cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
G proteins activate ionic conductances at multiple sites in T84 cells.

We examined the role of G proteins in activation of ionic conductances in isolated T84 cells during cholinergic stimulation. When cells were whole cell voltage clamped to the K + equilibrium potential (E K ) or Cl - equilibrium potential (E Cl ) under standard conditions, the cholinergic agonist, carbachol, induced a large oscillating K + current but only a small inward current. Addition of the GDP analogue, guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate), to pipettes blocked the ability of carbachol to activate the K + current. Addition of the nonhydrolyzable GTP analogue, guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPγS), to pipettes stimulated large oscillating K + and inward currents. This occurred even when Ca 2+ was absent from the bath but not when the Ca 2+ chelator, ethylene glycol-bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, was added to pipettes. When all pipette and bath K + was replaced with Na + and cells were voltage clamped between E Na and E Cl , GTPγS activated oscillating Na + and Cl - currents. Finally, addition of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P 3 ] to pipettes activated large oscillating K + currents but only small inward currents. These results suggest that a carbachol-induced release of Ca 2+ from intracellular stores is activated by a G protein through the phospholipase C-Ins(1,4,5)P 3 signaling pathway. In addition, this or another G protein activates Cl - current by directly gating Cl - channels to increase their sensitivity to Ca 2+ .
Use of a participatory approach to develop a regional assessment tool for bioenergy production

Abstract Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in certification schemes and sustainability assessment tools for bioenergy, however these mechanisms are often too generic, numerous and too broad for regional or local level implementation. Furthermore, these assessments are often weighted toward economic and environmental sustainability with less focus on social, cultural and institutional factors. This study was intended to overcome these limitations. We developed a community-driven regional assessment tool for forest-based bioenergy production in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (USA). Stakeholders representing local landowners, farmers, township supervisors, timberland management companies, venture capitalists, government organizations and local interest groups generated a preliminary list of criteria and indicators (C&I) in a series of focus groups and interviews, and narrowed the list using multiple criteria analysis (MCA) in a workshop. Participants ranked environmental protection as the most important and relevant sustainability criteria, although policy and governance, and institutional capacity were also weighted highly. The final set of C&I consisted of 17 criteria and 31 indicators (in parentheses): Economic (6), Environmental (7), Social (8), Policy and regulations (4) and Institutional capacity (6). This set reflected the general balance across sustainability principles valued by the stakeholders. While expert-developed sustainability assessments are routinely biased toward easily quantifiable indicators, the indicators that were considered important and relevant by our participants included both quantitative as well as qualitative indicators, in almost equal proportions. This participatory MCA method identified criteria and indicators that reflect the regional context and the concerns of local stakeholders, and data for many of these indicators are readily available.
The Capitulations and the Organic Law

After the British took over control of Egypt, they found themselves hampered at every turn by the privileges conferred by the Capitulations which they, along with 13 other European nations, enjoyed. Whenever reformers brought up the question of modifying the arrangement that impeded the progress of the country, they were confronted by opposition groups that invariably presented the standard arguments. As the British, by their own admission, intended to withdraw from Egypt someday, they did not want to be left at the mercy of a legal and administrative native system they distrusted and so insisted on adequate guarantees to counterbalance the current privileges. The only way to ensure that foreigners would be fairly treated if the Capitulations were abolished was for Britain to annex Egypt outright or establish a permanent protectorate. At the time neither option was contemplated in London. Thus trying to deal with the Capitulations under the existing conditions posed a challenge to authorities that was practically impossible to overcome. Both Cromer and Gorst had recognized that the Capitulations were the source of major problems in the country but their effort to find a formula that would end the trammels of the system, for various reasons, never went beyond the preliminary stage.1
Modeling of Active Tether System Concepts for Planetary Exploration

Abstract This paper summarizes an approach for modeling, simulation, and control of tethered systems in which the tether is actively controlled. Various aspects of the system model are described, including tether dynamics, end-effector dynamics, contact interaction and the model of the active tether material. We consider three scenarios: a tether made of an electrically switchable material for small body sampling, a tether for close-proximity operations such as capture and grappling, and a tether harpooning to a small body for sample capture, fly-by, rendezvous, and/or landing.
Neighborhood Youth Centers and Families as Supportive Environments for Youth in High Risk Urban Settings

Highlights of a study which examined the relationship between contextual assets within the lives of urban, poor, minority youth, and youth adjustment are discussed in this article. The assets studied were family support and supportive involvement in neighborhood youth centers. The results indicated that higher levels of family support and youth center involvement were associated with better youth outcomes. An absence of significant interaction effects indicated that strong involvement and support in one setting did not compensate for a low level of support or involvement in the other setting. Family support was found to be the most significant predictor of youth adjustment.
Lawsuits After Primary and Revision Total Hip Arthroplasties: A Malpractice Claims Analysis.

Background As the prevalence of total hip arthroplasty (THA) expands, so too will complications and patient dissatisfaction. The goal of this study was to identify the common etiologies of malpractice suits and costs of claims following primary and revision THA. Methods Analysis of 115 malpractice claims filed for alleged neglectful primary and revision THA surgery by orthopaedic surgeons insured by a large New York State malpractice carrier between 1983 and 2011. Results The incidence of malpractice claims filed for negligent THA procedures is only 0.15% per year in our population. In primary cases, nerve injury ("foot drop") was the most frequent allegation with 27 claims. Negligent surgery causing dislocation was alleged in 18 and leg length discrepancy (LLD) in 14. Medical complications were also reported, including 3 thromboembolic events and 6 deaths. In revision cases, dislocation and infection were the most common source of suits.. The average indemnity payment was $386,153 and the largest single settlement was $4.1 million for an arterial injury resulting in amputation after a primary hip replacement. The average litigation cost to the insurer was $61,833. Conclusions Nerve injury, dislocation and LLD are the most common reason for malpractice following primary THA. Orthopaedic surgeons should continue to focus on minimizing the occurrence of these complications while adequately incorporating details about the risks and limitations of surgery into their preoperative education.
A revised algorithm for latent semantic analysis

The intelligent tutoring system AutoTutor uses latent semantic analysis to evaluate student answers to the tutor's questions. By comparing a student's answer to a set of expected answers, the system determines how much information is covered and how to continue the tutorial. Despite the success of LSA in tutoring conversations, the system sometimes has difficulties determining at an early stage whether or not an expectation is covered. A new LSA algorithm significantly improves the precision of AutoTutor's natural language understanding and can be applied to other natural language understanding applications.
The simulation of neurologic disease.

Symptoms that suggest neurologic disease but have no neurologic explanation after appropriate evaluation are termed conversion symptoms. Conversion symptoms are associated with a variety of psychiatric and neurologic conditions. Psychosocial stressors and compensation factors play important roles in many cases of conversion symptoms. Individual conversion symptoms generally resolve, but individual patients with conversion symptoms frequently present with additional conversion symptoms as well as experience difficulty as a result of other psychiatric manifestations.
Assessment of venous thromboembolism treatment in patients with cancer on low molecular weight heparin, warfarin, and the direct oral anticoagulants.

BackgroundDirect oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are not recommended for venous thromboembolism (VTE) treatment in patients with cancer because their safety and efficacy have not been compared to low m...
Semi- and Full Interpenetrating Polymer Networks as Stable Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Materials

Polymeric materials with second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties have been extensively studied for their potential applications in electro-optic modulation and frequency doubling devices.1,2 The second-order NLO properties in these polymer are present when the chromophores are aligned in a non-centrosymmetric manner. In order to be useful in practical devices, the alignment of NLO chromophores in the poled polymers must be sufficiently stable at temperatures above 100°C. Since the alignment of the chromophores resulting from poling is not in a state of thermodynamic equilibrium, the poled order would relax to a random configuration in an absence of electric field. In a prototypical guest/host system, Stahelin et al. demonstrated a fitting of the temporal relaxation to a Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) equation establishing that the decay of the dipole alignment is explained by a single relaxation phenomenon.3 A fit of the relaxation times to the Williams- Landel-Ferry (WLF) equation pointed out that relaxation of the second order NLO properties is mainly related to the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the media. Thus NLO chromophores are usually incorporated in a polymer which has a high Tg in order to prevent the randomization of the poled (aligned) NLO molecules.
Anisotropic Plasticity of Plane-Isotropic Sheets

Abstract A general equation is written for the plane-stress yield condition of orthotropic sheet material that is isotropic in its plane. A set of constitutive relations for planar-isotropic strain hardening is then formulated on the basis of the usual normality rule for strain rates, together with the assumption of a scalar relation between an effective stress and a work-equivalent effective strain. It is shown how particular laws proposed earlier for sheet-metal plasticity fit into the general scheme. Solutions to the problem of balanced biaxial stretching of a sheet containing a circular hole illustrate a wide range of effects produced by various realizations of the general constitutive relations.
Mechanistic Studies of Catalytic Reactions Using Spectroscopic and Kinetic Techniques

The rapid growth of the organometallic chemistry of the transition metals during the last 15–20 years owes much to the development of homogeneous catalyst systems which are capable of synthesizing organic molecules under mild conditions and occasionally with remarkable selectivities. Several have been commercialized and are now used on a large scale. (1) A few have received considerable detailed study—including spectroscopic identification of the species present in solution under reaction conditions, isolation of reactive intermediates in some cases, determination of the overall rate law and measurement of rate and equilibrium constants of several individual steps, and isotopic labeling studies—so that we have a reasonably clear picture of how they operate. It is these systems that form the focus of this chapter. For more general reviews the reader is referred to some recent books,(1-3) which also discuss the special electronic properties of transition metals which are in part responsible for their catalytic behavior.†
On the Use and Misuse of Child Height-for-Age Z-score in the Demographic and Health Surveys

This paper addresses the problem of model misspecification bias when estimating cohort-level determinants of child height-for-age z-score (HAZ) using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). I show that the combination of DHS survey design and the biological realities of child health in developing countries create an artifact that can strongly bias regression estimates when identification relies on seasonal, annual or spatio-temporal variation associated with a subject's birth cohort. I formalize the econometric problem and show that flexible specifications of the HAZ-age profile can greatly mitigate the bias. When regression models can exploit within-cohort variation in the covariate of interest, appropriate fixed-effects models can effectively purge the bias. I also provide Monte Carlo evidence that DHS recommended inference strategies produce standard errors that are too small when estimating birth cohort determinants of HAZ.
Measuring Natural Frequency and Non-Linear Damping on Oscillating Micro Plates

In MEMS, squeezed-film damping determines the dynamics of plates moving a few microns above the substrate, especially around resonance. Squeeze film damping is important in MEMS accelerometers, radio-frequency (RF) MEMS switches, MEMS gyroscopes, etc. Models have been developed by other researchers [1, 2, 3] and used widely for designing MEMS devices. However, experimental validation of the models has not kept up with the accuracy of the recent models. This paper presents a method for measuring squeeze film damping forces in MEMS, and validation of a model. The measurements were done on MEMS plates suspended by folded springs (Fig. 1). The substrate (base) was shaken with a piezoelectric transducer. The plate vibrated as a result, especially at the resonant frequency. The velocities of the suspended plate and of the substrate were measured with a laser Doppler vibrometer and a microscope (Fig. 2). Time-domain and frequency-domain methods are used to calculate the damping ratio from measured velocities. To achieve a wide range of squeeze numbers, the experiment was repeated under several different pressures. The measurement was also repeated on an array of plates. A few commonly used squeeze film damping models are compared with the experimental results.
Silver Nanoparticles for Inkjet-Printed Conductive Structures in Electronic Packaging

In modern microelectronics production, additive fabrication processes offer a thematic contrast to traditional micro-fabrication processes that rely critically on subtractive patterning. Printing, a bottom-up process, plays an important role in this production, especially when nanomaterials are printed. There are many areas in which such printing is used [1], but only electrically conductive structures in electronic packaging are the object of interest in this section.
Evaluation of self-healing epoxy coatings for steel reinforcement

Abstract Epoxy coatings are currently the most popular corrosion protection mechanism for steel reinforcement in structural concrete in North America. However, these coatings are easily damaged on worksites, negating their intended purpose. This study investigated self-healing coatings for steel reinforcement to introduce an autonomous healing mechanism for damaged coatings. Coatings were applied to steel coupons and rebar, intentionally damaged, and introduced to a corrosive environment via salt-water aeration tanks and accelerated corrosion testing. Performance of the experimental coatings was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. Adhesion strength and effects of coating thickness were also studied. Results from pre-corroded coated steel coupons submerged in salt-water aeration tanks exhibited improved corrosion resistance performance with self-healing coatings, although self-healing and conventional coatings performed similarly under other conditions. Steel reinforcement with a self-healing coating embedded in concrete and subjected to accelerated corrosion testing lasted longer than the conventionally coated counterparts. Self-healing coatings had comparable adhesion to the substrate as do conventional coatings. With numerous avenues for future research towards the adoption of self-healing coatings for steel reinforcement, this paper shows preliminary results demonstrating the potential benefits of their use.
South African physician emigration, return migration, and shared migration, 1991–2017: a registry-based analysis

Abstract Background Physician emigration—the so-called brain drain—is a topic of great concern to health workforce planners. South Africa has a high number of physician emigrants, yet there are few registry-based studies that have analysed whether these physicians remain abroad permanently. In this study, we aimed to use a registry-based approach to analyse return migration and shared migration in South African physicians. Methods We extracted information from registry records about South African trained physicians who had registered in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, or the UK (ACNUU nations) between 1991 and 2017. We used an attrition-based model to identify non-retiree dropouts from UK, New Zealand, and US registries and cross-referenced with a South African physician registry to determine return migration from these countries. Return migration counts in Canada were derived from secondary data from Canadian Medical Association surveys. Physicians who had active simultaneous registration in South Africa and one other nation were counted as shared migrants. Findings As of December, 2017, there were 11 224 South African trained physicians actively registered to practise in ACNUU nations, around a third (30·2%) fewer than the peak of 16 095 in 2003. Of these, 3596 (32·0%) held dual active registration (shared migration) in an ACNUU nation and South Africa. In 2017, 5008 physicians met criteria for return migration—that is, 30·1% of all non-retired South African physicians with a history of practising medicine in ACNUU countries. There has been a five-fold drop in emigration rates from South Africa between 1991 and 2017 (from 1·8% to 0·3% per year; UK −88·9%, non-UK −74·2%), negatively correlated with a substantial rise in GDP per capita growth within South Africa in time-adjusted models (–0·36% per $100 increase [p=0·01; 95% CI −0·089 to −0·632]). We noted a temporary increase in return migration between 1995 and 2009 and a simultaneous sustained increase in shared migration. Interpretation A registry-based approach allows simultaneous assessment of physician emigration, return migration, and shared migration. Our findings of decreasing rates of emigration and increasing return and shared migration rates suggest a mobility transition in medical migration in South Africa. Funding World Bank.
Antibiotic Resistance Among Ocular Bacterial Pathogens from Pediatric Patients in the Armor Surveillance Study 2009-2015

Purpose: Antibiotic resistance may be problematic in the treatment of bacterial eye infections. Data from large, multi-center, multi-year surveillance studies are useful for tracking resistance to commonly used antibiotics. The Antibiotic Resistance Monitoring in Ocular Microorganisms (ARMOR) study is the only ongoing nationwide antibiotic resistance surveillance program specific to ocular bacteria. We report antimicrobial susceptibility data for isolates collected from pediatric patients from 2009 through 2015. Methods: Clinical centers across the United States submitted ocular isolates of …
Solving many-electron Schrödinger equation using deep neural networks

Abstract We introduce a new family of trial wave-functions based on deep neural networks to solve the many-electron Schrodinger equation. The Pauli exclusion principle is dealt with explicitly to ensure that the trial wave-functions are physical. The optimal trial wave-function is obtained through variational Monte Carlo and the computational cost scales quadratically with the number of electrons. The algorithm does not make use of any prior knowledge such as atomic orbitals. Yet it is able to represent accurately the ground-states of the tested systems, including He, H2, Be, B, LiH, and a chain of 10 hydrogen atoms. This opens up new possibilities for solving large-scale many-electron Schrodinger equation.
Quaker Studies in Critical Perspective

Editor’s Note: Jon Kershner is a noted expert on the Quaker tradition. His recent collaborative project, Quaker Studies: An Overview: The Current State of the Field (Daniels, Healey, and Kershner 2018), and the series it is part of, offers historians an excellent opportunity to analyze scholarly trends in the study of Quakerism. I am pleased that Dr. Kershner agreed to write for the Bulletin this short state-of-the-art survey of Quaker studies building on that seminal volume.
Small Interventions for Big Change: Brief Strategies for Distress and Self-Management Amongst Youth with Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetes self-management and diabetes distress are complex processes implicated in glycemic control and other health outcomes for youth with type 1 diabetes. Growing integration of medical and behavioral care provides opportunities for brief psychosocial interventions during routine diabetes care. This review focuses on interventions for self-management and diabetes distress that can be delivered alongside usual medical care or via a single-patient encounter. Recent research underscores the potential of brief interventions delivered by both medical providers and integrated behavioral health professionals, but little is known regarding the comparative effectiveness of different interventions or the factors that impact dissemination and implementation. This article asserts that brevity is critical to maximizing the reach, scalability, and impact of psychosocial interventions for youth with type 1 diabetes. The authors review existing evidence for brief interventions, describe several untested clinical strategies, and make recommendations for accelerating the translational study of brief interventions.
Methamphetamine Abuse Trends in Psychiatric Emergency Services: A Retrospective Analysis Using Big Data

This exploratory retrospective study assessed demographic and hospital utilization characteristics of patients presenting with methamphetamine use to an urban psychiatric emergency service in New Mexico. De-identified data from patients presenting to PES from 2011 to 2015 were extracted from our health system. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the study population. We employed bivariate analyses to assess the relationship between methamphetamine use and patient demographics. Methamphetamine use increased faster than any other drug tested during the study’s time period. Compared to non-methamphetamine patients, methamphetamine use was associated with a shorter PES stay when the patient was in the PES more than 12 h. Patients with methamphetamine use are increasingly seeking emergency psychiatric evaluations. Methamphetamine use may impact certain racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic classes disproportionately. Further health service delivery studies are needed to develop clear, evidence-based interventions and policy recommendations to address the methamphetamine crisis in the United States.
RNA Transcript Assembly Using Inexact Flows

RNA-Seq technology allows for high-throughput, low cost measurement of gene expression. An important step in this process is the assembly of mRNA transcript short reads into full transcripts. The problem can be viewed as a flow decomposition problem in which the objective is to minimize the number of path flows needed to represent a given flow. In this work we relax the edge flow constraints to allow for some uncertainty in their measurement. We formulate this as the Inexact Flow Decomposition problem and propose an algorithmic strategy to solve it. In practice, real biological data has measurement errors and so experimentally-derived edge-weighted splice graphs are often not flows. The proposed method is the first approach to this problem that explicitly controls the error allowed on each edge in these graphs in order to achieve a flow. In an intermediate step, the method solves an exact flow decomposition instance; if a greedy method is used for this step, the overall running time is $O(\vert E\vert^{2}\vert V\vert^{2}+\vert P\vert^{3})$ , where $P$ is the solution found to the flow decomposition instance. Preliminary results on simulated biological data sets show that in many cases the ground truth paths can be recovered at approximately correct abundances, even with noisy input data.
Hyperspectral imaging for high-throughput, spatially resolved spectroscopic scatterometry of silicon nanopillar arrays

Modern high-throughput nanopatterning techniques, such as nanoimprint lithography, make it possible to fabricate arrays of nanostructures (features with dimensions of 10’s to 100’s of nm) over large area substrates (cm2 to m2 scale) such as Si wafers, glass sheets, and flexible roll-to-roll webs. The ability to make such large-area nanostructure arrays (LNAs) has created an extensive design space, enabling a wide array of applications including optical devices, such as wire-grid polarizers, transparent conductors, color filters, and anti-reflection surfaces, and building blocks for electronic components, such as ultracapacitors, sensors, and memory storage architectures. However, existing metrology methods will have trouble scaling alongside fabrication methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), for instance, have micron scale fields of view (FOV) that preclude comprehensive characterization of LNAs, which may be manufactured at m2 per minute rates. Scatterometry approaches have larger FOVs (typically 100’s of µm to a few mm), but traditional scatterometry systems measure samples one point at a time, which also makes them too slow for large-scale LNA manufacturing. In this work, we demonstrate parallelization of the traditional spectroscopic scatterometry approach using hyperspectral imaging, increasing the throughput of the technique by a factor of 106-107. We demonstrate this approach by using hyperspectral imaging and inverse modeling of reflectance spectra to derive 3-dimensional geometric data for Si nanopillar array structures over both mm and cm-scale with µm-scale spatial resolution. This work suggests that geometric measurements for a variety of LNAs can be performed with the potential for high speed over large areas which may be critical for future LNA manufacturing.
Exploiting Proxy Sensing for Efficient Monitoring of Large-Scale Sensor Networks

Large networks of IoT devices, each consisting of one or more sensors, are being increasingly deployed for comprehensive real-time monitoring of cyber-physical systems. Such networks form an essential component of the emerging edge computing paradigm and are expected to increase in complexity and size. The physical phenomenon sensed by different sensors (within the same or different IoT devices in close proximity) often have relationships that makes them correlated. This is a form of proxy sensing that can be exploited for achieving better energy efficiency and higher robustness in monitoring. In this article, we explore how a set of sensors can optimize its data collection rates efficiently in a semi-distributed manner and yet provide the advantages of autonomy, relative isolation, and distributed control that is essential in a large-scale network.
Loss Causation and the Materialization of Risk Doctrine in Securities Fraud Class Actions

In the context of a claim for securities fraud under SEC Rule 10b-5, most federal circuit courts have ruled or recognized that loss causation can be proven by an event that demonstrates an earlier statement by a defendant company to be false. In other words, corrective disclosure need not take the form of speech. Rather, a statement can be shown to be false by the materialization of a risk that was concealed by the company, and investors can be compensated for any losses they suffer as a result. Although this materialization doctrine is well established, it is the thesis here that its ultimate effect is to over-compensate investors, thus encouraging excessive securities litigation and chilling voluntary disclosure. The point is graphically illustrated by the securities litigation that followed the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill. There, plaintiffs argued that BP (the operator of the rig) had misrepresented its safety practices. Assuming the allegations to be true, the pre-event market price of BP stock would have been a bit lower, reflecting additional risk. If plaintiffs had paid that lower price, they would have had no claim as a result of the explosion and spill. So if plaintiffs recover an amount equal to pre-spill price inflation, they will be in exactly the same financial position as if they had bought knowing the truth. But most of the price decline following the event came from the prospect of cash outflows resulting from clean-up, repairs, fines, settlements, and possibly an increase in the cost of capital. To compensate buyers for these consequential losses is excessive. The risk of such losses is one that can be diversified away by investors. Moreover, if these consequential losses are actionable at all, they constitute a claim of mismanagement belonging to the company that should be pursued in a derivative action. To generalize: In cases in which loss causation can be shown only by materialization, the bulk of the claim is almost always more properly characterized as one on behalf of the company that should be resolved by a derivative action instead of by a class action on behalf of individual investors. Moreover, to recharacterize such claims as derivative carries significant collateral benefits: Because the company stands to recover (rather than to pay), derivative actions avoid the circularity problem endemic in class actions while providing a remedy that is perfectly tailored to the true (undiversifiable) loss suffered by investors. It is difficult to overstate the significance of this insight: It implies that much of securities litigation, as we know it must be recast as derivative rather than direct.
The Hygroscopic Behavior of SiO2 and SixOyClz Thin Films on Si Using ATR FTIR Spectra

Attenuated total reflection (ATR) has been used with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to study the structure and composition of SiO2 and SixOyClz thin films (thicknesses between 15 and 160 nm). The conjunction of ATR with FTIR resulted in excellent sensitivity in the spectral region between 3800 cm-1 and 1500 cm-1. The films were thermally grown on a silicon internal reflection element avoiding any prism-sample discontinuities. The hygroscopic behavior of SixOyClz films was determined by monitoring the -OH stretch band at 3650 cm-1 as a function of exposure time in a 75°C + 93% RH ambient. An HCl absorption band was identified at 2800 cm-1 which increased in intensity proportional to exposure time. Both water-created bands saturated with time. The identity of the bands was verified by deuteration shift and by comparison with the spectrum of Si02. After water saturation, spectra were collected at various etch depths which proved that water absorption occured over the entire oxide thickness. ATR-FTIR spectra were compared with secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiles of similar oxy-chlorides to give a more quantitative idea of the total H content as well as another view of the H and Cl profiles.
Data-Driven Scalable E-commerce Transportation Network Design with Unknown Flow Response

Motivated by our experience with a large online marketplace, we study an e-commerce middle-mile transportation network design problem. A salient feature in this problem is decentralized decision-making. While the middle-mile manager decides the network configuration on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, the real-time flows of millions of packages on any given network configuration (which we call the flow response) are controlled by a fulfillment policy employed by a different decision entity. Thus, we face a fixed-cost network design problem with unknown flow response. To meet this challenge, we first develop a predictive model for the unknown response leveraging machine learning techniques and observed shipment data. Apart from the most natural network-level predictive model, we find that the more parsimonious destination-level and arc-level predictive models are more effective. We then embed the predictive model to the original network design problem and characterize this transformed problem as a c-supermodular minimization problem. We develop a linear time algorithm with an approximation guarantee that depends on c. We demonstrate that this algorithm is scalable and effective in a numerical study. Besides the online marketplace, our approach is also applicable to the increasingly popular omni-channel retailing which also involves middle-mile network design.
Stem Cells and Spinal Fusion.

ABSTRACT Background This manuscript is a review of the literature investigating the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) being applied in the setting of spinal fusion surgery. We mention the rates of pseudarthrosis, discuss current bone grafting options, and examine the preclinical and clinical outcomes of utilizing MSCs to assist in successfully fusing the spine. Methods A thorough literature review was conducted to look at current and previous preclinical and clinical studies using stem cells for spinal fusion augmentation. Searches for PubMed/MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov through January 2021 were conducted for literature mentioning stem cells and spinal fusion. Results All preclinical and clinical studies investigating MSC use in spinal fusion were examined. We found 19 preclinical and 17 clinical studies. The majority of studies, both preclinical and clinical, were heterogeneous in design, due to different osteoconductive scaffolds, cells, and techniques used. Preclinical studies showed promising outcomes in animal models when using appropriate osteoconductive scaffolds and factors for osteogenic differentiation. Similarly, clinical studies have promising outcomes, but differ in their methodologies, surgical techniques, and materials used, making it difficult to adequately compare between the studies. Conclusion MSCs may be a promising option to use to augment grafting for spinal fusion surgery. MSCs must be used with appropriate osteoconductive scaffolds. Cell-based allografts and the optimization of their use have yet to be fully elucidated. Further studies are necessary to determine the efficacy of MSCs with different osteoconductive scaffolds and growth/osteogenic differentiation factors. Level of Evidence 3.
Exploring the melanoma survivorship experience: a qualitative study

Cutaneous melanomas are the fifth most common cancer in the United States and the United Kingdom, with a 5-year relative survival of 87-93%.1,2 Targeted and immune checkpoint therapies have further expanded the number of advanced melanoma survivors. Cancer survivorship recommendations have been published by Macmillan Cancer Support; yet programs for melanoma survivors in the US are still in their infancy.3 We aimed to explore experiences and challenges that US patients diagnosed with melanoma experienced in a tertiary cancer centre using in-depth interviews.
Closing the Case on Self-Fulfilling Beliefs

Two principles in epistemology are apparent examples of the close connection between rationality and truth. First, adding a disjunct to what it is rational to believe yields a proposition that’s al...
RNA is required for the maintenance of multiple cytoplasmic and nuclear membrane-less organelles.

Numerous membrane-less organelles composed of a combination of RNA and proteins, referred to as RNP granules, are observed in the nucleus and cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells, including stress granules, processing bodies, Cajal bodies, and nuclear speckles. An unresolved issue is how frequently RNA molecules are required for the maintenance of RNP granules in either the nucleus or cytosol. To address this issue, we degraded intracellular RNA in either the cytosol or the nucleus by the activation of RNase L and examined the impact of RNA loss on several RNP granules. Strikingly, we find the majority of RNP granules, including stress granules, processing bodies, Cajal bodies, nuclear speckles and the nucleolus are altered by the degradation of their RNA components. In contrast, super-enhancer complexes and TIS granules were largely unaffected by widespread intracellular RNA degradation. This highlights a critical and widespread role of RNA in the organization of many, but not all, RNP granules.
Solvent resistance pumps of Pseudomonas putida S12: Applications in 1-naphthol production and biocatalyst engineering

The solvent resistance capacity of Pseudomonas putida S12 was applied by using the organism as a host for biocatalysis and through cloning and expressing solvent resistant pump genes into Escherichia coli. P. putida S12 expressing toluene ortho mononooxygenase (TOM-Green) was used for 1-naphthol production in a water-organic solvent biphasic system. Application of P. putida S12 improved 1-naphthol production per gram cell dry weight by approximately 42% compared to E. coli. Moreover, P. putida S12 enabled the use of a less expensive solvent, decanol, for 1-naphthol production. The solvent resistant pump (srpABC) genes of P. putida S12 were cloned into a solvent sensitive E. coli strain to transfer solvent tolerance. Recombinant strains bearing srpABC genes in either a low-copy number or a high-copy number plasmid grew in the presence of saturated concentration of toluene. Both of the recombinant strains were more tolerant to 1% v/v of toxic solvents, decanol and hexane, reaching similar cell density as the no-solvent control. Reverse-transcriptase analysis revealed that the srpABC genes were transcribed in engineered strains. The results demonstrate successful transfer of the proton-dependent solvent resistance mechanism and suggest that the engineered strain could serve as more robust biocatalysts in media with organic solvents.
The Role of Libraries in the Missionary Regions of Orinoquia

Beginning in 1661, the Jesuits conducted missionary activity in the Orinoquia [the Orinoco delta]. Among the more significant challenges was the introduction of literacy to a people whose concepts of history and society were quite foreign to Spanish and Italian priests. Creating Christians would therefore entail creating a literate culture: the Jesuits began by learning local traditions and committing these to paper, and only then teaching the children of the region to read and write. While none of these teaching books survive, the missionary schools and houses kept libraries which included volumes on regional crafts and history, along with items the Jesuits considered useful or necessary: music, instruments, and books authored by members of the Society. The inhabitants of the Orinoco River watershed thus had access to European books as well as those in indigenous languages, both of which simultaneously supported and shaped life within the missions and reductions.
Introduction and Clinical Aspects

The second edition of this book incorporates the recent terminology and reporting guidelines for thyroid fine needle aspirations (FNAs), the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) that emerged from a multidisciplinary National Cancer Institute (NCI) Thyroid FNA State of the Science conference (2007). A major challenge in the application of FNA to the diagnosis of thyroid lesions has been the inconsistent use of terminology for reporting results of thyroid FNAs both within laboratories and between different institutions. Not only has this hindered the sharing of information between different institutions, but it has created difficulties for clinicians managing patients with thyroid disease. Throughout this second edition, we will use a simple algorithmic approach, which we have modified to incorporate the BSRTC, to explain how to evaluate thyroid FNAs.
Fetal salvage in abruptio placentae

Abstract 1. 1. Premature separation of the normally implanted placenta occurred 254 times in 26,358 deliveries, an incidence of 1:104, with one maternal death. 2. 2. The uncorrected perinatal mortality rate was 29.84 per cent and there were 2 infants with major congenital abnormalities incompatible with life. 3. 3. The degree of severity of placental separation was classified according to the criteria of Page, as modified, with 81 cases of Grade 0 severity, 96 cases of Grade 1, 57 cases of Grade 2, and 20 of Grade 3. 4. 4. There were 42 cases of toxemia of pregnancy, an incidence of 16.5 per cent, with an increased frequency of toxemia in the severe grades. 5. 5. Some type of active intervention was carried out 153 times with a fetal salvage of 83.5 per cent when fetal heart tones were present on admission to the hospital, while passive management when the fetus was alive resulted in a fetal survival of only 72.8 per cent. 6. 6. Forty-six cesarean sections were done for fetal or combined fetal and maternal indications with an 82.6 per cent fetal survival. 7. 7. There were 3 instances of uteroplacental apoplexy and one of coagulation defect.
Treatment of Nodes in the Clinically N+ Neck

The incidence of clinically positive cervical neck nodes at the time of presentation varies both with the primary site and the patient population seen at a given institution. Patients from higher socioeconomic strata tend in general to present with earlier stage disease while institutions primarily drawing patients from lower socioeconomic strata tend to see positive nodes more frequently when the patients ultimately seek medical attention. Table 5-1 shows a representative sampling of the incidence of positive nodes at the time of presentation for the various primary sites from selected institutions. Fletcher et al. (1980) specifically discuss the frequency with which particular nodal groups are involved for the various primary sites and this information will also be given in the site-specific chapters later in this book. This chapter is intended to present a concise overview of the problem and to discuss some general principles of treatment.
Assessment of amino-acid substitutions at tryptophan 16 in α-galactosidase

The tryptophan residue at position 16 of coffee bean α-galactosidase has previously been shown to be essential for enzyme activity. The potential role of this residue in the catalytic mechanism has been further studied by using site-directed mutagenesis to substitute every other amino acid for tryptophan at that site. Mutant enzymes were expressed in Pichia pastoris, a methylotrophic yeast strain, and their kinetic parameters were calculated. Only amino acids containing aromatic rings (phenylalanine and tyrosine) were able to support a significant amount of enzyme activity, but the kinetics and pH profiles of these mutants differed from wild-type. Substitution of arginine, lysine, methionine, or cysteine at position 16 allowed a small amount of enzyme activity with the optimal pH shifted towards more acidic. All other residues abolished enzyme activity. Our data support the hypothesis that tryptophan 16 is affecting the pKa of a carboxyl group at the active site that participates in catalysis. We also describe an assay for continuously measuring enzyme kinetics using fluorogenic 4-methylumbelliferyl substrates. This is useful in screening enzymes from colonies and determining the enzyme kinetics when the enzyme concentration is not known.
Chapter 39 Discriminating Among Volcanic Temper Sands in Prehistoric Potsherds of Pacific Oceania Using Heavy Minerals

Abstract Many volcanic sand tempers used for the fabrication of prehistoric ceramics in Pacific Oceania are beach placer sands with heavy mineral contents that reflect the phenocryst mineralogy of bedrock on the islands where pottery was made. Island groups within the region of ceramic cultures extending from western Micronesia to western Polynesia include hotspot, arc, postarc, and backarc geotectonic settings. The abundance of opaque minerals is governed by intensity of placering and is not diagnostic of geotectonic temper class, but differing proportions of ferromagnesian silicate mineral grains faithfully reflect island provenance. Clinopyroxene is the most abundant non-opaque heavy mineral in nearly all tempers of volcanic derivation. Hotspot tempers are marked by relative abundance of olivine (>25%), which also occurs in subordinate amounts in selected arc and postarc tempers. Hornblende accompanies clinopyroxene in varying proportions in other arc and postarc tempers, and orthopyroxene accompanies clinopyroxene in arc tempers from New Britain and Tonga. Relative proportions of heavy mineral species in Oceanian placer tempers correlate with the nature of restricted bedrock sources on individual islands, and serve as diagnostic evidence for temper origins wherever pottery was transported between islands.
Differential Presentation of an Altered Peptide Within Fetal Central and Peripheral Organs Supports an Avidity Model for Thymic T Cell Development and Implies a Peripheral Readjustment for Activation

Altered self peptides may drive T cell development by providing avidity of interactions low enough to potentiate positive selection but not powerful enough to trigger programmed cell death. Since the peptide repertoire in both central and peripheral organs is nearly the same, interactions of these peptides with T cells in the thymus would have to be different from those taking place in the periphery; otherwise, T cell development and maturation would result in either autoimmunity or T cell deficiency. Herein, a self and an altered self peptide were delivered to fetuses, and their presentation as well as the consequence of such presentation on T cell development were assessed. The results indicate that the self peptide was presented in both central and peripheral fetal organs and that such presentation abolished T cell responses to both peptides during adult life. However, the altered peptide, although presented in vivo as well as in vitro by splenic cells, was unable to stimulate a specific T cell clone when the presenting cells were of thymic origin and allowed offspring to be responsive to both peptides. These findings indicate that central and peripheral organs accommodate selection and peripheral survival of T cells by promoting differential altered peptide presentation.