cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identification of fruit quality and morphology QTLs in melon (Cucumis melo) using a population derived from flexuosus and cantalupensis botanical groups

Fruit traits, such as shape, size, sugar concentration, and β-carotene concentration affect fruit quality in melon. Extensive genetic diversity for these traits can be exploited for breeding purposes. In this study, an F2 mapping population was constructed using an orange fleshed cantaloupe-type melon and an exotic green fleshed “snake melon” to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with fruit quality and fruit morphological traits. A total of 31 QTLs were identified, of which 23 corroborated previously reported QTLs. A small segment of LG8 explained most of the phenotypic variation for yield. We mapped eight new QTLs for fruit shape, total fruit weight per plant, soluble solids concentration, flesh color, ovary shape and seed cell diameter, and a locus for chlorosis in this study. Soluble solids concentration did not have significant association with average fruit weight and fruit width, suggesting that manipulation of fruit morphology is possible in melon without considerably affecting fruit sweetness. A significant positive association between fruit shape and ovary shape indicated that fruit shape was determined during preanthesis. Our results indicate that natural variation for internal and external melon fruit traits can be further explored by performing QTL analysis of populations derived from crosses between previously unexplored botanical groups.
Near-total glutathione depletion and age-specific cataracts induced by buthionine sulfoximine in mice

The specific inhibitor of glutathione biosynthesis, L-buthionine sulfoximine (L-BSO), although relatively nontoxic in adult mice, induces severe glutathione depletion and age-specific pathological changes when repeatedly administered to male suckling mice. Dense cataracts developed when mice aged 9 to 12 days were given a series of injections of L-BSO, despite excellent survival and the absence of other significant long-term effects. By contrast, similar treatment of mice aged 14 to 17 days, although slightly less effective in reducing glutathione levels, resulted frequently in death, hind-leg paralysis, or impaired spermatogenesis, but did not produce cataracts. Administration of L-BSO to preweanling mice provides a novel model system for the induction of cataracts by depletion of lens glutathione and may enable the study of critical functions of glutathione in the lens and other growing tissues during early postnatal development.
A comparison of mode match, geometrical theory of diffraction, and Kirchhoff radiation

Using as a model a parallel-plate flanged waveguide excited by a uniform magnetic line source, the techniques of mode match, geometrical theory of diffraction, and Kirchhoff radiation are compared. In all cases the aperture fields are analyzed in terms of waveguide modes; the far-field results are Fourier transforms of the aperture fields. To within normalization, the Kirchhoff results compare surprisingly well with the two other methods except near resonance and in the low observation angle regions where the diffracted components of the field are dominant.
Estimation and Prediction of Time-Dependent Origin-Destination Flows with a Stochastic Mapping to Path Flows and Link Flows

This paper presents a new suite of models for the estimation and prediction of time-dependent Origin-Destination (O-D) matrices. The key contribution of the proposed approach is the explicit modeling and estimation of the dynamic mapping (theassignment matrix) between time-dependent O-D flows and link volumes. The assignment matrix depends upon underlying travel times and route choice fractions in the network. Since the travel times and route choice fractions are not known with certainty, the assignment matrix is prone to error. The proposed approach provides a systematic way of modeling this uncertainty to address both theoffline andreal-time versions of the O-D estimation/prediction problem. Preliminary empirical results indicate that generalized models with a stochastic assignment matrix could provide better results compared to conventional models with a fixed matrix.
Outcomes of febrile children without localising signs after pneumococcal conjugate vaccine

Background: Evaluation of children with fever without localising signs (FWLS) has barely changed in the USA since 1993 despite reduced invasive disease after the introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine and conjugate pneumococcal vaccine (PCV7). PCV7 is now recommended in the UK for children under 2 years of age, and new NICE guidelines have been issued for managing feverish children in the UK in anticipation of PCV7’s efficacy. We compared rates of bacterial infections in children aged 3–36 months with FWLS in the pre- and post-PCV7 eras to define current trends and evaluate existing guidelines. Methods: We identified all paediatric blood cultures performed in an emergency department before and after PCV7. We subsequently identified all children aged 3–36 months with FWLS and reviewed their medical records. Results: We identified 148 patients with FWLS in the pre-PCV7 period and 275 patients after PCV7. There were 17 positive cultures before PCV7 (10 pathogens and seven contaminants) and 14 positive cultures (but only one pathogen) after PCV7. This represented a 94.6% decrease overall (p = 0.009) and a 100% decrease in Streptococcus pneumoniae . Rates of urinary tract infections (UTIs) were unchanged (6.8% vs 7.6%); UTIs are now the most prevalent bacterial infection in this group. Over 50% of patients still received empirical antibiotics. Conclusions: Based on our data, the emphasis in managing children with FWLS should be on diagnosing UTI. Guidelines for evaluating children with FWLS in countries using PCV7 should emulate the NICE model and reflect the trends identified in this study.
Effect of Great-Horned Owl Trapping on Chick Survival in Piping Plovers

We studied the effect of great-horned owl (Bubo virginianus) removal on piping plover (Charadrius melodus) hatchling survival on Missouri River sandbars (2008-2009). Owl removal increased daily survival of piping plover chicks in 2008 (b ¼ 2.03, 95% CI: 0.04-4.02), but this effect decreased with increasing age of the chick (b ¼� 0.42, 95% CI: � 0.81 to � 0.03). Results for 2009 were similar in direction but not significant. Survival was higher in 2008 than in 2009, regardless of owl capture, indicating that even if owl capture consistently were effective at increasing survival, overall survival resulting from trapping may vary annually. Owl trapping was a successful means to raise chick survival on the Missouri River in � 1 year and could be used at other sites experiencing depressed chick survival due to avian predators. 2011 The Wildlife Society.
Architecture for an Asteroid-Mining Spacecraft

The purpose of this chapter is to propose a spacecraft concept that may be a good generic framework for operations on a variety of asteroid types, shapes and sizes, that can be performed in a straightforward way, regardless of whether mining operations are performed on-site or the body is moved into orbit about, say, the Moon.
Quo Vadis Principle of Competence- Competence? Should Arbitrator Have Always Priority to Rule on Their Own Jurisdiction? Comment on the French Supreme Court Decision of November 30, 2011

Short commentary of a 2011 decision of the French Supreme Court regarding the application of the principle of competence-competence in employment disputes arbitration. More generally, this paper looks at the French conception of the rule compare to the prevailing view in many other jurisdictions.
MOFCOM Publishes Interim Regulations on Standards for Simple Mergers and Requests Public Comments

Under the 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law of China (AML), the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) is responsible for reviewing proposed concentrations that meet transaction-size thresholds. It has reportedly processed more than 450 transactions, issuing 16 conditional approvals and prohibiting one proposed concentration, applying factors such as market shares, concentration, entry, competitive effects, and national economic development, among others. On April 3, 2013, MOFCOM published draft “Interim Regulations on Standards Employed for Simple Mergers” seeking public comments. The draft identifies various scenarios that may or may not be classified as simple cases and four open-ended circumstances in which simple case status may be revoked. The standards for simple case classification include market share thresholds and several effects-based standards. This article analyzes the Interim Regulation, compares the current and proposed European Commission and US FTC and DOJ procedures for expedited review, and identifies some open questions not directly addressed by the current draft. The paper was published in the June 18, 2013 Competition Policy International, CPI Asia Column.
Detecting rejection in cardiac transplantation: applications of genomic medicine

The primary focus of care in heart transplant recipients is to prevent rejection. Checking serum levels of immunosuppressant drugs as well as performing biopsies to obtain tissue samples for histological analysis have been the mainstays of rejection surveillance. Novel applications of genomics have proven to be useful in adding a noninvasive alternative to the standard of care. In particular, the use of gene-expression profiling to detect upregulation of rejection-related genes, detection of donor-derived cell-free DNA as a marker of graft apoptosis and rejection, as well as mRNA and miRNA as intragraft and peripheral markers of rejection have come to the forefront of genomics as they relate to transplantation. This review focuses on the use of genomics in heart transplant recipients.
Sternal Osteomyelitis Complicating Median Sternotomy

Over a nine-year period, 8 cases of sternal osteomyelitis complicating median sternotomy were seen in the Orthopaedic Department of Kokura Memorial Hospital. Seven cases were preceded by aortocoronary bypass operation and one by valve replacement. Four cases were diabetic. Three cases had a wider involvement of combined sternal osteomyelitis and costochondritis. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most frequent organism isolated and antibiotic-resistant staph. aureus was cultured in one case. Several problems about the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of this disease are discussed.
Studies of Interface Mixing in a Symmetrically Strained Ge/Si Superlattice

Raman scattering and x ray diffraction were used to study the effects of annealing on a Ge/Si superlattice that had been grown upon a Ge0.4Si0.6 alloy buffer layer which distributes the strain between the layers. Anneals above 910K caused substantial mixing at the Ge-Si interfaces. The interdiffusion coefficients obtained from the x-ray data were found to obey an Arrhenius relation with an activation energy of 3.1±0.2eV. Initial intermixing seems to be dominated by the diffusion of Si atoms into the Ge layers via a vacancy mechanism.
The Use of Solid-Phase Extraction Columns to Effect Simple Offline LC/MS, LC/NMR, and LC/FTIR

Methode permettant l'analyse d'echantillons de l'ordre de quelques μg par extraction avec 100 a 200 μl de solvant
Global sensitivity analysis of nonlinear chemical kinetic equations using lie groups: I. Determination of one-parameter groups

We introduce one-parameter groups of transformations that effect wide-ranging changes in the rate constants and input/output fluxes of homogeneous chemical reactions involving an arbitrary number of species in reactions of zero, first and second order. Each one-parameter group is required to convert every solution of such elementary rate equations into corresponding solutions of a one-parameter family of altered elementary rate equations. The generators of all allowed one-parameter groups are obtained for systems withN species using an algorithm which exactly determines their action on the rate constants, and either exactly determines or systematically approximates their action on the concentrations. Compounding the one-parameter groups yields all many-parameter groups of smooth time-independent transformations that interconvert elementary rate equations and their solutions.
Comments on “Economic Provisions of Marketing Agreements for General Crops”

W E ARE all indebted to Mr. Holt for his very fair and frank discussion of this large and difficult problem. His treatment has been objective and informative. In short he has given us a brief or digest of the A.A.A. program of marketing agreements for general crops which we will find convenient and reliable. It is an inventory of facts which we needed to have. This paper deals with "controls." This is the control era. We have now had some six years of control-three under the Farm Board and three under the A.A.A. The Farm Board tried marketing control, but gave it up saying we needed production control. The A.A.A. entered and tried both production and marketing control. Our neighbor, Canada, now has 21 controls going, under her Marketing Board. Twenty-four of our States have set up programs of milk control. Mr. Holt in this paper describes 25 federal controls. Most of the wheat countries of the world have set up wheat controls. Mr. Holt, for lack of time, has omitted milk controls from his discussion of A.A.A. Marketing Agreements. The first fourteen milk marketing agreements set up by the Federal government were all cancelled within a few months owing to difficulties of enforcement, particularly the enforcement of the price fixing provisions. Dr. E. G. Nourse, in his book on Marketing Agreements, lists a total of 61 such agreements up to September 1, 1935, at which time 39 had ceased to function and 22 were still in operation. This is a high death rate. Mr. Holt's topic, considered as a philosophy of economics rather than a mere inventory of facts, is price policy. The A.A.A. seems to assume that the big problem is one of price, and that the correct price policy is one of higher prices. I question this policy. The big cooperatives in the years 1920-1925, both in collective bargaining and in direct price fixing, suffered more harm from their high prices than from their low prices. Many of these cooperatives, looking back on their experiences, admitted their mistake. Their policy of high prices had curtailed consumption and stimulated production. The A.A.A.'s price yardstick, "Parity prices," is a rubber yardstick and has no'practical value whatever as an economic barometer of a correct price. Mr. Holt mentions four types of control provided by these marketing agreements. (1) Price; (2) Supply; (3) Grade and Quality; (4) Reforms. He does not discuss the fourth type-reforms. It is my understanding that since the purge of the Department by the Secretary a few months ago, the militant reformers in the A.A.A. have been removed or silenced. On price control, Mr. Holt says it has now been abandoned, except as to milk. The major function, therefore, will now be control of supply, in one way or another. The key-note of Mr. Holt's discussion of these problems is found in these two statements:
Preliminary evaluation of field testing on Eco-Approach and Departure (EAD) application for actuated signals

Prior studies have shown that tangible environmental benefits can be gained by communicating the driver with the signal phase and timing (SPaT) information of the upcoming traffic signal with fixed time control. However, similar applications to actuated signals pose a significant challenge due to their randomness to some extent caused by vehicle actuation. Based on the framework previously developed by the authors, a preliminary real-world testing has been conducted to evaluate the system performance in terms of energy savings and emissions reduction. Four scenarios that covers most of traffic and signal conditions are evaluated. For each scenario, we vary the entry time and speed to thoroughly investigate the performance of the developed Eco-Approach and Departure (EAD) system. It turns out that the EAD system saves 5%–10% energy for high entry speed, and 7%–26% energy for low entry speed. That results is compatible with the simulation results and validate the previously developed EAD framework.
Host Factors in Ebola Infection

Ebola virus (EBOV) emerged in West Africa in 2014 to devastating effect, and demonstrated that infection can cause a broad range of severe disease manifestations. As the virus itself was genetically similar to other Zaire ebolaviruses, the spectrum of pathology likely resulted from variable responses to infection in a large and genetically diverse population. This review comprehensively summarizes current knowledge of the host response to EBOV infection, including pathways hijacked by the virus to facilitate replication, host processes that contribute directly to pathogenesis, and host-pathogen interactions involved in subverting or antagonizing host antiviral immunity.
Intensive Care of the Patient after Abdominal Surgery

After surgical correction of the underlying abdominal disorder, careful postoperative care is the most important factor resulting in increased survival rates. Intensive care of the postoperative patient can be done practically and economically.
Abstract 462: Ascl3 Protects Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Against Oxidative Stress

Atherosclerosis initiation and progression depends on multiple risk factors and is sustained by self-perpetuating inflammatory cellular and molecular events that ultimately translate into increased oxidative stress inducing endothelial dysfunction, macrophage activation and altering vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) homeostasis. Our initial work identified the under-characterized bHLH achaete-scute like 3, ASCL3, as a pro-proliferative anti-apoptotic factor in VSMC and prompted the hypothesis that ASCL3 plays a protective role against oxidative stress in VSMC. We determined that ASCL3 expression is up-regulated in the media and lesions of the atherosclerotic aorta in ApoE-mice fed a high fat diet. In vitro , ASCL3 expression is consistent with an adaptive role in oxidative stress. In primary RASMC, time- and dose-response to H2O2 (0.5-2mM, 4-24h) result in marked ASCL3 mRNA increase (~10-fold) at low concentrations or shorter times and is reduced as oxidative stress increases. siRNA knockdown of ASCL3 increases susceptibility of RASMC to 0.25mM H2O2 (low dose) as determined by caspase-3 activation. Stable over-expression of ASCL3 in A7r5 cells results in enhanced protection at higher doses of H2O2, and is associated with higher AKT and ERK1/2 phosporylation. This protective effect involves the mitochondrial pathway since ASCL3 up-regulates Bcl-2/Bax ratio in basal and induced conditions (0.4mM, 4h), inhibits mitochondrial depolarization, prevents mitochondrial fragmentation and preserves mitochondrial DNA. ROS levels are significantly reduced in ASCL3 over-expressing cells (0.2mM, 2h). ASCL3 over-expression appears to increase mitochondrial density and results in altered mitochondrial and cristae morphology as determined by TEM. Surprisingly, subcellular localization studies indicate that ASCL3 localizes primarily to the mitochondria. In summary, low oxidative stress in VSMC promotes survival, with enhanced proliferation, and as it increases, induces adaptation associated with an antioxidant gene expression profile. Eventually high oxidative stress leads to cell death. Altogether, our data indicate that ASCL3 plays a protective role in the survival and adaptation of vascular smooth muscle cells to oxidative stress.
Household accessibility to heat refuges: Residential air conditioning, public cooled space, and walkability:

Access to air conditioned space is critical for protecting urban populations from the adverse effects of heat exposure. Yet there remains fairly limited knowledge of the penetration of private (home air conditioning) and distribution of public (cooling centers and commercial space) cooled space across cities. Furthermore, the deployment of government-sponsored cooling centers is likely to be inadequately informed with respect to the location of existing cooling resources (residential air conditioning and air conditioned public space), raising questions of the equitability of access to heat refuges. We explore the distribution of private and public cooling resources and access inequities at the household level in two major US urban areas: Los Angeles County, California and Maricopa County, Arizona (whose county seat is Phoenix). We evaluate the presence of in-home air conditioning and develop a walking-based accessibility measure to air conditioned public space using a combined cumulative opportunities-gra...
Optimization of Resource Allocation in Small Cells Networks: A Green Networking Approach

The term "green networking" refers to energy-efficient networking technologies and products, while minimizing resource usage as possible. This thesis targets the problem of resource allocation in small cells networks in a green networking context. We develop algorithms for different paradigms. We exploit the framework of coalitional games theory and some stochastic geometric tools as well as the crowding game model. We first study the mobile assignment problem in broadcast transmission where minimal total power consumption is sought. A green-aware approach is followed in our algorithms. We examine the coalitional game aspects of the mobile assignment problem. This game has an incentive to form grand coalition where all players join to the game. By using Bondareva-Shapley theorem, we prove that this coalitional game has a non-empty core which means that the grand coalition is stable. Then, we examine the cost allocation policy for different methods. In a second part, we analyze a significant problem in green networking called switching off base stations in case of cooperating service providers by means of stochastic geometric and coalitional game tools. The coalitional game herein considered is played by service providers who cooperate in switching off base stations. We observed the Nash stability which is a concept in hedonic coalition formation games. We ask the following question: Is there any utility allocation method which could result in a Nash-stable partition? We address this issue in the thesis. We propose the definition of the Nash-stable core which is the set of all possible utility allocation methods resulting in stable partitions obtained according to Nash stability. We finally consider games related to the association of mobiles to an access point. The player is the mobile which has to decide to which access point to connect. We consider the choice between two access points or more, where the access decisions may depend on the number of mobiles connected to each access points. We obtained new results using elementary tools from congestion and crowding games. Last but not least, we extend our work to cooperative transmissions. We formulate the partner selection problem in cooperative relaying based on a matching theoretic approach. Partner selection is described as a special stable roommate problem where each player ranks its partners by some criterion. We adapted Irving's algorithm for determining the partner of each player. We introduced a decentralized version of the Irving's algorithm.
Santayana and Schopenhauer

While Santayana’s theory of spirituality is recent and structured by categories derived from Western philosophical reflection, spirituality is ancient and in a sense non-Western. The title of the slim volume containing Santayana’s most concentrated account of spirituality, Platonism and the Spiritual Life, dates spirituality back to the time of Plato or earlier. In fact, spirituality could be as much as 3,000 years older. Nor does the title suggest the fact that spirituality was born on the Indian subcontinent. However, the arguments of Platonism and the Spiritual Life show that Santayana understood spirituality by contrast with Plato’s philosophy and Neoplatonism. What he called spirituality was prefigured in the writings of Plato and his followers, but Santayana was getting at what spirituality is by exploring what it is not.
Brauer Groups of Homogenecus Spaces, I

This work originates with my desire to find an algebraic homogeneous space, with respect to an affine algebraic group over (C the field of complex numbers which is not a rational algebraic variety. The question in fact is open, but I believe that a non- rational homogeneous space will be found. A quick perusal of the facts involved shows that the chief candidate for such a homogeneous space would be one of the form G/K for G and K both semi-simple over (E and K not contained in any parabolic subgroup of G. In fact this last condition is not essential, but by considering Levi factors one sees that the essential part of the problem lies here.
E-cigarette use is differentially related to smoking onset among lower risk adolescents

Objective E-cigarette use has been linked to onset of cigarette smoking among adolescents, but some commentators have suggested that this simply reflects high-risk adolescents being more likely to use e-cigarettes and to smoke. We tested whether the effect of e-cigarette use for smoking onset differs for youth who are lower versus higher on propensity to smoke. Methods School-based survey with a longitudinal sample of 1136 students (9th–11th graders, mean age 14.7 years) in Hawaii, initially surveyed in 2013 (T1) and followed up 1 year later (T2). We assessed e-cigarette use, propensity to smoke based on 3 psychosocial factors known to predict smoking (rebelliousness, parental support and willingness to smoke), and cigarette smoking status. Analyses based on T1 never-smokers tested the relation of T1 e-cigarette use to T2 smoking status for participants lower versus higher on T1 propensity to smoke. Results The relation between T1 e-cigarette use and T2 smoking onset was stronger among participants with lower levels of rebelliousness and willingness and higher levels of parental support. A multiple logistic regression analysis with T2 smoking as the criterion tested the cross-product of T1 e-cigarette use and T1 smoking propensity score; the interaction (OR=0.88, p=0.01) indicated a significantly larger effect for smoking onset among lower risk youth. Conclusions The results indicate e-cigarette use is a risk factor for smoking onset, not just a marker of high risk for smoking. This study provides evidence that e-cigarettes are recruiting lower risk adolescents to smoking, which has public health implications.
Radiation testing of tantalum oxide-based resistive memory

Resistive memory (RRAM) is an emerging memory technology, expected to have inherent resistance to radiation damage. We present an initial study characterizing the effects of several types of radiation on a set of tantalum oxide-based RRAM devices. Gamma radiation (64.7 Mrad(Si)) was found to have no significant impact on switching properties. Likewise, ionic radiation (H, N, Ar+) up to 1015 ions/cm2 did not have any significant effect. This resistance to radiation, combined with high endurance and data retention, make RRAM an excellent candidate for use in harsh environments.
Mechanical Circulatory Support as a Bridge to Heart Transplantation

Heart failure (HF) continues to be a pandemic due to the growing burden of an aging population and the rising incidence of the disease. The success of medical therapy and cardiac resynchronization therapy has yielded a population of advanced HF patients with poor quality of life, frequent hospitalizations and hemodynamic instability. Heart transplantation remains the gold standard treatment for such patients; however, the small number of available donor organs and contraindications to heart transplantation in very sick patients limits this therapeutic approach. For those facing prolonged waiting times, mechanical circulatory support of the failing heart has emerged as an effective bridging strategy which has revolutionized the treatment of late stage heart failure. Outcomes after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) placement have significantly improved with the newer devices. Operative mortality in well-selected patients has improved to 5–10 % and the 1-year overall survival has improved to nearly 80 % as compared to 90 % after heart transplantation. Following upon the success with bridging patients to transplantation and the emergence of durable continuous flow pumps, there is a growing enthusiasm to apply this technology as lifelong therapy. Undoubtedly, LVADs have changed the landscape for the treatment of HF and the technology will continue to develop in the foreseeable future. This chapter provides an up to date overview of current LVAD technology and highlights the novel landmark studies that have established LVADs as a therapeutic option for HF.
Flexible Support Measures and Search Schemes for Mining Frequent Patterns in a Large Single Graph

Recent years have witnessed intensive studies on mining graph databases for interesting patterns. One important problem in this paradigm is the Frequent Subgraph Mining (FSM), which involves finding patterns that occur in high frequency from a graph database. In particular, researchers are interested in finding all frequent patterns from a single graph that often consists of a large number of vertices and edges. There are two indispensable components in any solutions to the FSM problem. The first one is a support measure that quantifies the frequency of a given pattern occurred in the data graph. The second one is an algorithm for searching through the space of all possible subgraphs to identify frequent ones. These two computations, if handled in a naive way, face serious performance and accuracy issues. The main objective of my research project is to study both processes by providing theoretical breakthroughs and developing practical algorithms to further speed up the processing of FSM.
Interactive Effects of Corrosion, Copper, and Chloramines on Legionella and Mycobacteria in Hot Water Plumbing

Complexities associated with drinking water plumbing systems can result in undesirable interactions among plumbing components that undermine engineering controls for opportunistic pathogens (OPs). In this study, we examine the effects of plumbing system materials and two commonly applied disinfectants, copper and chloramines, on water chemistry and the growth of Legionella and mycobacteria across a transect of bench- and pilot-scale hot water experiments carried out with the same municipal water supply. We discovered that copper released from corrosion of plumbing materials can initiate evolution of >1100 times more hydrogen (H2) from water heater sacrificial anode rods than does presence of copper dosed as soluble cupric ions. H2 is a favorable electron donor for autotrophs and causes fixation of organic carbon that could serve as a nutrient for OPs. Dosed cupric ions acted as a disinfectant in stratified stagnant pipes, inhibiting culturable Legionella and biofilm formation, but promoted Legionella grow...
Elemental content of the placenta: A comparison between two high-risk obstetrical populations, adult women carrying multiples and adolescents carrying singletons

Abstract Background The placenta is responsible for the exchange of nutrients and for preventing harmful compounds from entering the fetal circulation. With increasing industrialization, exposures to commercial and toxic metals become a concern for both pregnant women and those planning a pregnancy. The understanding of transport mechanisms and pharmacokinetics for most inorganic elements is incomplete and limited to normal term deliveries. Objectives To obtain novel data on 46 inorganic elements in placentae from two high-risk obstetric populations, women carrying multiples and adolescents carrying singletons, evaluating differences, if present, and identifying predictors of placental content. Methods Placental tissue was collected from adolescents carrying singletons and adults carrying multiples. Elemental content was analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Multivariate regression and factor analyses were used. Results With the exception of Au and Pt, almost all placentae contained quantifiable concentrations of each element analyzed. All placentae contained the essential elements Ca, Fe, Mg, Se and Zn, which clustered together onto the same factor. Most elements were higher in placentae from women carrying multiples. Differences in placental content disappeared after adjusting for maternal age. Rare earth elements (REEs) clustered together and remained higher in the multiples even after adjusting for maternal age. Conclusion Human placentae contain a wide range of elements, including REEs. Ranges differed considerably between cohorts. Elements with similar chemical properties, like REEs or nutritionally essential elements, clustered together. Maternal age, and therefore longer environmental exposure, was significantly associated with elevated element concentrations in the placenta. Placental concentrations of several metals that are known to be nutritionally essential (e.g., Fe, Ca, Mg, and Zn) did not differ significantly between cohorts, suggesting tight regulation, whereas concentrations of environmental contaminants differed significantly between groups, even after adjusting for maternal age.
The Economic Evolution of the Soybean Industry

Since the crop’s humble beginnings in China, the global soybean industry has grown to be a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Since World War II, the USA has been the dominant market for both production and consumption. For the 2015 growing season, US farmers planted over 80 million acres and produced nearly 4 billion bushels of soybeans. With market prices averaging $10 per bushel, that translates to $40 billion in raw production value each harvest. However, the soybean plant was not always one of the dominant crops in the US agricultural landscape. Large-scale soybean production in the USA is a relatively recent phenomenon. Roughly 55% of the world’s soybean crop is directed to feed use currently. Over the course of the past 20 years, another use for soybeans has emerged in the energy sector, biofuel, specifically biodiesel production. Soybean production costs have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. In general, crop production costs can be broken down into four major categories: machinery, land, labor, and crop inputs (seed, chemicals, and fertilizer). Land costs make up nearly half of the total cost of soybean production. Soybean, like many row crops, is a bulk commodity. This means that soybeans produced by one farmer/practice/variety are not differentially marketed or priced from soybeans produced by others (with some rare exceptions for food-grade non-genetically modified varieties or organic practices). Or to put it another way, a soybean is a soybean no matter who produces it or how it is produced. So soybean producers are transacting in a competitive market, where producers can enter and exit the market fairly easily and there is very little room for differentiation. But there is a similar situation for the entities that purchase soybeans as well. So the soybean market is made up of many sellers (producers) and buyers (country elevators, crushing facilities, river terminals, and exporters). In competitive markets like this, prices are generally equal to production costs. If prices exceed costs, the resulting profits will inspire additional production from existing and new producers, leading to larger supplies and lower prices. If costs exceed prices, the resulting losses will drive some producers out of the business, leading to supply reduction and price improvement.
EVALUATION OF A TENSION TEST FOR BRITTLE MATERIALS

Diametral compressive loading of circular ring specimens is shown to be applicable to the measurement of tensile properties of such brittle materials as graphite. The relation of experimental data to that obtained by conventional techniques is presented, and the advantages of this test are shown to include its application at high temperatures.
Mouse-to-mouse variation in maturation heterogeneity of smooth muscle cells

Smooth muscle cell (SMC) heterogeneity plays an important role in vascular remodeling, a life-threatening hallmark of many vascular diseases. However, the characterization of SMCs at the single-cell level is stymied by drawbacks of contemporary single-cell protein measurements, including antibody probe cross-reactivity, chemical fixation artifacts, limited isoform-specific probes, low multiplexing and difficulty sampling cells with irregular morphologies. To scrutinize healthy vessels for subpopulations of SMCs with proliferative-like phenotypes, we developed a high-specificity, multiplexed single-cell immunoblotting cytometry tool for unfixed, uncultured primary cells. We applied our assay to demonstrate maturation stage profiling of aortic SMCs freshly isolated from individual mice. After ensuring unbiased sampling of SMCs (80-120 μm in length), we performed single-SMC electrophoretic protein separations, which resolve protein signal from off-target antibody binding, and immunoblotted for differentiation markers α-SMA, CNN-1 and SMMHC (targets ranging from 34 kDa to 227 kDa). We identified a subpopulation of immature-like SMCs, supporting the recently-established mechanism that only a subset of SMCs is responsible for vascular remodeling. Furthermore, the low sample requirements of our assay enable single-mouse resolution studies, which minimizes animal sacrifice and experimental costs while reporting animal-to-animal phenotypic variation, essential for achieving reproducibility and surmounting the drawbacks of pooling primary cells from different animals.
Are Neighborhood Factors Associated with Teen Dating Violence? Let Us Examine the Evidence

Abstract Teen dating violence (TDV) affects a sizable number of youth, increasing the risk for several negative physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. Much of the research on TDV has focused on individual-level factors; however recently, there has been a shift and researchers have started to focus on the neighborhood environment and the role it may play in influencing TDV. In this chapter, we draw from the comparatively robust body of literature focusing on adult partner violence to illustrate the potential for certain neighborhood characteristics to affect differences in TDV. The literature on neighborhood factors and TDV is in its infancy, but it is expected to grow as researchers from a range of fields including public health, criminology, sociology, and clinical medicine continue to explore it. Currently, there is limited evidence associating neighborhood factors to TDV, suggesting that more rigorous research is needed to understand these relationships.
Stoma Construction: Laparoscopic Approach

While stomas are created traditionally with a formal laparotomy, more recently there have been many other means of creative and minimally invasive techniques that are now used to create a stoma. Laparoscopy has emerged as a front-runner in stoma creation because of the minimally invasive technique and the rather quick patient recovery. Many surgeons now believe that this should be the primary means of stoma creation. In this chapter, we will review general principles of stoma creation and describe the laparoscopic approach in detail.
Sphingolipids in Ocular Inflammation

Sphingolipids are essential to cell membrane structure and the development and maintenance of neural tissues. The role of bioactive sphingolipids has been established in numerous cellular events, including cell survival, growth, and apoptosis. Ocular inflammatory and autoimmune diseases involve activation and migration of endothelial cells, neovascularization, and infiltration of immune cells into various tissues. Clinically, the impact and role of sphingolipid-mediated signaling is increasingly being appreciated in the pathogenesis and treatment of diseases ranging from multiple sclerosis to neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. In this review, we discuss our current knowledge and understanding of sphingolipid metabolism and signaling associated with the pathogenesis of ocular diseases.
When store credit cards hurt retailers: The differential effect of paying credit card dues on consumers' purchasing behavior

Abstract In a cautionary note to retailers, this research provides evidence that store (vs. bank) credit card users assign lower reservation prices for future purchases (study 1), show less total expenditure in shopping bags (study 2 and 3), and are less engaged in impulsive purchasing (study 2) at the card-issuing store. The authors provide evidence that even though store and bank credit cards result in a similar level of pain of paying and temporal decoupling, these previously assumed to be similar payment modes lead to different purchasing decisions. Findings suggest that consumers attribute the financial depletion resulting from paying a store credit card invoice to the mental account for the card-issuing store and hence are less generous in their subsequent purchasing decisions at that store (study 4).
Volatility and Welfare in a Crypto Economy

Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains possess at least two undesirable characteristics: exceptional price volatility and welfare impairment. Exceptional price volatility arises because PoW implements a passive monetary policy that fails to modulate cryptocurrency demand shocks. Welfare impairment arises because PoW compensates those updating the blockchain through seigniorage while facilitating free-entry among them. This paper theoretically formalizes the aforementioned points and also examines an alternative blockchain protocol that induces low volatility and enhanced welfare. The alternative protocol generates low volatility via an active monetary policy that modulates cryptocurrency demand shocks and facilitates welfare gains by supporting cryptocurrency prices with blockchain updating expenses.
Pediatric residents' experiences with suicidal patients: implications for training

The increased prevalence of attempted and completed suicide in childhood and adolescence, combined with recent emphasis on secondary prevention by primary care physicians, underscores the need for effective training of pediatricians and other primary care providers in assessment of suicidal risk. It is probable that psychiatrists will play a leading role in this training. This descriptive study uses interview data from a unique cohort of 19 graduating pediatric residents from 2 programs to document qualitative and quantitative aspects of their clinical experience with suicidal children and adolescents. The implications of these findings for those involved in resident training are discussed in light of pertinent literature.
Modeling and Mitigation of Multiloops Related Device Overvoltage in Three-Level Active Neutral Point Clamped Converter

This article establishes an analytical model for the device drain–source overvoltage related to the two loops in three-level active neutral point clamped (3L-ANPC) converters. Taking into account the nonlinear device output capacitance, two common modulation methods are investigated in detail. The results show that the line switching frequency device usually has higher overvoltage, and the switching speed of the high switching frequency device is not strongly influenced by the multiple loops. By keeping the nonactive clamping switch off , the effect of the nonlinear device output capacitance can be significantly mitigated, which helps reduce the overvoltage. Moreover, the loop inductance can be reduced with vertical loop layout and magnetic cancellation in the printed circuit board and busbar design. A 500-kVA 3L-ANPC converter using silicon carbide mosfet s was built and tested. The experimental results validate the overvoltage model of the two modulation methods as well as the busbar design. With the nonactive clamping switch off , the overvoltage of both the high and line switching frequency devices is significantly reduced, which helps achieve higher switching speed.
Estlander flap for lip reconstruction

Abstract Lip reconstruction for defects which involve the commissure remains a significant challenge to the facial plastic surgeon. The Estlander flap is a hardy local flap which can be used to reconstruct defects of 1/3-2/3 of both the upper and lower lip. Herein, we describe the operative technique of the Estlander flap for lip reconstruction.
A Clinical Case: Restoration of Toothwear

This paper presents a case demonstrating treatment of localized severe toothwear and generalized moderate toothwear, in a previously bulimic and anorexic patient. The treatment plan and rationale f...
Prevalence of Hypertension in Homeless Adults: An Interprofessional Education Community-Based Health Fairs Cross-Sectional Study in Urban Long Beach, California.

Hypertension (SBP/DBP > 130/80 mmHg) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease worldwide. To determine the prevalence of hypertension in a homeless community during an interprofessional education (IPE)-based health fair. Homeless participants were recruited between August 2019–September 2019. Faculty, nursing, and pharmacist students, educated 477 participants, aged 18–80 years, on the risk factors associated with untreated hypertension. Then, participants self-completed the consented demographic survey questionnaire. Finally, the sitting blood pressure (BP) was recorded three times based on a standardized procedure, using Omron BPN monitor with cuff. Seven pharmacy students, nine nursing students, two registered nurses, five registered pharmacists, and two medical doctors collaboratively provided health education to the homeless community and screened their sitting BP. 390/477 (81.8%) of participants satisfied the inclusion criteria. Participants (54.7%) of the reported education level was at the high School level or less. More than the half of the participants (average age of 51 ± 13 years) had hypertension (median SBP/DBP ≥ 130/82.7 mmHg), respectively. The prevalence of hypertension for the overall cohort was 61.52% (95% CI, 56.59–66.35). Age (p value = 0.000) was significantly associated with hypertension based on the binary logistic analysis. This study demonstrated a high prevalence of hypertension in the homeless community in Long Beach, California with high risk of cardio-vascular events or strokes. This works sheds new light on an issue of major public health significance and points to the need for fostering IPE community-based health fairs intervention program for the US homeless population.
NFIB V. Sibelius: Proportionality in the Exercise of Congressional Power

With its opinion on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the U.S. Supreme Court sparked much discussion regarding the implications of the case for other federal statutes. In particular, scholars have debated the significance of the Court’s recognition of an anti-coercion limit to the Spending Clause power. When it recognized an anti-coercion limit for ACA’s Medicaid expansion, the Court left considerable uncertainty as to the parameters of that limit. This essay sketches out one valuable and very plausible interpretation of the Court’s new anti-coercion principle. It also indicates how this new principle can address a long-standing problem with the federal exercise of the Commerce Clause power — the federalization of local crime.Specifically, I argue first that we can best understand the Court’s anti-coercion principle not by parsing the text of its spending power analysis in isolation but by identifying a common strand of principle that the spending power analysis shares with the Court’s analysis of the individual mandate to purchase health care under the federal taxing power. Both analyses suggest a common principle of proportionality for the exercise of federal powers.If that is true for a Medicaid expansion enacted under the spending power and an individual mandate enacted under the taxing power, it also may — and should — be true for a criminal prohibition enacted under the commerce power, the primary source of authority for federal criminal statutes. If so, then the Court could find that Congress exceeds its authority when it imposes more severe sentences than do states for misconduct that is essentially local in nature.