cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Environmental Chemistry and Chemical Ecology of “Green Tide” Seaweed Blooms

Green tides are large growths or accumulations of green seaweeds that have been increasing in magnitude and frequency around the world. Because green tides consist of vast biomasses of algae in a limited area and are often seasonal or episodic, they go through periods of rapid growth in which they take up large amounts of nutrients and dissolved gases and generate bioactive natural products that may be stored in the plants, released into the environment, or broken down during decomposition. As a result of the use and production of inorganic and organic compounds, the algae in these blooms can have detrimental impacts on other organisms. Here, we review some of the effects that green tides have on the chemistry of seawater and the effects of the natural products that they produce. As blooms are developing and expanding, algae in green tides take up inorganic nutrients, such as nitrate and ortho-phosphate, which can limit their availability to other photosynthetic organisms. Their uptake of dissolved inorganic carbon for use in photosynthesis can cause localized spikes in the pH of seawater during the day with concomitant drops in the pH at night when the algae are respiring. Many of the algae that form green-tide blooms produce allelopathic compounds, which are metabolites that affect other species. The best documented allelopathic compounds include dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), dopamine, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their breakdown products. DMSP and dopamine are involved in defenses against herbivores. Dopamine and ROS are released into seawater where they can be allelopathic or toxic to other organisms. Thus, these macroalgal blooms can have harmful effects on nearby organisms by altering concentrations of nutrients and dissolved gas in seawater and by producing and releasing allelopathic or toxic compounds.
A history of you, me, and humanity: mitochondrial DNA in anthropological research

Within genetic anthropology, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has garnered a prominent if not enduring place within the anthropological toolkit. MtDNA has provided new and innovative perspectives on the emergence and dispersal of our species, interactions with extinct human species, and illuminated relationships between human groups. In this paper, I provide a brief overview of the major findings ascertained from mtDNA about human origins, human dispersal across the globe, interactions with other hominin species, and the more recent uses of mtDNA in direct to consumer ancestry tests. Relative to nuclear DNA, mtDNA is a small section of the genome and due to its inheritance pattern provides a limited resolution of population history and an individual’s genetic ancestry. Consequently, some scholars dismiss mtDNA as insignificant due to the limited inferences that may be made using the locus. Regardless, mtDNA provides some useful insights to understanding how social, cultural, and environmental factors have shaped patterns of genetic variability. Furthermore, with regard to the experiences of historically marginalized groups, in particular those of African descent throughout the Americas, mtDNA has the potential to fill gaps in knowledge that would otherwise remain unknown. Within anthropological sciences, the value of this locus for understanding human experience is maximized when contextualized with complementary lines of evidence.
Diet Assessment Methods in the Nurses' Health Studies and Contribution to Evidence-Based Nutritional Policies and Guidelines

Objectives. To review the contribution of the Nurses’ Health Studies (NHSs) to diet assessment methods and evidence-based nutritional policies and guidelines.Methods. We performed a narrative review of the publications of the NHS and NHS II between 1976 and 2016.Results. Through periodic assessment of diet by validated dietary questionnaires over 40 years, the NHSs have identified dietary determinants of diseases such as breast and other cancers; obesity; type 2 diabetes; cardiovascular, respiratory, and eye diseases; and neurodegenerative and mental health disorders. Nutritional biomarkers were assessed using blood, urine, and toenail samples. Robust findings, from the NHSs, together with evidence from other large cohorts and randomized dietary intervention trials, have contributed to the evidence base for developing dietary guidelines and nutritional policies to reduce intakes of trans fat, saturated fat, sugar-sweetened beverages, red and processed meats, and refined carbohydrates while promoting highe...
Tracks of Time

Picture yourself to be an atom in a crystal. Life would be monotonous and claustrophobic, with constant jostling by your neighbors, just enough to keep you as warm as they are. Occasionally, something really exciting would occur if you happen to be near a uranium atom that spontaneously fissions, so that you and many of your neighbors are given sudden short-distance rides like those of the atoms sketched in Figure l–8a. Between such events monotony takes over again.
Narcolepsy Symptomatology Evolution in a Longitudinal Study of a Cohort of Narcoleptic Family Members (S13.006)

Objective: To study the evolution of narcolepsy symptoms, sleep habits, sleep and mental disorders, in a cohort of narcoleptics and their family members. Background: Narcolepsy is a rare sleep disorder affecting around 0.04[percnt] of the general population. Many studies point to a genetic component in the disease, reporting 8[percnt] to 12[percnt] of individuals with narcolepsy having a close relative with the disease. Methods: A cohort of 4039 family members of 358 narcoleptics was interviewed twice, between 2011 and 2015, with the Sleep-EVAL system. A control group of 178 spouses and roommates was also interviewed twice. Results: The incidence of narcolepsy among family members was 1.2[percnt]. At follow-up, 192 family members were deceased and 54 couldn’t be interviewed due to debilitating or terminal disease. Half of the family members reported moderate to severe sleepiness at follow-up. Of them, 34.2[percnt] reported an increase in their sleepiness. Predicting factors of excessive sleepiness at follow up were being a family member (AOR: 5.8 to 10.2), cataplexy-like symptoms (AOR: 1.7), and presence of a mental disorder (AOR: 1.6). 12.2[percnt] reported to have experienced sleep paralysis at the initial interview. At follow-up, 57[percnt] of the family members reported an increase in frequency in sleep paralysis, while a decrease was reported by 19[percnt] of the cases. The predictors of developing narcolepsy at follow-up were presence of sleep paralysis at the first interview (AOR: 4.73) and presence of excessive sleepiness (AOR: 4.95). Conclusions: Among family members of narcoleptic individuals there is a high risk of narcolepsy. Additionally, excessive sleepiness is more often chronic and increases in severity over time. Study Supported by: a grant from NIH (R01NS044199), the Arrillaga Foundation and unrestricted educational grant from Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Disclosure: Dr. Ohayon has received personal compensation for activities with Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Inc.
Analysis of ground vibrations induced by pile driving and a comparison of vibration prediction methods

A project was conducted to collect ground vibration data while driving three piles, one square concrete pile and two steel H-piles, in Mobile, AL. The vibration data were analysed in several ways t...
Fermionic Characters and Arbitrary Highest-Weight Integrable -Modules

This paper contains the generalization of the Feigin-Stoyanovsky construction to all integrable Open image in new window -modules. We give formulas for the q-characters of any highest-weight integrable module of Open image in new window as a linear combination of the fermionic q-characters of the fusion products of a special set of integrable modules. The coefficients in the sum are the entries of the inverse matrix of generalized Kostka polynomials in q −1. We prove the conjecture of Feigin and Loktev regarding the q-multiplicities of irreducible modules in the graded tensor product of rectangular highest weight-modules in the case of Open image in new window . We also give the fermionic formulas for the q-characters of the (non-level-restricted) fusion products of rectangular highest-weight integrable Open image in new window -modules.
Time‐related changes in firing rates are influenced by recruitment threshold and twitch force potentiation in the first dorsal interosseous

NEW FINDINGS What is the central question of this study? The influences of motor unit recruitment threshold and twitch force potentiation on the changes in firing rates during steady-force muscular contractions are not well understood. What is the main finding and its importance? The behaviour of motor units during steady force was influenced by recruitment threshold, such that firing rates decreased for lower-threshold motor units but increased for higher-threshold motor units. In addition, individuals with greater changes in firing rates possessed greater twitch force potentiation. There are contradictory reports regarding changes in motor unit firing rates during steady-force contractions. Inconsistencies are likely to be the result of previous studies disregarding motor unit recruitment thresholds and not examining firing rates on a subject-by-subject basis. It is hypothesized that firing rates are manipulated by twitch force potentiation during contractions. Therefore, in this study we examined time-related changes in firing rates at steady force in relationship to motor unit recruitment threshold in the first dorsal interosseous and the influence of twitch force potentiation on such changes in young versus aged individuals. Subjects performed a 12 s steady-force contraction at 50% maximal voluntary contraction, with evoked twitches before and after the contraction to quantify potentiation. Firing rates, in relationship to recruitment thresholds, were determined at the beginning, middle and end of the steady force. There were no firing rate changes for aged individuals. For the young, firing rates decreased slightly for lower-threshold motor units but increased for higher-threshold motor units. Twitch force potentiation was greater for young than aged subjects, and changes in firing rates were correlated with twitch force potentiation. Thus, individuals with greater increases in firing rates of higher-threshold motor units and decreases in lower-threshold motor units possessed greater twitch force potentiation. Overall, changes in firing rates during brief steady-force contractions are dependent on recruitment threshold and explained in part by twitch force potentiation. Given that firing rate changes were measured in relationship to recruitment threshold, this study illustrates a more complete view of firing rate changes during steady-force contractions.
SEASONAL ABUNDANCE AND DISPERSION PATTERNS OF DAMSEL BUGS (HEMIPTERA: NABIDAE) IN ALABAMA AND FLORIDA SOYBEAN FIELDS

Seasonal abundance and dispersion characteristics of a multiple-species guild of adult and nymphal damsel bugs were determined for soybean fields located in Alabama and Florida. Damsel bugs were pr...
Fault ride through strategy of inverter-interfaced microgrids embedded in distributed network considering fault current management

Abstract This paper presents a fault ride through (FRT) strategy specific for a microgrid (MG) with an inverter-based interface (IB-MG) to maintain power exchange with distribution networks during network faults or disturbances. The fault current injected by IB-MG is controlled by its back-to-back converter interface. Besides guaranteeing the power quality of local loads in MGs during faults, the proposed IB-MG FRT could realize the fault current management (FCM) ability – instead of using a fault current limiter – to maintain the short circuit current level in a dense-load network. As the traditional three-phase FRT techniques conducted on the double synchronous reference frame are no longer applicable on IB-MG FRT, especially for unbalanced faults, a newly developed reference current calculation method conducted on the stationary reference frame is adopted and modified. By changing the six control variables – amplitudes and phases of the three-phase currents – based on the information of the fault voltages and the fault currents from the host network, IB-MG FRT could achieve multiple effects: (1) controlling instantaneous energy flow between the MG and the distribution network; (2) limiting the short-circuit current increase; (3) improving the MG system power quality. The application range of the proposed FRT strategy is also discussed. A 27 kV distributed network connected with a 5 MW IB-MG system was built in the MATLAB/Simulink software environment and the proposed IB-MG FRT strategy was demonstrated under the different unbalanced fault scenarios.
Ultrathin Cobalt Oxide Overlayer Promotes Catalytic Activity of Cobalt Nitride for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays a crucial role in various energy devices such as proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and metal–air batteries. Owing to the scarcity of the current state-of-the-art Pt-based catalysts, cost-effective Pt-free materials such as transition metal nitrides and their derivatives have gained overwhelming interest as alternatives. In particular, cobalt nitride (CoN) has demonstrated a reasonably high ORR activity. However, the nature of its active phase still remains elusive. Here, we employ density functional theory calculations to study the surface reactivity of rocksalt (RS) and zincblend (ZB) cobalt nitride. The performances of the catalysts terminated by the facets of (100), (110), and (111) are studied for the ORR. We demonstrate that the cobalt nitride surface is highly susceptible to oxidation under ORR conditions. The as-formed oxide overlayer on the facets of CoNRS(100) and CoNZB(110) presents a significant promotional effect in reducing the ORR overpote...
Anisotropic tensile and actuation properties of NiTi fabricated with selective laser melting

Abstract This study evaluates the anisotropic tensile properties of Ni50.1Ti49.9 (in at%) components fabricated using an additive manufacturing (AM) process of selective laser melting (SLM). Dog-bone shaped tensile specimens were fabricated in three orthogonal building orientations (i.e., horizontal, edge, and vertical) with two different scanning strategies (i.e., alternating x/y and alternating in ± 45° to the x-axis). Next, the samples were subjected to tensile testing until failure, shape memory effect tests and thermal cycling under constant tensile stresses up to 500 MPa. Their failure surfaces were analyzed for possible microstructural defects. It was revealed that the build orientation and scanning strategy affect the texture/microstructure, and hence the failure stress, ductility, shape memory effect, and functional stability. Samples fabricated in the horizontal orientation with alternating x/y scanning strategy had the highest ultimate tensile strength (606 MPa) and elongation (6.8%) with the strain recovery of 3.54% after 4 shape memory effect cycles. At stress levels less than or equal to 200 MPa, these samples had the actuation strain greater than 3.8% without accumulation of noticeable residual strain. It was observed that the scanning strategy of alternating in ± 45° result in degraded mechanical and shape memory response, particularly in horizontal and edge samples.
Electric Vehicle Fast Charger Planning for Metropolitan Planning Organizations: Adapting to Changing Markets and Vehicle Technology

Presented is a tool to estimate fast charger demand and sample results on a current and future battery electric vehicle (BEV) scenario. The results highlight the data and methods needed to plan for fast charger demand. To plan for existing BEVs, origin and destination data are necessary for identifying which traffic is relevant to assess fast-charging demand. Also, as the battery size for BEVs increases, demand shifts from primarily inside metro areas to long-distance corridors outside metro areas. The sample results show the interactions of battery size, frequency of charging, and energy needed per charge. Although energy per charge increases with battery size, overall electricity demand per vehicle decreases with larger batteries.
An HTML Primer

Section 4.1.1 describes the relationships between the most widely used HTML definitions at the time of this writing, HTML Level 2 HTML Level 3 NHTML
Patterns of autoimmunity to nucleoproteins in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

SUMMARY The ANAs described above can be accounted for on the basis of an immune response to just three nucleoprotein structures—the nucleosome, the U1 snRNP, and the Ro particle. When these nucleoproteins are looked at in turn, the following picture emerges. The nucleosome is identified by both anti-histone and anti-DNA antibodies. Anti-histone H1 and anti-histone H2B antibodies predominate and tend to occur together. They, as well as the anti-DNA antibodies with which they appear to be linked, recognize external features of the intact nucleosome. The U1 snRNP is recognized by both anti-U1 RNP and anti-Sm antibodies. Most so-called anti-U1 RNP antisera actually contain several linked sets of different antibodies that are directed against various polypeptides (68K, A, and C) found on the U1 snRNP. Anti-Sm antibodies are linked to the occurrence of anti-U1 RNP antibodies. The Ro particle is recognized by both anti-La and anti-Ro antibodies, and almost all sera that contain anti-La antibodies also contain anti-Ro antibodies. Thus, it appears that these three nucleoprotein particles become direct focal points for autoimmune responses in SLE. It is difficult to explain such focused responses on the basis of a general defect in immune regulation or spontaneous B-lymphocyte hyperactivity. Rather it appears that these nucleoproteins themselves are directly involved in determining which B-lymphocyte clones become activated. Thus, the simplest rationalization for the patterns with which these autoantibodies occur is to invoke the possibility that the particles themselves are directly triggering autoimmune responses.
Batch Variability in Accelerated-Degradation Testing

This article concerns the development of a new seal to be used in a high-pressure application. The authors were approached for advice on statistical analysis and modeling of the data in order to guide engineering and management decision making.
ESCHERICHIA COLI | Escherichia coli

Escherichia coil is a Gram-negative bacteria that is important as a cause of foodborne illness and as a primary host for recombinant DNA manipulations. Emerging serotypes of E. coli have been noted for their ability to cause severe gastrointestinal disease including death. These serotypes include O157:H7 and O104:H4. The genome of many strains has been determined with evidence for significant rearrangements leading to novel virulent strains.
Assessment of Learning, for Learning, and as Learning in Statistics Education

Assessing student learning of statistics poses unique challenges to mathematics teachers at the elementary and secondary level. This chapter describes some guiding principles for developing or selecting assessment items, building on general pillars of good assessment practice as well as important features of the discipline of statistics. The chapter concludes with some specific recommendations regarding the improvement of assessment of student learning of statistics.
PTFE Forearm Graft for Hemodialysis

PTFE forearm graft is performed to provide access for chronic hemodialysis when an autologous vein is not available. This chapter describes indications, essential steps, variations, and complications of this procedure. It provides a detailed template operative note for the procedure.
Arts Entrepreneurship in China: Exploring the Professional Career Development Model for Chinese Emerging Western Classical Musicians

AbstractArtists’ career management has become an urgent topic in the scholarship of arts administration and the creative economy in many Western countries. Although Chinese creative and cultural in...
Dual-Polarization Antennas With High Isolation and Polarization Purity: A Review and Comparison of Cross-Coupling Mechanisms

Existing dual-polarization antennas are categorized into three separate groups according to their topologies. Various cross-coupling mechanisms between orthogonal polarizations are specifically discussed in three categories and related to port isolation and cross-polarization radiation. Some representative antennas of each group are presented, and their performance is compared in terms of port isolation, cross polarization, frequency bandwidth (BW), dimension, and complexity. The techniques to enhance the polarization purity is discussed in the context of example antennas. Finally, further research opportunities in each category are introduced.
Bariatric Surgery: Safety, Efficacy, Disease State, Collaboration, Future

Obesity provides an opportunity for bariatric and orthopedic surgeons to collaborate through emphasis on safety, effectiveness and patient experience. A value equation can be offered for combining weight loss for the patient with obesity and joint disease.
Mathematical modeling of viscoelastic material under impact load

A linear physics-based model is developed to investigate the one-dimensional impact on a viscoelastic material. A generalized model with three Maxwell elements is considered to describe the viscoelastic behavior. An analytical method based on Laplace transformation is used to solve the impact problem. To have a comprehensive understanding of viscoelastic material response, drop-weight impact is also considered in this study. For both linear impact and drop-weight cases, a maximum reduction of 15% of the impact force as well as 32% higher energy absorption can be achieved with the increase in tan δ from 0.01 to 0.8 of viscoelastic material. In addition, for linear impact, impact force decreases by 20% when tan δ = 1. With the increase in tan δ, storage modulus decreases by around 57% for maintaining a predetermined deformation. Moreover, for almost constant maximum displacement, materials with a higher storage modulus absorb more impact energy and experience higher impact force as compared to materials wit...
Co-Fabrication of Microcoaxial Interconnects and Substrate Junctions for Multichip Microelectronic Systems

RF and millimeter-wave designers continue to use wire bonds and flip chip in their designs when bonding chips or multichip systems. Due to electrical and mechanical constraints of wire bonding and flip chip, designers are forced to compensate for mismatched impedances, high loss, or mechanically unreliable interconnects. In this article, we propose microcoaxial cables (MCCs) as an alternative interconnect, specifically, 30–75- $\Omega $ MCCs for signals, and low-inductance MCCs for bias and supply. In addition, each shielded interconnect provides sufficient isolation to prevent electromagnetic interference (EMI) and crosstalk. The in situ fabrication method presented here utilizes only conventional wire bonding and microfabrication techniques, providing a high-feasibility path toward a new interconnect paradigm based on MCCs. Each cable measured consists of a 25.4- $\mu \text{m}$ gold bond wire coated first with a dielectric and then with a 5.0- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick gold shield. MCCs appropriate for signals have a 38- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick Parylene C dielectric and a characteristic impedance of 39– $68~\Omega $ . For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, we introduce low-inductance MCCs, where the dielectrics evaluated are 1.0- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick Parylene C dielectric and 100-nm-thick HfO2. Their inductances are measured to be no more than 140 pH/mm. For 3.5-mm-long wire with a 0.51-mm pitch, the crosstalk is −62 dB at 1 GHz for signal MCCs. Crosstalk increases to −30 dB at 26.5 GHz.
Sodium antiporters of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in challenging conditions: effects on growth, biofilm formation, and swarming motility

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterial pathogen that can cause grave and sometimes chronic infections in patients with weakened immune systems and cystic fibrosis. It is expected that sodium/proton transporters in the cellular membrane are crucial for the organism’s survival and growth under certain conditions, since many cellular processes rely on the maintenance of Na+ and H+ transmembrane gradients. This study focused on the role of the primary and secondary proton and/or sodium pumps Mrp, Nuo, NhaB, NhaP, and NQR for growth, biofilm formation, and swarming motility in P. aeruginosa. Using mutants with gene deletions, we investigated the impact of each sodium pump’s absence on the overall growth, biofilm formation, motility, and weak acid tolerance of the organism. We found that the absence of some, but not all, of the sodium pumps have a deleterious effect on the different phenotypes of P. aeruginosa. The absence of the Mrp sodium/proton antiporter was clearly important in the organism’s ability to survive and function in environments of higher pH and sodium concentrations, while the absence of Complex I, which is encoded by the nuo genes, had some consistent impact on the organism’s growth regardless of the pH and sodium concentration of the environment.
Normal and Abnormal Growth in the Pediatric Patient

Proper growth is a marker of the overall health of a child. Growth monitoring in infancy and childhood is a central part of preventative child health programs. For early recognition of pathological causes of growth failure, accurate measurements of height and weight using standardized methods is fundamental. The general pediatrician is a key participant, as he/she provides the auxological data to determine if further testing is needed. This review provides an outline for the general pediatrician for proper auxological measurements, normal variants versus abnormal growth, initial testing for abnormal growth, and when to refer to a pediatric endocrinologist.
When Deference Becomes Abdication: Immunizing Widespread Broker-Dealer Practices From Judicial Review Through the Possibility of SEC Oversight

This Article uses three groups of recent securities law cases to examine the respective roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the courts, both federal and state, in determining whether a fraud involving a broker-dealer and its customers has occurred. In these recent cases, the courts at both the federal and the state level have evinced a great hesitancy in adjudicating alleged violations by broker-dealers of fiduciary or fiduciary-type obligations owed to their customers. The sweep cases and the national best bid and offer (NBBO) case have all involved class actions alleging that broker-dealers have committed securities fraud under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (1934 Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the SEC, as well as under applicable state law. The payment for order flow cases have involved, in contrast, allegations of fraud primarily under state law. In all three groups of cases, the alleged fraud has been carried out by means of allegedly non-disclosed wide­spread industry practices, which either involved broker-dealers receiving payments that allegedly were not disclosed properly to their customers (the sweep and payment for order flow cases) or payments allegedly in violation of their duty of best execution (the NBBO case). All three groups of cases also involved practices that the SEC has spent considerable time and resources studying. All of these practices were in areas subject to SEC regulation, even if the regulation did not address the particular challenged practices. The SEC regulatory regime, thus, arguably took into account these practices. This Article argues that deference to the SEC is inappropriate when neither the doctrines of primary jurisdiction or preemption apply. Determinations of whether a misrepresentation or omission has been made, the materiality of the misrepresentation and all the other elements of a section 10(b) action are all areas in which the courts have great expertise. In fact, the fraud that section 10(b) reaches is based on state common law fraud. To allow industry-wide practices to escape judicial scrutiny because the SEC has the authority-which it has not exercised-to regulate these practices is, in many cases, to deprive customers-who were arguably harmed by these practices-of any effective review of the practices to determine if harm was, in fact, inflicted.
Computational and structural studies of MeCP2 and associated mutants

Rett Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder exclusively seen in girls. Approximately 95% of RTT cases is caused by mutations in the MeCP2 gene which codes for Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2). In ...
Assessing the Readability of Online Patient Education Resources Related to Gynecomastia.

Background The Internet has a plethora of online patient education resources for many symptoms and diseases. National medical governing bodies recommend that patient education materials are written at or below the eighth-grade level, and the literature suggests that health literacy has been linked to increased adherence to treatment regimens and improved outcomes. The primary aim of the study is to assess the readability of online patient materials relating to gynecomastia and ascertain the availability of patient materials in non-English languages. Methods The readability of patient education materials relating to gynecomastia for academic-based websites and nonacademic websites was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG). The prevalence of non-English patient education materials was assessed for both academic-based and nonacademic websites. Results Fifty-eight documents were collected across academic websites. Overall median values were 10.7 for the FKGL, 47.0 for the FRE, and 11.4 for the SMOG. For the 10 nonacademic institutions, the overall median values were 10.6 for the FKGL, 45.2 for the FRE, and 10.8 for the SMOG. No appreciable differences were observed for readability when stratified by region or source. The prevalence of non-English patient materials was 19.1% across institutions. None of the noninstitutional materials had information in non-English languages. Conclusions The readability of patient education materials related to gynecomastia is at higher levels than recommended by national organizations. There are limited non-English patient education materials. Future efforts should focus on improving the readability and accessibility of patient materials.
Examining inquiry-based learning stages of concern for high school agriscience teachers

There is documented need for improvement of science comprehension amongst high school students in the United States, and inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a recommended teaching strategy to improve science comprehension. Several researchers have focused on examination of learning outcomes for students, but few have researched the concerns of teachers who may wish to adopt IBL methodology. This study used the stages of concern questionnaire to profile ten Midwest high school agriscience teachers’ concerns regarding implementation of IBL, before and after participation in a year-long professional development program where IBL lessons were developed and used in the participants’ high school classrooms. Results indicated that while some participants showed a positive progression in their stage of concern, most professional development program participants did not progress in their concern stage, and some developed increased resistance to IBL as a teaching strategy. This suggests that teachers may need more robust and tailored support when adopting IBL for their classrooms.
A Study of Combining Elastin in the Chitosan Electrospinning to Increase the Mechanical Strength and Bioactivity.

While electrospun chitosan membranes modified to retain nanofibrous morphology have shown promise for use in guided bone regeneration applications in in vitro and in vivo studies, their mechanical tear strengths are lower than commercial collagen membranes. Elastin, a natural component of the extracellular matrix, is a protein with extensive elastic property. This work examined the incorporation of elastin into electrospun chitosan membranes to improve their mechanical tear strengths and to further mimic the native extracellular composition for guided bone regeneration (GBR) applications. In this work, hydrolyzed elastin (ES12, Elastin Products Company, USA) was added to a chitosan spinning solution from 0 to 4 wt% of chitosan. The chitosan–elastin (CE) membranes were examined for fiber morphology using SEM, hydrophobicity using water contact angle measurements, the mechanical tear strength under simulated surgical tacking, and compositions using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and post-spinning protein extraction. In vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the degradation in a lysozyme solution based on the mass loss and growth of fibroblastic cells. Chitosan membranes with elastin showed significantly thicker fiber diameters, lower water contact angles, up to 33% faster degradation rates, and up to seven times higher mechanical strengths than the chitosan membrane. The FTIR spectra showed stronger amide peaks at 1535 cm−1 and 1655 cm−1 in membranes with higher concentrated elastin, indicating the incorporation of elastin into electrospun fibers. The bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay demonstrated an increase in protein concentration in proportion to the amount of elastin added to the CE membranes. In addition, all the CE membranes showed in vitro biocompatibility with the fibroblasts.
Organizing with Numerical Surveillance: Data and Actions In a Healthcare Organization

In this work in progress we attempt to understand the powerful and transformative role of analytics and “numbers” in organizational settings. The context is a healthcare system in the US that introduced in 2017 a process improvement (PI) strategy relying on measuring the everyday activities of employees and making those results public within the hospital. An ethnographic study allowed us to capture relevant organizational tensions that arose from the introduction of the PI initiative and the consequences of increased transparency. Key tensions are associated with the transparency of practices, and how this unfolds in a team of individuals with different expertise and responsibilities. We were able to observe a shift of the hospital from a professional towards a machine bureaucracy, where individuals are increasingly held accountable for their actions according to processes measured, outcomes examined and then made transparent. The overall study aims to explore the organizational consequences of using data-driven technologies to manage individual’s everyday practices, and so raises the question of how numerical surveillance will affect organizations.
Growth, health, and economics of dairy calves fed organic milk replacer or organic whole milk in an automated feeding system

Abstract The objective of the study was to investigate the growth, health, behavior, and economics of dairy calves fed organic milk replacer (n = 41) or organic whole milk (n = 40) in an automatic feeding system. Calves were fed either organic milk replacer or whole milk (assigned to treatment in birth order) during 2 seasons from March to July 2018 and from September to December 2018 at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris, Minnesota. The treatment groups were (1) pasteurized whole milk fed at 13% total solids of organic milk (WM), or (2) milk replacer fed at 150.98 g of dry replacer powder per liter of water (MR). Milk replacer was fed at 14.65% total solids based on the manufacturer's recommendation. Calves were introduced to the automated feeder at 5 d and allowed to drink up to 8 L/d at the maximum allowance. At 50 d, the allowance was reduced by 0.2 L/d and calves were weaned at 56 d. Milk feeding behavior (feeding station visit behaviors and drinking speeds) were collected from the automatic feeding system and analyzed by feeding group. Body weights were recorded at birth and then weekly until weaning (56 d). Health scores of calves were recorded twice a week. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED (SAS Institute Inc.). Independent variables for analyses were the fixed effects of breed group, season of birth, and treatment group, and the interaction of season and treatment group along with pen as a random effect. No differences were found between treatment groups for average daily gain, weaning weight, hip height, or heart girth. Milk feeding behavior varied between the 2 feeding treatment groups. The WM calves had shorter visits to the feeding station (2.44 vs. 3.01 min, respectively) compared with MR calves. Overall drinking speeds of the WM calves were higher (1,301 mL/min) than those of the MR calves (581 mL/min). The MR calves had higher fecal scores than WM calves. The average cost per kilogram of gain was lower for WM calves ($6.35/kg) compared with MR calves ($8.82/kg). The results of this study indicate health and economic advantages to feeding organic dairy heifer calves whole milk during the preweaning period.
Model-based Cyber-attack Detection for Voltage Source Converters in Island Microgrids

With the upgrading of communication and control in microgrids, cyber threats on the power converters are increasing. In this paper, a novel model-based cyber-attack detection methodology is proposed for each voltage source converter in microgrids. The Harmonics State Space Matrix (H-Matrix) is used to build the closed-loop transfer function, providing model-based estimation with the grid voltage and control reference. Then, the space phase model (SPM) is used to calculate residual to detect cyber-attacks in voltage source converter (VSC). As controller and converter parameters are included in the H-matrix, the proposed method also could detect cyber-attacks when voltage fluctuation occurs in the grid. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, several attacks targeting VSC in an islanded microgrid are simulated in MATLAB. Simulation and detection results are introduced to demonstrate the resilience and feasibility of the proposed method.
Abstract #4458: Distinct clinical implications of allelic variations and aberrant expression of SMAD4 in colorectal cancer

Background: SMAD4 is a candidate tumor suppressor gene, located at the 18q21.1 locus and mediates the transforming growth factor-\#946; (TGF-\#946;) signaling pathway. High frequency of SMAD4 allelic imbalance was reported in pancreatic and colorectal adenocarcinomas (CRCs). The current study has evaluated the prognostic value of its allelic imbalance and its phenotypic expression patterns in Stage II and Stage III CRCs. Materials & Methods: We retrieved 74 Stage II and 64 Stage III formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archival tissues of CRCs and their corresponding normal (benign) tissues. The genomic DNA and RNA samples were extracted from these tissues. Genomic DNA samples were analyzed for the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 18q21 locus by assessing three microsatellite markers (D18S46, D18S363 & D18S474) which are close to or spanning the SMAD4 gene. The mRNA expression levels of SMAD4 were estimated by the real-time PCR method. All 138 tissues sections were analyzed for immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of SMAD4 using anti-human SMAD4 monoclonal antibody (Clone B-8; dilution 1:100; Santa Cruz). A tumor was considered as LOH when it demonstrates allelic loss in at least one of the three loci analyzed. Nuclear or Cytoplasmic staining pattern was noted based on its cellular localization. The status of LOH and the IHC staining patterns were correlated with patient overall survival using Kaplan-Meier method. Results: The LOH at any one of the three markers was detected in 48 Stage II (of 71 informative cases, 67%) and 33 Stage III (of 59 informative cases, 56%) CRCs. The CRCs which exhibited LOH had lower levels of mRNA (2.8 folds) when compared to CRCs without LOH. In Stage II cases, LOH was associated with short overall patient survival (log rank, p=0.017), but such an associated was not observed in patients with Stage III CRCs (log rank, p=0.518). Strong nuclear and cytoplasmic staining was noted in normal epithelial tissues. In both stage groups, LOH status or the mRNA levels were not correlated with the cellular localization of SMAD4. Although a similar frequency of decreased nuclear (28% & 37%) and cytoplasmic (19% vs. 25%) staining was observed in Stage II and Stage III CRCs, only decreased nuclear expression of SMAD4 was significantly associated with short survival of Stage III patients (log rank, p=0.025) but not in Stage II patients (log rank, p=0.931). Conclusions: These preliminary studies suggest that LOH of SMAD4 was a bad prognostic indicator of patients with Stage II CRCs and Stage II CRCs with SMAD4 allelic loss are behaving like Stage III tumors. It was interesting to note that lack of or decreased expression of nuclear SMAD4 was associated with short overall survival of patients with Stage IIII CRCs. These studies are supported by NCI/NIH grants, CA098932-01 & 2U54-CA118948. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 4458.
Performance analysis of a hybrid push-pull algorithm with QoS adaptations in wireless networks

In This work we present a hybrid push-pull algorithm which combines broadcasting of push data items, with dissemination upon request of pull items in asymmetric communication environments. These environments are made up only of one database server and many clients. Requests made by the clients are queued up for the pull items. The (pull) item with the number of pending requests is the one selected to be pulled. We present performance analysis of our scheme, and determine individual response time for each item disseminated and the overall time for the pull queue to be flushed. Next, we extend our algorithm by incorporating QoS factors, and, then, study its performance analytically.
The Suction Trap Network Documents Soybean Aphid Migrations

Introduction Following the accidental arrival of the soybean aphid in the Midwest, seven suction traps were set up in Illinois to monitor the seasonal movement of the soybean aphid. The data proved to be interesting in that the catches demonstrated the seasonal spread of this aphid across the landscape. Unfortunately it was geographically limited so in the spring of 2005 additional traps were built and placed in Indiana (6), Iowa (4), Michigan (5), Minnesota (4), and Wisconsin (5). Since then traps have been added in Wisconsin (2), Minnesota (1), Missouri (2), Kentucky (2), Kansas (1), and South Dakota(1). The maximum number of traps in operation was 42 but some are no longer in operation. The most southern and northern traps are about 1,000 km apart as are the most western and eastern. They cover the majority of the area of soybean cultivation in the Midwest. Collections are removed from the traps every Friday and sent to the Illinois Natural History Survey where the aphids are removed from the sample, counted, and identified. Suction trap counts for the soybean aphid across the Midwest can be seen at: http://www.ncipmc.org/traps/index.cfm. This web page has data from 2007–2010.
Protein synthesis and protein phosphorylation in Bradyrhizobium japonicum bacteroids

Biological nitrogen fixation requires a large portion of an organisms energy metabolism. Free-living diazotrophs fixing atmospheric nitrogen have longer doubling times than cultures supplied fixed nitrogen compounds. During symbiotic nitrogen fixation, the microsymbiont does not grow significantly during the most active phase of dinitrogen reduction. The non-growing condition of the microsymbionts could provide the necessary energy for nitrogen fixation. As much as 80% of the metabolic energy of a cell may be used for protein synthesis (6). The switching of metabolic energy from protein synthesis to dinitrogen reduction could supply the energy needs of nitrogen fixation without requiring additional energy sources or invoking supplemental metabolic pathways. This concept of switching energy from protein synthesis to dinitrogen fixation was first proposed by Perry Wilson in his studies on metabolism in non-growing cultures (12).
Overlapping ionospheric and surface echoes observed by the Mars Express radar sounder near the Martian terminator

[1] Radar soundings from the Mars Express spacecraft occasionally show ionospheric and surface echoes that overlap in frequency. For specular reflection from a horizontally stratified ionosphere such a frequency overlap is not possible, since ionospheric and surface reflections can only occur at frequencies below and above the maximum ionospheric plasma frequency, respectively. In this paper we show that such overlapping echoes are only observed near the terminator where strong horizontal gradients are present in the ionosphere. Using a simple ionospheric propagation model we show that the observed frequency overlaps are consistent with current estimates of the horizontal gradients near the terminator.
GERT: an empirical reliability estimation and testing feedback tool

Software testing is an integral part of the software development process. Some software developers, particularly those who use the Extreme Programming test-driven development practice, continuously write automated tests to verify their code. We present a tool to complement the feedback loops created by continuous testing. The tool combines static source code metrics with dynamic test coverage for use throughout the development phase to predict a reliability estimate based on a linear combination of these values. Implemented as an open source plug-in to the Eclipse IDE, the tool facilitates the rapid transition between unit test case completions and testing feedback. The color-coded results highlight inadequate testing efforts as well as weaknesses in overall program structure. To illustrate the tool's efficacy, we share the results of its use on university software engineering course projects.
Overexpression of Neuropeptide Y in the Dorsomedial Hypothalamus Causes Hyperphagia and Obesity in Rats

We sought to determine a role for NPY overexpression in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) in obesity etiology using the rat model of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated expression of NPY (AAVNPY) in the DMH. Rats received bilateral DMH injections of AAVNPY or control vector and were fed on regular chow. Five-week postviral injection, half the rats from each group were switched to access to a high-fat diet for another 11 weeks. We examined variables including body weight, food intake, energy efficiency, meal patterns, glucose tolerance, fat mass, plasma insulin, plasma leptin, and hypothalamic gene expression. Rats with DMH NPY overexpression had increased food intake and body weight and lowered metabolic efficiency. The hyperphagia was mediated through increased meal size during the dark. Although these rats had normal blood glucose, their plasma insulin levels were increased in both basal and glucose challenge conditions. While high-fat diet induced hyperphagia, obesity, and hyperinsulinemia, these effects were amplified in rats with DMH NPY overexpression. Arcuate Npy, agouti-related protein and proopiomelanocortin expression was appropriately regulated in response to positive energy balance. These results indicate that DMH NPY overexpression can cause hyperphagia and obesity and DMH NPY may have actions in glucose homeostasis.
A novel tin (II) dithioether complex

Organotin and related tin containing compounds are a recurring motif in organometallic chemistry. Here we report a new complex resulting from the reaction of tin (II) chloride with a dithioether diallyl ether ligand created as a side product from other research in our lab. This new complex is reasonably stable and can be synthesized on the bench top with no extraordinary measures required to exclude air or moisture. Its crystal structure reveals a five coordinate pseudo-square pyramidal geometry around tin, with the ligand binding the metal through its thioether sulfurs and the chlorides bridging.