cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multi-functional Biochip for Medical Diagnostics and Pathogen Detection

There is an urgent need to develop monitoring devices capable of screening multiple medical diseases and detecting multiple infectious pathogens simultaneously. A critical factor in biomedical diagnostics involves selectivity and sensitivity for detection of a wide variety of biochemical substances (e.g., proteins, metabolites, nucleic acids), biological species or living systems (bacteria, virus or related components) at trace levels in complex biological samples (e.g., tissues, blood, other body fluids, and environmental biosamples). Biosensors are diagnostic devices that employ the powerful molecular recognition capability of bioreceptors such as antibodies, DNA, enzymes and cellular components of living systems. The operating principle of a biosensor involves detection of this molecular recognition and transforming it into another type of signal using a transducer that may produce either an optical signal (i.e., optical biosensors) or an electrochemical signal (i.e., electrochemical biosensors). A biosensor that involves the use of a microchip system for detection is often referred to as a bio-chip.
COMPARISON OF THREE PROBE LABELLING METHODS TO DETECT PCR AMPLIFICATION PRODUCTS

Polymerase chain reaction amplifications are finding increased applications in environmental microbiology. The development of sensitive and specific methods to detect amplified products is necessary especially when these amplifications are conducted in the presence of the environmental matrix. Gene probes specific to the npt11 locus were prepared by nick translation, 5’end labelling and by a PCR driven amplification. These probes were tested against a 300 bp PCR amplified segment of the npt11 region of the transposable element Tn5. The nick translated probe was the most sensitive, though not as specific as the other two types of probes. Sensitivity and specificity were found to be dependent on the hybridization format (Southern blots versus dot blots), the number of amplification cycles and on the purity of the target sequence.
Data analysis techniques for measuring spatial inhomogeneity in repolarization using optical transmembrane potentials

Experimental characterization of the spatial distribution of action potential duration and repolarization times is presented. The signal processing and analysis techniques used in this characterization are described. The data used to test the dispersion of refractoriness hypothesis must meet three requirements: (1) they must be recorded simultaneously at many sites on the heart; (2) spatial resolution must be high; and (3) the data must allow a measurement of both the time of activation and repolarization at each site. The epicardial recordings used were made with an optical technique which provides a signal of the average transmembrane potential of cells in a small volume of cardiac tissue. The optical signals met all three of the above requirements: (1) data were collected from guinea pig hearts from 124 sites in a 1-cm*1-cm region of the anterior left ventricle; (2) each channel recorded activity of cells in a 0.72-mm/sup 2/ area; and (3) the action potential signals can be readily analyzed for depolarization and repolarization times. >
Teaching Research Methods: An Experiential and Heterodoxical Approach

nominal, ordinal, ratio, and interval level variables, the intricacies involved in sampling, and the importance of t-scores, most of them closely resemble statistics texts in that they are replete with mathematical formulae. Specifically, they instruct the reader how to calculate measures of association like the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Kendall's Tau B; how to determine the regression line for a set of data; and how to formulate levels of significance. However, political scientists and other social scientists who do not
String- and permutation-coded genetic algorithms for the static weapon-target assignment problem

In the Weapon-Target Assignment Problem, m enemy targets are inbound, each with a value Vj representing the damage it may do. The defense has n weapons, and the probability that weapon i will kill target j is pij. The problem is to assign the weapons to targets so as to reduce as much as possible the total expected value of the targets. A greedy heuristic for this problem repeatedly assigns a weapon to a target to maximally degrade the target's value. Two genetic algorithms encode candidate assignments as strings of target labels indexed by weapon labels and as permutations of weapon labels decoded by a greedy algorithm, respectively. Both GAs can be seeded with the greedy heuristic's solution. In comparisons on fifteen randomly-generated problem instances, all the algorithms significantly reduced the hypothetical strikes' values, but the greedy heuristic was both effective and fast, while the seeded permutation-coded GA returned the best results. The times that all the GAs require grow quickly with problem size.
Revisiting the Pink Triangle Exercise: An Exploration of Experiential Learning in Graduate Social Work Education

The pink triangle exercise is an example of an experiential learning exercise that creates cognitive dissonance and deep learning of unrealized internalized biases among social work students. Students wear a button with a pink triangle on it for 1 day and write a reflection paper. The exercise increases self-awareness, cultural competence, and the understanding of abstract concepts. An analysis of reflection papers over three annual courses revealed consistent themes, which were presented back to students. The thematic analyses, an application of the process of experiential learning, and the implications this exercise and type of learning are presented.
Adaptive case management for the government policy office

In this poster presentation, the author describes the adaptive case management (ACM) and how this could be used in the government policy office. The advantages of ACM are better knowledge management and more effective work process than traditional business process management.
An interior vessel viewing system for DIII-D

It was anticipated that there could be damage to the interior walls of the vacuum vessel during operations of the DIII-D tokamak. In order to be visually inspected the interior walls for damage and to locate any debris resulting from operations, a miniature closed-circuit color-television camera system was developed. The camera system can be inserted into one of several ports of the vessel during a clean vent (i.e. vented to inert gas). The system has pan, tilt, and zoom capability and carries its own lighting. The use of this system allows a quick assessment of the condition of the vessel to be made under clean vent conditions. This precludes the need for the permit process and manned entry into the vessel, which would allow air inside the vessel. A permanent record of the inspection can be made on video tape. The design and configuration of this camera system is presented and its use as a diagnostic tool is discussed. >
Inferring cell type innovations by phylogenetic methods—concepts, methods, and limitations

Multicellular organisms are composed of distinct cell types that have specific roles in the body. Each cell type is a product of two kinds of historical processes-development and evolution. Although the concept of a cell type is difficult to define, the cell type concept based on the idea of the core regulatory network (CRN), a gene regulatory network that determines the identity of a cell type, illustrates the essential aspects of the cell type concept. The first step toward elucidating cell type evolution is to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of cell types, or the cell type tree. The sister cell type model assumes that a new cell type evolves through divergence from a multifunctional ancestral cell type, creating tree-like evolutionary relationships between cell types. The process of generating a cell type tree can also be understood as the sequential addition of a new branching point on an ancestral cell differentiation hierarchy in evolution. A cell type tree thus represents an intertwined history of cell type evolution and development. Cell type trees can be reconstructed from high-throughput sequencing data, and the reconstruction of a cell type tree leads to the discovery of genes that are functionally important for a cell type. Although many issues including the lack of cross-species comparisons and the lack of a proper model for cell type evolution remain, the study of the origin of a new cell type using phylogenetic methods offers a promising new research avenue in developmental evolution. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 324B: 653-661, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Optic nerve hypoplasia with posterior pituitary ectopia: male predominance and nonassociation with breech delivery

Abstract PURPOSE: To determine whether posterior pituitary ectopia in children with optic nerve hypoplasia has a male predominance or an increased incidence of breech delivery. METHOD: Retrospective analysis of 12 children with optic nerve hypoplasia and posterior pituitary ectopia. RESULTS: Eleven of 12 patients with posterior pituitary ectopia were boys. No child had a history of breech delivery. Two children had a history of breech positioning but were delivered by cesarean section. CONCLUSION: Posterior pituitary ectopia with optic nerve hypoplasia shows a strong male predominance but no association with breech delivery.
Sri Lanka in the Modern Age. A History, edited by Nira Wickramasinghe

In 2006, the first edition of Nira Wickramasinghe's Sri Lanka in the Modern Age: A History brought ‘a people-centered politics of identity’ (2014: p. xii) into focus, significantly shifting Sri Lan...
Expression of MEK-1 in regulation of αV integrin and E-cadherin of MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Purpose:Expression of MEK-1 was studied by regulating αV integrin and E-cadherin on MCF-7 breast cancer cells.Methods:Using cell transfected techniques site-mutated genes were inserted into MCF-7 cells and made MCF-7 cells containing MEK-1-GFP,Ala 222 MEK-1-GFP,Asp 222 MEK-1-GFP ,respectively. These cells were tested with immunoblot analysis and immunofluoresence technique to determined the change of MEK-1 expression and location of MEK-1 in cells.Results:Deactivated Ala 222 MEK-1-GFP inhibited the activity of MAPK,active Asp 222 MEK-1-GFP increased the activity of MAPK. Ala 222 MEK-1-GFP increased the expression of E-cadherin,did not increase the expression of αV integrin and inhibited FAK phosphorylation. MEK-1-GFP and Asp 222 MEK-1-GFP did not affect the expression of E-cadherin ,but upregulated the expression of αV integrin,increased FAK phosphorylation.Conclusions:MEK-1 regulated the expression of αV integrin and E-cadherin,FAK is the key factor that induced signal pathway of αV integrin. It is possible that MEK-1 regulated FAK phosphorglation by regulating expression of αV integrin and E-cadherin.
Design and Implementation of General RTU Based on Embedded Internet

Cooperation of different industry supervisor systems seamlessly and transparently through Internet is a main trend in industry control systems. Low communication speed, inconsistent protocol and closed system are the primary reasons hindering the development of traditional RTU. Analyzing embedded Internet technology and IEC 60870-5-104 protocol, we propose a general RTU design framework—Webit-GRTU. Application example validates that the design is an effective way for traditional RTU to upgrade.
A study on status and standards of human resources of vaccination clinics in Zhejiang Province

Objective To learn the status of human resources of vaccination clinics in Zhejiang province and to give suggestions for optimizing the allocation. Methods Investigation and the focus group interview were conducted in Zhejiang Province to learn the configuration standards in vaccination clinics. Results The mean number who attended the immunization work every vaccination day in those clinics was five. The number of staff in each clinic differed from county to county but all reached 0. 9 persons serving for 10,000 residents. There should not be less than four persons in each vaccination clinic theoretically. It should be necessary to increase one vaccination staff in every 50 injection doses of vaccine workload. Conclusion The staff of vaccination clinics is inadequate and unbalanced in Zhejiang Province. We should increase staff numbers according to workload and served population.
The protective role of sex hormones in females and exercise prehabilitation in males on sternotomy-induced cranial hypoperfusion in aortic banded mini-swine

Our findings suggest a median sternotomy may predispose patients, possibly postmenopausal women and sedentary men, to perioperative cerebral ischemia, an increased risk of cardiac surgery-related s...
Overt Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding and Pseudotumor: A Rare Presentation of Cytomegalovirus Infection

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous organism which can infect multiple organs of the body. In an immunocompromised patient, it can have a myriad of gastrointestinal manifestations. We report a case of recurrent hematochezia and concomitant pseudotumor in an AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) patient attributable to CMV infection. A 62-year-old man with a history of AIDS, noncompliant with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), presented with bright red blood per rectum. Index colonoscopy showed presence of multiple ulcers, colonic stenosis, and mass-like appearing lesion. Biopsy confirmed CMV infection and ruled out malignancy. Cessation of dual antiplatelet therapy and compliance with HAART lead to clinical cessation of bleeding and endoscopic healing of ulcers with complete resolution of colon mass on follow-up colonoscopy.
Peritoneal metastases invading the seminal vesicles: Radiologic appearance and outcome of treatment

Abstract Background Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) may be of greatest benefit if all visible evidence of disease is resected. In some male patients the peritoneal metastases within the pelvis are invasive into the seminal vesicles and complete cytoreduction requires resection of these structures. Patients and methods From a prospective database of colorectal and appendiceal cancer patients who had CT evidence of seminal vesicle involvement and then had cytoreduction including resection of the seminal vesicles were reviewed. Their clinical features were tabulated. Results Five patients were identified between ages 52 and 60. Three of 5 were appendiceal mucinous neoplasms and 4 of 5 had complete cytoreduction. Two of the patients are long-term survivors of 120 and 28 months. All patients are impotent and reported no return of sexual function over time. All five patients report normal micturition. Conclusions Resection of the seminal vesicles in a patient with invasion of these structures by peritoneal metastases is possible and should be considered in selected patients. This resection causes impotence but normal urination is to be expected.
Overview and reconstruction of the ASPIRE project's SR01 supersonic parachute test

The Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiments (ASPIRE) project is aimed at developing and exercising a capability for testing supersonic parachutes at Mars-relevant conditions. The initial flights for ASPIRE are targeted as a risk-reduction activity for NASA's upcoming Mars2020 mission. For this effort, two candidate DiskGap-Band (DGB) parachute designs are being tested at Mach number and dynamic pressure conditions relevant to Mars2020. The two parachutes under investigation are a build-to-print version of the DGB used by the Mars Science Laboratory and a strengthened version of this parachute that has the same geometry but differs in materials and construction. Starting in the fall of 2017, the parachutes are being tested at deployment conditions representative of flight at Mars by sounding rockets launched out of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). The first flight test (SR01) of the build-to-print parachute took place on October 4, 2017. During that test, a Terrier-Black Brant sounding rocket delivered a payload containing the parachute pack, the deployment mortar, and the ASPIRE instrumentation suite to a peak altitude of 51 km. As the payload descended back down, an on-board computer calculated an estimate of the dynamic pressure and triggered deployment of the parachute once the targeted test condition was reached. At a Mach number of 1.77 and a dynamic pressure of 453 Pa, the 21.35-m parachute was deployed. The parachute deployed and inflated successfully, producing a peak measured load of 30.95 klbf. The onboard instrumentation suite included a GLN-MAC IMU, a GPS unit, a C-band transponder for radar tracking, three load pins at the parachute triple bridles, and three high-speed/high-resolution cameras trained on the canopy during inflation. In addition, the atmospheric conditions at the time of flight were characterized by means of high-altitude meteorological balloons carrying radiosondes. These data allowed the reconstruction of the test conditions, parachute loads, and parachute aerodynamic performance in flight. The imagery from the onboard cameras will allow the reconstruction of the three-dimensional geometry of the canopy during inflation. This paper describes the SR01 flight test and provides an overview of flight operations, the data acquired during testing, the techniques used for post-flight reconstruction, and the reconstructed performance of the test vehicle and parachute system.
The strength of ice-saturated extraterrestrial rock analogs

Abstract In situ resource utilization (ISRU) activities have been identified by the National Research Council as one of the most important scientific endeavors of the coming decade. The failure of the MUPUS-PEN experiment on Rosetta's Philae lander to penetrate the surface of comet 67P demands knowledge of the mechanical properties of extraterrestrial materials in such environments. To such an end we conducted laboratory strength measurements at cryogenic conditions of two terrestrial rocks, Bishop tuff and Indiana limestone as potential cometary and asteroid analogs, respectively. We measured failure strength of dried and fully saturated samples under constant displacement rate compressional loading at temperatures of 77 K–295 K and (for most) confining pressure of 5 MPa. The strength of saturated samples increased dramatically with decreasing temperature below the ice point: saturated limestone from 30 MPa at 295 K to >200 MPa at 150 K and below, and saturated tuff from 26 MPa at 240 K to 160 MPa at 150 K. Some ductility or distributed fracturing was evident in both saturated rock types above 150 K. The saturated tuff was stronger than pure ice at all conditions but its transition from brittle to ductile deformation with temperature closely paralleled that of ice. The results of this study will be useful to future sample retrieval missions or ISRU maneuvers. The fully saturated state of our samples and use of Bishop tuff as an unconsolidated cometary analog likely means our results are upper estimates for substrates we may encounter in our solar system. Pending corroboration and refinement of these preliminary measurements, the large increase in compressive strength we observed in the saturated materials at cryogenic temperatures suggests that future missions must prepare technology with the energetic and mechanical capability to penetrate very hard substrates.
Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities

Given the heterogeneous nature of the learning disabled population, it should come as no surprise that there is a vast array of techniques and materials available for teaching children, adolescents, and adults with learning disabilities. The program design, the materials used, and the specific techniques chosen should depend on each individual’s age and unique educational needs.
Violence among Intimates

This chapter will describe how domestic violence is distributed in various populations, identify its demographic features, and distinguish its etiology, insofar as this is possible, by comparing violent with nonviolent groups. Within certain limits, we identify the clinical components and sequelae of the problem, set them in a social context that makes them intelligible, and ask if there are antecedent problems or risk factors that community interventions should target.
Assessment of Impacts to Health, Safety, and Environment in the Context of Materials Processing and Related Public Policy

Industrial processes and products may have severe impacts on safety, health, and environment. Therefore, they are of importance and interest to producers, product users, policy makers, researchers, and the general public. Health, safety, and environmental assessments provide information to support the management of these impacts.
Three new Drosophila markers of intracellular membranes

The need for cellular markers that permit a quick and accurate evaluation of a protein's subcellular localization has increased with the surge of new data generated by the Drosophila genome project. In this report, we present three ubiquitously expressed Drosophila transgenes that expressed a green fluorescent protein variant (enhanced yellow fluorescent protein) that has been targeted to different intracellular membrane targets: the Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, and endoplasmic reticulum. These markers serve as an internal standard for characterizing a protein's subcellular localization or as a means of tracking the dynamics of intracellular organelles during normal or abnormal cellular or developmental processes. We have also examined fixation artifacts using these constructs to illustrate the effects that fixation and permeabilization have on intracellular membrane organization.
Direct Evidence for Sterol Carrier Protein-2 (SCP-2) Participation in ACTH Stimulated Steroidogenesis in Isolated Adrenal Cells

Intact, dispersed adrenal fasiculata cells were fused with liposomal entrapped anti-sterol carrier protein-2 IgG, washed and subsequently exposed to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). The steroidogenic response (measured as corticosterone production) of these cells was inhibited by 45–60%, compared to cells fused with liposomally entrapped non-immune IgG or buffer. Furthermore, the degree of inhibition was shown to be dependent on the amount of antibody utilized. Fusion of cells with liposomally entrapped antibody to fatty acid binding protein (FABP) had no effect on ACTH-induced steroidogenesis. The incorporation of liposomal SCP-2 into adrenal fasiculata cells pre-treated with affinity purified anti-SCP-2 IgG resulted in a concentration dependent release of the inhibition of ACTH-induced steroidogenesis caused by the antibody. It was also demonstrated indirectly that the fusion of liposomal anti-SCP-2 IgG had no effect on ACTH binding to adrenal cells. Finally, cells treated with liposomal anti-SCP-2 IgG and subsequently exposed to ACTH in the presence of aminoglutethimide, accumulated unesterified cholesterol in their cytoplasmic lipid inclusion droplets. These results, taken together, establish that an important physiological function for SCP-2 in adrenal cells is the transfer of unesterified cholesterol from the cytoplasmic lipid inclusion droplets to mitochondria. This translocation is generally considered to be the rate-limiting step in steroid hormone biosynthesis.
Model combining genomic and clinical factors to predict clinical benefit from PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors for advanced UC.

4539Background: Tumor mutational burden is associated with response to PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors in advanced UC. We explored the ability of copy-number variants (CNVs) and specific genomic alterations t...
Variation in postoperative narcotic prescribing after pediatric appendectomy

Abstract Background Overuse of prescription opioids by both pediatric and adult patients has garnered significant attention in recent years. Educational interventions have been shown to decrease prescription opioids post-operatively in the adult population; similar data have not previously been reported in pediatrics. Methods Educational interventions included staff education, institution of opioid standardization protocol, and distribution of educational materials to families. Chart review was performed pre- and post-intervention to compare prescribing practices following appendectomy in patients less than 19 years of age. Follow-up phone calls were used to assess patient satisfaction and pain control. Results Three hundred thirteen cases were identified pre-intervention [PRE] and compared to 119 cases postintervention [POST]. 84.3% of patients were given a prescription for opioids at time of discharge in the PRE cohort compared to 6.7% (p Conclusion Low-fidelity educational interventions and creation of a standardized pathway is an effective tool to reduce opioid prescribing and promote alternative means of analgesia without an increase in readmissions or presentation for pain. Level of Evidence III
The floating shoulder

The floating shoulder refers to a subset of complex shoulder injuries that typically occur in the setting of high-energy trauma. Identification of the full extent of complex shoulder injuries with computed tomography may have critical implications in patient management. The goals of this article are to review the anatomy, definition, imaging evaluation, and treatment of floating shoulder injuries.
At the crossroads of oral health inequities and precision public health.

OBJECTIVES This paper reviews the precision public health literature pertaining to oral health, identifies possible threats that could inadvertently increase health inequities, and proposes potential opportunities that precision public health could utilize to reduce oral health inequities. METHODS The health sciences literature was reviewed and supplemented with new data to identify important issues relating to precision medicine, precision oral health, precision public health, and health equity. RESULTS Examples from general health and oral health were provided to illustrate salient concepts. CONCLUSIONS Future precision public health should utilize multifactorial, multi-level conceptual frameworks and conceptual causal models with upstream social determinants and downstream health effects, as well as a proportionate universalism perspective; and proper analytic methods, including sufficient sample sizes, appropriate statistical competitors, health disparity indices, causal modeling, and internal and external validation.
Simple Algorithms for Dueling Bandits

In this paper, we present simple algorithms for Dueling Bandits. We prove that the algorithms have regret bounds for time horizon T of order O(T^rho ) with 1/2 <= rho <= 3/4, which importantly do not depend on any preference gap between actions, Delta. Dueling Bandits is an important extension of the Multi-Armed Bandit problem, in which the algorithm must select two actions at a time and only receives binary feedback for the duel outcome. This is analogous to comparisons in which the rater can only provide yes/no or better/worse type responses. We compare our simple algorithms to the current state-of-the-art for Dueling Bandits, ISS and DTS, discussing complexity and regret upper bounds, and conducting experiments on synthetic data that demonstrate their regret performance, which in some cases exceeds state-of-the-art.
Abstract 3455: TNFAIP8 increases drug resistance and steatosis in liver cancer by inducing autophagy

Tumor necrosis factor-α-inducible protein 8 (TNFAIP8) is a TNF-α inducible anti-apoptotic protein which facilitates tumor growth and progression in several cancers. The molecular mechanisms how TNFAIP8 modulates the progression of liver cancer remain elusive. The present study investigated the role of TNFAIP8 in the liver cancer cell growth, drug resistance/survival and cell steatosis. Tissue microarray data from patients demonstrated an increased expression of TNFAIP8 protein during development of different stages of liver cancer compared with normal liver tissues. To test the correlation between TNFAIP8 expression and liver cancer progression, we transiently/stably expressed TNFAIP8 protein in liver cancer cell lines. Expression of TNFAIP8 in liver cancer cells HepG2 and SK-Hep1 increased both cell growth/survival and drug resistance against anti-liver cancer drugs sorafenib and regorafenib by inhibition of apoptosis. In addition, TNFAIP8 knockdown sensitized tumor cell lines to sorafenib and regorafenib. Expression of TNFAIP8 modulates AKT/mTOR pathway and induced autophagy and thus increased drug resistance. Moreover, TNFAIP8 induced liver cancer cell steatosis by increasing the expression of L-FABP1, SCD1, ACC, and PPARγ proteins which involved in lipid synthesis. We also demonstrate that chronic EtOH induced steatosis in mice liver was associated with increased TNFAIP8 expression and autophagy suggesting that TNFAIP8 mediate EtOH induced steatosis. In addition, increased expression of TNFAIP8 and hepatic steatosis was observed in patients with a history of alcohol use compared with no history of alcohol use. Taken together our data suggested that TNFAIP8 increases drug resistance/survival, EtOH-induced cell steatosis and early liver cancer development by the induction of autophagy. Citation Format: Suresh Niture, Maxwell A. Gyamfi, Deepak Kumar. TNFAIP8 increases drug resistance and steatosis in liver cancer by inducing autophagy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3455.
Can direct address affect user engagement with chatbots embodied in physical spaces

This paper investigates how direct addressing the user, such as using a vocative, affects the user experience with chatbots embodied in an interactive space context. Direct addressing increases user engagement in presentations and in performing arts, and we investigated its use in an artwork where visitors ask questions to three chatbots using interactive text projected on a table surface. The study comprised two versions of the system; the first was neutral while the second employed direct address in the answers from the chatbots. We logged 1188 interaction sessions with the exhibit and conducted observational studies and semi-structured interviews with 92 visitors in the wild. The analysis of the visitor's interactions showed that direct address had almost no direct effect on user engagement regarding what kind of questions were asked. The field study brought richer perspectives on how visitors interact with chatbots and their reported experiences with the two versions. Based on our findings we provide general recommendations for the design of chatbots in public spaces.
Modeling Phytoplankton Movement and Fitness in Lakes

The majority of organisms on Earth are ectothermic, and their body temperatures largely depend on the surrounding environmental conditions. Body temperature strongly affects fitness. In a spatially variable environment, movement can allow an ectothermic organism to change their body temperature. This project explores body temperature and movement in the context of phytoplankton fitness within lake environments. By modeling movement strategies using lake thermal profile data, we infer the range of temperatures phytoplankton experience and the resulting effect on fitness.
The UCEF Approach to Tool Integration for HLA Co-Simulations

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are complex systems that require expertise from multiple domains in their design, implementation, and validation. One cost-effective technique for validation of CPS is the integration of two or more domain-specific simulators into a joint simulation called a co-simulation. Standards such as the High Level Architecture (HLA) have been developed in part to simplify the co-simulation development process. However, CPS co-simulation still requires significant expertise, especially when the goal is the integration of a new domain-specific tool or simulator. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a software platform called the Universal CPS Environment for Federation (UCEF) to simplify the development of CPS co-simulations. UCEF provides two approaches to integrate tools and simulators. The first approach is a Java library called the UCEF Gateway that limits the development effort to a list of callback functions in a well-defined simulation life cycle. The second approach is a Representational State Transfer (REST) server developed using the gateway for applications that can implement a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP) client. This paper describes how both approaches are implemented to expedite the integration of new domain-specific tools and simulators.
Reply to Ravignani and Kotz: Physical impulses from upper-limb movements impact the respiratory–vocal system

The commentary by Ravignani and Kotz (1) affords us an opportunity to clarify the interpretation of our recent findings (2). We showed that “although listeners could only hear and not see the vocalizer, they were able to completely synchronize their own rhythmic wrist or arm movement with the movement of the vocalizer which they perceived in the voice acoustics” (ref. 2, p. 11364). We interpreted these results as “corroborat[ing] recent evidence suggesting that the human voice is constrained by bodily tensioning affecting the respiratory–vocal system” (ref. 2, p. 11364). Thus, we were surprised to read that Ravignani and Kotz believed that we “attribute[d] this rhythmicity [of the speaker’s voice] to voice modulation” (1). This is a … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: w.pouw{at}psych.ru.nl. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Temporal patterns of suicide and circulatory system disease-related mortality are inversely correlated in several countries.

Nearly 800,000 suicides occur worldwide annually and suicide rates are increasing faster than population growth. Unfortunately, the pathophysiology of suicide remains poorly understood, which has hindered suicide prevention efforts. However, mechanistic clues may be found by studying effects of seasonality on suicide and other mortality causes. Suicides tend to peak in spring-summer periods and nadir in fall-winter periods while circulatory system disease-related mortality tends to exhibit the opposite temporal trends. This study aimed to determine for the first time whether monthly temporal cross-correlations exist between suicide and circulatory system disease-related mortality at the population level. If so and if common biological factors moderate risks for both mortality types, such factors may be discoverable and utilized to improve suicide prevention. We conducted time series analyses of monthly mortality data from northern (England and Wales, South Korea, United States) and southern (Australia, Brazil) hemisphere countries during the period 2009–2018 (N = 41.8 million all-cause mortality cases). We used a Poisson regression variant of the standard cosinor model to determine peak months of mortality. We also estimated cross-correlations between monthly mortality counts from suicide and from circulatory system diseases. Suicide and circulatory disease-related mortality temporal patterns were negatively correlated in Australia (− 0.32), Brazil (− 0.57), South Korea (− 0.32), and in the United States (− 0.66), but no temporal correlation was discernable in England and Wales. The negative temporal cross-correlations between these mortality types we found in 4 of 5 countries studied suggest that seasonal factors broadly and inversely moderate risks for circulatory disease-related mortality and suicide, but not in all regions, indicating that the effect is not uniform. Since the seasonal factors of temperature and light exert opposite effects on suicide and circulatory disease-related mortality in several countries, we propose that physiologically-adaptive circulatory system responses to heat and light may increase risk for suicide and should be studied to determine whether they affect suicide risk. For example, heat and light increase production and release of the bioactive gas nitric oxide and reduce circulatory system disease by relaxing blood vessel tone, while elevated nitric oxide levels are associated with suicidal behavior, inverse effects that parallel the inverse temporal mortality patterns we detected.
The microwave auditory effect

The microwave auditory effect has been widely recognized as one of the most interesting and significant biological phenomena from microwave exposure. The hearing of pulsed microwaves is a unique exception to the airborne or bone-conducted sound energy, normally encountered in human auditory perception. This chapter describes the research studies leading to scientific documentation that absorption of a single microwave pulse impinging on the head may be perceived as an acoustic zip, click, or knocking sound, depending on the incident microwave power. A train of microwave pulses to the head may be sensed as an audible buzz, chirp, or tone by humans. It discusses the neurophysiological, psychophysical, and behavioral observations from laboratory studies involving humans and animals as subjects. The objective is to present what is scientifically known about the microwave auditory effect.
Magnetic resonance imaging in children with implants

As access to MRI in pediatrics increases, the radiologist needs to become acquainted with the basic principles of MRI safety. As part of the image acquisition, the static magnetic field, gradient system, and the radiofrequency transmit-receive coil interact with medical and non-medical implants and can result in serious injury. The main stage of risk triage is based on the determination of whether the implant is MRI-safe, conditional, unsafe or unknown. Guiding principles include the strict adherence to manufacturer specifications for MRI-conditional implants and the assumption that an unknown implant is MR-unsafe. In this article we review considerations for common medical implants encountered in pediatrics including ventriculoperitoneal shunts, orthopedic hardware, orthodontic hardware, pacemakers, vascular stents, vagal nerve stimulators and cochlear implants. Finally, we review a set of high-yield considerations, including the non-communicative patient (sedated or non-verbal), susceptibility artifacts from unclear source, and the approach to an unknown implant.
Measuring the Shape of Urban Areas

Criteria are identified for a measure of shape compactness that would be appropriate for urban areas. A variety of types of measures that have been used for the shape of geographic areas are evaluated. The proximity index is selected. This is based on the mean distance from all points in the urban area to the Central Business District (CBD). The index is the ratio of the mean distance to the center of a circle having the same area as the urban area to the mean distance to the CBD for the urban area. The index ranges from 0 (least compact) to 1 (for a circular area). Values of the proximity index are calculated for 59 large urban areas in the United States in 2010 that had been defined using census tracts. Examination of the values and lists of the most compact and least compact urban areas and the maps illustrating the shapes of those areas shows the proximity index to be a reasonable measure of urban area shape.
Food animal gastroenterology case

Cecal torsions are becoming more and more common. They appear to be related to high grain diets. The following is a case report of such an incidence, that occurred in a high production, Nebraskan, dairy herd.
Non-Canonical Projections from Ventral CA1 and Subicular Complex to CA3 Augments the Feedforward Hippocampal Trisynaptic Pathway

Abstract The hippocampal formation is well documented as having a feedforward, unidirectional circuit organization termed the trisynaptic pathway. This circuit organization exists along the septotemporal axis of the hippocampal formation, but the circuit connectivity across septal to temporal regions is less well described. The emergence of viral-genetic mapping techniques enhances our ability to determine the detailed complexity of hippocampal formation circuitry. In earlier work, we mapped a subiculum back-projection to CA1 prompted by the discovery of theta wave back-propagation from the subiculum to CA1 and CA3. We reason that this circuitry may represent multiple extended non-canonical pathways involving the subicular complex and hippocampal subregions CA1 and CA3. In the present study, multiple retrograde viral tracing approaches produced robust mapping results, which supports this prediction. We find significant non-canonical synaptic inputs to dorsal hippocampal CA3 from ventral CA1, perirhinal cortex, and the subicular complex. Thus, CA1 inputs to CA3 run opposite the trisynaptic pathway and in a temporal to septal direction. Our retrograde viral tracing results are confirmed by anterograde-directed viral mapping of projections from input mapped regions to hippocampal dorsal CA3. Together, our data provide a circuit foundation to explore novel functional roles contributed by these non-canonical hippocampal circuit connections to hippocampal dynamics and behavior.
FUNDAMENTALS OF A STORED LIQUEFIED GAS INFLATOR

A systematic study of the principles of a novel airbag inflator type--a stored liquefied gas inflator--was performed by means of tank tests and high-speed cinematography. The new inflator is intended primarily for side-impact airbags and is based on the rapid flashing of liquefied carbon dioxide. The new approach leads to a simple, inexpensive, environmentally attractive, and safe device. Experiments were performed at different initial vessel and tank conditions and allowed the identification of the dominant physical phenomena in the components of the system, the definition of the design parameters, and the assessment of the performance. The optimal storage pressure was determined and the inflator's behavior was observed to depend strongly on ambient temperature. The addition of small amounts of various organic liquids to the liquefied carbon dioxide led to a significant increase in performance. The potential of the novel inflator was assessed, and suggestions to increase its performance were formulated.
What's Cognitive About Rhetoric? (Chapter 1 of the Rhetorical Mind)

This is a draft of chapter 1 of the Rhetorical Mind, a book project providing an answer to the question: What does it mean to say that Homo sapiens are "rhetorical beings"? Its method is to approach an answer by addressing several related questions, the first of which, and the topic of this working paper, is "What is cognitive about rhetoric?" In this paper, I present two stories, the first one charts the phylogeny of Homo rhetoricus; the second the ontogeny of a singular rhetorical being. The principal argument emerging from these two stories is that cultures are products of cognition and, more controversially, that hominid cultures cause language to emerge rather than language causing cultures to emerge. Symbols and "webs of symbols" by themselves are not what turned Homo sapiens into H. rhetoricus, or what turn one particular baby into a great orator. It is conscious experiences in perception and action, joint attention, episodic memory, mental imagery, metacognition, pretense, and empathy -- all processes facilitated by greater executive control over body movement and expression, leading to greater interest in other minds that makes us rhetorical beings. Our capacity for mimesis -- the capacity to represent experiences and states-of-affairs in iconic and indexical formats under strict bodily control -- molds later symbolic thought and action. Culture is not the initial product of language, language is the product of a particular manifestation of Mimetic Culture that eventually gives rise to Rhetorical Culture, or cultures defined by symbolic action and social ontology.
Glycogen metabolism in quail embryo muscle. The role of the glycogenin primer and the intermediate proglycogen.

Cultured quail embryo muscle has proven to be an excellent model system for studying the synthesis of macromolecular glycogen from, and its degradation to, glycogenin, the autocatalytic, self-glucosylating primer for glycogen synthesis. We recently demonstrated that proglycogen, a low-Mr form of glycogen, is an intermediate in the synthesis. Here we show that proglycogen also functions as an intermediate in macroglycogen degradation and, in one set of circumstances, represents an arrest point in glycogen breakdown, which does not continue to glycogenin. We suggest that in the nutritionally dependent turnover of glycogen in tissues, the molecules cycle between proglycogen and macromolecular glycogen and are not normally degraded to glycogenin. Nevertheless, when this does happen, the released glycogenin is active, capable of re-initiating glycogen synthesis. Under culture conditions where the conversion of proglycogen into glycogenin does take place, the intermediates lying between form a discrete rather than a continuous series, suggestive of a cluster structure for proglycogen and indicating that breakdown is stepwise. Evidence of post-translational modification of glycogenin was obtained by the finding that, in glycogen from cultured muscle, glycogenin is phosphorylated.
MARKETING INSTITUTIONS IN INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY MARKETS

International markets for the majority of subsidies to promote exports or tariffs and agricultural commodities are extremely com- quotas to restrict trade; they can curtail plex. They include public and private traders production by the use of acreage controls along with influences from domestic and in- or increase it by price supports; they can ternational government policies. In recent also influence price by direct involvement years, the United States has experienced a in the price negotiations between exporters decline in the market share in two of its and importers (that is, by state trading)" major agricultural exports-rice and wheat. (Schmitz et al., p. 23). However, in addition, For example, at one time the United States the private trade is a key player along with had roughly 45 percent of the world wheat government marketing boards. To illustrate market; but, by the end of 1985, its share a contrast, the Canadian Wheat Board is a had dropped below 40 percent. Also, in terms producer marketing board and the sole seller of rice, the United States market share has of Canadian wheat for the export market; its dropped from 25 percent to below 20 per- sales to the Soviet Union are examples of cent. state trading. In the United States, a few major The question arises as to whether the loss private grain companies export the largest in the market share has anything to do with portion of United States grain. A sale by one marketing institutions or whether this market of these private firms to the Soviet Union share decline has more to do with govern- would be viewed as a private-to-government ment policy and agricultural productivity. I sale. In the United States, while cooperatives will compare and contrast the United States play a major role at the farm-collection level, competitive position in both import and ex- they influence less than 20 percent of wheat port markets. I first compare the wheat and exports. Once wheat leaves the country elrice markets where clearly southern agricul- evator, the majority of the wheat becomes ture has a major stake. A major difference in the product of multinational grain compathese markets is that a lively futures market nies exists for wheat, while such is absent in the The degree to which governments and rice trade. An analysis of the cotton market boards are involed in international pricing is also presented. Then, certain imported of grains has been changing. Canada and Auscommodities which are of crucial importance tralia have been state traders since the into southern agriculture are discussed. I make trae a a state trader brief comments on sugar and the importation terwar period; Argentina was a state trader of fresh winter vegetables. Sugar is clearly a until the mid-1970s but now relies on the concern for Texas and Louisiana, while fresh private trade; and the United States, the Euwinter vegetables are of major concern to ropean Community (EC), and Thailand rly Florida.