cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Panama Railroad Co. v. Johnson

In Panama Railroad Co. v. Johnson, the Supreme Court upheld the Jones Act against a claim that it authorized a maritime action foreign to general maritime law and without regard for admiralty rules of procedure, and therefore excess of the jurisdiction created by Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution. This decision has a strong claim to a place on the list of admiralty's greatest hits. Looking at the grand themes of maritime law, it played a major role in defining the Supreme Court's current understanding of its relationship with Congress as a source of maritime law - the most significant separation of powers issue in maritime law over the last century. Looking at the day-to-day workings of maritime law, it dictated the operation of the Jones Act, the central statute in maritime personal injury law for over eighty years. And it continues to be relevant today as we consider how the recodified statute will be construed in the future.
Abstract 3077: LARP7: Potential novel tumor suppressor gene in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the most deadly of all human tumors. However, little is known about events leading to this deadly disease. We previously reported that the RNA binding protein gene, La ribonucleoprotein domain family, member 7 (LARP7) was frequently subjected to genetic aberration in gastric cancers. LARP7 stabilizes the noncoding 7sk small nuclear RNA (7sk), and both LARP7 and 7sk compose 7sk snRNP that negatively regulates the positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb). Hyperactive P-TEFb has been associated with hyper-proliferation and de-differentiation in various tissues. Therefore, the functional loss of LARP7 may contribute to gastric tumorigenesis. In the current study, we evaluated the involvement of LARP7 in human gastric cancer by assessing the LARP7 expression in normal and cancerous gastric tissues as well as by LARP7 knockdown in normal gastric epithelial cells. Methods: LARP7 expression was assessed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR in 30 normal and 25 cancerous gastric tissues. LARP7 knockdown was performed by the specific siRNA transient transfection in an immortalized normal human gastric epithelial cell line, HFE-145. Results: LARP7 mRNA expression was significantly decreased in gastric cancers compare to normal tissues (34.5% reduction, p Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3077.
Abstract SY16-02: Embracing complexity: A drosophila approach to cancer therapeutics.

Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC Cancer's complexity is a key difficulty in identifying useful therapeutics. In place of simplifying the disease, I will describe our use of Drosophila to develop complex, multigenic cancer models that directly reflect current human tumor sequencing data. These include colorectal, pancreatic, and thyroid tumor models. Further, I will discuss our approach– in collaboration with Kevan Shokat's laboratory– that combines fly genetics with medicinal chemistry to develop novel drugs through "rational polypharmacology," emphasizing a balance of "targets" and "anti-targets" that are designed to optimize therapeutic index. Citation Format: Ross L. Cagan. Embracing complexity: A drosophila approach to cancer therapeutics. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr SY16-02. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-SY16-02
Molaren en het geheugen

Dat het verlies van tanden en kiezen gepaard gaat met een verhoogde incidentie van dementie, verbaast niemand. Maar een mogelijk causaal verband, dat is een onverwachte ontdekking.
A Security Assessment Method for Power Grid Planning Under High Penetration of Variable Generation

Following a discussion of the affiliation of stability and security,it is pointed out that the static security constraints,transient stability constraints and whole process security assessment should be dealt with under different procedures in power grid planning.The procedure of security assessment for power grid planning under high penetration of variable generation is presented.It is pointed out that part of the courses of the cascading events is typical of the open complex giant system and should be simplified since it cannot be exactly simulated.The other part of the courses is with strong cause and effect relationship between the preceding and succeeding events and can be simulated by improved simulation software.By taking into account the pre-fault states of the generation system,the whole process risk assessing method is presented.With the method,the costs of stabilizing facilities and the power cut losses will be included in the composite annual costs for comparing and choosing the planning schemes.
study of taste perception

Taste stimulus identification was studied in order to more thoroughly examine human taste perception. Ten replicates of an array of 10 taste stimuli—NaCl, KCl, Na glutamate, quinine.HCl, citric acid, sucrose, aspartame, and NaCl-sucrose, acid-sucrose, and quinine-sucrose mixtures—were presented to normal subjects for identification from a list of corresponding stimulus names. Because perceptually similar substances are confused in identification tasks, the result was ataste confusion matrix. Consistency of identification for the 10 stimuli (T 10) and for each stimulus pair (T 2) was quantified with measures derived from information theory. Forty-two untrained subjects made an average of 57.4% correct identifications. An averageT 10 of 2.25 of the maximum 3.32 bits and an averageT 2 of 0.84 of a maximum 1.0 bit of information were transmitted. In a second experiment, 40 trained subjects per-formed better than 20 untrained subjects. The results suggested that the identification procedure may best be used to assess taste function following 1–2 training replicates. The patterns of taste confusion indicate that the 10 stimuli resemble one another to varying extents, yet each can be considered perceptually unique.
Lipid signal transduction pathways in angiotensin II type 1 receptor-transfected fibroblasts

A stable Chinese hamster ovary fibroblast line expressing the rat vascular type 1a angiotensin II (ANG II) receptor was used to study the lipid-derived signal transduction pathways elicited by type 1a ANG II receptor activation. ANG II caused a biphasic and dose-dependent increase in diacylglycerol (DAG) accumulation with an initial peak at 15 s (181 +/- 11% of control, P < 0.02) and a second sustained peak at 5-10 min (214 +/- 10% of control, P < 0.02). The late DAG peak was derived from phosphatidylcholine (PC), and the formation was blocked by ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid. ANG II also increased phosphatidic acid (PA) production nearly fourfold by 7.5 min. In the presence of ethanol, ANG II markedly increased phosphatidylethanol (PEt) formation, indicating activation of phospholipase D (PLD). ANG II was shown to increase the mass of three separate PA species, one of which apparently originated from DAG kinase action on PC-phospholipase C (PLC)-produced DAG, providing evidence for PC-PLC activity. ANG II also formed a third PA species, which originated neither from PLD nor from DAG kinase. These results demonstrate that multiple lipid signals propagated via collateral stimulation of PLC and PLD are generated by specific activation of the vascular type 1a ANG II receptor.
High-temperature measurement with Brillouin optical time domain analysis of an annealed fused-silica single-mode fiber.

The effect of annealing is experimentally studied for a fused silica, fully distributed fiber optic sensor based on the pulse pre-pump Brillouin optical time domain analysis (PPP-BOTDA). Within a heating rate of 4.3°C/min and 30.6°C/min, and a sustained peak temperature for 120 and 240 min, annealing extended the sensor’s upper operation temperature from 800°C to 1000°C and reduced the sensor’s measurement variability over a temperature range of 22°C to 1000°C with a maximum Brillouin frequency variation of 1%. The annealed sensor had a linearly decreasing Brillouin frequency sensitivity from 1.349×10−3 GHz/°C at 22°C to 0.419×10−3 GHz/°C at 1000°C. The time required to achieve a stable annealing effect decayed exponentially with annealing temperature.
Posterior Distributions and Inference

The first section of this chapter discusses general properties of posterior distributions. It continues with an explanation of how a Bayesian statistician uses the posterior distribution to conduct statistical inference, which is concerned with learning about parameter values either in the form of point or interval estimates, making predictions, and comparing alternative models. Properties of Posterior Distributions In this section, we discuss general properties of posterior distributions, starting with the choice of the likelihood function. We continue by generalizing the concept to include models with more than one parameter and go on to discuss the revision of posterior distributions as more data become available, the role of the sample size, and the concept of identification. The Likelihood Function As we have seen, the posterior distribution is proportional to the product of the likelihood function and the prior distribution. The latter is somewhat controversial and is discussed in Chapter 4, but the choice of a likelihood function is also an important matter and requires discussion. A central issue is that the Bayesian must specify an explicit likelihood function to derive the posterior distribution. In some cases, the choice of a likelihood function appears straightforward. In the coin-tossing experiment of Section 2.2, for example, the choice of a Bernoulli distribution seems natural, but it does require the assumptions of independent trials and a constant probability.
Impulse Breakdown in Sf6, Sf6/N2 and Sf6/N2/Perfluorocarbon Mixtures

ABSTRACT The impulse breakdown strengths of binary mixtures of SF 6 /N 2 , SF 6 /PFC (perfluorocarbon), PFC/N 2 , and ternary mixtures of SF 6 /PFC/N 2 have been measured for nonuniform field point-plane geometry. Both standard lightning (1.2 μs rise/50 μs decay) and switching (200 μs rise/2000 μs decay) waveforms of positive and negative polarity were employed. The gap distance was kept constant at 22.2 mm and the pressure was varied from 0.05 to 0.5 MPa. For negative polarity, addition of an electron-attaching PFC to SF 6 or SF 6 /N 2 increases the V 50 (peak voltage with 50% breakdown probability) values for both lightning and switching waveforms. For positive polarity, addition of PFC to SF 6 or SF 6 /N 2 reduces the V 50 values for the lightning waveform, but it increases the V 50 values for pressures ≤ 0.3 MPa for switching surge waveform. These delicate effects are related to space charges and the resultant changes in the size and position of the corona stabilization peak. The effect of changes in the “point” electrode configuration with sparking, on the V 50 vs pressure function was investigated also and the results are reported.
Development and validation of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric assay for simultaneous determination of tacrolimus and 13-O-desmethyl tacrolimus in rat kidney tissue.

A sensitive and robust LC-MS/MS method has been developed and validated to determine the concentrations of tacrolimus and its major metabolite 13-O-desmethyl tacrolimus (13-ODMT) in kidney tissue from rats who received tacrolimus intra-peritoneally at doses of 0.5mg/kg and 2mg/kg. The samples were prepared by a liquid-liquid extraction procedure using ethyl ether as the extraction solvent and ascomycin as the internal standard. Chromatographic separation was achieved using Phenomenex Kinetex column (2.6μm C18 100A, 100×2.1mm, Phenomenex, Torrance CA) and a gradient mobile phase of water and methanol-acetonitrile (50:50, v/v) both containing 0.1% formic acid. The limit of quantification was 0.25ng/ml and the calibration curves covered a concentration range from 0.25 to 50ng/ml. Intra-and inter-assay precision and accuracy for both tacrolimus and 13-ODMT were all within FDA guidelines for bioanalysis. Extraction efficiency for tacrolimus ranged from 67.00 to 74.90% and from 66.70 to 78.40% for 13-ODMT. Several challenges interfering with the performance of the method such as phospholipid build-up have also been addressed. Kidney tissue samples from six rats receiving either 0.5 or 2mg/kg dose were analyzed and resulted in a median concentration of 11.54 and 0.72ng/ml for tacrolimus and 13-ODMT, respectively, for the lower dose level, and a median concentration of 8.89ng/ml and 1.50ng/ml for tacrolimus and 13-ODMT, respectively, at the higher dose level.
Three Kinds of Agency and Closed-Loop Neural Devices

Goering and colleagues (2017) acknowledge closed-loop neural devices have the potential to undermine agency. Indeed, the authors observe that “the agent using the device may … sometimes doubt wheth...
A Finite Dimensional Approach to the Feedback Stabilization of Distributed Time Lag Systems

Abstract A direct pole relocation theory is advanced for linear time invariant systems with distributed delays in both state and control variables. The principal tools of the theory include the finite cardinality of the unstable spectrum, a set of matrices each of whose elements is a left zero of the system characteristic quasi-polynomial matrix and a linear transformation which reduces the delay system to a delay-free system whose spectrum contains the delay system unstable spectrum. It is shown that if the delay system is spectrally stabilizable, then it shares a common feedback stabilizing control law with its delay-free counterpart. This point of contact with a delay-free system permits the determination of the control law using well established ordinary system methods
Plasmonic Biosensors in Resource-limited Settings

A wide range of conventional immunoassays and emerging biosensors rely on antibodies, which are required to be maintained under tightly regulated temperature (refrigerated) conditions, to preserve their biofunctionality (recognition capability). This stringent requirement necessitates a “cold chain” system during transportation and storage, which is usually impractical in resource-limited settings. Here, we introduce two types of materials, zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), a metal-organic framework (MOF), and silk fibroin, extracted from silk cocoon, to form protective coatings to preserve the antibody recognition capability on biochips under ambient and elevated temperatures. Formation of these protective coatings is easy, and a simple water rinsing step can restore the biofunctionality of the coated biochip, thereby making it highly convenient for use in point-of-care and resource-limited settings. A plasmonic nanobiosensor is employed as a transduction platform for monitoring the formation and removal of the protective coatings and to quantify the biopreservation ability of these coatings under various extreme storage conditions. We believe this energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly approach eliminates the needs for cold chain and temperature-controlled storage/shipping of diagnostic reagents and materials, thereby extending the capability of antibody-based biosensors to various resource-limited environments. More broadly, these protective coatings are expected to play a powerful role in the realization of ultrastable biodiagnostics and therapeutics. We will also present a novel class of plasmonic biosensors that rely on artificial antibodies or peptide recognition elements with excellent temperature and chemical stability. These multi-pronged approaches overcome the poor stability of existing plasmonic biosensors or other types of antibody-based biosensors and take them closer to real-world applications in resource-limited settings.
Planning cuts for mobile robots with bladed tools

Linear bladed cutting tools, such as jigsaws and reciprocating saws are vital manufacturing tools for humans. They enable people to cut structures that are much larger than themselves. Robots currently lack a generic path planner for linear bladed cutting tools. We developed a model for bladed tools based on Reeds-Shepp cars, and used the model to make a generic path planning algorithm for closed curves. We built an autonomous mobile robot which can implement the algorithm to cut arbitrarily large shapes in a 2D plane. We tested the robots performance and demonstrated the algorithm on several test cases.
Assessing psychological distress in cancer patients: The use of distress thermometer in an outpatient cancer/hematology treatment center.

The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of the distress thermometer (DT) and the accompanying problem checklist (PC) as a screening tool for psychological distress and the sources of...
Children with severe burns display no sex differences in exercise capacity at hospital discharge or adaptation after exercise rehabilitation training

Abstract Background and objective Females have a 50% increased risk of death from burn injury compared to males. However, whether exercise capacity and exercise induced training adaptations differ between burned boys and girls is unknown. This project tested the hypothesis that girls with burns have lower exercise capacity and different exercise induced training adaptations. Methods Twenty-five girls were matched to 26 boys (mean, 95%CI; years 13 [12,14], cm 151 [143,161], kg 54 [45,63]; each P > 0.05) for burn injury (% total body surface area burn, 54 [45,62]; P = 0.82). Lean body mass (LBM), strength (peak torque) and cardiorespiratory fitness (peak VO 2 ) were normalized to kg LBM and compared as a percentage of age–sex matched non-burned children (n = 26 boys, years 13 [12,14]; n = 25 girls, years 13 [12,14]) at discharge (DC) and after aerobic and resistance rehabilitation exercise training (RET). Results Using a 2-way factorial ANOVA (group × time), we found both groups had similar 11% change in LBM (87.3% of non-burned values [82.2,92.3]) and after the RET (92.8% [87.2,98.3]; main effect, time P 0.0001). Peak torque increased similarly by 16% in both groups (% of age–sex matched non-burned DC, 55.9 [51.3,60.5]; after RET, 77.5 [72.1,82.9]; main effect, time P 0.0001). Likewise, peak VO 2 increased in both groups by 15% (% of age–sex matched non-burned DC, 56.8 [52.4,61.2] to RET, 72.2 [67.6,76.8]; main effect, time; P 2 and peak HR compared to non-burned children (Interaction, group × time, P Conclusion The burn injury does not have sex-dependent effects on LBM or exercise capacity in severely burn injured children. Differences in relative peak VO 2 and peak HR suggest the need for burn specific exercise programs for improving the efficacy of a rehabilitation program.
Optimal Timing of Alveolar Cleft Bone Grafting for Maxillary Clefts in the Cleft Palate Population.

Purpose:Timing of bone grafting for maxillary alveolar clefts is not standardized. Secondary bone grafting is often performed; however, consensus does not exist regarding use of chronologic versus dental age to guide treatment. Several authors suggest an early chronologic age is associated with grea
On Non-Statistical Techniques for Fast Fault Coverage Estimation

We present fast, dynamic fault coverage estimation techniques for sequential circuits that achieve high degrees of accuracy and significant reductions in the number of injected faults and faulty-event evaluations. In the proposed techniques, we dynamically reduce injection of hyperactive faults as well as faults whose effects never propagate to a flip-flop or primary output. Suppression and over-specification of potential fault-effects are also investigated to reduce faulty-event evaluations. Experiments show that our methods give very accurate estimates with frequently greater speedups than the sampling techniques for most circuits. Most significantly, the proposed techniques can be combined with the sampling approach to obtain speedups comparable to small sample sizes and retain estimation accuracy of large fault samples.
Emotional trauma in rats: Age as a factor in recovery

Old (7 months of age) and young (2 months) male rats were divided into groups matched for spontaneous exploratory activity and for age. Experimental rats in the two age categories were then traumatized by giving them a 90 volt shock to the feet for two sec. on only one occasion. It was shown that nearly all the young rats recovered from the trauma within 5 weeks, as measured by brief exploratory activity and defecation, while at the end of 6 months the old rats still had not recovered. These results point up the greater resiliency of young animals, and the need for caution in the interpreting of research and theories on early experience.
Deinstitutionalizing a Dominant Logic: The Emotional Side of Sensemaking and Sensegiving

Institutional theory has recently begun to explore the emotional side of agency, particularly in processes of deinstitutionalization. This paper brings a sensegiving and sensemaking perspective to these concepts, asserting that institutions comprise both cognitive and emotional content, and that sensegivers deploy institutional elements strategically to shape their targets’ emotional investment in change projects. The study presented here uses empirical data to theorize how the emotional components of institutional elements might be deployed as part of the actor’s toolkit. Agentic actors’ creative use of institutions to affect the emotional intensity of a sensemaking field are illustrated within the context of a qualitative case study examining discourse around ‘sustainable seafood’ between industry actors and environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). These findings extend existing theorization of how institutions and sensemaking interact to show first, that these effects exist on an emotional...
BOXER’S KNUCKLE: Traumatic Disruption of the Extensor Hood

The unique function of the boxer's hand requires persistent, forceful punching in a constantly clenched fist posture, therefore, the metacarpophalangeal joints are continually exposed to blunt trauma and highly vulnerable to injury. This injury is traditionally termed boxer's knuckle. Although a myriad of metacarpophalangeal joint derangement is apt to result from isolated or repetitive blows inflicted and absorbed by the hand, the most serious and disabling type of boxer's knuckle is extensor hood disruption. Based on experience with 27 surgical cases, this article describes characteristic extensor hood pathology and operative techniques that have afforded a consistently favorable outcome.
Automatic Generation of Cyber Architectures Optimized for Security, Cost, and Mission Performance: A Nature-Inspired Approach

Network segmentation refers to the practice of partitioning a computer network into multiple segments and restricting communications between segments to inhibit a cyberattacker’s ability to move and spread infection. While segmentation is widely recommended by cybersecurity experts, there is no clear guidance on what segmentation architectures are best to maximize a network’s security posture. Additionally, the security gained by segmentation does not come without cost. Segmentation architectures require resources to implement and may also cause degradation of mission performance. Network administrators currently rely on judgment to construct segmentation architectures that maximize security while minimizing resource cost and mission degradation. This chapter proposes an automated method for generating segmentation architectures optimized for security, cost, and mission performance. The method employs a hybrid approach that combines nature-inspired optimization with cyber risk modeling and simulation to construct candidate architectures, evaluate them, and intelligently search the space of possible architectures to hone in on effective ones. We implement the method in a prototype decision system and demonstrate the system via a case study on a representative network environment under cyberattack.
Catalyzing self-governance: Addressing multi-faceted collective action dilemmas in densely settled agrarian landscapes

This paper summarizes lessons learnt from efforts to pilot institutional innovations to address locally salient natural resource management challenges in the eastern African highlands, where dense human settlement and steep slopes lead to a tight coupling of interactions among adjacent land users, landholdings and property regimes. The collective action problems present in these heterogeneous landscapes include common pool resource dilemmas, as well as other “commons-like problems” involving shared or intertwined interests that cut across a range of property regimes. By creatively embedding design principles derived from long-enduring common property regimes into facilitation strategies, solutions to longstanding, relatively intractable resource management challenges (e.g. pest management, erosion) were forged through collective choice arrangements. Solutions involved not just restricting access and creating incentives for users to invest in a shared resource (e.g., through clear allocation of rights and duties), but negotiating creative solutions to match provisioning with diverse forms of benefit or to minimize/offset losses that would otherwise accrue from efforts to minimize harm to others. The paper’s contributions are threefold. First, it illustrates how self-governance is not just a feature of long-enduring common property regimes, but may be catalyzed in many situations in which it is absent. It also illustrates the applicability of Ostrom’s design principles in a complex and heterogeneous landscapes involving a diversity of natural resource forms, tenure regimes and collective action problems. Finally, it illustrates the crucial importance of bringing an institutional lens to bear on classic “technological” challenges such as soil erosion control, pest management and loss of on-farm biodiversity.
TRUE (Trauma Responders Unify to Empower) Communities: An evolution of empowerment

How one Chicago trauma surgeon created a first-responder course to enable bystanders from all walks of life to treat gunshot victims in the city.
Testing the ‘agonistic buffering’ hypothesis

Data are presented from a 15-month study on triadic male-infant interactions (‘agonistic buffering’) among wild Barbary macaques, and the ‘agonistic buffering’ hypothesis reevaluated. The sociometrics of triadic interactions derived from the distribution of 535 interactions among individually known adult and subadult males showed that there were significant individual male differences in the frequency of initating and/or receiving triadic interactions, but there were no such differences between the high and low ranking male subgroups (Tables 2–4).
Timestamp Shift Detection for Synchrophasor Data Based on Similarity Analysis Between Relative Phase Angle and Frequency

Timestamp Shift (TS) in synchrophasor data can lead to false operation of synchrophasor-based wide-area monitoring, protection and control applications. The letter presents a method to detect TS of synchrophasor data based on similarity analysis between its own relative phase angle and frequency. A linear correlation component, caused by TS, between relative phase angle and measured frequency is discovered via theoretical derivation. Then a detection method is developed utilizing this linear component for TS diagnosis. Firstly, system phase angle is leveraged as angle reference and then relative phase angle is calculated. Secondly, the correlation coefficient between relative phase angle and frequency is calculated for similarity analysis. Thirdly, the TS is detected via threshold criterion and corresponding time error is estimated. The effectiveness of this method is validated via experiments with actual synchrophasor data in FNET/Grideye.
The Conflicted Role of Purchasing in New Product Development Costing

As organizations are increasingly challenged to find new sources of profit improvement, cost reduction becomes a top priority on the business agenda. Expectations for cost reductions are ongoing and influence both new and existing products and services. The costs for new product and service introductions are managed differently than ongoing cost reductions. Purchasing plays a central role, with different goals, in cost control for new products and services versus ongoing cost savings. This research uses a case study methodology to understand the conflict purchasing faces in managing both new product costs and ongoing cost reductions. Due to goal incongruence between new product development and ongoing savings initiatives, purchasing may act in its own best interest, rather than in the best interest of the organization or team. This is both a contracting and an information uncertainty problem, creating an opening for passive opportunism by purchasing. Thus, agency theory and information processing theory (IPT) are combined to examine how information uncertainty can be reduced and contractual goal alignment improved in these situations. The outcome of this research is to expose potential goal misalignment between new product development cost processes and ongoing cost savings, and suggest theoretically grounded methods for reducing the potential conflict.
Uniform conductivity in stretchable silicones via multiphase inclusions

Many soft robotic components require highly stretchable, electrically conductive materials for proper operation. Often these conductive materials are used as sensors or as heaters for thermally responsive materials. However, there is a scarcity of stretchable materials that can withstand the high strains typically experienced by soft robots, while maintaining the electrical properties necessary for Joule heating (e.g., uniform conductivity). In this work, we present a silicone composite containing both liquid and solid inclusions that can maintain a uniform conductivity while experiencing 200% linear strains. This composite can be cast in thin sheets enabling it to be wrapped around thermally responsive soft materials that increase their volume or stretchability when heated. We show how this material opens up possibilities for electrically controllable shape changing soft robotic actuators, as well as all-silicone actuation systems powered only by electrical stimulus. Additionally, we show that this stretchable composite can be used as an electrode material in other applications, including a strain sensor with a linear response up to 200% strain and near-zero signal noise.
Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Breast Cells Using Quantitative Optical Imaging: A Novel Approach

Fluorescence polarization (Fpol) of methylene blue (MB) stained human breast cells obtained from clinical samples was investigated. Results demonstrate average MB Fpol of malignant breast cells is significantly higher as compared to benign breast cells.
Data-driven selection of stiff chemistry ODE solver in operator-splitting schemes

Abstract Most computational fluid dynamics simulations of practical combustion applications employ operator-splitting schemes, where chemistry and transport are separated and integrated with distinct numerical methods. The changes in composition due to chemistry are evaluated by solving ordinary differential equations (ODE) in each cell of the computational domain, which typically dominates the computational cost when detailed chemistry is considered. In this work, a data-driven approach for the selection of chemistry ODE solvers in operator-splitting schemes is presented. Neural networks are used to predict the ODE solvers CPU times and errors for a given thermochemical state. This allows the selection of an optimal ODE solver on a cell-by-cell, timestep-by-timestep basis. The models are trained using a wide set of thermochemical states generated through partially-stirred reactors and flames simulations. The methodology is validated by quantifying the prediction errors, the classification accuracy, and the computational speedup. The model predicts the optimal ODE solver for 70 to 95% of the validation cases and decreases the computional cost by a factor of 3 or more. The generalizability of the methodology to different chemical mechanisms and different fuels is assessed and it is shown that the model’s performance is only slightly degraded and its applicability is significantly enhanced if the inputs to the neural networks are restricted to a small set of thermochemical state variables present in most chemical mechanisms. The models are used in an homogeneous reactor case and a multi-dimensional CFD simulation of a diesel spray at high pressure where a speedup of more than 3 is achieved.
Over-under cartilage tympanoplasty: technique, results and a call for improved reporting.

Objective This study aimed to describe the microscopic over-under cartilage tympanoplasty technique, provide hearing results and detail clinically significant complications. Method This was a retrospective case series chart review study of over-under cartilage tympanoplasty procedures performed by the senior author between January 2015 and January 2019 at three tertiary care centres. Cases were excluded for previous or intra-operative cholesteatoma, if a mastoidectomy was performed during the procedure or if ossiculoplasty was performed. Hearing results and complications were obtained. Results Sixty-eight tympanoplasty procedures met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 13 years (range, 3–71 years). The mean improvement in pure tone average was 6 dB (95 per cent confidence interval 4–9 dB; p < 0.0001). The overall perforation closure rate was 97 per cent (n = 66). Revision surgery was recommended for a total of 6 cases (9 per cent) including 2 post-operative perforations, 1 case of middle-ear cholesteatoma and 3 cases of external auditory canal scarring. Conclusion Over-under cartilage tympanoplasty is effective at improving clinically meaningful hearing with a low rate of post-operative complications.
Harnessing Tissue Engineering Tools to Interrogate Host-Microbiota Crosstalk in Cancer.

Summary Recent studies have begun to highlight the diverse and tumor-specific microbiomes across multiple cancer types. We believe this work raises the important question of whether the classical “Hallmarks of Cancer” should be expanded to include tumor microbiomes. To answer this question, the causal relationships and co-evolution of these microbiotic tumor ecosystems must be better understood. Because host-microbe interactions should be studied in a physiologically relevant context, animal models have been preferred. Yet these models are often poor mimics of human tumors and are difficult to interrogate at high spatiotemporal resolution. We believe that in vitro tissue engineered platforms could provide a powerful alternative approach that combines the high-resolution of in vitro studies with a high degree of physiological relevance. This review will focus on tissue engineered approaches to study host-microbe interactions and to establish their role as an emerging hallmark of cancer with potential as a therapeutic target.
Modular Multilevel Converter Design for Grid Integration of Solar Photovoltaic Systems

In the paper, a novel MMC design is proposed, which simultaneously acts as the DC power optimizer to capture maximum power and as the DC/AC inverter to transfer solar power from DC link to AC power system. In order to make MMC fit for sources with inherent variability in DC side voltage (DC link), the full-bridge submodule based MMC (FBMMC) topology, modulation techniques, and required control systems are designed. The proposed control platform consists of two components to realize maximum power point tracking and AC power flow control. Model predictive control is employed to design the switching algorithms. Finally, effectiveness of designed MMC for grid integration application of a PV array with varying irradiance and temperature is validated.
The physiology of hypnosis. II

The literature which has been reviewed in this paper shows hypnosis to be a state identical with the normal waking condition according to all the physiological criteria which have been investigated. It is also clearly established that hypnotic suggestion is capable of bringing about physiological changes which differ significantly from those produced by means of suggestion in the waking state. There is good reason to believe that these changes differ quantitatively and qualitatively from those which can be obtained voluntarily. It is perhaps best to admit that we know nothing concerning the basic mechanisms involved in the process of hypnosis, and to restrict ourselves to the observation that hypnosis provides a remarkable opportunity for the study of psychosomatic interrelationships in the laboratory. Much valuable work has been accomplished in the past in the study of hypnosis from a physiological viewpoint and in applying the hypnotic technic to the study of the influence of emotions on bodily functions; yet it may be confidently predicted that the future will bring many more remarkable discoveries in a field which science has only just begun to explore.
Characterization of ionized lignin model compounds with α-O-4 linkages by positive- and negative-ion mode electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry based on collision-activated dissociation.

RATIONALE The biggest obstacle in the rational conversion of biomass into aromatic chemicals is the identification of unknown compounds in lignin degradation mixtures that are highly complex. As opposed to lignin degradation products with β-O-4 linkages, very little is known about the mass spectrometric analysis of lignin degradation products with α-O-4 linkages. METHODS Lignin model compounds with an α-O-4 and another linkage, as well as lignin model compounds with only β-O-4 linkages, were ionized by attachment of lithium or sodium cations under positive-ion mode electrospray ionization (ESI) or by deprotonation in negative-ion mode ESI in a linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. The ions were subjected to collision-activated dissociation in multiple-stage tandem mass spectrometry experiments to characterize their fragmentation patterns. RESULTS All studied compounds formed abundant sodium and lithium cation adducts in positive-ion mode ESI with no fragmentation. Model compounds with β-O-4 linkages displayed stable [M - H]- ions in negative-ion mode ESI whereas compounds with α-O-4 linkages only showed fragment ions. CAD of the lithiated α-O-4 compounds provided more structural information than CAD of sodiated compounds. However, both sodiated and lithiated compounds with α-O-4 linkages showed losses of monomer units at the MS2 stage, which is useful for sequencing of lignins with this type of linkage. CONCLUSIONS An ionization and sequencing method has been developed for lignin model compounds with α-O-4 linkages that spontaneously fragment upon ionization via (-)ESI.
Predicting lanthanide coordination structures in solution with molecular simulation.

Abstract The chemical and physical properties of lanthanide coordination complexes can significantly change with small variations in their molecular structure. Further, in solution, coordination structures (e.g., lanthanide-ligand complexes) are dynamic. Resolving solution structures, computationally or experimentally, is challenging because structures in solution have limited spatial restrictions and are responsive to chemical or physical changes in their surroundings. To determine structures of lanthanide-ligand complexes in solution, a molecular simulation approach is presented in this chapter, which concurrently considers chemical reactions and molecular dynamics. Lanthanide ion, ligand, solvent, and anion molecules are explicitly included to identify, in atomic resolution, lanthanide coordination structures in solution. The computational protocol described is applicable to determining the molecular structure of lanthanide-ligand complexes, particularly with ligands known to bind lanthanides but whose structures have not been resolved, as well as with ligands not previously known to bind lanthanide ions. The approach in this chapter is also relevant to elucidating lanthanide coordination in more intricate structures, such as in the active site of enzymes.
Usefulness of the Biomarker TIMP-2•IGFBP7 for Acute Kidney Injury Assessment in Critically Ill Patients: A Narrative Review.

Objectives:To review the clinical usefulness of the biomarker TIMP-2•IGFBP7 in adult, general medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) settings.Data Sources:PubMed (1946 to mid-February 2021) and...
Exercise training decreases intercostal and transversus abdominis muscle blood flows in heart failure rats during submaximal exercise.

Abstract Diaphragm muscle blood flow (BF) and vascular conductance (VC) are elevated with chronic heart failure (HF) during exercise. Exercise training (ExT) elicits beneficial respiratory muscle and pulmonary system adaptations in HF. We hypothesized that diaphragm BF and VC would be lower in HF rats following ExT than their sedentary counterparts (Sed). Respiratory muscle BFs and mean arterial pressure were measured via radiolabeled microspheres and carotid artery catheter, respectively, during submaximal treadmill exercise (20 m/min, 5 % grade). During exercise, no differences were present between HF + ExT and HF + Sed in diaphragm BFs (201 ± 36 vs. 227 ± 44 mL/min/100 g) or VCs (both, p > 0.05). HF + ExT compared to HF + Sed had lower intercostal BF (27 ± 3 vs. 41 ± 5 mL/min/100 g) and VC (0.21 ± 0.02 vs. 0.31 ± 0.04 mL/min/mmHg/100 g) during exercise (both, p
Towards non-Abelian statistics in topological planar Josephson junctions

With non-Abelian statistics and nonlocal degrees of freedom, Majorana bound states (MBS) are suitable for implementing fault-tolerant topological quantum computing. While the main efforts to realize MBS have focused on one-dimensional systems, it requires delicate parameter tuning and its geometric constraints pose significant challenges for the demonstration of non-Abelian statistics. Building on recent experimental advances in planar Josephson junctions (JJs), we propose how to overcome this obstacle in topological JJs and demonstrate non-Abelian statistics with phase or mini-gate control, detected by charge sensing using quantum point contacts. Our proposals, supported by the experiments, would constitute an important milestone towards topological quantum computing.
Impacts of green space on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denver

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The COVID-19 pandemic is exerting both a mental health and a physical health toll. Spending time in nature or living in a place with greater exposure to vegetation has been show...
Fertilization in Drosophila: I. Evidence for the regular occurrence of monospermy

Abstract Contrary to the widespread belief that polyspermy is a normal characteristic of fertilization in Drosophila, we obtained evidence indicating that, as a rule, only one sperm is present per fertilized egg in two species investigated. Feulgen-stained whole mounts of D. melanogaster and D. virilis meiotic eggs, and serially sectioned eggs of D. melanogaster stained with Feulgen or with azur-eosin-Giemsa were examined. No polyspermy was observed among 87 fertilized eggs of D. virilis; among 165 fertilized eggs of D. melanogaster, only 6 were found to be dispermic. An autoradiographic series in which we combined tritiated thymidine labeling and Feulgen staining of sperm fully supported the validity of the Feulgen technique as a means of determining the degree of polyspermy in Drosophila. In this series each sperm was found to be Feulgen positive and also labeled. Nineteen of 20 eggs examined were monospermic, one was dispermic. A survey of the literature dealing with insect fertilization has led us to conclude that in a large number of insect species (1) physiological polyspermy does not occur and (2) when accessory sperm do occasionally enter the egg, pathological effects of polyspermy need not be manifested. The reaction to polyspermy of these species should be considered as separate from Type I Inhibition (found in those eggs in which polyspermy is pathological) and from Type II Inhibition (found in those eggs in which polyspermy is physiological). We propose to name this reaction Type III Inhibition, with the stipulation that it does not involve a new kind of inhibitory process against polyspermy, but simply combines features of the other two types of inhibition.
Dimensional analysis applied to a parallel QR algorithm

We apply dimensional analysis to a formula for execution time for a QR algorithm from a paper by Henry and van de Geijn. We define a single efficiency surface that reduces performance analysis for this algorithm to an exercise in differential geometry. As the problem size and the number of processors change, different machines move along different paths on the surface determined by two computational forces specific to each machine. We show that computational force, also called computational intensity, is a unifying concept for understanding the performance of parallel numerical algorithms.
Projections from the rat prefrontal cortex to the ventral tegmental area: target specificity in the synaptic associations with mesoaccumbens and mesocortical neurons.

Excitatory projections from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) play an important role in regulating the activity of VTA neurons and the extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) within forebrain regions. Previous investigations have demonstrated that PFC terminals synapse on the dendrites of DA and non-DA neurons in the VTA. However, the projection targets of these cells are not known. To address whether PFC afferents innervate different populations of VTA neurons that project to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) or to the PFC, a triple labeling method was used that combined peroxidase markers for anterograde and retrograde tract-tracing with pre-embedding immunogold–silver labeling for either tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) or GABA. Within the VTA, PFC terminals formed asymmetric synapses onto dendritic shafts that were immunoreactive for either TH or GABA. PFC terminals also synapsed on VTA dendrites that were retrogradely labeled from the NAc or the PFC. Dendrites retrogradely labeled from the NAc and postsynaptic to PFC afferents were sometimes immunoreactive for GABA but were never TH-labeled. Conversely, dendrites retrogradely labeled from the PFC and postsynaptic to PFC afferents were sometimes immunoreactive for TH but were never GABA-labeled. These results provide the first demonstration of PFC afferents synapsing on identified cell populations in the VTA and indicate a considerable degree of specificity in the targets of the PFC projection. The unexpected finding of selective PFC synaptic input to GABA-containing mesoaccumbens neurons and DA-containing mesocortical neurons suggests novel mechanisms through which the PFC can influence the activity of ascending DA and GABA projections.
Commensurability and finite size effects in lattice simulations of diblock copolymers

Lattice Monte Carlo (MC) simulations provide an efficient method for exploring the structure and phase behavior of block polymer melts. However, the results of such simulations may differ from the equilibrium behavior of a hypothetical infinite system as a consequence of the finite size of the simulation box. Standard finite-size scaling techniques cannot be employed to remove the effects of a small system size due to incommensurability between the ordered structure domain spacing and the periodicity of the simulation box. This work describes a systematic approach to estimating the equilibrium domain spacing in lattice MC simulations of symmetric diblock copolymers, and thereby minimize the effects of incommensurability. Results for simulations with commensurate simulation boxes, which are designed to be commensurate with the preferred lattice periodicity but contain different numbers of unit cells, show that once the effects of incommensurability are removed, the effects of finite size alone are relatively small.