cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Analysis Between $k$ -Mers and Community Detection-Based Features for the Task of Protein Classification

Machine learning algorithms are widely used to annotate biological sequences. Low-dimensional informative feature vectors can be crucial for the performance of the algorithms. In prior work, we have proposed the use of a community detection approach to construct low dimensional feature sets for nucleotide sequence classification. Our approach used the Hamming distance between short nucleotide subsequences, called $k$ -mers, to construct a network, and subsequently used community detection to identify groups of $k$ -mers that appear frequently in a set of sequences. Whereas this approach worked well for nucleotide sequence classification, it could not be directly used for protein sequences, as the Hamming distance is not a good measure for comparing short protein $k$ -mers. To address this limitation, we extended our prior approach by replacing the Hamming distance with substitution scores. Experimental results in different learning scenarios show that the features generated with the new approach are more informative than $k$ -mers.
Pilonidal Disease and Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Pilonidal disease and hidradenitis suppurativa are both chronic inflammatory diseases that affect patients in the prime of their lives. They can significantly impact an individual’s quality of life and may cause significant disability and consumption of health care. Both diseases may be approached non-operatively, but in many or most, surgery will ultimately be required. This chapter outlines several approaches to both the simple and complex patient, and also provides background and medical options as they relate to these processes. It is imperative to tailor the treatment approach to disease severity, anatomy, and the patient’s expectations.
Scanning in abdominal trauma.

Serious injuries to abdominal organs from trauma often are not obvious and may be overlooked. Organ scanning is an effective, noninvasive method of diagnosing these injuries. Scintiphotos are diagn...
Abstract 4359: Rescue of exhausted CD8 T cells by PD-1 targeted therapies is CD28-dependent

T cell exhaustion was first described in mice during chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection and later shown to occur in humans during persistent infections and cancer. Sustained expression of the inhibitory receptor programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) is a hallmark of T cell exhaustion. Therapeutic blockade of PD-1 rescues proliferation, cytokine production and cytotoxicity of exhausted T cells. PD-1 targeted therapies have shown efficacy for multiple cancer types and changed the landscape of cancer treatment, but the requirements for T cell rescue by blockade of the PD-1 pathway remain elusive. T cell activation ensues when positive signals overcome negative signals. CD28 is the most prominent positive co-receptor for T cell activation, and human CD8 T cells become CD28neg upon continuous stimulation. We analyzed tumor specimens from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients by flow cytometry and found heterogeneous CD28 expression on tumor-infiltrating CD8 T cells. In most NSCLC patients, CD28neg cells were prevalent among CD8 T cells co-expressing inhibitory receptors (such as PD-1 and Tim-3). To address the role of the CD28/B7 pathway on CD8 T cell rescue by PD-1 targeted therapies, we used the LCMV chronic infection model. When B7 signals were impeded by CTLA-4-Ig or B7 blocking antibodies, blockade of the PD-1 pathway failed to rescue virus-specific CD8 T cells. To investigate a cell intrinsic requirement of CD28 on exhausted CD8 T cells, we used an adoptive transfer strategy of cells genetically deficient in CD28. We found that CD28-deficient LCMV-specific CD8 T cells do not expand after blockade of the PD-1 pathway. Furthermore, to ensure appropriate development and differentiation of CD8 T cells, we used mice in which the CD28 gene can be conditionally deleted. We confirmed that CD28neg exhausted CD8 T cells failed to proliferate after blockade of the PD-1 pathway even when CD28 gene deletion was induced on already exhausted T cells. These data demonstrate that CD28 engagement is required for CD8 T cell rescue, and CD28 status may constitute a predictive biomarker for PD-1 targeted therapies. Citation Format: Alice O. Kamphorst, Andreas Wieland, Shu Yang, Tahseen Nasti, Ruan Zhang, Daniel L. Barber, Bogumila T. Konieczny, Lydia Koenig, Ke Yu, Gabriel Sica, Taofeek K. Owonikoko, Rathi Pillai, Suresh S. Ramalingam, Arlene H. Sharpe, Gordon J. Freeman, Laurence A. Turka, Koichi Araki, Rafi Ahmed. Rescue of exhausted CD8 T cells by PD-1 targeted therapies is CD28-dependent. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4359.
RESOLUTION REFUTATION SYSTEMS

This chapter discusses resolution refutation systems. It discusses systems that prove theorems in the predicate calculus. The interest in theorem proving is not limited to applications in mathematics; one also investigates applications in information retrieval, commonsense reasoning, and automatic programming. The chapter discusses two main types of theorem-proving systems systems based on resolution and systems that use various forms of implications as production rules. In the prototypical theorem-proving problem, there is a set, S , of well-formed formulas (wffs) from which the chapter wishes to prove some goal wff, W . Resolution-based systems are designed to produce proofs by contradiction or refutations. In a resolution refutation, it first negates the goal wff and then adds the negation to the set, S . This expanded set is then converted to a set of clauses, and it uses resolution in an attempt to derive a contradiction, represented by the empty clause, NIL.
A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO DECREASING BLOOD LOSS IN PRIMARY TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY

Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been shown to reduce post-operative blood loss, but the dosage and method of administration remains controversial. The purpose of our study was to study the effectiveness of topical TXA in a cohort of patients (n=224) undergoing TKA by a single surgeon. Two groups of patients who received topical TXA were compared to patients who did not receive TXA. Patients that received topical TXA had the least early postoperative blood loss, with patients that received topical TXA with a tourniquet and a drain having the least. Patients receiving TXA required fewer transfusions than patients who did not receive TXA and there was no difference in the rate of symptomatic DVT/PE. Our results support the use of topical TXA during TKA.
An analytical solution of Richards' equation providing the physical basis of SCS curve number method and its proportionality relationship

The empirical proportionality relationship, which indicates that the ratio of cumulative surface runoff and infiltration to their corresponding potentials are equal, is the basis of the extensively used Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method. The objective of this paper is to provide the physical basis of the SCS-CN method and its proportionality hypothesis from the infiltration excess runoff generation perspective. To achieve this purpose, an analytical solution of Richards' equation is derived for ponded infiltration in shallow water table environment under the following boundary conditions: 1) the soil is saturated at the land surface; and 2) there is a no-flux boundary which moves downward. The solution is established based on the assumptions of negligible gravitational effect, constant soil water diffusivity, and hydrostatic soil moisture profile between the no-flux boundary and water table. Based on the derived analytical solution, the proportionality hypothesis is a reasonable approximation for rainfall partitioning at the early stage of ponded infiltration in areas with a shallow water table for coarse textured soils. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Is Addiction a Brain Disease

Where does normal brain or psychological function end, and pathology begin? The line can be hard to discern, making disease sometimes a tricky word. In addiction, normal ‘wanting’ processes become distorted and excessive, according to the incentive-sensitization theory. Excessive ‘wanting’ results from drug-induced neural sensitization changes in underlying brain mesolimbic systems of incentive. ‘Brain disease’ was never used by the theory, but neural sensitization changes are arguably extreme enough and problematic enough to be called pathological. This implies that ‘brain disease’ can be a legitimate description of addiction, though caveats are needed to acknowledge roles for choice and active agency by the addict. Finally, arguments over ‘brain disease’ should be put behind us. Our real challenge is to understand addiction and devise better ways to help. Arguments over descriptive words only distract from that challenge.
Abstract 353: Mast Cell Inhibition Attenuates Cardiac Remodeling and Diastolic Dysfunction in Ovariectomized Female Fischer344хBrown Norway Rats

Background: The incidence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) increases in postmenopausal women, but no proven pharmacologic interventions exist. Mast cells have an important role in the pathological processes of a variety of cardiac diseases. We determined the cardioprotective effects of chronic mast cell inhibition by the mast cell stabilizer, cromolyn sodium, in middle-aged, female Fischer344хBrown Norway (F344BN) rats after estrogen (E2) loss. Methods and Results: Bilateral ovariectomy (OVX) or sham-operations were performed in 18-month-old female F344BN rats. Four weeks after surgery, cromolyn (30 mg/kg/day), or vehicle (saline) was administered s.c. by osmotic minipump (n=7/group). Four weeks after treatment, systolic blood pressure (SBP) increased by 20% in OVX vs. sham rats, and cromolyn attenuated this effect. Myocardial relaxation (e’) was reduced (P<0.01), left ventricle (LV) filling pressures (E/e’) were increased (P<0.01), and LV mass, wall thicknesses, and percent interstitial fibrosis were increased in OVX vs. sham rats. All of these adverse effects of E2 loss on LV function and structure were mitigated by cromolyn treatment. While no differences in plasma angiotensin (Ang) II levels were observed between OVX and sham, Ang II levels were reduced in cromolyn-treated OVX rats (P<0.05). Cardiac chymase protein expression was increased after E2 loss, irrespective of cromolyn. Yet, treatment with cromolyn prevented the increase in cardiac Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1aR) mRNA expression with OVX. Conclusions: Mast cell inhibition with cromolyn attenuates adverse LV remodeling and LVDD in OVX-F344BN rats possibly through a chymase/Ang II-mediated mechanism. Cardiac mast cells could be a potential therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women.
Intranasal insulin treatment of an experimental model of moderate traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in learning and memory dysfunction. Cognitive deficits result from cellular and metabolic dysfunction after injury, including decreased cerebral glucose uptake ...
Dose of human menopausal gonadotropin influences the outcome of an in vitro fertilization program

This study compares outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in two groups of 57 patients when either 2 (group 1) or 3 (group 2) ampules of human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) were administered daily. Treatment began on day 3 of the cycle and was discontinued when at least 2 follicles attained diameters ≥1.5cm. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was given either 24 or 48 hours after the last dose of hMG. Although serum estradiol levels were lower in group 1, the average number of oocytes retrieved (3.2 versus 2.9), fertilized (1.9 versus 2.0), and cleaved (1.7 versus 1.8) per completed cycle did not differ between groups 1 and 2. Likewise, the number of oocytes that fertilized abnormally was similar in both groups (0.5 versus 0.3/cycle). However, the number of atretic oocytes (0.03 versus 0.5/cycle) and the percent of oocytes recovered from the cul-de-sac (0 versus 7.2%) were significantly ( P P
CHAPTER 90 – Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II

This chapter discusses the structure of CaMKII and its regulation by autophosphorylation, as well as current ideas about how its characteristics are used to regulate synaptic function. Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is the most complex in structure and regulation of the family of calmodulin-dependent protein kinases. It was first described as a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase with a relatively broad substrate specificity and highly expressed in brain. We now know that CaMKII is expressed in many tissues, including spleen, heart, and skeletal muscle; however, its level of expression in neurons of the forebrain is extraordinarily high. It constitutes approximately 2% of total protein in homogenates of the adult rat hippocampus and approximately 1% of total protein in rat forebrain homogenates. This high level of expression suggested that it might carry out specialized functions in neurons and, indeed, this appears to be the case. Many studies now implicate CaMKII in regulation of multiple determinants of synaptic strength in excitatory neurons in the brain, as well as in regulation of homeostasis of synaptic components.
Cement Among Grains in Rocks

An important contact mechanism in a cemented granular medium is stress transmission between deformable particles through deformable interparticle cement bonds. The results presented here are based on a solution to the problem of normal and shear deformation of two elastic cemented spherical particles bonded by elastic cement. Once a two-particle problem is solved, the effective deformational characteristics of a granular assembly are derived using standard statistical approaches. Contact cement, even if it is soft, acts to dramatically increase the effective elastic stiffness of a granular medium.
Decision-Making in Critical Limb Ischemia: A Markov Simulation.

Background Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a feared complication of peripheral vascular disease that often requires surgical management and may require amputation of the affected limb. We developed a decision model to inform clinical management for a 63-year-old woman with CLI and multiple medical comorbidities, including advanced heart failure and diabetes. Methods We developed a Markov decision model to evaluate 4 strategies: amputation, surgical bypass, endovascular therapy (e.g. stent or revascularization), and medical management. We measured the impact of parameter uncertainty using 1-way, 2-way, and multiway sensitivity analyses. Results In the base case, endovascular therapy yielded similar discounted quality-adjusted life months (26.50 QALMs) compared with surgical bypass (26.34 QALMs). Both endovascular and surgical therapies were superior to amputation (18.83 QALMs) and medical management (11.08 QALMs). This finding was robust to a wide range of periprocedural mortality weights and was most sensitive to long-term mortality associated with endovascular and surgical therapies. Utility weights were not stratified by patient comorbidities; nonetheless, our conclusion was robust to a range of utility weight values. Conclusions For a patient with CLI, endovascular therapy and surgical bypass provided comparable clinical outcomes. However, this finding was sensitive to long-term mortality rates associated with each procedure. Both endovascular and surgical therapies were superior to amputation or medical management in a range of scenarios.
Inversion of the imprinting control region of the Peg3 domain

The imprinting of the mouse Peg3 domain is controlled through a 4-kb genomic region encompassing the bidirectional promoter and 1st exons of Peg3 and Usp29. In the current study, this ICR was inverted to test its orientation dependency for the transcriptional and imprinting control of the Peg3 domain. The inversion resulted in the exchange of promoters and 1st exons between Peg3 and Usp29. Paternal transmission of this inversion caused 10-fold down-regulation of Peg3 and 2-fold up-regulation of Usp29 in neonatal heads, consistent with its original promoter strength in each direction. The paternal transmission also resulted in reduced body size among the animals, which was likely contributed by the dramatic down-regulation of Peg3. Transmission through either allele caused no changes in the DNA methylation and imprinting status of the Peg3 domain except that Zfp264 became bi-allelic through the maternal transmission. Overall, the current study suggests that the orientation of the Peg3-ICR may play no role in its allele-specific DNA methylation, but very critical for the transcriptional regulation of the entire imprinted domain.
Thoughts on the History of Women’s Education, Theories of Power, and This Volume: An Introduction

This chapter applies a theoretical lens drawn from poststructuralism to the history of women’s education. Foucault’s theory of power and the theory of moral orthopedics, based on Foucault, are proposed as helpful lenses. The chapter also discusses the possibilities and limitations of developing a comprehensive account of women’s education. This chapter discusses the content and contributions in the volume and suggestions for future directions for the field. It concludes by suggesting a reconsideration of the narrative of progressive democratization of higher education in the United States.
The uncounted: politics of data and visibility in global health

ABSTRACTThis article explores the political and economic factors that are driving shifting data in the context of HIV. In order to measure progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.3 on health, global health agencies such as UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and PEPFAR all rely on HIV data routinely reported by countries. This data is not produced in a political vacuum. Key populations vulnerable to HIV (men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers and transgender people) are often hidden due to stigma and criminalisation. However, the absence of this data creates a paradox in which invisibility reinforces invisibility. Key population size estimates are a central tool for planning and resourcing national and global HIV programming, but these become hard to obtain when key populations are hidden and political leaders deny their existence. Pressure from health financing agencies is changing these power dynamics in some countries. Key populations who pa...
18S ribosomal RNA as a target of the anticancer drug mitomycin C: Implications for protein translation

4045 Mitomycin C (MMC) is a commonly used and extensively studied chemotherapeutic agent requiring biological reduction for activity. The subsequent formation of DNA adducts and oxidative damage to nuclear DNA is thought to be the primary mechanism of cytotoxicity. However, lack of evidence for MMC activation in the nucleus and for in vivo studies demonstrating the formation of MMC-DNA adducts leave many aspects of this hypothesis unsubstantiated. We therefore chose to investigate the interaction of MMC with alternative nucleic acid targets in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Real-time RT-PCR was used to quantitatively assess gene expression changes in 7 mitochondrial genes (COI, ND2, COIII, ATPase6, ND4, ND4L, and Cytb), the nuclear gene GAPDH, and 18S rRNA following MMC treatment under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. While no consistent effects on mitochondrial mRNA expression were observed, transcript levels of 18S rRNA decreased up to 75% of control in a concentration-dependent manner within 30 minutes. This effect is likely to be the result of direct MMC-RNA interaction, as it precludes any inhibitory transcriptional effects arising from the binding of MMC to DNA. Recovery to baseline required several hours, indicating the de novo synthesis of 18S rRNA. Visualization of the 18S and 28S ribosomal fragments on a gel demonstrated a decrease in the relative amounts of 18S following treatment with MMC under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Binding assays showed that MMC was able to displace and inhibit binding of ethidium bromide, another compound known to interact with nucleic acids, in both total RNA and purified 18S fragments. Functional assays performed on cells transiently transfected to express a luciferase reporter construct determined that levels of luciferase protein were consistently decreased up to 33% of the control after 4 hours of exposure to MMC, persisting up to 48 hours after the drug was removed, and was not a result of cell death. Binding and inhibition of rRNA is a novel mechanism of toxicity for MMC, but consistent with other natural compounds. Ultimately, genome-wide inhibition of protein translation may not only lead to cell death, but may also be a possible mechanism of resistance in surviving cell fractions that are no longer capable of producing bioreductive enzymes. This study was funded in part by the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station and NIH/NRSA T32 CA09563.
CRT-100.79 Impact on Clinical Decision-making Process of Two Formulas to Calculate Diameter Stenosis of Coronary Lesions: From Benchmark to Real Cases

The 2016 American guidelines for percutaneous revascularization recommend treatment of coronary artery lesions based on diameter stenosis (DS). However, due to the high inter-operator variability in the visual assessment of DS, quantitative coronary analysis (QCA) is the gold standard to assess it.
APC-Targeted (DNA) Vaccine Delivery Platforms: Nanoparticle Aided

Only a small fraction of any administered drug, including a vaccine, reaches its intended target tissue or cells. Homing vaccines to antigen-presenting cells (APC), where they can do their magic, has been the focus of attention for several decades. Since they are equipped with proper co-stimulatory signals, only professional APC are able to correctly process antigens and stimulate T and B cells to mount specific immune responses. With advances in the fields of modern immunology and nanotechnology, the new vaccine delivery platforms are emerging. APC-targeted vaccine delivery is required to elicit protective immunity, to reduce manufacturing costs, to minimize unanticipated effects of vaccines caused by off-target effects (thus reducing immunosuppressive mechanisms and toxicity), and to dramatically increase immunization efficacy. Indeed, in vivo targeting of APCs may represent the best hope for the generation of strategies leading to a personalized immunization without the need of expensive and complex ex vivo manipulation of patients’ PBMCs. Here, we will review and compare novel approaches on nanoparticle-based-targeted vaccine platforms, evaluating their molecular mechanisms of action, their translation ability, their efficacy, and their cost.
Exploring the Temporal Nature of Sociomateriality from a Work System Perspective

This paper uses work system theory (WST) to explore the temporal nature of sociomateriality. It summarizes concepts related to WST and sociomateriality, and notes sociomaterial aspects of WST. It uses static and dynamic views of a work system to examine six examples that can be classified in one of three time frames, minutes-to-hours, days-to-weeks, and months-toyears. The result is a straightforward interpretation of systems and related events across all of the time frames, which exhibit different types of phenomena related to adaptations, workarounds, emergence of informal work patterns, and sequences of formal projects. After approaching sociomateriality from a perspective not usually associated with that genre, this paper concludes that ambiguity about the intended time span of assertions related to entanglement and inseparability should be remedied. At minimum, it should be clear whether these phenomena occur instantaneously or in time spans of minutes-tohours, days-toweeks, or months-to-years.
Why the disconnect? Problems with a clamp style catheter connector.

To the Editor, We would like to report a safety concern which may have broad application to all users of the B Braun Perifix Clamp Style Catheter Connector used for epidural and peripheral nerve catheter systems (B Braun Medical, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). Disconnections of epidural catheters
Solitary bone plasmacytoma compression injury disguised as back pain: a case report

Low back pain is a leading disability worldwide; however, it is not often the result of a serious underlying condition such as a tumor. As a result, diagnosis of a serious underlying cause of low back pain may be delayed, such as in this case. We describe a case of a man presenting with low back pain, who was eventually diagnosed with solitary bone plasmacytoma (SBP) causing spinal cord compression from approximately T7–T9. The patient was classified as T8 ASIA C–Incomplete Paraplegia. He underwent an emergency T7–T9 open posterior laminectomy and resection of the epidural mass/tumor. Following an intensive course of rehabilitation treatment, the patient progressed to ASIA D. Although SBP of the spine is rare, back or neck pain is a common initial presentation. This case is unique in that we provide a detailed description of both medical and rehabilitation diagnosis and treatment. We also suggest that persistent back pain warrants complete MRI spinal imaging to provide proper diagnosis and prompt treatment for cases with a serious underlying condition.
Algorithmically identifying strategies in multi-agent game-theoretic environments

Artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential for military applications. Fully realizing the conceived benefits of AI requires effective interactions among Soldiers and computational agents in highly uncertain and unconstrained operational environments. Because AI can be complex and unpredictable, computational agents should support their human teammates by adapting their behavior to the human’s elected strategy for a given task, facilitating mutuallyadaptive behavior within the team. While some situations entail explicit and easy-to-understand human top-down strategies, more often than not, human strategies tend to be implicit, ad hoc, exploratory, and difficult to describe. In order to facilitate mutually-adaptive human-agent team behavior, computational teammates must identify, adapt, and modify their behaviors to support human strategies with little or no a priori experience. This challenge may be achieved by training learning agents with examples of successful group strategies. Therefore, this paper focuses on an algorithmic approach to extract group strategies from multi-agent teaming behaviors in a game-theoretic environment: predator-prey pursuit. Group strategies are illuminated with a new method inspired from Graph Theory. This method treats agents as vertices to generate a timeseries of group dynamics and analytically compares timeseries segments to identify group coordinated behaviors. Ultimately, this approach may lead to the design of agents that can recognize and fall in line with strategies implicitly adopted by human teammates. This work can provide a substantial advance to the field of humanagent teaming by facilitating natural interactions within heterogeneous teams.
TLR7 and TLR8 activate distinct pathways in monocytes during RNA virus infection

Human blood CD14+ monocytes are bone marrow-derived white blood cells that sense and respond to pathogens. Although innate immune activation by RNA viruses preferentially occurs through intracellular RIG-I-like receptors, other nucleic acid recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), play a role in finely programming the final outcome of virus infection. Here, we dissected how human monocytes respond to infection with either Coxsackie (CV), encephalomyocarditis (EMCV), influenza A (IAV), measles (MV), Sendai (SV), or vesicular stomatitis (VSV) virus. We found that in monocytes, type I interferon (IFN) and cytokine responses to infection were RNA virus specific and differentially involved TLR7 and TLR8, which sense single-stranded RNA. These TLRs activated distinct signaling cascades in monocytes, which correlated with differences in the production of cytokines involved in the polarization of CD4+ T helper cells. Furthermore, we found that TLR7 signaling specifically increased expression of the transcription factor FOSL1, which reduced IL-27 and TNFα production by monocytes. TLR7, but not TLR8, activation of monocytes also stimulated Ca2+ flux that prevented type I IFN responses. Our work demonstrates that in human monocytes, TLR7 and TLR8 triggered different signaling pathways that contribute to distinct phenotypes during RNA virus infection. In addition, we defined individual targets within these pathways that promoted specific T helper and antiviral responses.
Other Syntheses: Popular Methods and Issues

The overwhelming majority of the dot samples in studies reported in the literature were prepared by “one-pot” carbonization of organic molecules or mixtures. Unfortunately, the equal majority of the carbonization processes were under conditions insufficient for the necessary level of carbonization to ensure the dominance of nanoscale carbon domains (equivalent in functions to the small carbon nanoparticles in the general definition of CDots) in the produced dot samples. As highlighted and discussed, the insufficient carbonization resulted in the substantial contamination of dye-like species/mixtures formed as chemical reaction products in the carbonization processing, including the dominating contamination in the claimed “red/near-IR carbon quantum dots” from thermal reactions of specific precursor organic mixtures. Also discussed critically are some of the reported preparations of “graphene quantum dots” by similar carbonization syntheses and the fact that the original concept and definition of graphene quantum dots were misunderstood or misrepresented in those studies.
Educational Perspectives: Educational Strategies to Improve Outcomes from Neonatal Resuscitation

Since 1987, the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) course has taught the cognitive, technical, and behavioral skills required to effectively resuscitate newborns. To remain relevant and effective, the NRP course needs to continually evolve and embrace evidence-based educational strategies proven to improve outcomes from resuscitation. In this Educational Perspectives article, 6 educational strategies that can be applied to neonatal resuscitation education are reviewed. These educational strategies include mastery learning and deliberate practice, spaced practice, contextual learning, feedback and debriefing, assessment, and innovative educational strategies Then knowledge translation and implementation of these educational strategies through passive and active knowledge translation, change theory, design thinking, performance measurement, deadoption strategies, continuous quality improvement, incentive and penalties, and psychological marketing are explored. Finally, ways to optimize faculty development of NRP instructors, including both initial instructor training and ongoing instructor development, are examined. The goal of this review is to help NRP program developers and instructors use evidence-based educational strategies to improve neonatal resuscitation outcomes.
Consumer Exposure to Counterfeit Hardware

The proliferation of counterfeit hardware in the ecosystem affects both individuals (i.e., consumers) and organizations (e.g., governments, educational institutions, corporations, etc.). Despite best efforts from marketplaces and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), consumers are still subject to a dizzying array of choices and decisions which may not always lead to the purchase of a genuine product. Those who mistakenly purchase counterfeit hardware are exposed to financial, physical safety, privacy, and security risks. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic may have only exacerbated the issue at global scale.
RFIC 2020 Guest Editorial

This Mini-Special Issue of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES (TMTT) is comprised of expanded articles from the 2020 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (IEEE RFIC), held virtually on August 4–6, 2020, in response to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. First, we are grateful to the organizers of the symposium, including the steering and the technical committees, as well as the sponsors of the symposium—it is due to their tremendous work that we were able to switch from the planned 2020 symposium at Los Angeles to a rewarding and engaging virtual symposium instead. The virtual symposium, held as part of the IEEE Microwave Week, in combination with the IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS), the IEEE Automatic Radio Frequency Techniques Group (ARFTG), and the Industry Exhibition, had more than 5000 registered participants.
Effects of Radiophosphorus decay in bacteriophage T4D, I. The mechanism of phage inactivation.

Abstract Decay of 32 P incorporated into the DNA of bacteriophage T4D inactivates the phage and produces single- and double-strand breaks in phage DNA, all with single-hit kinetics. The lethal efficiency for 32 P-labeled phage stored in buffer at 4° was 0.10, and double-strand breaks in the DNA are formed at the same rate. When the storage medium is supplemented with 2.8% (w/v) AET (2-aminoethyl isothiouronium bromide hydrogen bromide, a free-radical trap), double-strand breaks and lethal damages occur at the rate of 0.06 per 32 P decay. This suggests that double-strand breaks are the lethal damages. Single-strand breaks accumulate at the rate of one per 32 P decay for 32 P-labeled phage stored in buffer at 4°. The lethal efficiency of 33 P for phage stored in buffer is about 65% that of 32 P. The protective effect of AET is nearly as great for 33 P-labeled T4D as it is for 32 P-labeled T4D. For 32 P, between 35 and 89% of the lethality is due to recoil. Not more than 10% of the lethality is due to radiation effects, and the remainder (if any) is due to transmutation. For 33 P, recoil accounts for less than half (probably no more than 5%) of the lethality. Radiation can account for nearly half of the lethality. Transumutation could account for all of the lethality and probably accounts for over half.
Evolutionary local-search with extremal optimization

A new general-purpose heuristic for finding high-quality solutions for many hard optimization problems is explored. The method is inspired by recent progress in understanding far-from-equilibrium phenomena in terms of self-organized criticality, a concept introduced to describe emergent complexity in physical systems. This method, called extremal optimization, successively replaces the value of extremely undesirable variables in a sub-optimal solution with new, random ones. Large, avalanche-like fluctuations in the cost function self-organize from this dynamics, effectively scaling barriers to explore local optima in distant neighborhoods of the configuration space while eliminating the need to tune parameters. Drawing upon models used to simulate the dynamics of granular media, evolution, or geology, extremal optimization complements approximation methods inspired by equilibrium statistical physics, such as simulated annealing. It may be but one example of applying new insights into non-equilibrium phenomena systematically to hard optimization problems. This method is widely applicable, quickly adapted to real-world problems, and so far has proved competitive with - and even superior to - more elaborate general-purpose heuristics on testbeds of constrained optimization problems with up to 105 variables, such as bipartitioning, coloring, and satisfiability. This heuristic is particularly successful near phase transitions in combinatorial optimization, which are deemed to be the origin of the hardest instances in terms of computational complexity. Analysis of a model problem predicts the only free parameter of the method in accordance with all experimental results.
Methods utilized in evaluating the profitability of commercial space processing

Profitability analysis is applied to commercial space processing on the basis of business concept definition and assessment and the relationship between ground and space functions. Throughput analysis is demonstrated by analysis of the space manufacturing of surface acoustic wave devices. The paper describes a financial analysis model for space processing and provides key profitability measures for space processed isoenzymes.
Physiological pathways through the vestibular nuclei

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of physiological pathways through the vestibular nuclei. The brainstem cell groups that constitute the vestibular nuclei are important in the control of posture and eye movement. Their influence is exerted by the means of direct axonal projections to the spinal cord, extraocular neurons, contralateral vestibular nuclei, and the cerebellum. In addition, there is a close relationship between vestibular nuclei and the reticular formation, the latter acting to distribute nuclear output to various regions of the central nervous system. A major input to the vestibular nuclei comes from labyrinthine receptors. An important role of some second-order vestibular neurons is to act as a relay between the labyrinth on the one hand and the spinal cord or extraocular neurons on the other. Considerable progress has been made in unraveling the functional organization of the vestibular nuclei and of their projections by means of closely correlated anatomical and physiological investigations.
The Developmental Progression of Understanding of Mind during a Hiding Game

In this longitudinal study, 52 typically developing preschoolers engaged in a hiding game with their mothers when children were 42-, 54-, and 66-months old. Children's understanding of mind, positive affect, and engagement with the task were rated, and mothers' utterances were coded for role and content. Analyses confirmed that some facets of children's understanding of mind developed sequentially; specifically, they expressed an understanding of knowledge access before an understanding of deception and false beliefs, and expressed an understanding of deception before an understanding of false beliefs. Children's understanding of mind increased across visits and positively correlated with false belief task performance. Results suggest that mothers may tailor the content of their utterances to the child's growing expertise, but the role of mothers' utterances did not change. Observing preschoolers engaged in a playful hiding game revealed that children's understanding of mind not only increased with age but also developed sequentially.
Cellular toxicity in Chinese hamster ovary cell cultures. II: A statistical appraisal of sensitivity with the rabbit alveolar macrophage, Syrian hamster embryo, BALB 3T3 mouse, and human neonatal fibroblast cell systems

Abstract Chinese hamster ovary, rabbit alveolar macrophage, Syrian hamster embryo, BALB 3T3 mouse, and human neonatal fibroblast cells were employed in a statistical evaluation of the relative sensitivity of the cells to toxic substances. The cells were exposed to 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, 2,4-dimethylphenol, Aroclor 1248, cadmium chloride, lead sulfate, nickel nitrate, lead oxide-coated fly ash, and a fine particulate from coal combustion. A filter-disk technique was used to measure the inhibition of protein and DNA synthesis. A quantitative ranking of cell-system sensitivity was determined from comparisons of statistically significant differences ( P ⩽ 0.01) in protein and DNA synthesis expressed as a percentage of control. An overall ranking of sensitivity showed that rabbit alveolar macrophages, Syrian hamster embryo cells, and Chinese hamster ovary cells were more sensitive than another of the five cell systems in 75, 68, and 62% of the experiments, respectively. The corresponding values for BALB 3T3 mouse and human neonatal fibroblast cells were 38 and 28%, respectively, under our experimental conditions. Detailed data on the control cell cultures are also presented.
Translingual Communities: Teaching and Learning Where You Don't Know the Language

In fields such as sociolinguistics and composition and rhetoric, communication is increasingly understood as translingual, that is, as negotiated socially across languages. Those of us engaged in community literacy can and should recognize the deeply multilingual nature of the communities in which we work, and we should understand, embrace, and forward the translingual approach. Here I reflect on my first conscious attempt to teach translingually in a college course with a community-based learning component. I present an overview of the translingual orientation, reflect on the decisions I made as I prepared a college community-based learning course with translingual intentions but not overt translingual objectives, and examine some the students’ reflections that reveal their language attitudes at the end of the course. I argue that small, intentional decisions made towards a broader translingual orientation towards language and literacy make an immediate difference in how students think about language, and that those engaged in community literacy partnerships are in need of a theory of communication that the translingual approach can provide.
Religious Belief and the Epistemology of Disagreement

Consider two people who disagree about some important claim (e.g. the future moral and political consequences of current U.S. economic policy are X). They each believe the other person is in possession of relevant evidence, is roughly equally competent to evaluate that evidence, etc. From the epistemic point of view, how should such recognized disagreement affect their doxastic attitude toward the original claim? Recent research on the epistemology of disagreement has converged upon three general ways of answering this question. The focus of this article is twofold: first, we summarize and give a brief evaluation of the main accounts of the epistemic significance of disagreement; then, we look at what these accounts suggest about how to epistemically assess both inter-religious and intra-religious disagreements. A final section offers recommendations for further research.
Toward a K-Profile Parameterization of Langmuir Turbulence in Shallow Coastal Shelves

AbstractInteraction between the wind-driven shear current and the Stokes drift velocity induced by surface gravity waves gives rise to Langmuir turbulence in the upper ocean. Langmuir turbulence consists of Langmuir circulation (LC) characterized by a wide range of scales. In unstratified shallow water, the largest scales of Langmuir turbulence engulf the entire water column and thus are referred to as full-depth LC. Large-eddy simulations (LESs) of Langmuir turbulence with full-depth LC in a wind-driven shear current have revealed that vertical mixing due to LC erodes the bottom log-law velocity profile, inducing a profile resembling a wake law. Furthermore, in the interior of the water column, two sources of Reynolds shear stress, turbulent (nonlocal) transport and local Stokes drift shear production, can combine to lead to negative mean velocity shear. Meanwhile, near the surface, Stokes drift shear serves to intensify small-scale eddies leading to enhanced vertical mixing and disruption of the surface...
The NASA standard for models and simulations

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed the Standard for Models and Simulations as an indirect result of the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident. During the post-accident investigations, some findings indicated that the incorrect application of a model, simulation, and/or analysis method can lead to incorrect decision making. The resulting standard is distinct from existing software standards in that it focuses on the reporting of M&S results and the assessed credibility of those results. As a first of its kind standard, it is openly distributed for assessment and comment. Discussions about the impetus for developing this standard and its use in critical decision-making provide a framework for the discussion of the requirements contained therein.
Anti-dsDNA antibody assay: high specificity and sensitivity with a filtration radioassay in comparison to low specificity with the standard ELISA.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a new fluid-phase filtration radioassay possesses both high sensitivity and specificity compared with the currently used ELISA and Farr assays. METHODS: Sequential sera (25 samples) from 9 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), sera from 20 patients with SLE possessing anti-dsDNA antibodies by the Crithidia assay, 75 patients with rheumatoid arthritis possessing rheumatoid factors, 50 healthy control subjects, 767 from patients with type 1 diabetes, and a commercial standard serum sample were tested for anti-dsDNA antibodies with the 3 different assays. RESULTS: Of serial dilutions of a standard anti-dsDNA antibody sample, only the highest positive sample (50 IU/ml) in the ELISA and the highest 2 positive samples (50 and 25 IU/ml) in the Farr assay were above the normal range. In contrast, all dilutions (to 2.5 IU/ml) of the standard anti-dsDNA antibody sample were above the normal range in the filtration radioassay. Using the values of 50 healthy control subjects in each assay to define the normal range, all 25 sequential sera from 9 patients with SLE were positive. In addition, 20/20 of the SLE individual sera, 2/75 (2.7%) of the RA sera, and 12/767 (1.6%) of the diabetes sera were positive (signal above normal range) in the filtration radioassay. The SLE sera were further examined in 2 additional assays, ELISA and Farr assay, and both assays were less sensitive and specific compared with the filtration radioassay. CONCLUSION: The fluid-phase filtration radioassay demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of anti-dsDNA antibodies in SLE, with the standard ELISA exhibiting lower specificity. We suggest that testing for anti-dsDNA antibodies can be improved using a fluid-phase filtration radioassay in comparison to commercial assays.
Feeding of Zooplankton, with Special Reference to Some Experiments with Sagitta

THE chaetognaths have long been known as active carnivores1, though knowledge of their feeding behaviour is limited to qualitative observations on the nature of their food, and mode of operation of their mouthparts. Nothing is known of their rate of food intake. The main, reason for the lack of information on this and almost every aspect of their physiology is stated2 to be their small size and inability to withstand removal from their natural environment for more than a few hours. Such information would be of interest since chaetognaths are very common among the plankton, and are usually the most important plankton carnivore.
Postmortem proteolytic and organoleptic changes in hot-boned muscle from grass- and grain-fed and zeranol-implanted cattle☆

Abstract A total of 21 yearling steers (Angus sires × crossbreed dams) were allotted to three forage management systems: (a) pasture on Johnstone fescue (G); (b) grain on grass (GG); and (c) grain on grass with zeranol implant, a growth promoter (GGP). After approximately 150 days on experiment (May to October), three randomly selected steers from each dietary group were slaughtered, and composition, sensory characteristics and proteolytic changes of semimembranosus muscle were examined during postmortem storage at 2 °C. Overall, muscle chemical composition was not affected (P> 0.05) by dietary regimen with or without the implant. Grass-fed beef had a stronger (P ≤ 0.05) grassy flavor at 2 days postmortem and developed more (P ≤ 0.05) off-flavor after 10 days of aging than grain-supplemented beef. Postmortem storage generally improved beef tenderness. The implantation did not (P> 0.05) affect weight gain nor carcass yield. However, GGP beef was more tender (P ≤ 0.05) than G and GG beef after 2 days storage; a similar trend was observed in overall beef acceptability. Proteolysis of the muscle from the three forage systems was similar in that all showed major changes beyond 2 days postmortem with the disappearance of titin and troponin-T and the appearance of a 30 kDa component being most noticeable. These results suggest postmortem differences in beef palatability among the different nutritional treatments were not closely related to muscle composition and proteolytic degradation.