cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A flooring comparison: The impact of rubber mats on the health, behavior, and welfare of group-housed sows at breeding

Comfortable flooring may impact many aspects of an animal's welfare, including lying behavior, an animal's ability to change postures, and incidence of lameness and lesions. Therefore, we hypothesized that the addition of rubber mats to stalls of group pens would improve sow health, comfort and welfare during breeding. In this study, Landrace York- Yorkshire sows (128) were mixed post-weaning and housed in pens of four. The pens contained a slatted group area and four feeding stalls. Rubber mats (measuring 1.83 m 0.61 m 1.27 cm) were added to the feeding stalls of half of the pens and rotated to the opposite pens for each replication. The behavioral time budgets of the sows were recorded throughout the experiment; lesion and lameness scores were collected prior to mixing and at the end of the experiment. Data were analyzed as repeated measures mixed models with post hoc Tukey tests. The pattern of behaviors performed in the stall versus group area was different for mat and concrete treatments (REML: F 2,56 = 12.98; P < 0.001). Tukey tests revealed that only resting behaviors were affected. We then examined resting behavior in detail. Time spent in different resting postures (sternal versus lateral lying) differed between treatments (REML: F1,30 = 4.92; P = 0.03), where sows on mats spent more time lying laterally (P < 0.05) and performed more of their lying behavior in the stalls (GLM: F1,22 = 14.88; P = 0.001) compared to sows on concrete. Additionally, sows stood up and laid down more frequently (GLM: F1,30 = 13.53; P = 0.001) than sows on concrete. Warm temperatures reduced resting behavior in the stalls (REML: F2,56 = 8.75; P < 0.001). Sows in matted pens had a lower total lesion score at the end of the experiment in comparison to sows in concrete pens (REML: F1,30 = 5.03; P = 0.03). Lameness scores did not differ between treatments. These results imply that the provision of alternative comfort flooring may provide welfare benefits to breeding sows, though environmental temperature needs to be considered when providing rubber mats.
Automatic Reputation Computation through Document Analysis: A Social Network Approach

We develop and study two social network-based algorithms for automatically computing authors' reputations from a collection of textual documents. First, given a set of documents, both algorithms examine keyword reference behaviors of the authors to construct a social network. This social network represents the relationship among the authors in terms of information reference behavior. With the resulting network, the first algorithm computes each author's reputation value considering only direct referential activities while the second considers indirect activities as well. We discuss the reputation values computed by the two algorithms and compare them with the reputation ratings given by a human domain expert. We also analyze the social network through a community detection algorithm. We observed several interesting phenomena including the network being scale-free and having negative assortativity.
Analyzing Cockpit Interfaces Using Formal Methods

Modern passenger aircraft are highly automated, and problems at the interface between the automation and the pilot are implicated in several accidents. I use a simple example taken from the autopilot of a widely used aircraft type to demonstrate how formal methods can be used to analyze some aspects of these interfaces, and to expose potential problems. This example serves to illustrate the wider thesis that formal methods can find application in domains outside those traditionally associated with it, provided only that the phenomena of interest can be modeled effectively in discrete mathematics.
NASA budget in Congress

The House of Representatives has authorized $161.7 million more than President Ronald Reagan proposed for the fiscal 1984 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) budget. The House NASA authorization bill (H.R. 2065) passed by voice vote on April 26. Five days earlier, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Technology Committee marked up S. 1096, the Senate's NASA authorization bill, and recommended $171.6 million more than the Reagan proposal. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in mid May, after which time a conference committee will iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions. President Reagan requested a total NASA budget of $7.1065 billion: $5.7085 billion for research and development, $150.5 million for construction of facilities, and $1.2475 billion for research and program management (Eos, February 15, 1983, p. 65).
Microwave Strip Circuit Research at Tufts College

Research into some of the basic aspects of the electrical and mechanical characteristics of microwave strip line components was initiated at the Research Laboratory of Physical Electronics at Tufts College in November 1952, under the sponsorship of the Antenna Laboratory of the Electronics Research Directorate, Air Force Cambridge Research Center. The work was planned at that time as a continuation and development of the original investigations carried out by Mr. Robert M. Barrett of the Antenna Laboratory.
Synthetic biology: Ribosomal ties that bind

The ribosome is the cellular complex of proteins and RNA molecules that synthesizes proteins. An artificial ribosome in which the two main subunits are tethered together creates opportunities for engineering this process. See Letter p.119
Effects of the commercial in ovo injection of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol on the hatchability and hatching chick quality of broilers

The effects of the in ovo injection of commercial diluent containing various levels of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol [25(OH)D3] on hatchability and hatching chick quality variables in Ross × Ross 708 broilers were examined in 2 trials. All treatment groups, each containing 21 and 40 eggs in trials 1 and 2, respectively, were randomly represented on each of 10 replicate tray levels of a single-stage incubator. On 18 d of incubation (doi), eggs were subjected to 1 of 6 treatments using a commercial multi-egg injector. Treatments included noninjected and diluent-injected controls, along with those that received diluent containing 0.15, 0.30, 0.60, or 1.20 µg of 25(OH)D3 in trial 1 and 0.20, 0.60, 1.80, or 5.4 µg of 25(OH)D3 in trial 2. Hatchability of injected eggs (HI) was recorded on 20.5, 21.0, and 21.5 doi, and embryonic mortalities through 21.5 doi were determined. On 21.0 doi in each trial, the BW, body length, and weights and moisture concentrations of the livers and yolk sacs of male and female chicks in each replicate group were determined. In a preliminary trial, the in ovo injection of 0.60 µg of 25(OH)D3 on 18 doi significantly elevated its serum level concentrations in embryos on 19.25 doi. In both trials, the HI of noninjected controls through 21.0 doi was higher than that of diluent-injected controls. In trial 1, the HI of eggs on 21.0 doi after being injected with 0.30, 0.60, or 1.20 µg of 25(OH)D3 was higher compared with that of diluent-injected controls, and in trial 2, the HI of eggs on 21.0 and 21.5 doi after being injected with 0.60 µg of 25(OH)D3 was higher compared with that of diluent-injected controls. In conclusion, the in ovo injection of 0.60 µg of 25(OH)D3 may be used to alleviate depressions in HI in Ross × Ross 708 broiler hatching eggs that can occur in response to the in ovo injection of commercial diluent.
Developmental aspects of intracranial arterial supply in the alligator brain.

Intracranial arterial patterns were studied in injected Alligator adults and in serially sectioned Alligator embryos ranging in body length from 4.0 mm to 180 mm. The embryos show extensive developmental modifications involving in particular the posterior cerebral artery anterior cerebral artery, ophthalmic artery, and mesencephalic artery. The posterior cerebral arteries of both sides fuse to form the common ethmoidal artery, which forms a connection with the anterior cerebral artery. A portion of the latter then degenerates posterior to the common ethmoidal artery; the posterior cerebral arteries thus become the sole intracranial source of supply for the naso-olfactory regions. The ophthalmic artery functions only during early embryonic stages and is later replaced by the orbital artery. The formation of flexures in the brain influences the development of the embryonic mesencephalic artery and causes the posterior ramus of this vessel to become the stem of the definitive mesencephalic artery.
The Influence of Culture on the Experience and Interpretation of Disturbing Dreams

The Author(s) 2009. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com This issue is devoted to an analysis of the relationship between trauma and dreams. With the exception of Deirdre Barrett’s 1996 edited volume, this is a relatively understudied subject. Barrett (p. 2) suggests that the lack of attention has come about for two reasons. (i) Until recently many dream researchers—whether or not interested in nightmares and disturbing dreams—following Freud and his theory that dreams are disguised wish fulfillments, have been intent on tracing out the metaphoric and symbolic meanings of dreams rather than investigating what they might be expressing more literally about social and personal experience. (ii) Many trauma researchers, on the other hand, have focused on nightmares and repetitive, intrusive memories and flashbacks more as symptoms of PTSD or other psychiatric disorders, rather than as psychological phenomena worthy of study in themselves. The lack of attention may also have to do with the fact that there is still considerable ambiguity about what should be considered ‘‘trauma.’’ This is reflected in Barrett’s own organization of chapters: dreams following very severe and disturbing events such as war, incest, rape and firestorms are separated from those following the ‘‘Traumas of Normal Living,’’ which range from divorce to bereavement to becoming the recipient of a transplant. The latter types of experiences may surely be quite disturbing for people, but are they ‘‘traumatic’’ in the way we typically use that term?
Biculturalism and Context: What Is Biculturalism, and When Is It Adaptive?

Mistry and Wu [this issue] introduce the concept of navigating across worlds, and this construct appears to represent a rough approximation of biculturalism. They also discuss conditions that may facilitate biculturalism and under which it might be more versus less adaptive. The most integral aspects of Mistry and Wu's argument, then, center around biculturalism, what it is, how it comes into being, and when it is most adaptive. The present commentary focuses on these three issues. Biculturalism has been defined in a number of ways [e.g., Benet-Martinez & Haritatos, 2005; Berry, 1997; Schwartz & Zamboanga, 2008]. Most generally, biculturalism represents comfort and proficiency with both one's heritage culture and the culture of the country or region in which one has settled. It is applicable not only to immigrants who have come from other countries, but also to children of immigrants who – although they are born and raised in the receiving society – are likely deeply embedded in the heritage culture at home with their families [Portes & Rumbaut, 2001, 2006]. It may also apply to individuals living in ethnic enclaves, where the heritage culture is likely to be maintained across generations, as well as to individuals from visible minority groups, who may be identified as different from the majority ethnic group even if their families have been in the receiving society for multiple generations [Huynh, Nguyen, & Benet-Martinez, in press; Umana-Taylor, in press]. The ethnic component of biculturalism is not only a reactive response to discrimination, as Mistry and Wu appear to suggest. It also represents a sense of pride in one's heritage, and a desire to hold on to that heritage [Umana-Taylor, Yazedjian, & Bamaca-Gomez, 2004]. But what exactly does biculturalism look like? How would we know it if we saw it? What are its functions? And when is it adaptive – and when is it not?
Finite time recovery in decision feedback equalization for time varying channels

This paper provides sufficient conditions under which a perfect Decision Feedback Equalization (DFE) system (i.e. when channel is perfectly known) recovers from initial errors in finite time. It also provides an upper bound on the time at which error recovery is achieved.
Comparing the utility of a novel neonatal resuscitation cart with a generic code cart using simulation: a randomised, controlled, crossover trial

Objective To compare a novel neonatal resuscitation cart (NRC) to a generic code cart (GCC). Study design A prospective, randomised, controlled, crossover trial was performed to compare the utility of the NRC with the GCC during simulated deliveries of extremely low birthweight infants and infants with gastroschisis. Fifteen subjects participated. Mean times and accuracy of equipment and supply retrieval were compared for each scenario using the Wilcoxon test. Results Mean acquisition times for the NRC were always faster (by 58% to 74%) regardless of scenario (p Conclusions The NRC was superior to the GCC in acquisition speed, supply selection and ease of use.
Perceptions Now and Then of Occupational Sex Typing: A Replication of Shinar's 1975 Study

College students’ perceptions of the sex typing of 129 occupations were gathered and compared with those reported by Shinar (1975). Questionnaires were completed by 72 males and 70 females. As in Shinar's study, a continuum of the perceptions of occupations from masculine to feminine was replicated. A comparison of the mean ratings for the occupations and of the percentages of women in each occupation in 1975 and 1988 is reported in a comprehensive table. The results indicated that occupational sex typing continues to exist and that women tend to perceive jobs as being more neutral than men do. However, the occupational sex typing may not be based on the actual percentages of women in the occupations.
Direct admission to the hospital: An alternative approach to hospitalization

Appropriate use of emergency departments (EDs) is a focus of national healthcare reform efforts, and patients requiring hospital admission account for a substantial proportion of ED utilization. Despite this, little attention has been paid to evaluating direct admission to the hospital as an alternative to hospital admissions beginning in the ED. In this Perspective, we discuss the role of hospital medicine in the changing epidemiology of hospital admissions, the potential risks and benefits of direct admission to the hospital, and the need for research to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of this admission approach. We propose that transitions of care research and quality improvement, historically focused on hospital-to-home transitions, be expanded to address transitions into the hospital.
Market Segmentation: A New Look at an Old Topic

This paper reexamines the concept of market segmentation from the viewpoint of indivIDuationdeindivIDuation theory and research, and discusses how this theoretical base may be applied to direct market segmentation strategies.
Continuous monitoring of an earth fissure in Chino, California, USA – a management tool

Abstract. Continuous measurements of deformation have been made in Chino, California across an earth fissure and nearby unfissured soil since 2011 in two buried, horizontal, 150 mm pipes, 51 m long, which are connected by sealed boxes enclosing vertical posts at mostly 6 m intervals. Horizontal displacements and normal strain are measured in one line using nine end-to-end quartz tubes that are attached to posts and span fissured or unfissured soil. The free ends of the tubes are supported by slings and move relative to the attachment post of the next quartz tube. Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) sensors measure the relative movements. Five biaxial tilt sensors were also attached to selected posts in that line. Relative vertical movement was measured at nine locations along the line in the second pipe using low-level differential pressure sensors. The second pipe is half full of water giving a free water surface along its length. Data are recorded on a Campbell CR10 using multiplexers. The quartz-tube horizontal extensometers have exhibited more than 3 mm of predominantly elastic opening and closing in response to about 32 m of seasonal drawdown and recovery, respectively, in an observation well 0.8 km to the south. The nearest production well is 1.6 km to the west. The horizontal strain was 5.9 × 10−5 or 30 % of the lowest estimate of strain-at-failure for alluvium. Maximum relative vertical movement was 4.8 mm. Maximum tilt in the fissure zone was 0.09 arcdeg while tilt at a separate sensor 100 m to the east was 0.86 arcdeg, indicating a wider zone of deformation than is spanned by the instrumentation. High correlation of horizontal displacements during drawdown, and especially recovery, with change in effective stress supports differential compaction as the mechanism for earth-fissure movement. The continuous measurements of horizontal strain coupled with water-level fluctuations and vertical borehole extensometry can provide a real-time adaptive management tool for restricting pumping if strain approaches the lower limit of strain-at-failure or a stress-strain curve deviates from the previous mostly elastic regimen.
Expression of microRNA-143 in sepsis and its clinical significance

Objective To investigate the changes of microRNA-143 in peripheral blood leukocytes in sepsis patients,and their relationship with sepsis severity of patients.Methods The level of mature microRNA-143 was quantified by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood leukocytes in 40 patients with sepsis,20 patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and no infection,and 20 normal individuals.Serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10 were measured by enzyme linked immuno-adsorbent assay in these three groups.The relationship between microRNA-143 and the white blood counts,tumor necrosis factor-alpha,interleukin-10 or SOFA score of the sepsis patients was analyzed.Results The expressions of microRNA-143 were significant lower,and the white blood counts,interleukin-10 and ratio of interleukin-10 to tumor necrosis factor-alpha were significantly higher in the peripheral blood leukocytes in sepsis group than those in healthy control group(P0.01).There was no significant difference in levels of microRNA-143,interleukin-10,ratio of interleukin-10 to tumor necrosis factor-alpha or white blood counts between sepsis group and systemic inflammatory response syndrome group(P0.05).The expressions of microRNA-143 were significantly lower(P0.05),and serum interleukin-10 and ratio of interleukin-10 to tumor necrosis factor-alpha were significantly higher(P 0.01) in dead patients than those in survived patients in sepsis group.The expression of microRNA-143 was negatively correlated with sequential organ failure assessment score,tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10,and was not correlated with white blood counts.Conclusion The expression of microRNA-143 decreases significantly in the peripheral blood in sepsis patients.The expression level of microRNA-143 reflects the situation of immune response,and it may be used as a marker for judging the severity of sepsis and its prognosis.
Abstract B042: Regulation of Lck activity by a cryptic phosphosite

Src family kinases (SFKs) are initiators of receptor-mediated signaling events, enabling cells to perceive and interact with their environment. For immune cells SFKs are especially crucial because they couple antigen recognition to intracellular signaling pathways. In T cells, the SFK Lck phosphorylates the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) complex upon antigen encounter. Because Lck phosphorylates the TCR complex, its activity sets a critical threshold for T cell activation; yet how Lck activity is regulated in resting or stimulated cells is poorly understood. Through quantitative mass spectrometry (SILAC), we recently identified a cryptic Lck phosphosite (Y192) as sensitive to inhibition of the effector kinase Zap70. Because Zap70 is an Lck substrate, and dramatic reduction in phosphorylation of Y192 occurred upon Zap70 inhibition, we reasoned this site might function to regulate Lck in response to changes in Zap70 activity. To test this hypothesis we reconstituted Lck-deficient Jurkat T cells with Lck Y192 variants. Mutation of Y192 reveals that this site has a profound impact on Lck activity. Cells reconstituted with Y192E or Y192A show a marked reduction in Lck activity, characterized by hyperphosphorylation on Lck9s inhibitory C-terminus (Y505) and a reduction in Lck autophosphorylation within the activation loop (Y394). Consistent with a defect in Lck activity, cells that express Lck Y192E/A variants, when assessed for hallmarks of T cell activation, reveal striking defects in TCR signaling. Interestingly, these defects are reminiscent of CD45-deficient T cells. Preliminary findings suggest that mutation of Y192 disrupts the ability of the phosphatase CD45 to dephosphorylate Lck9s inhibitory C-terminus (Y505). Because of the profound effect that Y192 modification exerts on Lck activity, and therefore TCR signaling, we believe that phosphorylation of Y192 comprises a Zap70-dependent negative feedback mechanism that tunes Lck activity. Such a mechanism predicts that increases in Zap70 activity cause phosphorylation of Y192 within Lck9s SH2 domain, favouring Lck inactivation by preventing CD45-mediated dephosphorylation of the inhibitory C-terminus. Citation Format: Adam H. Courtney, Hanna E. Sjolin-Goodfellow, Qinqin Ji, Theresa A. Kadlecek, Arthur R. Salomon, Arthur Weiss. Regulation of Lck activity by a cryptic phosphosite. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B042.
Distribution of alveolar type II cells in neonatal and adult rat lung revealed by RT-PCR in situ

Type II pneumocytes in newborn lungs are more uniformly distributed, whereas in adult lungs they are located at alveolar corners. We used morphometry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reac...
Diagnostic Algorithm for Microcephaly

Investigators from Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK, provide a diagnostic structure to follow when presented with a child with microcephaly.
Discovering and Analyzing Alternative Treatments Hypothesis via Social Health Data

User-generated social health data can provide valuable information to extend the status of the medical knowledge. We present a tool geared towards social health data exploration and reasoning. Starting from a repository of semantically linked social health data, we enable researchers to discover alternative treatments as well as similar conditions by exploring the semantic repository via potentially compatible concepts. Researchers are prompted with the features of the concepts under investigation to analyze similarities and contradictions, when present. Concepts are enriched with confidence values that help researchers in assessing the reliability of the information they are analyzing.
Parliament Regained: Phineas Redux

“Parliamentary debates, Cabinet meetings, murders, trials, political infighting, private obsession, and public tyranny” are some of the things Phineas Redux is about. It is, especially in its first volume, undoubtedly the most political of Trollope’ s political novels — even more so than Phineas Finn, of which it is a continuation. From its opening sentence — “The circumstances of the general election of 18— will be well remembered by all those who take an interest in the political matters of the country” — until its conclusion, Phineas Redux is more singlemindedly concerened with politics, politics both real and imaginary, than any other novel Trollope wrote.1
In Vitro Antibody Affinity Maturation Targeting Germline Hotspots

Affinity-matured antibodies can exhibit increased biological efficacy. Regardless of whether an antibody is isolated from a hybridoma or a human Fv phage library, the antibody affinity for its target may need improvement for therapeutic applications. An increased affinity may allow for a reduced dosage of a therapeutic antibody; toxic side effects may also be reduced. In the immune system, affinity maturation is a process involving somatic hypermutations in B cells. Therefore, germline hotspot residues are most likely to have a major impact on antibody affinity. Here, we describe procedures for germline hotspot mutagenesis with an emphasis on strategies for randomizing hotspots with PCR and phage display, using as an example the anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody.
Automated identification of discrete, lightning-generated, multiple-dispersed whistler waves in C/NOFS-VEFI very low frequency observations

Automated wave-feature detection is required to efficiently analyze large archives of broadband Very-Low-Frequency recordings for discrete-whistler identification and feature extraction. We describe a new method to do this, even in the presence of simultaneous, multiple whistler phase dispersions. Previous techniques of whistler identification were unable to deal with simultaneous, multiple phase dispersions. We demonstrate the new method with data from the VEFI payload on the C/NOFS satellite, from the mission years 2008 - 2014
Prospects for a prolonged slowdown in global warming in the early 21st century.

Global mean temperature over 1998 to 2015 increased at a slower rate (0.1 K decade−1) compared with the ensemble mean (forced) warming rate projected by Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) models (0.2 K decade−1). Here we investigate the prospects for this slower rate to persist for a decade or more. The slower rate could persist if the transient climate response is overestimated by CMIP5 models by a factor of two, as suggested by recent low-end estimates. Alternatively, using CMIP5 models’ warming rate, the slower rate could still persist due to strong multidecadal internal variability cooling. Combining the CMIP5 ensemble warming rate with internal variability episodes from a single climate model—having the strongest multidecadal variability among CMIP5 models—we estimate that the warming slowdown (<0.1 K decade−1 trend beginning in 1998) could persist, due to internal variability cooling, through 2020, 2025 or 2030 with probabilities 16%, 11% and 6%, respectively. Rates of global mean surface temperature increases have recently slowed. Here, using climate models, Knutson et al. examine how internal variability influences temperature evolution, finding that the recent slowdown may persist if coincident with an overestimated transient climate response or internal cooling episodes.
Image-guided urologic surgery: intraoperative optical imaging and tissue interrogation (Conference Presentation)

Emerging optical imaging technologies can be integrated in the operating room environment during minimally invasive and open urologic surgery, including oncologic surgery of the bladder, prostate, and kidney. These technologies include macroscopic fluorescence imaging that provides contrast enhancement between normal and diseased tissue and microscopic imaging that provides tissue characterization. Optical imaging technologies that have reached the clinical arena in urologic surgery are reviewed, including photodynamic diagnosis, near infrared fluorescence imaging, optical coherence tomography, and confocal laser endomicroscopy. Molecular imaging represents an exciting future arena in conjugating cancer-specific contrast agents to fluorophores to improve the specificity of disease detection. Ongoing efforts are underway to translate optimal targeting agents and imaging modalities, with the goal to improve cancer-specific and functional outcomes.
Altering the effectiveness of radical traps in atom transfer radical coupling reactions of polymer chains

Abstract Atom transfer radical coupling (ATRC) reactions assisted by radical traps were studied under various conditions, with the extent of coupling of polymer chains monitored as a function of time. When using a radical trap that tended to aggregate into dimers, such as 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane (MNP), the rate of coupling was enhanced when conditions were adjusted to favor its de-aggregation to the monomeric form: less polar solvent mixtures and/or the addition of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). With radical traps that did not aggregate, such as nitrosobenzene (NBz) and N - tert -Butyl-α-phenylnitrone (tBuPN), coupling was generally accelerated under conditions consistent with higher K ATRP values. MALDI-TOF analysis was used to confirm the incorporation of the radical trap into the polymer dimers, supporting the mechanistic pathway proposed for radical trap-assisted ATRC. The effect of aggregation of the radical trap was further probed by using fractional equivalents of NBz in the coupling reaction, with a full equivalent leading to end-capped polymer chains that were unable to dimerize. By reducing the equivalents of NBz, the extent of coupling could be controlled by the temperature, with higher temperatures (80 °C) allowing ATRC to compete with RTA-ATRC and higher extents of coupling were observed.
Tracking the Within-Trial, Cross-Trial, and Developmental Dynamics of Cognitive Control: Evidence From the Simon Task.

Six- to 8-year-olds, 10- to 12-year-olds, and adults (N = 108) performed the Simon task by reaching to targets on a digital display. The spatial and temporal characteristics of their movements were used to assess how two key processes underlying cognitive control-a threshold adjustment process and a controlled selection process-unfold over the course of a response (within-trial dynamics), are modulated by recent experience (cross-trial dynamics), and contribute to age-related gains in control (developmental dynamics). The results indicate that the controlled selection process undergoes a more protracted development than the threshold adjustment process. The results also shed light on a prominent debate concerning the cross-trial dynamics of control by supporting the feature integration account over the conflict adaptation account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Status of Muon-Number Conservation and Comments on Parity Violation in Atoms

Last year two of the hottest topics of conversation at this conference were1: 1) the rumor that muon-number violation might have been observed in the μ+→e++γ and 2) the failure of bismuth experiments to detect parity violation at the level predicted by the standard Weinberg-Salam model2. During the intervening time between then and now, several significant theoretical and experimental developments regarding these topics have occurred.
A brief history of cross-species organ transplantation

Cross-species transplantation (xenotransplantation) offers the prospect of an unlimited supply of organs and cells for clinical transplantation, thus resolving the critical shortage of human tissues that currently prohibits a majority of patients on the waiting list from receiving transplants. Between the 17th and 20th centuries, blood was transfused from various animal species into patients with a variety of pathological conditions. Skin grafts were carried out in the 19th century from a variety of animals, with frogs being the most popular. In the 1920s, Voronoff advocated the transplantation of slices of chimpanzee testis into aged men whose "zest for life" was deteriorating, believing that the hormones produced by the testis would rejuvenate his patients. Following the pioneering surgical work of Carrel, who developed the technique of blood vessel anastomosis, numerous attempts at nonhuman primate organ transplantation in patients were carried out in the 20th century. In 1963-1964, when human organs were not available and chronic dialysis was not yet in use, Reemtsma transplanted chimpanzee kidneys into 13 patients, one of whom returned to work for almost 9 months before suddenly dying from what was believed to be an electrolyte disturbance. The first heart transplant in a human ever performed was by Hardy in 1964, using a chimpanzee heart, but the patient died within 2 hours. Starzl carried out the first chimpanzee-to-human liver transplantation in 1966; in 1992, he obtained patient survival for 70 days following a baboon liver transplant. With the advent of genetic engineering and cloning technologies, pigs are currently available with a number of different manipulations that protect their tissues from the human immune response, resulting in increasing pig graft survival in nonhuman primate models. Genetically modified pigs offer hope of a limitless supply of organs and cells for those in need of a transplant.
Sub-optimal emergence temperature alters thermotolerance of thylakoid component processes in cotton seedlings

Abstract Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum ) is often planted under sub-optimal early season temperatures, yet it is unknown whether this increases susceptibility to acute high temperature exposure. To address this, cotton seedlings were grown under optimal (30/20 °C) and sub-optimal (20/15 °C) growth temperature regimes, and comprehensive fluorescence analysis was conducted for cotyledons from both temperature regimes in response to incubation temperatures ranging from 30 to 50 °C. Results indicated that low growth temperature did not alter reaction center density (RC/CS 0 ), but increased antenna size (ratio of antenna chlorophyll to reaction center chlorophyll; ABS/RC) and decreased the amplitude of the I to P phase of the fluorescence transient [ΔV IP ; associated with the photosystem (PS) I content]. Photosynthetic performance indices (PI total and PI ABS ), quantum yield of energy trapping (φ Po ), the contribution of the thylakoid reactions to PI ABS (F v /F 0 ), electron transport to intersystem electron acceptors (φ E0 ) and reduction of PSI end electron acceptors (φ Ro ) were all substantially lower in plants grown under sub-optimal temperature than in plants grown at optimal temperature. Furthermore, thermotolerance of all the aforementioned parameters was significantly reduced by low early season growth temperatures. Among different OJIP-derived parameters, PI ABS and PI total were more heat sensitive than other fluorescence-based parameters, and φ Po and φ Ro were the most heat tolerant. In addition, thermotolerance of PI total (overall photosynthetic thermotolerance) was significantly correlated with thermotolerance of all other OJIP-derived parameters. Regression analysis indicated that heat tolerance trends for φ E0 were more consistent with the changes in thermotolerance of PI total . We conclude that 1) low growth temperature in the seedling phase of cotton results in decreased photosynthetic thermotolerance and 2) overall photosynthetic thermotolerance is primarily constrained by the ability of intersystem electron transport to acclimate to growth environment.
Functional Genetic Variants Revealed by Massively Parallel Precise Genome Editing

Summary A major challenge in genetics is to identify genetic variants driving natural phenotypic variation. However, current methods of genetic mapping have limited resolution. To address this challenge, we developed a CRISPR-Cas9-based high-throughput genome editing approach that can introduce thousands of specific genetic variants in a single experiment. This enabled us to study the fitness consequences of 16,006 natural genetic variants in yeast. We identified 572 variants with significant fitness differences in glucose media; these are highly enriched in promoters, particularly in transcription factor binding sites, while only 19.2% affect amino acid sequences. Strikingly, nearby variants nearly always favor the same parent's alleles, suggesting that lineage-specific selection is often driven by multiple clustered variants. In sum, our genome editing approach reveals the genetic architecture of fitness variation at single-base resolution and could be adapted to measure the effects of genome-wide genetic variation in any screen for cell survival or cell-sortable markers.
Visual pleasure from motherhood: Alyssa Milano challenging the male gaze:

Using male and female gaze theories as frameworks, this article analyzes the visual design and composition of four distinct breastfeeding (BF) photographs posted by Alyssa Milano to her Instagram i...
Some Relationships between CNV, P300, and Task Demands

Publisher Summary The relatively slow electrocortical phenomena Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) and P300 have been found to be related to various psychological/cognitive demands of the testing situation rather than to the physical dimensions of the stimuli involved. Recent results have shown topographical shifts of the CNV in an anterior or posterior direction with changes in “cognitive set” with eye movement artifact eliminated as a factor. This chapter describes an experiment in which an initial habituation set of alternating red and green lights was given, followed immediately by a more complex repeating pattern of G, G, R, G, R. This was continued until the subject correctly guessed one complete five-element pattern. Four iterations of this pattern were then given as overtraining. Silver disk electrodes placed above and below the left eye and at the outer canthus of each eye provided information on eye movements. Any eye movements or blinks during a trial period caused that trial to be excluded from further data analysis.
Efficacy of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the treatment of hepatic metastases arising from transgenic intraocular tumors in mice

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determined if tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) isolated from transgenic intraocular tumors were capable of preventing the development of spontaneous hepatic metastases. METHODS Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were isolated from intraocular tumors in immunocompetent mice and were examined for cytolytic activity in vitro. The antigenic phenotypes of the TIL were determined by in situ immunohistology. Cultured TIL were transferred adoptively to immunoincompetent, intraocular, tumor-bearing recipients to determine the efficacy of TIL in preventing spontaneous liver metastases. RESULTS Cultured TIL displayed remarkable cytolytic activity in vitro and antimetastatic properties after adoptive transfer into immunoincompetent, athymic nude mice and anti-CD4/CD8-treated euthymic FVB/N mice. Hepatic metastases developed in only 2 of 10 athymic nude mice that subsequently received TIL, whereas metastases developed in all 10 control mice. Similar results were found in anti-CD4/CD8-treated FVB/N mice. Hepatic metastases did not develop in any of the 10 mice treated with TIL, whereas extensive metastatic foci developed in all 10 untreated FVB/N control mice. The efficacy of TIL therapy was manifested also by significant prolongation of host survival times. CONCLUSIONS Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes isolated from intraocular tumors can be expanded in vitro and can exert antimetastatic effects in vivo.
Barking Up The Wrong Tree: Return-chasing in 401(k) Plans

This paper examines investors' retirement savings allocation using a hand-collected dataset on firm-level employees' holdings in 401(k) plans. We document the median investor's return-chasing behavior, the heterogeneous investing styles across wealth levels, and the lack of financial literacy among participants. 83% of the employees hold only 39% of total wealth and chase risk-unadjusted returns when investing in mutual funds and choosing between company stock and funds, leaving substantial money on the table. In contrast, the remaining 17% of employees with a high level of financial sophistication select mutual funds by the CAPM model and exhibit contrarian investing between stock and funds.
The Politics of Designing Tuition-Free College: How Socially Constructed Target Populations Influence Policy Support

As tuition-free college policies spread rapidly across the states, an increasingly important policy debate has emerged regarding the optimal policy design of tuition-free college. However, existing...
Chapter 12 – Basic Statistics, Sets, Sorting, and Indexing

This chapter will cover some simple statistics, as well as set operations that can be performed on data sets. Some statistical functions require that the data set be sorted, so sorting will also be covered. Using index vectors is a way of representing the data in order without physically sorting the data set. Finally, searching for values within a data set or a database is useful, so some basic searching techniques will be explained.
High-entropy monoborides: Towards superhard materials

Abstract Single-phase high-entropy monoborides (HEMBs) of the CrB prototype structure have been synthesized for the first time. Reactive spark plasma sintering of ball milled mixtures of elemental precursor powders produced bulk (V0.2Cr0.2Nb0.2Mo0.2Ta0.2)B, (V0.2Cr0.2Nb0.2Mo0.2W0.2)B, and (V0.2Cr0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2W0.2)B HEMB specimens of ~98.3–99.5% relative densities. Vickers hardness was measured to be ~22–26 GPa at an indentation load of 9.8 N and ~32–37 GPa at 0.98 N. In particular, the load-dependent hardness of (V0.2Cr0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2W0.2)B is higher than those of ternary (Ta0.5W0.5)B (already considered as superhard) and hardest reported high-entropy metal diborides, and on a par with the classical superhard boride WB4.
How SARS-CoV-2 hides its mRNA

Coronavirus Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses a methyltransferase to cap its messenger RNAs to prevent them from being recognized by the host immune system and ensure their translation in host cells. Rosas-Lemus et al. solved crystal structures for the SARS-CoV-2 methyltransferase in complex with its methyl donor and cap structure substrates, a reaction product, and an inhibitor. These structures offer potential strategies for developing therapeutics that disrupt the formation of the active methyltransferase complex or block its catalytic activity. Sci. Signal. 13 , eabe1202 (2020).
Nightcore: efficient and scalable serverless computing for latency-sensitive, interactive microservices

The microservice architecture is a popular software engineering approach for building flexible, large-scale online services. Serverless functions, or function as a service (FaaS), provide a simple programming model of stateless functions which are a natural substrate for implementing the stateless RPC handlers of microservices, as an alternative to containerized RPC servers. However, current serverless platforms have millisecond-scale runtime overheads, making them unable to meet the strict sub-millisecond latency targets required by existing interactive microservices. We present Nightcore, a serverless function runtime with microsecond-scale overheads that provides container-based isolation between functions. Nightcore’s design carefully considers various factors having microsecond-scale overheads, including scheduling of function requests, communication primitives, threading models for I/O, and concurrent function executions. Nightcore currently supports serverless functions written in C/C++, Go, Node.js, and Python. Our evaluation shows that when running latency-sensitive interactive microservices, Nightcore achieves 1.36×–2.93× higher throughput and up to 69% reduction in tail latency.
Religion and Art: A Cognitive and Evolutionary Approach

Religion and art both have resisted scientific analysis and even definition. Multi-disciplinary research on these two and on cognition, however, supports particular definitions and analyses of both terms by setting them in a context of evolved strategies for dealing with cognitive uncertainty. In my view, what religion and art most importantly share is their attempt (shared also by science) to make sense of the world, and their Pascal?s Wager-like strategy (nominally not shared by science) of doing so first by positing human characteristics in non-human phenomena. This necessary, better-safe-than-sorry strategy cross-culturally results in representing the world as humanlike.
McIlwain, Charlton. (2019) Black Software: The Internet and Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter . New York: Oxford University Press. Hardcover: $24.95

Using both first-person interviews and historical research into organizations ranging from the NAACP to the FBI and CIA, Charlton McIlwain charts the development and intersection of Black culture and the technoscientific technosystem of computing through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He charts the ways in which Black people and movements, despite their marginalization in the history of computing, have utilized computers and technology for their own liberation.
Liberation Theology and Economics

The taproot of Latin American liberation theology is the reign of God, or God’s redemptive and liberating presence in history. Liberation theology tries to relate God’s reign to people through their own culture and social situation, especially to the poor and marginal members of society. It maintains that God’s reign, proclaimed authoritatively and efficaciously by Jesus, brings about a new human being in a new society marked by justice, freedom, solidarity, and peace. This reign, then, serves as the ultimate truth for liberation theology’s social theory. Yet, liberation theologians know that the reign of God, if it is to be communicated effectively to people in their particular historical situation, must be mediated through theological sources (Scripture and tradition) and social-scientific sources (anthropology, economics, sociology).
Intelligent Information Systems

Databases of the future must deal with the demands of the increasingly complex applications to which database technology is being applied. This challenge is being addressed by intelligent information systems, which successfully integrate artificial intelligence technologies into the database realm, resulting in a powerful synergism. This article focuses on the next generation of databases that are enhanced by the influence of artificial intelligence, including knowledge representation, object orientation, deductive capabilities, rule processing techniques, and knowledge discovery. This article also addresses the need for intelligent information systems to support nontraditional objects such as those found in multimedia systems. Representative application domains that can benefit from intelligent information systems are also presented.
THE AGE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROVINCELANDS HOOK, OUTER CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS1

The Provincelands Hook, an area of marshes and dunes, was built out from the northern end of the glacial deposits of Outer Cape Cod. The hook, a wedge 60 m at its thickest, of marine, beach, and dune material, rests in part on Tertiary Coastal Plain sediments that are probably only an isolated patch on the crystalline basement. About 18,000 years ago, when late Tazewell ice melted away from the region of present day Cape Cod, the Gulf of Maine was filled with ice, and Georges Bank was above sea level. Between 18,000 and 6,000 years ago, sand that eroded from the coast was moved along the east side of Cape Cod from north to south, where it accumulated as a part of the sand wave complex southeast of the cape. Waves from the east and southeast that would have tended to move sand northward along the Capo were blocked by Georges Shoals and Nantucket Shoals. By 6,000 years ago, sea level had so risen that deeper water over Georges Bank permitted more waves to reach Cape Cod from the east and southeast. The dominant direction of littoral drift which had been to the south, then received a strong north component and material moved northward, accumulating to form the Provincelands Hook. Based on 14C dates and other evidence, the hook formed between 6,000 years ago and the present and is still growing. Shoreline reconstructions are guided by 14C dates, well information, regional topography, and known behavior of hooks. It is noted that hooks are characteristic features of Cape Cod spits and tend to trap lakes behind them. The depressions containing lakes in the modern Provincelands are interpreted as low areas trapped behind hooks. A change in the growth habits of spits is thought to have taken place about 2,000 years ago, coinciding with the abrupt decrease in the rate of rise of sea level.