cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
REVERSIBLE EPR PHOTOSIGNALS IN CHARGE-TRANSFER-COMPLEXES

— Various organic solutions were irradiated in a search for rapidly reversible EPR photosignals. Using an averaging technique, the rise and decay of the photosignals of CT-complexes formed between chloranil and organic solvents were shown to be of the order of tens of msec. However, the mechanism involved could not be fully elucidated without additional data such as those obtained from flash photolysis and other techniques.
An innovative programme for premedical students

Summary Background The worldwide shortage of doctors and the low representation of minorities in medicine outline the need for enrichment programmes that expose a diverse population of youth to health careers. This report describes the innovative Summer Premed Program run at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, from the perspective of our diverse group of participating high school students. Methods Our unique and highly interactive programme focused on providing youths with a glimpse of life in medical school. Students participated in interactive workshops such as a cadaver lab, robotics, patient interviews and bedside ultrasound. To determine the success of the programme, a feedback survey was distributed to all students at the end of the programme. Results During the summers of 2012, 2013 and 2014, 418 high-school students participated in the programme and 19.4 per cent were under-represented in medicine. Of the 418 students, 371 (89%) completed evaluations. The average rating of all the workshops ranged from 3.26 to 4.68 (out of maximum of 5) with cadaver lab, suturing workshops and patient interviews each having the highest rating of approximately 4.7. Additionally, resulting from this programme, students gave an average rating of 4.42 for comfort in interviewing patients, and 4.55 for professional development. Discussion The results reveal that the Summer Premed Program at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, was successful towards exposing a diverse range of youths to medical school while motivating them to pursue careers in medicine. The follow-up of participants’ career choices is needed to assess the long-term effectiveness of the programme. [There is a] need for enrichment programmes that expose a diverse population of youth to health careers
Suppression of Astroglial Nitric Oxide Synthase Expression by Norepinephrine Results from Decreased NOS-2 Promoter Activity

Abstract: We previously demonstrated that norepinephrine (NE) inhibits induction of the calcium-independent isoform of nitric oxide synthase (NOS-2) in primary rat astrocyte cultures. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. In C6 cells and astrocytes, NE suppressed both cytokine- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-dependent nitrite accumulation, an index of NOS-2 activity. NE reduced the steady-state levels of NOS-2 mRNA induced by LPS plus cytokines but did not decrease NOS-2 mRNA stability or inhibit activation or subunit composition of transcription factor nuclear factor κB, which is necessary for NOS-2 induction. In C6 cells stably transfected with a 1,588-bp mouse NOS-2 promoter, NE reduced LPS plus cytokine-induced reporter gene expression, suggesting inhibition of NOS-2 promoter activity. In contrast, suppression was lost when a truncated 85-bp NOS-2 promoter was used, and in these cells NE potentiated reporter gene expression, alone or in the presence of LPS and cytokines. These results suggest that the suppressive effects of NE are due to modification of transcription factor activity in a region located between −1,588 and −85 of the NOS-2 promoter and may help explain observations that in some cells cyclic AMP can potentiate, rather than suppress, NOS-2 expression.
A Semantic Approach to Non-Monotonic Entailments

Any inferential system in which the addition of new premises can lead to the retraction of previous conclusions is a non-monotonic logic. Classical conditional probability provides the oldest and most widely respected example of non-monotonic inference. This paper presents a semantic theory for a unified approach to qualitative and quantitative non-monotonic logic. The qualitative logic is unlike most other nonmonotonic logics developed for AI systems. It is closely related to classical (i.e., Bayesian) probability theory. The semantic theory for qualitative non-monotonic entailments extends in a straightforward way to a semantic theory for quantitative partial entailment relations, and these relations turn out to be the classical probability functions.
Parental feeding practices, food neophobia, and child food preferences: What combination of factors results in children eating a variety of foods?

Abstract Our aim was to describe food neophobia, parenting feeding practices, and concordance in food preferences between parent–child dyads using a cross-sectional on-line survey completed by parents of preschoolers (3–5 y). Respondents (n = 210) included mothers (89%) who were predominantly white (85%) and college educated (64%). Most children (mean age = 41.7 mo ± 14.9), were perceived to be of a healthy weight (81%) and “good eaters” (60%). Parent (21.9 ± 7.4) and child food neophobia (30.4 ± 8.8) correlated significantly, though modestly (r = 0.14, p = 0.04). The parent practice of offering new foods to eat was inversely associated with child food neophobia (r = −0.40, p 75% concordance in preferences for whole grains, fruit, starchy vegetables, and dairy. Lowest concordance (39–66%) was noted for sweetened beverages and entrees. Discordance occurred when parents had never offered their children a food (e.g., vegetables), and was uninfluenced by demographic factors. A child’s food neophobia and overweight status was associated with the child having a lower consumption of vegetables. Parent reports of giving the child more control of food-related decisions was associated with a higher number of healthy foods rated as liked by a child. Similarities in parent–child food preferences may be related to food neophobia and, consequently, the foods parents offer their children. Educating parents on the potential impact of feeding practices may be important for early intervention efforts to improve children’s food acceptance.
La construcción de nichos y el estudio de los cambios de cultura en antropología: desafíos y perspectivas

Resumen | Muchos antropologos norteamericanos siguen abrigando profundas sospechas ante los intentos de teorizar sobre la evolucion de la cultura, dada la herencia existente en nuestra disciplina de las teorias etapistas del siglo XIX, que fueron determinadas por el “racismo cientifico” . En las postrimerias del siglo XX algunos teoricos trataron de escapar de esta herencia usando los modelos formales tomados de la biologia poblacional neo-darwiniana, para volver a conceptualizar asi los procesos culturales evolutivos, pero estos enfoques mas recientes han sido considerados poco satisfactorios por razones que les son inherentes. Por ejemplo, la coevolucion gen-cultura y la teoria de la herencia dual tienen poco atractivo para muchos antropologos culturales contemporaneos, porque dichas teorias dependen de definiciones de la cultura y suposiciones acerca de los individuos humanos y grupos sociales que muchos antropologos culturales ya no hallan convincentes . La construccion de nicho, por el contrario, parece mas prometedora como marco para conectar el cambio cultural con modificaciones biologicas y ecologicas . No obstante, los aspectos innovadores de la construccion de nicho no logran convivir comodamente al lado de los mismos rasgos problematicos que limitan la utilidad de la coevolucion gen-cultura y la teoria de la herencia dual en la antropologia cultural . Este articulo examina las preocupaciones antropologicas referidas a la teoria de la construccion de nicho, pero tambien sugiere maneras por medio de las cuales algunas de estas preocupaciones podrian minimizarse si la teoria de la construccion de nicho incorporara intuiciones provenientes de la teoria de sistemas de desarrollo y la teoria del actor red.
Near-Infrared Light Activated Azo-BF2 Switches

Increasing the electron density in BF2-coodinated azo compounds through para-substitution leads to a bathochromic shift in their activation wavelength. When the substituent is dimethyl amine, or the like, the trans/cis isomerization process can be efficiently modulated using near infrared light. The electron donating capability of the substituent also controls the hydrolysis half-life of the switch in aqueous solution, which is drastically longer for the cis isomer, while the BF2-coodination prevents reduction by glutathione.
A rapid screening method to increase efficiency in assaying plasma levels of clotting factor VIII:C inhibitors.

The plasma level of naturally acquired inhibitors to Factor VIII coagulant activity (F.VIII:C) was assessed by the Bethesda Inhibitor Assay (BIA). This procedure is based on the percentage of original F.VIII:C remaining in a normal plasma control after incubation with the F.VIII:C inhibitor for two hours at 37°C. At inhibitor concentrations outside the BIA working range (25% to 75% residual F.VIII:C), hemophilic plasmas had to be diluted. However, when a rough estimate of the inhibitor concentration was unavailable, the choice of dilution was arbitrary, and testing became tedious and inefficient. In an effort to improve the BIA, a screening test was devised to predict the appropriate plasma dilution. It is based on the partial thromboplastin time (PTT) of the incubated test mixture and is performed just prior to preparing dilutions for the F.VIII:C assay. Test mixtures were diluted serially in multiples of two, from 1:2 to 1:1024, and then incubated according to the BIA. After 90 min, samples were removed for PTT determinations to screen for the appropriate dilution to use in the F.VIH:C assay. The first two test dilutions to produce a PTT value ≤ 25 seconds greater than the control resulted in a residual F.VIILC for the BIA within the acceptable 25–75% working range. The success of applying the dilution screen test for predicting an appropriate dilution was evaluated in a posthoc analysis of data from 40 separate hemophilic patient plasmas, 19 of which had no inhibitor titer, and 21 which had >0.8 Bethesda inhibitor units/ml (BIU/mL). The screening technic was effective in predicting the dilution over a wide range of inhibitor concentrations tested (0–2620 BIU/mL plasma). The dilution screen test is a rapid, efficient, and economical test that should encourage more wide spread use of the Bethesda inhibitor assay.
The application of molecular orbital calculations to wood chemistry

The interaction between molecular orbital theory and materials science has yielded fruitful insights into the fundamental properties of many substances. The application of these calculations to the chemical constituents of wood may provide an understanding of macroscopic properties by their examination at the molecular and atomic level. The semi-empirical, self-consistent fields method of modified neglect of diatomic overlap (MNDO) was used to study the dehydrogenation of coniferyl alcohol and the electronic structure of the reactive free radicals which form the lignin polymer.
A New Legal Realism: Elegant Models and the Messy Law in Action

Recently there has been a flurry of interest in empirical approaches to law among legal scholars. Some of them talk of a “new legal realism,” although it is unclear whether they mean similar things. Some want to study the “law in action” – that is, the operation of trial courts, the exercise of discretion by various legal officials, as well as what it is that lawyers actually do. Others want to add a consideration of the “living law” – the norms and sanctions that people in various groups respond to other than official law. Sometimes the living law is in competition with the official law; sometimes they exist in a complicated interrelationship, and the living law may support the formal law to some degree.
12(S)-Hete, Pleiotropic Functions, Multiple Signaling Pathways

The arachidonic acid metabolite of 12 lipoxygenase, 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12(S)-HETE) promotes metastatic behavior of tumor cells (1). In this study we set out to identify 12(S)-HETE stimulated signaling pathways, and their contribution to cellular functions in A431 epidermoid carcinoma. 1) 12(S)-HETE signaling involves extracellular-regulated protein kinase (ERK1-2), protein kinase C (PKC), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3 kinase) and Src kinase. 2) 12(S)-HETE stimulates cell migration on laminin, which is eliminated by PKC and PI3 kinase inhibitors, reduced by 50% with Src inhibitor, but unaffected by inhibition of ERK1-2. 3) 12(S)-HETE stimulated spreading on fibronectin relies on ERK1-2 and PI3 kinase activities, but not on PKC or Src. 4) Focal adhesion kinase, a key organizer of focal adhesions, is tyrosine phosphorylated in response of 12(S)-HETE treatment, which requires Src, but not PKC, PI3 kinase or ERK1-2 activity. 5) Inhibition of 12 lipoxygenase leads to apoptosis in serum starved A431 cells. 12(S)-HETE stimulated p9ORsk and Akt, key players in an ERK and a PI3 kinase (respectively) dependent anti apoptotic pathways.
Deformable Registration Using Optical-Flow Methods

Optical-flow methods describe the registration problem as a set of flow equations, under the assumption that image intensities are constant between views. The most common variant is the “demons algorithm,” which combines a stabilized vector-field estimation algorithm with Gaussian regularization. The algorithm is iterative, and alternates between solving the flow equations and regularization. We describe data-parallel designs for the demons deformable registration algorithm, suitable for use on a GPU. Streaming versions of these algorithms are implemented using the CUDA programming environment.
Pilot: A Framework that Understands How to Do Performance Benchmarks the Right Way

Carrying out even the simplest performance benchmark requires considerable knowledge of statistics and computer systems, and painstakingly following many error-prone steps, which are distinct skill sets yet essential for getting statistically valid results. As a result, many performance measurements in peer-reviewed publications are flawed. Among many problems, they fall short in one or more of the following requirements: accuracy, precision, comparability, repeatability, and control of overhead. This is a serious problem because poor performance measurements misguide system design and optimization. We propose a collection of algorithms and heuristics to automate these steps. They cover the collection, storing, analysis, and comparison of performance measurements. We implement these methods as a readily-usable open source software framework called Pilot, which can help to reduce human error and shorten benchmark time. Evaluation of Pilot on various benchmarks show that it can reduce the cost and complexity of running benchmarks, and can produce better measurement results.
Study of Natural Ventilation Parameters on Buildings Inner Air Temperature

In this current contribution air temperature computing of different areas composing a given building is carried out. For this reason an ensemble of determinist input factors are used. These factors comprise among others climate, local environment, building characteristics, construction means, occupant's behavior and thermal loads. It has been found that the optimal solution depends strongly upon the ability to optimize building outer envelope, internal load and occupant's behavior. It depends slightly, upon particularity of building design including opening and level of air infiltration. In this article, the internal temperature in a house studied is dependent on the external climatic conditions. The natural ventilation can be optimized by changing the architecture of the building, as well as the conduct of the occupants.
An Approach to Adaptive Boundary Control of Linear Stochastic Distributed Parameter Systems

Abstract The linear distributed parameter system for the adaptive control problem is modelled by an evolution equation with an infinitesimal generator for an analytic semi group and the noise in the system is a cylindrical white noise. The unknown parameters appear affinely in both the infinitesimal generator of the semigroup and the unbounded linear transformation of the control. A family of least squares estimates of these parameters is shown to be strongly consistent. The certainty equivalence adaptive control for an ergodic quadratic cost functional is shown to be self-tuning and self-optimizing.
Reduction in adaptor amounts establishes degradation hierarchy among protease substrates.

ATP-dependent proteases control critical cellular processes, including development, physiology, and virulence. A given protease may recognize a substrate directly via an unfoldase domain or subunit or indirectly via an adaptor that delivers the substrate to the unfoldase. We now report that cells achieve differential stability among substrates of a given protease by modulating adaptor amounts. We establish that the regulatory protein PhoP represses transcription of the gene specifying the ClpAP protease adaptor ClpS when the bacteria Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli experience low cytoplasmic Mg2+. The resulting decrease in ClpS amounts diminishes proteolysis of several ClpSAP-dependent substrates, including the putrescine aminotransferase Oat, which heightens the formation of antibiotic persisters, and the transcriptional regulators UvrY and PhoP, which alter the expression of genes controlled by these proteins. By contrast, the decrease in ClpS amounts did not impact the abundance of the ClpSAP substrate FtsA, reflecting that FtsA binds to ClpS more tightly than to UvrY and PhoP. Our findings show how physiological conditions that reduce adaptor amounts modify the abundance of selected substrates of a given protease.
Automated Initialization of Reconfigurable Silicon-Nitride (SiN x ) Filters

We demonstrate automated initialization of tunable optical filters consisting of an initial feed-forward step followed by iterative feedback. Rapid convergence is demonstrated on high-order all-pass-filter (APF) structures in a silicon-nitride photonic integrated circuit (PIC).
Purinergic Vasotoxicity: Role of the Pore/Oxidant/KATP Channel/Ca2+ Pathway in P2X7-Induced Cell Death in Retinal Capillaries

P2X7 receptor/channels in the retinal microvasculature not only regulate vasomotor activity, but can also trigger cells in the capillaries to die. While it is known that this purinergic vasotoxicity is dependent on the transmembrane pores that form during P2X7 activation, events linking pore formation with cell death remain uncertain. To better understand this pathophysiological process, we used YO-PRO-1 uptake, dichlorofluorescein fluorescence, perforated-patch recordings, fura-2 imaging and trypan blue dye exclusion to assess the effects of the P2X7 agonist, benzoylbenzoyl-ATP (BzATP), on pore formation, oxidant production, ion channel activation, [Ca2+]i and cell viability. Experiments demonstrated that exposure of retinal microvessels to BzATP increases capillary cell oxidants via a mechanism dependent on pore formation and the enzyme, NADPH oxidase. Indicative that oxidation plays a key role in purinergic vasotoxicity, an inhibitor of this enzyme completely prevented BzATP-induced death. We further discovered that vasotoxicity was boosted 4-fold by a pathway involving the oxidation-driven activation of hyperpolarizing KATP channels and the resulting increase in calcium influx. Our findings revealed that the previously unappreciated pore/oxidant/KATP channel/Ca2+ pathway accounts for 75% of the capillary cell death triggered by sustained activation of P2X7 receptor/channels. Elucidation of this pathway is of potential therapeutic importance since purinergic vasotoxicity may play a role in sight-threatening disorders such as diabetic retinopathy.
OPIOID RECEPTOR AUTORADIOGRAPHY IN BRAINS OF HUMANS AND ANIMALS

Summary Receptor autoradiography provides good anatomical resolution in studying the sites of actions of various ligands. We report here on the application of an in vitro autoradiographic technique to the study of opioid receptors in rat and human brain. No differences in receptor distributions were seen at the light microscopic level for various tritiated opiates and opioids. The effects of Na+ and GTP were also studied and they were found to decrease binding in the rat brain. We also present some autoradiographic information on opioid receptors in human brain.
Psychological bases for instructional design

If it can be agreed that the science of psychology must supply the knowledge for the precepts of instruction, then it follows that the translation of scientific knowledge into practice requires technological development. However, at this point in time, an entity known as an educational technologist or an instructional designer hardly exists in our society. If such a person did exist, a framework could be suggested in which he might carry out his job. This paper describes and discusses such a framework.
Aging, Comorbidity, and Breast Cancer Survival: An Epidemiologic View

This is a review of epidemiologic studies, which suggest that comorbidity (e.g., diabetes and heart disease) has an adverse effect on survival among women with incident, invasive breast cancer, adjusting for chronological age and stage of breast cancer at diagnosis. As part of this review, recent results are presented from a series of 463 breast cancer cases, identified through the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System. Women with two or more concurrent health conditions were 2.2 times more likely than breast cancer cases without comorbidity to die from their breast cancer over a four-year period (95% CI: 1.13, 4.18). Limiting heart disease was especially problematic. Recommendations are made for future research in this area.
Stochastic flow-structure interactions

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a fast Generalized Polynomial Chaos algorithm to model the input uncertainty and its propagation in simulating flow-structure interactions. The stochastic input is represented spectrally by the Polynomial Chaos functionals, and the governing equations are formulated by employing the Galerkin projections. The algorithm is applied to the flow-structure interaction problems. The Wiener-Askey Polynomial Chaos expansion is a generalization of the original Polynomial Chaos. It represents the second-order random processes in terms of orthogonal polynomials. For flow simulations, it is possible to quantify uncertainty both in time and in space efficiently. The study of a random laminar inflow past a free cylinder—with random structural parameters subject to vortex-induced vibrations—considers the case of an unsteady flow in the laminar regime. The free structure, excited by the vortex shedding of the flow follows a random response. Thus, the position of the boundary of the cylinder becomes stochastic. This random boundary affects the flow domain, and consequently the flow itself becomes a stochastic process. The fluid forces on the cylinder are derived from the random flow velocity field and the random pressure field at every time step.
Simulation and measurement of water-induced liquid-liquid phase separation of imidazolium ionic liquid mixtures

The miscibility of ionic liquid (IL) pairs with a common cation (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium [C2C1im]) and different anions (bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide [TFSI], acetate [OAc], and chloride [Cl]) was investigated at a wide range of water concentrations at room temperature. Molecular simulations predicted that the addition of water to the [C2C1im][TFSI]:[C2C1im][OAc] and [C2C1im][TFSI]:[C2C1im][Cl] mixtures would induce a liquid-liquid phase separation and that water addition to the [C2C1im][OAc]:[C2C1im][Cl] mixture would not produce a phase separation. The effect of water on the phase behavior of the IL mixtures was verified experimentally, and the IL and water concentrations were determined in each phase. Of particular importance is the analytical methodology used to determine the species’ concentration, where 1H NMR and a combination of 19F NMR, Karl Fischer titration, and ion chromatography techniques were applied.The miscibility of ionic liquid (IL) pairs with a common cation (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium [C2C1im]) and different anions (bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide [TFSI], acetate [OAc], and chloride [Cl]) was investigated at a wide range of water concentrations at room temperature. Molecular simulations predicted that the addition of water to the [C2C1im][TFSI]:[C2C1im][OAc] and [C2C1im][TFSI]:[C2C1im][Cl] mixtures would induce a liquid-liquid phase separation and that water addition to the [C2C1im][OAc]:[C2C1im][Cl] mixture would not produce a phase separation. The effect of water on the phase behavior of the IL mixtures was verified experimentally, and the IL and water concentrations were determined in each phase. Of particular importance is the analytical methodology used to determine the species’ concentration, where 1H NMR and a combination of 19F NMR, Karl Fischer titration, and ion chromatography techniques were applied.
Colloquium : Roper resonance: Toward a solution to the fifty year puzzle

Discovered in 1963, the Roper resonance appears to be an exact copy of the proton except that its mass is 50% greater and it is unstable. These features of the Roper have been very difficult to explain so that for half a century this lightest excited state of the proton has defied understanding. The last decade has presented a new challenge, viz. precise information on the proton-to-Roper electroproduction transition form factors. Reaching to momentum transfer Q2≈4.5 GeV2, the data probe a domain within which hard valence-quark degrees of freedom could be expected to determine form factor behavior. An explanation of the Roper should combine an understanding of all these things. This is a prodigious task, but a ten-year international collaborative effort, involving experimentalists and theorists, has presented a candidate solution to the puzzle. Namely, the observed Roper is at the heart of the proton’s first radial excitation, consisting of a dressed-quark core augmented by a meson cloud that reduces the core mass by approximately 20% and materially alters its electroproduction form factors on Q2<2mN2, where mN is the proton’s mass. This Colloquium describes the experimental developments which enabled electroproduction data to be procured within a domain that is the purview of strong quantum chromodynamics, thereby providing challenges and opportunities for modern theory, and surveys the developments in reaction models and QCD theory that have enabled this picture of the Roper resonance to be drawn.
'Nobody's Talking to the Mentees': Exploring the Concept of Mentorability

Although extant research supports the notion that college- and university-sponsored mentoring programs are effective in academically transitioning and retaining postsecondary students from a variety of sociocultural backgrounds (Gershenfeld, 2014), no research examines how mentoring programs solicit, recruit, and evaluate the potential “mentorability” (Reddick, 2014) of their mentees. Employing Riffe, Lacy, and Fico’s (2016) quantitative content analysis, this study augments Crisp et al.’s (2017) recent work, examining postsecondary mentoring program websites (n = 187) at public, four-year institutions in Texas (n = 44). Findings suggest only 19% of all mentoring programs address “mentorability” by outlining mentee reciprocity and defining mentee characteristics and expectations, compared to 37% of all mentoring programs which define mentor characteristics and expectations. Furthermore, mentoring programs are four times more likely to address their mentors (1,023 occurrences) than “mentees/proteges” (237 occurrences), speaking to the lack of focus on mentee “mentorability.” Implications for practitioners and future research are addressed.
Robust Iterative Stimulation with Self-Antigens Overcomes CD8+ T Cell Tolerance to Self- and Tumor Antigens.

The immune system adapts to constitutive antigens to preserve self-tolerance, which is a major barrier for anti-tumor immunity. Antigen-specific reversal of tolerance constitutes a major goal to spur therapeutic applications. Here, we show that robust, iterative, systemic stimulation targeting tissue-specific antigens in the context of acute infections reverses established CD8+ T cell tolerance to self, including in T cells that survive negative selection. This strategy results in large numbers of circulating and resident memory self-specific CD8+ T cells that are widely distributed and can be co-opted to control established malignancies bearing self-antigen without concomitant autoimmunity. Targeted expansion of both self- and tumor neoantigen-specific T cells acts synergistically to boost anti-tumor immunity and elicits protection against aggressive melanoma. Our findings demonstrate that T cell tolerance can be re-adapted to responsiveness through robust antigenic exposure, generating self-specific CD8+ T cells that can be used for cancer treatment.
Real-time Wireless Health Monitoring: An Ultra-low Power Biosensor Ring for Heart Disease Monitoring

Cardiovascular diseases are a major threat to the lives of millions around the globe. Monitoring heart health via heart rate and variability analysis can help give insight into the full condition of a persons heart health. However, it is often difficult to accomplish constant monitoring, due to the size and invasiveness of some monitors, such as ECG chest bands and wrist-worn sensors. A possible solution to this, in order to allow for more frequent health monitoring, could be a wearable ring sensor, worn on the finger, that measures heart rate and activity via a reflective photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor and an accelerometer. This was explored, and a prototype was built, which sent data over Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) to an Internet-connected mobile phone. The algorithm utilizes an optimized advanced moving average and IIR filtering, as well as a derivative based peak detection to measure accurate beats per minute and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) parameters, against an FDA approved commercial heart rate monitoring device. The results were found to be within 2% of conventional finger-clip PPG sensors. This fact, coupled with the small non-intrusive size of a ring, means this model could lead to further solutions regarding monitoring personal heart health.
Evaluating Immediate Benefits of Assisting Knee Extension With a Soft Inflatable Exosuit

Wearable robots such as powered exoskeletons and exosuits have been developed for gait assistance and rehabilitation. However, effects of knee extension assistance during the swing phase and initial stance of walking remains largely unknown. This work studies the changes in gait patterns for seven healthy participants and three impaired participants when knee extension in the swing and initial stance phases is assisted by a soft inflatable exosuit. The kinematics, surface electromyographic (sEMG) activity, and ground reaction forces (GRFs) for seven healthy participants during treadmill walking are recorded. Reductions in knee angle and sEMG activity of the quadriceps are observed. The knee angles, GRFs, spatiotemporal parameters, and compensatory gait patterns are studied for the three impaired participants for treadmill walking. Reductions in the knee angle, hip flexion, step length, and step time are observed. Compensatory gait patterns for the three participants varied for all participants. A timed up-and-go (TUG) test is also performed with the impaired participants during overground walking. A reduced TUG execution time is observed, indicating potential improvement in functional mobility. Overall, this work provides preliminary evidence on the benefits of a soft-exosuit in supporting healthy individuals and improving the rehabilitation of stroke survivors by assisting knee extension in the swing and initial stance phases.
Obesity and hypoalbuminaemia are independent risk factors for readmission and reoperation following primary total knee arthroplasty.

Aims Rates of readmission and reoperation following primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are under scrutiny due to new payment models, which penalize these negative outcomes. Some risk factors are...
The ever-expanding limits of enzyme catalysis and biodegradation: polyaromatic, polychlorinated, polyfluorinated, and polymeric compounds.

Biodegradation is simply the metabolism of anthropogenic, or otherwise unwanted, chemicals in our environment, typically by microorganisms. The metabolism of compounds commonly found in living things is limited to several thousand metabolites whereas ∼100 million chemical substances have been devised by chemical synthesis, and ∼100 000 are used commercially. Since most of those compounds are not natively found in living things, and some are toxic or carcinogenic, the question arises as to whether there is some organism somewhere with the enzymes that can biodegrade them. Repeatedly, anthropogenic chemicals have been denoted 'non-biodegradable,' only to find they are reactive with one or more enzyme(s). Enzyme reactivity has been organized into categories of functional group transformations. The discovery of new functional group transformations has continually expanded our knowledge of enzymes and biodegradation. This expansion of new-chemical biodegradation is driven by the evolution and spread of newly evolved enzymes. This review describes the biodegradation of widespread commercial chemicals with a focus on four classes: polyaromatic, polychlorinated, polyfluorinated, and polymeric compounds. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons include some of the most carcinogenic compounds known. Polychlorinated compounds include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and many pesticides of the twentieth century. Polyfluorinated compounds are a major focus of bioremediation efforts today. Polymers are clogging landfills, killing aquatic species in the oceans and increasingly found in our bodies. All of these classes of compounds, each thought at one time to be non-biodegradable, have been shown to react with natural enzymes. The known limits of enzyme catalysis, and hence biodegradation, are continuing to expand.
Reducing medical oncology infusion no-show rate by improving patient and intra-clinic communication

47Background: Parkland Health and Hospital System (PHHS) is the safety-net health system for Dallas County. In a resource-limited health care system, no-shows create waste and delay care. We sought...
Cardiac adverse events associated with chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine exposure in 20 years of drug safety surveillance reports

Chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) are on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medications for treating non-resistant malaria, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In addition, both drugs are currently used off-label in hospitals worldwide and in numerous clinical trials for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, CQ and HCQ use has been associated with cardiac side effects, which is of concern due to the higher risk of COVID-19 complications in patients with heart related disorders, and increased mortality associated with COVID-19 cardiac complications. In this study we analyzed over thirteen million adverse event reports form the United States Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System to confirm and quantify the association of cardiac side effects of CQ and HCQ. Additionally, we identified several confounding factors, including male sex, NSAID coadministration, advanced age, and prior diagnoses contributing to drug related cardiotoxicity. These findings may help guide therapeutic decision making and ethical trial design for COVID-19 treatment.
The Optical/Near-Infrared Colors of Broad Absorption Line Quasars, Including the Candidate Radio-loud Broad Absorption Line Quasar 1556+3517

A candidate radio-loud broad absorption line (RLBALQ) has been recently reported by Becker et al. We present JHK observations of this object and three other radio-detected BALQs taken with the new Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT/Ohio State/Aladdin Infrared Camera (MOSAIC) on the KPNO 4 m telescope. The candidate RLBALQ 1556+3517 has B - K = 6.63, redder than all but one or two known z > 1 quasars. This strongly suggests that the observed continuum of this quasar is reddened by dust. Even when this extreme reddening is taken into account, 1556+3517 is still probably radio loud, although near-infrared spectroscopy to measure its Balmer decrement will be needed to verify this. In addition, since it is a flat-spectrum object, VLBI observations to determine the extent (if any) to which beaming affects our estimate of its radio luminosity will be needed before 1556+3517 can be unequivocally declared a radio-loud BALQ. We also use our data and data from the literature to show that optically selected BALQs as a class have B - K colors consistent with the observed distribution for optically selected quasars as a whole. Thus, there is currently no evidence that the tendency of optically selected BALQs to be preferentially radio intermediate (see the work of Francis, Hooper, and Impey) is due to extinction artificially lowering estimated BALQ optical luminosities. However, as most quasar surveys, both radio and optical, would be insensitive to a population of reddened radio-quiet BALQs, the existence of a large population of reddened BALQs similar to 1556+3517 cannot yet be ruled out.
The Impact of Affective Heuristics in Decision-Making Regarding the Implementation of Prescribed Fire on Private Rangelands in the Southern Great Plains, USA

Ecosystems around the world are experiencing unprecedented anthropogenic impacts, emphasizing the need for a nuanced understanding of how individual decision-making shapes social-ecological systems...
Sequence of Plasmodium falciparum chromosomes 2, 10, 11 and 14

The mosquito-borne malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum kills an estimated 0.7-2.7 million people every year, primarily children in sub-Saharan Africa. Without effective interventions, a variety of factors-including the spread of parasites resistant to antimalarial drugs and the increasing insecticide resistance of mosquitoes-may cause the number of malaria cases to double over the next two decades. To stimulate basic research and facilitate the development of new drugs and vaccines, the genome of Plasmodium falciparum clone 3D7 has been sequenced using a chromosome-by-chromosome shotgun strategy. We report here the nucleotide sequences of chromosomes 10, 11 and 14, and a re-analysis of the chromosome 2 sequence. These chromosomes represent about 35% of the 23-megabase P. falciparum genome.
Detecting High Orders of Cognitive Complexity in Students’ Reasoning in Argumentative Writing About Ocean Acidification

Providing students in STEM courses the opportunity to write about scientific content can be beneficial to the learning process. However, it is a logistical challenge to provide feedback to students’ written work in large-enrollment courses. Motivated by these reasons, the study presented herein considers a method to identify the depth of students’ scientific reasoning in their written work. A writing-to-learn (WTL) activity was implemented in a large undergraduate general chemistry class. An analytical framework of cognitive operations that characterizes students’ scientific reasoning evidenced in their writing was applied. Engagement in some of the more complex cognitive operations, such as causal reasoning and argumentation, was a sign that students were properly engaging in meaning making activities. This work considers a method to automate coaching of students in using more complex reasoning in their writing with the desired outcome that it may help students better engage with the science content. We consider a series of new natural language processing models to discern types of reasoning in student essays from the WTL activity.
Parallel computation of CRC-code on an FPGA

With the rapid advancement of imaging technology, space-based remote sensing instruments are becoming more sophisticated and are producing substantially more amounts of data for downloading. Data alteration is very likely to occur during the transmission over the long distances from probes to carrier spacecraft and subsequently back to Earth,. Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is the most well-known data package error check technique which has been used in many applications. Unfortunately, due to its serial computation process, it could be a bottleneck for critical applications that require rapid processing. To overcome such issue, we present here a parallel CRC computational method based on an FPGA with simulation and testing to validate the methodology.
Behavioral Economics and Financial Decision Making

Behavioral economics provides insights into how people process information and make decisions. It also helps to explain why and how people tend to make decisions that are not in their best interest, as opposed to what rational choice theory would suggest. This chapter provides an introduction to behavioral economics and highlights its relevance to understanding and influencing financial decision-making. The chapter explores major cognitive biases that commonly lead to mistakes in financial decisions, such as confirmation bias, overconfidence bias, loss aversion, the endowment effect, and status quo bias. The chapter also highlights the challenges brought about by choice overload, that is the multiplicity of options that overwhelms people and undermines their ability to make appropriate financial decisions. The chapter then discusses how choice architecture and nudges can be used to address the limitations resulting from cognitive biases and choice overload. In particular, we examine default choices, pre-commitment mechanisms, framing, and priming approaches and discuss how these can foster positive financial behaviors. This chapter thus represents a useful starting point for researchers and practitioners interested in developing and applying behavioral economics principles and tools to prompt financial decisions that lead to long-run financial security.
Development of a fluorescent multiplex assay for detection of MSI-High tumors.

441 Determining whether a tumor exhibits MSI is useful for identifying patients with HNPCC and sporadic gastrointestinal cancers with defective DNA mismatch repair (MMR), aids in establishing a clinical prognosis and response to chemotherapy. A panel of markers was suggested for MSI analysis by a NCI workshop in 1997, but this panel has limitations resulting from the inclusion of dinucleotide markers that are less sensitive and specific for detection of tumors with MMR deficiencies compared to other types of markers. This study demonstrates that mononucleotides are the most sensitive and specific markers for detection of tumors with defects in MMR and identifies an optimal panel of markers for detection of MSI-High tumors. A set of 266 mono-, di-, tetra- and penta-nucleotide repeat microsatellite markers were used to screen for MSI in colorectal tumors. The best markers for detection of MSI-H tumors were selected for a MSI Analysis System, which includes five mononucleotide markers: BAT-25, BAT-26, NR-21, NR-24 and MONO-27. In addition, two pentanucleotide markers were added to identify sample mix-ups and/or contamination. We classified 153 colorectal tumors using the new MSI Analysis System and compared the results to those obtained with a panel of 10 microsatellite markers combined with IHC analysis. We observed 99% concordance between the two methods with nearly 100% accuracy in detection of MSI-H tumors. Approximately 5% of the MSI-H tumors had normal levels of four MMR proteins and as a result would have been misclassified based solely on IHC analysis, emphasizing the importance of performing MSI testing. The new MSI Analysis System offers several distinct advantages over other methods of MSI testing in that it is extremely sensitive and specific, amenable to high-throughput analysis, meets the 2004 NCI guidelines on MSI testing and overcomes problems inherent to the original NCI marker panel. The use of a single multiplex fluorescent MSI assay reduces the time and costs involved in MSI testing while increasing reliability and accuracy and thus should facilitate widespread screening for MSI in tumors of patients with gastrointestinal cancers.
Science in Fusion Technology

This paper presents examples from work in developing the technology needed for fusion. The purpose is to illustrate how our research ranges from very basic investigations to more directed applications. The paper draws primarily from work by others on the critical goals of extracting heat in a useful way from a fusion reactor and producing and handling tritium as a self-sufficient fuel.
Book Review: The Ethics of Computer Games by Miguel Sicart

This review describes The Ethics of Computer Games , a recent academic release by Miguel Sicart. Sicart uses a philosophical framework of various ethical and ontological theories to analyze how different games and game designs invoke or ignore the moral virtues of the culture in which they exist. According to Sicart, the most ethical games are those which take into account the complex subjective role of the player and the game community, and inscribe in the gameplay a kind of ethical system that either cultivates "virtuous" exploration or challenges the player to come to a specific ethical conclusion based on careful reflection.
Polyethylene Glycol Coatings on Plastic Substrates for Chemically Defined Stem Cell Culture

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are a widely available and clinically relevant cell type with a host of applications in regenerative medicine. Current clinical expansion methods can lead to selective changes in hMSC phenotype potentially resulting from relatively undefi ned cell culture surfaces. Chemically defi ned synthetic surfaces can aid in understanding the infl uence of cell‐material interactions on stem cell behavior. Here, a thin copolymer coating for hMSC culture on plastic substrates is developed. The random copolymer is synthesized by living free radical polymerization and characterized in solution before application to the substrate, ensuring a homogeneous coating and limiting the sample-to-sample variations. The ability to coat multiple substrate types and cover large surface areas is reported. Arg‐Gly‐Asp-containing peptides are incorporated into the coating under aqueous conditions via their lysine or cysteine side chains, resulting in amide and thioester linkages, respectively. Stability studies show amide linkages to be stable and thioester linkages to be labile under standard serum-containing culture conditions. In addition, chemically defi ned passaging of hMSCs using only ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid on polystyrene dishes is shown. After passage, the hMSCs can be seeded back onto the same plate, indicating potential reusability of the coating.