cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Life history constrains biochemical development in the highly specialized odontocete echolocation system

The vertebrate head has undergone enormous modification from the features borne by early ancestors. The growth of skull bones has been well studied in many species, yet little is known about corresponding soft tissue development. Among mammals, some of the most unusual examples of cranial evolution exist in the toothed whales (odontocetes). Specialized fat bodies in toothed whale heads play important roles in sound transmission and reception. These fat bodies contain unique endogenous lipids, with favourable acoustic properties, arranged in highly organized, three-dimensional patterns. We link variation in developmental rates of acoustic fats with life-history strategy, using bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises. Porpoise acoustic fats attain adult configurations earlier (less than 1 year) and at a faster pace than dolphins. The accelerated lipid accumulation in porpoises reflects the earlier need for fully functional echolocation systems. Dolphins enjoy 3–6 years of maternal care; porpoises must achieve total independence by approximately nine months. Further, a stereotypic ‘blueprint’ for the spatial distribution of lipids is established prior to birth, demonstrating the highly conserved nature of the intricate biochemical arrangement in acoustic tissues. This system illustrates an unusual case of soft tissue development being constrained by life history, rather than the more commonly observed mechanistic or phyletic constraints.
Risk factors for venous thromboembolism

Until the 1990s, venous thromboembolism (VTE) was viewed primarily as a complication of hospitalization for major surgery (or associated with the late stage of terminal illness). However, recent trials in patients hospitalized with a wide variety of acute medical illnesses have demonstrated a risk of VTE in medical patients comparable with that seen after major general surgery. In addition, epidemiologic studies have shown that between one quarter and one half of all clinically recognized symptomatic VTEs occur in individuals who are neither hospitalized nor recovering from a major illness. This expanding understanding of the population at risk challenges physicians to carefully examine risk factors for VTE to identify high-risk patients who could benefit from prophylaxis. Factors sufficient by themselves to prompt physicians to consider VTE prophylaxis include major surgery, multiple trauma, hip fracture, or lower extremity paralysis because of spinal cord injury. Additional risk factors, such as previous VTE, increasing age, cardiac or respiratory failure, prolonged immobility, presence of central venous lines, estrogens, and a wide variety of inherited and acquired hematological conditions contribute to an increased risk for VTE. These predisposing factors are seldom sufficient by themselves to justify the use of prophylaxis. Nevertheless, individual risk factors, or combinations thereof, can have important implications for the type and duration of appropriate prophylaxis and should be carefully reviewed to assess the overall risk of VTE in each patient.
Expanding the concept of chemically programmable antibodies to RNA aptamers: chemically programmed biotherapeutics.

Chemically programmed antibodies represent a new class of biologic drugs that acquire their specificity through chemistry rather than through biology. To date, this approach has used small molecules and peptides to direct targeting and to extend the pharmacokinetics and otherwise enhance the biological function of the small molecule or peptide through Fc-based mechanisms of the antibody. However, other classes of therapeutically active molecules, such as aptamers, should benefit from antibody conjugation and the chemically programmed antibody approach. Aptamers are structured nucleic acid ligands often selected using the ‘selective evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment’ (SELEX) procedure. Although aptamers are a promising class of therapeutics because of their excellent binding and inhibitory properties, only a single VEGF-targeting aptamer is an approved drug. For in vivo applications, aptamers suffer from low chemical stability (these molecules are readily degraded by nucleases in serum) and poor pharmacokinetic properties (circulatory half lives are on the order of several minutes). Nuclease resistance can be enhanced significantly by incorporating 2’ ribose modified nucleobases; 2’-O-methyl modified oligonucleotides have acceptable serum stabilities. Other oligonucleotide modifications are also being explored to solve this difficult problem.Here, we demonstrate for the first time site-specific conjugation of an aptamer to the aldolase antibody 38C2 to produce aptamer programmed cpAbs. Conjugation of the VEGF-targeting aptamer ARC245 to the well-characterized chemically programmable antibody 38C2 resulted in a biologically active aptamer-antibody conjugate that had significantly increased functional affinity and circulatory half-life as compared to the free aptamer. The aptamer-cpAb strategy developed here should be general and readily transferable to other aptamers. Aptamer-based cpAbs of the type developed here represent a promising new class of aptamer immunotherapeutics that combine the favourable characteristics of aptamers with those of antibodies.
Bupivacaine Bolus Injection Versus Placebo for Pain Management Following Total Knee Arthroplasty

Following surgery, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients experience considerable pain. All available effective analgesia agents produce some unwanted side effects. Sixty consenting elective TKA patients were randomized to receive bupivacaine 20 mL 0.5% (100 mg) or 20 mL normal saline injected into the joint space after capsule closure. Patients were interviewed up to 24 hours after surgery for pain and pain relief. Narcotic usage was recorded. The bupivacaine group had lower pain scores and reduced narcotics during the 24-hour period, with a 23-minute shorter time to discharge from the postanesthesia care unit than the placebo group (P = .02). Although a bupivacaine bolus injected at capsule closure results in decreased pain levels (P = .07) and narcotic consumption (P = .09), it is not statistically significantly better than placebo.
Charge transfer complexes of N‐ethylcarbazole and poly‐N‐vinylcarbazole

Poly-N-vinylcarbazole and its monomeric analog, i.e., N-ethylcarbazole, act as donors in charge transfer complexes with such electron acceptors as iodine, tetracyanoethylene, and tetracyanoquinodimethane. Poly-N-vinylcarbazole and N-ethylcarbazole are also capable of accepting electrons from an alkali metal such as sodium. A study of the spectral properties of both types of complexes showed that the monomer can both accept and donate electrons to a greater extent than the corresponding unit segment of the polymer chain. Equilibrium constants are presented for both cases, and estimates of the ionization potential of N-ethylcarbazole and related compounds are made from the characteristic charge transfer frequencies. Good agreement between these values and those calculated from molecular orbital theory is outlined.
An efficient physically-based MOSFET model for RF circuit design

A physically-based non-quasi-static (NQS) MOSFET model has been derived to provide accurate response at high frequencies for deep-submicron devices and long-channel power devices. The model is valid over a wide range of device dimensions and different operating conditions. The model has been evaluated by the comparison of the 50-/spl Omega/ S parameters obtained by using Berkeley SPICE3 with those measured experimentally.
Correlation of Aeromagnetics and Aeroradioactivity with Lithology in the Spotsylvania Area, Virginia

The U.S. Geological Survey made a detailed aeromagnetic and aeroradioactivity survey of 1050 sq mi of the Spotsylvania area in the Piedmont province of eastern Virginia. The study area consists of sixteen 7½ -minute quadrangles in Spotsylvania and adjoining counties, Virginia. East-west traverses were flown at a spacing of ½ mi and a flight elevation of 500 ft above ground. Geophysical data were compiled at a scale of 1:24,000, with a contour interval of 25 gammas for the magnetics and 25 counts per sec for the aeroradioactivity. The geophysical data were checked in the field, and a lithologic map was made. Correlation is excellent between geophysical data and lithologic units, and it is evident that good detailed aeromagnetic and aeroradioactivity maps can provide appreciable shortcuts in mapping an area such as the Piedmont, where lithologies are complex and outcrops sparse. Radioactivity highs are generally associated with magnetic lows, and more importantly, for purposes of geologic interpretation where the magnetic expression is flat and featureless, there is considerable radioactivity detail for geologic guidance. By using the two geophysical maps in conjunction, the geology between widely spaced outcrops can be worked out. In the study area, high radioactivity and low magnetic intensity characterize granitic rocks, many of which were not previously mapped. Mafic bodies are characterized by high magnetic values and low radioactivity. Much of the area is underlain by a sequence of metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks having alternating quartz-muscovite and maġnetiferous chlorite-actinolite assemblages.
Extensional equivalence and singleton types

We study the λΠΣS≤ calculus, which contains singleton types S(M) classifying terms of base type provably equivalent to the term M. The system includes dependent types for pairs and functions (Σ and Π) and a subtyping relation induced by regarding singletons as subtypes of the base type. The decidability of type checking for this language is non-obvious, since to type check we must be able to determine equivalence of well-formed terms. But in the presence of singleton types, the provability of an equivalence judgment Γ ⊢ M1 ≡M2 : A can depend both on the typing context Γ and on the particular type A at which M1 and M2 are compared.We show how to prove decidability of term equivalence, hence of type checking, in λΠΣS≤ by exhibiting a type-directed algorithm for directly computing normal forms. The correctness of normalization is shown using an unusual variant of Kripke logical relations organized around sets; rather than defining a logical equivalence relation, we work directly with (subsets of) the corresponding equivalence classes.We then provide a more efficient algorithm for checking type equivalence without constructing normal forms. We also show that type checking, subtyping, and all other judgments of the system are decidable.The λΠΣS≤ calculus models type constructors and kinds in the intermediate language used by the TILT compiler for Standard ML to implement the SML module system. The decidability of λΠΣS≤ term equivalence allows us to show decidability of type checking for TILT's intermediate language. We also obtain a consistency result that allows us to prove type safety for the intermediate language. The algorithms derived here form the core of the type checker used for internal type checking in TILT.
Enrichment-based DNA methylation analysis using next-generation sequencing: sample exclusion, estimating changes in global methylation, and the contribution of replicate lanes

Background DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mark and dysregulation of DNA methylation is associated with many diseases including cancer. Advances in next-generation sequencing now allow unbiased methylome profiling of entire patient cohorts, greatly facilitating biomarker discovery and presenting new opportunities to understand the biological mechanisms by which changes in methylation contribute to disease. Enrichment-based sequencing assays such as MethylCap-seq are a cost effective solution for genome-wide determination of methylation status, but the technical reliability of methylation reconstruction from raw sequencing data has not been well characterized.
CARBON AND OXYGEN ISOTOPIC RATIOS: A DATA BASE FOR CLASSICAL GREEK AND ROMAN MARBLE

An isotopic data base of δ13C and δ18O analyses of 528 samples collected from 39 classical Greek and Roman quarries of Turkey, Greece, Italy and Tunisia has been accumulated. The discriminative possibilities of the data base vary from quarry to quarry. Most quarries have a distinctive pattern for either or both variables, but some have more than one grouping. The data also overlap for many quarries preventing a unique provenance assignment. If the alternatives are known so that the total pool of possible sources is reduced, the data base can then discriminate and assign a provenance for most classical marble artifacts.
The EdD v2.0

Let there be no mistake. With almost 200 programs churning out more than 7,000 educational doctorates per year, the field of education is awash in a tsunami of mediocrity that cripples the discipline. Debate of the relative merits of Ph.D.s and Ed.D.s masks the true nature of the problem – the prevalence of doctoral programs that lack the rigor, will, and resources to create intellectual leaders and to ensure honest and well–articulated debate over the future of educational theory and practice. This chapter examines the practical consequences of the increased number of Ed.D.s and Ph.D.s in education and suggests that fundamental changes in graduate education studies are needed if the quality of advanced degrees in education is to be improved.
Parallel preconditioners for monolithic solution of shear bands

Shear bands are one of the most fascinating instabilities in metals that occur under high strain rates. They describe narrow regions, on the order of micron scales, where plastic deformations and significant heating are localized which eventually leads to fracture nucleation and failure of the component.In this work shear bands are described by a set of four strongly coupled thermo-mechanical equations discretized by a mixed finite element formulation. A thermo-viscoplastic flow rule is used to model the inelastic constitutive law and finite thermal conductivity is prescribed which gives rise to an inherent physical length scale, governed by competition of shear heating and thermal diffusion. The residual equations are solved monolithically by a Newton type method at every time step and have been shown to yield mesh insensitive result. The Jacobian of the system is sparse and has a nonsymmetric block structure that varies with the different stages of shear bands formation.The aim of the current work is to develop robust parallel preconditioners to GMRES in order to solve the resulting Jacobian systems efficiently. The main idea is to design Schur complements tailored to the specific block structure of the system and that account for the varying stages of shear bands.We develop multipurpose preconditioners that apply to standard irreducible discretizations as well as our recent work on isogeometric discretizations of shear bands.The proposed preconditioners are tested on benchmark examples and compared to standard state of practice solvers such as GMRES/ILU and LU direct solvers. Nonlinear and linear iterations counts as well as CPU times and computational speedups are reported and it is shown that the proposed preconditioners are robust, efficient and outperform traditional state of the art solvers.
Photocleavage of Poly(methyl acrylate) with Centrally Located o-Nitrobenzyl Moiety: Influence of Environment on Kinetics

We characterized the kinetics of a photocleavable o-nitrobenzyl (ONB)-modified poly(methyl acrylate) in solution and in film. Using atom transfer radical polymerization, a single photolabile ONB group was incorporated into the center of the polymer chain, resulting in a clearly defined photoresponse. The photocleavage behavior was characterized in three difference solvents and in film, and it was fit to an exponential model. The dependence of the reaction rate constants and quantum efficiency on the interaction parameter between the solvent and the polymer (χ12) and the molecular weight was investigated. Interestingly, as χ12 decreased, the reaction rate increased and the quantum efficiency increased.
Visual quality controls in highway design

If he is to locate and design highways of good visual quality, the highway designer needs: (1) A sound philosophy of design; (2) principles of visual quality; (3) tools and techniques to visually test the design prior to construction; and (4) a suitable design process which allows him to fully exploit items 1 through 3. A brief consideration of each of the preceding elements is presented. Included in the paper are: rules of alignment coordination; illustrations of highway designs showing good and poor visual quality; examples of computer-drawn perspectives of highways and suggested scales for physical models which are used as aids in visualizing the design in its early stages; and a suggested design process. Language: en
Interventional Molecular Imaging

Although molecular imaging has had a dramatic impact on diagnostic imaging, it has only recently begun to be integrated into interventional procedures. Its significant impact is attributed to its ability to provide noninvasive, physiologic information that supplements conventional morphologic imaging. The four major interventional opportunities for molecular imaging are, first, to provide guidance to localize a target; second, to provide tissue analysis to confirm that the target has been reached; third, to provide in-room, posttherapy assessment; and fourth, to deliver targeted therapeutics. With improved understanding and application of(18)F-FDG, as well as the addition of new molecular probes beyond(18)F-FDG, the future holds significant promise for the expansion of molecular imaging into the realm of interventional procedures.
Commentary on Sandberg et al., "The In Vivo Chromosome Constitution of Marrow".

See related article by Sandberg et al., [Cancer Res 1961;21:678–89][1] . Visit the Cancer Research 75th Anniversary [timeline][2]. German pathologists in the late nineteenth century appear to have been the first to publish observations of mitotic abnormalities in many types of human cancers and
Targeted for Diffusion? How the Use and Acceptance of Stereotypes Shape the Diffusion of Criminal Justice Policy Innovations in the American States

This article explores the diffusion of criminal justice policy in the American states. Drawing on policy design theory, I code newspaper coverage of 44 criminal justice policies adopted across state governments from 1960–2008, identifying the image and power of target populations—the group singled out for special treatment under law. I test whether electoral pressure leads governments to disproportionally emulate innovations that reinforce popular stereotypes regarding who is entitled to policy benefits or deserving of policy burdens. I find strong support for this theory: State governments are more likely to adopt innovations that extend benefits to strong, popular, and powerful target populations or that impose burdens on weak and politically marginalized groups. This bias can be explained by pressures for responsive policy making, as my findings indicate that it is the national salience of the crime problem—but not the competitiveness or timing of state elections—that influences state adoption of popular “law and order” policy innovations.
Improving Orthorectification of UAV-Based Push-Broom Scanner Imagery Using Derived Orthophotos From Frame Cameras

Low-cost unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) are emerging as a promising platform for remote-sensing data acquisition to satisfy the needs of wide range of applications. Utilizing UAVs, which are equipped with directly georeferenced RGB-frame cameras and hyperspectral push-broom scanners, for precision agriculture and high-throughput phenotyping is an important application that is gaining significant attention from researchers in the mapping and plant science fields. The advantages of UAVs as mobile-mapping platforms include low cost, ease of storage and deployment, ability to fly lower and collect high-resolution data, and filling an important gap between wheel-based and manned-airborne platforms. However, limited endurance and payload are the main disadvantages of consumer-grade UAVs. These limitations lead to the adoption of low-quality direct georeferencing and imaging systems, which in turn will impact the quality of the delivered products. Thanks to recent advances in sensor calibration and automated triangulation, accurate mapping using low-cost frame imaging systems equipped with consumer-grade georeferencing units is feasible. Unfortunately, the quality of derived geospatial information from push-broom scanners is quite sensitive to the performance of the implemented direct georeferencing unit. This paper presents an approach for improving the orthorectification of hyperspectral push-broom scanner imagery with the help of generated orthophotos from frame cameras using tie point and linear features, while modeling the impact of residual artifacts in the direct georeferencing information. The performance of the proposed approach has been verified through real datasets that have been collected by quadcopter and fixed-wing UAVs over an agricultural field.
Complex magnetism and strong electronic correlations in Ce2PdGe3

Single-crystal x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, heat capacity, and electrical resistivity measurements are reported for the new tetragonal compound ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{2}{\mathrm{PdGe}}_{3}$, which forms in the space group $P{4}_{2}/mmc$ (No. 131)---a relative of the $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{ThSi}}_{2}$-type structure. Measurements reveal a two-part antiferromagnetic phase transition at ${T}_{\mathrm{N},1}=10.7$ K and ${T}_{\mathrm{N},2}=9.6$ K and subsequent ferromagnetlike ordering near ${T}_{\mathrm{C}}\ensuremath{\approx}2.25$ K. The ordered ground state emerges from a lattice of Ce ions that are hybridized with the conduction electrons, as revealed by the enhanced electronic coefficient of the specific heat $\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\approx}50$ ${\mathrm{mJ/mol-Ce-K}}^{2}$ (extrapolated to $T=0$ for $T$ $l$ ${T}_{\mathrm{C}}$). Electronic structure calculations reveal a Fermi surface that includes sheets with distinct nesting vectors. Chemical/structural disorder also plays an important role, as evidenced by results from single-crystal x-ray diffraction, the width of the peaks in the heat capacity at ${T}_{\mathrm{N}}$ and ${T}_{\mathrm{C}}$, and the small residual resistivity ratio $\text{RRR}={\ensuremath{\rho}}_{300\mathrm{K}}/{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{0}=1.8$.
Wind resource development along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior

Abstract Wind development is one of the fastest growing sectors in the energy industry today. Under the right conditions it can be a large and sustainable local economic development opportunity. Current wind resource estimates (i.e. MN DOC) for NE Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal Zone indicate that we have a poor wind resource not suitable for development. However, these wind resource estimates are based primarily on climatological modeling, and are no substitute for site-specific measurements. This project was aimed at achieving three primary objectives: 1. Obtain a minimum of one years worth of quality wind speed data (6/15/2007–6/15/2008) from eight sites (Duluth, Clover Valley, Finland, Lutsen, Grand Marais, Hovland and Grand Portage) along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior; 2. Use this site-specific wind speed data to create a wind resource map for the entire region; 3. Use this wind speed data to conduct community-scale wind development economic feasibility studies. Our results suggest that Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior has far higher wind speeds than past estimates indicate, and we have begun working with several communities in this region on the development of their local wind resource.
Role of Condensation in Aerosol Source Term for Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Containments

During a hypothetical core-disruptive accident (HCDA) in a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR), a considerable amount of radioactive material could be released in an aerosol form within the containment vessel. The role of condensation in influencing the source term in the cover-gas region of a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor was analyzed. A computer program was developed that considers both coagulation and condensation to solve the integro-differential equation governing the aerosol behavior in the cover-gas region. Results presented in this paper for a representative case show that condensation can have a very substantial effect on the particle size distribution in the cover gas and hence on the source term in the containment aerosol behavior computer programs. 14 refs.
Crystal chemistry of uranium oxocompounds: an overview

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses U6+ crystal chemistry in terms of the geometries of the coordination polyhedra and their linkages into extended structures. It is common for uranyl polyhedra to share their equatorial vertices with polyhedra containing other types of cations of higher valence. Where this is the case, the types of linkage are dependent upon both the size of the second polyhedron, and the charge of the central cation. The chapter examines the approaches to understanding and classifying structures containing U6+. With the substantial growth in the number of known structures containing uranyl polyhedra, a hierarchical arrangement of structures that facilitates comparison and that highlights underlying structural relationships is desirable. The goal of a structural hierarchy is to organize a wealth of complex and diverse structures into a cohesive framework. The chapter provides specific coverage for the structures of uranyl oxyhydrates, uranyl silicates, and uranyl carbonates.
Dopamine Agonists Can Reduce Cystic Prolactinomas

Context: Cystic prolactinomas are considered resistant to volume reduction by dopamine agonists (DAs). Although several individual case reports and small case series have suggested that DAs may reduce these lesions, larger series using standardized imaging metrics are lacking. Objective: The objectives of the study were to assess the efficacy of DAs on cyst size in patients with predominantly cystic prolactinomas and to characterize the clinical course and treatment outcomes in these patients. Design: This study was a retrospective review. Setting: The study was conducted at a tertiary referral center. Subjects: The study comprised 30 adults with cystic prolactinomas treated at Massachusetts General Hospital. Intervention(s): The interventions included treatment with Das and transsphenoidal surgery. Main Outcome Measure(s): Cyst volume calculated by a commercial software and pituitary hormone function were measured. Results: Median age was 31.5 years (interquartile range [IR] 24.5–39.2), and 24 of 30 were...
SCALABLE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT SIMULATION ALGORITHMS FOR ENERGY-EFFICIENT TERAFLOP HETEROGENEOUS PARALLEL COMPUTING PLATFORMS

Integrated circuit technology has gone through several decades of aggressive scaling. It is increasingly challenging to analyze growing design complexity. Post-layout SPICE simulation can be computationally prohibitive due to the huge amount of parasitic elements, which can easily boost the computation and memory cost. As the decrease in device size, the circuits become more vulnerable to process variations. Designers need to statistically simulate the probability that a circuit does not meet the performance metric, which requires millions times of simulations to capture rare failure events. Recent, multiprocessors with heterogeneous architecture have emerged as mainstream computing platforms. The heterogeneous computing platform can achieve highthroughput energy efficient computing. However, the application of such platform is not trivial and needs to reinvent existing algorithms to fully utilize the computing resources. This dissertation presents several new algorithms to address those aforementioned two significant and challenging issues on the heterogeneous platform. Harmonic Balance (HB) analysis is essential for efficient verification of large postlayout RF and microwave integrated circuits (ICs). However, existing methods either suffer from excessively long simulation time and prohibitively large memory consumption or exhibit poor stability. This dissertation introduces a novel transient-simulation guided graph sparsification technique, as well as an efficient runtime performance modeling approach tailored for heterogeneous manycore CPU-GPU computing system to build nearly-optimal subgraph preconditioners that can lead to minimum HB simulation runtime. Additionally, we propose a novel heterogeneous parallel sparse block matrix algorithm by taking advantages of the structure of HB Jacobian matrices as well as GPU’s streaming multiprocessors to achieve optimal workload balancing
Effects of increasing the affinity of CarD for RNA polymerase on Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth, rRNA transcription, and virulence

CarD is an essential RNA polymerase (RNAP) interacting protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis that stimulates formation of RNAP-promoter open complexes. CarD plays a complex role in M. tuberculosis growth and virulence that is not fully understood. Therefore, to gain further insight into the role of CarD in M. tuberculosis growth and virulence, we determined the effect of increasing the affinity of CarD for RNAP. Using site-directed mutagenesis guided by crystal structures of CarD bound to RNAP, we identified amino acid substitutions that increase the affinity of CarD for RNAP. Using these substitutions, we show that increasing the affinity of CarD for RNAP increases the stability of the CarD protein in M. tuberculosis In addition, we show that increasing the affinity of CarD for RNAP increases the growth rate in M. tuberculosis without affecting 16S rRNA levels. We further show that increasing the affinity of CarD for RNAP reduces M. tuberculosis virulence in a mouse model of infection despite the improved growth rate in vitro Our findings suggest that the CarD-RNAP interaction protects CarD from proteolytic degradation in M. tuberculosis, establish that growth rate and rRNA levels can be uncoupled in M. tuberculosis and demonstrate that the strength of the CarD-RNAP interaction has been finely tuned to optimize virulence. Importance Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, remains a major global health problem. In order to develop new strategies to battle this pathogen, we must gain a better understanding of the molecular processes involved in its survival and pathogenesis. We have previously identified CarD as an essential transcriptional regulator in mycobacteria. In this study, we detail the effects of increasing the affinity of CarD for RNAP on transcriptional regulation, CarD protein stability, and virulence. These studies expand our understanding of the global transcription regulator CarD, provide insight into how CarD activity is regulated, and broaden our understanding of prokaryotic transcription.
Nitrogen-vacancy centres: New life for hard-disk write heads.

Broadband nitrogen–vacancy centre magnetometry demonstrates how commercial hard-disk write heads may become useful experimental tools for nanoscale applications involving magnetism and magnetic resonance.
A jet-stirred chamber for turbulent combustion experiments

Abstract A new type of jet-stirred chamber (JSC) incorporating multiple impinging turbulent jets is proposed as an apparatus for the study of turbulent premixed flames. ANSYS-FLUENT computations using a RANS - Reynolds Stress Model were used to simulate the flows inside the JSC and identify an optimal configuration of inlet jets and outlet ports providing the most nearly ideal flow, i.e. homogeneous and isotropic with large turbulence intensity compared to the mean velocity. A configuration of 8 jets, each surrounded by a concentric annular outlet, at the corners of an imaginary cube circumscribed by a spherical chamber, produced by far the most nearly optimal flow characteristics. The performance of this configuration, called Concentric Inlet And Outlet (CIAO), was compared quantitatively to two popular fan-stirred chamber (FSC) designs and the CIAO JSC was found to provide far more nearly ideal flow properties. The robustness of the CIAO design was demonstrated by intentionally misaligning the jets or mismatching their flow velocities. A comparison of simulated turbulent flames in CIAO and an FSC showed that CIAO enabled far more nearly spherical expanding flames with nearly the same inferred turbulent burning velocity ( S T ) regardless of the flame radius r f and the value of the mean progress variable ( c ¯ ) used to define the flame location, whereas in the FSC the flame was not nearly as spherical and there was considerable variation of S T depending on r f and c ¯ .
Use of Patient-Specific 3D-Printed Titanium Implants for Complex Foot and Ankle Limb Salvage, Deformity Correction, and Arthrodesis Procedures:

Background:The advancement of 3D printing technology has allowed for the use of custom-designed implants for difficult-to-treat foot and ankle pathologies. This study reports on the radiographic an...
“Oh my god! You have become so Americanized”: Paradoxes of adaptation and strategic ambiguity among female immigrant faculty

ABSTRACTGuided by De La Garza and Ono’s differential adaptation theory, we examine discourses from immigrant women faculty in the U.S. academy. We utilize thematic analysis to analyze interviews with 26 self-identified immigrant faculty members. Our analysis reveals three interrelating themes: negotiating foreign-female body politics, navigating paradoxes of adaptation, and deploying strategic ambiguity. We theorize the notion of “micro/macro-adaptation” describing mundane and cumulative adaptations that cultural “strangers” make, negotiate, and/or are expected to enact, which paradoxically can function to further disorient, alienate, or marginalize them.
Do neuroinflammatory pathways contribute to serotoninergic alterations in autism? p38alpha MAPK signaling drives perturbed serotonin clearance, receptor hypersensitivity, and social behavior deficits in the SERT Ala56 mouse

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder with no FDA approved medications that alleviate core symptoms. Aberrant proinflammatory cytokine signaling involving the interleukin-1 receptor and p38 MAPK have been reported in ASD, a disorder where 25% of subjects exhibit elevated serotonin (5-HT) blood levels (hyperserotonemia). In ASD subjects, we identified functional coding variation in the 5-HT transporter (SERT), mutations that elevate SERT activity and perturb p38 MAPK-dependent transporter regulation. Mice that express the most common of these variants, SERT Ala56, exhibit hyperserotonemia, elevated, p38 MAPK-dependent SERT phosphorylation, increased hippocampal 5-HT clearance, 5-HT receptor hypersensitivity, increased repetitive behavior and disrupted social interactions. Treatment of SERT Ala56 mice with the novel, selective, CNS penetrant, p38alpha MAPK inhibitor, MW150, or conditional elimination of p38alpha MAPK in 5-HT neurons, normalized 5-HT receptor hypersensitivity, elevated 5-HT clearance and social deficits. As p38alpha MAPK signaling supports the IL-1beta and TNF-alpha-induced activation of SERT, our findings suggest that proinflammatory, p38alpha MAPK activation may contribute to ASD risk via a perturbation of 5-HT signaling. Our studies also indicate that p38alpha MAPK may be a relevant target for the pharmacologic treatment of ASD. Funding: This work was supported by NIH grants MH078028, MH094527, NS007491 and U01AG043415. Additional support was provided by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative and the PhRMA Foundation.
Teaching and Learning Celestial Navigation Using Google Maps

We present a method of teaching the basics of celestial navigation, using the Javascript programming interface to Google Maps. This offers the teacher of celestial navigation many highly visual and flexible investigative and presentation options, all using the familiar Google Map system. In this paper, we discuss the programming route to Google Maps, and demonstrate an exercise of correcting the assumed position of a hypothetical lost ship, using sights of the Sun, suitable for classroom use. We also present an analysis of the relationship between the proximity of the assumed to the actual position of the ship, and the outcome of a sight-reduction procedure.
Implications of spatial reservoir uncertainty for CO 2 sequestration in the east Snake River Plain, Idaho (USA)

Basalt-hosted hydrogeologic systems have been proposed for geologic CO2 sequestration based on laboratory research suggesting rapid mineralization rates. However, despite this theoretical appeal, little is known about the impacts of basalt fracture heterogeneity on CO2 migration at commercial scales. Evaluating the suitability of basalt reservoirs is complicated by incomplete knowledge of in-situ fracture distributions at depths required for CO2 sequestration. In this work, a numerical experiment is used to investigate the effects of spatial reservoir uncertainty for geologic CO2 sequestration in the east Snake River Plain, Idaho (USA). Two criteria are investigated: (1) formation injectivity and (2) confinement potential. Several theoretical tools are invoked to develop a field-based approach for geostatistical reservoir characterization and their implementation is illustrated. Geologic CO2 sequestration is simulated for 10 years of constant-rate injection at ~680,000 tons per year and modeled by Monte Carlo simulation such that model variability is a function of spatial reservoir heterogeneity. Results suggest that the spatial distribution of heterogeneous permeability structures is a controlling influence on formation injectivity. Analysis of confinement potential is less conclusive; however, in the absence of confining sedimentary interbeds within the basalt pile, rapid mineralization may be necessary to reduce the risk of escape.
Context-dependent vertical transmission shapes strong endosymbiont community structure in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum.

Animal-associated microbiomes are often comprised of structured, multispecies communities, with particular microbes showing trends of co-occurrence or exclusion. Such structure suggests variable community stability, or variable costs and benefits-possibilities with implications for symbiont-driven host adaptation. In this study, we performed systematic screening for maternally transmitted, facultative endosymbionts of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Sampling across six locales, with up to 5 years of collection in each, netted significant and consistent trends of community structure. Co-infections between Serratia symbiotica and Rickettsiella viridis were more common than expected, while Rickettsia and X-type symbionts colonized aphids with Hamiltonella defensa more often than expected. Spiroplasma co-infected with other endosymbionts quite rarely, showing tendencies to colonize as a single species monoculture. Field estimates of maternal transmission rates help to explain our findings: while Serratia and Rickettsiella improved each other's transmission, Spiroplasma reduced transmission rates of co-infecting endosymbionts. In summary, our findings show that North American pea aphids harbour recurring combinations of facultative endosymbionts. Common symbiont partners play distinct roles in pea aphid biology, suggesting the creation of "generalist" aphids receiving symbiont-based defence against multiple ecological stressors. Multimodal selection, at the host level, may thus partially explain our results. But more conclusively, our findings show that within-host microbe interactions, and their resulting impacts on transmission rates, are an important determinant of community structure. Widespread distributions of heritable symbionts across plants and invertebrates hint at the far-reaching implications for these findings, and our work further shows the benefits of symbiosis research within a natural context.
Investigation of Undergraduate and Graduate Chemistry Students’ Understanding of Thermodynamic Driving Forces in Chemical Reactions and Dissolution

The concept of energy is of central significance, as it is a core disciplinary idea in chemistry and a cross-cutting concept in the sciences. This study sought to investigate student understanding of energetics and associated thermodynamic functions in chemical reactions and processes across a sample of introductory-level undergraduate chemistry students, upper-level undergraduate chemistry students, and physical chemistry graduate students. Participants were interviewed using an interview-about-events protocol, interacting with reagents that underwent chemical reactions or dissolutions. Analysis of the interview data revealed specific student difficulties with content, as well as common reasoning patterns used by students when considering energy changes in observed reactions and processes. Implications for curriculum and instruction are discussed.
Prevalence and predictors of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis due to ceftriaxone-resistant organisms at a large tertiary centre in the USA.

Abstract Objectives The epidemiology of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) due to ceftriaxone-resistant organisms has not been well studied in the USA. The primary objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and predictors of ceftriaxone-resistant SBP at a large US tertiary-care centre. Methods This 1:1:4 case–case–control study included 141 adults with liver cirrhosis admitted from November 2011 to March 2016. Case group 1 were patients with SBP with a ceftriaxone-resistant organism (n = 21). Case group 2 were patients with SBP with a ceftriaxone-susceptible organism (n = 26). The control group were patients without SBP (n = 94). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of ceftriaxone-resistant SBP. Results Fifty isolates were identified from 47 patients with culture-positive SBP (case groups 1 and 2). Of these 50 isolates, 32 (64%) were Gram-negatives [mostly Enterobacteriaceae (91%)], 15 (30%) were Gram-positives and 3 (6%) were Candida spp. The prevalence of ceftriaxone resistance in patients with culture-positive SBP was 45% (21/47). The most common ceftriaxone-resistant organisms were ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae (45%). Independent predictors of ceftriaxone-resistant SBP included duration of β-lactam therapy in the past 90 days (aOR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.01–1.13) and recent invasive gastrointestinal procedure (aOR = 12.47, 95% CI 2.74–56.67). Conclusions The prevalence of ceftriaxone-resistant SBP was significant at a US tertiary centre. Local epidemiological data and identification of risk factors associated with ceftriaxone-resistant SBP, e.g. increased usage of previous β-lactam therapy and invasive gastrointestinal procedure, may help clinicians identify patients requiring alternative empirical antibiotics.
Symmetrizing multiaffine polynomials

Polar forms are n -variate multiaffine symmetric polynomials which are intimately related to B-spline curves. Certain problems in computer aided geometric design produce (non-symmetric) multiaffine polynomials, which can be “symmetrized” to yield the polar form. Any n -variate polynomial can be symmetrized by obtaining it at all possible permutations of its n arguments, and averaging the results. However, for multiaffine polynomials, one may not need to use all n ! permutations. The question then arises: for a given n , what is the smallest set that will symmetrize any n -variate multiaffine polynomial? The main result presented here is that for n ≤ 6, the number of elements in a minimal symmetrizing set is the least common multiple of {( n k )} k .
Biophysical Studies of Interactions of Hirudin Analogs with Bovine and Human Thrombin by ESR and Fluorescence Labelling Studies

The interactions between thrombin and synthetic or natural (polypeptide) inhibitors has been well characterized at the atomic level by x-ray crystallography as evidenced by the spectacular progress outlined elsewhere in this book. In some cases, however, elements of structural disorder in the x-ray picture are clouded by uncertainties as to the origins of this disorder: multiple conformers of the protein crystal packing effects or real conformational changes resulting from the enzyme:inhibitor interaction.
Exothermic Temperature History in the Processing of Resin Infused Composite Structural Components

Resin Infusion Processes such as SCRIMP, VA-RTM, and variations thereof, are increasingly being considered for the fabrication of large structural components such as bridge decks and ship hulls wherein preform elements consist not only of varying fabric architectures but also include foam cores. Based on the method of infusion – high permeability distribution media or resin channels/microgrooves, flow through the preform can be tailored to be either 1-D, 2-D, 3-D or a combination thereof. This paper emphasizes the effect of exothermic temperature history on flow & cure phenomena, and mechanical properties of a series of structural elements ranging from a flat plate to a typical truss-core type structure. The effect of geometry and flow on exothermic characteristics is experimentally monitored, and results correlated to provide guidance in the further use of the process. Critical areas lacking in detailed understanding are identified and a set of preforming and process induced defects that cause changes in thermal history are described.
Computational Implications of Biological Vision: A Gestalt Model of Spatial Perception

A serious crisis is identified in theories of neurocomputation, which has implications for computer models of visual processing inspired by biological vision. The problem is reflected in a persistent disparity between the phenomenological or experiential account of visual perception and the neurophysiological or computational level of description. In particular, conventional concepts of neural processing as well as image processing algorithms offer no explanation for the holistic global aspects of perception identified by Gestalt theory. The problem is paradigmatic, and can be traced to atomistic concepts of computation embodied in the biological notion of neurocomputation, as well as in the paradigm of digital computation. I propose a perceptual modeling approach, i.e. to model the percept as experienced subjectively, rather than the objective neurophysiological state of the visual system that supposedly subserves that experience. A Gestalt Bubble model is presented to demonstrate how the elusive Gestalt principles of emergence, reification, and invariance, can be expressed in a quantitative model of the subjective experience of visual consciousness. That model in turn reveals a unique computational strategy underlying visual processing, which is unlike any algorithm devised by man, and certainly unlike the atomistic feed-forward model of visual processing characteristic of many biological and computer models. The perceptual modeling approach reveals the primary function of perception as that of generating a fully spatial virtual-reality replica of the external world in an internal representation.