cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Discussion on Some Essential Concepts of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Toxicology

In this paper, some concepts of ecotoxicology and environmental toxicology were studied and discussed. Firstly, definiens of"ecotoxicology"and"environmental toxicology"and their respective researching field were described,also some methods/conditions were suggested how to confirm the distinction between ecotoxicology and environmental toxicology;Secondly, the concepts of"toxicant"and"untoxicant"were studied and discussed, the viewpoint of"substance namely toxicant"was negatived; Thirdly, disadvantage of"target organ"concept and its blight to researching and realizing toxic role of toxicant, the view that the"target organ"concept to be replaced by"sensitivity organ"was suggested.
Timing of Breast Reconstruction After Mastectomy

Certain guidelines can be used to determine the optimal time for breast reconstruction. They include consideration of the nature and virulence of the tumor as well as its location, the use of radiation or chemotherapy, the type of mastectomy performed, the degree of nodal involvement, the likelihood of tumor recurrence, and the patient’s age and motivation. No absolute rules have been established regarding timing of reconstructive surgery, but the patient’s emotional and psychological needs should have considerable bearing on the decision.
Organization of Endogenous Retrovirus Genes

In mammals virogenes are multiple copy elements. Estimates of the number of copies lie between five and several hundred. This wide range results from variations in the copy number of different virogenes and from technieal considerations. The conventional means for determining the number of copies of a particular gene in mammalian DNA is to follow the kinetics of hybridization of labeled RNA or cDNA copies of the gene to a vast excess of unlabeled cell DNA. Under this condition the rate of hybridization of the labeled probe, or more properly the half-life of the unreacted probe, is dependent on the concentration of complementary sequences in the cell DNA (Britten and Kohne, 1968). The condition under which half of the viral probe hybridizes, the C0t½, is related to the number of copies of virogenes per haploid genome. Actually, assigning a copy number depends on knowing: (1) the degree of divergence between the viral probe and the virogenes, (2) that the viral probe does not react with nonviral sequences in the cell DNA, and (3) the kinetics of hybridization of a single-copy standard.
Acute Catecholamine Exposure Causes Reversible Myocyte Injury Without Cardiac Regeneration.

Rationale: Catecholamines increase cardiac contractility, but exposure to high concentrations or prolonged exposures can cause cardiac injury. A recent study demonstrated that a single subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol (ISO; 200 mg/kg) in mice causes acute myocyte death (8-10%) with complete cardiac repair within a month. Cardiac regeneration was via endogenous cKit+ cardiac stem cell (CSC)-mediated new myocyte formation. Objective: Our goal was to validate this simple injury/regeneration system and use it to study the biology of newly forming adult cardiac myocytes. Methods and Results: C57BL/6 mice (n=173) were treated with single injections of vehicle, 200mg/kg or 300mg/kg ISO, or with two daily doses of 200mg/kg ISO for 6 days. Echocardiography revealed transiently increased systolic function and unaltered diastolic function 1 day after single ISO injection. Single ISO injections also caused membrane injury in about 10% of myocytes but few of these myocytes appeared to be necrotic. Circulating troponin I levels after ISO were elevated, further documenting myocyte damage. However, myocyte apoptosis was not increased after ISO injury. Heart weight to body weight ratio and fibrosis were also not altered 28 days after ISO injection. Single or multiple dose ISO injury was not associated with an increase in the percentage of 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU)-labeled myocytes. Furthermore, ISO injections did not increase new myocytes in cKit+/Cre x R-GFP transgenic mice. Conclusions: A single dose of ISO causes injury in about 10% of the cardiomyocytes. However, most of these myocytes appear to recover and do not elicit cKit+ cardiac stem cell (CSC)-derived myocyte regeneration.
Is Hydraulics Over-Used or Under-Used in Storm Drainage?

Urban drainage models utilize hydraulics of different levels. Developing or selecting a model appropriate to a particular project is not an easy task. Not knowing the hydraulic principles and numerical techniques used in an existing model, users often misuse and abuse the model. Hydraulically, the use of the Saint-Venant equations is not always necessary. In many cases the kinematic wave equation is inadequate because of the backwater effect, whereas in designing sewers, often Manning9s formula is adequate. The flow travel time provides a guide in selecting the computational time step At, which in turn, together with flow unsteadiness, helps in the selection of steady or unsteady flow routing. Often the noninertia model is the appropriate model for unsteady flow routing, whereas delivery curves are very useful for stepwise steady nonuniform flow routing and for determination of channel capacity.
Demographic trends among older cannabis users in the United States, 2006-13.

Background and Aims The ageing US population is providing an unprecedented population of older adults who use recreational drugs. We aimed to estimate the trends in the prevalence of past-year use of cannabis, describe the patterns and attitudes and determine correlates of cannabis use by adults age 50 years and older. Design Secondary analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health survey from 2006 to 2013, a cross-sectional survey given to a nationally representative probability sample of populations living in US households. Setting USA. Participants A total of 47 140 survey respondents aged ≥ 50 years. Measures Estimates and trends of past-year use of cannabis. Findings The prevalence of past-year cannabis use among adults aged ≥ 50 increased significantly from 2006/07 to 2012/13, with a 57.8% relative increase for adults aged 50–64 (linear trend P < 0.001) and a 250% relative increase for those aged ≥ 65 (linear trend P = 0.002). When combining data from 2006 to 2013, 6.9% of older cannabis users met criteria for cannabis abuse or dependence, and the majority of the sample reported perceiving no risk or slight risk associated with monthly cannabis use (85.3%) or weekly use (79%). Past-year users were more likely to be younger, male, non-Hispanic, not have multiple chronic conditions and use tobacco, alcohol or other drugs compared with non-past-year cannabis users. Conclusions The prevalence of cannabis use has increased significantly in recent years among US adults aged ≥ 50 years.
Baby tartanian8: winning agent from the 2016 annual computer poker competition

Imperfect-information games, where players have private information, pose a unique challenge in artificial intelligence. In recent years, Heads-Up No-Limit Texas Hold'em poker, a popular version of poker, has emerged as the primary benchmark for evaluating game-solving algorithms for imperfect-information games. We demonstrate a winning agent from the 2016 Annual Computer Poker Competition, Baby Tartanian8.
Rate Distortion for Lossy In-Network Linear Function Computation and Consensus: Distortion Accumulation and Sequential Reverse Water-Filling

We consider the problem of distributed lossy linear function computation in a tree network. We examine two cases: 1) data aggregation (only one sink node computes) and 2) consensus (all nodes compute the same function). By quantifying the accumulation of information loss in distributed computing, we obtain fundamental limits on network computation rate as a function of incremental distortions (and hence incremental loss of information) along the edges of the network. The above characterization, based on quantifying distortion accumulation, offers an improvement over classical cut-set type techniques, which are based on overall distortions instead of incremental distortions. This quantification of information loss qualitatively resembles information dissipation in cascaded channels [2] . Surprisingly, this accumulation effect of distortion happens even at infinite blocklength. Combining this observation with an inequality on the dominance of mean-square quantities over relative-entropy quantities, we obtain outer bounds on the rate distortion function that are tighter than classical cut-set bounds by a difference, which can be arbitrarily large in both data aggregation and consensus. We also obtain inner bounds on the optimal rate using random Gaussian coding, which differ from the outer bounds by $\mathcal {O}(\sqrt {D})$ , where $D$ is the overall distortion. The obtained inner and outer bounds can provide insights on rate (bit) allocations for both the data aggregation problem and the consensus problem. We show that for tree networks, the rate allocation results have a mathematical structure similar to classical reverse water-filling for parallel Gaussian sources. Apart from data aggregation and distributed consensus, the distortion accumulation analysis framework is also applicable in large-scale data summarization through histograms and linear sketching, e.g., word counting tasks for document summarization.
Precision Neuroscience: Dense Sampling of Individual Brains.

In this issue, Gordon et al. (2017) use dense sampling of resting and task fMRI within individuals to demonstrate that patterns of correlation in resting fMRI are closely aligned with functional architecture as identified using task fMRI.
A review and classification of interactions between forest disturbance from wind and fire

Abstract Current research on interactions between ecological disturbances emphasizes the potential for greatly enhanced ecological effects that may occur when disturbances interact. Much less attention has focused on the possibility of disturbance interactions that buffer ecological change. In this review, we discuss and classify evidence for interactions between two forest disturbances common in eastern North America—wind damage and fire—focusing on studies where forest wind damage precedes fire. Interaction mechanisms are classified according to how they influence ecosystem resistance to and resilience from subsequent disturbances and whether interactions have synergistic or antagonistic effects. Several important generalizations emerge from this synthesis of disturbance interactions. First, buffering interactions between wind damage and fire may be more important when fire intensity is low. Second, wind–fire interactions related to changes in fuel may vary with climatic conditions, with regional differences, and with intensity or severity of individual disturbances. Third, both amplifying and buffering effects may co-occur in a spatial mosaic through a variety of interaction mechanisms. In this respect, the concept of ecosystem response to multiple disturbances parallels that of classical models of successional pathways. It is useful to conceptualize ecosystem response to compounded disturbances as a diverse collection of individual, co-occurring mechanisms of interaction rather than considering multiple disturbances to be wholly amplifying or wholly buffering. Future studies on wind–fire disturbances that explicitly examine mechanisms of interactions and the factors that govern them will aid in understanding these ecologically important and ubiquitous forest disturbances.
The Paranoid and Psychotic Pedagogies of Conspiracy Theory: Locating the Political in the Sinthome of Conspiratorial Logics

In this chapter, I trace paranoia and the political logic of conspiracy theorizing as responses to a social order characterized by the psychosis of late capitalism. Critiquing the classical academic approaches to conspiracy forwarded by Hofstadter and Jameson, I theorize the conspiracy theorist not as a pathological individual, but as an actor caught in a symptomatic machination of truth seeking that ultimately leads to political inertia. Reading Lacanian theory alongside a map of conspiracy disguised as a resume, I develop an understanding of paranoid psychosis as a cultural effect and I work towards a psychoanalytic account of paranoia as a productive, critical, pedagogical disposition.
Does Red Cell Distribution Width Predict Outcome in Traumatic Brain Injury: Comparison to Corticosteroid Randomization After Significant Head Injury.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability. The role of red cell distribution width (RDW) as a prognostic biomarker for outcome in TBI patients is unknown. Based on the corticosteroid randomization after significant head injury (CRASH) trial database, a prognosis calculator (CRASH) has been developed for outcome prediction in TBI. The objectives of this study are to investigate the association between RDW on day 1 of TBI and outcome, and to compare outcome prediction from RDW to that from CRASH. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients with TBI and a Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score of 14 or less. Day 1 RDW and CRASH data were extracted. CRASH was calculated for each patient. Outcome was defined as mortality at 14 days and GOS at 6 months, with poor outcome defined as GOS of 1 - 3. Patients were stratified according to RDW values into six groups, and according to CRASH values into six groups. Results: A total of 416 patients with TBI were included, with 339 survivors (S) and 77 non-survivors (NS). Compared to survivors, non-survivors were of similar age in years (58 ± 23 vs. 58 ± 23, P = 1.0), had lower GCS scores (5 ± 3 vs. 12 ± 3, P = 0.0001), similar RDW (14.0 ± 1.2 vs. 13.9 ± 1.5, P = 0.6), and higher CRASH values (68 ± 26 vs. 24 ± 22, P = 0.0001). Estimating the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) showed that CRASH was a significantly better predictor of mortality compared to RDW (AUC = 0.91 ± 0.01 for CRASH compared to 0.66 ± 0.03 for RDW; P < 0.0001). In addition, CRASH was a better predictor of neurologic outcome compared to RDW (AUC = 0.85 ± 0.02 for CRASH compared to 0.76 ± 0.03 for RDW; P = 0.005). Conclusions: CRASH calculator was a strong predictor of mortality in patients with TBI. RDW on day 1 did not differ between survivors and non-survivors, and was a poor predictor of mortality. Both RDW on day 1 and CRASH calculator are good predictors of 6-month outcome in TBI patients, although CRASH calculator remains a better predictor. J Clin Med Res. 2018;10(1):9-12 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr3173w
Brief introduction to the basic scientific principles of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)

The primary function of the immune system is to provide essential defense mechanisms against all foreign pathogens. The immune system has evolved in such a way that different immune responses are optimized to recognize and then eliminate or contain different types of foreign antigens which are expressed or secreted by foreign pathogens. It provides not only efficient and effective killing of microbes/pathogens via innate immunity but also specific long-lasting immunity against a particular microbe/pathogen to be triggered if the foreign microbe’s antigen is encountered in the future via adaptive immune responses. Immunologic mechanisms are intimately involved in engraftment, engraftment rejection, graft versus host disease, and graft versus malignancy effect. In addition, immunologic tolerance is key for allogeneic immune reconstitution post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Because of a better understanding of the immune system and its different immune properties and responses, physicians and researchers have been able to perform successfully and safely HSCT in humans. While many of the concepts of basic immunology and transplant biology are intertwined into other chapters of this book, this chapter focuses on providing the fundamental principles of basic immunology and transplant biology, including the development of the components of the immune system (i.e., hematopoiesis), the molecules, cells, tissues, and organs that make up the immune system as well as their structural and functional organization and the types of immune responses along with their cardinal features. Key concepts related to HSCT including antigen presentation, alloreactivity, and tolerance and how these processes relate to HSCT will be described in brief. Firstly, though, this chapter begins with the definitions of some key terms and concepts related to basic immunology and transplant biology in order to establish the “vocabulary” of the immune system.
A leukocyte activation test identifies food items which induce release of DNA by innate immune peripheral blood leucocytes

Leukocyte activation (LA) testing identifies food items that induce a patient specific cellular response in the immune system, and has recently been shown in a randomized double blinded prospective study to reduce symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We hypothesized that test reactivity to particular food items, and the systemic immune response initiated by these food items, is due to the release of cellular DNA from blood immune cells. We tested this by quantifying total DNA concentration in the cellular supernatant of immune cells exposed to positive and negative foods from 20 healthy volunteers. To establish if the DNA release by positive samples is a specific phenomenon, we quantified myeloperoxidase (MPO) in cellular supernatants. We further assessed if a particular immune cell population (neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils) was activated by the positive food items by flow cytometry analysis. To identify the signaling pathways that are required for DNA release we tested if specific inhibitors of key signaling pathways could block DNA release. Foods with a positive LA test result gave a higher supernatant DNA content when compared to foods with a negative result. This was specific as MPO levels were not increased by foods with a positive LA test. Protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors resulted in inhibition of positive food stimulated DNA release. Positive foods resulted in CD63 levels greater than negative foods in eosinophils in 76.5% of tests. LA test identifies food items that result in release of DNA and activation of peripheral blood innate immune cells in a PKC dependent manner, suggesting that this LA test identifies food items that result in release of inflammatory markers and activation of innate immune cells. This may be the basis for the improvement in symptoms in IBS patients who followed an LA test guided diet.
Mind the Brain: Stroke Risk in Young Adults With Coarctation of the Aorta

Before the advent of surgery to repair coarctation of the aorta (CoA), this diagnosis carried a rather grim prognosis. Many affected infants died in the first year of life. Of those surviving infancy, the life expectancy was greatly diminished. From 1956 to 1970 Maurice Campbell attempted to
Type I Glanzmann thrombasthenia patients from the Iraqi-Jewish and Arab populations in Israel can be differentiated by platelet glycoprotein IIIa immunoblot analysis

A sensitive immunoblot technique for platelet glycoprotein IIIa (GPIIIa) was used to analyze the platelets of patients living in Israel who meet the diagnostic criteria for type I Glanzmann thrombasthenia. When reacted with solubilized normal platelets, a rabbit antiserum to GPIIIa identified a major band at molecular weight (mol wt) 90,000 and three additional minor bands at Mr 110,000, 81,000, and 64,000. The major band could not be detected, and the minor bands were either markedly reduced or absent in the platelet samples from 14 of the 15 patients from the Iraqi-Jewish population. In contrast, in all four Arab patients tested, the major band was detectable, although at markedly reduced levels, and the minor bands were either markedly reduced or absent; an additional minor band at mol wt 47,000 was also present in the platelets from these patients. One Iraqi-Jewish patient had a unique pattern in which two of the bands were present but reduced and two were undetectable. We conclude that the protein defect, and thus presumably the genetic defect, causing Glanzmann thrombasthenia in the majority of patients in the Iraqi-Jewish population differs from that in the Arab population, and we confirm that there is considerable biochemical heterogeneity among the patients who meet the criteria for type I Glanzmann thrombasthenia.
Role of Cyanide on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Degradation in Manufactured Gas Plant Soils

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread environmental contaminants that are formed during the incomplete combustion of organic material. This paper reports on a study of soils from manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites that contain PAHs as well as other gas byproducts including ammonia, cyanide, coal tars and phenols. These methane production byproducts were removed from the gas prior to distribution. The byproducts were then disposed of on the land, and many sites still have high concentrations of these byproducts even though MGP plants in the United States have not been operating for the past 40 years.
Adhesion and Fusion of Amphiphilic Surfaces: Role of Hydrophobic, Hydration and Steric Forces

We have measured the forces that determine the adhesion and fusion of bilayers. The aim was to clarify the roles of repulsive (electrostatic, hydration, undulation and steric) forces, and attractive (van der Waals and hydrophobic) forces. We find that the forces responsible for adhesion are not the same as those that lead to fusion, and that the hydrophobic interaction is the most important one leading to fusion. We also conclude that the so-called “hydration” force between bilayers is not due to water-structure effects, but is an entropic (steric) force arising from the thermal motions of protruding molecular groups from these fluid-like surfaces.
Metabolic signature of the aging eye in mice.

Abstract Aging is a major risk factor for age-related ocular diseases including age-related macular degeneration in the retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), cataracts in the lens, glaucoma in the optic nerve, and dry eye syndrome in the cornea. We used targeted metabolomics to analyze metabolites from young (6 weeks) and old (73 weeks) eyes in C57 BL6/J mice. Old mice had diminished electroretinogram responses and decreased number of photoreceptors in their retinas. Among the 297 detected metabolites, 45–114 metabolites are significantly altered in aged eye tissues, mostly in the neuronal tissues (retina and optic nerve) and less in cornea, RPE/choroid, and lens. We noted that changes of metabolites in mitochondrial metabolism and glucose metabolism are common features in the aged retina, RPE/choroid, and optic nerve. The aging retina, cornea, and optic nerve also share similar changes in Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), 1-methylnicotinamides, 3-methylhistidine, and other methylated metabolites. Metabolites in taurine metabolism are strikingly influenced by aging in the cornea and lens. In conclusion, the aging eye has both common and tissue-specific metabolic signatures. These changes may be attributed to dysregulated mitochondrial metabolism, reprogrammed glucose metabolism and impaired methylation in the aging eye. Our findings provide biochemical insights into the mechanisms of age-related ocular changes.
Urinary mitochondrial DNA copy number identifies renal mitochondrial injury in renovascular hypertensive patients undergoing renal revascularization: A Pilot Study.

Aims Patients with renovascular hypertension (RVH) exhibit elevated urinary mtDNA copy numbers, considered to constitute surrogate markers of renal mitochondrial injury. The modest success of percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA) in restoring renal function in RVH has been postulated to be partly attributable to acute reperfusion injury. We hypothesized that mitoprotection during revascularization would ameliorate PTRA-induced renal mitochondrial injury, reflected in elevated urinary mtDNA copy numbers and improve blood pressure and functional outcomes 3 months later. Methods We prospectively measured urinary copy number of the mtDNA genes COX3 and ND1 using qPCR in RVH patients before and 24 hrs after PTRA, performed during IV infusion of vehicle (n = 8) or the mitoprotective drug elamipretide (ELAM, 0.05 mg/kg/h, n = 6). Five healthy volunteers (HV) served as controls. Urinary mtDNA levels were also assessed in RVH and normal pigs (n = 7 each), in which renal mitochondrial structure and density were studied ex-vivo. Results Baseline urinary mtDNA levels were elevated in all RVH patients vs HV and directly correlated with serum creatinine levels. An increase in urinary mtDNA 24 hours after PTRA was blunted in PTRA+ELAM vs PTRA+Placebo. Furthermore, 3-months after PTRA, systolic blood pressure decreased and estimated glomerular filtration rate increased only in ELAM-treated subjects. In RVH pigs, mitochondrial damage was observed using electron microscopy in tubular cells and elevated urinary mtDNA levels correlated inversely with renal mitochondrial density. Conclusions PTRA leads to an acute rise in urinary mtDNA, reflecting renal mitochondrial injury that in turn inhibits renal recovery. Mitoprotection might minimize PTRA-associated mitochondrial injury and improve renal outcomes after revascularization.
High-Frequency Stimulation on Skeletal Muscle Maintenance in Female Cachectic Mice.

Cancer cachexia, an unintentional body weight loss due to cancer, affects patients' survival, quality of life, and response to chemotherapy. Although exercise training is a promising intervention to prevent and treat cancer cachexia, our mechanistic understanding of cachexia's effect on contraction-induced muscle adaptation has been limited to the examination of male mice. Because sex can affect muscle regeneration and response to contraction in humans and mice, the effect of cachexia on the female response to eccentric contraction warrants further investigation. Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether high-frequency electric stimulation (HFES) could attenuate muscle mass loss during the progression of cancer cachexia in female tumor-bearing mice. Methods Female wild-type (WT) and Apc (Min) mice (16-18 wk old) performed either repeated bouts or a single bout of HFES (10 sets of 6 repetitions, ~22 min), which eccentrically contracts the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle. TA myofiber size, oxidative capacity, anabolic signaling, and catabolic signaling were examined. Results Min had reduced TA muscle mass and type IIa and type IIb fiber sizes compared with WT. HFES increased the muscle weight and the mean cross-sectional area of type IIa and type IIb fibers in WT and Min mice. HFES increased mTOR signaling and myofibrillar protein synthesis and attenuated cachexia-induced AMPK activity. HFES attenuated the cachexia-associated decrease in skeletal muscle oxidative capacity. Conclusion HFES in female mice can activate muscle protein synthesis through mTOR signaling and repeated bouts of contraction can attenuate cancer-induced muscle mass loss.
Cholinergic rescue of neurocognitive insult following third-trimester equivalent alcohol exposure in rats

Abstract Neonatal ethanol exposure during the third trimester equivalent of human pregnancy in the rat significantly impairs hippocampal and prefrontal neurobehavioral functioning. Postnatal day [PD] 4–9 ethanol exposure in rats disrupts long-term context memory formation, resulting in abolished post-shock and retention test freezing in a variant of contextual fear conditioning called the Context Preexposure Facilitation Effect (CPFE). This behavioral impairment is accompanied by disrupted medial prefrontal, but not dorsal hippocampal expression of the immediate early genes (IEGs) c-Fos, Arc, Egr-1, and Npas4 (Heroux, Robinson-Drummer, Kawan, Rosen, & Stanton, 2019). The current experiment examined if systemic administration of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine (PHY) prior to context learning would rescue prefrontal IEG expression and freezing in the CPFE. From PD4-9, Long-Evans rats received oral intubation of ethanol (EtOH; 5.25 g/kg/day) or sham-intubation (SI). Rats received a systemic injection of saline (SAL) or PHY (0.01 mg/kg) prior to all three phases (Experiment 1) or just context exposure (Experiment 2) in the CPFE from PD31-33. A subset of rats were sacrificed 30 min after context learning to assay changes in IEG expression in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), dorsal hippocampus (dHPC), and ventral hippocampus (vHPC). Administration of PHY prior to all three phases or just context learning rescued both post-shock and retention test freezing in the CPFE in EtOH rats without altering performance in SI rats. EtOH-SAL rats had significantly reduced mPFC but not dHPC expression of c-Fos, Arc, Egr-1, and Npas4. EtOH-PHY treatment rescued mPFC expression of c-Fos in ethanol-exposed rats and increased Arc and Npas4 regardless of dosing condition. While there was no effect of PHY on dHPC or vHPC expression of Arc, Egr-1, or Npas4, this treatment significantly boosted hippocampal expression of c-Fos regardless of ethanol treatment. These findings implicate impaired cholinergic and prefrontal function in cognitive deficits arising from 3rd-trimester equivalent alcohol exposure.
Internal Logics of Control: A Study of the Relationship between Internal and External CSR in China

We investigate the relationship between internal and external corporate social responsibilities (CSR)–voluntary provision of employee insurance and corporate charitable contribution–that benefit in...
Abstract P188: Electrical Stimulation of Sub-Diaphragmatic Vagal Trunk Alleviates Hypertension in the SHR

Introduction: The vagus facilitates a bidirectional gut-brain communication. Low vagal tone is shown in conditions marked by inflammation and dysbiosis, including hypertension (HTN). However, the r...
Migration routes, foraging behavior, and site fidelity of loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta ) satellite tracked from a globally important rookery

The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, USA (27.946°N, − 80.494°W) represents one of the largest loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting sites in the Western Hemisphere. Surprisingly, little work has been conducted to determine females’ post-nesting migratory behavior and characteristics of their foraging areas. Between 2008 and 2017, satellite telemetry was used to trace the locations and movements of 45 post-nesting loggerhead turtles. A switching state-space model was employed to estimate the behavioral state of each location. Internesting, migrating and foraging activity periods were determined for 38 loggerheads based on the SSSM. Seven environmental variables were extracted from remote sensing imagery for each location to compare values among behaviors. Core primary foraging areas ranged in size from 5.89 to 4572.80 km2. Four foraging types (primary, secondary, seasonal, and loops) were observed. Most turtles resided at a primary foraging area year round. A few individuals conducted foraging loops away from a primary foraging area. Both seasonal and loop movements were associated with changes in sea surface temperature as turtles moved to avoid temperatures that could cause cold-stunning or mortality. Turtle size and nesting beach offshore currents may play a role in foraging area selection, and date of departure from the nesting beach may be linked to foraging destination. By making the connection among oceanic features, foraging areas, and the influence of environmental variables on these areas, it is possible to identify and characterize critically important feeding areas and migration corridors for loggerheads nesting on the east coast of Florida.
Dynamics in a stably stratified tilted square cavity

The dynamics of a fluid flow in a differentially heated square container is investigated numerically. Two opposite conducting walls are maintained at constant temperatures, one hot and the other cold, and the other two walls are insulated. When the conducting walls are horizontal with the lower one cold, the static linearly stratified state is stable. When the container is tilted, the static equilibrium ceases to exist and the fluid flows due to the baroclinic torque arising from the bending of isotherms near the tilted insulated walls. This flow is found to be steady for tilt angles less than , the nature of the instability changes, corresponding to that of the well-studied laterally heated cavity flow.
Chapter e59 – Identity Theft

This chapter focuses on identity manipulation tactics in email and Web pages. It describes the effects of features ranging from URL plausibility to trust endorsement graphics on a population of 398 subjects. The experiment presents these trust indicators in a variety of stimuli, since reactions vary according to context. In addition to testing specific features, the test gauges the potential of a tactic that spoofs third-party contractors rather than a brand itself. The results show that indeed graphic design can change authenticity evaluations and that its impact varies with context. We expected that authenticity-inspiring design changes would have the opposite effect when paired with an unreasonable request, but our data suggest that narrative strength, rather than underlying legitimacy, limits the impact of graphic design on trust and that these authenticity-inspiring design features improve trust in both legitimate and illegitimate media. Thus, it is not what is said that matters but how it is said: An eloquently stated unreasonable request is more convincing than a poorly phrased but quite reasonable request.
Gene Embeddings of Complex network (GECo) and hypertension disease gene classification

Diseases such as hypertension, cancer, and diabetes are the causes of nearly 70% of the deaths in the U.S. Such complex diseases involve multiple genes and their interactions with environmental factors. Therefore, identification of genetic factors to understand and decrease the morbidity rates of those complex diseases is an important and challenging task. With the generation of an unprecedented amount of multi-omics datasets, network-based methods have become popular to represent the multilayered complex molecular interactions. Particularly network embeddings, the low-dimensional representations of nodes in a network are utilized for gene function prediction. Most of the network embedding methods, however, could not integrate multiple types of datasets from genes and phenotypes. This is an important limitation as multi-omics data integration alleviates the issues due to missing data and lack of context-specific data. To address this limitation, we developed a network embedding algorithm named GECo that can utilize multilayered heterogeneous networks of genes and phenotypes. We evaluated the performance of GECo using genotypic and phenotypic datasets of the model organism Rattus norvegicus to classify hypertension disease related genes. Our method significantly outperformed the state-of-the-art network embedding methods by 94.97% AUC in prediction where the second-best performer achieved 85.98% AUC.
Commentary on De Souza and Lokan (2019)

This contribution is a brief commentary on the paper "Hypermetrical Irregularity in Sonata Form: A Corpus Study" by Jonathan De Souza and David Lokan. The original paper explores the hypothesis that in a sonata form, the development is more hypermetrically stable than the exposition. The published data support the hypothesis. The commentary suggests other paths for discussion and further tweaks to the study that may better show how data support or contradict De Souza and Lokan's intuitions.
Small pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: Resect or enucleate?

Abstract Background The aim of this analysis is to compare the postoperative outcomes of resection and enucleation of small pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs). Methods The 2014-17 American College of Surgeons-NSQIP dataset was queried. Patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy (N = 297) or distal pancreatectomy (N = 712) for nonfunctional, small PNETs (T1/T2) were compared to 127 patients (11%) who were enucleated. Results Operative time (170 vs 261, p Conclusions Enucleation of PNETs is performed in only 11% of patients, but takes less time, requires fewer transfusions, and is associated with reduced morbidity and shorter length of stay than resection.
Effects of stewardship on protected area effectiveness for coastal birds

Evaluation of protected area effectiveness is critical for conservation of biodiversity. Protected areas that prioritize biodiversity conservation are, optimally, located and managed in ways that support relatively large and stable or increasing wildlife populations. Yet evaluating conservation efficacy remains a challenging endeavor. We used an extensive community science data set, eBird, to evaluate the efficacy of protected areas for birds across the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts of the United States. We modeled trends (2007-2018) for 12 vulnerable waterbirds that use coastal areas during breeding or wintering. We compared two types of protected areas-sites where conservation organizations implemented active stewardship or management or both to reduce human disturbance (hereafter stewardship sites) and local, state, federal, and private protected areas managed to maintain natural land cover (hereafter protected areas)-as well as unprotected areas. We evaluated differences in trends between stewardship, protected, and unprotected areas across the Gulf and Atlantic coasts as a whole. Similar to a background sample, stewardship was known to occur at stewardship sites, but unknown at protected and unprotected areas. Four of 12 target species-Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger), Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), Least Tern (Sternula antillarum), and Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)-had more positive trends (two to 34 times greater) at stewardship sites than protected areas. Furthermore, five target species showed more positive trends at sites with stewardship programs than unprotected sites during at least one season, whereas seven species showed more positive trends at protected than unprotected areas. No species had more negative trends at stewardship sites than unprotected areas, and two species had more negative trends at protected than unprotected areas. Anthropogenic disturbance is a serious threat to coastal birds, and our findings demonstrate that stewardship to reduce its negative impacts helps ensure conservation of vulnerable waterbirds.
Sensitization detection of aluminum alloy based on the resonant parameters of surface bonded piezoelectric wafer active sensor (PWAS)

Sensitization is a process that changes the microstructures of certain metal alloys, making them more susceptible to corrosion. In order to properly maintain and extend the life of structural components made of such materials, it is critical to develop in-situ SHM techniques to monitor the sensitization development on a continues base. This paper explores the influence of the sensitization on the resonant parameters of piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWASs) bonded on samples underwent sensitization development. To differentiate the influence of sensitization and adhesive property changes, two different aluminum alloys, one sensitizes, and the other does not, were selected as the test and reference materials. The Nitric Acid Mass Loss Tests (NAMLT) of these materials confirmed that heat treatment (HT) at 80oC produced a gradual and approximately linear sensitization rate in the test material. On the other hand, the reference material showed negligible degree of sensitization (DoS). The specimens, with a PWAS bonded at the center, were heat treated and the EMI signatures of the PWASs were acquired at different HT durations. A digital signal processing algorithm was implemented to perform time-frequency analysis of the EMI signals, allowing the identification of the ultrasound propagation modes and the detailed analysis of the resonant phases. Different resonant parameters, such as the maximum amplitude, the rise time, and the frequency, were studied with respect to the HT durations. The experimental results demonstrated that changes of the resonant parameters, including the rise time and the maximum amplitude of the low and high frequency resonances can be correlated linearly to the DoS of the test material. In comparison, the changes of these parameters for the PWASs bonded on the reference material is much smaller. These results suggest that the resonance parameters of the surface bonded PWASs are sensitive to microstructural changes.
The Power of Narrative in the Quest for Diversity and Inclusion

Narrative is a necessary and powerful leadership tool for those working to advance equity and inclusion in our profession. While statisticians will always have an affinity and reliance on data, I submit that “Data or Narrative” is a false choice. The two can and must be employed together throughout the transformation process.
The ethics of researching unethical images: A story of trying to do good research without doing bad things

Abstract In this article, I tell the story of my research on the topic of “strangershots,’ which are photographs of strangers taken, shared, and mocked online without their subjects’ knowledge or consent. I interweave a narrative of how I conducted my strangershots research with the argument that researchers must develop situationally and ethically responsive methods for working with user-generated digital images. This argument focuses on two of the many ethical quandaries that haunt our efforts to research and write about unethical digital images: looking and sharing. I begin by describing these specific ethical quandaries and providing concrete examples of them from my own research experiences. I then offer actionable strategies for addressing these quandaries. To address ethical problems of looking, I offer the process-oriented methodological strategy of one-and-done data collection. To address ethical problems of sharing, I offer the dual circulation-oriented strategies of asking image subjects for consent and of deploying “ethical ekphrasis,” or intentional description, in place of image reproduction.
Non-pharmacological sleep interventions for adult patients in intensive care Units: A systematic review

Abstract Objectives To synthesize and evaluate current non-pharmacological sleep interventions for critically ill adult patients in intensive care units and provide recommendations for future studies of non-pharmacological means of improving this population’s sleep quality. Research Methodology/Design The literature search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Seven databases CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, Medline, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus and three keywords, sleep, intervention and intensive care unit were employed. All possible combinations of the keywords and similar words were considered. Included studies were primary studies, involved adult intensive care unit patients, focused on non-pharmacological sleep interventions, measured subjective and/or objective sleep quality and were published in English between January 2010 and September 2020. Results The 20 included studies examined different types of non-pharmacological sleep interventions involving use of earplugs, an eye mask, white noise, music, aromatherapy, massage, acupressure, light intensity, a sleep hygiene protocol, quiet time and minimization of nursing care. Of 18 studies employing an experimental design, most reported that non-pharmacological interventions improved sleep quality. All these interventions involved environmental factors or complementary relaxation strategies. Conclusions Non-pharmacological sleep interventions can have a positive influence on sleep quality in critically ill patients, but more research is needed to determine their effectiveness.
Integration of scientific and local expertise to develop risk assessments for nearshore species at different spatial scales

Abstract The U.S West Coast states currently set harvest caps to manage fishery stocks in state waters based on federal stock assessments that combine data from larger areas of the coast. Local catch and stock condition information are not well incorporated into coastwide assessment models to reflect smaller-scale processes that are often important to local fisheries, and some nearshore species have not been assessed. This can lead to a mismatch of local resource status and catch limits. We gathered local information on nearshore fishes in Oregon, USA, to contribute to a multi-scale Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis (PSA), an expert opinion-based model that combines information about the productivity of a stock with its susceptibility to fishing activities, habitat degradation, and other factors. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) has developed PSAs for federally managed stocks on a coastwide scale, largely to provide initial information on the relative vulnerabilities of many data-poor species. Our research sought local expertise on questions related to susceptibility to develop a PSA for nearshore species at smaller spatial scales in Oregon, USA. We combined published biological data for ten nearshore species with information obtained from fishermen during a series of outreach meetings and an online survey. We found that our PSA results generally matched those generated for West Coast stocks, but with somewhat lower vulnerability scores provided by the local data. We also found some key differences among survey regions and between the coastwide vulnerability ratings and smaller spatial scale ratings, reflecting the influence that local user-based information can have on the results of the model. While PSA provides only general information on vulnerability and stock status, it can be useful to identify important local differences in stock susceptibility to fishing or other impacts that may be lost when stocks are monitored and managed at larger scales.
Exploring Trends on Coupling Mechanisms toward C3 Product Formation in CO(2)R

Challenges in improving catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction require a clear understanding of the reaction mechanisms that lead to products of higher value. In this work, we use density func...
The catalytic activity of thermal polyanhydro- alpha-amino acids for the hydrolysis of p- nitrophenyl acetate - Catalysis by thermal polyamino acids.

Catalytic effect of thermal polyanhydro-alpha- amino acids on hydrolysis of p-nitrophenylacetate, noting role of histidine residues
Computational Experience and the Explanatory Value of Condition Measures for Linear Optimization

The modern theory of condition measures for convex optimization problems was initially developed for convex problems in the conic format \[ (\mathrm{CP}_d)\qquad \ z_*:= \min_x \{c^t x | Ax-b \in C_Y, x \in C_X \}, \] and several aspects of the theory have now been extended to handle nonconic formats as well. In this theory, the (Renegar) condition measure $C(d)$ for $({\rm CP}_d)$ has been shown to be connected to bounds on a wide variety of behavioral and computational characteristics of $({\rm CP}_d)$, from sizes of optimal solutions to the complexity of algorithms for solving $({\rm CP}_d)$. Herein we test the practical relevance of the condition measure theory, as applied to linear optimization problems that one might typically encounter in practice. Using the NETLIB suite of linear optimization problems as a test bed, we found that 71% of the NETLIB suite problem instances have infinite condition measure. In order to examine condition measures of the problems that are the actual input to a modern interior-point-method (IPM) solver, we also computed condition measures for the NETLIB suite problems after preprocessing by CPLEX 7.1. Here we found that 19% of the postprocessed problem instances in the NETLIB suite have infinite condition measure, and that log C(d) of the postprocessed problems is fairly nicely distributed. Furthermore, among those problem instances with finite condition measure after preprocessing, there is a positive linear relationship between IPM iterations and log C(d) of the postprocessed problem instances (significant at the 95% confidence level), and 42% of the variation in IPM iterations among these NETLIB suite problem instances is accounted for by log C(d) of the postprocessed problem instances.