cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Brain Regions Influencing Implicit Violent Attitudes: A Lesion-Mapping Study

Increased aggression is common after traumatic brain injuries and may persist after cognitive recovery. Maladaptive aggression and violence are associated with dysfunction in the prefrontal and temporal cortex, but such dysfunctional behaviors are typically measured by explicit scales and history. However, it is well known that answers on explicit scales on sensitive topics-such as aggressive thoughts and behaviors-may not reveal true tendencies. Here, we investigated the neural basis of implicit attitudes toward aggression in humans using a modified version of the Implicit Association Task (IAT) with a unique sample of 112 Vietnam War veterans who suffered penetrating brain injury and 33 healthy controls who also served in combat in Vietnam but had no history of brain injury. We hypothesized that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) lesions, due to the crucial role of the dlPFC in response inhibition, could influence performance on the IAT. In addition, we investigated the causal contribution of specific brain areas to implicit attitudes toward violence. We found a more positive implicit attitude toward aggression among individuals with lesions to the dlPFC and inferior posterior temporal cortex (ipTC). Furthermore, executive functions were critically involved in regulating implicit attitudes toward violence and aggression. Our findings complement existing evidence on the neural basis of explicit aggression centered on the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings highlight that dlPFC and ipTC play a causal role in modulating implicit attitudes about violence and are crucially involved in the pathogenesis of aggressive behavior. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Maladaptive aggression and violence can lead to interpersonal conflict and criminal behavior. Surprisingly little is known about implicit attitudes toward violence and aggression. Here, we used a range of techniques, including voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping, to examine the causal role of brain structures underpinning implicit attitudes toward aggression in a unique sample of combat veterans with traumatic brain injury. We found that damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) led to a more positive implicit attitude toward violence that under most normal situations would be considered inappropriate. These results suggest that treatments aimed at increasing cognitive control using cognitive behavioral therapies dependent on the intact dlPFC could treat aggressive and violent behavior. Language: en
Abstract 1853: Monoclonal B-cell Lymphocytosis (MBL) has increased incidence in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) Families

Background. MBL is defined as a monoclonal expansion of B lymphocytes ( Methods. Individuals were obtained from an ongoing study of NHL families (i.e., families with 2 or more NHL members). However, we limited to NHL families with at most 1 individual with CLL due to the known increased frequency of MBL in CLL families. Multi-color flow cytometry was performed on fresh peripheral blood samples. A CBC and differential count was simultaneously obtained using an automated blood cell counter. Five possible flow diagnoses were defined as: CLL-like MBL (CD5+CD20dim), atypical MBL (CD5+CD20bright), non-CLL like MBL (CD5−), and normal immunophenotype (NIPT). Medical records of NHL cases were reviewed to confirm disease. Results. A total of 30 individuals from 16 NHL families had available flow cytometry results. The mean age at flow analysis was 56 years (range 37− 83 years). We identified 5 individuals with MBL from 4 families: 3 of the 6 had CLL-like MBL, 1 had atypical MBL, and 1 had non-CLL like MBL. The remaining 25 individuals had a NIPT. Thus, the MBL rate in NHL families is 17% (5/30). Among the CD5+ MBL (both CLL-like and atypical MBL) individuals, all were female and the mean absolute lymphocyte count was 1.4 × 109/L. Of interest, 1 of the CLL-like MBL individuals is from a family where two members had monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS). Conclusion: Our data show that MBLs of various phenotypes can be found at a higher prevalence in NHL families than that of the general population. Further, the frequency of MBL in NHL families is comparable to that of CLL families. Although more work is needed, our results suggest that MBL may be clustering within NHL families, and thus support a possible common inherited predisposition of NHL and CLL, with MBL signifying a shared early pathogenetic step. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1853.
Florida scrub-jay demography and dispersal in a fragmented landscape

I measured population dynamics and cooperative breeding in an isolated population of Florida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) on an urban barrier island in southern Brevard County, Florida. In 1992, the scrub-jay population consisted of 29 breeding pairs within six population clusters that comprised two subpopulations. By 1998, the pop- ulation declined to 10 pairs in four clusters because of poor reproductive success. The fre- quency of breeding by one-year-olds was related to the availability of breeding vacancies that increased as the population declined. Nearly half of the breeding vacancies were filled
Bio-functionalized silk hydrogel microfluidic systems.

Bio-functionalized microfluidic systems were developed based on a silk protein hydrogel elastomeric materials. A facile multilayer fabrication method using gelatin sacrificial molding and layer-by-layer assembly was implemented to construct interconnected, three dimensional (3D) microchannel networks in silk hydrogels at 100 μm minimum feature resolution. Mechanically activated valves were implemented to demonstrate pneumatic control of microflow. The silk hydrogel microfluidics exhibit controllable mechanical properties, long-term stability in various environmental conditions, tunable in vitro and in vivo degradability in addition to optical transparency, providing unique features for cell/tissue-related applications than conventional polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and existing hydrogel-based microfluidic options. As demonstrated in the work here, the all aqueous-based fabrication process at ambient conditions enabled the incorporation of active biological substances in the bulk phase of these new silk microfluidic systems during device fabrication, including enzymes and living cells, which are able to interact with the fluid flow in the microchannels. These silk hydrogel-based microfluidic systems offer new opportunities in engineering active diagnostic devices, tissues and organs that could be integrated in vivo, and for on-chip cell sensing systems.
Homogenization of High Porosity Materials and Structures Using Shell Elements

Homogenization of high porosity material/structure is very computationally expensive if 3D brick elements are used. Those materials usually contain many shell/plate-like components. In this paper, we use the shell element of relative degree of freedom is derived and added in the element library of VAMUCH code to specifically deal with this kind of problems. The coordinates, shape functions, nodal fluctuating values are modified according to the formulism of shell element of relative degree of freedom used in structural mechanics in order to avoid the ill condition of the coefficient matrix. Multi-point constraints are introduced to enforce the periodic boundary conditions using this type of shell elements. Compared with previous approach of VAMUCH, the shell element approach can largely reduce the computational time since it requires much fewer elements compared with 3D brick elements for high porosity materials. Several examples have been used to validate this new capability of VAMUCH.
Cyanation of Aryl Chlorides Using a Microwave-Assisted, Copper-Catalyzed Concurrent Tandem Catalysis Methodology

A microwave-assisted, copper-catalyzed concurrent tandem catalytic (CTC) methodology has been developed for the cyanation of aryl chlorides, where the aryl chloride is first converted to an aryl iodide via halogen exchange and the aryl iodide is subsequently transformed to the aryl nitrile. A variety of aryl chlorides were converted to aryl nitriles in 44–97% yield using 20 mol % of CuI, 40 mol % of N,N’-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine, and 1.2 equiv of KCN in acetonitrile at 200 °C after 1–2 h. The same copper/ligand system served as a multifunctional catalyst for both steps of the concurrent catalytic process. Unlike our previously reported CTC hydrodehalogenation of aryl chlorides, CTC cyanation was catalytic in iodide. Kinetic simulations of the proposed CTC mechanism were consistent with experimental results and stipulate the relative reaction rates of the two catalytic cycles necessary to achieve reasonable yields of product.
Pore-Network Approach for Calculating the Interfacial Area of Wetting/Non-Wetting Phases in Porous Media

In order to better understand and quantify many flow and transport processes in porous media (e.g. soil remediation strategies, reactive transport, CO2 sequestration, etc.) it is important to acquire a detailed knowledge of fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interfacial areas since they play a key role in the dynamics of multiphase flow and transport in porous media. Fluid-fluid interfacial areas (e.g., between wetting and non-wetting phases) control many mass transfer processes in porous media such as phase partitioning (adsorption) and volatilization as well as colloidal and microbial transport since it has been shown that they can serve as sorption sites. Fluid-solid interfacial areas (e.g., in partially saturated media) controls mineral reaction rates and adsorption phenomena. During CO2 sequestration in a saline aquifer, the brine/CO2 interface controls the amount of CO2 dissolved in the brine phase and the amount of H2O dissolved in the CO2 plume, while the fluid/solid interface controls the dissolution of the porous media and precipitation of reaction products (thus affecting mineral sequestration of CO2). Due to the complicated nature of experimentally measuring the fluid-fluid interfaces it is useful to have a predictive approach. In this study, a 3-D pore-network approach is introduced to calculate the interface between wetting and non-wetting phases in porous media. We consider a regular, cubic lattice of pores and throats of different geometries and sizes. The pores have either spherical or cubic geometry and the throats have cylindrical, rectangular, or triangular geometries. The constructed network can contain one or multiple types of pores/throats and can have variable saturation of wetting and/or non-wetting phases, resulting in different interfacial areas. In a first step, different network saturations are obtained by randomly distributing wetting/non-wetting phases in the network based on concepts borrowed from Ordinary Percolation Theory. In a further step, we study the effect of the history of the fluid displacement (drainage, imbibition, etc.) on the resulting interfacial areas. These simulations are based on principals from Invasion Percolation Theory. We further report results on how the calculated interfacial areas are affected by parameters such as the range and distribution of pore/throat characteristic lengths, the wetting saturation, the pore-size distribution, and the extent of overlapping of pore/throat distributions.
Oxidation kinetics and combustion of boron particles with modified surface

Abstract This work is aimed to modify a commercial 95% pure boron powder to improve its ignition. The powder is processed using acetonitrile to dissolve the oxidized and hydrated surface layers. The washed powder re-oxidizes and agglomerates readily, which can be prevented by additionally washing it in toluene and other liquid hydrocarbons, prior to exposing it to an oxidizing atmosphere. The presence and removal of the hydrated oxide layer and oxidation of boron powders are studied using thermo-gravimetry. The processed powders are shown to retain the active boron present in the starting material and maintain their reactivity after extended exposure to an oxidizing environment. The powders are also injected in a pre-mixed air-acetylene flame and their ignition and combustion are studied based on their optical emission. Flame temperature is measured using optical emission spectroscopy. Powder particles washed in acetonitrile, toluene and hexane exhibit substantially shorter ignition delays compared to the starting commercial boron particles. Full-fledged combustion is unaffected by this processing: both, burn times and flame temperatures are nearly identical for commercial and modified powder particles.
Disjunct matrices for multiplexing PET detector signal readout

The readout channels of radionuclide imaging detectors are commonly multiplexed to reduce the data acquisition system complexity. Because the underlying detector signals have a sparse representation in time and space, sparse recovery methods may be applied. A new method multiplexing method is investigated here. We developed algorithms for creating practical-to-implement disjunct matrices and decoding methods that can accommodate light sharing in PET. Similar to cross-strip multiplexing, disjunct multiplexing is implemented with unweighted interconnections of pixels to the readout channel. Whereas cross-strips read out rows and columns, disjunct multiplexing readouts are interconnected to satisfy a disjunctness criterion. Methods are developed to create matrices that are easier to route. Disjunct multiplexing is evaluated by Monte Carlo simulation and shown to have superior SNR than cross-strip multiplexing at the same multiplexing ratio. Consequently, better energy resolution and positioning accuracy can be achieved. Further, disjunct multiplexing is shown to be highly accurate at positioning multiple interactions.
Alcohol: A History

This ambitious book is a history of alcohol from its beginnings in the Neolithic Revolution to the end of the twentieth century. This sweeping chronological scope is matched with a slightly more co...
Inverted Yield Curves and Stock Market Performance: Recent Evidence

This study investigated the linkage between the effects of an inverted yield curve and the performance of small, mid, and big cap stocks for the period 2005-2007. The comparative performance of small, mid and big cap stocks during the period was examined. In general, there seemed no significant link between the two variables, which would support the efficient market hypothesis. However, as an anomaly, the biggest cap stocks significantly outperformed the middle and the smallest cap stocks when the yield curve was inverted. This could reflect an economic environment in which the pendulum may have swung in favor of the big cap stocks.
Back Home: Politics of Nationalism, Mau Mau, Prison, and Surveillance

Politics of nationalism, Mau Mau, and surveillance. A detailed consideration of the causes of the Mau Mau peasant revolt and Kenyatta’s supposed role. The state of mass nationalism and the determined efforts by the colonial security forces to spy on Kenyatta and the nationalists; frustrations of mass nationalism and the outbreak of Mau Mau. A consideration of the question of Communism and Mau Mau. The arrest, trial, and imprisonment of Kenyatta and his radical colleagues; failure of the colonial government to subdue the revolt even after this. The basic aims of African nationalism as articulated by Kenyatta.
WIAMan ATD Polymeric Material Characterization for Under-Body Blast Environment Simulation

Material characterization is one of the critical challenges facing the anthropomorphic test device (ATD) modeling community because of the lack of adequate material models and inconsistency between material models available in different computational Finite Element codes. The WIAMan modeling and simulation team systematically characterized the material properties using experimental data for 8 polymeric materials used in key components in the WIAMan ATD Tech Demonstrator. Two modeling teams independently developed finite-element model of the WIAMan ATD in vertical accelerative loading using 2 different modeling platforms (LS-DYNA and Velodyne). The WIAMan FEM has successfully supported the design and development of the WIAMan ATD, the world's first biofidelic ATD for vertical accelerative loading. The approaches to derive the material parameters, constitutive material models, and the fitting algorithms are briefly discussed in this paper. A brief comparison of the whole-body simulation results of an ATD response to those of the corresponding test data due to vertical accelerative loading shows strong confidence in the predictive capability of the WIAMan ATD FE model.
African Environmental Governance

In recent years, the critical role of civil society and the public in protecting the environment has become clear. International declarations and agreements such as the 1992 Rio Declaration increasingly recognise the role that individuals (including citizens and non-citizens), non-governmental organisations, and local governments have in sustainable management of natural resources and in protecting critically important areas. Countries are starting to give life to environmental governance principles by establishing institutions that guarantee public access to the decisionmaking process, as well as by creating and clarifying substantive rights to information, participation, and justice. In fact, many African nations have enshrined these guarantees in their constitutions.1
Protocol: a multi-level intervention program to reduce stress in 9-1-1 telecommunicators

Nationwide, emergency response systems depend on 9-1-1 telecommunicators to prioritize, triage, and dispatch assistance to those in distress. 9-1-1 call center telecommunicators (TCs) are challenged by acute and chronic workplace stressors: tense interactions with citizen callers in crisis; overtime; shift-work; ever-changing technologies; and negative work culture, including co-worker conflict. This workforce is also subject to routine exposures to secondary traumatization while handling calls involving emergency situations and while making time urgent, high stake decisions over the phone. Our study aims to test the effectiveness of a multi-part intervention to reduce stress in 9-1-1 TCs through an online mindfulness training and a toolkit containing workplace stressor reduction resources. The study employs a randomized controlled trial design with three data collection points. The multi-part intervention includes an individual-level online mindfulness training and a call center-level organizational stress reduction toolkit. 160 TCs will be recruited from 9-1-1 call centers, complete a baseline survey at enrollment, and are randomly assigned to an intervention or a control group. Intervention group participants will start a 7-week online mindfulness training developed in-house and tailored to 9-1-1 TCs and their call center environment; control participants will be “waitlisted” and start the training after the study period ends. Following the intervention group’s completion of the mindfulness training, all participants complete a second survey. Next, the online toolkit with call-center wide stress reduction resources is made available to managers of all participating call centers. After 3 months, a third survey will be completed by all participants. The primary outcome is 9-1-1 TCs’ self-reported symptoms of stress at three time points as measured by the C-SOSI (Calgary Symptoms of Stress Inventory). Secondary outcomes will include: perceptions of social work environment (measured by metrics of social support and network conflict); mindfulness; and perceptions of social work environment and mindfulness as mediators of stress reduction. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an online mindfulness training and call center-wide stress reduction toolkit in reducing self-reported stress in 9-1-1 TCs. The results of this study will add to the growing body of research on worksite stress reduction programs. ClinicalTrials.gov Registration Number: NCT02961621 Registered on November 7, 2016 (retrospectively registered).
School Consultation to Counter Stereotype Threat

Perceptions teachers have regarding their students are associated with their students’ school performance. Similarly, students’ psychoeducational and psychosocial functioning are partly shaped by their beliefs about teachers’ opinions of them. Psychoeducational performance and psychosocial interactions are linked with perceived stereotype threats. Stereotype threat refers to how a person’s fear or anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype associated with being a member of a stigmatized group undermines their performance in evaluative contexts. This work offers a theoretical and practical prevention and intervention teaching and learning framework to ameliorate stereotype threat. We describe the stereotype threat interruption model (STIM) as a consultation model that delineates stereotype threat and provides teacher-focused, student-centered, and environment-applied consultation strategies to abrogate its effects. STIM is applicable in graduate training and in the professional environment. It ...
Function in WrHω[-1, 1] Deviating Most from Polynomials \(\sum\limits_{i = 1}^r {a_i t^i }\)

The classical Chebyshev polynomial T r of degree r + 1 is given by the formula $$ {{T}_{r}}(x) = \frac{{{{2}^{{ - r}}}}}{{(r + 1)!}}\cos [(r + 1)\arccos (x)],\quad x \in [ - 1,1]. $$ (0.1)
Adapting Traditional Field Activities in Natural History Education to an Emerging Paradigm in Biodiversity Informatics

The use of Web-based informatics tools such as eBird, iNaturalist, and NatureAtlas that allow anyone to find and share occurrences and observations of organisms in nature could readily be integrated with the time-honored specimen collection and field journaling components of taxon-based natural history courses. We find, however, that fewer than 2% of such courses have used any such tool. Consequently, the far majority of students receive no formal exposure to the 21st-century technologies and concepts that are transforming the data landscapes of the very fields the courses should be preparing them to enter. We conducted a seven-year, empirical assessment of the integration of such technology with coursework, and our results reveal why recognizing and correcting this shortcoming is critical. Our data indicate that such technology can enhance student engagement and student perception of learning, and that its broader integration with coursework could be a boon to regional and global efforts to document and conserve biodiversity. We conclude that the academic community is missing a tremendous opportunity to better engage future biologists and potential citizen-scientists in a critically important, emergent paradigm in biodiversity informatics.
Sexual Behaviors and Perceptions of HIV Risk in a Multiethnic U.S. Sample of Women Who Have Sex with Women

AbstractThis study investigated the sexual practices and perceptions of HIV risk in a national sample women who have sex with women (WSW). A multiethnic sample of 239 WSW aged 18–68 years attending...
Imaging and Manipulating Astrocyte Function In Vivo in the Context of CNS Injury

Astrocytes are glial cells carrying out complex homeostatic functions in the healthy and diseased central nervous system (CNS). It has so far been impossible to reliably culture adult astrocytes and the results of studies on astrocytes outside of their normal environment are challenging to interpret. Consequently, most culture studies use astrocytes isolated from postnatal rodents. Yet cultured astrocytes do not display their complex three-dimensional in vivo morphology, and transcriptomes of cultured astrocytes vary significantly from those of acutely isolated astrocytes (Cahoy et al., J Neurosci 28:264-278, 2008). Astrocyte isolation for culture experiments, and the cutting of acute brain slices, induces astrocyte reactivity similar to a severe acute injury. In response to CNS injury, such as moderate or severe focal traumatic brain injury (TBI), astrocytes can change in cell number, physiological state, gene and protein expression, secretome, and morphology, in a process termed reactive astrogliosis. This makes the use of methods that inherently induce astrogliosis (e.g., dissociation of brain tissue for culture or sectioning of brains for acute brain slices) challenging, especially when conditions are studied that present with changes in astrocyte function that are milder and/or of a different nature.In this methods chapter, we will describe a technical approach that allows one to study astrocytes in the intact brain using two-photon in vivo imaging. We will use mild TBI as an example of how to use this approach to compare astrocyte function in the same animal before and after an injury.Here we describe the use of a noninvasive label-free method (Choi et al., J Biomed Opt 16:075003, 2011) to increase astrocyte Ca2+ using optical femtosecond pulsed laser activation. We will provide systematic instruction of the surgical technique, which when done properly, allows in vivo astrocyte imaging in the same experimental animal before the injury as well as over the course of days, weeks, and even months after injury. We will also elaborate on challenges in astrocytic Ca2+ imaging and how different image acquisition settings can affect the readout of astrocyte Ca2+ oscillations.
I'm so touched! Self-touch increases attitude extremity via self-focused attention.

Abstract In everyday life, people often engage in behaviors like chin touching, hand clasping, and arm crossing. Such self-touching behaviors have been found to emerge under emotional stress and while performing tasks requiring concentration and focus. In contrast to work examining antecedents of self-touch, the current research experimentally investigates the causal outcomes of self-touch, specifically its influence on evaluative cognitions such as attitudes toward external objects and events. Four studies support the prediction that both instructed and spontaneous self-touch enhance focus on the self, resulting in greater attitude extremity toward evaluated targets. A last study demonstrates that people do not have a fully accurate understanding of the influence of self-touch on consequential outcomes such as self-focus and attitude extremity. Thus, this common behavior may incidentally influence a wide variety of judgments.
Other Preventive Anti-Migraine Treatments: ACE Inhibitors, ARBs, Calcium Channel Blockers, Serotonin Antagonists, and NMDA Receptor Antagonists

Migraine causes more years of life lived with disability than almost any other condition in the world and can significantly impact the lives of individuals with migraine, their families, and society. The use of medication for the prevention of migraine is an integral component to reducing disability caused by migraine. There are many different drug classes that have been investigated and shown efficacy in migraine prophylaxis. This article examines several of the classes of medications that are used for migraine preventive treatment, specifically, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, serotonin antagonists, alpha-adrenergic agonists, and N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptor antagonists. There have been randomized control trials investigating medications in these drug classes since the most recent guidelines for migraine prevention in adults were published by the American Academy of Neurology, American Headache Society, and the Canadian Headache Society. In these investigations, enalapril, candesartan, and memantine all demonstrated efficacy for migraine prevention. The evidence for these and the aforementioned drug classes are reviewed. When oral medications are being selected for migraine prevention, comorbid and coexistent medical conditions, concomitant medications, patient preference, and pregnancy and breast-feeding plans should be considered. Within the drug classes discussed, memantine and candesartan have a moderate level of evidence for efficacy.
Cutibacterium acnes is less commonly identified by next-generation sequencing than culture in primary shoulder surgery.

IntroductionHigh rates of positive Cutibacterium acnes cultures from primary shoulder surgery make positive cultures in the revision surgery setting difficult to interpret. Our goal was to determin...
Fundamental uncertainty levels of 21 cm power spectra from a delay analysis

Several experimental efforts are underway to measure the power spectrum of 21cm fluctuations from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) using low-frequency radio interferometers. Experiments like the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) and Murchison Widefield Array Phase II (MWA) feature highly-redundant antenna layouts, building sensitivity through redundant measurements of the same angular Fourier modes, at the expense of diminished UV coverage. This strategy limits the numbers of independent samples of each power spectrum mode, thereby increasing the effect of sample variance on the final power spectrum uncertainty. To better quantify this effect, we measure the sample variance of a delay-transform based power spectrum estimator, using both analytic calculations and simulations of flat-spectrum EoR-like signals. We find that for the shortest baselines in HERA, the sample variance can reach as high as 20%, and up to 30% for the wider fields-of-view of the MWA. Combining estimates from all the baselines in a HERA- or MWA-like 37 element redundant hexagonal array can lower the variance to $1-3$% for some Fourier modes. These results have important implications for observing and analysis strategies, and suggest that sample variance can be non-negligible when constraining EoR model parameters from upcoming 21cm data.
An overview of DNA/RNA-based monitoring tools and biosensors: Benefits and applications in the environmental toxicology

Abstract This chapter gives an overview on the current DNA/RNA-based monitoring tools and biosensors technology. In particular, the application of nucleic acid aptamers in pesticides and selected toxins monitoring is discussed. It starts by introducing the advantages and disadvantages of current technology on environmental contaminant detection and the need for nucleic acid-based monitoring tools. It then explains different types of nucleic acid-based biosensors and an in-depth discussion on aptamer-based biosensor or aptasensor. The methodology on the identification of DNA/RNA aptamers is briefly discussed with highlights on aptamers specific for pesticides and selected environmentally relevant carcinogens and biological toxins. The final sections describe the basic principles of different aptasensors and include highlights on the recent advancement in aptasensor for environmental contaminants. This chapter concludes with future perspectives on the development of nucleic acid-based monitoring tools.
High and Low Technology Approaches in the Development of Communication Systems for Severely Physically Handicapped Persons

An understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both high and low technology implementations of approaches to providing effective means of communication to individuals with severe speech and mo...
The Intergenerational Transmission of Discrimination: Children’s Experiences of Unfair Treatment and Their Mothers’ Health at Midlife:

A growing body of research suggests that maternal exposure to discrimination helps to explain racial disparities in children’s health. However, no study has considered if the intergenerational heal...
Biomimetic Structures by Leaf Vein Growth Mechanism for Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancements

Abstract Novel biomimetic structures are designed and synthesized to enable liquid water flowing from the periphery to the center of a heating surface, and promote local liquid wicking and active nucleation site density, which enhance the critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of pool boiling heat transfer. The biomimetic structures are designed by mimicking leaf vein growth from an initial point of petiole to an architecture that supplies water and nutrition to the whole leaf lamina. The in-plane flow channels are developed to distribute liquid toward bubble nucleation sites on a heating surface. The in-plane flow channels are then fabricated by: 1) machining a solid biomimetic groove structure at 250 µm height on plain copper surfaces, 2) depositing ~70 nm diameter copper nanowires (CuNWs) of height 25 µm on the solid biomimetic groove structure, and 3) sintering ~25 µm diameter copper powder to create porous biomimetic structures at various heights. The experimental pool boiling results on different structures show that the sintered porous biomimetic structure at 1.0 mm height yields the highest CHF of 343.1 W/cm2, an increase of 206% over that on a polished plain copper surface, which is due to the biomimetic channels providing easier access of liquid water flow toward the dry-out spots as indicated by a liquid inflow factor. The biomimetic structure of CuNWs has dramatically increased CHF and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) than that of a plain surface and a solid biomimetic structure. A theoretical analysis of the liquid thin film beneath hovering bubbles reveals that the population density of vapor stems in the liquid thin film increases with a decrease of the vapor stem diameter as heat flux increases. Moreover, the porous biomimetic structures take advantage of active nucleation sites and their wicking effect to delay the hydrodynamic instability of the liquid thin film, thus increasing the pool boiling heat transfer.
Congenital short-QT syndrome

Abstract Congenital Short QT Syndrome is a cardiac channelopathy first described in 2000, with total number of published patients reaching 234 in 144 families and reportedly a male predominance. Most cases are from Western Europe and Japan. The total number of published patients is remarkably similar to the number of LQTS patients published within a similar time frame, but among LQTS patients female predominance has been reported. This difference in dominant sex category in the two syndromes becomes apparent after puberty, when earlier studies in healthy people have shown significantly shorter QT in males than in females, and later studies relating the QT shortening to testosterone. In the absence of definite sex-specific diagnostic criteria for QT duration, it has been suggested, however, that these differences may induce a bias, favoring LQTS diagnosis among adult females and SQTS diagnosis among adult males. Looking at only genotype-positive patients within the two syndromes there is no significant sex preference.
An Examination of the Counselor Burnout Inventory Using Item Response Theory in Early Career Post-Master’s Counselors

We examined the psychometric properties of the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI) with 560 early career, post-master’s counselors. We tested the dimensional structure of the CBI, item ordering, and ...
Comparative analyses of variable and fixed rate irrigation and nitrogen management for maize in different soil types: Part I. Impact on soil-water dynamics and crop evapotranspiration

Abstract Understanding the soil-water dynamics and maize evapotranspiration (ETc) under variable rate irrigation (VRI) and variable rate fertigation (VRF) management with respect to soil spatial variability constitutes the basis for developing effective variable rate water and nitrogen management strategies. This long-term research was designed to quantify and compare the soil-water dynamics, including available water (AW), and ETc during vegetative and reproductive growth periods of VRI, fixed rate irrigation (FRI) and no-irrigation (NI) under fixed rate fertigation (FRF), VRF and pre-plant (PP) nitrogen management in three different soil types [Crete silt loam (S1); Hastings silty clay loam (S2) and Hastings silt loam (S3)] with different topography in the same field under the same environmental and management conditions. The research was conducted in the Irmak Research Laboratory in south central Nebraska, U.S.A., in 2015, 2016 and 2017 maize (Zea mays L.) growing seasons under a variable-rate linear move sprinkler irrigation system. No effect of irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer on AW was observed in the vegetative period. Overall, greater AW was observed in S3 as compared with S1 and S2 due to lower elevation. Maize ETc during the vegetative period was significantly (P 0.05) in ETc between FRI and VRI was observed in any soil type. Similarly, in 2017, no significant difference in reproductive ETc was observed between VRI and FRI in S1. During reproductive period, averaged across years, soil types and irrigation treatments, the PP nitrogen treatment had greater ETc and lower AW than VRF and FRF. The results indicate that vegetative period ETc was primarily affected by soil type, weather conditions (evaporative demand and soil wetting) and nitrogen fertilizer application timing. The findings of this research showed that soil-water dynamics is a strong function of not only management practices (irrigation and nitrogen treatments), but also soil type, topography and soil physical properties, which all need to be taken into account for effective management of VRI and FRI under VRF, FRF or PP nitrogen management in different soil types. This research quantified the impact of these management practices on soil-water dynamics and ETc which can be used as a guidance.
Activation of mTORC1 at late endosomes misdirects T cell fate decision in older individuals.

The nutrient-sensing mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is integral to cell fate decisions after T cell activation. Sustained mTORC1 activity favors the generation of terminally differentiated effector T cells instead of follicular helper and memory T cells. This is particularly pertinent for T cell responses of older adults who have sustained mTORC1 activation despite dysfunctional lysosomes. Here, we show that lysosome-deficient T cells rely on late endosomes rather than lysosomes as an mTORC1 activation platform, where mTORC1 is activated by sensing cytosolic amino acids. T cells from older adults have an increased expression of the plasma membrane leucine transporter SLC7A5 to provide a cytosolic amino acid source. Hence, SLC7A5 and VPS39 deficiency (a member of the HOPS complex promoting early to late endosome conversion) substantially reduced mTORC1 activities in T cells from older but not young individuals. Late endosomal mTORC1 is independent of the negative-feedback loop involving mTORC1-induced inactivation of the transcription factor TFEB that controls expression of lysosomal genes. The resulting sustained mTORC1 activation impaired lysosome function and prevented lysosomal degradation of PD-1 in CD4+ T cells from older adults, thereby inhibiting their proliferative responses. VPS39 silencing of human T cells improved their expansion to pertussis and to SARS-CoV-2 peptides in vitro. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of CD4+Vps39-deficient LCMV-specific SMARTA cells improved germinal center responses, CD8+ memory T cell generation, and recall responses to infection. Thus, curtailing late endosomal mTORC1 activity is a promising strategy to enhance T cell immunity.
177Lu-dotatate use in chronic kidney disease patients: A single center experience:

Background:Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with 177Lu-dotatate is a novel therapy for metastatic neuroendocrine cancers. It undergoes reabsorption at the proximal tubule; after the breakdown ...
Longitudinal trajectories of physical activity in women using latent class growth analysis: The WIN Study.

This article discusses a study to examine the longitudinal trajectories in objectively measured physical activity (PA), to identify unknown (i.e., latent) subgroups with distinct trajectories, and to examine the correlates of latent subgroups among community dwelling women.
Modern and Classical Control Techniques Applied to an Anionic Polystyrene Reactor

Modern and classical control techniques are developed for the continuous polymerization of polystyrene initiated with n-butyl lithium. State variable techniques are utilized via pole placement to decrease substantially the transient response time. A steady state decoupling algorithm is designed to control separately the production rate of polymer and its number average molecular weight. Standard proportional/integral controllers then regulate the system against load changes. Simulations include load and setpoint disturbances and demonstrate that the design efficiently regulates the controlled variables in such a way that the cost of raw materials is minimized in the steady state. Furthermore, the controller is effective in changing resin molecular weight at a constant production rate.
Non-invasive detection of medication adherence using a digital smart necklace

Studies have revealed that non-adherence to prescribed medication can lead to hospital readmissions, clinical complications, and a host of other negative patient outcomes. Though many techniques have been proposed to improve patient adherence rates, they suffer from clear drawbacks such as high complexity, user burden, and low accuracy. In this paper, we propose a two step system for detecting user adherence to medication. First, force-sensitive resistors are used to determine when the pill bottle has been opened. Subsequently, medication ingestion is detected using a smart necklace equipped with a piezoelectric sensor. Evaluations confirm high accuracy of the proposed technique.
Converting technical communication courses to online delivery: learning objects, software tools, and delivery media in an e-learning environment

Some of us who teach, whether in academia or the workplace, are engaged in a shift from face-to-face to online course delivery. As we plan and implement this change we find ourselves considering a host of new concepts and tools including learning objects, software tools, and delivery media. Over the past four semesters I have been moving some of my courses to online delivery. I have an e-learning platform available at my university but I have found that a mix of learning objects, software tools, and delivery media can also work. I have also found that this shift from one type of delivery to another is an opportunity to try new ideas. Based on my experience to date, I advocate an eclectic approach using multiple learning objects, software tools, and delivery media (synchronous and asynchronous) to interact online with my students in such assignments as discussion boards, weblogs, exams, service learning projects, and writing or design projects. Second, I find that the term "converting" may be a misnomer since making a conventional face-to-face course into an online is probably something more akin to re-creation of that course. In this paper I reflect on my own experience in converting courses to online delivery in the hope that I will assist other instructors in making informed decisions as they go online with their courses. Then, in the second part of the paper, I present a small sample of student feedback.
Phosphoenolpyruvate Synthetase PARTIAL REACTIONS STUDIED WITH ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATE ANALOGUES AND THE INORGANIC PHOSPHATE-H218O EXCHANGE REACTION

Abstract The enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate synthetase from Escherichia coli catalyzes the over-all reaction: ATP + pyruvate ⇌ phosphoenolpyruvate + AMP + Pi. Previous investigations had established the formation of a phosphoenzyme EP as an intermediate and had led to the suggestion that the first step in the reaction was the formation of a pyrophosphoryl enzyme, E + ATP ⇌ EPP + AMP, followed by the hydrolysis of EPP: EPP + H2O ⇌ EP + Pi. Attempts were made to establish this sequence of reactions by (a) the substitution of ATP as substrate with analogues in which the oxygen bridge between the β- and the γ-phosphorus is replaced with carbon or nitrogen and are consequently resistant to hydrolysis at the γ-phosphate and (b) the investigation of the Pi-H218O exchange reaction catalyzed by EP. The 5'-adenylylmethylene diphosphonate analogue was shown to be a competitive inhibitor with respect to ATP in the over-all reaction with a Ki equal to 2.1 µm. It was shown that, unlike ATP, the phosphonate analogue did not lead to the formation of AMP. In addition, preliminary incubation of the enzyme with the phosphonate analogue or with 5'-adenylylimidodiphosphate did not block subsequent phosphorylation of the enzyme by phosphoenolpyruvate, nor did preliminary incubation with the phosphonate analogue block the 14C-pyruvate-phosphoenolpyruvate exchange reaction. The presence of AMP is required for the rate of the H218O-Pi exchange to proceed at a rate comparable to the Pi-ATP exchange, even when the enzyme is maintained in the EP form with ATP or phosphoenolpyruvate. It is concluded that a free pyrophosphoryl enzyme is not an intermediate in the P-enolpyruvate synthetase reaction and a reaction sequence consistent with all of the experimental data is proposed.
Thriving Systems Theory and Metaphor-Driven Modeling

How is it that one system is more effective, appealing, satisfying and/or more beautiful than another to its stakeholder community? This question drove Christopher Alexanders fifty-year quest to explain great physical architecture and gave birth to pattern-languages for building that underpin much of modern systems engineering. How is it that so many individual stakeholders consistently recognize the same quality, the same beauty in a system? This question led George Lakoff to research the role of conceptual metaphor in human understanding. What is essential to stakeholders satisfaction with systems? Fred Brooks, in his publications, addressed this question. This monograph fuses these diverse streams of thought in proposing Thriving Systems Theory by translating Alexanders properties of physical design quality into the abstract domain of information systems and modeling. Metaphor-Driven Modeling incorporates the theory while examining its impact throughout the system life cycle: modeling, design and deployment. The result is holistic and innovative, a perspective on system quality invaluable to students, practitioners and researchers of software and systems engineering.
Effect of STEM Faculty Engagement in the Math and Science Partnership Program

The article explores the effect of the engagement of university science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty in the Math and Science Partnership program. The findings suggest that K-12 teachers benefited from the engagement in terms of improved approaches to teaching and learning, increased knowledge of subject matter content, and increased confidence. STEM faculty benefited from new ideas about teaching and learning, insights into research, more knowledge of the K-12 education system, and a broader understanding of education overall. Student achievement also improved, although direct attribution to faculty involvement is somewhat unclear. Furthermore, in the short run at least, it appears that few benefits extend beyond those faculty who are direct participants, and few systemic changes have been made in institutions of higher education systems.
OpenMP 3.0 --- A Preview of the Upcoming Standard

The OpenMP 3.0 standard should be released for public comment by the time of this conference. OpenMP 3.0 is the first major upgrade of the OpenMP standard since the merger of the C and Fortran standards in OpenMP 2.5. This talk will give an overview of the new features in the OpenMP standard and show how they help to extend the range of problems for which OpenMP is suitable. Even with multi-core, the number of hardware cores in an SMP node is likely to be relatively small for the next few years. Further, a number of users want to use OpenMP, but need to scale to more cores than fit in a node, and do not want to mix OpenMP and MPI. Intel supports a production quality OpenMP implementation for clusters that provides a way out. This talk will briefly introduce Intel Cluster OpenMP, provide an overview of the tools available for writing programs, and show some performance data.