cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CHOLESTEROL CONTENT OF RESTRUCTURED PORK/SOY HULL MIXTURE

The effect of convective heat processing was studied on cholesterol and its oxides in a restructured pork/soy hull model system. Products were analyzed from 30 different time-temperature conditions of processing. Following lipid extraction, GC-MS was used for analysis of cholesterol and its oxides. No cholesterol oxides were found at 2 ppm in the product with any of the 30 time-temperature profiles, ranging from 19 -89.6 min of heat processing, and 9–97°C final product temperatures. Cholesterol in heat-processed samples ranged from 45.43–66.47 mg/l00g. Positive correlations were found between final temperatures and fat and cholesterol content.
Dynamic Phase-Based Optimization of Embedded Systems

Phase-based optimization specializes system configurations to runtime application requirements in order to achieve optimization goals. Due to potentially large design spaces in configurable systems, one major challenge of phase-based optimization is determining the best configuration for achieving optimization goals without incurring significant optimization overhead during design space exploration. This work proposes phase distance mapping, which uses the correlation between phases and the phases' characteristics to dynamically determine optimal or near-optimal configurations with minimal design space exploration, thereby minimizing optimization overhead.
Regulation of α-Zein Gene Expression During Maize Endosperm Development

Development in higher eukaryotes is a complex process involving the differentiation of various cell types that subsequently perform specific functions in the organism. In order to achieve this specification, certain genes must be expressed in some tissues but not in others. Many genes are also expressed only during well-defined developmental periods in order to synchronize the events leading to cell differentiation. One way in which tissue-specific and temporal gene expression can be established is through the action of specific regulatory factors that control the genes in trans. Although examples exist of gene control at posttranscriptional levels, most regulatory events during development are thought to occur at the level of transcription. The mechanisms by which regulatory factors control the transcription of specific target genes are currently being elucidated in many higher organisms. Through these studies, it is becoming increasingly clear that developmental gene regulation involves complex networks of regulatory factors that control multiple downstream targets. One example of this is the regulation of the zein storage protein genes during development of the maize seed. Investigation into the mechanisms responsible for the coordinated regulation of the zein multigene family may provide insight into the general regulatory strategies employed by higher organisms with regard to multigene families. In this chapter we will present a brief overview of maize seed storage protein gene expression. Emphasis will be given to recent contributions to this field of study, especially with regard to the role of trans-acting factors. For more detailed reviews relating to zein gene structure and organization, the reader is referred to Rubenstein and Geraghty (1986), Thompson and Larkins (1989) and Shewry and Tatham (1990).
Erosion–Corrosion‐Resistant Titanium Diboride Cermets for High‐Temperature Process Applications

Reactor vessels and internals used for high-temperature processes such as in refining and chemical industries are exposed to aggressive fluids often containing hard catalyst particles moving at high velocities. The protection of these vessels and internals against erosion- and corrosion-induced material degradation is a technological challenge. The life span of the state–of-the-art monolithic refractory liners currently in use is limited by excessive mechanical attrition of the liner from high-velocity solid particle impingement, mechanical cracking, and spalling. The advanced TiB2-stainless-steel (SS) cermets are designed for chemical stability required for long-term service and offer an order of magnitude higher erosion resistance over the state-of-the-art, high fracture toughness (K1C∼12 MPa m1/2) and excellent corrosion resistance (kp∼1.9 × 10−11 g2/cm4/s at 800°C in air). Materials, design, microstructure, key mechanical properties, erosion, and corrosion resistance of the newly developed TiB2-SS cermets are presented.
Large-Scale Search of Transcriptomic Read Sets with Sequence Bloom Trees

Enormous databases of short-read RNA-seq sequencing experiments such as the NIH Sequence Read Archive (SRA) are now available. However, these collections remain difficult to use due to the inability to search for a particular expressed sequence. A natural question is which of these experiments contain sequences that indicate the expression of a particular sequence such as a gene isoform, lncRNA, or uORF. However, at present this is a computationally demanding question at the scale of these databases. We introduce an indexing scheme, the Sequence Bloom Tree (SBT), to support sequence-based querying of terabase-scale collections of thousands of short-read sequencing experiments. We apply SBT to the problem of finding conditions under which query transcripts are expressed. Our experiments are conducted on a set of 2652 publicly available RNA-seq experiments contained in the NIH for the breast, blood, and brain tissues, comprising 5 terabytes of sequence. SBTs of this size can be queried for a 1000 nt sequence in 19 minutes using less than 300 MB of RAM, over 100 times faster than standard usage of SRA-BLAST and 119 times faster than STAR. SBTs allow for fast identification of experiments with expressed novel isoforms, even if these isoforms were unknown at the time the SBT was built. We also provide some theoretical guidance about appropriate parameter selection in SBT and propose a sampling-based scheme for potentially scaling SBT to even larger collections of files. While SBT can handle any set of reads, we demonstrate the effectiveness of SBT by searching a large
Particulate ejection in pulsed-laser deposition

The ejection of sub-micron size particulates from a metal target as a result of the interaction of an excimer laser with a Pt target was investigated. To study the effect of laser fluence, particulates were collected on Pt films prepared on MgO(100) substrates over a fluence range of 0.83 - 3.3 J/cm2. Films were prepared at several substrate temperatures: 25 degree(s)C, 350 degree(s)C, 450 degree(s)C, and 550 degree(s)C, and under 0.05 Torr of an inert gas (Ar). It was found that, for a substrate temperature of 450 degree(s)C, the Pt particulates would stick easily to the growing Pt film with little evidence for deformation. The size distributions and areal densities of the metal particulates were measured from low magnification scanning electron micrographs of the thin film surfaces prepared at 450 degree(s)C and compared. In general, spherical particulates were produced with diameters ranging from about 0.05 to 1.0 micrometers . The shape of the size distribution of particulates on the film surface was roughly constant radially outward from the plume center, although the magnitude of the particulates decreased from the plume center. As the fluence increased, the mean diameter of the particulates increased slightly (from 0.25 to 0.35 micrometers ) while the number density of particulates decreased by over two orders of magnitude (from 1.04 X 105 to about 1.0 X 103 particulates/cm2 per angstrom of film deposited) near the plume center.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Calculations predict a large inverse H/D kinetic isotope effect on the rate of tunneling in the ring opening of cyclopropylcarbinyl radical.

Article on calculations predicting a large inverse H/D kinetic isotope effect on the rate of tunneling in the ring opening of cyclopropylcarbinyl radical.
The TIGRE desktop prototype results for 511 and 900 keV gamma rays

A small desktop prototype of the Tracking and Imaging Gamma-Ray Experiment (TIGRE) has been assembled and tested at 511 keV and 900 keV. TIGRE was designed to observe cosmic gamma ray sources at energies of 0.3 to 100 MeV. Its major feature is its use of multi-layer silicon strip detectors to track Compton recoil electrons and positron-electron pairs. Our small prototype consists of 7 double sided silicon strip detectors 3.2 cm/spl times/3.2 cm/spl times/300 micron with 1 mm pitch in both the x and y directions. The direction and energy of the Compton scattered gamma ray is measured with small CsI(Tl) photodiode detectors. Knowing the energy and momentum of the scattered electron and scattered photon allows us to determine the incident direction uniquely. In the small prototype 36 CsI(Tl) crystals of 1 cm/spl times/1 cm/spl times/1.7 cm were used. Non-tracked events, those interacting in only a single silicon plane, can only be determined to within the Compton scatter ring. The silicon strips were calibrated using the 60 keV photons from Am/sup 241/ and the Landau peak obtained from a Sr/sup 90/ beta source. The energy resolution of the silicon was measured to be 8 keV (1/spl sigma/) at 60 keV and 7.8% FWHM for CsI at 900 keV. Total energy resolutions at 511 and 900 keV were measured to be 11% and 8.9% FWHM respectively. An important requirement of TIGRE will be its ability to separate the upward moving gamma rays produced by cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere from the downward moving gamma rays. For tracked events this is done by defining a direction of motion (DOM) parameter for the electron by its energy deposition and multiple scattering in the silicon layers. Measurements at 511 and 900 keV show that the DOM parameter is correctly predicted at 70% and 75% for tracked events which constitute 9% and 20% of the data. Monte Carlo simulations show similar results and show the percentage increasing to 98% at 6 MeV in which nearly all of the events are tracked. >
Multiphoton ionization and chemical dynamics

Abstract Multiphoton ionization spectroscopy is a tool for the elucidation of the structure of high-energy states of atoms and molecules. Particularly when used in combination with time-of-flight mass spectrometry and photoelectron spectroscopy, the range of applications include pure spectroscopic studies, the quantum state specific detection of reactants and products and the preparation of quantumstate-selected reactants for chemical reactivity studies. As such, the techniques have become ubiquitous in the field of chemical reaction dynamics. This paper is concerned mainly with the describing the range of these applications and techniques and a selection of typical results.
Heroism: A Conceptual Analysis and Differentiation Between Heroic Action and Altruism

Heroism represents the ideal of citizens transforming civic virtue into the highest form of civic action, accepting either physical peril or social sacrifice. While implicit theories of heroism abo...
Overview of differential diagnoses of abdominal pain.

The differential diagnosis of abdominal pain is a common but challenging clinical problem. Abdominal pain is a frequent cause of disability and absence from work and is the most common reason that a patient will seek consultatory services from a gastroenterologist.1 The perception of pain is purely subjective and is heavily influenced by psychosocial aspects. Furthermore, there is significant individual variability on the subjective experience of pain because of pathophysiologic and neuroanatomic influences. The clinician therefore must consider neuroanatomic, neurophysiologic, pathophysiologic, and psychosocial factors in the evaluation of abdominal pain. NEUROANATOMY OF ABDOMINAL PAIN There are 3 levels of neurons between the abdominal viscera and the cerebral cortex that mediate abdominal pain sensation. First-order neurons link viscera to the spinal cord; second-order neurons link the spinal cord to the brain stem; and third-order neurons travel from the brain stem to the cerebral cortex. Nociceptive stimuli are transmitted almost entirely by the sympathetic nervous system. Firstorder neurons first pass through an autonomic plexus usually associated with a major artery supplying the organs such as the celiac artery. Secondorder or postsynaptic neurons begin in the dorsal horn and cross at the midline to the contralateral side and then travel within the ventrolateral quadrant of the spinal cord upward toward the brain stem. These neurons run in several pathways such as the spinothalamic tracts. Third-order neurons go from the spinoreticular tracts to the frontal cortex and limbic system.2
Preliminary estimates of parallelism in CONSUL programs

CONSUL is a prototype constraint-based programming language for multiprocessors. Parallelism in CONSUl programs is intended to be detected by compilers instead of being explicitly coded by people. Initial results from an experiment to study the parallelism available from real CONSUL programs are described. The experiment estimates the parallelism that is inherent in the language, independent of overheads introduced by specific implementations, machines, or run-time environments. The resulting numbers are thus an upper limit on the parallelism that real implementations can be expected to deliver. Measurements have been made on several simple programs, with overall speedups due to parallelism ranging from 2 to over 50. >
Ideas on the Union of All America

Having persuaded New Granada to support a Venezuelan expedition, Bolivar returned to Venezuela and managed to establish the Second Venezuelan Republic.
Sex differences in shock thresholds in rats and gerbils and the day-night cycle

Sex differences in shock thresholds in relation to the day-night cycle were examined in rats and gerbils using a modification of the flinch-jump technique. In rats, males had higher thresholds than females in both day and night tests, but the magnitude of the difference was greater during the night tests. This effect arose because females tested at night had lower thresholds than females tested in the day. Males were little affected by the day-night cycle. In gerbils there was no sex difference in shock thresholds either in day or night tests, but shock thresholds were lower at night than during the day.
Design of an apparatus mimicking in vivo coronary cardiovascular dynamics inducing electrochemical fretting of a stent

Cardiovascular stents are frequently used in the treatment of atherosclerosis. These stents are commonly comprised of metal and are naturally surrounded by an oxide layer. When multiple stents are placed in the body the electrochemical phenomenon of fretting corrosion may occur through the continuous pulsing of the artery. The goal of this study will be to determine if a correlation exists between the mechanical deformation (fretting) that a stent encounters while in an artery and the open circuit potential of a stent (a measurement of fretting corrosion). To accomplish this, a physiologically-accurate physical model of a cardiovascular artery will be designed, and the voltage of the stent while in situ will be collected and analyzed.
Professional Autonomy and the Revolt of the Client

One of the normative characteristics of a profession is autonomy, the right to determine work activity on the basis of professional judgment. This activity increasingly occurs in a bureaucratic context, with the professional sharing in organizational authority. The public grant of autonomy has presumably been based on recognition of two other characteristics of a profession—store of esoteric knowledge and service orientation. Various publics may be viewed as presently questioning these claims to special knowledge and the humanitarian ethos, and challenging institutional delivery systems, either because they are inadequate or because they exceed appropriate bounds. Among middle-class groups, students deny the pedagogic expertise and good will of their educators, while demanding a redefinition of administration and faculty organizational power. Among poverty groups, clients, claiming to know more about community needs and problems than the professional social workers and to be more concerned, are organizing for a voice in welfare benefits and their distribution. Among blacks, the demand for power confronts the professional teacher, social worker, and public official. The thrust of the client revolt is against the delivery systems for knowledge application, as controlled by the professionals, and against the encroachment of professional authority into areas unrelated to their claimed expertise. Professionals have sought to preserve their institutional power and autonomy by coopting their challengers. The “new careers” movement, poverty programs and other forms of dealing with the revolt of the client are discussed from the perspective of cooptation, and implications for modifications in professional autonomy are reviewed.
Understanding Commonly Encountered Limitations in Clinical Research: An Emergency Medicine Resident’s Perspective

The breadth of emergency medicine and the rapid growth in relevant research makes an ability to assess new research findings particularly important for emergency physicians. Improvements in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction, evolution of thrombolytic use in acute stroke, and the demise of military antishock trousers for traumatic shock provide examples of the dynamic relationship between emergency medicine research and clinical practice. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of common research limitations and flaws relevant to emergency medicine. We explain and provide published examples of problems related to external validity, experimenter bias, publication bias, straw man comparisons, incorporation bias, randomization, composite outcomes, clinical importance versus statistical significance, and disease-oriented versus patient-oriented outcomes. For residents, familiarity with these concepts will allow for better interpretation of evidence-based lectures and improved understanding and participation during journal clubs. For those who learn best from review articles, textbooks, or other summaries of primary literature, awareness of these issues is needed to understand critiques raised by reviewers. For all readers, knowledge of these commonly encountered methodological problems will improve the emergency provider’s ability to determine whether and how new scientific developments serve to inform clinical practice. By necessity, this article is only a starting point for learning about these subjects, many of which are complex. Readers are encouraged to refer to questions and answers from the Annals of Emergency Medicine Journal Club series. Available topics from this series are described in Appendix E1, available online at http://www.annemergmed.com.
Central Bank Transparency and Short Term Interest Rate Forecasting Uncertainty

In 1994 the Federal Reserve System moved to a more transparent reporting of monetary policy. In this paper we first discuss the evolution of Federal Reserve transparency in U.S. and second we test its effectiveness. We assess the empirical impact of monetary policy transparency on the uncertainty about future monetary policy using T-bill rate forecast dispersions from the Survey of Professional Forecasters as a proxy for monetary policy uncertainty. We use descriptive statistics and single regression equations to evaluate the role of transparency. The empirical findings confirm that Federal Reserve transparency has reduced the uncertainty of future monetary policy anticipated by market participants.
Comment on “Coastal Caves in Bahamian Eolian Calcarenites: Differentiating between Sea Caves and Flank Margin Caves using Quantitative Morphology”

Waterstrat et al. (JCKS (2010), 72 (2) 61–74) calculated means of various geometric properties of collections of sea caves and flank-margin caves with the professed aim of showing that they can be statistically distinguished. If this is meant to be useful for determining whether a given coastal cave is one sort or the other, the results are useless, because the standard deviations of the distributions are larger than the differences in the means—a fancy way of saying that the distributions overlap substantially. If the intention of the paper is to show that the two types of caves differ in the various properties to a statistically significant extent, it is hardly noteworthy. Statistical tests such as Student’s t are useful in cases where the natural assumption is that there is no difference between two classes, a typical example being whether a new drug is more effective than an old one. In the case of caves, I can state with full confidence that any sufficiently large collections of caves formed by different mechanisms, or indeed by the same mechanism in different geological environments, will differ significantly in shape, however that is defined. Indeed, the authors point out various qualitative features that can be used to differentiate flankmargin caves from sea caves. When anyone familiar with coastal caves can usually tell from a glance at its map which category a cave belongs to, it is not surprising that extremely high levels of statistical significance can be reached, limited only by the number of data points available. One of the parameters investigated by the authors is not even dimensionless. Given two collections of caves that match one-to-one in shape exactly, but with one collection being systematically 1% longer than the other, their mean ratios of perimeter to area will differ to any level of significance you like, given large enough samples. B. Mixon – Comment on ‘‘Coastal Caves in Bahamian Eolian Calcarenites: Differentiating Between Sea Caves and Flank Margin Caves Using Quantitative Morphology’’. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, v. 73, no. 3, p. 202. DOI: 10.4311/jcks2011es0195
Inhibition of the Enhancement of Infection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus by Semen-Derived Enhancer of Virus Infection Using Amyloid-Targeting Polymeric Nanoparticles

The semen-derived enhancer of virus infection (SEVI) is a natural amyloid material that has been shown to substantially increase viral attachment and infectivity of HIV in cells. We previously reported that synthetic monomeric and oligomeric amyloid-targeting molecules could form protein-resistive coatings on SEVI and inhibit SEVI- and semen-mediated enhancement of HIV infectivity. While oligomeric amyloid-binding compounds showed substantial improvement in apparent binding to SEVI compared to monomeric compounds, we observed only a modest correlation between apparent binding to SEVI and activity for reducing SEVI-mediated HIV infection. Here, we synthesized amyloid-binding polyacrylate-based polymers and polymeric nanoparticles of comparable size to HIV virus particles (∼150 nm) to assess the effect of sterics on the inhibition of SEVI-mediated enhancement of HIV infectivity. We show that these polymeric materials exhibit excellent capability to reduce SEVI-mediated enhancement of HIV infection, with the nanoparticles exhibiting the greatest activity (IC50 value of ∼4 μg/mL, or 59 nM based on polymer) of any SEVI-neutralizing agent reported to date. The results support that the improved activity of these nanomaterials is likely due to their increased size (diameters = 80-200 nm) compared to amyloid-targeting small molecules and that steric interactions may play as important a role as binding affinity in inhibiting viral infection mediated by SEVI amyloids. In contrast to the previously reported SEVI-neutralizing, amyloid-targeting molecules (which required concentrations at least 100-fold above the Kd to observe activity), the approximate 1:1 ratio of apparent Kd to IC50 for activity of these polymeric materials suggests the majority of polymer molecules that are bound to SEVI contribute to the inhibition of HIV infectivity enhanced by SEVI. Such size-related effects on physical inhibition of protein-protein interactions may open further opportunities for the use of targeted nanomaterials in disease intervention.
Suppression of Insecticide Resistance by Alteration of Gene Dominance and Migration

A model of pest population growth and evolution of resistance is described which suggests that population sizes, under certain circumstances, can be controlled without the concomitant increase in resistance. This is accomplished when inward migration is sufficiently high and the alleles which confer resistance are recessive. Migration rates can be supplemented by the release of susceptible individuals and dominance can be modified by adjusting the dose of insecticide. A global stability analysis indicates that conditions favorable to containment are intermediate migration rates, application of short-lived pesticides, and an initial bottleneck of population size before the regular pesticide is used.
Nonlinear modal interactions in parity-time (PT) symmetric lasers

Parity-time symmetric lasers have attracted considerable attention lately due to their promising applications and intriguing properties, such as free spectral range doubling and single-mode lasing. In this work we discuss nonlinear modal interactions in these laser systems under steady state conditions, and we demonstrate that several gain clamping scenarios can occur for lasing operation in the -symmetric and -broken phases. In particular, we show that, depending on the system's design and the external pump profile, its operation in the nonlinear regime falls into two different categories: in one the system is frozen in the phase space as the applied gain increases, while in the other the system is pulled towards its exceptional point. These features are first illustrated by a coupled mode formalism and later verified by employing the Steady-state Ab-initio Laser Theory (SALT). Our findings shine light on the robustness of single-mode operation against saturation nonlinearity in -symmetric lasers.
Rapid Communication: Arginine Vasopressin Lowers Pulmonary Arterial Pressure in Rats Adapted to Chronic Hypoxia

To determine whether pulmonary and systemic vascular responses to arginine vasopressin (AVP) are altered by hypoxic adaptation, AVP, and, as a control, phenylephrine were administered intravenously in graded doses to pentobarbital anesthetized rats that had been exposed to 10% O2 at ambient pressure or room air for 28 days. After a 30-minute interval, d(CH2)5 Tyr(Me)AVP (130 μg/kg), a specific V1 receptor antagonist of AVP, was injected, and AVP (160 ng/kg) was administered again 5 minutes after injection of d(CH2)5 Tyr(Me)AVP. Mean systemic arterial pressure (MSAP) and mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) were monitored before and after injection of AVP and d(CH2)5 Tyr(Me)AVP. AVP had a significant depressor effect (maximal response = – 6.3 ± 0.5 mm Hg following administration of 160 ng/kg AVP) in the pulmonary vascular bed of animals with hypoxic pulmonary hypertension, but no significant effect in normoxic rats. Rats exposed to chronic hypoxia exhibited a blunted systemic pressor response to AVP compared to normoxic rats. In contrast, there were no significant differences in pulmonary and systemic pressor responses to phenylephrine between the hypoxic and normoxic groups. The effects of AVP on MSAP and MPAP were abolished by the specific AVP V1 receptor antagonist, indicating that these effects are V1 receptor mediated. Further study is needed to determine whether AVP is useful in the pharmacologic treatment of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction.
Hybrid analysis of a spherical mechanism for a minimally invasive surgical (MIS) robot - design concepts for multiple optimizations

Several criteria exist for determining the optimal design for a surgical robot. This paper considers kinematic performance metrics, which reward good kinematic performance, and dynamic performance metrics, which penalize poor dynamic performance. Kinematic and dynamic metrics are considered independently, and then combined to produce hybrid metrics. For each metric, the optimal design is the one that maximizes the performance metric over a specific design space. In the case of a 2-DOF spherical mechanism for a surgical robot, the optimal design determined by kinematic metrics is a robot arm with link angles ( alpha₁₂ = 90deg�, alpha₂₃ = 90deg�). The large link angles are the most dextrous, but have the greatest risk of robot-robot or robot-patient collisions and require the largest actuators. The link lengths determined by the dynamic metrics are much shorter, which reduces the risk of collisions, but tend to place the robot in singularities much more frequently. When the hybrid metrics are used, and a restriction that the arm must be able to reach a human’s entire abdomen, the optimal design is around ( alpha₁₂ = 51deg�, alpha₂₃ = 54deg�). The hybrid design provides a compromise between dexterity and compactness.
Evaluation of Pulmonary Complications in Robotic-Assisted Gynecologic Surgery

Abstract Study Objective To conduct a study to assess the incidence of pulmonary complications associated with robotic-assisted surgeries in women with various gynecologic conditions. Design Retrospective study. Setting Tertiary care center. Patients There were 296 patients included in this study. Patient characteristics and comorbidities were noted. Surgical characteristics and respiratory parameters were recorded for all patients. Intraoperative complications and postoperative complications were noted for up to 30 days after surgery. Patients were followed for a median of 231 days in an effort to detect any long-term complications. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, and the secondary outcome measure was all complications. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results The study was composed of 296 patients. Only 5 patients (2%) experienced a pulmonary complication. Overall, 38 patients (13%) experienced complications, including both major and minor complications. Average airway pressure and maximum airway pressure were both associated with a significantly higher risk of pulmonary complications (p = .02 and p = .008, respectively). Age, body mass index, tidal volume, respiratory rate, estimated blood loss, and length of procedure were all found to not be statistically significant in patients who experienced a pulmonary complication versus patients who did not experience one. Conclusion Robotic gynecologic surgery is safe and tolerated well by most patients. This study supports that there is a low rate of pulmonary complications in those who undergo robotic-assisted surgery for gynecologic indications, as well as a low overall complication rate.
Non-linear mappings for transmission of compressed sensing images

We extend a recently proposed system based on the combination of compressive sensing and non-linear processing for the transmission of images over noisy channels. The key idea is the use of very simple non-linear mappings that act as analog joint source-channel encoders, processing the compressive sensing measurements proceeding from an analog source and producing continuous amplitude samples that are transmitted directly through the noisy channel. In order to reduce complexity a very simple approximation for the non-linear mapping is introduced. The proposed framework clearly outperforms systems based on stand-alone compressive sensing with almost negligible complexity.
Real-Life Applications of Geometric and Arithmetic Sequences

Over the millenia, legends have developed around mathematical problems involving series and sequences. One of the most famous legends about series concerns the invention of chess. According to the legend, an Indian king summoned the inventor and suggested that he choose the award for the creation of an interesting and wise game. The king was amazed by the “modest” request from the inventor who asked to give him for the first cell of the chessboard 1 grain of wheat, for the second—2 grains, for the third—4 grains, for the fourth—twice as much as in the previous cell, etc. As a result, the total number of grains per 64 cells of the chessboard would be so huge that the king would have to plant it everywhere on the entire surface of the Earth including the space of the oceans, mountains, and deserts and even then would not have enough!
Cellular GABAergic Neuroactive Steroid (3α,5α)-3-Hydroxy-Pregnan-20-One (3α,5α-THP) Immunostaining Levels Are Increased in the Ventral Tegmental Area of Human Alcohol Use Disorder Patients: A Postmortem Study.

BACKGROUND The GABAergic neuroactive steroid (3α,5α)-3-hydroxy-pregnan-20-one (3α,5α-THP; allopregnanolone) enhances GABAergic activity and produces subjective effects similar to ethanol (EtOH). The effect of chronic alcohol exposure on 3α,5α-THP concentrations has been studied in mouse, rat, and monkey limbic brain areas. Chronic EtOH exposure produced divergent brain region and cell-specific changes in 3α,5α-THP concentrations in animal studies. However, 3α,5α-THP levels in similar human brain regions have never been examined in individuals diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Therefore, we used immunohistochemistry (IHC) to examine 3α,5α-THP levels in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), substantia nigra pars medialis (SNM), and amygdala of human postmortem brains of patients diagnosed with AUD compared with social drinkers. The effects of sex and liver disease on 3α,5α-THP concentrations were examined in the aforementioned brain regions. METHODS Human postmortem brains of AUD patients and age-matched controls were obtained from the New South Wales Brain Tissue Resource Center. IHC was performed using anti-3α,5α-THP antibody on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain sections to detect cellular 3α,5α-THP levels. Immunoreactivity was analyzed by pixel density/mm2 for the comparison between AUD patients and controls. RESULTS 3α,5α-THP immunoreactivity was increased by 23.2 ± 9% in the VTA of AUD patients compared with age-matched controls (p = 0.014). Moreover, a 29.6 ± 10% increase in 3α,5α-THP immunoreactivity was observed in the SNM of male AUD patients compared with male controls (p < 0.01), but not in female subjects. 3α,5α-THP immunoreactivity in the VTA and SNM regions did not differ between noncirrhotic and cirrhotic AUD patients. A sex difference in 3α,5α-THP immunoreactivity (female 51 ± 18% greater than male) was observed among control subjects in the SNM, but no other brain region. 3α,5α-THP immunoreactivity in the basolateral amygdala and lateral amygdala was negatively correlated with the length of the tissue fixation time as well as the age of the subjects, precluding assessment of the effect of AUD. CONCLUSIONS Cellular 3α,5α-THP levels in VTA are increased in human AUD patients, an effect that is likely independent of sex and liver disease. The differences between animal models and human studies should be factored into the interpretation of the physiological significance of elevated 3α,5α-THP levels in humans.
Ambiguity and Scientific Authority: Population Classification in Genomic Science

The molecularization of race thesis suggests geneticists are gaining greater authority to define human populations and differences, and they are doing so by increasingly defining them in terms of U...
Indications for Invasive Prenatal Testing before and after Noninvasive Prenatal Screening.

Objective To evaluate changes in indications for genetic testing after introduction of noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) into a single center. Pregnancy outcomes and results of testing were evaluated. Study Design It was a retrospective cohort study. Medical records were reviewed for all invasive testing procedures from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2015. NIPS was introduced in February 1, 2012. Indications were compared before and after that date. Results of genetic testing and pregnancy outcome were also obtained from the medical records where available. Results A total of 2,066 invasive diagnostic procedures were performed. Significantly fewer invasive procedures were performed per month following introduction of NIPS (23 vs. 13). Indications were less likely to be reported as advanced maternal age (AMA), abnormal genetic screening, and abnormal ultrasound findings following introduction of NIPS ( p p Conclusion Since the introduction of NIPS, fewer invasive tests are performed. Indications have changed since NIPS was introduced, becoming less common for AMA, abnormal genetic screening, and abnormal ultrasounds.
Oligonucleotide conjugated multi-functional adeno-associated viruses

Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are among the most commonly used vehicles for in vivo gene delivery. However, their tropism is limited, and additionally their efficacy can be negatively affected by prevalence of neutralizing antibodies in sera. Methodologies to systematically engineer AAV capsid properties would thus be of great relevance. In this regard, we develop here multi-functional AAVs by engineering precision tethering of oligonucleotides onto the AAV surface, and thereby enabling a spectrum of nucleic-acid programmable functionalities. Towards this, we engineered genetically encoded incorporation of unnatural amino acids (UAA) bearing bio-orthogonal chemical handles onto capsid proteins. Via these we enabled site-specific coupling of oligonucleotides onto the AAV capsid surface using facile click chemistry. The resulting oligo-AAVs could be sequence specifically labeled, and also patterned in 2D using DNA array substrates. Additionally, we utilized these oligo conjugations to engineer viral shielding by lipid-based cloaks that efficaciously protected the AAV particles from neutralizing serum. We confirmed these 'cloaked AAVs' retained full functionality via their ability to transduce a range of cell types, and also enable robust delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 effectors. Taken together, we anticipate this programmable oligo-AAV system will have broad utility in synthetic biology and AAV engineering applications.
Drug Effects on the Gastrointestinal Tract

Gastrointestinal manifestations resulting from either prescribed medications or over-the-counter drugs are commonly encountered in clinical practice and often mistaken for a disease process or syndrome, leading to multiple and unnecessary diagnostic studies. The morbidity, mortality, and health care costs associated with adverse drug events, even restricted to the GI tract, are underestimated. The consequences of adverse effects may be asymptomatic or range from mild discomfort to fatal hemorrhage or perforation. Better awareness and recognition of the intended and unacceptable effects of drugs on the gastrointestinal tract and withdrawing the medication or revising the regimen will help improve outcomes.
Diferenciación dialectal por medio de pronombres: una comparación del uso de tú y usted en España y México

L'A. s'interesse aux differences dialectales qui apparaissent dans une meme langue parlee dans deux pays differents. Il propose une analyse comparative de l'usage des pronoms personnels tu et usted en Espagne et au Mexique
Methods of Kreĭn Space Operator Theory

This paper is a survey of old and recent methods of Krein space operator theory centering around Julia operators, extension problems for contraction operators, Hermitian kernels, and uniqueness questions. Examples related to coefficient problems for univalent functions are briefly discussed.
Canopy-Mediated Hydrodynamics Contributes to Greater Allelic Richness in Seeds Produced Higher in Meadows of the Coastal Eelgrass Zostera marina

Seagrass meadows, which mediate ocean acidity and turbidity, sequester carbon, and increase biodiversity by providing shelter for larvae and small fish, are among the fastest disappearing ecosystems worldwide. Seagrasses are ecosystem engineers, creating distinct regions of enhanced and diminished flow and turbulent mixing, dependent upon canopy physical parameters, such as canopy density and blade morphology, which in turn impact the transport of pollen, sediment, and nutrients. The health and resilience of seagrass meadows increase with intraspecies genetic diversity, which depends on successful sexual reproduction and the transport of pollen particles between reproductive shoots, which in turn depends on the hydrodynamic conditions created by the meadow. This paper explored the transport of pollen grains in seagrass meadows using a random walk model. The model was parameterized with profiles of mean velocity and eddy diffusivity derived as functions of shoot density, canopy height, canopy shear velocity, canopy drag coefficient, and blade width, and validated with experimental measurements of a tracer plume evolving in a submerged model canopy. Model results showed that release at the top of the canopy led to significantly greater dispersal than release within the canopy, which was consistent with observed patterns of genetic diversity in Zostera marina seeds collected from coastal Massachusetts meadows. Specifically, seeds produced from upper inflorescences had greater allelic richness than seeds from lower inflorescences on the same reproductive shoot, and were the product of a greater number of fathers, reflecting the greater in-canopy pollen movement farther from the bed. Pollen grains modeled with a realistic elongated shape experienced significantly higher rates of capture by the canopy relative to spherical grains of the same volume. The effect of submergence depth (the ratio of water depth to canopy height) on pollen dispersal depended on the nature of the surface boundary: when pollen reflected off the water surface, the mean travel distance before pollen capture decreased with decreasing submergence depth. In contrast, when pollen accumulated at the water surface, surface transport increased pollen dispersal distances, especially at low submergence depths.
ADULTS AND ADOLESCENTS WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE: WHO ARE WE LOSING TO FOLLOW UP?

The 2008 AHA/ACC Adult Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) guidelines recommended 1-2 year cardiology follow up for nearly all patients with CHD; >2 year lapse in follow up among these patients has been linked to adverse outcomes. We hypothesize that patients are not achieving this goal and demographic
Stigma against false confessors impacts post-exoneration financial compensation.

False confessors are stigmatized more than other exonerees. Traditional theories of stigma suggest that this difference may result from confessors being seen as more responsible for their own wrongful conviction. In the current study, we examined an important tangible consequence of stigma against false confessors-namely, that it might impede their ability to win financial restitution in post-exoneration civil lawsuits. Mock jurors (N = 129), recruited online, read a case summary in which an exoneree is seeking damages after being wrongly convicted due to a false confession or eyewitness misidentification, which either did or did not result from police misconduct. When the exoneree falsely confessed in the absence of police misconduct, mock jurors rated him as most responsible for his own conviction and expressed the most doubt over his actual innocence. Contrary to legal criteria, they also awarded him smaller compensatory and punitive damage awards. Notably, the false confessor was seen as more responsible than the misidentified exoneree even if his interrogation was highly coercive. In turn, false confessors who were seen as more responsible received smaller damage awards. Implications for trial procedure and exoneree compensation are discussed.
Surgical Management: Billroth I

The surgical treatment of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) has declined significantly in recent decades due to the advent of H. pylori treatment, acid-suppressing medications, and endoscopic therapies. Uncomplicated PUD can often be treated successfully with medical interventions. However, surgical management of ulcer disease still plays a role in refractory and complicated ulcer disease. The first large gastric resection with reconstruction was described by Theodor Billroth in 1885. In the following years, Dr. Billroth and colleagues conceived a number of surgical techniques for reconstruction following gastric resection. Among the most widely adopted and still used in practice today is the Billroth I gastroduodenostomy (B-I). The B-I procedure is a hemigastrectomy with gastroduodenostomy that restores the native configuration of the gastrointestinal tract. In this chapter we will discuss the indications, technique, management, complications, and expected outcomes of B-I reconstruction for PUD.
Differential Clinical Profiles, Exercise Responses, and Outcomes Associated With Existing HFpEF Definitions.

Background: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is common, yet there is currently no consensus on how to define HFpEF according to various society and clinical trial criteria. Ho...
RESEARCH NOTE Scaling of Flash Rate for a Deceleration Signal

This study is concerned with determining the number of different flash rates that could be used in an automobile braking signal to inform a following driver of the degree of deceleration. Two methods, magnitude estimation and just noticeable differences (iND) scaling, were employed to relate perceived flash rate to the physical frequency at which an automobile stop signal lamp was flashing. Differences between red and yellow lamps were examined, but no effects were found due to the lamp color. A category scaling procedure showed that only three flash rates between 1 and 7 Hz could be discriminated by absolute judgments. The iND and magnitude estimation experiments yielded similar flash rates (e.g., 1.0, 2.6, and 6.8 Hz) for the presentation of the deceleration information.
A Low Temperature Method for the Synthesis of New Lead Selenite Chlorides: Pb3(SeO3)(SeO2OH)Cl3 and Pb3(SeO3)2Cl2

Two new lead selenite oxychlorides, Pb3(SeO3)(SeO2OH)Cl3 and Pb3(SeO3)2Cl2, have been synthesized by a low temperature (T ∼ 160 °C) reflux method. This method enabled us to synthesize the compounds in high yield, 62% and 81% for Pb3(SeO3)(SeO2OH)Cl3 and Pb3(SeO3)2Cl2, respectively, and as crystals. Both materials contain lead(II)−oxychloride groups linked to selenium(IV)−oxide moieties. Additional experiments indicate that Pb3(SeO3)(SeO2OH)Cl3 can be irreversibly converted to Pb3(SeO3)2Cl2 with a concomitant loss of HCl.
Featured counter trafficking program: Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center

This invited article is one of several comprising part of a special issue of Child Abuse and Neglect focused on child trafficking and health. The purpose of each invited article is to describe a specific program serving trafficked children. Featuring these programs is intended to raise awareness of innovative counter-trafficking strategies emerging worldwide and facilitate collaboration on program development and outcomes research. This article describes the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, a US-based health system dedicated to serving adolescents, some of whom are survivors of sex trafficking or at risk for sexual exploitation.
OUTCOMES OF TRANSCATHETER VERSUS SURGICAL AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT IN PROSTHETIC VALVE STENOSIS

Prosthetic valve stenosis is an important complication in patients with history of prior aortic valve replacement. There is a lack of randomized trials comparing outcomes of subsequent intervention, either transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in