cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rapid bioassay to measure early reactive oxygen species production in Arabidopsis leave tissue in response to living Pseudomonas syringae

Arabidopsis thaliana and Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato (Pto) provide an excellent plant-bacteria model system to study innate immunity. During pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), cognate host receptors perceive pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) as non-self molecules. Pto harbors many PAMPs; thus for experimental ease, many studies utilize single synthesized PAMPs such as flg22, a short protein peptide derived from Pseudomonas flagellin. Flg22 recognition by Arabidopsis Flagellin Sensing 2 (FLS2) initiates a plethora of signaling responses including rapid production of apoplastic reactive oxygen species (ROS). Assessing flg22-ROS has been instrumental in identifying novel PAMP-signaling components; but comparably little is known whether in Arabidopsis, ROS is produced in response to intact live Pto and whether this response can be used to dissect genetic requirements of the plant host and live bacterial pathogens in planta. Here, we report of a fast and robust bioassay to quantitatively assess early ROS in Arabidopsis leaves, a tissue commonly used for pathogen infection assays, in response to living bacterial Pto strains. We establish that live Pto elicits a transient and dose-dependent ROS that differed in timing of initiation, amplitude and duration compared to flg22-induced ROS. Our control experiments confirmed that the detected ROS was dependent on the presence of the bacterial cells. Utilizing Arabidopsis mutants previously shown to be defective in flg22-induced ROS, we demonstrate that ROS elicited by live Pto was fully or in part dependent on RbohD and BAK1, respectively. Because fls2 mutants did not produce any ROS, flagellin perception by FLS2 is the predominant recognition event in live Pto-elicited ROS in Arabidopsis leaves. Furthermore using different Pto strains, our in planta results indicate that early ROS production appeared to be independent of the Type III Secretion System. We provide evidence and necessary control experiments demonstrating that in planta, this ROS bioassay can be utilized to rapidly screen different Arabidopsis mutant lines and ecotypes in combination with different bacterial strains to investigate the genetic requirements of a plant host and its pathogen. For future experiments, this robust bioassay can be easily extended beyond Arabidopsis-Pto to diverse plant-pathosystems including crop species and their respective microbial pathogens.
Devices and chemical sensing applications of metal oxide nanowires

Metal oxide nanowires, with special physical properties, are ideal building blocks for a wide range of nanoscale electronics, optoelectronics, and chemical sensing devices. This article will describe the state-of-the-art research activities in metal oxide nanowire applications. This paper consists of three main sections categorized by metal oxide nanowire synthesis, electronic and optoelectronic devices applications, and chemical sensing applications. Finally, we will conclude this review with some perspectives and outlook on the future developments in the metal oxide nanowire research area.
A Working Relationship Model That Reduces Homelessness Among People With Mental Illness

We applied grounded theory methodology to generate a working relationship model that influences motivation for stable housing among homeless people with serious mental illness, to understand the role of a working relationship in critical service transitions. We focused on practitioners' perspectives and practices in Critical Time Intervention (CTI), a community intervention aimed to reduce homelessness through providing support during the transition from institutional to community living. We found a working relationship that highlighted "nonauthoritative" and "humanistic" features. Workers respected client autonomy and maintained flexibility in the format of client contact and service activities. They used practice strategies including following client leads and informal relating approaches to facilitate the development of client trust. The trusting relationship enhanced client interest in obtaining housing and the commitment to the transformation crucial for retaining housing. We discuss the significance of the relationship and ethical considerations of relationship-building activities in community mental health practices.
Fracture of fibrous polymers

The fibrous material obtained by drawing or extrusion exhibits a more than linear increase in the axial elastic modulus with draw ratio, a much slower increase in tensile strength and a decrease in strain to break. The reason for such a behavior is found in the existence of structural defects of fibrous material, which is composed of very long and narrow microfibrillar elements. At their ends the axial connection by taut-tie molecules is almost completely interrupted. Hence the transfer of tensile stress through such a defect is only possible by lateral shift of the load to adjacent microfibrils. The incompleteness of this transfer, the excess straining of the material in the defect area, and the relatively easy axial displacement of the ends of microfibrils favor the local formation of microcracks which grow and coalesce with close-by microcracks until a critical size crack is formed and the strained sample fails. The process is favored by a high elastic modulus of microfibrils which is practically identical with that of the drawn or extruded sample. Hence the fibrous polymer fails at lower strain the higher its axial elastic modulus, i.e., the higher the draw ratio.
Systems engineering of computer based systems: status and future perspectives

There are many ways in which we can describe systems engineering. It can be described according to structure, function, and purpose. It may be described in terms of efforts needed at the level of systems management, systems methodology, and systems engineering methods and tools. We can speak of systems engineering organizations in terms of their organizational management facets, in terms of their business processes or product lines, or in terms of their products or service. We can speak of systems engineering in terms of the knowledge principles, knowledge practices, and knowledge perspectives necessary for present and future success in systems engineering. This paper takes a multifaceted view of systems engineering. It attempts to describe systems engineering in terms of this relatively large number of trilogies. The process view of systems engineering is expanded on in some detail. Within this, a large number of necessary roles for systems engineering are described. We present a brief discussion of systems engineering from the perspective of each of these necessary roles as it applies to the systems engineering of computer based systems, including some 21st century projections.
The Relationships Among Phonological Processing, Orthographic Processing, and Lexical Development in Children with Reading Disabilities:

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between phonological and orthographic processing skills in relation to the two lexical acquisition systems (i.e., word-specific knowledge and subword orthographic-phonological connections) in children with and without reading disabilities (RD). Performance on measures of phonemic awareness, orthographic processing, and print exposure in 16 fifth- and sixth-grade children with RD was compared to that of three control groups without RD (each with N = 16): a chronological-age matched group of children and two different groups of reading-age-matched children. One reading-age group was matched with the group of children with RD on pseudoword identification skills (considered a proxy for the robustness of subword orthographic-phonological connections in the lexicon); the other was matched on exception-word identification (used to approximate word-specific knowledge in the lexicon). Results were consistent with the hypothesis that children with RD add wor...
SQUIDs as detectors in a new experiment to measure the neutron electric dipole moment

A new experiment has been proposed Los Alamos National Laboratory; to measure the neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) to 4/spl times/10/sup -28/ ecm, a factor of 250 times better than the current experimental limit. Such a measure of the neutron EDM would challenge the theories of supersymmetry and time reversal violation as the origin of the observed cosmological asymmetry in the ratio of baryons to antibaryons. One possible design for this new experiment includes the use of low temperature superconducting (LTS) SQUIDS coupled to large (/spl sim/100 cm/sup 2/) pick-up coils to measure the precession frequency of the spin-polarized /sup 3/He atoms that act as polarizer, spin analyzer, and detector for the ultra-cold neutrons used in the experiment. The method of directly measuring the /sup 3/He precession signal eliminates the need for very uniform magnetic fields (a major source of systematic error in these types of experiments). It is estimated that a flux of /spl sim/2/spl times/10/sup -16/ Tm/sup 2/ (0.1 /spl Phi//sub 0/) will be coupled into the pick-up coils. To achieve the required signal-to-noise ratio one must have a flux resolution of d/spl Phi//sub SQ/=5/spl times/10/sup -6/ /spl Phi//sub 0//Hz/sup 1/2/ at 10 Hz. While this is close to the sensitivity available in commercial devices, the effects of coupling to such a large pick-up coil and flux noise from other sources in the experiment still need to be understood. To determine the feasibility of using SQUIDs in such an application we designed and built a superconducting test cell, which simulates major features of the proposed EDM experiment, and we developed a two-SQUID readout system that will reduce SQUID noise in the experiment. We present an overview of the EDM experiment with SQUIDs, estimations of required SQUID parameters and experimental considerations. We also present the measured performance of a single magnetometer in the test cell as well as the performance of the two SQUID readout technique.
Comparative Psychology as an East African Field Course

The author tells how the objectives of mastery of observation, taxa adaptive behavior, echo systems, conservation, and field methods are satisfied.
MISCELLANEOUS EXPERIMENTS ON THE ESTROGEN-PROGESTERONE INDUCTION OF HEAT IN THE SPAYED GUINEA-PIG1

Heat can be induced in a certain percentage of spayed female guinea-pigs by the injection of an estrogen alone, but the injection of an estrogen followed by progesterone is more effective (1, 2). This observation directed attention to several supplementary problems. Among these were, a), differences between estrogen-induced heat and estrogen-progesterone-induced heat, b), the frequency with which spayed females can be brought into heat by estrogen-progesterone administration, and c), the response to estrogenprogesterone treatment given by spayed animals in which heat was short or failed to occur prior to ovariectomy. Investigation of these subjects required the use of different groups of animals and methods, which are described with the results.2
No Evidence for the in vivo Induction of Genomic Instability by Low Doses of 137Cs Gamma Rays in Bone Marrow Cells of BALB/cJ and C57BL/6J Mice

In spite of extensive research, assessment of potential health risks associated with exposure to low-dose (≤ 0.1 Gy) radiation is still challenging. We evaluated the in vivo induction of genomic instability, expressed as late-occurring chromosome aberrations, in bone-marrow cells of two strains of mouse with different genetic background, i.e. the radiosensitive BALB/cJ and the radioresistant C57BL/6J strains following a whole-body exposure to varying doses of (137)Cs gamma rays (0, 0.05, 0.1, and 1.0 Gy). A total of five mice per dose per strain were sacrificed at various times post-irradiation up to 6 months for sample collections. Three-color fluorescence in situ hybridization for mouse chromosomes 1, 2, and 3 was used for the analysis of stable-aberrations in metaphase-cells. All other visible gross structural-abnormalities involving non-painted-chromosomes were also evaluated on the same metaphase-cells used for scoring the stable-aberrations of painted-chromosomes. Our new data demonstrated in bone-marrow cells from both strains that low doses of low LET-radiation (as low as 0.05 Gy) are incapable of inducing genomic instability but are capable of reducing specific aberration-types below the spontaneous rate with time post-irradiation. However, the results showed the induction of genomic instability by 1.0 Gy of (137)Cs gamma rays in the radiosensitive strain only.
Blockade of Glioma Proliferation Through Allosteric Inhibition of JAK2

The gene that encodes the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is frequently overexpressed or mutated in human cancers, including glioblastoma. However, the efficacy of EGFR-targeted small-molecule inhibitors or monoclonal antibodies in glioblastomas that also have mutation or deletion of the gene encoding phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) has been modest. We found that EGFR signaling was blocked by a small molecule (G5-7) that selectively inhibited Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)–mediated phosphorylation and activation of EGFR and STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) by binding to JAK2, thereby decreasing the activity of downstream signaling by mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) and inducing cell cycle arrest. G5-7 inhibited the proliferation of PTEN-deficient glioblastoma cell lines harboring a constitutively active variant of EGFR (U87MG/EGFRvIII) and human glioblastoma explant neurosphere cultures, but the drug only weakly inhibited the proliferation of either glioblastoma cell lines that were wild type for EGFR and stably transfected with PTEN (U87MG/PTEN) or normal neural progenitor cells and astrocytes. Additionally, G5-7 reduced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion and endothelial cell migration and induced apoptosis in glioblastoma xenografts, thereby suppressing glioblastoma growth in vivo. Furthermore, G5-7 was more potent than EGFR or JAK2 inhibitors that interfere with either ligand or adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) binding at impeding glioblastoma cell proliferation, demonstrating that this allosteric JAK2 inhibitor may be an effective clinical strategy.
Diurnal patterns of rainfall in northwestern South America. Part III: Diurnal gravity waves and nocturnal convection offshore

Abstract Afternoon/evening near-coastal convection over land is easily understood as a response to solar heating of the land, turbulent transfer of heat and moisture to the boundary layer, and lifting of air by vigorous sea-breeze fronts. Subtler processes apparently underlie the late night and morning convection that is prevalent over coastal waters throughout the Tropics. Sensitivity tests using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5), and further diagnoses of the control run described in Part II, are used to explore these processes. Prior studies have speculated that “land-breeze” circulations, analogous but opposite to the sea breeze, drive offshore convection at night. However, nighttime radiative cooling of land and the associated thermal breezes are much weaker than the corresponding daytime processes, especially under humid tropical skies. Analysis of model mean soundings reveals that modest (fractions of a degree Celsius) temperature changes near the 800-hPa ...
Numerical simulation and analysis of the effect of rain and surface property on wind-turbine airfoil performance

Abstract The performance of wind turbines is significantly affected by the atmospheric condition of their operating environment. Because rain is a common phenomenon in many parts of the world, understanding its effect on the performance of wind turbines provides valuable information in determining the site for a new wind farm. We developed a multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to estimate the effect of rain by simulating the actual physical process of rain droplets forming a water layer over the blades by coupling the Lagrangian Discrete Phase Model (DPM) and the Eulerian Volume of Fluid (VOF) models. We applied our model to a wind-turbine blade airfoil and studied the effect of rain for different rainfall rates in addition to the effect of surface tension and surface property of the airfoil. We observed that, at low rainfall rates, the performance of the airfoil is highly sensitive to the rainfall rate. However, if the rainfall rate is high enough to immerse most of the airfoil surface under water, a further increase in the rainfall rate does not have a substantial effect on the performance of the airfoil.
Age Anchors and the Individual Retirement Age: An Experimental Study

This study examines the sensitivity of the retirement age decision to standard retirement ages in pension overviews (age anchors) with a self‐constructed survey. Individuals retire later when they are confronted with a higher age anchor. Specifically, their retirement age corresponds to the age of the anchor. The effect of the age anchor on the retirement age is strongest for women. Interestingly, different socioeconomic subgroups of women are all sensitive to age anchors. The study also assesses the relevance of financial literacy, advice from pension funds and social interactions in explaining the sensitivity to age anchors. Financial literacy does not seem to play a role, while the role of advice from pension funds and the role of social interactions are limited. This suggests that age anchors may have a distinct effect on the retirement age.
The Claim Prism

The years 1848 and 1938 were landmark years in the history of American procedural law. The first marked the advent of code pleading, and the second introduced the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Both developments were a product of reform movements that addressed what the reformers believed to be a procedural crisis generated by the inefficacy of the procedural system under attack. The goal was to create a system of procedure that was both efficient and instrumental to the vindication of substantive rights. In part, each crisis reflected a tension between formalism — the need for rules — and pragmatism — the need for flexibility. Hence, the early codes offered a code-based system that was structured but significantly less so than the common law system it replaced. The Federal Rules aimed to do the same in response to the codes. The difficulty facing both sets of reformers was that their respective tasks of reform required the imposition of rules and at the same time required a pragmatic but principled approach to applying those rules. It seems though that a rule-based system eventually drifts toward the rules and away from pragmatism. Thus, at some point the rules of code pleading came to dominate the instrumental goals of that system. The same appears to be happening with the law of federal courts, including both the Federal Rules and doctrinal procedural law beyond those rules. I believe we are now in the midst of a procedural crisis, but it is not one that requires a new set of rules. Rather it is one that requires a readjustment of the way we think about the current rules and doctrines. This article invites a rethinking of the law of federal courts, including both the rules and the doctrines. It invites a return to the principles that originally animated the Federal Rules, and to the idea of natural lawyering and judging that inspired Charles Clark. The article builds upon the idea of a convenient litigation unit as central to the dispute resolution mission of federal courts, that is, saying what the law is, adhering to the rule of law, and enforcing the checks and balances of our constitutional system.
Jim Crow in Alaska: The Passage of the Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945

Modern Alaskans are surprised and shocked to learn that before Second World War racial segregation and Jim Crow policies toward Alaska Natives were standard practice throughout much of Alaska. With the passage of the 1945 Alaska equal rights bill, the signs in Alaskan businesses prohibiting Natives came down. The quest for Native citizenship and equality with whites inspired the establishment in 1912 of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, an association that evolved into the first significant Native political organization in Alaska. The general American attitude toward Native Alaskans, as with blacks in the South, was reflected in a persistent pattern of discrimination. While discrimination in public accommodations was outlawed in 1945, the territory’s segregated school system remained until after Alaska achieved statehood in 1958. During Second World War, a visiting war correspondent noted in 1943 that the social position of Indians and Eskimos in Alaska “is equivalent to that of a Negro in Georgia or Mississippi”.
Response Eco, Shakespeare, Galileo, and the Problem of Textual Analysis

Umberto Eco, in a highly cited book on the role of the reader and on the semiotic interpretation of texts (1979), put it this way: "one could say that there are more things in a text than are dreamt of in our text theories. But there are also fewer things than are dreamt of' (Eco 1979:38). Among these fewer things Eco finds in a text is Greimas's semiotic actantial model, the model of agents (or actants) and their roles, the basic story grammar we discuss in our paper (Franzosi, De Fazio, Vicari, this volume, 2012:1^12). But for as large a class of texts that narrative is, it is just one class, one text genre out of many. A story grammar hardly fits non-narrative texts. Yet, even these texts may contain invariant structures: Roberts's four functional forms—description of a process, description of a state of affairs, judgment of a process, judgment of a state of affairs— applied to measure the intentions of a clause or Vicari's modal verbs (can/could, may/might/must, shall/should/ought to, will/would) applied to analyze social movements' different framing tasks as expressed in their texts (can/will = prognosis; must/should = diagnosis) (Vicari 2010). Depending upon what we want to see, we focus on different things in a text. Modality would not get us any closer to understanding the social relations of lynching in terms of who does what to/with whom. No more than a story grammar would allow us to understand framing tasks or intentionality. It is no doubt this wide variety of things found in texts that leaves me skeptical of the claim that codebooks and coding rules solve the problem of meaning and interpretation. If a reader brings to the interpretive act Eco's "encyclopedia of knowledge" where "every text refers back to previous texts" (Eco 1979:19), what would Professor Popping's codebook look like? Perhaps, the original text that Eco paraphrased in the opening lines of this reply may help us shed further light on this fraught relation between texts and methods (a new word brings up a new world). "There are more things in heaven and earth" says Hamlet to Horatio "than are dreamt of in your philosophy" (Shakespeare Hamlet
Glomerulosclerosis, hemochromatosis, and diabetes mellitus.

To determine whether the glomerulopathy common in diabetes mellitus occurs in hemochromatosis also, the renal lesions in 38 patients with hemochromatosis were compared with those in control groups of patients with nonpigmentary cirrhosis without known diabetes and patients with diabetes mellitus without cirrhosis. Hyaline arteriolosclerosis, diffuse glomerulosclerosis, diffuse thickening of tubular and capsular basement membranes, and nodular glomerulosclerosis were no more prevalent in hemochromatosis patients than in the cirrhotic controls. Mesangial thickening was significantly more common in hemochromatosis than in cirrhosis. Since mesangial thickening is a relatively nonspecific lesion, the findings are compatible with, but do not prove, a relation between hemochromatosis and diabetic glomerulopathy.
Differences in the prevalence of risk behaviors between heterosexual and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) female adolescents in the juvenile justice system

AbstractLittle is known about the behavioral risk factors for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among female youths who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ) and who are involved in the juvenile justice system. We examined the sexual and drug use risk profiles of heterosexual and LGBQ female adolescents in the justice system. Greater prevalence of alcohol and substance use was found among female LGBQ adolescents compared to their female heterosexual counterparts. Conversely, female LGBQ youths reported more consistent condom use for both vaginal and anal sex compared to heterosexual females. These data may be useful in tailoring interventions for justice-involved LGBQ youths.
Predicting Student Success and Retention at an HBCU via Interest-Major Congruence and Academic Achievement

Understanding the degree to which students’ interests and achievement fit with educational environmental rewards and requirements can help universities retain students, while assisting students in finding fulfilling academic majors and careers. We examined the effect of various interest-major congruence indices and American College Testing (ACT) achievement indicators on biology and chemistry students’ success and retention using archival university data from a Historically Black College/University. Results indicated that the specific congruence index utilized alters the statistical impact of achievement indicators on retention and success. Additionally, while the predictors of success and retention differed between biology and chemistry majors, math and English ACT scores impacted success and retention for both biology and chemistry majors, highlighting the utility of assessing skill areas beyond math for students majoring in both biology and chemistry. Career counselors and advisors should consider stud...
A sneak peek at personalized medicine in autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous disorder with many etiologies. Dissecting molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the disorder has been very challenging. Hence, rational, mechanism-based approaches for drug discovery and development have progressed slowly in the past 20 years. This trend may change with the advent of new methodologies such as those involving induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Marchetto et al. collected fibroblasts from eight ASD subjects who were identified by MRI data showing larger-than-normal brain volume when they were toddlers, and five age/gender–matched neurotypical control participants. Their cells were first programmed to form iPSCs and then differentiated into NPCs and neurons. The authors found that the NPCs from ASD individuals were characterized by increased proliferation, as compared with controls. This increased proliferation of NPCs from individuals with ASD was regulated specifically by the Wnt-β-catenin/BRN2 transcriptional cascade. Furthermore, ASD-derived neurons exhibited lower spontaneous activity than control-derived neurons. The authors demonstrated that treatment with insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a medication under investigation in patients with ASD and other neurogenetic disorders, had specific biochemical and functional effects in the ASD-derived NPCs and neurons. When IGF-1 was given to ASD-derived neurons, the spontaneous activity became similar to that of control-derived neurons, suggesting that the deficiency in network connectivity in ASD-derived neurons could be improved by targeting a specific transcriptional cascade. This study illustrated the possibility of identifying subgroups of ASD subjects who might share common molecular deficits and endophenotypes, as well as the potential prospects of mechanism-based, personalized pharmacologic ASD treatments. The main question for this approach is whether functional improvements observed in iPSCs, NPCs, and derived neurons can be extrapolated to behavioral improvements in individuals with ASD. M. C. Marchetto et al. , Altered proliferation and networks in neural cells derived from idiopathic autistic individuals. Mol. Psychiatry 10.1038/mp.2016.95 (2016). [[Abstract]][1] [1]: http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/mp201695a.html
THE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER: Can Small Farms Be Sustained Economically?

First paragraphs:Are small farms economically sustainable? Not according to a recent opinion piece in the New York Times written by Bren Smith, a small-scale farmer: "The dirty secret of the food movement is that the much-celebrated small-scale farmer isn't making a living. After the tools are put away, we head out to second and third jobs to keep our farms afloat...Health care, paying for our kids' college, preparing for retirement? Not happening" (Smith, 2014, para. 2).Another widely shared opinion piece by a small-scale farmer, Jaclyn Moyer, began: "People say we're 'rich in other ways,' but that doesn't fix the ugly fact that most farms are unsustainable" (Moyer, 2015, para. 1). Jaclyn was asked by a student if her farm was sustainable. She replied that her farm was certified organic and conserved water, but later reflected: "I didn't think my farm was sustainable. Like all the other farms I knew, my farm relied on uncompensated labor and self-exploitation...I knew the years my partner and I could continue to work without a viable income were numbered" (Moyer, 2015, para. 22).Both Smith and Moyer were distressed by how much work was required for the small amount of money they were able to earn on their small-scale farms. They both claim that few farmers they know are able to make what they consider an acceptable income farming. However, many non-farm couples both work long hours at good-paying jobs and are barely able to make ends meet. It takes all of their time and energy to earn enough money to support their chosen lifestyle—much like many farm couples. What matters is whether such couples are able to pursue their chosen way of life, not how much money they earn and spend in the process....
1031-LBP: Evaluation of uracil dna glycosylase (UDG) with the LinkSeq™ real-time pcr hla typing method

Aim Post-PCR amplification products can pose a problem in clinical laboratories. Great care is needed to ensure post and pre-PCR areas minimize the risk of unwanted amplicons affecting results. Linkage Biosciences designed the LinkS e ¯ q™ real-time PCR HLA test to include deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP) rather than the standard deoxythmidine triphosphate (dTTP) in the PCR reaction as a preventive measure so that Uracil DNA Glycosylase enzyme (UDG) can be used as an optional additive to eliminate unwanted uracil-containing amplicons during PCR set-up. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of adding UDG to the LinkS e ¯ q™ test in a laboratory setting with False Positive and False Negative issues. Methods To validate the usefulness of UDG reagent (provided by Linkage Biosciences) we selected 10 clinical DNA samples that contained aberrant primer dimer peaks which may have contributed to False Positive and False Negative allele amplification. All samples were typed with the standard LinkS e ¯ q™ protocol and with the UDG protocol. The 2 real-time kits that were used were the LinkS e ¯ q™ 384 well tray, Cat #1575 and the 192 well tray, Cat#1554 with SYBR Green dye for melting curve analysis. All samples were amplified using the Roche LightCycler® 480. Results All 10 samples showed improved results in the reduction of False Positives and removal of dimeric peaks using the UDG reagent. The data shows a total reduction of 93.6% of the False Positives, 66.6% reduction in False Negatives, and 86.7% reduction of software forced calls. The samples demonstrated concordance with PCR-SSP (Invitrogen), or UNET reported results. Conclusions In summary, the LinkS e ¯ q™ real-time PCR assay is a fast and reliable HLA typing method. The UDG reagent works well when necessary to remove suspect peaks which may interfere with SureTyper Software data analysis.
Land-locked mammalian Golgi reveals cargo transport between stable cisternae

The Golgi is composed of a stack of cis, medial, trans cisternae that are biochemically distinct. The stable compartments model postulates that permanent cisternae communicate through bi-directional vesicles, while the cisternal maturation model postulates that transient cisternae biochemically mature to ensure anterograde transport. Testing either model has been constrained by the diffraction limit of light microscopy, as the cisternae are only 10–20 nm thick and closely stacked in mammalian cells. We previously described the unstacking of Golgi by the ectopic adhesion of Golgi cisternae to mitochondria. Here, we show that cargo processing and transport continue—even when individual Golgi cisternae are separated and “land-locked” between mitochondria. With the increased spatial separation of cisternae, we show using three-dimensional live imaging that cis-Golgi and trans-Golgi remain stable in their composition and size. Hence, we provide new evidence in support of the stable compartments model in mammalian cells. The different composition of Golgi cisternae gave rise to two different models for intra-Golgi traffic: one where stable cisternae communicate via vesicles and another one where cisternae biochemically mature to ensure anterograde transport. Here, the authors provide evidence in support of the stable compartments model.
Baseline predictors of DMT reinitiation among patients with multiple sclerosis following an MI-CBT intervention.

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are often nonadherent to their disease modifying therapy (DMT). While recent studies demonstrate enhanced DMT adherence following intervention grounded in motivational interviewing (MI), little is known about how to address DMT reinitiation among MS patients who have prematurely discontinued DMT against medical advice and do not intend to reinitiate. We examined baseline predictors of DMT reinitiation among patients with MS who discontinued medications against medical advice following a telephone-based MI and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MI–CBT) intervention. Following MI–CBT intervention, 66 patients reported whether or not they opted to reinitiate DMT. Rate of disease progression (β = 0.295) and perceived personal control (β = − 0.131) emerged as unique significant predictors of DMT reinitiation following intervention. Clinical characteristics and health-related beliefs may be used to prospectively identify patients most likely to reinitiate DMT following MI–CBT intervention, furthering the goal of preserving brain health and preventing neurologic decline in MS via appropriate DMT utilization. Further study is warranted to delineate potential mediators and moderators of DMT reinitiation outcomes.
A Custom Approach for a Flexible, Real-Time and Reliable Software Defined Utility.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled the evolution of traditional electric power distribution networks towards a new paradigm referred to as the smart grid. However, the different elements that compose the ICT plane of a smart grid are usually conceived as isolated systems that typically result in rigid hardware architectures, which are hard to interoperate, manage and adapt to new situations. In the recent years, software-defined systems that take advantage of software and high-speed data network infrastructures have emerged as a promising alternative to classic ad hoc approaches in terms of integration, automation, real-time reconfiguration and resource reusability. The purpose of this paper is to propose the usage of software-defined utilities (SDUs) to address the latent deployment and management limitations of smart grids. More specifically, the implementation of a smart grid’s data storage and management system prototype by means of SDUs is introduced, which exhibits the feasibility of this alternative approach. This system features a hybrid cloud architecture able to meet the data storage requirements of electric utilities and adapt itself to their ever-evolving needs. Conducted experimentations endorse the feasibility of this solution and encourage practitioners to point their efforts in this direction.
Does Preoperative Opioid Use Increase the Risk of Early Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty

Abstract Background The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of preoperative opioid use on the risk of subsequent revison after primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods The Humana database was queried for unilateral THA between 2007-2015. Patients were tracked for the occurrence of an ipsilateral revision THA for 2 years. Factors analyzed included preoperative opioid use (defined as a history of opioid prescription filled within 3 months preceding primary THA), age, sex, diabetes, anxiety/depression, chronic kidney disease, and obesity (body mass index > 30 kg/m2). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine odds ratios. Results A total of 17,695 primary THA patients were analyzed and 0.88% (n = 155) underwent revision THA within 2 years. Preoperative opioid use occurred in 36.7% of all. Females comprised 58.7% of the total cohort and 80% were >50 years. Preoperative opioid users were significantly more likely to undergo early THA revision (1.2% vs 0.7%, P Conclusion Opioid use within 3 months preceding THA independently predicts an increased risk of early revision. Additionally, independent predictors of early revision include obesity and a diagnosis of anxiety/depression. Factors such as these will need to be considered in risk adjustment models when assessing quality of care or implementing bundled payment initiatives. Further research is needed to evaluate whether discontinuing opioids before surgery mitigates this risk.
Suboptimal Vitamin B Intakes of Zambian Preschool Children: Evaluation of 24-Hour Dietary Recalls:

Background:Hidden hunger affects individuals who chronically consume an inadequate intake of at least 1 micronutrient and is associated with low dietary diversity. Little data are available on diet...
Quantifying Beer Bitterness: An Investigation of the Impact of Sample Preparation

Much of analytical chemistry involves the analysis of complex mixtures, where careful attention to sample preparation and method selectivity is required to avoid interferents and obtain accurate data. As this type of analysis is very different from simple colorimetric analysis that most students are exposed to in general chemistry, this laboratory exercise was developed to help students discover the importance of sample preparation, specifically extraction and pH adjustment, for quantifying the “bitterness” derived from iso-α-acid content in beer. In this exercise, students deviate from the standard UV–vis absorbance method and compare calculated bitterness (i.e., iso-α-acid concentration) to the beer manufacturer’s reported bitterness, helping them clarify how the standard method works and why the beer must be “cleaned up” prior to analysis.
The Role of De Novo Noncoding Regulatory Mutations in Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Advances in sequencing technology have significantly expanded our understanding of the genetics of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Continued technological improvements and cost reductions have now shifted the focus to investigations into the functional noncoding portions of the genome. There is a patient trend toward an excess of de novo and potentially disruptive mutations among conserved noncoding sequences implicated in the regulation of genes. The signals become stronger when restricted to genes already implicated in NDDs, but de novo mutation in such elements is estimated to account for
Stochastic Modeling and Dynamic Analysis of the Cardiovascular System with Rotary Left Ventricular Assist Devices

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have been used for end-stage heart failure patients as a therapeutic option. The aortic valve plays a critical role in heart failure and its treatment with a LVAD. The cardiovascular-LVAD model is often used to investigate the physiological demands required by patients and predict the hemodynamic of the native heart supported with a LVAD. As it is a “bridge-to-recovery” treatment, it is important to maintain appropriate and active dynamics of the aortic valve and the cardiac output of the native heart, which requires that the LVAD pump be adjusted so that a proper balance between the blood contributed through the aortic valve and the pump is maintained. In this paper, we investigate how the pump power of the LVAD pump can affect the dynamic behaviors of the aortic valve for different levels of activity and different severities of heart failure. Our objective is to identify a critical value of the pump power (i.e., breakpoint) to ensure that the LVAD pump does not take over the pumping function in the cardiovascular-pump system and share the ejected blood with the left ventricle to help the heart to recover. In addition, the hemodynamic often involves variability due to patients’ heterogeneity and the stochastic nature of the cardiovascular system. The variability poses significant challenges to understanding dynamic behaviors of the aortic valve and cardiac output. A generalized polynomial chaos (gPC) expansion is used in this work to develop a stochastic cardiovascular-pump model for efficient uncertainty propagation, from which it is possible to rapidly calculate the variance in the aortic valve opening duration and the cardiac output in the presence of variability. The simulation results show that the gPC-based cardiovascular-pump model is a reliable platform that can provide useful information to understand the effect of the LVAD pump on the hemodynamic of the heart.
Fluorogenic hydrogen sulfide (H2S) donors based on sulfenyl thiocarbonates enable H2S tracking and quantification

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an important cellular signaling molecule that exhibits promising protective effects. Although a number of triggerable H2S donors have been developed, spatiotemporal feedback from H2S release in biological systems remains a key challenge in H2S donor development. Herein we report the synthesis, evaluation, and application of caged sulfenyl thiocarbonates as new fluorescent H2S donors. These molecules rely on thiol cleavage of sulfenyl thiocarbonates to release carbonyl sulfide (COS), which is quickly converted to H2S by carbonic anhydrase (CA). This approach is a new strategy in H2S release and does not release electrophilic byproducts common from COS-based H2S releasing motifs. Importantly, the release of COS/H2S is accompanied by the release of a fluorescent reporter, which enables the real-time tracking of H2S by fluorescence spectroscopy or microscopy. Dependent on the choice of fluorophore, either one or two equivalents of H2S can be released, thus allowing for the dynamic range of the fluorescent donors to be tuned. We demonstrate that the fluorescence response correlates directly with quantified H2S release and also demonstrate the live-cell compatibility of these donors. Furthermore, these fluorescent donors exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in RAW 264.7 cells, indicating their potential application as new H2S-releasing therapeutics. Taken together, sulfenyl thiocarbonates provide a new platform for H2S donation and readily enable fluorescent tracking of H2S delivery in complex environments.
Proceedings of the 2002 international symposium on Physical design

On behalf of the organizing committee we welcome you to the 2002 International Symposium on Physical Design (ISPD) held at the Hilton San Diego/Del Mar hotel in Del Mar, California. ISPD provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and results in the area of physical design of VLSI systems. This meeting evolved from the ACM/SIGDA Physical Design Workshops held during the years 1987-1996. Interest in physical design has grown dramatically in recent years. The number of researchers working in this area, and the set of new commercial interests in both start-ups and big companies show that in the deep submicron or nanometer age, physical design is economically critical and intellectually challenging.This year's Symposium focuses on CAD algorithms and practices for generating and analysing deep-sub-micron designs. An outstanding set of technical papers has been selected for oral and poster presentation.These papers are complemented by talks from invited speakers. Our keynote speaker, Steve Teig of Simplex, will present a perspective on challenges and principles of physical design. The conference also includes a number of invited sessions and panels from specialists in the field. On Monday morning, a panel of experts will discuss the effects of recent consolidations in the industry, and whether one can or should obtain a full physical design solution from one or multiple vendors. A special invited session on leakage issues will begin the afternoon program. Tuesday's program includes an invited talk on thermal issues in peta-scale integration, and an afternoon session on future trends in design with a focus on physical design issues. A late afternoon panel will discuss system-level design issues, including issues related to the design of silicon as it relates to package and board design. Wednesday morning will be highlighted by an opening talk on physical hierarchy and timing closure.
Selectively Inhibiting the Median Preoptic Nucleus Attenuates Angiotensin II and Hyperosmotic-Induced Drinking Behavior and Vasopressin Release in Adult Male Rats

The median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) is a putative integrative region that contributes to body fluid balance. Activation of the MnPO can influence thirst, but it is not clear how these responses are linked to body fluid homeostasis. We used designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) to determine the role of the MnPO in drinking behavior and vasopressin release in response to peripheral angiotensin II (ANG II) or 3% hypertonic saline (3% HTN) in adult male Sprague Dawley rats (250-300 g). Rats were anesthetized with isoflurane and stereotaxically injected with an inhibitory DREADD (rAAV5-CaMKIIa-hM4D(Gi)-mCherry) or control (rAAV5-CaMKIIa-mCherry) virus in the MnPO. After two weeks' recovery, a subset of rats was used for extracellular recordings to verify functional effects of ANG II or hyperosmotic challenges in MnPO slice preparations. Remaining rats were used in drinking behavior studies. Each rat was administered either 10 mg/kg of exogenous clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) to inhibit DREADD-expressing cells or vehicle intraperitoneal followed by a test treatment with either 2-mg/kg ANG II or 3% HTN (1 ml/100-g bw, s.c.), twice per week for two separate treatment weeks. CNO-induced inhibition during either test treatment significantly attenuated drinking responses compared to vehicle treatments and controls. Brain tissue processed for cFos immunohistochemistry showed decreased expression with CNO-induced inhibition during either test treatment in the MnPO and downstream nuclei compared to controls. CNO-mediated inhibition significantly attenuated treatment-induced increases in plasma vasopressin compared to controls. The results indicate inhibition of CaMKIIa-expressing MnPO neurons significantly reduces drinking and vasopressin release in response to ANG II or hyperosmotic challenge.
Collaborative Professional Development Focused on Promoting Effective Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards

The purpose of this study was to examine the design, implementation, and initial outcomes of a collaborative professional development program intended to prepare middle and high school educators to implement effectively the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in classrooms with diverse learners. The professional development program discussed herein was designed by a university in partnership with a local school district and incorporated key principles of effective professional development associated with promoting substantial changes in teacher knowledge and practice recommended in the research literature (Darling-Hammond et al., 2009; Guskey, 2002; Reiser, 2013). Topics covered in the professional development included NGSS practices and crosscutting concepts, Universal Design for Learning, and disciplinary literacy. Results suggest that the impact of this professional development program was positive. Feedback from participants was favorable and will be shared as well.