cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Integrating Renewable Energy Technologies to Reduce Large Ship Fuel Consumption

Fuel costs, which are the single most important driver of marginal costs for marine transportation, account for almost 50% of total voyage costs for typical configurations and operational modes. Hence, there has developed a desire among operators and manufacturers of all classes of ships to embrace innovative ways to reduce the demand for fuels. The luxury yacht segment presents an attractive market for investigating and assessing the impacts of fuel-saving technologies because the large ships benefit from the fuel savings, have more flexible performance requirements and have owners who are more likely to embrace the required premiums for experimental technologies. This report analyzes the effects of fitting such a yacht with a sail system, a solar panel system, and an energy storage system (ESS). Integrating a sail system to reduce propulsion loads provides significant benefit with respect to fuel economy. In contrast, the total amount of power provided by the solar panel system provides very little benefit, even when extensive deck paneling is used and panels are fit to rigid wing sails. Utilizing an ESS in the same manner as with a terrestrial hybrid vehicle to manipulate load distribution provides insignificant benefit for fuel consumption reduction, but seems to present opportunities for emissions reduction, which has played an increasingly important role in marine environmental concerns.© 2010 ASME
Annual variation in the population ecology of the endangered gopher frog, Rana sevosa goin and netting

Abstract We studied variation in the population ecology of dusky gopher frogs, Rana sevosa Goin and Netting, in southern Mississippi from 1996–2001. Specifically, we measured adult size structure, adult survivorship, residency length within the pond, and juvenile recruitment using a drift fence that completely enclosed the study pond. Population size structure shifted among years because of lack of recruitment in previous years, adult mortality, and differential age at maturity. Age at maturity was 6–8 months for males and 24–36 months for females. Annual survival ranged from 65 to 92%; however, the rate at which adults returned to breed among years was low (16–22%). The average number of seasons that adults bred was 1.2, although nine individuals bred in 3–5 seasons. Our data suggest that R. sevosa has high population turnover among years and that most adults live less than 7 yr. Because of the low rate of return of adults among years and complete isolation of the population, the viability of the populat...
Dominant Spotting, Patch, and Rump-White

There are probably no coat color determinants which have received more attention than the alleles at the W-locus (chromosome 5). Most of this attention, however, has been devoted to the influence which two alleles at this locus, W and Wν, have on hematopoiesis for, like the steel (Sl)series of alleles (see Chapter 11, Section I), the W-series too affect erythropoiesis and gametogenesis. While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to review in detail all the investigations which have been carried out on the nonpigmentary manifestations of these genes, they must nevertheless be given some consideration as they could be related to the influence the locus has on coat color. Consequently, after considering W and Wν’s influence on pigment formation, a more general account of their other consequences will be reviewed before the effects of the other alleles at the locus are described.
Experimental Study on Test-Bed Vanadium Redox Flow Battery

An experimental study has been conducted to develop a test-bed for advanced vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) for renewable energy applications. Lab scale experimental setup has been designed based on enhanced geometry of mechanical components and reduced power consumption in terms of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. Two tests have been conducted with variations of flowrate, concentration of electrolytes and electrical input power. The VRFB project has been collaborated between Arkansas State University Jonesboro (ASUJ) and University of Arkansas Fayetteville (UAF) to integrate VRFB with micro-grid at UAF. To obtain comparable experimental data, a test bed made of two half cells was constructed and joined together by a permeable membrane designed to facilitate ion transfer between two separate vanadium electrolytes. This research aims to better understand and demonstrate the transient characteristics of VRFB in order to refine the system in hopes of improving efficiency. This paper will focus on the steps taken to experimentally validate preliminary performance of the VRFB test bed. An analytical model has been performed to validate design and test of VRFB. Future work will be addressed to develop a pilot-scale multiple cell stacks with enhanced efficiency and temperature limits.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Small Molecule Inhibitors of Ca2+-S100B Reveal Two Protein Conformations

The drug pentamidine inhibits calcium-dependent complex formation with p53 (CaS100B·p53) in malignant melanoma (MM) and restores p53 tumor suppressor activity in vivo. However, off-target effects associated with this drug were problematic in MM patients. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies were therefore completed here with 23 pentamidine analogues, and X-ray structures of CaS100B·inhibitor complexes revealed that the C-terminus of S100B adopts two different conformations, with location of Phe87 and Phe88 being the distinguishing feature and termed the “FF-gate”. For symmetric pentamidine analogues (CaS100B·5a, CaS100B·6b) a channel between sites 1 and 2 on S100B was occluded by residue Phe88, but for an asymmetric pentamidine analogue (CaS100B·17), this same channel was open. The CaS100B·17 structure illustrates, for the first time, a pentamidine analog capable of binding the “open” form of the “FF-gate” and provides a means to block all three “hot spots” on CaS100B, which will impact next gene...
HOST SPECIFICITY AND THE GENETIC STRUCTURE OF TWO YUCCA MOTH SPECIES IN A YUCCA HYBRID ZONE

Host specialization is an important mechanism of diversification among phytophagous insects, especially when they are tightly associated with their hosts. The well-known obligate pollination mutualism between yucca moths and yuccas represent such an association, but the degree of host specificity and modes of specialization in moth evolution is unclear. Here we use molecular tools to test the morphology-based hypothesis that the moths pollinating two yuccas, Yucca baccata and Y. schidigera, are distinct species. Host specificity was assessed in a zone of sympatry where the hosts are known to hybridize. Because the moths are the only pollinators, the plant hybrids are evidence that the moths occasionally perform heterospecific pollination. Nucleotide variation was assessed in a portion of the mitochondrial gene COI, and in an intron within a nuclear lysozyme gene. Moths pollinating Y. baccata and Y. schidigera were inferred to be genetically isolated because there was no overlap in alleles at either locus, and all but one of the moths was found on their native host in the hybrid zone. Moreover, genetic structure was very weak across the range of each moth species: estimates of FST for the lysozyme intron were 0.043 (SE = ± 0.004) and 0.021 (SE = ± 0.006) for the baccata and schidigera pollinators, respectively; estimated FST for COI in the baccata moths was 0.228 (± 0.012), whereas schidigera pollinators were fixed for a single allele. These results reveal a high level of migration among widely separated moth populations. We predict that pollen-mediated gene flow among conspecific yuccas is considerable and hypothesize that geographic separation is a limited barrier both for yuccas and for yucca moths.
Sequential Minimal Optimization in Adaptive-Bandwidth Convex Clustering.

Computing not the local, but the global optimum of a cluster assignment is one of the important aspects in clustering. Convex clustering is an approach to acquire the global optimum, assuming some fixed centers and bandwidths of the clusters. The essence of the convex clustering is a convex optimization of the mixture weights whose optimum becomes sparse. One of the limitations in the convex clustering was the computational inefficiency of the Expectation-Maximization algorithm, where an extremely large number of iterations is required for the convergence. This paper proposes a more efficient optimization algorithm for convex clustering to significantly reduce the required number of iterations. The key ideas in the proposed algorithm are accurate pruning while choosing a pair of kernels and an element-wise Newton-Raphson method for fast convergence of the non-zero mixture weights. The proposed algorithm is further accelerated when incorporating locally adaptive bandwidths of the clusters, which are primarily introduced to improve the predictive capability.
Protein-Acetaldehyde Adducts as Biochemical Markers of Alcohol Consumption

There are two types of diagnostic markers for alcohol abuse and alcoholism: trait (or vulnerability) markers and state markers.1,2 Trait markers include indicators that will identify individuals who are more vulnerable than the general population to develop alcoholism; and as the term implies, they are tests that elicit certain genetic traits. By comparison, state markers are tests that will identify alcohol abuse by reflecting psychosocial, biochemical, or physiological changes brought about by chronic and excessive alcohol intake. Because of the enormous problem of alcohol abuse and alcoholism in the West, research to devise a test or a panel of tests to serve as trait or state markers is critically important.
The Clonal Nature of Circulating Sezary Cells

EZARY CELLS are lymphocytes with hyperconvoluted or cerebriform nuclear contours. Morphologically, they are characterized by a high nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio, deep and narrow nuclear indentations, condensed chromatin at the nuclear membrane, and cytoplasm poor in organelles.’ Sezary and Bouvrain’ first described these cells in 1938 in a patient with the clinical findings of erythroderma, intense pruritus, lymphadenopathy, and abnormal “monster,” hyperconvoluted mononuclear cells in the peripheral blood. This constellation was termed Sezary syndrome (SS). In 1968 using electron microscopy, Lutzner and Jordan3 confirmed the presence of cerebriform nuclei in the circulating cells of SS, which was later identified as a T-cell malignancy in the early 1970s by immunologic studies4 and classified as the leukemic variant of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).’ Cytogenetic studies substantiated the neoplastic nature of Sezary cells in SS, as identical chromosomally abnormal clones were detected in patients’ skin and peripheral blood.6 Southern blot analysis of T-cell receptor beta chain (TCR-P) gene re arrangement^"'^ further substantiated the clonal nature of CTCL and SS, demonstrating monoclonal rearrangements in the skin, lymph node, and peripheral blood.” Although circulating Sezary cells have demonstrated clonality and are associated with SS, they are not specific to CTCL. Several studies have shown that cells with this distinctive morphology can also be detected in low percentages (less than 5%)” in the peripheral blood of normal individuals and in percentages as high as 15%13 in the peripheral blood of individuals with benign inflammatory skin diseases (eg, psoriasis, atopic dermatiti~).’~ In addition, Flaxman et al” reported the presence of Sezary cells in the cutaneous lesions of a variety of inflammatory dermatoses, solar-induced skin disorders (eg, solar keratoses and basal cell carcinoma), and vasculitis. The term reactive Sezary cell was introduced to discriminate nonneoplastic Sezary cells from neoplastic Sezary cells associated with malignant disease, ie, CTCL.I6 The ability to distinguish neoplastic from reactive Sezary cells circulating in the peripheral blood is an important clinical issue affecting diagnosis and prognosis. In addition, it provides insight into the pathogenesis and clonal evolution of circulating Sezary cells and the disorders in which they are associated. Our goal was to determine if circulating SeS
Reconstructing Causal Network Models of Human Disease

An understanding of complex systems and the behaviors they exhibit can be achieved only if we understand the causal relationships among the hierarchy of constituent components comprising the system. In living systems, we seek to understand the relationships in and between the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, organism, and community dimensions assayed in all relevant contexts. However, inferring causality between variables, especially recovering causal networks from observational data, is a challenging task. To elucidate the complexity of common human disease and other complex phenotypes, biological systems such as ourselves must be modeled as highly modular, fluid systems exhibiting a plasticity that allows them to adapt to a vast array of conditions. Here I detail more holistic approaches to modeling biological systems that have been developed to elucidate the complexity of living systems.
Afterword: Studying Media with and without Paratexts

In my 2010 book Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts, I argue that we need to examine paratexts more, not as some odd exercise in completionism, whereby we could then proclaim triumphantly that we’d studied everything, even the “outskirts” of a text, but rather because paratexts are regularly constitutive, central and absolutely important. They are, in short, part of the text. Thus to ignore them and yet still feel comfortable about making a declaration regarding a text’s meaning, impact, power, effects or value would be an act akin to reading only the third and fourth chapters of a book and feeling that this suffices for a full analysis. Undoubtedly we can still engage in analysis with only part of the text in front of us. Indeed, it is a rare day when an analyst ever has access to the whole text, and we are instead always forced to analyse with only some of the picture. However, paratexts are as valuable a source of information about a text, and as important a site for the generation of text, as is the work itself. If we want to know about a text’s place in the world, after all, asking the work alone is as limiting as it would be to study a person’s legacy by consulting only that person. Texts can cast long shadows over society, and the sociocultural examination of textuality should be as much or more a process of sketching out these shadows, and hence of the text’s interaction with its environment, as it should be a process of studying the work itself.
Robben Island and Prisoner Resistance to Apartheid: Politics and Prison: A Background

The tragedy of Africa, in racial and political terms, [has been] concentrated in the southern tip of the continent – in South Africa, Namibia, and, in a special sense, Robben Island. This chapter locates prisoner resistance on Robben Island in the context of apartheid political history, including resistance to racial rule. It shows how the dynamic of repression and resistance shaped who was sent to Robben Island. The role of imprisonment in racial rule is also examined, including the introduction of widespread political incarceration and how the state controlled its carceral system by prohibiting knowledge about prison life and monitoring political prisoners. No understanding of political resistance and change in South Africa would be complete without reference to the crucial role international pressures played in interacting with and reinforcing local demands for change. This topic is addressed in the last section of this chapter. Political Context Apartheid and Resistance: 1948 to the Early 1960s Race-based discrimination, oppression, and exploitation began in what is now South Africa with the arrival of Europeans. In 1948, when the National Party (NP) came to power with the policy of apartheid, a more comprehensive commitment to racism began. Apartheid promised “the comprehensive separation of all the volkere [ethnic nations] of South Africa into their own national units.” Over the decades that followed, the white South African minority achieved the economic, political, and social dispossession of the black majority through a range of laws and official government actions, in concert with a profit-hungry economy and acts of repression and terror, both legal and illegal.
A Study for Postural Evaluation and Movement Analysis of Individuals

Researchers have investigated the tracking and recognition of human postures for a long time. Firstly, with the objective of better understanding our movements and behaviors, and then to detect wrong movements and try to help people to perform better. The equipments used to track these movements were invasive, complex and expensive, but with the releasing of off-the-shelf devices, such as the Microsoft Kinect, the study of movement became accessible to everyone. This work presents a study for postural evaluation and movement analysis of individuals to help them to assess and correct their movements during training. One application based on Kinect was developed for physical exercises, more specifically, for CrossFit. We applied it for posture tracking and tested it with individuals to evaluate their posture and movements during a CrossFit session. The results indicate that the application is able to provide the athlete with similar feedback to the coach, showing that it is viable to be used in the absence of an expert. Results also show that the feedback has influence on the correction of the postures of the individuals, making them capable of identifying and correcting wrong gestures during the training. This study points out some very interesting research possibilities for devices that monitor human posture, particularly with regard to the spinal region.
Variability of non-Schmid effects in grain boundary dislocation nucleation criteria

Abstract Grain boundary dislocation nucleation is simulated in a Nickel bicrystal with Σ21b (211)/(211) grain boundaries. Using molecular dynamics, 386 different triaxial stress states are examined for their effect on dislocation nucleation on different slip systems. The approach leads to dislocation nucleation on six of the twelve partial slip systems, enabling a study of conditions leading to nucleation. The criteria for nucleation on each of the slip systems is shown to have a linear dependence on the resolved shear, normal, and co-slip stresses, though the constants for this linear dependence are unique for each slip system. The combined nucleation criteria are used to construct a theoretical nucleation surface. The surface is reminiscent of a Mohr-Coulomb yield surface, except that in the present case the facets of the surface correspond to nucleation on different slip systems.
Inpatient Thrombophilia Workup in Patients with Acute Venous Thromboembolism

Background Any inherited or acquired condition that increases the risk of developing deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism is considered a thrombophilic disorder. Some examples of inherited causes of thromboembolic disorders are Factor V Leiden mutation (FVL), Prothrombin gene mutation, Protein C deficiency (low or dysfunctional), Protein S deficiency (low or dysfunctional), Anti-thrombin (AT) deficiency (low or dysfunctional). Use of these studies in clinical practice has been questioned. We attempted to identify if there are populations of patients that undergo more inpatient screening for inherited causes of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Methods Retrospective chart review of patients admitted with PE or DVT in a community teaching hospital between May 2012 and December 2014. Only patients who had DVT confirmed with ultrasound or PE confirmed with CT angiogram or had high probability of PE on V/Q scan were included in the study. Individual charts were reviewed to see if thrombophilia workup was ordered. Results A total of 704 patients with acute venous thromboembolism were identified who met our inclusion criteria for the study. Of this 111 patients (15.76%) had one or more thrombophilia screening studies ordered. Risk factors related to venous thromboembolism were evaluated for all of the 704 patients. In our patient population, patients who were smokers (31% vs 20%), had history of sleep apnea (9% vs 3%), a past medical history (PMH) of VTE (37% vs 25%) or who had a family history (FH) of VTE (11% vs 4%) were more likely to have a thrombophilia workup ordered. Table 2 shows the frequency of individual thrombophilia studies ordered among the 111 patients who had testing performed and table 3 shows distribution of positive results. Conclusion The largest numbers of positive test results were noted for Protein C, Protein S and Antithrombin III and these are known to be affected by acute thrombosis and therefore could be false positives. Our study shows that those patients with PMH or FH of VTE were more likely to have thrombophilia studies. There is no consensus opinion as to whether to perform thrombophilia screenings in acute care settings. Given this and the fact that personal or family history of VTE do not usually modify future treatment decisions and that there may be significant number of false positives we do not recommend routine screening in these patient populations. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Cost models for evaluating industrial investments

Production cost structures within any manufacturing system vary from one branch of industry to another, and from one country to another. This is based on a number of factors including cost and availability of natural resources, know–how and technology. It would be useful to analyse the whole spectrum of industry to provide benchmark indices pertaining to the cost structure of each of these industries. These indices in the form of elemental cost ratios to total sales, can be helpful in comparing the behaviour of different types of industry within a country and across countries. Such an approach would open the opportunity for the development of a standard methodology that can be used as a guide for industrial development, introducing new technologies and/or expanding operations internationally. This paper makes an attempt in that direction by developing a computerized model utilizing US industries' data as a basis.
Promoting Access to Common Core Mathematics for Students with Severe Disabilities through Mathematical Problem Solving.

There is a need to teach the pivotal skill of mathematical problem solving to students with severe disabilities, moving beyond basic skills like computation to higher level thinking skills. Problem...
Innovative Product Development: The Impact of Government Regulation on Firm Profit, Product Reliability and Welfare

Consider a firm that is developing an innovative product. We study the trade-offs associated with its product design decisions in regards to product performance (the function of the product), product reliability (whether the product will perform its function) and product time-to-market (the development time for the product). Specifically, while a more innovative product may deliver better product performance, without sufficient development time, the product may not be as reliable given that innovations require a time buffer to conduct many iterations of product testing and improvement. We further examine the impact of a government-imposed minimum product reliability standard on the firm, the product, and on social welfare. We find that contrary to common belief, a minimum product reliability standard set by the government may induce more unreliable products or hurt consumer surplus and social welfare. We also find that regulation, besides being a cost burden to the firm, can serve as a credible commitment for product reliability typically not observable to the customers when they are making purchasing decisions. Correspondingly, the regulation may have the surprising effect of increasing firm profit or prompting product innovation. Our work is useful in informing regulators in different industries of how decisions concerning government regulation could impact product reliability.
Priapism associated with the sickle cell hemoglobinopathies: prevalence, natural history and sequelae.

AbstractTo determine the prevalence and characteristics of priapism associated with sickle cell hemoglobinopathic conditions we interviewed and examined 52 men with sickle cell anemia, 10 with sickle C disease, 3 with sickle B+-thalassemia and 19 with sickle cell trait. Of the men 20 with sickle cell anemia (38%) and 1 with sickle B+-thalassemia (33%) reported past priapism attacks. Average patient age at onset in the sickle cell anemia patients was 19 years (range 8 to 30 years). Four men had had only 1 attack. The average number of attacks per year in the remaining patients ranged from 1 to 52. Of the patients who reported multiple attacks the average duration of a typical episode and the duration of the longest self-limiting episode was 1.6 and 7.0 hours, respectively. Six patients had experienced 1 attack that persisted for longer than 24 hours. There were no significant differences between the clinical and hematological parameters of the sickle cell anemia patients who did and did not experience pria...
Pharmacology of Neurotransmitter Release: Measuring Exocytosis

Neurotransmission in the nervous system is initiated at presynaptic terminals by fusion of synaptic vesicles with the plasma membrane and subsequent exocytic release of chemical transmitters. Currently, there are multiple methods to detect neurotransmitter release from nerve terminals, each with their own particular advantages and disadvantages. For instance, most commonly employed methods monitor actions of released chemical substances on postsynaptic receptors or artificial substrates such as carbon fibers. These methods are closest to the physiological setting because they have a rapid time resolution and they measure the action of the endogenous neurotransmitters rather than the signals emitted by exogenous probes. However, postsynaptic receptors only indirectly report neurotransmitter release in a form modified by the properties of receptors themselves, which are often nonlinear detectors of released substances. Alternatively, released chemical substances can be detected biochemically, albeit on a time scale slower than electrophysiological methods. In addition, in certain preparations, where presynaptic terminals are accessible to whole cell recording electrodes, fusion of vesicles with the plasma membrane can be monitored using capacitance measurements, In the last decade, in addition to electrophysiological and biochemical methods, several fluorescence imaging modalities have been introduced which report synaptic vesicle fusion, endocytosis, and recycling. These methods either take advantage of styryl dyes that can be loaded into recycling vesicles or exogenous expression of synaptic vesicle proteins tagged with a pH-sensitive GFP variant at regions facing the vesicle lumen. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of these methods with particular emphasis on their relative strengths and weaknesses and discuss the types of information one can obtain from them.
Algorithms, Abstractions, and Iterations: Teaching Computational Thinking Using Protein Synthesis Translation

One of the eight Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) scientific practices is using mathematics and computational thinking (CT). CT is not merely a data analysis tool, but also a problem-solving tool. By utilizing computing concepts, people can sequentially and logically solve complex science and engineering problems. In this article, we share a successful lesson using protein synthesis to teach CT. This lesson focuses primarily on modeling and simulation practices with an extension activity focusing on the computational problem-solving practices of CT. We identify and define five CT concepts within the aforementioned practices that form the foundation of CT: algorithm, abstraction, iteration, branching, and variable. In this lesson, we utilize a game to familiarize students with CT basics, and then use their new CT foundation to design, construct, and evaluate algorithms within the context of protein synthesis. As an optional extension to the lesson, students enter the problem-solving environment to create a program that translates mRNA triplet codons to an amino acid chain. We argue that biology classrooms are ideal contexts for CT learning because biological processes function as a system, and understanding how the system functions requires algorithmic thinking and problem-solving skills.
VA FitHeart, a Mobile App for Cardiac Rehabilitation: Usability Study

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves outcomes for patients with ischemic heart disease or heart failure but is underused. New strategies to improve access to and engagement in CR are needed. There is considerable interest in technology-facilitated home CR. However, little is known about patient acceptance and use of mobile technology for CR. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a mobile app for technology-facilitated home CR and seek to determine its usability. Methods: We recruited patients eligible for CR who had access to a mobile phone, tablet, or computer with Internet access. The mobile app includes physical activity goal setting, logs for tracking physical activity and health metrics (eg, weight, blood pressure, and mood), health education, reminders, and feedback. Study staff demonstrated the mobile app to participants in person and then observed participants completing prespecified tasks with the mobile app. Participants completed the System Usability Scale (SUS, 0-100), rated likelihood to use the mobile app (0-100), questionnaires on mobile app use, and participated in a semistructured interview. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and the Theory of Planned Behavior informed the analysis. On the basis of participant feedback, we made iterative revisions to the mobile app between users. Results: We conducted usability testing in 13 participants. The first version of the mobile app was used by the first 5 participants, and revised versions were used by the final 8 participants. From the first version to revised versions, task completion success rate improved from 44% (11/25 tasks) to 78% (31/40 tasks; P=.05), SUS improved from 54 to 76 (P=.04; scale 0-100, with 100 being the best usability), and self-reported likelihood of use remained high at 76 and 87 (P=.30; scale 0-100, with 100 being the highest likelihood). In interviews, patients expressed interest in tracking health measures (“I think it’ll be good to track my exercise and to see what I’m doing”), a desire for introductory training (“Initially, training with a technical person, instead of me relying on myself”), and an expectation for sharing data with providers (“It would also be helpful to share with my doctor, it just being a matter of clicking a button and sharing it with my doctor”). Conclusions: With participant feedback and iterative revisions, we significantly improved the usability of a mobile app for CR. Patient expectations for using a mobile app for CR include tracking health metrics, introductory training, and sharing data with providers. Iterative mixed-method evaluation may be useful for improving the usability of health technology.
Duty-Cycle-Based Controlled Physical Unclonable Function

Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) provide a unique signature based on the variations during the fabrication process of the integrated circuits. The additional features of controllability and reconfigurability to a PUF implementation enable the reuse of the existing hardware as a new modified PUF, enhancing the capabilities of a PUF for more versatile security applications. In this paper, a variable duty-cycle-based ring oscillator circuit is proposed as a controlled and reconfigurable PUF primitive. One of the distinguishing features of the proposed PUF is that duty cycle comparisons are used, instead of the conventional frequency comparisons to generate the output bit response. The advantages of the utilizing duty cycle over the conventional frequency-based comparisons are investigated. The feasibility of the proposed PUF is evaluated using existing figures of merit providing a uniqueness of 49.3%, temperature reliability greater than 92% between 0 and 100 °C, and supply voltage reliability greater than 96% between 0.9 and 1 V.
Cardiac and Noncardiac Causes of Apparent Sudden Arrhythmic Deaths: Shadows in a Spectrum.

Article, see p 2689 It is indisputable that sudden cardiac death (SCD) has been and remains a major population burden, even though there have been some notable advances over the years. Examples of the latter include a rapid 50% reduction in mortality from acute myocardial infarction after the development of coronary care units with antiarrhythmic therapy and bedside defibrillators,1 improvements in resuscitation sciences,2 and the development and use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in a subgroup of appropriately identified high-risk patients.3 Despite these advances, the opportunities offered by better capabilities for prediction and prevention of cardiac arrest remain an important challenge because ≈90% of victims of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurring out of hospital do not survive,4 premature SCD and disabilities after SCA survival are a large burden on society because of loss of productive years of life,5,6 and healthcare costs attributed to SCA are large and growing.7 We, as scientific, clinical, and epidemiological communities, have not been successful in addressing many aspects of this challenge. Even elements that intuitively seem simple, such as generating reliable numbers for both events and causes, have been difficult, although they are a key first step for moving from population dynamics to improved individual risk prediction.6 Many factors contribute to these limitations, beginning with something as conceptually simple as the definitions of cardiac arrest and death. There is a debate whether the proper term for expressing statistics should be SCD or SCA. In fact, these terms are not alternative to one another, but rather they represent different components of a pathophysiological continuum, with SCA defining a clinical event and SCD defining its outcome. Both have a place in the list of appropriate definitions because SCA is a clinical event that offers a survival opportunity that is modulated …
Naloxone augments muscle sympathetic nerve activity during isometric exercise in humans.

The influence of an endogenous opioid peptide (EOP) antagonist (naloxone, 1.2 mg iv bolus) on muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA, microneurography) was studied on 19 young male and female volu...
Commentary on: L-methylfolate, methylcobolamine, and N-acetylcysteine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease-related cognitive decline

Drs. McCaddon and Hudson provide a thorough review of the multiple ways in which vitamin B12, vitamin B6, folate, and homocysteine (Hey) are implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). They noted that Hey is more often elevated in AD and in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) than in cognitively healthy elderly; phosphatases needed to limit tau hyperphosphoryalation and neurofibrillary tangle formation require methylation and are dependent on folate and methylation status; cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau levels correlated with markers of methylation status; reduced folate and B12 levels lead to increase β-secretase and pesenilin 1 (PS1) actions leading to greater amyloid-β production in in vitro models; elevated Hey levels in rates are associated with increased PS1 activity and spatial memory deficits that are reversed following treatment with B12 and folate; raised Hey levels in vitro increase amyloid-β protein neurotoxicity; methylation impacts transmitters and transmitter function relevant to AD; in cultured neurons, Hey induces injury in DNA and stimulates cell death pathways. B12 deficiency leads to accumulation of methyl malonic acid, which inhibits mitochondrial function and may compromise energy generation and impair maintenance of synaptic plasticity. Methylation abnormalities result in excessive generation of reactive oxygen species that contribute importantly to cell injury. Biomarkers of oxidative injury, such as isoprostanes, are elevated in AD and suggest excess oxidation. Thus, there are multiple pathways through which deficient methylation may contribute to AD. In some cases, the observations are derived from models with B12 or folate deficiency and some in vitro observations have not been tested in in vivo models. There are no biomarkers specific to some of the pathways implicated and the magnitude of the impact of the deficiency or its treatment has not been established for all the relationships. Two open-label experiments in early- and late-stage AD patients have suggested benefit.
LYMPHOCYTE SURFACE GLYCOSYLTRANSFERASES

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an analysis of lymphocyte surface glycosyltransferases (GT). GT catalyze the transfer of carbohydrate from nucleotide sugar substrates to incomplete glycolipid or glycoprotein acceptors. Although they are predominantly located in the Golgi apparatus, they have been reported to occur on the surface of a variety of cells, including lymphocytes. Roseman postulated that surface GT-acceptor binding between cells might mediate cellular adhesion. Roth extended this concept to include a general role for surface GT in cell interactions. Experimentally, three criteria must be met to define a surface or ecto-GT: (l) the nucleotide sugar must not be hydrolyzed to the free sugar, (2) the intact nucleotide sugar must not be transported, and (3) internal incorporation by broken cells must be accounted for. The results of experimental studies on GT activity in murine lymphocytes suggest that the conditions of assay can be altered by the addition of 5′-AMP to prevent the hydrolysis of nucleotide sugars seen with ConA-stimulated lymphocytes, thereby allowing the detection of incorporation at the cell surface.
Image quality assessment using the SSIM and the just noticeable difference paradigm

The structural similarity index (SSIM) has been shown to be a superior objective image quality metric. A web-based pilot experiment was conducted with the goal of quantifying, through the use of a sample of human participants, a trend in SSIM values showing when the human visual system can begin to perceive distortions applied to reference images. The just noticeable difference paradigm was used to determine the point at which at least 50% of participants were unable to discern between compressed and uncompressed grayscale images. For four images, this point was at an SSIM value of 96, while for two images it was at 92, for an average of 95. These results suggest that, despite the wide differences in the type of image used, the point at which a human observer cannot determine that compression has been used hovers around an SSIM value of 95.
Human Capital and Founder Leadership at Initial Public Offering

This study examines factors that influence the likelihood that founders hold executive level positions in firms at the point of Initial Public Offering (IPO). Our model is conceptually more compreh...
Experimental and Computational Approaches for Single-Cell Enhancer Perturbation Assay

Transcriptional enhancers drive cell-type-specific gene expression patterns, and thus play key roles in development and disease. Large-scale consortia have extensively cataloged >one million putative enhancers encoded in the human genome. But few enhancers have been endogenously tested for function. For almost all enhancers, it remains unknown what genes they target and how much they contribute to target gene expression. We have previously developed a method called Mosaic-seq, which enables the high-throughput interrogation of enhancer activity by performing pooled CRISPRi-based epigenetic suppression of enhancers with a single-cell transcriptomic readout. Here, we describe an optimized version of this method, Mosaic-seq2. We have made several key improvements that have significantly simplified the library preparation process and increased the overall sensitivity and throughput of the method.
Examining a Ferguson Effect on College Students’ Motivation to Become Police Officers

The current study examines the impact of the Ferguson Effect and related public scrutiny on college students’ motivation to become police officers. Using data from 654 students located at two US un...
NTSB Investigation of Weather-Related Aviation Incidents and Accidents

This paper describes the current investigative process for weather-related events, explores the challenges facing weather investigations, and discusses potential solutions to enable better data capture for time-sensitive events to better understand the human factors associated with why these events occurred. Challenges discussed include (1) investigative data loss due to delayed notification of weather encounters and duration of flight following weather encounters if flight continued to destination, and (2) increasing lack of investigative information regarding pilot use of weather resources due to increasing availability of online sources that do not necessarily archive pilot or flight information. A review of available weather sources is presented with respect to investigative quality and availability of such information. Lastly, several mitigations are discussed for industry consideration to improve these investigative challenges.
2020 Census: Engaging Social Work and Human Service Leaders and Managers to Make People Count

The 2020 Census is approaching and facing challenges associated with technological innovations and ongoing concerns involving a citizenship question. Census data are used to determine how approxima...
Demonstrating the effectiveness of the fundamentals of robotic surgery (FRS) curriculum on the RobotiX Mentor Virtual Reality Simulation Platform

Fundamentals of robotic surgery (FRS) is a proficiency-based progression curriculum developed by robotic surgery experts from multiple specialty areas to address gaps in existing robotic surgery training curricula. The RobotiX Mentor is a virtual reality training platform for robotic surgery. Our aims were to determine if robotic surgery novices would demonstrate improved technical skills after completing FRS training on the RobotiX Mentor, and to compare the effectiveness of FRS across training platforms. An observational, pre-post design, multi-institutional rater-blinded trial was conducted at two American College of Surgeons Accredited Education Institutes-certified simulation centers. Robotic surgery novices (n = 20) were enrolled and trained to expert-derived benchmarks using FRS on the RobotiX Mentor. Participants’ baseline skill was assessed before (pre-test) and after (post-test) training on an avian tissue model. Tests were video recorded and graded by blinded raters using the Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills (GEARS) and a 32-criteria psychomotor checklist. Post hoc comparisons were conducted against previously published comparator groups. On paired-samples T tests, participants demonstrated improved performance across all GEARS domains (p < 0.001 to p = 0.01) and for time (p < 0.001) and errors (p = 0.003) as measured by psychometric checklist. By ANOVA, improvement in novices’ skill after FRS training on the RobotiX Mentor was not inferior to improvement reported after FRS training on previously published platforms. Completion of FRS on the RobotiX Mentor resulted in improved robotic surgery skills among novices, proving effectiveness of training. These data provide additional validity evidence for FRS and support use of the RobotiX Mentor for robotic surgery skill acquisition.
Brain Reserve in a Case of Cognitive Resilience to Severe Leukoaraiosis.

Objective: Leukoaraiosis, or white matter rarefaction, is a common imaging finding in aging and is presumed to reflect vascular disease. When severe in presentation, potential congenital or acquired etiologies are investigated, prompting referral for neuropsychological evaluation in addition to neuroimaging. T2-weighted imaging is the most common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approach to identifying white matter disease. However, more advanced diffusion MRI techniques may provide additional insight into mechanisms that influence the abnormal T2 signal, especially when clinical presentations are discrepant with imaging findings. Method: We present a case of a 74-year-old woman with severe leukoaraoisis. She was examined by a neurologist, neuropsychologist, and rheumatologist, and completed conventional (T1, T2-FLAIR) MRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and advanced single-shell, high b-value diffusion MRI (i.e., fiber ball imaging [FBI]). Results: The patient was found to have few neurological signs, no significant cognitive impairment, a negative workup for leukoencephalopathy, and a positive antibody for Sjogren’s disease for which her degree of leukoaraiosis would be highly atypical. Tractography results indicate intact axonal architecture that was better resolved using FBI rather than DTI. Conclusions: This case illustrates exceptional cognitive resilience in the face of severe leukoaraiosis and the potential for advanced diffusion MRI to identify brain reserve.
Low-grade glioneuronal tumour with novel molecular features associated with unusual partial epilepsy in a child.

A 10-year previously healthy boy presented with unusual episodes of recurrent frontal headaches lasting 30 s associated with the abnormal smell that would occur several times per week. He had no focal weakness, sensory changes or loss of consciousness during the episodes and had a non-focal
Remaking the PhD in US Higher Education: An Assessment

The United States stands athwart a widening gap in PhD education with respect to effective consideration of the role of this degree in reference to the global climate crisis. Where a small number of research universities have begun to reconsider the role of the degree in the face of this crisis, most have not. In point of fact, within most US higher education institutions, the degree is framed and conducted as it has been for decades with little or no attention paid to its particular role within the crisis. The chapter seeks to place the current status of the PhD in American higher education in the context of Bruno Latour’s analysis of the global response to the changing global climate.
Role of microRNA therapy in presensitizing glioblastoma cells to temozolomide treatment

Abstract MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs of 18–22 bases that regulate gene expression in cells. MicroRNA-mediated reprogramming approaches have shown effective therapeutic enhancement of cancers to chemo- and radiotherapies. In this chapter, we focus specifically on the use of microRNAs for improving TMZ therapy in glioblastoma.
Identification of Gaps in Training, Research, and School-Based Practice: A Survey of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists.

Purpose Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) encounter many challenges in the school environment. We sought to identify school-based SLPs' needs in the areas of training and research to support scho...