cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Comparative View of Alpha Crystallins: The contribution of comparative studies to understanding function

Abstract Integration between comparative biology and cellular/molecular biology has helped advance understanding of the structure, function and physiology of the vertebrate small heat shock proteins αA- and αB-crystallin. These proteins are expressed at high concentration in the eye lens where they contribute to transparency and refractive power. But they also function similarly to molecular chaperones by preventing the aggregation of denatured proteins that can cause opacities, or cataracts. α-crystallins also serve a number of other roles in and out of the lens that are still not completely understood. Comparative examination of α-crystallins and closely related small heat shock proteins from diverse taxa has helped provide insights into the proteins' three-dimensional shape and structure/function relationships. Until recently, no studies had examined the tissue specific expression or chaperone-like activity of α-crystallins from a non-mammalian vertebrate. I have been investigating the α-crystallins of...
Numerical Simulations of the Extratropical Transition of Floyd (1999): Structural Evolution and Responsible Mechanisms for the Heavy Rainfall over the Northeast United States

Abstract This paper examines the extratropical transition (ET) of Hurricane Floyd along the U.S. East Coast on 16–17 September 1999 using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) down to 1.33-km horizontal grid spacing. The 36-h MM5 simulation reproduced the basic features of the ET event such as the track of Floyd, the development of a deep and intense baroclinic zone along the coast and its associated precipitation evolution, and the tendency for the heavy (>30 cm) precipitation to fall in a relatively narrow (30–40 km wide) band just inland of the coast; however, the MM5 overpredicted the moderate (10–20 cm) precipitation amounts near the coast by 40%–50% as the horizontal grid spacing was reduced to 1.33 km. The MM5 was used to diagnose the evolution of the enhanced baroclinic zone and associated heavy precipitation to the north of Floyd. A deep layer of deformation frontogenesis extended from the surface to 400 mb as a result of confluence between the southeasterl...
Cellular immunity is not compromised by high serum corticosterone concentrations in prairie voles

Glucocorticoids compromise immune function in glucocorticoid-sensitive species (e.g., mice), but these immunosuppressive effects may be reduced in glucocorticoid-resistant species. Prairie voles (microtus ochrogaster) have been characterized as glucocorticoid-resistant to their high circulating levels of corticosterone. Because glucocorticoid-sensitive species display suppressed lymphocyte proliferation in response to elevated blood glucocorticoid levels, proliferative values were hypothesized to be reduced in house mice (Mus musculus) compared with prairie voles. Prairie voles exhibited significantly higher splenocyte proliferative responses to the T cell mitogen, Concanavalin A, despite having higher basal total and free serum corticosterone levels than mice. Neither total nor free serum corticosterone correlated with proliferative responses from either species. These data provide further evidence for glucocorticoid resistance in prairie voles and suggest that the interactions between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the immune system in prairie voles may differ from those in mice or other glucocorticoid-sensitive species. Therefore, prairie voles may serve as a valuable animal model for the syndrome of glucocorticoid resistance in humans and the role of glucocorticoids in conditions characterized by a hyperactive immune system.
A Practical Model of Value Co-creation in Healthcare Service

Abstract The concepts of value co-creation and S-D logic have been widely used in industrial services. However, their application in healthcare services still remain in the theoretical and experimental phase. This study develops a model for the practical application of value co-creation in healthcare services. It improves the service quality by collecting the rating of patients’ satisfaction for service and interpreting their feedback into promotion strategies. Since patients are regarded as the customers, which makes patients the value co-creators in healthcare services, understanding patients’ satisfaction and demands from their feedback can give healthcare providers a better insight of the improvement spaces for healthcare services. Satisfaction is the core outcome measure for healthcare service which can be used to evaluate the performance of healthcare providers, enhance service training programs, and obtain insights into management strategies. The model illustrates that collecting and analysing the patients’ feedback in a systematic way can involve patients in co-creating value for healthcare service efficiently.
Predicting three types of dissociation in female survivors of intimate partner violence

Previous research suggests that studying the effect of dissociation is particularly important in survivors of intimate partner violence because of the risk of revictimization. The current study investigated demographic variables, child and current abuse characteristics, coping style, and cognitive distortions as predictors of peritraumatic, trait, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related dissociation in a sample of female intimate partner violence survivors. The sample consisted of 372 women, the majority African American, with an average age of 34.41 years (SD = 8.09). Peritraumatic dissociation was significantly predicted by child physical abuse, current abuse injury, cognitive distortions about safety, and problem disengagement coping. Trait dissociation was significantly predicted by minority race, personal income, and cognitive distortions about safety and self-worth. PTSD-related dissociation was significantly predicted by cognitive distortions about self-worth, problem and emotion disengagement coping, and peritraumatic dissociation. In the models predicting both trait and PTSD-related dissociation, abuse characteristics significantly predicted dissociation until the entry of cognitive variables into the model. The analysis indicated a significant indirect effect of cognitive distortions on the relationship between current sexual aggression and trait dissociation. Results also suggested that there were indirect effects of both cognitive distortions and peritraumatic dissociation on the relationships between current psychological abuse/injury and PTSD-related dissociation. Findings point to the importance of cognitions in the development and maintenance of dissociation and suggest that treatments designed to help clients accept and process traumatic events may help reduce dissociation and in turn prevent future revictimization.
Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis in colonies of Indianmeal moth and almond moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Colonies of Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), and almond moth, Cadra cautella (Walker), reared in the laboratory on diet treated with Bacillus thuringiensis , became resistant to B. thuringiensis . However, resistance did not progress at the same rate or to the same extent in all of the colonies. Resistance in five Indianmeal moth colonies increased from 2- to 29-fold within three generations, and from 15- to 100-fold in ca. 40 generations under relatively low selection pressure. With higher selection pressure, resistance in one colony increased >250-fold. Resistance in an almond moth colony increased only ca. 7-fold in 21 generations of intensive selection. Resistance was stable when selection was discontinued after the resistance levels reached a plateau, but declined if selection was discontinued earlier. The resistance was partially recessive in the five Indianmeal moth colonies, but not to an equal extent. The resistance assorted independently of the recessive genetic markers copper, golden , and white-eye .
BREEDING SYSTEM AND GENETIC VARIATION IN LEAVENWORTHIA.

Plants show a great deal of variation in their mode of fertilization from obligate outbreeding with the two sexes in separate individuals to complete inbreeding with the two sexes of a hermaphroditic individual arranged in such a way that self-fertilization is unavoidable. Any population relies for its immediate source of variation largely on recombination. Autogamy will restrict recombination. Consequently it is of interest to investigate the effect that autogamy has on the genetic variation of a population. The object of this paper is to present the results of an investigation on the genetic variation in a group of related plants with common ecological requirements but different breeding systems. The genus Leavenworthia.-This small group of winter annuals in the family Cruciferae, the mustard family, grows primarily in northern Alabama and central Tennessee, with a few populations in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Georgia. The genus has been monographed by Rollins (1963), and the population biology of two out of seven species investigated in detail by Lloyd (1965, 1969). Ecological work on some of the species has been performed by Quarterman and her collaborators at Vanderbilt University. All the species have similar ecological requirements and life cycles. The seeds germinate in the fall in wet depressions that form in the cedar glades. The cedar glades are special edaphic communities characterized by horizontally bedded limestone outcrops. The plants overwinter as rosettes, and bloom in the spring before the summer droughts make the glades quite dry and barren. All seven species are very similar in their morphology, being almost indistinguishable in the vegetative state. Some of the differences that are found in their flowers and fruits have been shown by Rollins (1963) to be related to a change in the breeding system that has taken place. In effect, three of the seven species are normally self-incompatible and consequently obligatory outbreeders, while the other four are self-compatible, and based on their flower structure and field observations, they are presumed to have various degrees of habitual self-pollination. This situation, that of a small group of ecologically and morphologically very similar species with different degrees of selfpollination, makes Leavenworthia an ideal material to investigate the effect of changes in the breeding system on the underlying genetic variation, using the technique of isozyme variation. The questions posed are the following:
Variations in Pulmonary Vital Capacity in Health Daily, Seasonal, and at Moderate Altitudes

Summary and Conclusions1. Apparent variations in pulmonary vital capacity are found from day to day and from season to season. When corrections are made for temperature and atmospheric pressure, these variations disappear. 2. True vital capacity diminishes at moderate altitudes, changes appearing even at 3000 feet. The various factors to which these changes have been attributed by different observers were absent in our experiments. Diminished vital capacity at altitudes is believed to be due to dilatation of lung capillaries following the partial loss of external (atmospheric) support, with consequent diminution of air space. Such an increase of blood in the lungs may be a factor in the favorable effect of moderate altitudes on certain forms of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Review: Marion Mahony Reconsidered, by David Van Zanten

David Van Zanten, ed. Marion Mahony Reconsidered Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011, 192 pp., 4 color and 65 b/w illus. $50 (cloth), ISBN 9780226850818 In the early 1990s the International Astronomical Union posted a call for names of “deceased women who have made outstanding or fundamental contributions to their field” for use in the designation of craters more than 20 kilometers in diameter on Venus.1 As the education director at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation at the time, I formally nominated architect Marion Mahony Griffin. While, unfortunately, there is yet no crater on Venus that officially carries her name, Mahony (1871–1961) has finally begun receiving the recognition she deserves for her contributions to the field of architecture in the early twentieth century. Much of our previous understanding of this talented, yet marginalized, architect was the consequence of explorations into the lives and careers of two progressive male designers with whom she worked—Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Burley Griffin. That a gendered penumbra continues to overshadow her work even today is reflected in the fact that the nonprofit associations established in Australia and the United States “to commemorate and promote a better understanding of the lives, ideals, vision and works of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin” include only the male partner in their shared name: the Walter Burley Griffin Society.2 That said, publications such as Marion Mahony Reconsidered have begun to fill out the story of America's first female architect to be licensed via examination, including her personal and professional narratives and, perhaps most relevant to today's global situation, her views on ecology, spirituality, and community. Marion Mahony Reconsidered had its beginnings in a symposium of the same title held more than a decade ago at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum at Northwestern University. The event was organized in connection with the museum's 2005 exhibition Marion Mahony Griffin: Drawing the Form of Nature . While the show …
Endovascular therapy of cerebral vasospasm: two year experience with angioplasty and= =or intraarterial administration of nicardipine and verapamil

The cause of severe clinical vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage remains by large a mystery, despite tremendous scientific efforts over the past three decades. However, transluminal balloon angioplasty and the intraarterial administration of vasodilatating agents represent successful tools in treating severe refractory cerebral vasospasm. Out of 350 patients admitted with acute SAH to our Medical Center over the past 2 years, 47 patients developed severe clinical vasospasm, requiring endovascular therapy. A total of 175 intraarterial nicardipine or verapamil injections were performed, while balloon angioplasty was performed in 49 vessels. There was significant (p<0.001, paired t-test) improvement of cerebral vasospasm after the intraarterial infusion of high dose verapamil or nicardipine over a period of 24–48 h. However, the administration of a vasodilatating agent followed by angioplasty represents a safe and long lasting therapy of severe clinical significant vasospasm (p<0.001, paired t-test). With current advances in endovascular technologies, balloon angioplasty along with administration of vasodilatating agents is safe and reduces the morbidity and mortality after subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Polymorphic types for constructing concurrent objects and layered communication protocols

Polymorphic type abstractions are proposed for constructing concurrent objects and layered peer-to-peer communication protocols, both of which exhibit inherently asynchronous behavior. The type abstractions are shown to be both expressive and efficient in the context of a statically typed object-oriented language. An extensible, polymorphic type abstraction for structuring concurrent method execution in a strongly typed object-oriented language is introduced. The type abstraction is called a polymorphic lambda type. The lambda type is a key component of a concurrent object model that allows methods defined in a class to be instantiated as lambda objects. Lambda objects are used to represent some aspect of behavior and they represent a first-class execution environment. Through a series of refinements, lambda objects are shown to be as expressive as traditional procedures with little extra cost for call setup and invocation. A type abstraction called a behavior set is introduced for specifying synchronization constraints in a strongly typed concurrent object-oriented language with Actor-style concurrency semantics. The behavior set abstraction offers a solution to structuring synchronization control that coexists with an inheritance mechanism, thereby avoiding the inheritance anomaly. The value returned as the result of an asynchronous invocation is a handle to the eventual result value, if any, of the asynchronously invoked method. The handle is called a future. The introduction of a polymorphic future type into a statically typed language with traditional procedure call semantics is problematic--futures should be expressible as user-defined types, extensible via inheritance, and efficiently realized. Polymorphic types and type conversion operators permit the expression of futures as synchronized continuation objects. Finally, polymorphic service access points and the inheritance structure of a set of types representing protocol machines are introduced. The protocol structure is specifically designed to support concurrent objects requiring asynchronous peer-to-peer communication, such as Actors. An implementation is presented that illustrates the use of object-oriented structuring techniques in the implementation of a communication protocol architecture. Performance data is provided that demonstrates that the inheritance-based protocol structure incurs a modest 2% overhead in comparison with a traditional layered protocol structure. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Short-Term Culture of Cells from Human Solid Tumors in Semisolid Medium

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses cell culture from solid tumors in a semisolid medium. The technique of short-term culture of cells in semisolid medium has frequently been referred to as the “tumor stem cell assay.” The term “tumor stem cell” is based on the concept of the stem cells identified in normal hemopoiesis and associated malignancies. Stem cells have the capacities of both self-renewal and differentiation into more mature cell types. Application of the term “stem cell assay” to the growth of other types of malignancies in semisolid medium is largely because of the fact that the technique was originally developed with and applied to hemopoietic cells of the mouse. The stimulus for the development of the technique was the need for rapid quantitative in vitro assays of both normal and abnormal hemopoietic stem cells. The application of this term to the technique presumes that each colony resulting from short-term culture in semisolid medium has grown from a single cell. Currently, analysis of growing colonies is restricted to the ultrastructural examination or specialized staining techniques such as melanin formation by melanoma colonies or localization of tumor associated antigens such as carcinoembryonic antigen. Hopefully, techniques for removing single colonies and their analysis directly in semisolid medium will improve as improved cloning efficiencies are obtained.
Cognition and Diabetes Across the Life Span: Preface.

This Diabetes Spectrum From Research to Practice section is focused on cognitive functioning in individuals with diabetes across the life span. My training is in neuropsychology, a subspecialty within clinical psychology focused on understanding brain-behavior relationships through research and clinical practice. When I began my career, my work focused on providing clinical neuropsychological services to patients with a wide variety of neurological and medical diseases affecting the brain. The goal of neuropsychological assessment is typically to determine if a neurological/medical condition is affecting brain function and, if so, the consequences for daily functioning (e.g., driving or returning to work or school). Neuropsychologists are also tasked with identifying the etiology of cognitive impairment and recommending and carrying out interventions to mitigate the impact of cognitive impairments via rehabilitation efforts. When reviewing the medical histories of patients with neurological disease, type 2 diabetes is common. However, aside from being viewed as a generic “cerebrovascular risk factor,” diabetes is infrequently considered as a potential direct influence on brain function, nor is diabetes self-management considered an important set of everyday activities that cognitive impairment may affect. A common recommendation for someone with cerebrovascular risk factors and diabetes is to improve diabetes management to maximize brain health, but very little attention is paid to how a patient with cognitive impairment is supposed to accomplish this complicated task. This changed for me when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 36 years. I was struck by the cognitive complexity of …
Chromogranin A Regulation of Obesity and Peripheral Insulin Sensitivity

Chromogranin A (CgA) is a prohormone and granulogenic factor in endocrine and neuroendocrine tissues, as well as in neurons, and has a regulated secretory pathway. The intracellular functions of CgA include the initiation and regulation of dense core granule biogenesis and sequestration of hormones in neuroendocrine cells. This protein is co-stored and co-released with secreted hormones. The extracellular functions of CgA include the generation of bioactive peptides, such as pancreastatin (PST), vasostatin, WE14, catestatin (CST) and serpinin. CgA knockout mice (Chga-KO) display: (i) hypertension with increased plasma catecholamines, (ii) obesity, (iii) improved hepatic insulin sensitivity, and (iv) muscle insulin resistance. These findings suggest that individual CgA-derived peptides may regulate different physiological functions. Indeed, additional studies have revealed that the pro-inflammatory PST influences insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, whereas CST alleviates adiposity and hypertension. This review will focus on the different metabolic roles of PST and CST peptides in insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant models, and their potential use as therapeutic targets.
Hierarchically structured, oxygen deficient, tungsten oxide morphologies for enhanced photoelectrochemical charge transfer and stability

The role of non-stoichiometry in a hierarchically structured WO3−x electrode, constituted from nanoscale fuzziness as well as microscale wire morphology, on the photoelectrochemical response is investigated. Through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies, the relative amounts of the various oxidation states of the constituent W are probed with respect to the observed response. It is concluded that an intermediate/optimal number of vacancies, yielding a W6+/(W5+ + W4+) ratio of around 2, would be beneficial for increasing the photocurrent. It is posited that defect engineering combined with optimized band structure modulation could be used for enhanced photocurrent density as well as electrode stability. The work would help considerably elucidate the role of defects as well as charge carriers for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) efficiency increase.
To Be Free and French: Citizenship in France's Atlantic Empire

The Haitian Revolution may have galvanized subjects of French empire in the Americas and Africa struggling to define freedom and 'Frenchness' for themselves, but Lorelle Semley reveals that this event was just one moment in a longer struggle of women and men of color for rights under the French colonial regime. Through political activism ranging from armed struggle to literary expression, these colonial subjects challenged and exploited promises in French Republican rhetoric that should have contradicted the continued use of slavery in the Americas and the introduction of exploitative labor in the colonization of Africa. They defined an alternative French citizenship, which recognized difference, particularly race, as part of a 'universal' French identity. Spanning Atlantic port cities in Haiti, Senegal, Martinique, Benin, and France, this book is a major contribution to scholarship on citizenship, race, empire, and gender, and it sheds new light on debates around human rights and immigration in contemporary France.
Pilot study assessing the impact of platelet activation electric stimulation protocols on hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cell proliferation

Recent research has shown that pulsed electric fields can successfully activate platelets ex-vivo; activation means here the release of growth factors and clotting. Typically, platelets are in a complex biological matrix, such as platelet rich plasma (PRP), which contains a variety of cell types. While specific electric pulses can activate the platelets, the impact of electric simulation on other cell types is an open question. The pilot study presented here focuses on evaluating electric pulse effects on hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells when they are in a complex biological matrix also containing platelets. Experimental results indicate that stem cell proliferation at two weeks post treatment can be tuned as a function of electrical parameters. We demonstrate in this pilot study that stem cell proliferation can be either low (via conductive coupling, 8.5 kV/cm electric field amplitude) or high (via capacitive coupling, 2.5 kV/cm electric field amplitude) two weeks after stimulation, despite these two electric pulse delivery mechanisms inducing roughly similar growth factor release and immediate cell viability post treatment. These observations may open up additional ways of tuning electric pulse delivery for platelet activation and other biomedical applications.
Resonators for In Vivo Imaging: Practical Experience

Resonators for preclinical electron paramagnetic resonance imaging have been designed primarily for rodents and rabbits and have internal diameters between 16 and 51 mm. Lumped-circuit resonators include loop-gap, Alderman–Grant, and saddle coil topologies and surface coils. Bimodal resonators are useful for isolating the detected signal from incident power and reducing dead time in pulse experiments. Resonators for continuous wave, rapid scan, and pulse experiments are described. Experience at the University of Chicago and University of Denver in design of resonators for in vivo imaging is summarized.
Time Interval Ray Tracing for Motion Blur

We introduce a new motion blur computation method for ray tracing that provides an analytical approximation of motion blurred visibility per ray. Rather than relying on timestamped rays and Monte Carlo sampling to resolve the motion blur, we associate a time interval with rays and directly evaluate when and where each ray intersects with animated object faces. Based on our simplifications, the volume swept by each animated face is represented using a triangulation of the surface of this volume. Thus, we can resolve motion blur through ray intersections with stationary triangles, and we can use any standard ray tracing acceleration structure without modifications to account for the time dimension. Rays are intersected with these triangles to analytically determine the time interval and positions of the intersections with the moving objects. Furthermore, we explain an adaptive strategy to efficiently shade the intersection intervals. As a result, we can produce noise-free motion blur for both primary and secondary rays. We also provide a general framework for emulating various camera shutter mechanisms and an artistic modification that amplifies the visibility of moving objects for emphasizing the motion in videos or static images.
Powers of Positive Matrices

In 1907, Oskar Perron proved a beautiful theorem about powers of positive matrices. This theorem is not just of theoretical interest, but has, as we shall see, a number of important applications. S...
Mechanism-based inhibitors of monoamine oxidase

Through the study of mechanism-based inhibitors, it has been shown that the two-electron oxidation of biogenic amines carried out by the flavin moiety of monoamine oxidase occurs by stepwise electron transfer. This is illustrated by cyclopropylamine-based inhibitors. Mechanisms of propargylamine- and hydrazine-type inhibitors have also been clarified.
A system to place incoming students in computer science, mathematics and statistics

Colleges utilize various methods of placing incoming students in classes, but many methods are time intensive, have limited scope, or lack precision. After an older LISP-based expert system had difficulty placing students, Grinnell College needed a successor system to provide accurate placements and be easily modifiable for the constantly changing curriculum. The placement system described here quickly provides consistent placements using a PHP based inference engine with extensively-researched rules. This system generates LaTeX letters for first year students and advisors that give placements and advertise introductory computer science courses. An online interface also provides tentative placements to prospective students.
Changes in Sterol Biosynthesis from [2- 14 C]Mevalonic Acid During Development of Cucurbita maxima Seedlings

We have recently characterized a large array of sixteen different sterols in the members of the family Cucurbitaceae1–4. These include the dominant Δ7-sterols, some “main line” Δ5-sterols, and sterols characteristic of organisms (algae and fungi) much lower on the evolutionary scale. This represents, by far, the most complex sterol profile found in a higher plant, and raises important questions regarding the sterol biosynthetic pathway in Cucurbitaceae. In the present investigation, we have examined the incorporation of [2-14C]mevalonic acid (MVA) into various sterol fractions in seedlings of Cucurbita maxima.
A Survey of Traffic Sign Recognition Systems Based on Convolutional Neural Networks

In this paper, we briefly discuss the applications of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) model to traffic sign recognition (TSR) systems. Traditionally, the TSRs have used different techniques to detect and classify visual data. The CNN s have been used separately to extract features and train the classifier as well as simultaneously for detection and classification tasks. One model that has been successful is the Fast Branch CNN model, which imitates biological mechanisms to become more efficient. While it is not the most accurate of the ones presented in this paper, the efficiency it exhibits under time-sensitive conditions is worth exploring because of the potential applications of such technology. The Fast Branch CNN model challenged the assumptions of past models, and this technology can only advance further if new models attempt to do the same.
Incremental learning with large datasets

This dissertation focuses on the novel learning strategy based on geometric support vector machines to address the difficulties of processing immense data set. Support vector machines find the hyper-plane that maximizes the margin between two classes, and the decision boundary is represented with a few training samples it becomes a favorable choice for incremental learning. The dissertation presents a novel method Geometric Incremental Support Vector Machines (GISVMs) to address both efficiency and accuracy issues in handling massive data sets. In GISVM, skin of convex hulls is defined and an efficient method is designed to find the best skin approximation given available examples. The set of extreme points are found by recursively searching along the direction defined by a pair of known extreme points. By identifying the skin of the convex hulls, the incremental learning will only employ a much smaller number of samples with comparable or even better accuracy. When additional samples are provided, they will be used together with the skin of the convex hull constructed from previous dataset. This results in a small number of instances used in incremental steps of the training process. Based on the experimental results with synthetic data sets, public benchmark data sets from UCI and endoscopy videos, it is evident that the GISVM achieved satisfactory classifiers that closely model the underlying data distribution. GISVM improves the performance in sensitivity in the incremental steps, significantly reduced the demand for memory space, and demonstrates the ability of recovery from temporary performance degradation.
Waterlogging Causes Early Modification in the Physiological Performance, Carotenoids, Chlorophylls, Proline, and Soluble Sugars of Cucumber Plants

Waterlogging occurs because of poor soil drainage and/or excessive rainfall and is a serious abiotic stress affecting plant growth because of declining oxygen supplied to submerged tissues. Although cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is sensitive to waterlogging, its ability to generate adventitious roots facilitates gas diffusion and increases plant survival when oxygen concentrations are low. To understand the physiological responses to waterlogging, a 10-day waterlogging experiment was conducted. The objective of this study was to measure the photosynthetic and key metabolites of cucumber plants under waterlogging conditions for 10 days. Plants were also harvested at the end of 10 days and analyzed for plant height (ht), leaf number and area, fresh mass (FM), dry mass (DM), chlorophyll (Chl), carotenoid (CAR), proline, and soluble sugars. Results indicated that cucumber plants subjected to the 10-day waterlogging stress conditions were stunted, had fewer leaves, and decreased leaf area, FM, and DM. There were differences in physiological performance, Chl, CAR, proline, and soluble sugars. Overall, waterlogging stress decreased net photosynthesis (A), having a negative effect on biomass accumulation. However, these decreases were also dependent on other factors, such as plant size, morphology, and water use efficiency (WUE) that played a role in the overall metabolism of the plant.
Health-related beliefs, practices and experiences of migrant Dominicans in the northeastern United States

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to describe cultural health beliefs, practices, and experiences with professional health care in the United States by migrants from the Dominican Republic because their practices are largely unknown to professional providers. Method: A qualitative descriptive design was used, guided by Leininger's culture care theory and four-phase analysis method with a convenience sample of 15 self-identified migrant Dominican adults in three interpreter-assisted focus groups, in a familiar apartment. Results: The following four themes emerged: Stress affects health and well-being, family support and faith in God are essential, use of folk care and professional care to treat illness and maintain health, and access to care, cost, communication and expressions of caring practices affect perceptions about the quality of professional care. Discussion: Results informed development of specific strategies to provide culturally responsive care and risk-reduction interventions that promote health and improve quality of care in the Dominican community.
Perfect matchings and Hamilton cycles in uniform attachment graphs

We study Hamilton cycles and perfect matchings in a uniform attachment graph. In this random graph, vertices are added sequentially, and when a vertex $t$ is created, it makes $k$ independent and uniform choices from $\{1,\dots,t-1\}$ and attaches itself to these vertices. Improving the results of Frieze, P\'erez-Gim\'enez, Pra\l{}at and Reiniger (2019), we show that, with probability approaching 1 as $n$ tends to infinity, a uniform attachment graph on $n$ vertices has a perfect matching for $k \ge 5$ and a Hamilton cycle for $k\ge 13$. One of the ingredients in our proofs is the identification of a subset of vertices that is least likely to expand, which provides us with better expansion rates than the existing ones.
Focusing on Doctor–Patient Conversations: A Curriculum for Medical Chinese

This paper presents an innovative curriculum of spoken communication for the course Chinese for Medical Professions. The design targets students at the intermediate-high level, who are on the pre-med career path and interested in medical topics. The curriculum aims to develop students’ interactional competence in doctor–patient conversations. The pedagogical design is based on research findings from Conversation Analysis and incorporates naturally occurring conversations in primary-care visits. The objectives focus on guiding students to notice and analyze the interactional features and organization of the co-constructed conversations between doctors and patients. The paper also presents the instruction, activities, and assessment developed for students to practice and, ultimately, to use the linguistic resources and interactional strategies in simulated medical encounters.
Chapter 11 – Hormones

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease, which afflicts predominantly women in the reproductive years and leads to significant morbidity and mortality. The disease follows an unpredictable relapse-remission type of course with variable phases of disease quiescence interrupted by sporadic flares of intense disease activity. The production and deposition of autoantibodies and inflammatory cell infiltration lead to damage of multiple target organs, such as the skin, kidneys, and brain. Deregulation of both innate and adaptive arms of the immune system contributes to disease pathogenesis. While the exact cause of SLE is not known, a combination of genetic and environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation, drugs, and hormones is thought to be responsible for the onset and severity of disease. This chapter reviews the role of hormones in regulating the immune response and contributions to the pathogenesis of SLE.
A Rare Case of Mass-Like Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Mass-like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a unique variant of HCM. HCM predominantly causes mid-ventricular, concentric hypertrophy, and asymmetric septal hypertrophy; however, focal hypertrophy mimicking a cardiac fibroma is rare. A 29-year-old female with a past medical history of recurrent orthostatic hypotension and syncope presented to the emergency department (ED) complaining of lightheadedness, dizziness, and generalized weakness associated with a syncopal episode. The patient reported a history of recurrent pre-syncope and syncope since her teenage years, as well as a family history of sudden cardiac death. Three years prior to her current presentation, the patient had an exercise stress test, 24-hour Holter monitor, and two echocardiograms that were unremarkable. Three weeks prior to presentation, the patient had a cardiac MRI that revealed focal mass hypertrophy of the basal anterior to mid anterior wall measuring up to 2.5 cm. In the ED, the patient was treated with intravenous fluid and beta-blockers; however, beta-blocker therapy had to be discontinued because the patient was experiencing presyncopal episodes and orthostatic hypotension. The patient was started on midodrine with partial improvement lightheadedness, dizziness, and presyncope. The patient was transferred to a tertiary center with the plan to do serial imaging and place an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) if the focal mass thickness reached 3 cm and explore surgical intervention if symptoms worsened. Identifying and reporting anomalous variants of HCM is critical for optimal management of patient care and to improve outcomes.
Platelet-Rich Plasma for Dermal Augmentation of the Face and Body

Dermal augmentation is a leading target of rejuvenation. Various techniques have been used for dermal augmentation, including surgical facelift procedure, fat grafting, injectable fillers, and topical growth factors. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) preparations are attractive rejuvenating and filling agents in aesthetic medicine due to their unique biological properties and autologous nature. Techniques using PRP preparations are generally less expensive, associated with improved cosmetic outcome, and have fewer side effects. Some studies have examined the efficacy of PRP preparations in dermal augmentation of facial areas such as crow’s feet, tear trough, suborbital hollowing, glabellar furrows, acne scars, nasolabial folds and marionette lines, as well as malar and zygomatic arch enhancement. Others have examined the efficacy of PRP preparations in combination with hyaluronic acid or fat grafting in dermal augmentation of the face or body. Given the limited extent of current literature, more studies are necessary to explore optimal clinical applications of PRP preparations in dermal augmentation of the face and body.
Reengineering Clinical Decision Support Systems for Artificial Intelligence

There has been a tremendous growth of digital health applications within healthcare. Clinicians are inundated with new types of data to synthesize in a timely manner to make a clinical decisions about the care of their patients. The overwhelming abundance of data leads to physician burnout, which is a major problem within healthcare. In parallel, there is an immense hype building up about implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, such as Machine Learning or Deep Learning, to augment clinician decision making processes. Healthcare is a highly regulated environment so it's imperative to involve clinicians and data scientists in the entire model development, validation and implementation lifecycle. There ought to be a mechanism in place for integration of human feedback to build trust in the AI model, through human in the loop implementation models and participatory design approaches. The overarching aim of this stury is to formulate a problem statement and propose the development a system dynamics model highlighting the feedback loops within clinical decision-making workflows leading to diffusion of innovation of AI within healthcare. We propose system dynamics modelling as a mechanism to articulate the problems that are best suited for AI models, and conceptualize how the models would fit into the current workflow.
A 26-32 GHz Dual-Polarization Receiver with Autonomous Polarization Alignment for Fast-Response Mm-Wave MIMO Links in Highly Dynamic Mobile Environments

Next-generation wireless communication systems mandate extreme data-rates (multi-Gb/s), ultra-low latency, and fast response, necessitating the use of mm-Wave frequency bands. To maximize the channel capacity, polarization MIMOs are gaining increasing attentions, which simultaneously transmit two independent data streams using the orthogonal polarization modes on the same frequency channel [1–8]. On the other hand, polarization misalignment between the transmitting and receiving antennas will result in cross-polarization contamination between both signal streams as well polarization mismatch signal loss. Traditionally, this is corrected using backend digital processing, which is sufficient for applications in static or slowly varying environments and fixed wireless accesses, such as, backhaul, customer premise equipment (CPE), and data center. However, for future latency-sensitive mobile applications especially in highly dynamic and rapidly changing channel environments, real-time recurrent polarization realignments are needed, and the backend processing time will cause major penalty on link latency and response time. To address this challenge, we present a polarization MIMO receiver (RX) architecture that utilizes frontend mixed-domain feedback loops on signal polarizations; without any backend DSP computation, the RX achieves rapid autonomous polarization alignment in micro-seconds $(\mu s)$ and enables future ultra-low latency and extreme-data-rate polarization MIMOs for highly dynamic and mobile applications.
Reforecast of the November 1994 flood in Piedmont using ERA5 and COSMO model: an operational point of view

The scope of this work is to assess the progresses made in the warning alert system of Piedmont since the 1994 flood. We used the COSMO model at high horizontal resolution forced by ERA5 re-forecast to simulate the November 1994 event, performing also a simple sensitivity test regarding the parameterization of convection. We compared the results with the original forecast and with the available observations, in order to understand how the emission of the alert would have been affected using the current operational system.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived CCL2/CXCL12 Cooperatively Polarize IL-10 + Tissue Macrophages to Mitigate Gut Injury

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) based therapy for inflammatory diseases involves paracrine and efferocytotic activation of immunosuppressive IL-10 + macrophages. The paracrine pathway for MSC mediated IL-10 + macrophage functionality and response to tissue injury is not fully understood. In our present study, clodronate pre-treatment of colitic mice confirmed the essential role of endogenous macrophages in bone marrow derived MSC (BM-MSC) mediated clinical rescue of DSS-induced colitis. We identified that BM-MSC secreted CCL2 and CXCL12 cooperate as a heterodimer to upregulate IL-10 expression in CCR2+ macrophages in vitro and that CCL2 expression by MSC is required for IL-10 + polarization of intestinal and peritoneal resident macrophages in vivo. We have observed that tissue macrophage IL-10 polarization in vivo is widespread involving extra intestinal tissues and secondarily leads to bystander IL-10 expression in intestine-resident B- and T-cells. In conclusion, BM-MSC-derived chemokine interactome dictates an IL-10 + macrophage amplified anti-inflammatory response in toxic colitis.
How did the Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion Affect Coverage and Access to Care for Low-Income Parents Who Were Eligible for Medicaid Before the Law Was Passed?

We use the National Health Interview Survey from 2010 to 2017 and a difference-in-differences approach to assess the impact of the Affordable Care Cct (ACA) Medicaid expansion on coverage and acces...
On the Optimal Control of Robotic Manipulators with Actuator Constraints

High speed motions and increased productivity are linked in the industrial applications of many robotic manipulators, yet the speeds which can be achieved by a manipulator during a given task are limited by a number of factors. The dynamic properties of a manipulator and its actuator limitations and characteristics are probably the most important factors. This paper presents an optimal control policy which results in minimum-time motion for a robotic manipulator along any predetermined path in three dimensional space. The technique permits the manipulator user to specify completely the path of the arm; therefore the method does not interfere with the manipulator's industrial utility. The method accounts for the nonlinear dynamics of articulated manipulators with rigid links and limitations on the actuators. These limitations may be arbitrary functions of the manipulator joint positions and velocities. The algorithm developed for obtaining the optimal control is computationally simple, and it does not require the extensive iterations often found in optimal control strategies. Examples are presented of the method's application.