranial and torso (spinal) circulations, electrical stimulation in the medial thalamus elicits greater cortical desynchronization at lower currents when the concentration of isoflurane delivered to the spinal cord is reduced while maintaining the cranial isoflurane concentration ≥1 MAC. These results indicate that the depressant effect of isoflurane anesthesia on spinal somatosensory transmission indirectly influences the threshold for reticulo-thalamo-cortical arousal.
CUDA Grid-Level Task Progression Algorithms

Tasking is a prominent parallel programming model. In this paper we conduct a first study into the feasibility of task-parallel execution at the CUDA grid, rather than the stream/kernel level, for regular, fixed in-out dependency task graphs, similar to those found in wavefront computational patterns, making the findings broadly applicable. We propose and evaluate three CUDA task progression algorithms, where threadblocks cooperatively process the task graph, and argue about their performance in terms of tasking throughput, atomics and memory IO overheads. Our initial results demonstrate a throughput of 38 million tasks/second on a Kepler K20X architecture.
Prolonged continuous-flow left ventricular assist device support and posttransplantation outcomes: A new challenge

Abstract Objective To assess outcomes after cardiac transplantation in patients receiving long-term continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) support. Methods The United Network of Organ Sharing Database was used to identify 7808 heart transplant recipients between January 2011 and March 2014, 2456 (31.5%) of whom were bridged with CF-LVAD. Recipients were stratified by CF-LVAD duration: group 1, 2 years (n = 267; 10.9%). Results Compared with patients in groups 1 and 2, patients in group 3 spent more time as status 1A, had a greater body mass index and higher serum creatinine level, more often received blood transfusions and antibiotics, and more often developed device-related infection and life-threatening arrhythmia before transplantation. Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed statistically significant lower survival rates in group 3 compared with groups 1 and 2, at both 30 days (92.9% vs 96.4% vs 95.5%; group 1 vs group 3, P = .009) and 2 years (78.9% vs 88.2% vs 86.3%; group 1 vs group 3, P = .001) posttransplantation. Multivariable analyses identified duration of CF-LVAD support as a significant factor for 2-year posttransplantation mortality (hazard ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.34; P = .040). Conclusions A bridge-to-transplant (BTT) strategy with a CF-LVAD has become standard care for patients with advanced heart failure. Duration of CF-LVAD support is associated with increased midterm mortality, warranting early transplantation in the modern BTT era.
What are snow leopards really eating? Identifying bias in food‐habit studies

Declining prey populations are widely recognized as a primary threat to snow leopard (Panthera uncia) populations throughout their range. Effective snow leopard conservation will depend upon reliable knowledge of food habits. Unfortunately, past food-habit studies may be biased by inclusion of nontarget species in fecal analysis, potentially misinforming managers about snow leopard prey requirements. Differentiation between snow leopard and sympatric carnivore scat is now cost-effective and reliable using genetics. We used fecal mitochondrial DNA sequencing to identify scat depositors and assessment bias in snow leopard food-habit studies. We compared presumed, via field identification, and genetically confirmed snow leopard scats collected during 2005 and 2012 from 4 sites in Central Asia, using standard forensic microscopy to identify prey species. Field identification success varied across study sites, ranging from 21% to 64% genetically confirmed snow leopard scats. Our results confirm the importance of large ungulate prey for snow leopards. Studies that fail to account for potentially commonplace misidentification of snow leopard scat may mistakenly include a large percentage of scats originating from other carnivores and report inaccurate dietary assessments. Relying on field identification of scats led to overestimation of percent occurrence, biomass, and number of small mammals consumed, but underestimated values of these measures for large ungulates in snow leopard diet. This clarification suggests that the conservation value of secondary prey, such as marmots (Marmota spp.) and other small mammals, may be overstated in the literature; stable snow leopard populations are perhaps more reliant upon large ungulate prey than previously understood. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.
Action of Stains on Living Bacteria

In studies on the streptococci and lactobacilli now in progress it became necessary to carefully examine the methods used in staining bacteria. The staining technique of the bacteriologist, for the most part, has advanced very little beyond that employed by the early workers. Perhaps Dobell1 did more to point out certain fallacies of these methods than any other, yet his work is rarely quoted. The seemingly accepted technique is to dry on a slide the film of liquid containing the organism. After flaming, aqueous solutions of dye are flooded over the films. The delicate cytoplasm of the cell must necessarily be somewhat distorted by such methods. There are some descriptions of vital staining but generally little has been accomplished. We attempted to study the subject, using, as suggested by Dobell, a very large cell. In this case a Gram-positive organism from the gut of a guinea pig was used.The method of staining was to add a water solution of the stain directly to either a broth or saline suspension of ...
Effect of an insect growth regulator on two parasitoids developing from treated tobacco budworm larvae.

Insect growth regulator treatment of larvae of Heliothis Virescens (F.) serving as a host for either Cardiochiles nigriceps Viereck (Hymenoptera: braconidae) or Campoletis Sonorensis (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) resulted in a delay in the endoparasitoids emergence from the host. In addition, a decrease in the number of emerging adult C. nigriceps and a change in sex ratio was observed after treatment of the tobacco budworm serving as a host.
State Policy Choices and Responsiveness of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program During the Great Recession

ABSTRACTThe Great Recession that officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009 was the most severe recession since the Depression of the 1930s. To accurately explain the number of families and children receiving cash assistance from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) during the 2007 recession, it is important to capture state-level variations in recessionary periods, economies, and TANF policies. This study breaks ground by using multiple regression to explain the number of families enrolled in the TANF program when the TANF caseload peaked in each of the 51 jurisdictions’ recessions as a function of their severe TANF policies while controlling for benefit levels, unemployment rates, and size of populations. Key findings strongly suggest that all else constant, TANF did not grow as much as it would have in the 2007 recession partially due to shorter lifetime limits (less than 60 months) or temporary time limits, multiple severe policies, or benefit cuts witnessed in some states. This...
Hope and Sorrow

I was training a group of about 20 farmers, religious leaders, teachers, and local officials in psychosocial capacity building in the wake of a 22-year armed conflict involving the Lords Resistance...
Acute reaction to insect sting.

For most people, insect stings are among life's little hurts but are nota cause for concern. This is not so for someone hypersensitive to the sting of a bee or other insect. A severe reaction can be fatal in moments. Hyposensitization plus instruction in what to do when stung can be lifesaving.
A molecular dynamics study of the effect of thermal boundary conductance on thermal transport of ideal crystal of n-alkanes with different number of carbon atoms

Phase change materials such as n-alkanes that exhibit desirable characteristics such as high latent heat, chemical stability, and negligible supercooling are widely used in thermal energy storage applications. However, n-alkanes have the drawback of low thermal conductivity values. The low thermal conductivity of n-alkanes is linked to formation of randomly oriented nano-domains of molecules in their solid structure that is responsible for excessive phonon scattering at the grain boundaries. Thus, understanding the thermal boundary conductance at the grain boundaries can be crucial for improving the effectiveness of thermal storage systems. The concept of the ideal crystal is proposed in this paper, which describes a simplified model such that all the nano-domains of long-chain n-alkanes are artificially aligned perfectly in one direction. In order to study thermal transport of the ideal crystal of long-chain n-alkanes, four (4) systems (C20H42, C24H50, C26H54, and C30H62) are investigated by the molecular dynamics simulations. Thermal boundary conductance between the layers of ideal crystals is determined using both non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) and equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD) simulations. Both NEMD and EMD simulations exhibit no significant change in thermal conductance with the molecular length. However, the values obtained from the EMD simulations are less than the values from NEMD simulations with the ratio being nearly three (3) in most cases. This difference is due to the nature of EMD simulations where all the phonons are assumed to be in equilibrium at the interface. Thermal conductivity of the n-alkanes in three structures including liquid, solid, and ideal crystal is investigated utilizing NEMD simulations. Our results exhibit a very slight rise in thermal conductivity values as the number of carbon atoms of the chain increases. The key understanding is that thermal transport can be significantly altered by how the molecules and the nano-domains are oriented in the structure rather than by the length of the n-alkane molecules.
Legal pluralism as a new framework to understand bullying interventions: A review of “Don't Be So Gay!”: Queers, Bullying, and Making Schools Safe

AbstractThis book review highlights three main contributions by Donn Short's book “Don't Be So Gay!”: Queers, Bullying, and Making Schools Safe (2012) to the field of study on bullying and queer youth: students as experts, legal pluralism, and ethnographic descriptions of different schools within one school board. Short offers a new theoretical lens to deepen educators’ understanding of the barriers to implementation of new laws and policies designed to protect queer youth from bullying and harassment in Canadian schools.
Applications of Eigenvalue Techniques to Geometry

Analysis has always been a powerful tool in the study of the geometry of manifolds. This fact has been reconfirmed by the recent developments in connection with the application of geometric analysis to various fields such as differential topology, algebraic geometry, mathematical physics, number theory, etc. Crucial to the application of partial differential equations to geometric problems are techniques developed in studying the Laplace operator and its eigenvalues. This is because in most cases when a partial differential equation occurs in geometry, the linearized equation has a principal term given by the Laplacian. The question of inverting the linearized operator naturally leads to the studying of the spectrum of the Laplacian. Among all the eigenvalues, the first nonzero eigenvalue plays the most important role. This is due to the fact that it occurs in the Poincare inequality (see Section 1.4), which is one of the most powerful inequalities in the theory of nonlinear analysis.
Multimode combustion in a mild hybrid electric vehicle. Part 1: Supervisory control

Abstract This is the first of a two-part simulation study that discusses the application of a multimode combustion engine in a mild hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). The torque assist, offered by the electric motor, can be used to extend the residence time in the homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) regime, before returning to spark-ignition (SI) combustion. To enable multimode operation in the HEV, the supervisory control strategy has to maintain the battery's state-of-charge while accounting for the SI/HCCI combustion mode switch. In this study four supervisors are discussed which extend the baseline equivalent consumption minimization strategy by the mode switching decision.
Investigating anthropology’s Cold War histories

Comment on Price, David. 2016. Cold War anthropology: The CIA, the Pentagon, and the growth of dual use anthropology . Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Chapter 7 – Light

The quantity of light reaching the streambed is one of the most fundamental environmental factors that affect stream ecosystems. Solar radiation drives photosynthesis and has strong indirect effects on the many lotic processes connected to primary production. The quantity of light incident to streambeds is highly variable on both temporal and spatial scales, and an accurate assessment of the lotic light regime is a highly relevant activity for many research projects. Light measurements that span at least one dawn-to-dusk period (and preferably more than one) are essential for characterizing the daily light regime at any stream location. These measurements can be made with quantum sensors that directly measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) (400–700 nm) or with sensors that can be calibrated to PAR. Data loggers connected to the sensors are essential to recording light measurements made at intervals during the day. Photosensitive dye-based sensors that integrate light exposure over time may be a useful and relatively inexpensive alternative to electronic sensors. For any study involving multiple sites or stretches of streams with potentially variable spatial light environments, multiple sensor-logger combinations should be employed.
Depression and health behaviors in women with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.

Abstract Background Depression and health behavior engagement are a critical issue for recovery and secondary prevention in heart failure patients. No prior studies have examined these important clinical outcomes in young women diagnosed with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM). We sought to characterize the prevalence of depression and health behaviors in PPCM patients and examine whether depression is associated with reduced engagement in health behaviors. Methods A nation-wide, cohort of 177 PPCM patients (mean age of 34.8 ± 5.7 years; median time since diagnosis of 3.0 ± 4.3 years) from a web-based quality of life registry completed questionnaires about depression (Patient Health Questionnaire; a cutoff score ≥10 was used for depression screening) and health behaviors. T -tests, chi-square and linear regression were used to compare clinical characteristics and health behaviors among depressed and non-depressed women. Results The prevalence of clinical depression at enrollment was 32.3% and was associated with use of antihypertensive medications, disability insurance status, higher BMI, history of arrhythmia and current or past use of psychotropic medication. Health behavior engagement for diet, physical activity, and tobacco cessation were low in the overall sample and depressed PPCM patients were significantly less likely to attend medical appointments than non-depressed women. Conclusions Nearly 1 in 3 PPCM survivors reported symptoms of clinical depression which was associated with worse attendance at medical follow-up visits. Further research is needed to develop risk stratification models and patient-centered interventions to improve clinical outcomes for PPCM survivors.
Decreasing the electric permittivity of cement by graphite particle incorporation

Abstract Cement containing graphite particles (admixture) was previously reported to exhibit attractive electromagnetic properties, which relate to the electric permittivity. The addition of graphite nanoplatelet (GNP, particles, 0.5% by mass of cement, ∼0.5 vol %) to cement containing silica fume (particles, 15% by mass of cement) decreases the relative permittivity (10 Hz–1 MHz) by ∼49% (unprecedentedly large fractional decrease among permittivity-affecting admixtures), decreasing from 33 to 17 (50 Hz), while affecting the resistivity negligibly. The decrease is attributed to the inhibition of the polarization-related charge carrier movement by the distributed GNP. The previously reported huge values of 10 8 at 10 Hz (Bhattacharya et al., 2008) and 10 3 at 50 Hz (Sachdev et al., 2015) of the relative permittivity of cement containing graphite particles are erroneous, due to the absence of an electrically insulating film between the specimen and either electrode during the capacitance measurement and the limitation of the impedance meter. The previously reported trend of the permittivity increasing with increasing graphite particle content (Bhattacharya et al., 2008) is opposite to the decreasing trend found in this work, and is also erroneous, as caused by the incorrectly high measured permittivity becoming even higher when the specimen is more conductive.
Reconvening the Senate: Learning Outcomes after Using the Reacting to the Past Pedagogy in the Intermediate Latin Class

Building on the previous implementation of Reacting to the Past (RTTP) and research on students’ learning experiences therein, the author of this chapter examines continued incorporation and innovation around the RTTP game Beware the Ides of March: Rome in 44 BCE in her Latin 2001 class. Within the study, students’ survey answers in the author’s class were compared with those of students in two other sections of Latin 2001 in which students read the same Latin texts but did not play the RTTP game. The chapter reports on how students who played the RTTP game in Latin 2001 felt that they had a better understanding of the history surrounding the Latin texts they read than students in the other two classes, that they had learned more history in class during the semester than students in the other two classes, and that their Latin skills had improved more during the semester than students’ skills in the other classes.
Microcystin-LR does not induce alterations to transcriptomic or metabolomic profiles of a model heterotrophic bacterium

Microcystins are secondary metabolites produced by several freshwater, bloom-forming cyanobacterial species. Microcystin-producing cyanobacteria co-occur with a complex community of heterotrophic bacteria. Though conflicting, studies suggest that microcystins affect the physiology of heterotrophic bacteria by inducing oxidative stress and increasing cell envelope permeability. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that exposure to microcystin should induce differential expression in genes responding to oxidative and envelope stress and trigger shifts in metabolite pools. We tested this hypothesis by exposing Escherichia coli MG1655 to 1 and 10 mg/L microcystin-LR and monitored global changes to gene expression, cellular metabolite pools, and lipid composition using RNA-sequencing and UPLC-MS. Contrary to reported studies, we observed no evidence that microcystin-LR induced oxidative or cell envelope stress in E. coli under the tested conditions. Our results suggest a potential difference in mechanism by which microcystin-LR interacts with heterotrophic bacteria vs. cyanobacteria.
An Exploration of “Hyper-Local” Community-University Engagement in the Development of Smart Cities

The use of big data in smart cities poses new questions about higher education and community-university engagement practices in addressing longstanding social and economic exclusion in urban commun...
6.0kV, 100A, 175kHz super cascode power module for medium voltage, high power applications

A new 6.0kV/100A Super Cascode Power Module (SCPM) topology is proposed using dual serial strings of six SiC-JFETs with a common balancing circuit, and extendable to 8.0kV/200A for high-frequency, medium-voltage applications. Electrical and multi-physics simulations show improvements in dynamic response, and improved electro-thermal performance that exceed state-of-the-art Si-IGBT power module technology. The SCPM is fabricated and tested. Results are reported showing 47.8mΩ dynamic response, and ≤50ns rise and fall in current at 4kV for 110A switching from double-pulse testing (DPT).
Univalence as a principle of logic

Abstract It is sometimes convenient or useful in mathematics to treat isomorphic structures as the same. The recently proposed Univalence Axiom for the foundations of mathematics elevates this idea to a foundational principle in the setting of homotopy type theory. It provides a simple and precise way in which isomorphic structures can be identified. We explore the motivations and consequences, both mathematical and philosophical, of making such a new logical postulate.
Generation and detection of pairing bosons : A new method to determine the mechanism of superconductivity in the oxides

We propose a new method to determine the coupling boson in the cuprate superconductors based on the generation and detection of the appropriate boson analogous to the experiments performed on the generation and detection of phonons by conventional BCS superconductors. The appropriate choice of substrate and junction detector will allow the unambiguous determination of the boson that is formed by the recombination of energy gap edge quasiparticles produced by excitations into the normal state of the cuprates.
Tecnologia, matematica e la cultura dei bambini

Il tema “matematica e cultura” di solito identifica la cultura con quella degli adulti. La matematica influisce e ispira campi come la pittura, la musica, l’architettura, l’animazione, la danza e molti altri. Al contrario, non viene molto esplorata la cultura dei bambini – infatti, molti adulti rimangono sorpresi alla sola idea che ci sia una cultura dei bambini. Esiste dawero qualcosa del genere? Owiamente, sappiamo che i bambini, come gli adulti, coltivano l’arte e la musica; ma i loro tentativi vengono generalmente considerati incompleti, delle versioni non formate come quelle degli adulti. In questa prospettiva, un bambino musicista viene semplicemente visto come un’apprendista, una versione incompleta,“sgrammaticata” di un musicista adulto.
A pilot study of community cholesterol screening.

We tested the feasibility and effectiveness of population cholesterol screening in a California shopping center. Total plasma cholesterol (TC) was measured in 429 adults from capillary blood samples, using automatic analyzers (Reflotron®). A self-administered questionnaire was used to ascertain demographic variables, lifestyle, and knowledge about cholesterol and heart disease. According to NIH Consensus Conference criteria, 20% of all screenees showed moderate or high risk TC levels, but over half of these had a history of hypercholesterolemia prior to testing. Follow-up of all screenees with TC levels at 220 mg/dl and greater revealed that 32% had been compliant with our advice to contact their physician. Physicians expressed no concern in 71% of those with TC elevation of 220–239 mg% and in 30% of those with TC levels 240+ mg%. Of all participants, 40% reported dietary changes in response to the screening; 78% of this group, however, made changes without a physician's advice. In our experience community cholesterol screening is popular and feasible. Efficacy, however, must be improved by better education of physicians and the public.
Carbides of Group IV: Titanium, Zirconium, and Hafnium Carbides

This chapter provides a review of the characteristics and properties of the interstitial carbides formed by the metals of Group IV: titanium, zirconium, and hafnium. The rationale for reviewing these compounds together is their similarity in atomic bonding, composition, and crystallography. These carbides also have similar properties and characteristics. Of the three, titanium carbide has been investigated more and is the most important from an application standpoint. It is produced industrially on a large scale in the form of powders, molded shapes, and thin films. Interstitial carbides are essentially non-stoichiometric compounds and the variations in the reported property values often found in the literature reflect this characteristic. The density of these carbides increases considerably with the increasing atomic number of the metal. The melting points of these carbides are higher in all cases than those of the other compounds and particularly those of the host metals. The thermal conductivity or k (i.e., the time rate of transfer of heat by conduction) of interstitial carbides is different from that of most other refractory materials as k increases with increasing temperature.
Detection of Low-Abundance Metabolites in Live Cells Using an RNA Integrator.

Summary Genetically encoded biosensors are useful tools for detecting the presence and levels of diverse biomolecules in living cells. However, low-abundance targets are difficult to detect because they are often unable to bind and activate enough biosensors to detect using standard microscopic imaging approaches. Here we describe a type of RNA-based biosensor, an RNA integrator, which enables detection of low-abundance targets in vitro and in living cells. The RNA integrator is an RNA sequence comprising a ribozyme and an unfolded form of the fluorogenic aptamer Broccoli. Upon binding its target, the ribozyme undergoes cleavage and releases Broccoli, which subsequently folds and becomes fluorescent. Importantly, each target molecule can bind and induce cleavage of multiple copies of the integrator sensor, resulting in an amplified signal. We show that this approach can be generalized to numerous different ribozyme types for the detection of various small molecules.
Improving the Hurricane Outage Prediction Model by including tree species

Abstract Hurricanes can be a major threat to electrical power systems, often resulting in costly repairs and lengthy restoration times. The Hurricane Outage Prediction Model (HOPM) predicts the location and number of outages for a major coastal Gulf of Mexico utility company up to 5 days before a hurricane makes landfall. This model can help electrical utilities to improve their resource allocations and potentially shorten restoration times. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether the accuracy of the HOPM can be improved by including information on tree species. Our results demonstrate that the model accuracy increased by ∼3% when tree species were included. The most important tree species in our study region were Sweetgum and Loblolly Pine. As the relative abundance of these tree species increased, the number of outages tended to increase. In contrast, increases in the relative abundance of Water Oak and Chestnut Oak did not result in more outages. This suggests that certain oaks may be more resistant to uprooting or snapping when there are strong winds. Therefore, the inclusion of tree species variables in the model provides a means for capturing the spatially varying vulnerability of the trees to strong winds. Even though including tree species improved the accuracy of the model, information about the frequency of tree trimming is more important. Accurate prediction of the location and number of power outages requires information on both the meteorological hazard and the vulnerability of the vegetation.
Unexpected CNN-to-CC Ligand Rearrangement in Pincer–RutheniumPrecatalysts Leads to a Base-Free Catalyst for Ester Hydrogenation

We report the conversion of a series of CNN–pincer–ruthenium complexes Ru(CNN)HCl(CO) to a CC-chelated form Ru(CC)(PR3)2H(CO) on reaction with sodium tert-butoxide and monodentate phosphines. When the phosphine is triphenylphosphine, cis-phosphine complexes form at room temperature, which convert to the trans isomer at elevated temperatures. When the phosphine is tricyclohexylphosphine, only the trans-phosphine isomer is observed. The CC-chelated complexes are active catalysts for the hydrogenation of esters, without the need for added base. The ligand structure–activity relationship in the series of CC-chelated complexes mirrors that in the precursor CNN-Ru complexes, potentially indicating a common catalytic mechanism. Density functional theory calculations establish a plausible mechanism for the CNN-to-CC rearrangement and demonstrate that this rearrangement is potentially reversible under the conditions of ester hydrogenation catalysis.
A Watt-Level Phase-Interleaved Multi-Subharmonic Switching Digital Power Amplifier

This article presents a multi-subharmonic switching (SHS) digital power amplifier (PA) architecture for enhancing power back-off (PBO) efficiency while achieving watt-level output power. The proposed phase-interleaved architecture provides the inherent cancellation of the subharmonic components in the PBO region, alleviating the burden of the matching network. The proposed multi-SHS scheme can be further combined with a class-G operation to create a greater number of efficiency peaks in the PBO region. A transformer-based, three-way power combiner and a triple-stacking class-D driver are utilized to obtain watt-level output power. The proof-of-concept PA prototype is implemented with a switched-capacitor PA (SCPA) architecture in 65-nm CMOS and achieved 30-dBm peak power at 1.9 GHz, with 45.9%/41.3%/35.3%/32.2%/24.2% drain efficiency located at 0-, −3.5-, −7.0-, −9.5-, and −12-dB PBO, respectively. The average efficiency was 31.4% in real-time operation with a 7.2-dB peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) modulated signal.
Clasp Common Lisp Implementation and Optimization

We describe implementation strategies and updates made in the last two years to clasp,[1, 2] a new Common Lisp implementation that interoperates with C++, uses the cleavir compiler, and uses the LLVM backend[4]. Improvements in clasp have been made in many areas. The most important changes are: (1) Tagged pointers and immediate values have been incorporated. (2) A fast generic function dispatch approach has been implemented that allows clasp to carry out generic function dispatch as fast as SBCL, a highly optimized free implementation of Common Lisp. The generic function dispatch memoization approach was developed by Robert Strandh[8] and demonstrates a 20x improvement in performance of generic function dispatch. (3) The new LLVM feature “Thin Link Time Optimization” has been added, which speeds up generated code by removing call overhead throughout the system. (4) Type inference has been added to the cleavir compiler, which is part of clasp. Type inference removes redundant run-time type checks and dead code paths. Type inference currently provides about a 30% speedup in microbenchmarks.[9] (5) Constants and literals have been moved close to the code and “instruction pointer addressing” has been incorporated to speed access to literals and constants. (6) Pre-emptive multithreading has been added to clasp, based on pthreads, supporting the Bordeaux threads library. (7) The overall build time for clasp has been reduced from five to eight hours over two years ago to approximately one hour at present.
Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Donald E. Klingner

The United States puts more people behind bars than any other country. Viewed as an example of “American exceptionalism,” this means either that Americans are the worst people in the world or that ...
Other Interstitial Lung Diseases

The most common interstitial pneumonias are discussed in Chap. 14. These include UIP, NSIP, and RB-ILD. However, there are many other diseases that involve the interstitial compartment of the lung. These pathologies include hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), sarcoidosis, Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), and eosinophilic pneumonia (EP). Similar to the common interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), these ILDs cause both inflammatory and fibrotic pathology and may cause life-threatening disease. Also, these entities are commonly found within characteristic clinical settings and benefit from diagnoses in the setting of a multidisciplinary approach employing clinical, radiologic, and pathologic input. However, unlike the ILDs of Chap. 14, there is more known regarding the etiology of these ILDs.
Single-molecule orientation localization microscopy II: a performance comparison

Various techniques have been developed to measure the 2D and 3D positions and 2D and 3D orientations of fluorescent molecules with improved precision over standard epifluorescence microscopes. Due to the challenging signal-to-background ratio in typical single-molecule experiments, it is essential to choose an imaging system optimized for the specific target sample. In this work, we compare the performance of multiple state-of-the-art and commonly used methods for orientation localization microscopy against the fundamental limits of measurement precision. Our analysis reveals optimal imaging methods for various experiment conditions and sample geometries. Interestingly, simple modifications to the standard fluorescence microscope exhibit superior performance in many imaging scenarios.
Nanoscale Electrostatic Membrane Actuation for Nanofluidic Pumping

We describe a device intended for pumping fluids through nanoscale channels. The nanofluidic pump is created from flexible silica membranes grown through chemical vapor deposition and actuated through electrostatic force. A packaging technique using dry film to create fluid interfaces is demonstrated.
Heterogeneity in Political Capital: U.S. Defense Contracts and Lobbying Strategies

Prior research shows that political capital is critical in business-government relations to achieve desirable nonmarket strategy outcomes. Less attention has been paid to the fact that firms vary in their ability to build and acquire political capital. In particular, foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs), which typically suffer from the liability of foreignness, have more difficulty acquiring and strengthening political capital in a host country. However, we know little about how foreign MNEs, which have inherent disadvantages, acquire and use political capital or about whether they achieve their strategic goals through their nonmarket strategies. Drawing on the literatures on political capital and the liability of foreignness, I argue that foreign MNEs can acquire political capital and achieve better nonmarket outcomes by hiring outside lobbyists than by using internal lobbyists. Using U.S. government defense prime contract award data, I find that hiring outside lobbyists helps foreign MNEs achieve higher contract amounts; this outcome is driven by hiring more experienced lobbyists. This study has theoretical and practical implications for studies on political capital, international business, and nonmarket strategies.
Wealth inequality and social mobility

In this paper we study a model of the dynamics of wealth which we put to data with the objective of estimating the fundamental structural parameters of preferences and technology driving the cross-sectional distribution of wealth. As a consequence we can identify quantitatively the determinants of wealth inequality, including its recent rise and the eects of fiscal policies, e.g., a change in estate taxes. Our analysis of the dynamics of the wealth distribution emphasizes life-cycle wealth accumulation and bequests so as to assess the relative importance of social mobility in the wealth accumulation process. More specifically, we study the dynamics of the wealth distribution in an overlapping generations economy with finitely lived agents and intergenerational transmission of wealth. Our model builds on Benhabib, Bisin, Zhu (2011), generalizing the formulation of preferences for bequest to allow for heterogeneous savings rates depending on wealth, as in Atkinson (1971). The model accounts for a stochastic labor income process and for a stochastic idiosyncratic rate of returns on wealth, which captures returns on entrepreneurial activity, For simplicity, we reduce the stochastic variation over the life cycle assuming that each generation draws a single realization of the labor income and the rate of return process at birth. We also impose a no-borrowing constraint, in order to generate interesting savings patterns over the life cycle. We take the model to data by feeding the labor income process and matching the crosssectional wealth distribution and social mobility in wealth. More precisely, our empirical analysis builds on data regarding three distinct sources: (i) labor income and its transition over generations, (2) cross-sectional wealth distribution, as measured by inter-quantile shares, and (3) social mobility in wealth over generations. With regards to labor income, we resort to individual level data directly, as reported in Chetty, Hendren, Kline and Saez (2014). We
Ferroelectricity: 100 years on

When a PhD student called Joseph Valasek discovered ferroelectricity exactly 100 years ago, few people realized the enormous impact it would have on science and technology. Amar S Bhalla and Avadh Saxena pick their favourite applications of this fundamental physics phenomenon
Prediction of methane hydrate formation conditions in salt water using machine learning algorithms

Abstract Predicting formation conditions of gas hydrates in salt water is important for the management of hydrate in processes such as flow assurance, deep-water drilling, and hydrate-based technology development. This paper applied and compared five machine learning algorithms to develop prediction tools for the estimation of methane hydrate formation temperature in the presence of salt water. These machine learning algorithms are Multiple Linear Regression, k-Nearest Neighbor, Support Vector Regression, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting Regression. In total, 702 experimental data points in literature from 1951 to 2020 were collected for modeling purposes. The experimental data span salt concentrations up to 29.2 wt% and pressures up to 200 MPa. Among these five machine learning methods, Gradient Boosting Regression gives the best prediction with R 2 = 0.998 and AARD = 0.074%. Thus, the methods of Gradient Boosting Regression function as an accurate tool for predicting the formation conditions of methane hydrates in salt water.
Interdependent program evaluation: Geographic and social spillovers in COVID-19 closures and reopenings in the United States

In an interconnected world, understanding policy spillovers is essential. We propose a program evaluation framework to measure policy spillover effects and apply that framework to study the governmental responses to COVID-19 in the United States. Our analysis suggests the presence of social spillovers. We estimate that while state closures directly reduced mobility by 3 to 4%, all other states locking down further decreased mobility in the focal state by 8 to 14%. Similarly, while reopening directly increased mobility by 2 to 3%, all other states' reopening increased mobility in the focal state by 12 to 21%. Our analysis also suggests geographic spillovers: Travel from locked down origins to open destinations increased by 12 to 29%. In contrast, travel from reopened origins to locked down destinations decreased by 6 to 7% for nearby counties and by 14 to 18% for distant counties. Despite its limitations, we believe that our approach takes the first steps toward creating a framework for interdependent program evaluation across policy domains.