cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Topics in Clinical Pharmacology: Filgrastim, A Myeloid Colony Stimulating Factor

Filgrastim (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) recently became commercially available for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Studies have shown that filgrastim induces a dose-dependent granulocytosis in humans, thereby shortening the period of neutropenia in patients treated conventionally with submarrow ablative doses of chemotherapy, as well as with marrow ablative therapy given in the bone marrow transplant setting. By reducing the incidence and severity of infections and mucositis in patients treated with chemotherapy, it has a significant economic impact since it shortens the duration of antibiotic administration and hospitalization. Adverse reactions reported are limited to mild to moderate bone pain. Several other potential applications are being investigated for filgrastim, including treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and congenital neutropenia.
Study on optimal hybrid ratio of hybrid fiber composite tension member

Based on composite laws and fracture strain failure criteria of composite mechanics,fracture characteristics of hybrid fiber composite were discussed.The critical hybrid ratio and the tensile strength of tension member of two kinds of hybrid fiber composite were obtained via tensile strength and tensile modulus of fiber lamination,and selection methods of optimal hybrid ratio were introduced.The calculation example shows that determination of optimal hybrid ratio can be regarded as a design optimization of full stress and can be used for preliminary design of hybrid filament-wound case of solid rocket motor.
Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives

Information professionals who train or instruct others can use Bloom's taxonomy to write learning objectives that describe the skills and abilities that they desire their learners to master and demonstrate. Bloom's taxonomy differentiates between cognitive skill levels and calls attention to learning objectives that require higher levels of cognitive skills and, therefore, lead to deeper learning and transfer of knowledge and skills to a greater variety of tasks and contexts.
The Vertebrate Retina

The retina is an outpost of the central nervous system (CNS) with neuronal structures and proteins specialized for the transduction of light signals into a neural code that the brain can interpret. Mutations of proteins involved in phototransduction or synaptic transmission through the retina produce visual deficits ranging from subtle color vision defects to complete blindness. Although normally isolated from blood-mediated immune responses by the blood-retinal barrier, inflammatory responses, including gliosis and those mediated by the complement system, are important contributors to retinal degeneration, particularly age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). Studying immune responses in the retina and their pharmacological manipulation therefore presents a promising avenue for the treatment and prevention of retinal degeneration.
Go-with-the-winner: Performance based client-side server selection

Content delivery networks deliver much of the world's web and video content by deploying a large distributed network of servers. We model and analyze a simple paradigm for client-side server selection that is commonly used in practice where each user independently measures the performance of a set of candidate servers and selects the one that performs the best. For web (resp. video) delivery, we propose and analyze a simple algorithm where each user randomly chooses two or more candidate servers and selects the server that provides the best hitrate (resp. bitrate). We prove that the algorithm converges quickly to an optimal state where all users receive the best hitrate (resp. bitrate), with high probability. We also show that if each user chooses just one random server instead of two, some users receive a hitrate (resp. bitrate) that tends to zero. We simulate our algorithm and evaluate its performance with varying choices of parameters, system load, and content popularity.
Vas deferens reanastomosis without splints and without magnification.

AbstractDuring a 6½-year period vas deferens reanastomoses have been performed by a simple technique and no magnification of the operative site. No intravasal splints have been used. Results can be assessed in 72 of 110 cases. The pregnancy rate is 39 per cent and an additional 35 per cent have had postoperative semen analyses compatible with fertility.
Graphical Function Mapping as a New Way to Explore Cause-and-Effect Chains

Graphical function mapping provides a simple method for improving communication within interdisciplinary research teams and between scientists and nonscientists. This article introduces graphical function mapping using two examples and discusses its usefulness. Function mapping projects the outcome of one function into another to show the combined effect. Using this mathematical property in a simpler, even cartoon-like, graphical way allows the rapid combination of multiple information sources (models, empirical data, expert judgment, and guesses) in an intuitive visual to promote further discussion, scenario development, and clear communication.
The many wounds of war: The association of service-related and clinical characteristics with problems with the law in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans

Previous research has demonstrated that veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at higher risk for aggression, hostility, and anger, potentially leading to problems with the law or disciplinary action while in the military. There have been calls for increased consideration of the unique aspects of the judicial system in legal matters with veterans involved. The bulk of the research so far has considered the link between PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and combat exposure, but little is known about the potential role of chronic pain and Military Sexual Trauma (MST) in a veteran's experience of anger, aggression, and discipline while in the military and legal concerns. The present study used retrospective cross-sectional health screening data in a sample of 1250 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to examine the associations of demographic, service-related, and clinical characteristics with self-reported legal problems. A total of 440 veterans (34.6%) endorsed having experienced some type of problems with the law. Independent logistic regression analyses demonstrated that those who screened positive for PTSD, MST, TBI, and clinical levels of pain were more likely to report legal problems; only the associations with positive PTSD (p=0.001) and MST (p=0.007) screens remained significant in multivariate regression analyses. The findings underscore the need for a thorough psychological evaluation when veterans are involved in the legal system with a special emphasis on factors prevalent to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
Tbx20 drives cardiac progenitor formation and cardiomyocyte proliferation in zebrafish

Tbx20 is a T-box transcription factor that plays essential roles in the development and maintenance of the heart. Although it is expressed by cardiac progenitors in all species examined, an involvement of Tbx20 in cardiac progenitor formation in vertebrates has not been previously described. Here we report the identification of a zebrafish tbx20 mutation that results in an inactive, truncated protein lacking any functional domains. The cardiac progenitor population is strongly diminished in this mutant, leading to the formation of a small, stretched-out heart. We found that overexpression of Tbx20 results in an enlarged heart with significantly more cardiomyocytes. Interestingly, this increase in cell number is caused by both enhanced cardiac progenitor cell formation and the proliferation of differentiated cardiomyocytes, and is dependent upon the activity of Tbx20's T-box and transcription activation domains. Together, our findings highlight a previously unappreciated role for Tbx20 in promoting cardiac progenitor formation in vertebrates and reveal a novel function for its activation domain in cardiac cell proliferation during embryogenesis.
Multisite Evaluation of APEX for Water Quality: II. Regional Parameterization

Phosphorus (P) Index assessment requires independent estimates of long-term average annual P loss from fields, representing multiple climatic scenarios, management practices, and landscape positions. Because currently available measured data are insufficient to evaluate P Index performance, calibrated and validated process-based models have been proposed as tools to generate the required data. The objectives of this research were to develop a regional parameterization for the Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) model to estimate edge-of-field runoff, sediment, and P losses in restricted-layer soils of Missouri and Kansas and to assess the performance of this parameterization using monitoring data from multiple sites in this region. Five site-specific calibrated models (SSCM) from within the region were used to develop a regionally calibrated model (RCM), which was further calibrated and validated with measured data. Performance of the RCM was similar to that of the SSCMs for runoff simulation and had Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) > 0.72 and absolute percent bias (|PBIAS|) 90%) and was particularly ineffective at simulating sediment loss from locations with small sediment loads. The RCM had acceptable performance for simulation of total P loss (NSE > 0.74, |PBIAS| < 30%) but underperformed the SSCMs. Total P-loss estimates should be used with caution due to poor simulation of sediment loss. Although we did not attain our goal of a robust regional parameterization of APEX for estimating sediment and total P losses, runoff estimates with the RCM were acceptable for P Index evaluation.
P216 Case of suspected hyperacute rental transplant rejection due to angiotensin II type 1 receptor antibodies

Though the majority of antibody-mediated renal transplant rejections are thought to be due to HLA antibodies, there is increasing evidence that non-HLA antibodies also can mediate rejection. For example, antibodies directed against the Angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) have been implicated in humoral renal transplant rejection episodes and impaired graft survival. While many cases of acute rejection potentially due to AT1R antibodies have been reported, there is little published evidence relating to AT1R antibodies causing hyperacute rejection. We report the case of a patient with pre-existing AT1R antibodies and no donor-specific HLA antibodies who experienced an episode of hyperacute rejection. The patient is a 47 year old female with a longstanding history of type 1 diabetes and end stage renal disease secondary to diabetic nephropathy. She had received 2 previous renal transplants approximately 21 and 22 years ago. Pre-transplant she was highly sensitized with a T-cell flow PRA of 99% and B-cell flow PRA of 100%, but did not demonstrate any donor- specific HLA antibody. The T- and B-cell flow and T-cell CDC crossmatches performed between the patient and donor were negative. She had a pre-transplant AT1R antibody level of 18.5 Units/ml measured 8 days before transplant. During the surgical procedure the patient experienced a hyperacute rejection episode. Biopsy of the organ demonstrated possible antibody-mediated rejection. The patient was treated with plasmapheresis and IVIG and her renal function stabilized over the following 6 weeks. The patient has also been maintained on Losartan, an AT1R inhibitor. The patient has now continued to demonstrate stable renal function for the previous 2 years. Our case highlights the importance of appreciating the possible peri-transplant risks of AT1R antibody particularly as treatment with the AT1R inhibitor, Losartan, has been shown by others to provide therapeutic benefits.
Maximize rhamnolipid production with low foaming and high yield

Rhamnolipids are well-known microbial surfactants with many potential applications. Their production cost, however, remains high due to the severe foaming tendency in aerobic fermentation and the relatively low productivity and yield. In this study, we assessed the boundaries set by these constraints after optimization of basic parameters such as dissolved oxygen concentration (DO), pH and carbon sources. DO 10% and pH 5.5-5.7 were found optimal; cell growth and/or rhamnolipid production were slower at lower DO (5%) or pH (5.0) while foaming became hard to control at higher DO (30%) or pH (6.0 and 6.5). Although the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain used was selected for its high rhamnolipid production from glycerol as substrate, soybean oil was still found to be a better substrate that increased specific rhamnolipid productivity to 25.8mg/g cells-h from the glycerol-supported maximum of 8.9mg/g cells-h. In addition, the foam volume was approximately halved by using soybean oil instead of glycerol as substrate. Analysis by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry revealed that rhamnolipid compositions from the two carbon sources were also very different, with primarily (82%) monorhamnolipids from soybean oil and more (64%) dirhamnolipids from glycerol. The optimized fermentation produced 42g/l rhamnolipids at a yield of approximately 47% and a volumetric productivity of 220mg/l-h. These values are among the highest reported.
Investigating the effect of multiple layers of insulation with a bubble wrap experiment

We provide a fun, inexpensive laboratory experiment for students to investigate the effects of multiple layers of insulation and observe diminishing values for additional layers using bubble wrap. This experiment provides an opportunity for students to learn about heat transfer through conduction using readily available materials. A water-ice pack is placed on top of five layers of bubble wrap. The temperature is taken between each layer periodically for at least 15 min. Students determine asymptotic temperatures for varying layers. This experiment also suggests a real world application.
Switchings Among Netdoms: The Relational Sociology of Harrison C. White

Harrison C. White is a founding force behind the relational turn of American sociology and one of the most influential scholars in organizational, economic, and mathematical sociology. White builds a monumental theoretical model to answer the question of how social formations emerge. The model begins analytically with identities triggered by stochastic process at any scale—from individuals to empires. Once decoupled from their environments, identities seek footings vis-a-vis other identities in control efforts to reduce uncertainty and self-organize in disciplined molecules to accomplish vital tasks and secure perduration. Signaling and comparability among identities are key. Specialization ensues. Increased complexity triggers further control efforts and so identities polymerize ever more intricate social networks and phenomenological domains—netdoms—that merge in types of ties delivering stories and temporalities. Identities switch across these netdoms, seeking footing and changing contexts that spark new meanings. The entire process is scale-free and recursive. White recognizes that formal network analysis does not capture these switching contexts. So, to theorize social emergence and the production of phenomenological contexts—cast in framing stories and linguistic registers—White turns to language pragmatics and adopts Peirce’s semiotic model of indexical and reflexive language as the most rigorous approach to understand context and meaning production in social life. His goal is to incorporate social spread and scope into discourse and reflexive language.
An Electrokinetic Separation Route to Source Dialysate from Excess Fluid in Blood

To improve the health of patients with end-stage renal disease, there is a clear need for slow, continuous hemodialysis, and the primary barrier to a wearable device is the requirement of a large reservoir of dialysate. We describe an electrokinetic means of producing dialysate from the excess fluid extant in the peripheral blood of patients undergoing therapy. A critical feature of this process is the retention of essential components of blood, especially serum albumin. In progress toward this goal, we demonstrate the separation of charged from neutral species in blood plasma at a branched microchannel junction by ion concentration polarization (ICP). Further, we introduce a method that reduces the opportunity for damage to proteins and prevents electrode biofouling. The present approach results in as high as 99.7% retention of albumin and successful separation of neutral metabolites and excess fluid to be utilized as a precursor to dialysate.
Emerging Imaging Technologies for Assessing Ocular Toxicity in Laboratory Animals

Recent decades have seen a dramatic increase in ocular imaging technologies—both for the anterior and posterior segments. This has been largely the result of increased computer processing power as applied to hardware control and data analysis. For example, the theoretical basis for ocular coherence tomography (OCT) was developed by Michelson in the nineteenth century, but only recently, thanks to computers, lasers, and electronic control circuitry, has it become a practical tool in the clinical and for toxicological studies.
In Vitro Transformation in Toluenized Bacillus subtilis

Studies on bacterial transformation have contributed to the understanding of the physical state of transforming DNA in recipient cells. In the early stage of transformation a double-stranded DNA with low transforming activity was found in periplasm of Bacillus subtilis (Dubnau and Davidoff-Abelson, 1971). Single-stranded intermediates were found in Pneumococcus (Lacks, 1962) and in B. subtilis (Piechowska and Fox, 1971; Davidoff-Abelson and Dubnau, 1973a) which were later found as heteroduplex donor-recipient complexes in Pneumococcus, Haemophilus, and B. subtilis (Lacks, 1962; Fox and Allen, 1964; Notani and Goodgal, 1966; Davidoff-Abelson and Dubnau, 1973b). However, the molecular mechanisms of transformation, which may involve enzyme(s), cellular structure(s), and other factors, still remain obscure. In this paper we report on transformation studies in toluene-treated B. subtilis, in which DNA, protein, and RNA synthesis in the presence of proper substrates and ATP has been shown to occur.
Incorporation of Transport Molecules into Black Lipid Membranes

Receptors are cellular components which have the ability to selectively recognize external signals and which transduce those signals into a message that is meaningful for the cell. The transduction step is, in most cases, mediated by a membrane permeability change induced by a transport molecule associated with the receptor. This fact is immediately obvious in the case of receptors for neurotransmitters where the interaction directly causes a depolarization or hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic membrane due to ionic permeability change. Evidence is, however, mounting that the action of receptors for hormones (Rasmussen, 1975) or antigens (Lauf, 1975) is also associated with ionic permeability change, leading to Ras-mussen’s notion of metallic ions as second messengers. We shall not review the second messenger concept here, but we note it in view of the importance of transport molecules in receptor action.
Secure Data Communication in Autonomous V2X Systems

In Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication systems, vehicles as well as infrastructure devices can interact and exchange data with each other. This capability is used to implement intelligent transportation systems applications. Data confidentiality and integrity need to be preserved in unverified and untrusted environments. In this paper, we propose a solution that provides (a) role-based and attribute-based access control to encrypted data and (b) encrypted search over encrypted data. Vehicle Records contain sensitive information about the owners and vehicles in encrypted form with attached access control policies and policy enforcement engine. Our solution supports decentralized and distributed data exchange, which is essential in V2X systems, where a Central Authority is not required to enforce access control policies. Furthermore, we facilitate querying encrypted Vehicle Records through Structured Query Language (SQL) queries. Vehicle Records are stored in a database in untrusted V2X cloud environment that is prone to provide the attackers with a large attack surface. Big datasets, stored in cloud, can be used for data analysis, such as traffic pattern analysis. Our solution protects sensitive vehicle and owner information from curious or malicious information cloud administrators. Support of indexing improves performance of queries that are forwarded to relevant encrypted Vehicle Records, which are stored in the cloud. We measure the performance overhead of our security solution based on self-protecting Vehicle Records with encrypted search capabilities in V2X communication systems and analyze the effect of security over safety.
Social learning and communication with threshold uncertainty

Abstract Using a threshold public bad game, we perform an experiment to test the effects of communication on coordination failure with various levels of threshold uncertainty. We apply two communication treatments to the coordination game: cheap talk between group members (unrestricted) and anonymous written communication from one generation of subjects to another (restricted). We find that the probability of groups coordinating and reaching the socially preferred equilibrium increases significantly with cheap talk and increases moderately with written communication. Repeated communication through cheap talk leads to a higher probability of achieving a set of payoff-dominant equilibria even in the face of threshold uncertainty.
Engineering an immunomodulatory drug-eluting stent to treat laryngotracheal stenosis.

Objective: Develop a drug-eluting stent construct with a reliable drug-release profile and adequate mechanically stability for a trial in a small animal model of laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS), a debilitating pathologic narrowing of the airway leading to significant shortness of breath. Methods: Biodegradable, biocompatible stents containing 1.0% rapamycin made of PLLA-PCL (70% Poly-L-Lactide and 30% Polycaprolactone blend) and 50 : 50 PDLGA (Poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide)) were compared. Mechanical strength testing and drug elution rates using high performance liquid chromatography analysis (HPLC) was assessed. Next, efficacy of stent elution on LTS derived scar fibroblasts. Finally, stents were placed in situ in an LTS mouse model. Results: The PLLA-PCL stent construct exhibited greater mechanical strength compared to the PDLGA stent over a 4-week period (Young's Modulus (PLLA-PCL) = 13.82; Young's Modulus (PDLGA) = 4.015). Moreover, the PLLA-PCL stent showed a reliable rapamycin release profile for 6 weeks (30% elution for PLLA-PCL stents compared to <1% elution for PDLGA). Collagen 1 (p < 0.05) and fibroblast cell proliferation were decreased in vitro when treated with the rapamycin stent. In vivo, the rapamycin stent reduced lamina propria thickness (p < 0.05) and collagen 1(p < 0.05), collagen 3, TGF-B (p < 0.05) and a-SMA (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The PLLA-PCL construct demonstrated superior mechanical strength and greater drug elution compared to PDLGA stents. We demonstrated the feasibility of testing this drug-eluting stent in vivo, showing that the rapamycin-eluting stent treats fibrosis. To our knowledge this is the first study to deploy a drug-eluting stent to treat tracheal pathology in an animal model. Optimization of a rapamycin-eluting PLLA-PCL stent for translational investigation will lead to improved treatment strategies of LTS.
Be Careful What You Assign: Constant Speed Parametrizations

We explore one aspect of a multivariable calculus project: parametrizing an elliptical path for an airplane that travels at constant speed. We find that parametrizing a constant speed elliptical pa...
Exploiting ambient noise in polar regions to study ice-ocean interactions

We explore recent developments and future directions for ambient noise cryology: the study of ice-ocean interactions using their underwater noise signatures. The study of ice-ocean interactions is currently spurred by climatic shifts in polar regions and their implications, which include sea level rise and geopolitical stability. There are many important ice-ocean interactions, and a broad range of observational techniques are used to study them, such as satellite remote sensing, ship-based observations with in situ sensors and AUV’s, boreholes, ground-penetrating radar, photogrammetry, seismometry, and differential GPS. Despite such an extensive suite of techniques, submarine calving and ice melting—which play a critical role in the mass balance of ice shelves and marine-terminating glaciers—remain difficult to measure. Progress in quantifying these processes with their underwater noise signatures will be discussed along with future directions for the field.
The utility of the revised Fit, Stigma, and Value Scale with counselor trainees: implications for enhancing clinical supervision

ABSTRACTThe authors tested the hypothesized model fit between the three-dimensional factor structure of the revised Fit, Stigma, and Value (FSV) scale, a screening tool for appraising barriers to a...
Functional group configuration influences salt transport in desalination membrane materials

Abstract Five methacrylate-based co-polymers, which have different ratios of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and glycerol methacrylate (GMAOH) co-monomers, were prepared to investigate the influence of functional group configuration on salt transport properties. The HEMA and GMAOH co-monomers were selected because of the differences in position and number of hydroxyl groups in the two molecules. Co-polymer composition was varied systematically from a vicinal diol-rich (GMAOH-rich) configuration to a distributed hydroxyl group (HEMA-rich) configuration. To decouple the impact of functional group configuration and of changing water content on transport properties, all of the materials were prepared to have statistically equivalent water content. Salt sorption was lower and salt diffusion was slower in the HEMA-rich configuration compared to the GMAOH-rich configuration. Microwave dielectric relaxation spectroscopy revealed lower relative permittivity (i.e., dielectric constant) for the HEMA-rich co-polymers, which is consistent with suppressed salt sorption in those materials compared to the GMAOH-rich co-polymers. This observation was complemented by state of water analysis that suggested freezable (i.e., bulk-like) water content decreased as HEMA content increased. Both results suggest that stronger interactions between water molecules and the polymer are favored when hydrophilic functional groups are distributed more evenly throughout the material. These results suggest that functional group position in hydrated polymers influences salt transport properties, and engineering polymers that have a distributed functional group configuration may suppress salt transport properties, which could result in favorable materials for desalination membranes.
Time use patterns among U.S. disengaged youth

Abstract In 2018, 4.6 million youth in the U.S. were neither working nor enrolled in school, a rate of 11.7 percent. These individuals are often referred to as disengaged. Youth disengagement has profound negative consequences for substance use, mental health, and later life earnings. Little is known about how disengaged youth occupy their time or how activity patterns might vary among disengaged youth. This study used 2010–2016 data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to examine patterns of daily life for 1,129 disengaged youth ages 16–24. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis identified five subgroups. These were youth who focused on social activities, youth who appeared to be the primary caregivers of young children, youth engaged in religious pursuits, volunteering-focused youth, and youth who spent extensive time on court-related tasks and travel. Males, younger individuals, the unmarried, and those with fewer children were more likely to be focused on social activities than their counterparts. Females, Whites, older respondents, and those with children were more likely to be caregivers. Black youth and those from higher-income families were more likely to report religious activities.
Time-lapse Live Imaging and Quantification of Fast Dendritic Branch Dynamics in Developing Drosophila Neurons

Highly motile dendritic filopodia are widely present in neurons at early developmental stages. These exploratory dynamic branches sample the surrounding environment and initiate contacts with potential synaptic partners. Although the connection between dendritic branch dynamics and synaptogenesis is well established, how developmental and activity-dependent processes regulate dendritic branch dynamics is not well understood. This is partly due to the technical difficulties associated with the live imaging and quantitative analyses of these fine structures using an in vivo system. We established a method to study dendrite dynamics using Drosophila larval ventral lateral neurons (LNvs), which can be individually labeled using genetic approaches and are accessible for live imaging. Taking advantage of this system, we developed protocols to capture branch dynamics of the whole dendritic arbor of a single labeled LNv through time-lapse live imaging. We then performed post-processing to improve image quality through drift correction and deconvolution, followed by analyzing branch dynamics at the single-branch level by annotating spatial positions of all branch terminals. Lastly, we developed R scripts (Supplementary File) and specific parameters to quantify branch dynamics using the coordinate information generated by the terminal tracing. Collectively, this protocol allows us to achieve a detailed quantitative description of branch dynamics of the neuronal dendritic arbor with high temporal and spatial resolution. The methods we developed are generally applicable to sparsely labeled neurons in both in vitro and in vivo conditions.
Combining host plant resistance and foliar insecticide application to manage Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in grain sorghum

Sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehtner), recently emerged as a severe economic pest of sorghum in the USA. This insect was first discovered in the USA feeding on grain sorghum in Texas in 20...
Development and Implementation of a Clinical Eyewash and Safety Shower Risk Assessment Process in an Academic Medical Center

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration requires emergency eyewashes and showers to be made available to employees in locations where employees’ eyes or body may be exposed to injuriously c...
Catalytic production of jet fuels from biomass.

Concerns about depleting fossil fuels and global warming effects are pushing our society to search for new renewable sources of energy with the potential to substitute coal, natural gas, and petroleum. In this sense, biomass, the only renewable source of carbon available on Earth, is the perfect replacement for petroleum in producing renewable fuels. The aviation sector is responsible for a significant fraction of greenhouse gas emissions, and two billion barrels of petroleum are being consumed annually to produce the jet fuels required to transport people and goods around the world. Governments are pushing directives to replace fossil fuel-derived jet fuels with those derived from biomass. The present mini review is aimed to summarize the main technologies available today for converting biomass into liquid hydrocarbon fuels with a molecular weight and structure suitable for being used as aviation fuels. Particular emphasis will be placed on those routes involving heterogeneous catalysts.
Nrf2 deficiency in mice attenuates erythropoietic stress-related macrophage hypercellularity.

Erythropoiesis in the bone marrow and spleen depends on intricate interactions between the resident macrophages and erythroblasts. Our study focuses on identifying the role of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) during recovery from stress erythropoiesis. To that end, we induced stress erythropoiesis in Nrf2+/+ and Nrf2-null mice and evaluated macrophage subsets known to support erythropoiesis and erythroid cell populations. Our results confirm macrophage and erythroid hypercellularity after acute blood loss. Importantly, Nrf2 depletion results in a marked numerical reduction of F4/80+/CD169+/CD11b+ macrophages, which is more prominent under the induction of stress erythropoiesis. The observed macrophage deficiency is concomitant to a significantly impaired erythroid response to acute stress erythropoiesis in both murine bone marrow and murine spleen. Additionally, peripheral blood reticulocyte count as a response to acute blood loss is delayed in Nrf2-deficient mice compared with age-matched controls (11.0 ± 0.6% vs. 14.8 ± 0.6%, p ≤ 0.001). Interestingly, we observe macrophage hypercellularity in conjunction with erythroid hyperplasia in the bone marrow during stress erythropoiesis in Nrf2+/+ controls, with both impaired in Nrf2–/– mice. We further confirm the finding of macrophage hypercellularity in another model of erythroid hyperplasia, the transgenic sickle cell mouse, characterized by hemolytic anemia and chronic stress erythropoiesis. Our results revealed the role of Nrf2 in stress erythropoiesis in the bone marrow and that macrophage hypercellularity occurs concurrently with erythroid expansion during stress erythropoiesis. Macrophage hypercellularity is a previously underappreciated feature of stress erythropoiesis in sickle cell disease and recovery from blood loss.
Do Narrow Networks Affect the Delivery of Outpatient Care in Neurosurgery?: A Statewide Analysis of Marketplace Plans in New Jersey.

Background The aftermath of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) witnessed the rise of narrow networks, which feature fewer providers in exchange for lower premiums. Debate still continues on whether narrow networks provide adequate access to health care, especially in specialty care services such as neurosurgery. The objective of this article was to analyze the 2019 Marketplace plans' impact on delivering outpatient neurosurgical care in New Jersey. Methods The 2019 Marketplace Public Use Files were queried for “silver” plans, identifying a total of 11 plans across 3 insurance companies. Online search engines were used to identify the number of in-network neurosurgeons within 20–25 miles of ZIP codes at the center of each county. The primary outcome was the number of neurosurgeon-deficient plans, defined as those having no in-network neurosurgeons within the assigned mile radius. Results Of all individuals who purchased an insurance plan, 73% (185,797/255,246) opted for a silver plan. Out of 111 active neurosurgeons in New Jersey, 25% (28/111) did not participate in any of the silver plans. Analysis showed 8 plans as neurosurgeon-deficient in Sussex and Warren. Meanwhile, most of the silver plans provided access to >5 neurosurgeons within 20–25 miles of most (17/21) county centers. Conclusions In more densely populated states such as New Jersey, the impact of narrow networks on neurosurgical coverage is less apparent. However, frustrations regarding access to care still exist because nearly 25% of neurosurgeons do not participate in the standard ACA insurance product. Furthermore, guidelines that define network adequacy in neurosurgery remain elusive, which calls for more robust parameters to monitor and ensure adequate access to health care.
The stakes of self‐worth: Examining contingencies of self‐worth to clarify the association between global self‐esteem and eating disturbances in college women

Objective The present study tested a hypothesized mediation model in which the seven contingencies of self-worth proposed by Crocker and Wolfe mediate the association between global self-esteem and eating disturbances in college women. Method This study utilized a sample of 408 college women. Path analysis was used to produce a model in which the association between global self-esteem and eating disturbances was accounted for through contingencies of self-worth. Results The finalized model indicated that self-worth based on appearance and competition mediated the link between global self-esteem and both drive for thinness and bulimic symptoms. Self-worth based on virtue mediated the link between global self-esteem and bulimic symptoms. Conclusion The present findings clarify facets of self-worth accounting for the association between global self-esteem and eating disturbances in college women, and point to how self-worth based on one's appearance, or the ability to outdo others, is centrally implicated in this relationship.
LARGE-SCALE SUNYAEV-ZELDOVICH EFFECT: MEASURING STATISTICAL PROPERTIES WITH MULTIFREQUENCY MAPS

We study the prospects for extracting detailed statistical properties of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) eUect associated with large-scale structure using upcoming multifrequency cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. The greatest obstacle to detecting the large-angle signal is the confusion noise pro- vided by the primary anisotropies themselves, and to a lesser degree Galactic and extragalactic fore- grounds. We employ multifrequency subtraction techniques and the latest foregrounds models to determine the detection threshold for the Boomerang, Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP; several kK), and Planck CMB (sub-kK) experiments. Calibrating a simpli—ed biased-tracer model of the gas pressure from recent hydrodynamic simulations, we estimate the SZ power spectrum, skewness, and bispectrum through analytic scalings and N-body simulations of the dark matter. We show that the Planck satellite should be able to measure the SZ eUect with sufficient precision to determine its power spectrum and higher order correlations, e.g., the skewness and bispectrum. Planck should also be able to detect the cross-correlation between the SZ and gravitational lensing eUect in the CMB. Detection of these eUects will help determine the properties of the as yet undetected gas, including the manner in which the gas pressure traces the dark matter. Subject headings: cosmic microwave backgroundcosmology: theory ¨ large-scale structure of universe
Principled Estimation of Regression Discontinuity Designs

Regression discontinuity designs are frequently used to estimate the causal effect of election outcomes and policy interventions. In these contexts, treatment effects are typically estimated with covariates included to improve efficiency. While including covariates improves precision asymptotically, in practice, treatment effects are estimated with a small number of observations, resulting in considerable fluctuations in treatment effect magnitude and precision depending upon the covariates chosen. This practice thus incentivizes researchers to select covariates which maximize treatment effect statistical significance rather than precision. Here, I propose a principled approach for estimating RDDs which provides a means of improving precision with covariates while minimizing adverse incentives. This is accomplished by integrating the adaptive LASSO, a machine learning method, into RDD estimation using an R package developed for this purpose, adaptiveRDD. Using simulations, I show that this method significantly improves treatment effect precision, particularly when estimating treatment effects with fewer than 200 observations.
Boosting automated sleep staging performance in big datasets using population subgrouping.

Current approaches to automated sleep staging from the electroencephalogram (EEG) rely on constructing a large labeled training and test corpora by aggregating data from different individuals. However, many of the subjects in the training set may exhibit changes in the EEG that are very different from the subjects in the test set. Training an algorithm on such data without accounting for this diversity can cause underperformance. Moreover, test data may have unexpected sensor misplacement or different instrument noise and spectral responses. This work proposes a novel method to learn relevant individuals based on their similarities effectively. The proposed method embeds all training patients into a shared and robust feature space. Individuals that share strong statistical relationships and are similar based on their EEG signals are clustered in this feature space before being passed to a deep learning framework for classification. Using 994 patient EEGs from the 2018 Physionet Challenge (≈ 6,561 hours of recording), we demonstrate that the clustering approach significantly boosts performance compared to state-of-the-art deep learning approaches. The proposed method improves, on average, a precision score from 0.72 to 0.81, a sensitivity score from 0.74 to 0.82, and a Cohen's Kappa coefficient from 0.64 to 0.75 under 10-fold cross-validation.
Use of cone-beam computed tomography for advanced imaging of the equine patient.

Access to volumetric imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), has increased over the past decade and have revolutionised the way clinicians evaluate equine anatomy. More recent advancements have resulted in the development of multiple commercially-available cone-beam CT (CBCT) scanners for equine use. CBCT scanners modify the traditional fan-shaped beam of ionising radiation into a three-dimensional pyramidal- or cone-shaped beam of radiation. This modification enables the scanner to acquire sufficient data to create diagnostic images of a region of interest after a single rotation of the gantry. The rapid acquisition of data and divergent x-ray beam causes some artifacts to be more prominent on CBCT images-as well as the unique cone-beam artifact-resulting in decreased contrast resolution. While the use of CT for evaluation of the equine musculoskeletal anatomy is not new, there is a paucity of literature and scientific studies on the capabilities of CBCT for equine imaging. CBCT units do not require a specialised table for imaging and in some cases are portable for imaging in the standing or anaesthetised patient. This review article summarises the basic physics of CT technology, including how CBCT imaging differs, and provides objective information about the strengths and limitations of this modality. Finally, potential future applications and techniques for imaging with CT which will need to be explored in order to fully consider the capabilities of CT imaging in the horse are discussed.
Impact of Cell-Seeding Density and Cell Confluence on Human Tissue Engineered Skeletal Muscle.

Tissue engineering methodologies have the potential to treat volumetric muscle loss (VML) via the growth of exogenous skeletal muscle grafts from small autogenous muscle biopsies. A significant obstacle preventing the widespread use of engineered skeletal muscle grafts in a clinical setting is the high number of skeletal muscle stem cells, known as satellite cells, required for fabrication of human-sized skeletal muscle tissue. Additionally, there is a lack of work adapting engineered constructs created for animal models into skeletal muscle engineered from a primary human skeletal muscle cell source. For this study, we used scaffold-free tissue-engineered skeletal muscle units (SMUs) to determine the impact of cell seeding density on the ability to fabricate functional human engineered skeletal muscle. Following established protocols, human skeletal muscle isolates were cultured into SMUs at five different cell-seeding densities: 1,000 cells/cm2, 2,500 cells/cm2, 5,000 cells/cm2, 10,000 cells/cm2, and 25,000 cells/cm2. Following previous human SMU work, SMUs prepared at a cell seeding density of 10,000 cells/cm2 served as controls. Additionally, the impact of cell monolayer confluency on the outcome of human cell-sourced SMU fabrication was investigated at both the 1,000 cells/cm2 and 10,000 cells/cm2 seeding densities. Light microscopy was used to examine myotube formation and hypertrophy in cell monolayers. After the formation of three-dimensional constructs, SMUs underwent maximum tetanic isometric force production measurements and immunohistochemical staining to examine SMU contractile function and muscle-like structure, respectively. Results indicate that the 25,000 cells/cm2 cell-seeding density was detrimental to the contractile function of human cell-sourced SMUs, which had significantly lower maximum tetanic forces compared to SMUs seeded at lower densities. Compared to control, low cell-seeding densities (1,000 cells/cm2 - 5,000 cells/cm2) have no detrimental impact on SMU skeletal muscle growth, maturation, or contractility. Cell cultures seeded at 1,000 cells/cm2 and allowed to proliferate to 90-100% confluency prior to treatment in muscle differentiation media (MDM) resulted in SMUs with greater contractile forces and total muscle-structure compared to cell cultures switched to MDM when underconfluent or overconfluent. In conclusion, initial cell-seeding density for SMU fabrication can be decreased to as low as 1,000 cells/cm2 without negatively impacting SMU muscle-like structure and function.
Steroidal Antagonists of Progesterone- and PGE1-Induced Activation of the Cation Channel of Sperm (CatSper).

The Cation channel of Sperm (CatSper) is the principal entry point for calcium in human spermatozoa and its proper function is essential for successful fertilization. As CatSper is potently activated by progesterone, we evaluated a range of steroids to define the structure-activity relationships for channel activation and found that CatSper is activated by a broad range of steroids with diverse structural modifications. By testing steroids that failed to elicit calcium influx as inhibitors of channel activation, we discovered that medroxyprogesterone acetate, levonorgestrel, and aldosterone inhibited calcium influx produced by progesterone, prostaglandin E1 and the fungal natural product l-sirenin, but these steroidal inhibitors failed to prevent calcium influx in response to elevated K+ and pH. In contrast to these steroid antagonists, we demonstrated for the first time that the T-type calcium channel blocker ML218 acts similarly to mibefradil, blocking CatSper channels activated by both ligands and alkalinization/depolarization. These T-type calcium channel blockers produced an insurmountable blockade of CatSper, whereas the three steroids produced antagonism that was surmountable by increasing concentrations of each activator, indicating that the steroids selectively antagonize ligand-induced activation of CatSper rather than blocking channel function. Both the channel blockers and the steroid antagonists markedly reduced hyperactivated motility of human sperm assessed by computer-aided sperm analysis, consistent with inhibition of CatSper activation. Unlike the channel blockers mibefradil and ML218, which reduced total and progressive motility, medroxyprogesterone acetate, levonorgestrel and aldosterone had little effect on these motility parameters, indicating that these steroids are selective inhibitors of hyperactivated sperm motility. Significance Statement The steroids medroxyprogesterone acetate, levonorgestrel and aldosterone selectively antagonize progesterone- and prostaglandin E1-induced calcium influx through the CatSper cation channel in human sperm. In contrast to T-type calcium channel blockers that prevent all modes of CatSper activation, these steroid CatSper antagonists preferentially reduce hyperactivated sperm motility, which is required for fertilization. The discovery of competitive antagonists of ligand-induced CatSper activation provides starting points for future discovery of male contraceptive agents acting by this unique mechanism.