cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Biodegradable Nanoellipsoidal Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells for Antigen Specific T-Cell Activation

Biomimetic artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs) have shown substantial promise as a platform for immune system activation and modulation. Antigen specific aAPCs reconstitute the critical T-Cell recognition (“signal 1”) and activation (“signal 2”) signals presented at the surface of APCs by presenting peptide-in-MHC and positive costimulatory molecules such as anti-CD28 antibody on the surface of the particle. Classically, aAPCs are cell sized (2–10 µm), spherical particles, and have been made using a variety of materials, from liposomes[1, 2] to magnetic beads,[3–7] to non-degradable[8] and degradable polymeric microparticles.[9–11] Despite the extensive in vitro data supporting the efficacy of these particles in vitro, in vivo translation has been limited due to the poor bioavailability and activity of spherical micron sized particles. Nanoparticle systems offer an attractive alternative to micron sized particles as drug delivery vehicles for the aAPC platform. Recently, nanoparticles have been utilized for various therapeutic and diagnostic applications, such as tumor targeting and imaging.[12–16] Biodistribution of these drug carriers has been of special interest in the past few years, as efforts have been made to engineer nanoparticles that simultaneously target the region of interest and can be eliminated efficiently to avoid toxicity.[17–20]
Organization of Photosystem I Polypeptides (Identification of PsaB Domains That May Interact with PsaD)

PsaA and PsaB are homologous integral membrane-proteins that form the heterodimeric core of photosystem I (PSI). We used subunit-deficient PSI complexes from the mutant strains of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to examine interactions between PsaB and other PSI subunits. Incubation of the wild-type PSI with thermolysin yielded 22-kD C-terminal fragments of PsaB that were resistant to further proteolysis. Modification of the wild-type PSI with N-hydroxysuccinimidobiotin and subsequent cleavage by thermolysin showed that the lysyl residues in the 22-kD C-terminal domain were inaccessible to modification by N-hydroxy-succinimidobiotin. The absence of PsaE, PsaF, PsaI, PsaJ, or PsaL facilitated accumulation of the 22-kD C-terminal fragments of PsaB but did not alter their resistance to further proteolysis. When the PsaD-less PSI was treated with thermolysin, the 22-kD C-terminal fragments of PsaB were rapidly cleaved, with concomitant accumulation of a 16-kD fragment and then a 3.4-kD one. We mapped the N termini of these fragments by N-terminal amino acid sequencing and the C termini from their positive reaction with an antibody against the C-terminal peptide of PsaB. The cleavage sites were proposed to be in the extramembrane loops on the cytoplasmic side. Western blot analyses showed resistance of PsaC and PsaI to proteolysis prior to cleavage of the 22-kD fragments. Therefore, we propose that PsaD shields two extramembrane loops of PsaB and protects the C-terminal domain of PsaB from in vitro proteolysis.
Composition, disintegrative properties, and labeling compliance of commercially available taurine and carnitine dietary products.

Objective—To test the quality, disintegration properties, and compliance with labeling regulations for representative commercially available taurine and carnitine dietary products. Design—Evaluation study. Sample Population—11 commercially available taurine and 10 commercially available carnitine products. Procedures—For each product, the amount of taurine or carnitine was determined and compared with the label claim. All products were evaluated for concentrations of mercury, arsenic, and selenium. Disintegration properties of 5 taurine and 8 carnitine products were determined in vitro. Labels were evaluated for compliance with FDA guidelines. Results—10 of 11 taurine and 10 of 10 carnitine products were within 10% of the stated label claim. Three of 11 taurine and 6 of 10 carnitine products were within 5% of the stated label claim. The median percentage difference between laboratory analysis and label claim was −5.7% (range, −26.3% to 2.5%) for taurine and 3.6% (range, −2.6% to 8.8%) for carnitine. No su...
Incomplete femtosecond laser-assisted capsulotomy and lens fragmentation due to emulsified silicone oil in the anterior chamber.

We report 2 cases involving femtosecond laser–assisted cataract surgery following a retinal-detachment repair performed 1 and 2 years earlier using silicone oil endotamponade that was subsequently removed. Preoperative slitlamp examination did not show emulsified silicone oil in the anterior chamber. Intraoperatively, however, emulsified silicone oil was seen on anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) as a distinct hyperreflective retrocorneal line and there was no penetration of the OCT signal or delivery of the femtosecond laser treatment through this area, resulting in incomplete capsulotomy and lens fragmentation in both cases. Because silicone oil has a lower density than aqueous and migrates superiorly, careful preoperative gonioscopic examination to evaluate for emulsified silicone oil in the superior angle is warranted in eyes having femtosecond laser–assisted cataract surgery after a vitrectomy with silicone-oil endotamponade. Review of intraoperative OCT images can detect emulsified silicone oil, which would allow the procedure to be modified appropriately to prevent complications. Financial Disclosure No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
Managing Special Education Statewide: Developing an Interdependent Management System

This article reports research on the development and evaluation of a statewide management network. A network of 529 persons nominated a peer task force which was determined to be highly representative of Michigan's 529 administrators and supervisors. This task force produced a series of products and procedures which the network of administrators and supervisors found both relevant and useful in their work. This research employed communication strategies appropriate to macrogroups to support the continued development of a Statewide Technical Assistance Network in Special Education (STANSE) — a model for state leadership personnel to use in producing state plans. It embodies public participation and annual reports to state governing boards, legislatures, and other significant publics.
Remote Sensing of Soil and Water Quality in Agroecosystems

Mismanagement of soil and water resources may not only contribute to an escalation of global poverty but also jeopardize ecosystem services, with significant costs to the environment. Although not concentrated within one geographic location (3,500 million hectares), an equivalent of approximately 24 % of the earth’s land surface is degraded land, and about 2 billion people (one third of the global population) lack access to safe and affordable water for domestic purposes. It is therefore critical to develop strategies targeted at the root causes of these problems. However, to do so would require a rapid and reliable information system that has been elusive because of the complexity of the environment and the limitations of the existing tools. The increased availability and development of remote sensing and geographic data analysis tools have opened up new possibilities for exploring and monitoring environmental variables influencing key land use and soil management options. Here, we explore the major concepts, describe the constraints, and the future potential of remote sensing for mapping and providing near real-time information on soil and water quality in the context of major land use practices employed at the global scale.
Imprisonment and Social Classification in Five Common-Law Democracies, 1955-1985

Rates of imprisonment have risen in many Western democracies over the past few decades, most dramatically in the United States. The development of a systematic and general explanation of imprisonment trends has been impeded because of the theoretical and methodological limitations of prior quantitative studies. Most use data from a single country or jurisdiction and focus narrowly on the Rusche‐Kirchheimer “labor surplus” hypothesis, with little attention to alternative explanations. This study takes a cross‐national perspective, using longitudinal data from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States to offer an institutional account of imprisonment rates. The labor surplus effect is treated as a special case of a more general process by which individuals are allocated among alternative life‐course paths. This allocation process is likely to be influenced by macrolevel institutional arrangements and contests for political power. Hypotheses are tested using pooled time‐series...
Relative accuracy of time and frequency domain features to quantify upper extremity coordination

Upper limb coordination is necessary for the performance of activities of daily living (ADLs). This coordination is impaired in individuals suffering from motor deficits. The evolution of inter- and intra-limb coordination patterns may provide insight into mechanisms of recovery. In this paper, we investigate the ability of inertial sensors to capture measures of limb coordination in non-disabled individuals during the performance of ADL inspired tasks. We evaluate limb coordination as measured by time and frequency domain features extracted from inertial sensors for a subset of upper limb tasks, and evaluate the relative sensitivity of these measures to different task types.
What does it take to get the job done

I am extremely honored to be the recipient of the 2015 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award. When I reflect on my journey in science, many great people and memorable experiences come to mind. Some of these encounters were truly career-defining moments. Others provided priceless lessons. In this essay, I recount some of the moments and experiences that influenced my scientific trajectory with the hope that they may inspire others.
The impact of revolution on social welfare in Latin America

The foregoing analysis assessed ways that revolutions affected the social welfare of Latin Americans. It compared differences between societies of roughly similar levels of economic development that did and did not have revolutions, revolutions ushered in by different class alliances, revolutions instituting different modes of production, and revolutions occurring in countries differently situated within the world economy. The class transformations in Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, and Peru gave rise to more egalitarian societies than they displaced, but low income groups in each country gained most during the new regimes' consolidation of power. Subsequently, the interests of the popular sectors were sacrificed to those of middle and upper income groups. The rural masses benefited from revolution mainly in conjunction with agrarian reforms.
Clinical Manifestation and Epidemiological Characteristics of AIDS Patients in Gaoping District,Nanchong

Objective To provide scientific evidence for control strategies for HIV AIDS and caring measures for AIDS patients by understanding the clinical manifestation and epidemiological characteristics of AIDS patients in Gaoping district of Nanchong.Methods The AIDS patients in Gaoping district of Nanchong were followed up from 1999 to 2010,and the clinical medical record,accessory examination data were collected and analyzed with descriptive epidemiological method.Results All the 18 AIDS patients reported between 1999 and 2010 in Gaoping district of Nanchong were died,accounting for 24.32% of the total infected people(18/74),the male to female ratio was 1∶0.125,with the youngest at 19 years' old and the oldest at 74;the shortest disease course was 41 days and the longest was 910 days;the clinical manifestation was diversified,with the fever,hypodynamia and anorexia as the major symptoms and all of the 18 patients showed those three major symptoms;17 out of 18 had suffered from multiple lymph intumescences,accounting for 94.44% of the total;15 died of complication-related diseases of the advanced stage of AIDS,accounting for 83.33% of the total;2 died of the overdose of narcotics,accounting for 11.10% of the total;1 died from traffic accident,accounting for 5.56% of the total.77.78% of the AIDS patients were peasants.Most of the AIDS patients were infected through sex intercourse.Conclusion The major transmission way of HIV/AIDS is sex intercourse,and the major causes of death in AIDS patients are related to advanced stage and complication-related diseases.
Application of Set Pair Analysis in Wind Speed Interval Prediction for Wind Farms

Wind farm output power is directly depended on the wind speed,and it is necessary to improve the prediction accuracy of the wind speed. Taking the difficulty of improving the wind speed point forecast accuracy into account,this paper presents a method for wind speed interval prediction based on the set pair analysis theory. This method uses the training data of wind direction,temperature,pressure,humidity,etc.,which are the influential factors of wind speed. On the other hand,by considering the error distribution of the wind speed point forecast and the change rate of wind speed,the classified collection which the predictive value of the wind speed in a certain period in the future belongs to is determined. The upper and lower limits of the classified collection are taken as the upper and lower limits of the wind speed prediction interval,thus the wind speed interval prediction is realized. By using the training and prediction data that come from a wind farm in China,the effectiveness of the wind speed interval prediction based on the set pair analysis theory is verified. In fact,the proposed method can also be used for wind power prediction.
Interhemispheric Inhibition Measurement Reliability in Stroke: A Pilot Study

Objective Reliable transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) measures for probing corticomotor excitability are important when assessing the physiological effects of noninvasive brain stimulation. The primary objective of this study was to examine test-retest reliability of an interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) index measurement in stroke. Materials and Methods Ten subjects with chronic stroke (≥6 months) completed two IHI testing sessions per week for three weeks (six testing sessions total). A single investigator measured IHI in the contra-to-ipsilesional primary motor cortex direction and in the opposite direction using bilateral paired-pulse TMS. Weekly sessions were separated by 24 hours with a 1-week washout period separating testing weeks. To determine if motor-evoked potential (MEP) quantification method affected measurement reliability, IHI indices computed from both MEP amplitude and area responses were found. Reliability was assessed with two-way, mixed intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC(3,k)). Standard error of measurement and minimal detectable difference statistics were also determined. Results With the exception of the initial testing week, IHI indices measured in the contra-to-ipsilesional hemisphere direction demonstrated moderate to excellent reliability (ICC = 0.725–0.913). Ipsi-to-contralesional IHI indices depicted poor or invalid reliability estimates throughout the three-week testing duration (ICC= −1.153–0.105). The overlap of ICC 95% confidence intervals suggested that IHI indices using MEP amplitude vs. area measures did not differ with respect to reliability. Conclusions IHI indices demonstrated varying magnitudes of reliability irrespective of MEP quantification method. Several strategies for improving IHI index measurement reliability are discussed.
Diversity combining and piezoelectric beam steering for multi-element VLC networks

Visible light communications (VLC) is an emerging wireless communication technology that can serve high speed data rates by using existing lighting infrastructure without congesting the radio spectrum. This paper studies the effect of various multi-element VLC transmitter and receiver configurations on the link quality. With this purpose, the signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SINR) distribution is investigated via extensive simulations considering a multipath environment with different transceiver configurations and diversity combining techniques. Additionally, we propose a beam steering technique using the piezo-electric based tilting of LEDs to improve the SINR, which tilts the LEDs with piezo-electric actuators towards the location of the receiver. Simulation results show that significant gains can be obtained on SINR performance by using optimized transceiver configurations and diversity combining at the receiver. Moreover, even with small titling angles at the transmitter, up to 12 dB SINR gain is obtained using beam steering.
Anterior Urethroplasty Has Transitioned to an Outpatient Procedure Without Serious Rise in Complications: Data From the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program

Objective To analyze the trend in inpatient vs outpatient performance of anterior urethroplasty and examine outcomes using data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Methods A retrospective cross sectional analysis was performed using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Cases of single-stage anterior urethroplasty from 2006 to 2013 were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, procedure code 53410. Univariate analysis was performed to compare 30-day complication rates for inpatient and outpatient cases. A linear regression model was created for all years with greater than 50 reported cases. Results A total of 326 anterior urethroplasties were reported; 222 (68.1%) were inpatient procedures, and 104 (31.9%) were outpatient procedures. The most common complication, urinary tract infection, was consistent between inpatient (2.7%) and outpatient (2.9%) procedures. The rate of wound dehiscence was significantly higher among outpatient cases (1.92% vs 0%, P = .03). There were no significant differences in the rates of wound infection, bleeding, graft failure, deep vein thrombosis, pneumonia, or sepsis. The linear regression model shows a significant increase in outpatient procedures (R 2 = 0.91) and equivalent decrease in inpatient procedures (R 2 = 0.91) for the last 3 years of the study period. Resident involvement was associated with a decreased rate of reoperation (0% vs 8.3% P Conclusion There has been a shift in the performance of anterior urethroplasty toward outpatient management. Overall, complication rates appear low. Future research is necessary to determine how to decrease overall cost of single-stage urethroplasty without compromising quality of care.
A study in Mayan paleography: The history of T168/2M1a ʔAJAW ‘Lord, Ruler’ and the origin of the syllabogram T130/2S2 wa

This paper constitutes an application of paleographic analysis of ancient Mayan hieroglyphic writing in line with the comprehensive approach elaborated by Lacadena (1995a , 1995b ). More specifically, it reviews the evidence for the origin and development of T168/2M1a, the logogram ʔAJAW ‘lord, ruler’, and proposes a relationship between it and T130/2S2, the syllabogram wa . Additionally, the paper contributes with a more complete diachronic perspective than has been attempted before by incorporating evidence from the earliest texts. Moreover, a graphic relationship between T168/2M1a and T130/2S2 is proposed, explained on the basis of designs of T168/2M1a starting in the Late Preclassic and Early Classic, as well as the graphic operations of rotation and ‘re-rotation’, a process introduced in this paper for the first time. The paper also suggests that the relationship between these signs is not merely graphic, but also acrophonic, and it elaborates a typology and chronological seriation of T168/2M1a, with the aim of assisting scholars in assigning relative chronologies to unprovenienced texts lacking calendrical data. 1
What do users see when health information with different levels of sensitivity is presented on Facebook?: preliminary findings with eye tracking techniques

Social networking sites are popularly used for health information dissemination. However, little research has been carried out on how users view the disseminated health information. This study using eye tracking techniques investigates how users view presented information differently when health information with various levels of topic sensitivity is presented as topic sensitivity is one of important factors that impacts user's health information behavior on social media. The findings indicate that the content of posts are viewed the most frequently, followed by source information and post information. User engagement elements are viewed depending on the quality of the conversations in the comments. This study utilizes eye tracking techniques and provides further insights into how users view information and various elements differently on Facebook.
Federal Parity and Access to Behavioral Health Care in Private Health Plans

Objective:The 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) sought to improve access to behavioral health care by regulating health plans’ coverage and management of services. Health plans have some discretion in how to achieve compliance with MHPAEA, leaving questions about its likely effects on health plan policies. In this study, the authors’ objective was to determine how private health plans’ coverage and management of behavioral health treatment changed after the federal parity law’s full implementation.Methods:A nationally representative survey of commercial health plans was conducted in 60 market areas across the continental United States, achieving response rates of 89% in 2010 (weighted N=8,431) and 80% in 2014 (weighted N=6,974). Senior executives at responding plans were interviewed regarding behavioral health services in each year and (in 2014) regarding changes. Student’s t tests were used to examine changes in services covered, cost-sharing, and prior authorization requirement...
Affirming Diversity in the Task of Integration: a Response to “Biblical Authority and Christian Psychology”:

A summary of the author's approach to the integration of psychology und theology is followed by a response to Lawrence J. Crabb's article. “Biblical Authority and Christian Psychology,” which appea...
Clinical significance of spontaneous nystagmus in pediatric patients

Abstract Objective To analyze spontaneous nystagmus recorded in pediatric patients and determine its diagnostic value. Materials and methods Retrospective review of 86 patients (mean age = 13.9 ± 4.7 years) with definitive spontaneous nystagmus recorded by videonystagmography (VNG). Spontaneous nystagmus was categorized and analyzed based on its characteristics. Correlations between spontaneous nystagmus and established clinical diagnoses were explored. Results Among the patients seen in a period of three years at our pediatric vestibular clinic, 15.4% (86 out of 560) were found to have spontaneous nystagmus and half of them had horizontal nystagmus with a fixed-direction. The majority of cases with spontaneous nystagmus (77%, 66/86) were present without fixation only, while the presence of spontaneous nystagmus with and without fixation was found in 16 patients (19%). Most patients with spontaneous nystagmus without fixation only (68%) were diagnosed with a peripheral vestibular disorder (e.g., vestibular neuritis) or vestibular migraine. In contrast, vertical nystagmus was found in 15 patients, most of whom had central vestibular disorders. Other rare forms of nystagmus or abnormal eye movements, such as pendular nystagmus, ocular oscillation or flutter were recorded in only four patients. Conclusions Spontaneous nystagmus in children and young adults with possible vestibular impairments may vary in clinical presentation. Identification of its characteristics may help to make an accurate clinical diagnosis. While spontaneous nystagmus associated with peripheral vestibular disorders can be readily recognized, spontaneous nystagmus in pediatric patients with vestibular migraine appears to be more complex and variable in form.
Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations

So far in this text we have been mainly concerned in applying classic methods, the Adomina decomposition method [3, 4, 5], and the variational iteration method [8, 9, 10] in studying first order and second order linear partial differential equations. In this chapter, we will focus our study on the nonlinear partial differential equations. The nonlinear partial differential equations arise in a wide variety of physical problems such as fluid dynamics, plasma physics, solid mechanics and quantum field theory. Systems of nonlinear partial differential equations have been also noticed to arise in chemical and biological applications. The nonlinear wave equations and the solitons concept have introduced remarkable achievements in the field of applied sciences. The solutions obtained from nonlinear wave equations are different from the solutions of the linear wave equations [1, 2].
TEACHER COMPENSATION SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

This paper provides a review of the current teacher compensation system and examines the structure of teacher compensation in the U.S. K-12 public education system. Teacher salaries are largely set by schedules that are neither performancerelated nor market-driven, and have signifi cant consequences on school staffi ng and workforce quality. The second section summarizes the recent literature on compensation reform, with an emphasis on studies using experimental or quasiexperimental designs to evaluate the impact of programs on student achievement and teacher outcomes. A fi nal section offers observations on prospects for future research and reforms.
Wild Bird Surveillance for Avian Influenza Virus

Avian influenza (AI) viruses have been isolated from a wide diversity of free-living avian species representing several orders. Isolations are most frequently reported from aquatic birds in the Orders Anseriformes and Charadriiformes, which are believed to be the reservoirs for all AI viruses. Since their first recognition in the late 1800 s, AI viruses have been an important agent of disease in poultry and, occasionally, of nongallinaceous birds and humans. However, the recent highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus epidemics have increased the awareness of AI viruses and their potential implications among the scientific community, politicians, and the general public. In response to the spread of HPAI H5N1 viruses to Europe and Africa in 2005-2006, many countries developed surveillance plans to detect AI viruses; a large portion of these sampling efforts was targeted at migratory avian species. This chapter is intended to give general concepts and guidelines for surveillance of the AI virus in wild birds. Separate sections are included for low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) and HPAI H5N1 viruses because the unique biological characteristics of HPAI H5N1 require a modified surveillance plan tailored to these viruses.
Lymphocyte plasma membranes: analysis of proteins and glycoproteins by SDS-gel electrophoresis.

A method is described for the prepara- proteins and glycoproteins. A minition of plasma membranes from human mum of 26 polypeptide bands were tonsil lymphocytes. The membrane identified with the Coomassie blue preparation has been characterized by stain. The glycoprotein material was electron microscopy and by the use distributed into at least five bands. of 5’-nucleotidase as an enzymatic Similarities and differences between marker. Acrylamide gel electrophoresis the lymphocyte and red cell membrane in sodium dodecyl sulfate yields a re- are discussed. producible pattern for the membrane THE ROLE OF LYMPHOCYTESin mediating histocompatibility, antigen I recognition, and immune adherence is well established�’#{176} Despite the importance of the cell surface in these interactions, relatively little is known about the pasma membrane of lymphocytes and no information is available on the proteins of lymphocyte membranes of human origin. Since tonsil tissue contains a fairly homogeneous population of lymphocytes, it is a convenient source of these cells in quantities adequate for biochemical studies. Tonsil lymphocytes have been previously characterized in terms of morphology, immunoglobulin secretion, and reactivity to phytohemagglutinin7�8 The present communicationreports the preparation of plasma membranes from human tonsil lymphocytes and describes the polypeptides and glycoproteins in these structures.
Synergism in the catalysis of supported gold

Abstract The catalytic nature of supported gold is, in principle, tunable through the appropriate selection of metal oxide as a support. The catalytic activities can be markedly increased by depositing gold as very small particles with diameters below 4nm. It is proposed for the low temperature oxidation of CO that the synergistic effect is due to the gold-metal oxide interfacial perimeter, which can provide adsorption sites for oxygen at room temperature.
SEASONAL VARIATION IN THE APPARENT NUMBER OF 3H-NALOXONE BINDING SITES

Summary A radio-receptor binding assay was used to examine the number of 3 H-dihydromorphine (DHM) and 3 H-naloxone binding sites in homogenates of C57BL/6J mouse brains. The apparent number of DHM binding sites remained at about 60 fmoles per mg protein throughout the year, while the apparent number of naloxone binding sites varied from a summer low of about 75 fmoles per mg protein to a winter high of about 130 fmoles per mg protein. This circannual pattern may relate to seasonal changes in physiological systems in which the endorphin systems are directly or indirectly involved.
Heterochromatin-Associated Protein 1, HP1Hsα, in Breast Cancer Invasion and Metastasis

Heterochromatin has repressive effects on euchromatic gene expression. The mechanisms contributing to gene silencing are not known, however silencing has been shown to be modulated in part by heterochromatin-associated protein 1, HP1Hsα. We have identified a reduction in HP1Hsα expression in invasive/metastatic human breast cancer cell lines and in tumor cells from distant metastases. Furthermore, HP1Hsα transfected invasive/metastatic breast cancer cells show a reduction in the invasive phenotype indicating that HP1Hsα is involved in modulating specific biological activities in the metastatic cascade. Here, we discuss the role of heterochromatin and HP1Hsα expression in breast cancer invasion and metastasis with regard to gene silencing, chromatin packaging, and nuclear architecture. In addition, we introduce working models for mechanisms of HP1Hsα function that will be addressed with future studies.
Uterine-conceptus Interactions During the Peri-implantation Period

Interactions between the conceptus and endometrium of sheep and pigs are essential for establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. In pigs, estrogen-induced redirection of secretion of prostaglandin F 2 α (PGF) into the uterine lumen (exocrine secretion) is antiluteolytic, while sheep conceptuses secrete ovine trophoblast protein-1 which inhibits episodic secretion of PGF from the endometrium which is required for luteolysis. These antiluteolytic mechanisms insure maintenance of functional corpora lutea and secretion of progesterone which stimulates endometrial secretion of factors required to support the developing embryo/conceptus. These secretions include nutrients, as well as proteins that serve as enzymes, transport proteins, and regulatory proteins essential for establishment and maintenance of a successful pregnancy.
Behavioral syndromes shape evolutionary trajectories via conserved genetic architecture

Behaviors are often correlated within broader syndromes, creating the potential for evolution in one behavior to drive evolutionary changes in other behaviors. Despite demonstrations that behavioral syndromes are common across taxa, whether this potential for evolutionary effects is realized has not yet been demonstrated. Here we show that populations of field crickets (Gryllus integer) exhibit a genetically conserved behavioral syndrome structure despite differences in average behaviors. We found that the distribution of genetic variation and genetic covariance among behavioral traits was consistent with genes and cellular mechanisms underpinning behavioral syndromes rather than correlated selection. Moreover, divergence among populations9 average behaviors was constrained by the genetically conserved behavioral syndrome. Our results demonstrate that a conserved genetic architecture linking behaviors has shaped the evolutionary trajectories of populations in disparate environments-illustrating an important way by which behavioral syndromes result in shared evolutionary fates.
Heterochrony in Ammonites

Ammonites are externally shelled cephalopods and range in geologic age from the Devonian to the Late Cretaceous. They comprise nine orders that may be informally grouped into the paleo-, meso-, and neoammonoidea. The paleoammonoidea consists of the Devonian-Permian goniatites, anarcestids, clymeniids, and prolecanitids. The mesoammonoidea or ceratites range from the Permian to the Triassic. The neoammonoidea consists of the phylloceratids, lytoceratids, ammonitids, and ancyloceratids and ranges from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous.
Experience of Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment in an Arts Program

AbstractThis study aimed to explore the experiences of art engagement with older adults experiencing mild cognitive impairment. Data was collected from participants (n = 8) involved in a group art ...
Unequal Opportunity: School and Neighborhood Segregation in the USA

School and neighborhood segregation are intertwined in complex ways. Schools reflect segregated neighborhoods, and school considerations reinforce neighborhood segregation. Over the past 25 years, racial segregation in neighborhoods and schools has slightly declined in terms of sorting, though children remain racially isolated in their neighborhoods and schools. Income segregation between schools, school districts, and neighborhoods has increased among children. Recent educational policy and demographic changes may break the link between neighborhood and school segregation. As population diversity increases, the proliferation of school choice leads schools and neighborhoods to resemble one another less, with schools becoming more segregated than their local neighborhoods. Regardless of the complicated and changing ways neighborhood and school segregation shape and reshape one another, segregation in both contexts remains high in the twenty-first century. Drawing on administrative data, I provide a quantitative portrait of the schools and neighborhoods of children from different racial/ethnic groups in 2015, documenting stark inequalities in these contexts. I conclude with a discussion of why segregation matters, what can be done about it, and why something must be done.
Accidental Chlorine Gas Exposure in a Pediatric Patient: A Case Report.

Author(s): Antolick, Ashley; Ouellette, Lindsey; Judge, Bryan; Riley, Brad; Jones, JS | Abstract: Introduction: Chlorine gas is a known irritant of the respiratory tract, which may cause damage to various systems depending on time of exposure and concentration of the gas. Current treatments are mainly supportive. While no definitive studies have been completed to date, it has been noted that treatment with a sodium bicarbonate solution via nebulizer may lead to improved outcomes for patients dealing with chlorine gas exposure.Case Report: We present a case of a nine-year-old child arriving at the emergency department after exposure to chlorine gas. Complete recovery from his symptoms occurred rapidly with the administration of nebulized sodium bicarbonate.Discussion: Inhaled chlorine gas acts as a mucous membrane irritant, with symptoms usually beginning within minutes of exposure. Inhaled nebulized sodium bicarbonate has been suggested as a therapy for chlorine exposure. Although its mechanism of action is not well understood, it is thought that inhaled sodium bicarbonate neutralizes the hydrochloric acid formed when the chlorine gas reacts with the water in the lungs.Conclusion: Nebulized sodium bicarbonate solution at a low concentration appeared to rapidly and effectively reverse the symptoms due to chlorine gas inhalation in a young child.
Dopamine agonists and antipsychotics

There can potentially be a number of clinical interactions that could adversely affect patient outcomes in a patient with a prolactinoma and psychiatric disease that might require antipsychotic and dopamine agonist treatment. Dopamine agonists stimulate the dopamine D2 receptor, resulting in a decrease in prolactin (PRL) levels and in prolactinoma size but action on dopamine receptors in the meso-limbic system may rarely cause psychosis and more commonly cause impulse control disorders. The psychiatric benefits of antipsychotic agents involve blocking the D2 and other dopamine receptors but this blockade often also causes hyperprolactinemia. In patients with macroprolactinomas and psychosis, observation, estrogen/progestin replacement, and surgery can be considered in addition to dopamine agonists. In those who require dopamine agonists for PRL and tumor size control, the introduction of antipsychotics may blunt this effect, so that higher doses of the dopamine agonists may be needed. Alternatively, antipsychotics that have less of a blocking effect at the D2 receptor, such as aripiprazole, can be tried, if appropriate. For patients already on antipsychotic drugs who are found to have a macroprolactinoma for which dopamine agonists are required, dopamine agonists can be initiated at low dose and the dose escalated slowly. However, such patients require careful monitoring of psychiatric status to avoid the rare complication of exacerbation of the underlying psychosis. Again, if appropriate, use of antipsychotics that have less of a blocking effect at the D2 receptor may allow lower doses of dopamine agonists to be used in this situation.
Psychopathy is associated with fear-specific reductions in neural activity during affective perspective-taking.

Abstract Psychopathic individuals are notorious for their callous disregard for others’ emotions. Prior research has linked psychopathy to deficits in affective mechanisms underlying empathy (e.g., affective sharing), yet research relating psychopathy to cognitive mechanisms underlying empathy (e.g., affective perspective-taking and Theory of Mind) requires further clarification. To elucidate the neurobiology of cognitive mechanisms of empathy in psychopathy, we administered an fMRI task and tested for global as well as emotion-specific deficits in affective perspective-taking. Adult male incarcerated offenders (N = 94) viewed images of two people interacting, with one individual's face obscured by a shape. Participants were cued to either identify the emotion of the obscured individual or identify the shape from one of two emotion or shape choices presented on each trial. Target emotions included anger, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral. Contrary to predictions, psychopathy was unrelated to neural activity in the Affective Perspective-taking > Shape contrast. In line with predictions, psychopathy was negatively related to task accuracy during affective perspective-taking for fear, happiness, and sadness. Psychopathy was related to reduced hemodynamic activity exclusively during fear perspective-taking in several areas: left anterior insula extending into posterior orbitofrontal cortex, right precuneus, left superior parietal lobule, and left superior occipital cortex. Although much prior research has emphasized psychopathy-related abnormalities in affective mechanisms mediating empathy, current results add to growing evidence of psychopathy-related abnormalities in a cognitive mechanism related to empathy. These findings highlight brain regions that are hypoactive in psychopathy when explicitly processing another's fear.
Opportunities for Clean Energy in Natural Gas Well Operations

The oil and gas industry is increasingly seeking operational improvements to reduce both costs and emissions while improving resilience against electric grid outages. This study describes techno-economic analysis of opportunities for distributed energy generation and storage technologies to support companies’ energy cost savings, clean energy, and energy resiliency goals. Specifically, the analysis evaluates solar photovoltaics (PV), distributed wind energy, and battery energy storage at hypothetical upstream well sites in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, both grid-connected and off-grid. Results indicate opportunity for solar PV to reduce operational costs. Additionally, these technologies reduce the site’s consumption of grid electricity and natural gas and thus can help reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions associated with electricity and natural gas consumption. For each emissions reduction scenario, a cost of avoided emissions was calculated; these values can be compared to internal organizational value placed on emissions reductions, compared to other emissions reduction strategies such as energy efficiency, reducing flaring, and direct carbon capture and sequestration, and compared to existing (albeit limited) U.S. carbon markets such as California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Results indicate that the associated costs of emissions reductions via distributed renewables are competitive with these options and markets. The study also explores the ability of these electric clean energy technologies to support site resiliency against utility outages.
Pennsylvanians’ Perceptions of the Nature and Extent of Human Trafficking

From 2015 to 2019, reported cases of human trafficking within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have increased by approximately 140%. Further, in the past 10 years, the National Human Trafficking Ho...
Spatial Analysis of Regional and Income Inequality in the United States

Understanding spatial or geographical dependence of income and regional inequality is crucial in analyzing inequality. This paper employs a multi-scale, multi-mechanism framework to map and analyze historical patterns of regional and income inequality in the United States (US) by using state and regional panel data spanning over a century. To explore the patterns systematically and see the role of spatial partitioning, we organize the data around several established geographical partitions before conducting various Geographical Information System (GIS) analyses and statistical techniques. We also investigate the spatial dependence of income inequality and regional inequality. We find that spatial autocorrelation exists for both the regional and income inequality in the US; however, the magnitude of spatial dependence for regional inequality is declining while it is volatile for income inequality over time. We also notice that while income inequality is at its peak in the most recent decades, regional inequality is at its lowest point. As for the choice of partitioning, we observe that within inequality dominates for Census Divisions and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regions. Conversely, we see that between inequality overall contributes the most to the inequality among Census Regions.
Latest developments in Texas Instruments DLP near-infrared spectrometers enable the next generation of embedded compact, portable systems

Designing the next generation of embedded compact, portable near-infrared (NIR) spectrometers while meeting aggressive cost and form factor targets requires novel technologies and creative system designs. New miniature spectrometer architectures are enabled by Texas Instruments DLP® technology. The ability to provide programmable spectral filters using high speed, accurate light modulation with a micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) based architecture enables systems with features and sampling techniques that were previously not possible. System design considerations and the latest developments in DLP spectrometer architectures will be presented.
Diagnosis of Microdeletion Syndromes by Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH)

This unit opens with an overview of microdeletions and methods for their detection. It goes on to describe a vast array of autosomal microdeletion syndromes, X-linked microdeletion syndromes, and microduplication syndromes. The final portion of the unit offers guidance for detecting such syndromes with Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH).
Towards Risk-Aware Planning of Service Delivery Operations

Infrastructure and Application Service Delivery typically comprises of complex workflows such as software installation/configuration, OS configuration, file system management etc. To manage costs as well as SLAs, enterprises constantly look towards automation of these workflows. While declarative approaches for automated workflow planning have been described in the literature, they do not address the risk exposure of the system. We present a novel two-phase risk-aware approach to planning which allows to "look-ahead" beyond the desired end state and compute a vulnerability score that measures how vulnerable the system could be in future, if the plan were to be executed now. We demonstrate our approach on a web service migration use-case using SGPlan as the preference-based planner. We also implement an end-to-end framework based on Puppet and validate it on a test bed of virtual machines. The implementation validates the generality of our approach in finding a less-vulnerable plan in scenarios where there are multiple plans.
Antigenic characterisation of virus isolates from vaccinated dogs dying of rabies.

Four rabies virus isolates from dogs that succumbed to rabies infection in Nigeria within one year of anti-rabies vaccination were characterised by monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). The samples were screened for rabies and rabies-related viral antigens by the indirect fluorescent antibody test, performed with MAb 502-2, which recognises the nucleocapsid (NC) protein of all known Lyssaviruses and with MAb 422-5 which identifies African rabiesrelated viruses. All four canine virus isolates displayed positive fluorescence with MAb 502-2 and were negative with MAb 422-5. In the anti-NC MAb characterisation with a panel of 34 additional MAbs, all isolates displayed positive staining with 32 of the MAbs, were negative with MAb 102-27 and all displayed poor immunofluorescence with MAb 377-7. On the basis of reactivity with a panel of 40 anti-glycoprotein (G) MAbs the isolates were separated into four distinct viral subtypes. None of these canine isolates was identified as the common attenuated Flury LEP rabies strain used for domestic animal vaccination and none resembled other previously characterised rabies viruses from Nigeria.
Concurrent association of Trichomonas vaginalis, the filiform bacillus of Döderlein and Syringospora in pregnancy

Abstract 1.1. Saline mounts of the vaginal discharges of 500 Negro and 200 white women in their last trimester of pregnancy were examined microscopically for Trichomonas vaginalis. the filamentous strain of the bacillus of Doderlein, and the pseudomycelia of Syringospora. 2.2. In the white group the percentage incidences of the above organisms were 16.5, 12.0, and 0.5, respectively. There was one case of double infection with Trichomonas vaginalis and the bacillus of Doderlein and 6 cases showed both trichomonads and Syringospora. 3.3. In the Negro group Trichomonas vaginalis occurred in 43.6 per cent of the patients, Syringospora in 23.0 per cent, and the filaments of the bacillus of Doderlein in 15.2 per cent. The concurrent association of trichomonads with Doderlein's bacillus, trichomonads with Syringospora and the bacillus of Doderlein with Syringospora was observed in 12.4 per cent, 12.2 per cent, and 5.2 per cent, respectively, of the Negro patients. Concurrent infection with the three organisms occurred in 22 patients, or 4.4 per cent. 4.4. Trichomonas vaginalis survives in an environment optimum for the growth of Syringospora or the bacillus of Doderlein (long strain). In the Negro group with a plus four (++++) Syringospora infection, Trichomonas vaginalis was present in 60.6 per cent of the patients. In a plus four (++++) environment of the filamentous bacillus of Doderlein, 92.5 per cent of the Negro patients harbored Trichomonas vaginalis.