cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Investigation of the performance of an ischial load-bearing leg brace

Partition of loads between the human leg and its protective brace was investigated during the normal walking stride of a patient fitted with a conventional ischial weight-bearing leg brace. Strain-gage force transducers were designed and installed to measure loads in the brace, and a strain-gage force plate was built to measure the floor reaction of the patient's footstep. The load measured by the force plate is equal to the total load carried by the leg and the brace, and it was resolved into components along axes fixed with respect to the leg and compared with the force carried by the leg brace to determine the distribution of the load between the brace and leg. Curves of force in three orthogonal directions and torque about the vertical axis of the leg are presented and discussed.
Application of real-time fluorescent PCR for detection of enterovirus type 71

Objective:To investigate the application of real-time fluorescent RT-PCR and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) for the detection of Enterovirus type 71 nucleotide.Methods:Stool and herpes fluid specimens were collected from children with suspect Enterovirus infection in Longgang District of Shenzhen City in May 2008.Real-time fluorescent RT-PCR and RT-PCR were applied to the detection of EV71,respectively.Results:A total of 16 samples were collected from stool and herpes fluid specimens and were performed the detection of EV71.Eight of them were positive by real-time fluorescent RT-PCR,the positive percentage was 50.0%(8/16),while five were positive by RT-PCR,the positive percentage was 31.3%(5/16).Conclusion:Real-time fluorescent RT-PCR is a highly specific and sensitive method and can detect virus RNA within several hours after specimen collections,so that it can rapidly diagnose virus DNA and plays an important role for the investigation of epidemiology and treatment.
A Case Study of Rural Information Service in the Era of Big Data

In the era of big data, establishing the rural information service system is very important for promoting the development of rural economy and increasing farmers' income, accelerating agricultural modernization and promoting city of the rural. This paper analyzed the current situation of agricultural information service work in a rural area of Beijing, and revealed the existing problems. Using Likert scale and rural information service comprehensive evaluation index system for analysis and quantitative research, some suggestions for the improvement of agricultural information service were finally puts forward.
An Investigation of the Dependence of Ionic Conduction on the Dielectric Properties of Porin

A previously validated P3M force-field scheme, self-consistently coupled to a BD kernel, is used to investigate the influence of the protein dielectric constant on ion channel permeation in OmpF porin. The channel conductivity is 0.24nS for a protein dielectric constant of 4, and is in agreement with experimental measurements. Increased cation selectivity at low ionic concentrations is also observed in the simulations and appears to be dependent on the rings of aspartic acid residues around the mouths of the porin.
Li-ion dynamics and state of charge estimation

This paper focuses on real-time estimation of Li-ion State of Charge (SoC). A first-principles model validated by experimental data from literature is chosen to mimic a real Li-ion cell. Its impedance responses at different SoCs are studied by a simulated electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). An equivalent circuit model is developed for estimator design in which the parameters (including lumped series resistances R1, lumped interfacial resistances R2 and time constant τ) are derived from system identification and compared with the EIS results. The estimator is designed using extended Kalman filtering (EKF) and is implemented in the first-principles model. It is demonstrated by computer simulation that the SoC during charge/discharge cycles can be estimated with a relative error <3%. The accuracy of SoC tracking is improved if it is jointly estimated along with either R1 or R2 given that these model parameters vary with SoC as revealed by EIS.
Direct growth of hexagonal boron nitride/graphene heterostructures on cobalt foil substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (G/h-BN) heterostructures have attracted a great deal of attention because of their exceptional properties and wide variety of potential applications in nanoelectronics. However, direct growth of large-area, high-quality, and stacked structures in a controllable and scalable way remains challenging. In this work, we demonstrate the synthesis of h-BN/graphene (h-BN/G) heterostructures on cobalt (Co) foil by sequential deposition of graphene and h-BN layers using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that the coverage of h-BN layers can be readily controlled on the epitaxial graphene by growth time. Large-area, uniform-quality, and multi-layer h-BN films on thin graphite layers were achieved. Based on an h-BN (5–6 nm)/G (26–27 nm) heterostructure, capacitor devices with Co(foil)/G/h-BN/Co(contact) configuration were fabricated to evaluate the dielectric properties of h-BN. The measured breakdown electric field showed a high value of ∼2.5–3.2 MV/cm. Both I-V and C-V characteristics indicate that the epitaxial h-BN film has good insulating characteristics.
Enhancing the surgeons reality : Smart visualization of bolus time of arrival and blood flow anomalies from time lapse series for safety and speed of cerebrovascular surgery

A noise adaptive Cusum-based algorithm for determining the arrival times of contrast at each spatial location in a 2D time sequence of angiographic images is presented. We employ a new group-wise registration algorithm to remove the effect of patient motions during the acquisition process. By using the registered image the proposed arrival time provides accurate results without relying on a priori knowledge of the shape of the time series at each location or even on the time series at each location having the same shape under translation.
Crypt Organoid Culture as an in Vitro Model in Drug Metabolism and Cytotoxicity Studies.

The gastrointestinal tract is enriched with xenobiotic processing proteins that play important roles in xenobiotic bioactivation, metabolism, and detoxification. The application of genetically modified mouse models has been instrumental in characterizing the function of xenobiotic processing genes (XPG) and their proteins in drug metabolism. Here, we report the utilization of three-dimensional crypt organoid cultures from these animal models to study intestinal drug metabolism and toxicity. With the successful culturing of crypt organoids, we profiled the abundance of Phase I and Phase II XPG expression, drug transporter gene expression, and xenobiotic nuclear receptor (XNR) gene expression. Functions of XNRs were examined by treating crypt cells with XNR prototypical agonists. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that the representative downstream target genes were induced. These findings were validated from cultures developed from XNR-null mice. In crypt cultures isolated from Pxr-/- mice, pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile failed to induce Cyp3a11 gene expression; similarly, WY14643 failed to induce Cyp4a10 in the Pparα-/- crypts. Crypt cultures from control (Ugt1F/F ) and intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) specific Ugt1 null mice (Ugt1ΔIEC ) were treated with camptothecin-11, an anticancer prodrug with severe intestinal toxicity that originates from insufficient UGT1A1-dependent glucuronidation of its active metabolite SN-38. In the absence of Ugt1 gene expression, Ugt1ΔIEC crypt cultures exhibit very limited production of SN-38 glucuronide, concordant with increased apoptosis in comparison with Ugt1F/F crypt cultures. This study suggests crypt organoid cultures as an effective in vitro model for studying intestinal drug metabolism and toxicity.
Microstructural and crystallographic characteristics of modulated martensite, non-modulated martensite, and pre-martensitic tweed austenite in Ni-Mn-Ga alloys

Abstract A combinatorial approach using diffusion couples and TEM analyses was carried out to investigate the composition-dependent martensitic transformation in NiMnGa alloys. The compositions cover a large portion of the off-stoichiometric Ni 2 MnGa compositions and some Mn-rich compositions. Crystallographic variations of the martensitic phase, including non-modulated (NM) martensite, modulated (5M or 7M) martensite, and austenitic phase were identified in the diffusion couples and investigated with respect to their microstructure and crystallography. The 5M and 7M martensitic structures were only found near the interphase boundary between austenite and martensite, while the NM martensitic structures were found mostly away from the interphase boundary. The tetragonality ratio (c/a) for NM martensite generally increases with e/a ratio, but was also dependent on the composition. The habit plane and martensitic microstructure that consists of twinned variants with differing orientations were documented using electron diffraction. The pre-martensitic state was observed in the austenitic phase that was located near the interphase boundary between austenite and martensite, with distinctive tweed microstructure and a strain field originating from the local lattice distortions. The combinatorial approach proves to be efficient and systematic in studying the composition-dependent martensitic transformation in NiMnGa alloys and can be potentially applied to other shape memory alloys.
Late Pliocene Bovidae from Ledi-Geraru (Lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia) and their Implications for Afar Paleoecology

Fossil bovids are described from the late Pliocene site of Ledi-Geraru, mainly from the Gurumaha and Lee Adoyta sedimentary packages (2.8–2.6 Ma). Finds include taxa already known from the slightly...
Theoretical investigation of intersystem crossing in the cyanonitrene molecule, 1NCN → 3NCN.

The NCN diradical is an important intermediate of prompt nitric oxide formation in flames. The mechanism of intersystem crossing (ISC) in the NCN molecule formed via pyrolysis or photolysis of NCN3 is of relevance to the interpretation of experiments that utilize NCN3 as a precursor for laboratory studies of NCN kinetics. This mechanism has been investigated by means of multi-reference configuration interaction calculations. From the potential energy surfaces for NCN3 dissociation, it was inferred that both thermal and photo-chemical decomposition initially lead to NCN in its lowest singlet state, a1Δg, with a possible contribution from the b1Σg+ state at low photolysis wavelengths. Direct formation of the triplet ground state X 3Σg- is also feasible for the photolytic pathway. An analysis of surface crossings between a or b and the triplet ground state X 3Σg- in the absence and presence of a helium atom revealed an ISC channel NCN1(a)→3NCN(X) via a strongly bent structure. However, its barrier of 38 kcal mol-1 relative to the singlet minimum turned out to be much too high to explain the fast ISC observed in experiments. A rigid-bender model including Renner-Teller interactions was used to examine the occurrence of mixed-multiplicity rovibrational states-so-called gateway states-that could enhance collision-induced ISC. The results of this study indicate that a gateway mechanism is probably not operative in the case of the a/X pair of states in NCN.
Gender-Specific Medicine: An Idea That Should Have Been Intuitive But Which Required the Efforts of an International Community to Establish

This is my own perception of how gender-specific medicine began and eventually matured into an international discipline. My contribution to GSM was facilitated by several important collaborations, two of which I have described in detail here: one with the great American corporation, Procter & Gamble (supported at Columbia by Dr. Myron Weisfeldt), and the other with Dr. Vivian Pinn at the Office of Research on Women’s Health of the National Institutes of Health. Both stories were rich with new ideas and exciting input from both scientists and the lay public and were high points in my career. The stories of my colleagues in this book are rich with the tales of their own experiences, all unique stories and all portraying the courage, intelligence, and persistence necessary to make a new venture succeed and thrive. We are proud of what we have done and contend that the new science of gender-specific medicine has profoundly changed the nature of how we research the mechanisms of disease and care for our patients.
Capillary spreading of contact line over a sinking sphere

The contact line dynamics over a sinking solid sphere are investigated in comparison to classical spreading theories. Experimentally, high-speed imaging systems with optical light or x-ray illumination are employed to accurately measure the spreading motion and dynamic contact angle of the contact line. Millimetric spheres are controlled to descend with a constant speed ranging from 7.3 × 10–5 to 0.79 m/s. We observed three different spreading stages over a sinking sphere, which depends on the contact line velocity and contact angle. These stages consistently showed the characteristics of capillarity-driven spreading as the contact line spreads faster with a higher contact angle. The contact line velocity is observed to follow a classical capillary-viscous model at a high Ohnesorge number (>0.02). For the cases with a relatively low Ohnesorge number (<0.02), the contact line velocity is significantly lower than the speed predicted by the capillary-viscous balance. This indicates the existence of an additi...
Development of GPS constellation power monitor system for high accuracy calibration/validation of the cygnss L1B data

The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation (32 satellites) as the active source in a bi-static radar configuration, with CYGNSS acting as the passive radar receiver. A knowledge of Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power (EIRP), based on transmit power and antenna pattern of GPS satellites, is of great importance in the accurate calibration of L1B data (bistatic radar cross section, BRCS) of the CYGNSS mission. However, the current knowledge of the EIRP of GPS satellites is limited. There exists an uncertainty of transmit power, and only 20 laboratory-measured antenna patterns have been published. Due to the azimuthal asymmetry of the patterns, the yaw attitude of GPS satellites may affect the EIRP. Therefore, a ground-based GPS constellation power monitor system has been built to accurately and precisely measure GPS signals in watts and, from that, estimate the transmit powers and antenna patterns of all GPS satellites. Measurement data without absolute calibration demonstrates that the GPS yaw attitude does affect the received power. A low noise amplifier (LNA) and calibration subsystem implemented on a PID controlled thermal plate is calibrated with a liquid nitrogen source, showing stable and reasonable results. With the absolute calibration of GPS signals. the retrieved GPS parameters will serve as inputs to the CYGNSS L1B calibration algorithm to improve the data accuracy.
Fluoroethylene Carbonate Induces Ordered Electrolyte Interface on Silicon and Sapphire Surfaces as Revealed by Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy and X-ray Reflectivity

The cyclability of silicon anodes in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is affected by the reduction of the electrolyte on the anode surface to produce a coating layer termed the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). One of the key steps for a major improvement of LIBs is unraveling the SEI’s structure-related diffusion properties as charge and discharge rates of LIBs are diffusion-limited. To this end, we have combined two surface sensitive techniques, sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy, and X-ray reflectivity (XRR), to explore the first monolayer and to probe the first several layers of electrolyte, respectively, for solutions consisting of 1 M lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) salt dissolved in ethylene carbonate (EC) or fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and their mixtures (EC/FEC 7:3 and 1:1 wt %) on silicon and sapphire surfaces. Our results suggest that the addition of FEC to EC solution causes the first monolayer to rearrange itself more perpendicular to the anode surface, while subsequent lay...
Transparency and the Factory Farm: Agritourism and Counter-Activism at Fair Oaks Farms

The American meat industry has a fraught relationship with the visibility of its operations and the public narrative about its treatment of animals. As activists have used photographs and videos to reveal the industry9s normally hidden practices, those in the meat business have historically pushed back by increasing the secrecy of their operations. However, the last decade has seen the industry turn to a new strategy: aggressive public relations outreach rooted in the paradigm of transparency. Generally, these are highly mediated public relations exercises, but at Indiana9s Fair Oaks Farms, tourists are physically invited onto a fully functional hog breeding farm, which doubles as an agritourism destination and a microcosm of the industry9s public relations strategy. Fair Oaks relies on both the tropes of alternative farming tourism and on strategic revelation—including literal glass walls—to craft a publicly palatable narrative about factory farming and factory-farmed animals.
Discovering the Cause of Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome and Laying the Foundation for Understanding Immune Cell Structuring.

The discovery of the Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) protein gene ( WASP , now known as WAS ) by Derry et al. ([1][1]) in 1994 accelerated the field of immune cell biology and studies of the molecular basis of inborn human immune defects, otherwise known as primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs). It was
Internally Constrained Materials

Following Ericksen and Rivlin, the rate of work of a stress in a motion is used to provide a principle of determinism for materials subject to internal constraints. Simple internal constraints are discussed, and the form of the indeterminate stress is obtained for certain simply constrained simple materials.
Learning in the Family Context: Research on Parents’ Perceptions of Their Role as Educators of Young Children

Parents are children’s first teachers. Starting from birth and continuing throughout early childhood, parents are the primary agents for children’s daily learning in every sphere of development. Many of these teaching/learning interactions shared between parents and young children may appear mundane or inconsequential. Yet, they have been shown to stimulate development, foster interest and expectation for future learning, and relate to children’s measured learning, cognitive and social skills.
Trails–An Interactive Web History Visualization and Tagging Tool

In this paper, we described an innovative web history visualization and tagging tool – Trails, which is designed and developed to help people understand their browsing history and habits better. We gathered users’ impressions of using Trails, including comparison with traditional web history views, perceived usefulness, privacy concerns, and suggestions to improve the system.
Cell Culture Strategies for Analysis of Dietary Variables in Cancer

Properly functioning culture systems can assist in determining the basic mechanisms by which dietary lipid modifies the processes of tumor development. However, in vitro technologies must be used with caution. They can give misleading results, particularly with epithelioid cell types. Recent advances in techniques for culture of epithelium greatly extend the usefulness of the cell-culture approach for studies of diet effects. This chapter will focus on improved methods for culture of mammary epithelium, a tissue in which carcinogenesis is strongly influenced by dietary lipids. I will mostly discuss primary cultures, i.e., cultures prepared using cells removed directly from animals. Permanent cell lines are easier to work with, and some lines like the MCF-7 line are very well characterized (1, 2). However, when dealing with a complex problem like dietary lipid effects it is necessary that cells retain all the pertinent features and responses that characterized them in vivo. This is more likely with freshly-prepared cells than with lines that have evolved to survive under artificial conditions in culture.
Abstract 554: Mechanism of Action for the Beneficial Effects of Cortical Bone Stem Cells on the Heart After Myocardial Infarction

Rationale: Myocardial infarction (MI) causes the death of a portion of the heart and can lead to adverse remodeling that results in poor cardiac pump function and heart failure. We have previously ...
Bone marrow donation perceptions among healthcare workers: A follow-up study at University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

e18032Background: It has been well-documented that there is a severe lack of participants enrolled in the National Bone Marrow Donor registry. Even those who are registered often decline to donate ...
Surfactant stabilized bubbles flowing in a Newtonian fluid

Bubbles suspended in a fluid cause the suspension to have different rheological properties than the base fluid. In general, the viscosity of the suspension increases as the volume fraction of the b...
Power System Transient Stability Assessment Method Based on Convolutional Neural Network

A method based on convolutional neural network is proposed for power system transient stability assessment in this paper, which can overcome the shortcomings of traditional evaluation methods and satisfy the requirements with high assessment accuracy of power system transient stability assessment problems. Firstly, the structural characteristic of convolutional neural network is introduced in this paper, then the applicability in transient stability assessment problems is analyzed. Secondly, the training methods of convolutional neural network are optimized according to the characteristics of transient stability assessment problem, and the batch normalization algorithm is added to establish the transient stability assessment model. Finally, the simulation performed on the New England 10-machine 39-node system demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Behaviorally Informed Policy: A Brisk Progress Report

The goal of this essay is to offer a brisk progress report about behaviorally informed policy and law, while also providing some conceptual clarifications. It identifies a diverse range of initiatives, focusing largely on experience in the United States, that involve nudging and uses of behavioral science. It also explores prominent objections, coming both from those who believe that nudges are unduly aggressive, and should be avoided, and from those who believe that they are too weak and timid, and should be replaced or supplemented with mandates and bans.
Combined Solution and Crystal Methods Reveal the Electrostatic Tethers That Provide a Flexible Platform for Replication Activities in the Bacteriophage T7 Replisome.

Recent structural studies of the bacteriophage T7 DNA replication system have shed light on how multiple proteins assemble to copy two antiparallel DNA strands. In T7, acidic C-terminal tails of bo...
Heme Oxygenase 1 Deficiency Compromises Stress Responses of Hematopoietic Stem Cells.

Abstract Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) must be able to balance their self-renewal and differentiation activities in order to preserve their compartment in response to hematopoietic insults for efficient and life-long hematopoiesis while ensuring sufficient blood production to meet the increased hematopoietic demand. Mechanism(s) that regulate this balance during stress hematopoiesis remain to be fully understood. Heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) is an important stress-inducible protein and a key enzyme of heme degradation that produces iron, bilirubin, and carbon monoxide (CO). CO is a gaseous regulator of cellular responses to a variety of insults. HO-1 deficiency results in reduced stress defense due to inadequate levels of its products. We report here that mice lacking one allele of HO-1 (HO-1−/+ mice) recovered more rapidly from myelotoxic injury and that sufficient HO-1−/+ bone marrow (BM) transplants engrafted lethally irradiated hosts with accelerated kinetics. These effects of HO-1 deficiency on regenerative hematopoiesis were associated with accelerated cell division of lineage-depleted (lin-) Sca-1+ cells. However, in other experimental settings, the converse can be seen in HO-1 deficiency. Repeated treatment of HO-1−/+ mice with 5-FU significantly reduced the number of HSCs in the marrow, relative to wild-type animals, and following adoptive transfer, the HO-1−/+ HSC compartment was smaller compared to that of HO-1+/+ in recipient animals. As a consequence, limited numbers of HO-1−/+ BM cells failed to provide adequate radio-protection of lethally irradiated recipients, and HO-1−/+ HSCs showed significantly compromised capacity to serially repopulate myeloablated hosts. We also noted that expression levels of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21Cip/WAF1 were lower in lin- HO-1−/+ BM cells in contrast to that in HO-1+/+ cells under steady-state conditions, and that p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) was insufficiently activated in HO-1−/+ multipotent progenitors (MPPs) after heme challenge, compared to that in wild-type MPPs. We propose a model wherein HO-1 plays an intracellular regulatory and cyto-protective role in maintaining HSC compartment, especially during stress hematopoiesis. It follows that reduced levels of p38MAPK activation, presumably due to insufficient production of CO when HO-1 is deficient, result in accelerated proliferation of MPPs. This would potentially skew the balance between self-renewal and differentiation of HSC and deplete the primitive cell compartment, leading to ultimate hematopoietic exhaustion.
Kant's Conception of Freedom: A Developmental and Critical Analysis

Although a good deal has been written about Kant's conception of free will in recent years, there has been no serious attempt to examine in detail the development of his views on the topic. This book endeavours to remedy the situation by tracing Kant's thoughts on free will from his earliest discussions of it in the 1750s through to his last accounts in the 1790s. This developmental approach is of interest for at least two reasons. First, it shows that the path that led Kant to view freedom as a transcendental power that is both radically distinct from and compatible with the causality of nature was a winding one. Second, it indicates that, despite the variety of views of free will that Kant held at various times, the concept occupied a central place in his thought, because it was the point of union between his theoretical and practical philosophy.
Rational solutions of \(\Sigma _{i = 1}^3{a_i}x_i^2 = d{x_1}{x_2}{x_3} \)and simple closed geodesics on Fricke surfaces

Let H be the upper-half plane, Γ(n) = {γ∈ SL(2, ℤ)∣γ ≡ ±I mod n}, Γ′ the commutator subgroup of Γ(1) and Γ3 = 〈γ3∣ γ∈ Γ (1)〉. It has recently been established that the integral solutions of the Markov diophantine equation x 2 +y 2 + z 2 = 3xyz characterize the simple closed geodesics on the modular surface H/Γ(3), H/Γ′, and H/Γ3 ([H], [L-S], [S]). In this paper we seek analogous results for more general diophantine equations, specifically equations, $$ \sum\limits_{{i = 1}}^{3} {{a_{i}}x_{i}^{2} = d{x_{1}}{x_{2}}{x_{3}};\,\left( {{a_{1}},{a_{2}},{a_{3}},d} \right) = 1.} $$ (1.0)
Escherichia coli K1 Meningitis and Heat Shock Protein, gp96

Evidence is emerging rapidly that heat shock protein, gp96, plays a critical role in various infectious diseases. Herein, I emphasize the role of gp96 in the pathogenesis of E. coli K1 meningitis. E. coli K1 is the most common neonatal meningitis-causing Gram-negative bacterium, which interacts with gp96 via outer membrane protein A (OmpA) on both neutrophils and human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC). E. coli K1 infection induces the surface expression of gp96 in neutrophils, using it as a receptor for entering cells and suppressing the production of reactive oxygen species. Thus, the bacterium survives and multiplies inside neutrophils to achieve high-grade bacteremia. E. coli K1 subsequently interacts with HBMEC gp96 (Ecgp96), to induce a variety of signaling pathways for bacterial invasion of the blood–brain barrier and temporarily disrupts the tight junctions between the cells. Of note, E. coli K1 attachment to HBMEC promotes the interaction of Ecgp96 with TLR2 to form a complex, Ecgp96/TLR2, which then translocates to the cell surface. The binding of E. coli K1 OmpA to Ecgp96/TLR2 enhances the production of inducible nitric oxide, which is, in turn, responsible for more Ecgp96 expression at the cell surface and subsequent tight junction disruption.
A Conceptual Model of Polar Overturning Circulations

The global ocean overturning circulation carries warm, salty water to high latitudes, both in the Arctic and Antarctic. Interaction with the atmosphere transforms this inflow into three distinct pr...
Oblique light-sheet tomography: fast and high resolution volumetric imaging of mouse brains

Present light sheet fluorescence microscopes lack the wherewithal to image the whole brain (large tissues) with uniform illumination/detection parameters and high enough resolution to provide an understanding of the various aspects of neuroanatomy. To overcome this, we developed an oblique version of the light sheet microscope (Oblique Light Sheet Tomography, OLST) that includes a high magnification objective and serial sectioning, for volumetric imaging of the whole mouse brain at high spatial resolution at constant illumination/detection. We developed a novel gelatin based re-embedding procedure that makes the cleared brain rigid so that it can sectioned using our integrated microtome. Here, we characterize OLST and show that it can be used to observe dendritic morphology, spines and follow axons over a few mm in the mouse brain.
Obesity induces gut microbiota alterations and augments acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

The efficacy of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is limited by acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The impact of obesity on allo-HSCT outcomes is poorly understood. Here, we report that obesity had a negative and selective impact on acute gut GVHD after allo-HSCT in mice with diet-induced obesity (DIO). These animals exhibited increased gut permeability, endotoxin translocation across the gut, and radiation-induced gastrointestinal damage after allo-HSCT. After allo-HSCT, both male and female DIO mouse recipients showed increased proinflammatory cytokine production and expression of the GVHD marker ST2 (IL-33R) and MHC class II molecules; they also exhibited decreased survival associated with acute severe gut GVHD. This rapid-onset, obesity-associated gut GVHD depended on donor CD4+ T cells and occurred even with a minor MHC mismatch between donor and recipient animals. Retrospective analysis of clinical cohorts receiving allo-HSCT transplants from unrelated donors revealed that recipients with a high body mass index (BMI, >30) had reduced survival and higher serum ST2 concentrations compared with nonobese transplant recipients. Assessment of both DIO mice and allo-HSCT recipients with a high BMI revealed reduced gut microbiota diversity and decreased Clostridiaceae abundance. Prophylactic antibiotic treatment protected DIO mouse recipients from endotoxin translocation across the gut and increased inflammatory cytokine production, as well as gut pathology and mortality, but did not protect against later development of chronic skin GVHD. These results suggest that obesity-induced alterations of the gut microbiota may affect GVHD after allo-HSCT in DIO mice, which could be ameliorated by prophylactic antibiotic treatment.
Care cascade for patients with opioid use disorder and serious injection related infections.

To define the care cascade for patients with serious injection drug use related infections (SIRI) in a tertiary hospital system and compare outcomes of those who did and did not participate in an o...
Managing chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2020: an update on recent clinical advances with a focus on BTK and BCL-2 inhibitors.

The therapeutic landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) underwent a paradigm shift in 2014 with the approval of ibrutinib, which binds covalently to the C481 residue of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) and irreversibly inhibits it. A number of large, phase 3 trials conducted in both the frontline and the relapsed/refractory settings resulted in the approval of ibrutinib for all CLL. Indeed, the role of chemoimmunotherapy in CLL is fast dwindling. The limitations of ibrutinib, e.g. the development of resistance-conferring C481 BTK mutations and the toxicity issues of atrial fibrillation and bleeding, in particular, have also become apparent with longer-term follow-up. This has spurred the development of second-generation, irreversible inhibitors with greater selectivity for BTK and third-generation, reversible BTK inhibitors to address C481 site mutations. The last 3 years have also witnessed enormous growth in the therapeutic role of the B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) antagonist venetoclax, initially approved (in 2016) only for patients with relapsed, 17p-deleted CLL. Venetoclax, in combination with CD20 antibodies, is currently approved for both treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory patients, regardless of genomic subtype. Robust results have also been reported for ibrutinib plus venetoclax, and "triple" combinations of a BTK inhibitor, venetoclax, and obinutuzumab are now being pursued. The major questions facing the field at present are how best to select patients for BTK inhibitor monotherapy versus venetoclax/obinutuzumab upfront, what to do after failure of both BTK inhibitor(s) and venetoclax, and the ideal way to integrate measurable residual disease data into decisions regarding treatment choice, duration, and discontinuation.
A techno-economic and environmental assessment of residential rooftop solar - Battery systems in grid-connected households in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract We developed a techno-economic model to simulate the performance of residential solar-battery systems as a means of reducing the reliance on backup generators in grid connected households in Lagos, Nigeria. We compared the economic and environmental performance of solar-battery systems to the technology options in households that may currently rely on backup generators to supplement unreliable grid service. Our analysis shows that solar-battery systems are economically profitable for households who rely on their backup generators to ensure at least 8-h of reliable service daily. We also show that the solar-battery systems could offer a cost-effective alternative for households intending to increase the level of the electricity services they receive without greater demand from backup generators. Finally, installing the solar-battery system lowers annual air emissions from households by 15 %–87 %. The paper proposes that policymakers provide access to low interest loans to improve the economic attractiveness of solar-battery systems across all the reliability preference levels.
Disentangling Generative Factors of Physical Fields Using Variational Autoencoders.

The ability to extract generative parameters from high-dimensional fields of data in an unsupervised manner is a highly desirable yet unrealized goal in computational physics. This work explores the use of variational autoencoders (VAEs) for non-linear dimension reduction with the aim of disentangling the low-dimensional latent variables to identify independent physical parameters that generated the data. A disentangled decomposition is interpretable and can be transferred to a variety of tasks including generative modeling, design optimization, and probabilistic reduced order modelling. A major emphasis of this work is to characterize disentanglement using VAEs while minimally modifying the classic VAE loss function (i.e. the ELBO) to maintain high reconstruction accuracy. Disentanglement is shown to be highly sensitive to rotations of the latent space, hyperparameters, random initializations and the learning schedule. The loss landscape is characterized by over-regularized local minima which surrounds desirable solutions. We illustrate comparisons between disentangled and entangled representations by juxtaposing learned latent distributions and the 'true' generative factors in a model porous flow problem. Implementing hierarchical priors (HP) is shown to better facilitate the learning of disentangled representations over the classic VAE. The choice of the prior distribution is shown to have a dramatic effect on disentanglement. In particular, the regularization loss is unaffected by latent rotation when training with rotationally-invariant priors, and thus learning non-rotationally-invariant priors aids greatly in capturing the properties of generative factors, improving disentanglement. Some issues inherent to training VAEs, such as the convergence to over-regularized local minima are illustrated and investigated, and potential techniques for mitigation are presented.
Frontal Alpha Asymmetry in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Group Differences Among Individuals With and Without PTSD During an Inhibitory Control Task.

The current study examined frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) as a marker of approach- and avoidance-related prefrontal activity in participants with and without trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress...
What Does It Mean to Act With Integrity

This exploratory study was aimed at understanding more about theconcept of integrity, first, and second, to identify whatintegrity looked like in practice. The sample consisted of over300 high school students who completed a college entrance essayabout acting with integrity as part of their college application. Their responses were content analyzed along a number ofdimensions. Results revealed, in the first place, some confusionabout the concept of integrity. The focus of acting withintegrity was most often directed to one's own behaviors ratherthan the behaviors of other people but, in this regard, theactions typically assumed a leadership responsibility (in apersonal rather than organizational context). Self-esteem wasone very important reinforcing outcome of such actions.
Baltimore and Beyond: from GeneAction to the Postgenomic Era

Serendipity led the author from Baltimore, New Haven, and Palo Alto to Wilmington, DE. Mentors along the journey taught the power of combining seemingly disparate techniques while striving for biological understanding. Those lessons, and the continuous growth they have engendered, have been a beacon for our microbial genetics effort that has blurred the divide between fundamental and applied inquiry. Interested in American history and genetics, the author went to Baltimore in 1969 to attend Johns Hopkins. Talking about Phil Hartman, the author says his text, Gene Action, is treasured both for its concise presentation of the mechanisms of gene expression and for its prescience to consider secondary consequences of gene action. The author adds that what was important was the scientific result rather than who accomplished it. So believing that we knew a great deal about gene action including pleiotropy, the author was looking for a new horizon and the molecular basis of microbial development seemed attractive. The author says Hartman's chapter, "Secondary Consequences of Gene Mutation," in Gene Action was the guidepost to follow. Inhibition was observed by the desperate measure of placing amino acid crystals on plates, a technique that the author first used in Hartman's genetics lab course in Baltimore. Raising the media supplementation concentrations to approximately 0.5 mg/ml often allows inhibition to be observed.
Evolution—by the (Text) Book

Textbooks are widely used in American science classrooms and as such have become a focal point of efforts by the anti-evolution movement to eliminate or weaken evolution education in American schools. Because of this, the experience of writing and rewriting a biology textbook today is much more than an exercise in scientific pedagogy. The particular history of just one high school biology text illustrates the degree to which pressure can be placed on authors and publishers to weaken or dilute the coverage of evolution. The use of textbooks to define and support curricula makes it particularly important for the scientific and education communities to resist such pressures and to assert the integrity of the scientific process in determining textbook content.
Surgical implantation of chronic neural electrodes for recording single unit activity and electrocorticographic signals

The success of long-term electrophysiological recordings often depends on the quality of the implantation surgery. Here we provide useful information for surgeons who are learning the process of implanting electrode systems. We demonstrate the implantation procedure of both a penetrating and a surface electrode. The surgical process is described from start to finish, including detailed descriptions of each step throughout the procedure. It should also be noted that this video guide is focused towards procedures conducted in rodent models and other small animal models. Modifications of the described procedures are feasible for other animal models.
LARaLink 2.0: a comprehensive aid to basic and clinical cytogenetic research.

LARaLink 2.0 (Loci Analysis for Rearrangement Link) is an enabling web technology that permits the rapid retrieval of clinical cytogenetic and molecular data. New data mining capabilities have been...
The dietary management of chronic amebiasis

Six hundred cases of amebiasis, belonging to types I to III of Craig, were successfully managed by a modification of the diet of D’Antoni and Jones.
Stimulation of interleukin-6 production by corticotropin-releasing factor.

Abstract Based on the immune-modulating properties of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), the effect of this peptide for interIeukin-6 (IL-6) production was investigated. Using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC), the amount of bioactive IL-6 produced was significantly (P ⩽ 0.05) increased by CRF (10−10 to 10−7M range). However, the IL-6 production of lipopolysac-charide-treated MNC cultures was not modified. At concentrations of ⩾ 10 nM, CRF and two analogous peptides (Tyr-CRF and α-helical CRF) elicited 16- to 21-fold stimulation of IL-6 production by MNC. Purified monocytes, but not purified lymphocytes, were the cells that responded to CRF action exhibiting nearly 19-fold stimulation at 100 nM concentration. The CRF-induced production of IL-6 cytokine by peripheral blood MNC may suggest a messenger role for this neurohormone in the feedback control of neuroendocrine-immune circuitry.
Inhibition of sexual behavior by dopamine antagonist or serotonin agonist drugs in castrated male rats given estradiol or dihydrotestosterone.

Abstract Four experiments were performed to determine whether the activational effects of two behaviorally active neural metabolites of testosterone, estradiol (E2) and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), on male rats' sexual behavior possibly result from the action of either steroid at dopaminergic or serotoninergic synapses. In Experiment 1 lower doses of the dopamine receptor antagonist, spiperone, were needed significantly to reduce mounting and intromission rates in castrated males implanted with silastic capsules containing E2 as opposed to DHT. However, in Experiment 2 increasing doses of another dopamine receptor blocker, clozapine, were equally effective in suppressing males' sexual behavior, regardless of whether they were implanted with E2 or DHT, suggesting that these testosterone metabolites may both normally contribute to the activation of masculine sexual behavior by enhancing dopaminergic neurotransmission. In Experiment 3 administering increasing doses of the serotonin reuptake blocker, fluoxetine, caused an equal suppression of sexual behavior in castrated males implanted with E2 of DHT. In Experiment 4 no differential suppressive effects of the serotonin receptor agonist, 5 methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine were obtained in castrated rats implanted with E2 or DHT. It is suggested that these testosterone metabolites may both contribute to the activation of masculine sexual behavior by suppressing activity at serotoninergic synapses.
Do Theories of Organizations Progress

This article analyzes the prospects for cumulative theory development in organization theory. Organization theory generally takes organizations (business corporations, nonprofits, hospitals, universities, etc.) as discrete and meaningful units of analysis. The revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs) over the past two decades has made comprehensive time-series data on millions of organizations widely available to scholars around the world. Yet, it is not obvious that organization theory has become more precise, more general, or more accurate as a result. The author argues that this is due to three difficulties that additional data cannot fully resolve: (a) researchers lack experimental control, limiting their ability to draw causal inferences, and are largely inattentive to the standards for valid quasi-experimental design; (b) organizations are more appropriately construed as tools rather than as natural objects susceptible to ‘‘laws;’’ and (c) the regularities underlying organizat...
Detecting low-emissivity objects in LWIR hyperspectral data and the corresponding impact on atmospheric compensation

Several of the leading atmospheric compensation algorithms for LWIR hyperspectral data require the detection and exclusion low-emissivity objects from the analysis. In this paper, nine different methods for detection of low-emissivity objects are presented. In testing, it was found that the algorithms proposed suffered from temperature sensitivities. Further testing was accomplished without filtering to test the performance of Scaled and Unscaled ISAC under a range of environmental and system parameters. Detection performance is quantified directly in terms of probability of detection vs. probability of false alarm and in terms of atmospheric state parameters.
Discovery of Begacestat, a Notch-1-Sparing γ-Secretase Inhibitor for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

SAR on HTS hits 1 and 2 led to the potent, Notch-1-sparing GSI 9, which lowered brain Abeta in Tg2576 mice at 100 mg/kg po. Converting the metabolically labile methyl groups in 9 to trifluoromethyl groups afforded the more stable analogue 10, which had improved in vivo potency. Further side chain modification afforded the potent Notch-1-sparing GSI begacestat (5), which was selected for development for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Cold War Transgressions: Christian Realism, Conservative Socialism, and the Longer 1960s

This essay examines the convergence of the Protestant left and traditionalist right during the 1950s. Reinhold Niebuhr and the World Council of Churches challenged Cold War liberalism from within. As they did, they anticipated and even applauded the anti-liberalism of early Cold War conservatives. While exploring intellectual precursors of the New Left, this essay forefronts one forgotten byproduct of the political realignments following World War II: The transgressive politics of “conservative socialism.” Furthermore, this work contributes to growing awareness of ecumenical Christian impact within American life.