cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Research on DC cable shielding materials with super conductive carbon black

As DC transmission has been used widely, HVDC cables are the development direction of power grid in the future. Shielding materials for HVDC cables were prepared by mixing EEA with super conductive carbon black at different filling rates in this paper. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the morphology of carbon black particles in EEA. Volume resistivity, tensile properties and melt mass flow rate (MFR) of shielding materials were measured and analyzed. The pressure wave propagation (PWP) method was adopted to study space charge properties of shielding materials on XLPE insulation. Finally, recommended addition of super conductive carbon black was given. The results showed that super conductive carbon black in EEA existed in the state of long chains just like grapes rather than single particle and these long chains were well distributed. As addition of super conductive carbon black increased, volume resistivity, tensile properties and MFR of shielding materials decreased to different degree. The field enhancement factor (FEF) caused by space charges decreased gradually and tended to be invariant with super conductive carbon black increasing. Take all these properties into account, shielding materials with this type of super conductive carbon black at filling rates varying from 12 % to 15 % were enough to meet requirements.
More Than a Vacation: Exploring the Impact of Reentry for International Sojourners

As our population becomes increasingly internationalized in today's global society, a need emerges for awareness, research, and support for the mental health needs of clients who have returned from sojourns abroad. This article describes how mental health counselors can become more aware of the reentry experience. It also explores such factors as expectations, transition, advocacy, and grief and loss. It diminishes the perception of sojourning as simply a vacation and discusses adjustments clients often have to make upon returning home. The article offers recommendations for working with clients who are finding reentry difficult, explores implications for the mental health counseling profession, and offers ideas for future research.
Drosophila as a Model for Assessing the Function of RNA-Binding Proteins during Neurogenesis and Neurological Disease

An outstanding question in developmental neurobiology is how RNA processing events contribute to the regulation of neurogenesis. RNA processing events are increasingly recognized as playing fundamental roles in regulating multiple developmental events during neurogenesis, from the asymmetric divisions of neural stem cells, to the generation of complex and diverse neurite morphologies. Indeed, both asymmetric cell division and neurite morphogenesis are often achieved by mechanisms that generate asymmetric protein distributions, including post-transcriptional gene regulatory mechanisms such as the transport of translationally silent messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and local translation of mRNAs within neurites. Additionally, defects in RNA splicing have emerged as a common theme in many neurodegenerative disorders, highlighting the importance of RNA processing in maintaining neuronal circuitry. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play an integral role in splicing and post-transcriptional gene regulation, and mutations in RBPs have been linked with multiple neurological disorders including autism, dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Fragile X syndrome (FXS), and X-linked intellectual disability disorder. Despite their widespread nature and roles in neurological disease, the molecular mechanisms and networks of regulated target RNAs have been defined for only a small number of specific RBPs. This review aims to highlight recent studies in Drosophila that have advanced our knowledge of how RBP dysfunction contributes to neurological disease.
Enhancer Connectome Nominates Target Genes of Inherited Risk Variants from Inflammatory Skin Disorders

The vast majority of polymorphisms for human dermatologic diseases fall in noncoding DNA regions, leading to difficulty interpreting their functional significance. Recent work using chromosome conformation capture technology in combination with chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) has provided a systematic means of linking noncoding variants in active enhancer loci to putative gene targets. Here, we apply H3K27ac HiChIP high-resolution contact maps, generated from primary human T-cell subsets (CD4+ naive, T helper type 17, and regulatory T cells), to 21 dermatologic conditions associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms from 106 genome-wide association studies. This "enhancer connectome" identified 1,492 HiChIP gene targets from 542 noncoding SNPs (P ≤ 5.0 × 10–8). SNP-containing enhancers from inflammatory skin conditions were significantly enriched at the HLA locus and also targeted several key factors from the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, but nonimmune conditions were not. A focused profiling of systemic lupus erythematosus HiChIP genes identified enhancer interactions with factors important for effector CD4+ T-cell differentiation and function, including IRF8 and members of the Ikaros family of zinc-finger proteins. Our results show the ability of the enhancer connectome to nominate functionally relevant candidates from genome-wide association study–identified variants, representing a powerful tool to guide future studies into the genomic regulatory mechanisms underlying dermatologic diseases.
A residential mortgage bank lending channel during the financial crisis

We estimate a residential mortgage bank lending channel effect on a cross-section of county-level housing markets between 2007 and 2009. The effect results primarily from distressed banks denying credit to otherwise creditworthy jumbo loan applicants. Traditional measures of bank distress are plagued with concerns about endogeneity and spurious correlation. Our innovation is to use the county-aggregated change in the jumbo to nonjumbo mortgage acceptance rate first explored by Loutskina and Strahan (2009) as an instrumental variable for bank distress. We find a statistically significant but economically small bank lending channel effect. A county with a one standard deviation decline in the instrumental variable experiences an additional 89 basis point decline in home prices and a 1.25% decrease in construction employment, which represent 7 and 6%, respectively, of their mean changes between 2007 and 2009. Most of the decline in the housing market results from the bust of the pre-crisis housing boom driven by aggressive subprime and jumbo lending.
Primary immunodeficiencies reveal the essential role of tissue neutrophils in periodontitis

Periodontitis is a common human inflammatory disease. In this condition, microbiota trigger excessive inflammation in oral mucosal tissues surrounding the dentition, resulting in destruction of tooth-supporting structures (connective tissue and bone). While susceptibility factors for common forms of periodontitis are not clearly understood, studies in patients with single genetic defects reveal a critical role for tissue neutrophils in disease susceptibility. Indeed, various genetic defects in the development, egress from the bone marrow, chemotaxis, and extravasation are clearly linked to aggressive/severe periodontitis at an early age. Here, we provide an overview of genetic defects in neutrophil biology that are linked to periodontitis. In particular, we focus on the mechanisms underlying Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I, the prototypic Mendelian defect of impaired neutrophil extravasation and severe periodontitis.
Blinatumomab for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia: an update

Introduction: Blinatumomab is a first-in-class bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) antibody that has demonstrated high response rates, including minimal or measurable residual disease (MRD) negativity...
An Advanced Practice Provider Clinical Fellowship as a Pipeline to Staffing a Hospitalist Program.

Background Approximately 83% of hospitalist groups around the country utilize advanced practice providers; however, the demand for hospitalists continues to exceed the supply, and this has led to increased utilization of advanced practice providers in hospital medicine. Advanced practice providers receive very limited inpatient training, and there is wide variation in their clinical abilities after graduation. Objective To determine if an advanced practice provider fellowship is a cost-effective pipeline for filling vacancies within a hospitalist program. Methods In 2014, a one-year advanced practice providers clinical fellowship in hospital medicine was established. Working one-on-one with an experienced hospitalist faculty member, the fellows evaluate and manage patients. The program consists of 80% clinical experience, in the inpatient setting, and 20% didactic instruction. Up to four fellows are accepted each year and are eligible for hire, after training, if there are vacancies. Results The duration of onboarding and cost to the division were significantly reduced after implementation of the program (25.4 vs 11.0 weeks, P = .017 and $361,714 vs $66,000, P = .004). Conclusion The advanced practice provider fellowship has proven beneficial for the hospitalist division by (1) reducing costs associated with having unfilled vacancies, (2) improving capacity on the hospitalist service, and (3) providing a pipeline for filling nurse practitioners (NP) and physician assistant (PA) vacancies on the hospitalist service.
Operation of graphene magnetic field sensors near the charge neutrality point

Graphene is a promising material for sensing magnetic fields via the Hall effect due to its atomic-scale thickness, ultra-high carrier mobilities and low cost compared to conventional semiconductor sensors. Because of its Dirac band structure, graphene sensors differ from semiconductor sensors in that both electrons and holes participate in the carrier transport. This two-channel transport complicates the sensor operation and causes performance trade-offs that demand careful examination. Here, we examine the operation of graphene sensors operated near the charge neutrality point (CNP) where two-channel transport prevails. We find that, while the largest magnetoresistance occurs exactly at the CNP, the maximum realizable Hall sensitivities occur away from the CNP and depend on linearity constraints and power limitations. In particular, a more stringent linearity constraint reduces the realizable sensitivities for mobilities above a critical value µc, which scales with magnetic field. Graphene is expected to be of particular use for Hall sensors but aspects of its electronic band structure and transport properties still require careful examination. Here, the authors analyse the performance of graphene sensors near the charge neutrality point and demonstrate the required trade-offs required to maximise the performance of a graphene-based Hall sensor.
Quantifying the Local Mechanical Properties of Cells in a Fibrous Three-Dimensional Microenvironment

Abstract Measurements of the mechanical response of biological cells are critical for understanding injury and disease, for developing diagnostic tools, and for computational models in mechanobiology. Although it is well known that cells are sensitive to the topography of their microenvironment, the current paradigm in mechanical testing of adherent cells is mostly limited to specimens grown on flat two-dimensional substrates. In this study, we introduce a technique in which cellular indentation via optical trapping is performed on cells at a high spatial resolution to obtain their regional mechanical properties while they exist in a more favorable three-dimensional microenvironment. We combine our approach with nonlinear contact mechanics theory to consider the effects of a large deformation. This allows us to probe length scales that are relevant for obtaining overall cell stiffness values. The experimental results herein provide the hyperelastic material properties at both high (∼100 s−1) and low (∼1–10 s−1) strain rates of murine central nervous system glial cells. The limitations due to possible misalignment of the indenter in the three-dimensional space are examined using a computational model.
Performance Analysis of Fiber with Solitons Parameters and Fiber Non-Solitons Parameters using OptiSystem

Communication technology is one of the fields of interest today. Optical fiber communication (OFC) is the only answer to overcome the rapid increase in bandwidth requirements. The OFC system offers high speeds up to several gigabits per second and also a very high bandwidth. Optical fiber is very light and has the ability to transfer information in large quantities. Unfortunately, optical fiber transmission systems have effects that can increase fiber signals such as attenuation, dispersion and nonlinearity. Optical solitons that can replace dispersive effects offer a better solution to this problem. Soliton communication systems do not widen along links such as non-soliton communication systems. In this paper will discuss the differences in the performance of fibers with solitons and non-soliton fibers. The results obtained based on eye diagram analysis and bit error rate analysis, it can be seen that fiber systems with soli-tons have minimum distortion, and non-soliton fiber systems have noise in the system.
Identifying duration criteria for eating-disorder remission and recovery through intensive modeling of longitudinal data.

Objective Outcome states, such as remission and recovery, include specific duration criteria for which individuals must be asymptomatic. Ideally, duration criteria provide predictive validity to outcome states by reducing symptom-return risk. However, available research is insufficient for deriving specific recommendations for remission or recovery duration criteria for eating disorders. Method We intensively modeled the relation between duration criteria length and rates of remission, recovery, and subsequent symptom return in longitudinal data from a treatment-seeking sample of women with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). We hypothesized that the length of the duration criterion would be inversely associated with both rates of remission and recovery and with subsequent rates of symptom return. Results Generalized estimating equations supported our hypotheses for all investigated eating-disorder features except for symptom return when using the Psychiatric Status Rating for AN. Discussion We recommend that 6 months be used for remission definitions applied to binge eating, purging, and BN symptom composite measures, whereas no duration criteria be used for low weight and AN symptom composites. We further recommend that 6 months be used for recovery definitions applied to BN symptom composites and AN symptom composites, whereas 18 months be used for individual symptoms of binge eating, purging, and low weight. The adoption of these duration criteria into comprehensive definitions of remission and recovery will increase their predictive validity, which in turn, maximizes their utility.
Evaluation of Body Mass Index (BMI) as a Prognostic Factor among Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin's Lymphoma (R/R-HL) Undergoing Autologous Bone Marrow/Peripheral Stem Cell Transplantation (Auto-BM/PSCT).

Abstract Background: High-dose chemo(radio)therapy (HDC) followed by auto-BM/PSCT is considered an acceptable therapeutic option for patients (pts) with R/R-HL. Various adverse prognostic factors have been previously described in this setting, including resistance to salvage therapy, active disease at the time of transplant, decreased performance status, B symptoms, extranodal disease, and complete remission duration of less than 1 year. On the other hand, overweight state (defined as BMI > or = 28) was associated with reduced overall and event-free survival among pts who received HDC followed by auto-BM/PSCT for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The prognostic significance of excess body weight among pts with R/R-HL who undergo HDC followed by auto-BM/PSCT has not been reported. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between excess body weight and overall survival (OS) in pts with R/R-HL who receive HDC followed by auto-BM/PSCT. Methods: A retrospective, single institution study of consecutive pts with R/R-HL who received HDC followed by auto-BM/PSCT at the University of Oklahoma over the last 19 years (1985– 2004) was performed. BMI was calculated as [weight (kg)/height2 (m)]. Overweight state was defined as BMI > or = 28. OS was defined as the time period in months from the day of transplant until death, or the last of day of follow-up. Survival curves were estimated according to the Kaplan-Meier method, and were compared between the two groups (control group [BMI or = 28]) with the use of the log-rank test. Median survivals of the two groups were also compared by using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. A two-tailed P-value of Results: 66 pts (40 males, 26 females) were identified, who were 13–69 years old (median 29 years) at the time of transplant. 40 pts (61%) died during follow-up, 4 pts (6%) were lost to follow-up at 15, 27, 58 and 103 months after transplant, and 22 pts (33%) are alive at the time of this analysis (7/30/04), 2–187 months (median 68 months) after transplant. 65 pts were included in this analysis (BMI could not be calculated for one pt). OS for the control group (n1= 42, 26/42 died) was 30 months (95% CI: 20–69 months) and for the overweight group (n2=23, 14/23 died) was 42 months (95% C.I. 8.0- N/A months). Overall survival did not differ between the two groups (p-values for log-rank and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests, 0.8109 and 0.7367, respectively). Conclusion: Excess body weight is not a prognostic factor in patients with R/R-HL who undergo HDC followed by auto-BM/PSCT. A prospective study to evaluate and confirm our findings is warranted.
Non-market valuation in integrated assessment modeling: The benefits of water right retirement

Abstract The impact of resource management on natural capital value depends on processes that affect resource stocks over space and time. We develop an integrated assessment modeling framework that links econometric estimates of non-market benefits from a resource stock to a spatially explicit model of resource dynamics. Results from a dichotomous choice contingent valuation survey are used to estimate a marginal willingness to pay function for groundwater, which has no market. We use the model to measure the economic benefits to agricultural producers of a program that pays for water right retirement. Under the baseline scenario, without water right retirement, the benefits from groundwater stocks in the study region decline in value by $3.6 million over 15 years because of groundwater depletion. Water right retirement leads to groundwater benefits that are $0.55 million higher than in the baseline after 15 years, but benefits vary greatly over space. Comparing this to an explicit program cost of $45 million suggests that other social benefits from groundwater stocks must exist to justify the program from a benefit-cost perspective. Valuing the economic benefits from increasing natural capital stocks can inform policy and provide insight into the value of management in resource and environmental systems.
Perceptions of Service-Learning: Experiences in the Community

Over the past 30 years, service-learning has become widespread in higher education in the United States. Service-learning has multiple aims, such as serving and helping others, motivating students, and increasing student involvement and learning in courses. Specifically in intercultural environments, service-learning has been used to help students connect to diverse populations, reduce stereotypes, and increase global awareness. However, little work has investigated students’ perceptions of their experience. Using qualitative analysis of journal entries made throughout a semester, this study demonstrates the importance of connecting course materials to community issues and increasing student interest in learning about the refugee population in their community. Students had feelings of uncertainty as well as excitement but ultimately were able to recognize the change in themselves as they connected course materials with learning about refugees through direct interaction. *** El aprendizaje en servicio se ha generalizado en la ensenanza superior de los Estados Unidos en los ultimos 30 anos. Este tipo de aprendizaje cumple multiples objetivos: servir y ayudar a los demas, motivar a los estudiantes, incrementar su participacion en clase e incentivar la adquisicion de conocimientos. En entornos interculturales especificamente, el aprendizaje en servicio ha sido utilizado para ayudar a los estudiantes a conectarse con poblaciones heterogeneas, reducir los estereotipos y aumentar la conciencia global. Sin embargo, se ha investigado poco acerca de lo que piensan los estudiantes de sus experiencias. Este estudio demuestra la importancia de conectar el material curricular con los asuntos comunitarios, en aras de incentivar el interes de los estudiantes en la poblacion de refugiados de su comunidad. Para ello se hizo un analisis cualitativo de las anotaciones en diarios realizadas a todo lo largo de un semestre. Los estudiantes mostraron sentimientos encontrados de incertidumbre y entusiasmo, pero al final fueron capaces de reconocer el cambio en si mismos al conectar el material curricular con el conocimiento de los refugiados a traves de la interaccion directa.
Outcomes of surgical treatment for carcinoid heart disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background Carcinoid heart disease (CaHD) develops from vasoactive substances released by neuroendocrine tumors, which can cause significant patient morbidity and mortality without surgical intervention. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to elucidate granular perioperative details and long-term outcomes in these patients. Methods Electronic search of Ovid, Scopus, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register was performed to examine surgical treatment of carcinoid disease. Nine articles comprising 416 patients were selected. Study-level data were extracted and pooled for meta-analysis. Results Mean patient age was 63 years (95% confidence interval, 57-70) with 53% (95% confidence interval, 46-61) of patients being male. In addition, 75% (95% confidence interval, 54-96) of neuroendocrine tumors originated from the small bowel or colon and 98% (95% confidence interval, 93-100) had liver metastases. Right heart failure was present in 48% (95% confidence interval, 14-81). Moderate or severe regurgitation was present in 97% (95% confidence interval, 95-99) of tricuspid and 72% (95% confidence interval, 58-83) of pulmonary valves. In addition, 99% (95% confidence interval, 98-100) of tricuspid and 59% (95% confidence interval, 38-79) of pulmonary valves were replaced. Bioprosthetic valves were used in 80% (95% confidence interval, 68-93) of tricuspid positions. Mean hospital duration of stay was 16 days (95% confidence interval, 7-25). Thirty-day mortality was 9% (95% confidence interval, 6-12). Mean follow-up was 25 months (95% confidence interval, 11-39). Median survival was 3 years (95% confidence interval, 2.5-3.5). Conclusion For patients >18 years of age, surgical treatment of carcinoid heart disease can be performed with a reasonable safety profile. However, overall survival appears to have ongoing effects of the primary disease.
An Evaluation of a Pilot Robotics Program: This article focuses on the influence of a middle school robotics program on the studentsâ€™ perception about STEM and STEM careers. Authors Jafeth E. Sanchez and Janet Usinger write about student and leader experiences in the program in their article, â€œAn Evaluation of a Pilot Robotics Program.â€

This article presents a program evaluation of a six-week middle school pilot program focused on Science, Technology, and Math (STEM) enrichment using robotics, specifically VEX Robotsâ„¢. Two key questions guided this evaluation: (a) Does exposure to robotics influence middle school dispositions about STEM and careers in STEM? and (b) What lessons can be learned from program leads and student experiences? The aims were to provide guidance and recommendations for future implementation, development, and evaluation of the program. Findings are noted, along with a discussion and recommendations.
Matera,1945–1960: the history of a ‘national disgrace’: by Patrick McGauley, Oxford and New York, Peter Lang, 2019, 244 pp., $60.95 (softcover), ISBN: 9781788743570

Over the last century, the debate around the urban planning of the town of Matera has constituted one of the richest research agendas for an understanding of the history of modern and contemporary ...
Multiplexing mutation rate assessment: determining pathogenicity of Msh2 variants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Despite the fundamental importance of mutation rate as a driving force in evolution and disease risk, common methods to assay mutation rate are time consuming and tedious. Established methods such as fluctuation tests and mutation accumulation experiments are low-throughput and often require significant optimization to ensure accuracy. We established a new method to determine the mutation rate of many strains simultaneously by tracking mutation events in a chemostat continuous culture device and applying deep sequencing to link mutations to alleles of a DNA-repair gene. We applied this method to assay the mutation rate of hundreds of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains carrying mutations in the gene encoding Msh2, a DNA repair enzyme in the mismatch repair pathway (MMR). Loss-of-function (LOF) mutations in MSH2 are associated with hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), an inherited disorder that increases risk for many different cancers. However, the vast majority of MSH2 variants found in human populations have insufficient evidence to be classified as either pathogenic or benign. We first benchmarked our method against Luria-Delbruck fluctuation tests using a collection of published MSH2 missense variants. Our pooled screen successfully identified previously characterized non-functional alleles as high mutators. We then created an additional 185 human missense variants in the yeast ortholog, including both characterized and uncharacterized alleles curated from ClinVar and other clinical testing data. In a set of alleles of known pathogenicity, our assay recapitulated ClinVar's classification; we then estimated pathogenicity for 157 variants classified as uncertain or conflicting reports of significance. This method is capable of studying the mutation rate of many microbial species and can be applied to problems ranging from the generation of high-fidelity polymerases to measuring the frequency of antibiotic resistance emergence.
Survival Outcome of Secondary Solid Cancer in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract Background: The survival outcome of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) is similar to that of the general population, thus more patients may experience second malignancies (SM). Little is known about survival outcome of SM in patients with CML. Methods: TheSurveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was used to evaluate incidence and overall survial (OS) of 9 types of SM among adult (≥18 yrs) patients diagnosed with CML between 2001 and 2014. We excluded patients with history of solid cancer prior to diagnosis of CML. We excluded hematologic malignancies as SM to focus on survival outcome of solid cancer. We performed 1:1 matching for age, sex, year of diagnosis, stage, and, for breast cancer, HER2 and estrogen receptor status for patients with CML who developed SM and patients with same type of cancer without CML in SEER data to compare survival outcome for patients with or without background of CML. Results: A total of 14,644 patients were diagnosed with CML during the study period. The median age was 59 years (range, 18-110 years). With a median follow up of 54 months (range: 0-167 months), 2508 patients died of CML, 2133 patients died of other cause and estimated 10-year OS and CML-specific survival rate was 54% and 76%, respectively. During the study period, 1736 (10-yr cumulative incidence (CI): 14.4%) CML patients developed breast cancer, 1340 (10-yr CI: 11.4%) prostate cancer, 1584 (10-yr CI: 14.0%) lung cancer, 1061 (10-yr CI: 9.2%) colorectal cancer, 984 (10-yr CI: 9.1%) melanoma, 485 (10-yr CI: 4.5%) bladder cancer, 375 (10-yr CI: 3.3%) kidney cancer, 289 (10-yr CI: 2.7%) pancreatic cancer, and 171 (10-yr CI: 1.6%) stomach cancer. Median time from diagnosis of CML to SM was 8.1 months (range: 0.9-168 months). With 1:1 matched patient chort with or without CML, there was no significant difference in treatment modality for solid cancer between the two groups in these 9 types of solid cancer. Also, there was no significant difference in OS in all 9 type of SM for patients whether they had CML or not prior to the diagnosis with solid tumor (Figure). In CML patients who developed SM, CML was a cause of death in only 1-2% in all 9 types of solid cancer. Conclusion: In the era of TKI, having CML as background is not affecting survival outcome of secondary solid cancer. Download : Download high-res image (155KB) Download : Download full-size image Figure . Disclosures Kantarjian: Bristol-Meyers Squibb: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Delta-Fly Pharma: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding; ARIAD: Research Funding; Pfizer: Research Funding. Jabbour: Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy. Cortes: Teva: Research Funding; ImmunoGen: Consultancy, Research Funding; ARIAD: Consultancy, Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sun Pharma: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Research Funding.
Editorial for the Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease Special Issue: October 2021

Alzheimer’s disease is a complex and multifactorial condition regulated by both genetics and lifestyle, which ultimately results in the accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) and tau proteins in the brain, loss of gray matter, and neuronal death [...]
Social and abiotic factors differentially affect plumage ornamentation of young and old males in an Australian songbird

Both abiotic environmental conditions and variation in social environment are known to impact the acquisition of sexual signals. However, the influences of abiotic environmental and social factors are rarely compared to each other. Here we test the relative importance of these factors in determining whether and when male red-backed fairy-wrens, Malurus melanocephalus, moult into ornamented breeding plumage, a known sexual signal. One-year-old male red-backed fairy-wrens vary in whether or not they acquire ornamentation, whereas males age 2 years and older vary in their timing of ornament acquisition. It is unclear whether these processes are determined by the same or different factors, and we examined both events using a combination of long-term breeding records and nonbreeding social networks. We found that 1-year-old males that paired prior to the start of the breeding season were more likely to acquire ornamented plumage, but rainfall did not influence whether 1-year-old males acquired ornamented plumage. Thus, for young individuals, social cues appear to play a larger role than abiotic environmental factors in determining ornament acquisition. For older males, timing of ornamented plumage acquisition was constrained by rainfall, with drier nonbreeding seasons leading to poorer physiological condition and later moult dates. Thus, sexual signal variation in older males appears to be a condition-dependent trait, driven by abiotic environmental and physiological factors rather than social cues. These findings reveal that factors influencing sexual signal expression can vary with age when age classes exhibit different forms of signal variation. Our results suggest that social environment may drive sexual signal variation in young individuals, whereas abiotic environmental variation may drive sexual signal variation in older individuals.
Exploring the Role of Awareness in the CSR-CFP Relationship

After more than seven decades and thousands of scholarly works on the topic, the question of whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) positively impacts a firm’s performance has yet to find consensus. To date, extant research has found evidence of a positive, negative, and, in some cases, no relationship between CSR and firm performance. This paper tackles one of the possible reasons why the literature has experienced incongruent results. Specifically, this paper explores the role of CSR on firm performance when the assumption of stakeholder awareness is met. The results show that firms did experience an increase in firm performance once they made their stakeholders aware of their CSR activities. The role of awareness has major implications for research as it opens a brand-new path of investigation that focuses on the signal firms use, such as CSR reports, to make stakeholders aware of their activities.
Calculating Franck Condon Factor and Potential Curves for X 2 Σ+-A 2 Π System of BeBr Molecule

The present work concerns by study of spectroscopic properties for Beryllium monobromide BeBr. Franck Condon Factor of BeBr molecule had been calculated theoretically for ground state XΣ and excited state AΠ by special integrals by depending on spectroscopic constants for this molecule. The Dissociation energy and potential curves of this molecule is studied in this work by using Hua potential function, the results of potential curves and Franck Condon Factors converge with other researchers results.
Guarding against mutation.

Mistakes happen, and DNA replication is no exception to that rule. The crystal structure of a key protein involved in fixing errors in DNA offers insights into the first step of the repair process.
Relationships between obesity management and depression management in a university-based family medicine center.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe and examine relationships among sociodemographics, obesity, and depression management in Appalachian adults. Data sources This study was conducted in a primary care center and used a cross-sectional, quantitative, nonexperimental descriptive, and predictive design. Data were obtained from a random sample of 240 adult records that were stratified by gender. Analysis included exploration of all variables for descriptive information followed by bivariate analyses to determine significant relationships between variables, and regression analysis using variables with significant relation to obesity and depression management. Conclusions Obesity was prevalent (48%) though less than 1% had documented diagnosis. Over 98% of the 65 participants diagnosed with depression did not have documentation of use of a depression screening tool. Diagnosis of depression correlated significantly with elevated body mass index (BMI) and diagnosis of obesity. Gender bias was evident with males having more documentation of weight-loss discussions and planning, and women receiving more referrals to behavioral health for counseling. Implications for practice Innovations to enhance the diagnosis of obesity could lead to consistent provider-led management. Implementation studies of valid depression screening tools in the electronic medical record could enhance the identification of depressive symptoms and could promote health equity.
Minor Threonine Dehydratase Encoded Within the Threonine Synthetic Region of Bacillus subtilis

Challenging auxotrophs on metabolites that are precursors of a biosynthetic step involving a mutated enzyme has revealed a new class of suppressor mutations which act by derepressing a minor enzyme activity not normally detected in the wild-type strain. These indirect, partial suppressor mutations which allow isoleucine auxotrophs to grow on homoserine or threonine have been analyzed to determine their effect on enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of these amino acids. It has been found that one class of these suppressor mutations (sprA) leads to the derepression of homoserine kinase, homoserine dehydrogenase, and a minor threonine dehydratase that is not sufficiently active to be detected in the wild-type strain. The gene encoding this second threonine dehydratase activity has been found to be located between the structural genes for homoserine kinase and homoserine dehydrogenase. The results of these experiments indicate that plating of auxotrophs on precursors of a biosynthetic step involving mutated enzymes could prove to be a valuable method for the detection of regulatory mutants as well as a possible tool in studying the evolution of biochemical pathways.
Mechanism of the bactericidal action produced by electrohydraulic shock.

Electrohydraulic shock was shown to produce oxidation reactions which inactivated certain compounds important in cellular metabolism. Enzymes that were inactivated included lactic dehydrogenase, trypsin, and proteinases of Bacillus subtilis. Free sulfhydryl groups and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide were oxidized. Adenosine triphosphate was destroyed, but deoxyribonucleic acid was not affected. Intracellular material of Escherichia coli lost its ability to absorb at 260 mμ after electrohydraulic shock. The bactericidal mechanism involved appeared to be due to nonselective oxidation reactions produced by high-voltage discharges in water. These oxidation reactions were probably mediated by free radicals produced in the water.
A Multi-strategy Approach to Geo-Entity Recognition

Geographic location or place information has become an increasingly integrated and important element in web and online interaction, which is evident in the increasing sophistication and adoption of online mapping, navigational GPS, and location-aware search. A significant proportion of online location context, however, remains implicit in primarily unstructured document text. In order to leverage this location context, such references need to be extracted into structured knowledge elements defining place. A variety of “named entity” extraction methods have been developed in order to identify unstructured location references, alongside other references such as for persons or organizations, but geographic entity extraction remains an open problem. This chapter examines a multi-strategy approach to improving the quality of geo-entity extraction. The implemented experimental framework is targeted for web data, and it provides a comparative evaluation of individual approaches and parameterizations of our multi-strategy method. Results show that the multi-strategy approach provides a significant benefit in terms of accuracy, domain independence, and adaptability.
Tissue specificity of gus gene activity in Agrobacterium-mediated transformed tobacco plants

The β-glucuronidase (gus) gene was isolated from the bacterium Escherichia coli. Due to the blue pigment it produces, it has been widely used as a reporter gene in genetically modified organisms serving to study gene expression and tissue specificity. The focus of this study is to use the gus gene to monitor the tissue specificity of the pro-moter CaMV 35S in Agrobacterium-mediated genetically modified plants. Agrobacte-rium is a pathogenic bacterium that has the ability to integrate foreign DNA into a plant’s DNA. Promoters are DNA sequences that drive gene expression and determine where a gene is expressed. If a promoter of unknown specificity is used to express gus in an or-ganism, then β-glucuronidase will only be present in the tissues the promoter specifies. In 1988 Benfey et al. used the gus gene to elucidate on the specificity of the CaMV 35S promoter in Agrobacterium-meditated transformed tobacco plants¹. CaMV 35S originates from the cauliflower mosaic virus and is widely used in the laboratory to drive strong ex-pression of any gene of interest. Benfey et al. was successful in demonstrating the speci-ficity of CaMV 35S at 6, 10, and 15 days of development and at 7 weeks. The results of their study showed that CaMV 35S activates gus expression in all cells during 6, 10 and 15 days in development1. In 7 week old plants CaMV 35S activates gus in all cells of the leaves and roots, but only in the vascular tissue of the stem1. The goal of this study was to use the gus gene to elucidate on the tissue specificity of CaMV 35S in Agrobacterium-meditated transformed tobacco plants at 4 weeks in development. It is expected that the 4 week tobacco plants will show no specificity as they are still categorized as seedlings and are closer in physical traits to 15 day old plants.
Creative Fundraising Through Campus Collaborations

Many libraries have traditionally failed to consider unorthodox sources of funding, especially for collection building. Because of resource limitations, librarians are now beginning to work on acquisition projects with non-library entities. This paper examines a number of innovative collaborations on a university campus that yielded substantial collection development monies for a Library Media Department at the University of Maryland.
Electronic structure of iron in magnesium silicate glasses at high pressure

[1] A recent study attributed the source of an iron partitioning change between silicate melt and minerals at deep mantle conditions to a high-spin to low-spin change in iron, which was found in a Fe-diluted Mg-silicate glass at a similar pressure. We conducted X-ray emission spectroscopy and nuclear forward scattering on iron-rich Mg-silicate glasses at high pressure and 300 K in the diamond-anvil cell: Al-free glass up to 135 GPa and Al-bearing glass up to 93 GPa. In both glasses, the spin moment decreases gradually from 1 bar and does not reach a complete low-spin state even at the peak pressures of this study. The gradual change may be due to the existence of diverse coordination environments for iron in the glasses and continuous structural adjustment of the disordered system with pressure. If the result can be extrapolated to iron in mantle melts, the small, gradual changes in the spin state of iron may not be the dominant factor explaining the reported sudden change in the partitioning behavior of iron between silicate melt and minerals at lower-mantle pressures.
Fashionable Acts: Opera and Elite Culture in London, 1780–1880 – By Jennifer Hall‐Witt

As historians debate when and why the aristocracy lost power, the ever‐rising middle class becomes increasingly phantasmagoric. Viewing the London opera as a microcosm of elite culture, this author...
First Results of the Absolute Calibration of the u, v, b, y System of Filters

Absolute flux densities for a zero magnitude A0V star at the effective wavelengths of the u, y, b, y spectral bands are presented.
Evaluation of sampling methods and development of sequential sampling plan for potato leafhopper (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) on potatoes.

Potato fields in Arlington and Coloma, Wis., were sampled from June through August in 1981, 1982, and 1983, to develop and evaluate the precision of potato leafhopper (PLH), Empoasca fabae (Harris), sampling programs. Midplant leaf samples provided a more reliable estimate of nymphal density than did top or bottom leaf samples. Both Iwao's patchiness regression and Taylor's power law indicated that PLH adult and nymphal counts exhibited aggregated distribution patterns on potatoes. The parameters of Iwao's patchiness regression were used to determine the number of samples required to obtain a standard error of the mean of 0.25. Our sampling procedures achieved this degree of precision at adult and nymphal densities of 3 per 25 sweeps and 5 per 25 leaves, respectively. A sequential sampling plan for PLH on potatoes, based on the parameters of Iwao's regression and using a combination of nymphal and adult counts for the critical density value, was also developed.
Leaf area estimates from measurements of photosynthetically active radiation in wheat canopies

Abstract Transmission of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) measured with quantum sensors in three wheat cultivars during periods of clear sky were used to indirectly determine the leaf area index (LAI). The exponential description of direct and diffuse radiation penetration, which depends on leaf inclination, was correlated to the transmission measurements at various solar zenith angles. The highest correlations were found for fixed leaf inclinations of 60 and 75°, and for the spherical leaf angle distribution. Angular shape coefficients corresponding to these leaf inclinations were then used to solve the exponential equation for LAI taking incoming PAR to be direct. This was shown to be an acceptable approximation when the proportion of direct radiation in the incoming PAR was higher than 0.85. Predictions of LAI were found to be within 0.7 units for a range of LAI from 1.5 to 5.0. A statistical analysis of the results indicated that the most suitable leaf inclination was a combination of 60 and 75° fixed angles, and spherical distribution.
A Note on Differentiability of the Cluster Density for Independent Percolation in High Dimensions

The cluster density function of independent percolationκ in ad-dimensional lattice is considered. For eachn, it is shown thatκ(p) has finitenth leftderivative at critical probabilityp c ifd is sufficiently large. This result agrees with the Bethe lattice approximation, where thenth one-sided derivative ofκ(p) is bounded atp c for alln.
Contours of a non-modernist discourse: the contested space of history and development

Abstract Conventionally, postcolonial analysis has been confined to the field of literary criticism and history. More recently, it has extended to philosophy and anthropology. Despite the powerful role that economics has played in shaping current conditions in formerly colonized regions, a postcolonial position has yet to be articulated in economics. This paper draws on postcolonial thought to explore the idea of “history” and its expression in economics through the discourse on “development.” The paper argues for an understanding of economics as a cultural practice in order to open up possibilities for non-Western ideas and interpretations of economic phenomena.
The Dynamics of Glutathione Species and Ophthalmate Concentrations in Plasma from the VX2 Rabbit Model of Secondary Liver Tumors

Purpose. Available tumor markers have low sensitivity/specificity for the diagnosis of liver tumors. The present study was designed to evaluate the oxidoreductive status of the liver as surrogates of tumor subsistence and growth. Methods. Glutathione species (GSH:GSSG), ophthalmate (OA) concentrations, and their turnover were measured in plasma of rabbits (n=6) in their healthy state and in the state of tumor growth after implantation of the VX2 carcinoma in their liver. Tumors were allowed to grow for a period of 14 days when rabbits were sacrificed. Livers were removed and cysteine concentration was measured in liver tissue. Results. Tumor growth was found in 100% of the rabbits. Concentration and labeling of GSH/GSSG were similar in experimental animals before and after tumor implantation and to sham animals. In contrast, OA concentration increased significantly in experimental animals after tumor implantation when compared to same animals prior to tumor implantation and to sham animals (P<.05). The concentration of cysteine, a precursor of GSH, was found to be significantly lower in the liver tissue adjacent to the tumor (P<.05). Conclusion. Disturbances in the oxidoreductive state of livers appear to be a surrogate of early tumor growth.