cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Brazil's sugarcane boom could affect regional temperatures

With the world seeking to cut its dependence on fossil fuels, the use of bioethanol and other biofuels is on the rise. In Brazil, the second largest producer and consumer of bioethanol, this has led to a boom in sugarcane production. Based on new laws and trade agreements, researchers expect Brazil's production of sugarcane-derived ethanol to increase tenfold over the next decade, with considerable land being converted for growing sugarcane. Much of this expansion is expected to come at a loss of some of the country's cerrado savannas. So while a major aim of the turn to biofuels is to reduce the transfer of carbon to the atmosphere and mitigate global climate change, the shifting agricultural activity could have direct consequences on Brazil's climate by changing the region's physical and biogeochemical properties.
Day-to-day variation in iron-status indexes in elderly women

Day-to-day variability in biochemical indicators of iron status in well-hydrated and healthy women 70-79 y old (n = 10) was determined. Venous blood was collected on 4 nonconsecutive days during a 2-wk period. Analytical (sigma 2 rep) and biological (sigma 2 fd) variance components were computed based on a previously established scheme in younger adults. These two variance components were summed to obtain the total day-to-day variability (sigma 2 fd). Our results indicate that biological variation contributed most to the intraindividual variation. We calculated that sampling once for most iron indexes and twice for plasma transferrin receptors in elderly individuals is adequate to accurately determine these indexes whereas serum iron and transferrin saturation, indexes with high CVfd, require seven and eight measurements, respectively. These data, compared with previously published data in younger adults, demonstrate that aging is associated with a decreased variation in some indexes of iron status such as serum ferritin.
Cognitive Constructs in the Context of Positive Psychology

In this chapter we describe the present state and future possibilities of research on multicultural aspects of cognitive constructs in the context of positive psychology, including other constructs with important cognitive components. The constructs are viewed through the Cultural Lens Approach (Hardin EE, Cultural validity of career theories: a new perspective. In: Hardin EE (Chair), Cultural validity of career theories: a new perspective. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, 2007), which requires scholars to consider the meaning of theories and constructs from within specific cultural perspectives to determine the extent to which the theory and constructs have been operationalized in culturally relevant ways. The chapter reviews relevant constructs drawn from the Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 (Rath T, Strengths Finder 2.0. Gallup Press, New York, 2007) and the Values in Action – Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS; Peterson C, Park N, Seligman MEP, Assessment of character strengths. In: Koocher GP, Norcross JC, Hill SS III (eds) Psychologists’ desk reference, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 93–98, 2005), and important constructs outside these taxonomies.
The Genetics of Sex and Its Consequences

Males and females differ in many ways, but few attempts have ever been made to catalog the differences and even known differences are often overlooked. As pointed out by Shettles (1958) and Childs (1965), there is clear evidence that the female sex is the more vigorous, the male sex the more vulnerable. The life table data for the United States show that at every age males have a higher death rate than females (Table 1). At many ages, the male death rate is over twice that for females. Since this increased mortality occurs in young as well as adult males, it cannot be attributed entirely to greater social or physical stress experienced by men. Though such factors may be present, the underlying male weakness (in a health sense) seems to have a biological basis that is not well understood, though it is well documented.
Harriet Jacobs and the Recirculation of Print Culture

Following a brief introductory paragraph, William Wells Brown reprints two advertisements in the opening to the third chapter of Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States (1853). The advertisements are said to be from newspapers “published in the vicinity” of Natchez, where the character Currer is living, and they attest to the brutality of slaveholders and slavecatchers in the area by showing, as Brown states, “how they catch their negroes” (96). Visually set off from the narrative prose, these advertisements conform to familiar typographic conventions, which include listing the names of the subscribers and the dates of publication at the end of each block of text (see fig. 1). Brown’s novel is littered with reprinted texts such as these—texts that frequently trouble the boundary between the documentary and the literary. Later in this third chapter, there is a long, reprinted account of a lynching sourced from the Natchez Free Trader and another reprinted account that describes the discovery of a runaway slave den in a Southern swamp (98-99). Even while these newspaper items document the historical reality of violence perpetrated against runaway slaves, the chapter ends with Brown precariously asserting that Currer—the fictional character mentioned at the start of the chapter— was present at the lynching described in the first newspaper account. This conclusion presents a jumble of documentary, fictional, reprinted, and original texts all within the space of a page, and Brown’s claim that his fictional character was a witness to a historical event destabilizes the relationship between the reprinted texts and the fictional prose. In the case of Clotel, it seems impossible to decide whether the reprinted texts are an apparatus that serves the fiction or whether the fiction is simply an occasion for the interlacing of diverse source materials. Indeed, this question has been a subject of scholarly debate since the mid-twentieth century; early critics of the novel described the now canonical 1853 edition as a “loosely structured skeleton of a plot” (Heermance 164) by a “limited and pedestrian writer” (Davis xii) while later critics praised the same text as “a stunning example of literary pastiche” (Levine 7) that exhibits Brown’s “brilliant experimentation with literary form” (Fabi xxv). Whether these reprinted texts
The Effect of Lateral Spacing on the Combustion Dynamics and Thermal Structure of an Array of Burning Droplet Streams

Abstract The effect of lateral stream separation distance on the dynamics of flame propagation and thermal structure of a simplified spray flame has been studied. The flame was made up of 300µm average diameter hexane droplets injected through ten droplet streams in a plane, horizontally separated by a distance varying from 1 to 6 mm. Sequential photography was used to document the flame front motion and micro-thermocouples were used to perform measurements of gas-phase temperatures. The reactive flow was characterized by an inlet pre-ignition zone, followed by a bluish partially-premixed flame which acted as the ignition source of the fuel streams. Further downstream, a pattern of yellowish diffusion flames surrounding individual streams or groups of them was established, depending on the lateral separation of the streams. As the lateral spacing of the streams was increased, the vertical region swept by the flame front increased due to an augmentation in the flame propagation unsteadiness associated with...
Late Preterm Birth: A Rising Trend: Part One of a Two‐Part Series

Objectives 1.Identify and classify infants born between 34 and 36 6/7 completed weeks gestation as late preterm. 2.Identify the factors contributing to the rise in the late preterm birth rate in the United States. 3.Integrate knowledge of the factors that are contributing to increasing the late preterm birth rate when evaluating and caring for mothers and late preterm infants. A total of 2 contact hours may be earned as CNE credit for reading "Late Preterm Birth: A Rising Trend" and for completing an online post-test and participant feedback form. To take the test and complete the participant feedback form, please visit http://JournalsCNE.awhonn.org. Certificates of completion will be issued on receipt of the completed participant feedback form, application and processing fees. AWHONN is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Accredited status does not imply endorsement by AWHONN or ANCC of any commercial products displayed or discussed in conjunction with an educational activity. AWHONN also holds California and Alabama BRN numbers: California CNE provider #CEP580 and Alabama # ABNP0058.
Comparing Public and Private Sector Decision-Making Practices

Public and private sector decision making is studied with an experiment. The study compares decision making in a tax-supported general purpose governmental agency with that done by a business firm selling to a market, using a simulation to capture differences in the preferences and practices of mid-level managers working in the two sectors. The simulation calls for participating managers to assess the risk and prospect of adopting budgets tailored to match each sector. A cognitive culture that stresses analysis, speculation, bargaining, or networking is employed to fashion a budget appropriate for a public and a private sector organization, each with a controversial and a noncontroversial budget amount. The literature on public/private differences was consulted to make predictions, suggesting that public sector managers would favor bargaining and networking and private sector managers would favor analysis and speculation. The cognitive style literature suggests that managers favor budgets constructed with an approach that is consistent with their preferred cognitive style and see less risk in the choice, except in a public setting where risk would be unaffected. The study finds that private sector managers are more apt to support budget decisions made with analysis and less likely to support them when bargaining is applied. Public sector managers are less likely to support budget decisions backed by analysis and more likely to support those that are derived from bargaining with agency people.
A Strategic Opportunity for Magnetic Fusion Energy Development

The realities of energy development and the perception of and support for magnetic fusion in the US are briefly summarized as background for proposing a strategic opportunity for magnet fusion energy development as fusion neutron sources for subcritical advanced burner (transmutation) reactors for the destruction of long-lived transuranics in spent nuclear fuel.
Altered Transport of Folic Acid and Antifolates Through the Carrier Mediated Reduced Folate Transport System in a Human Leukemia Cell Line Resistant to (6R) 5,10-Dideazatetrahydrofolic Acid (DDATHF)

5,10-Dideazatetrahydrofolic acid is a potent antiproliferative agent in vitro and in vivo, arresting or delaying the proliferation of tumor cells in a number of murine and human xenografts models 1,2. In contrast to classical antifolates, (dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors), DDATHF blocks de novo purine biosynthesis as the result of a potent inhibition of both glycinamide ribonucleotide (GAR) and aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) transformylases.
Reversal of a muscle response to GABA during C. elegans male development.

In the C. elegans hermaphrodite the expulsion step of defecation depends on the coordinated contraction of three enteric muscle groups: the anal depressor muscle, the intestinal muscles, and the sphincter muscle. These muscles are activated by excitatory GABA neurotransmission. Mutations in 13 genes that affect activation of these enteric muscles have previously been identified. We show that the larval male defecates by contracting the same set of enteric muscles, and that these contractions require 12 of these 13 genes. However, near the end of the last larval stage, the male anal region undergoes a developmental change, including dramatic hypertrophy of the anal sphincter muscle and the opening of a cloacal canal. We find that this modified sphincter must now relax to permit defecation. In contrast to the larval male, we find that in the adult male only 2 of the 13 genes required for enteric muscle contraction, unc-25 and unc-47, are important for sphincter muscle relaxation. unc-25 and unc-47 are required for the synthesis and utilization of GABA. We also find that two other genes, unc-46 and unc-49, previously implicated in the inhibitory action of GABA on body-wall muscle, are also required for normal adult male sphincter relaxation. In these mutants, failure to relax the sphincter muscle results in a constipated phenotype, and killing the sphincter muscle rescues this phenotype. We also find that a GABA agonist or GABA itself can suppress the adult male sphincter relaxation defect of unc-25 mutants.
Non-judgemental Dynamic Fuel Cycle Benchmarking

This paper presents a new fuel cycle benchmarking analysis methodology by coupling Gaussian process regression, a popular technique in Machine Learning, to dynamic time warping, a mechanism widely used in speech recognition. Together they generate figures-of-merit that are applicable to any time series metric that a benchmark may study. The figures-of-merit account for uncertainty in the metric itself, utilize information across the whole time domain, and do not require that the simulators use a common time grid. Here, a distance measure is defined that can be used to compare the performance of each simulator for a given metric. Additionally, a contribution measure is derived from the distance measure that can be used to rank order the importance of fuel cycle metrics. Lastly, this paper warns against using standard signal processing techniques for error reduction. This is because it is found that error reduction is better handled by the Gaussian process regression itself.
Transgenic grapefruit plants obtained by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation

The economically important citrus crop plant, grapefruit, was genetically transformed, which has not been previously reported. Seedling epicotyl tissue was infected with Agrobacterium tumefaciens carrying a T-DNA vector plasmid containing genes for the scorable marker, β-glucuronidase (GUS) and the selectable marker NPTII. Shoots that regenerated from epicotyl segments from nucellar seedlings in the presence of kanamycin were analyzed. Histochemical staining verified expression of the GUS reporter gene in 43.5% of the regenerated shoots examined; however, the majority were chimeric for GUS expression while 11.9% stained solid blue. Transgenic plants were recovered from regenerated shoots by direct rooting using a simple protocol. The presence of the transgene was confirmed in 25 regenerated grapefruit plants by histochemical staining, PCR and Southern hybridization.
Considerations for conducting qualitative research with pediatric patients for the purpose of PRO development.

To provide an overview of methodological considerations when conducting qualitative research with pediatric patients for the purpose of patient-reported outcome measure development A literature review of qualitative methods in pediatric measure development was completed. Eight clinicians providing care to pediatric patients were interviewed for their expert input. Thematic analysis of the literature and clinician interviews was used to identify themes for consideration. Findings from the literature and expert interviews emphasized the way in which cognitive, linguistic, and social developmental factors affect pediatric patients’ understanding of their condition and ability to communicate about their experiences in an interview. There was consensus among the experts that traditional semi-structured interviews with children younger than eight lack characteristics necessary to yield meaningful information about condition and symptom report because they may fail to capture children’s understanding and awareness of their condition and may limit their ability to express themselves comfortably. Our findings include recommended strategies to optimize data collected in qualitative interviews with pediatric patients, including modifications to the interview process to establish rapport, construction of interview questions to ensure they are developmentally appropriate, and the use of supplementary techniques to facilitate communication. When employing qualitative methods in pediatric measure development, interview guides, methods, and length require careful tailoring to ensure the child’s perspectives are captured. This may be best achieved through research performed with narrow age bands that employs flexibility in methods to allow children a comfortable way in which to communicate about their experiences.
GPU Port of A Parallel Incompressible Navier-Stokes Solver based on OpenACC and MVAPICH2

OpenACC is a directive-based programing standard aim to provide a highly portable programming model for massively-parallel accelerators, such as General-purpose Computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU), Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) and Many Integrated Core Architecture (MIC). The heterogeneous nature of these accelerators stresses a demand for careful planning of data movement and novel approaches of parallel algorithms not commonly involved in scientific computation. By following a similar concept of OpenMP, the directive-based approach of OpenACC hides many underlying implementation details, thus significantly reduces the programming complexity and increases code portability. However, many challenges remain, due to the relatively narrow interconnection bandwidth among GPUs and the very fine granularity of GPGPU architecture. The first is particularly restrictive when cross-node data exchange is involved in a cluster environment. Furthermore, GPGPU’s fine-grained parallelism is in conflict with certain types of inherently serial algorithms, posing further restrictions on performance. In our study, an implicit multi-block incompressible Navier-Stokes solver is ported for GPGPU using OpenACC and MVAPICH2. A performance analysis is carried out based on the profiling of this solver running in a InfiniBand cluster with nVidia GPUs, which helps to identify the potentials of directive-based GPU programming and directions for further improvement.
USE OF A 3D PRINTED HEART MODEL TO PLAN SURGICAL REPAIR OF COMPLEX CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

Complex congenital heart disease, particularly defects that are corrected by creating intracardiac tunnels or baffles, can be difficult to visualize by conventional cardiac imaging. Three-dimensional (3D) printed heart models based on imaging data can delineate complex anatomy and guide surgical
Generality of the 18-n Rule: Intermetallic Structural Chemistry Explained through Isolobal Analogies to Transition Metal Complexes.

Intermetallic phases exhibit a vast structural diversity in which electron count is known to be one controlling factor. However, chemical bonding theory has yet to establish how electron counts and structure are interrelated for the majority of these compounds. Recently, a simple bonding picture for transition metal (T)–main group (E) intermetallics has begun to take shape based on isolobal analogies to molecular T complexes. This bonding picture is summarized in the 18-n rule: each T atom in a T–E intemetallic phase will need 18-n electrons to achieve a closed-shell 18-electron configuration, where n is the number of electron pairs it shares with other T atoms in multicenter interactions isolobal to T–T bonds. In this Article, we illustrate the generality of this rule with a survey over a wide range of T–E phases. First, we illustrate how three structural progressions with changing electron counts can be accounted for, both geometrically and electronically, with the 18-n rule: (1) the transition between ...
The Armenian Crisis, 1912–1914

THE eastern or "Armenian" provinces of Turkey, since I945 again the object of Russian claims, have long been one of the sensitive spots occupying the attention of European statesmen. In the two years before Sarajevo the question of the future of this region took on the proportions of a diplomatic crisis. When the question arose in serious form at the end of IqI2, the Turks had just lost almost all their European territories in disastrous defeat at the hands of the Balkan states. Statesmen and journalists began to wonder whether Asiatic Turkey would hold together. As early as December of I912 rumors of the partition of Asiatic Turkey became frequent.1 Such a partition threatened complications even more serious for the relationships of the powers than the settlement of the Balkan confusion.2 Spheres of strategic, economic, and cultural interests were all involved, as well as questions of prestige and a possible test of strength, a year before it actually came, between the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente. What brought the crisis to the fore was a new edition of the old Armenian question, last a concern of the powers in I897-the question of the government of the Armenian provinces by the Turks, of necessary reforms, and of possible autonomy or separation. Both the question of reforms and the crisis threatening partition in these years have been forgotten, although at that time the European chancelleries took the whole affair very seriously. This forgetfulness is easily explained. The crisis over Armenia was sandwiched in between the more dramatic events of the Tripolitan and Balkan wars on the one hand, and the World War on the other. For a time the dispute over Liman von Sanders overshadowed it. Those who are interested especially in Armenian affairs have concentrated on the supervening massacres and deportations of I915. Because of its importance then, and its significance now, the I9I2-I9I4 crisis is worth reconstructing. An edict of reforms for the Armenian vilayets (provinces) had been
Effect of Chloride Anions on the Synthesis and Enhanced Catalytic Activity of Silver Nanocoral Electrodes for CO2 Electroreduction

Metallic silver (Ag) is known as an efficient electrocatalyst for the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to carbon monoxide (CO) in aqueous or nonaqueous electrolytes. However, polycrystalline silver electrocatalysts require significant overpotentials in order to achieve high selectivity toward CO2 reduction, as compared to the side reaction of hydrogen evolution. Here we report a high-surface-area Ag nanocoral catalyst, fabricated by an oxidation–reduction method in the presence of chloride anions in an aqueous medium, for the electro-reduction of CO2 to CO with a current efficiency of 95% at the low overpotential of 0.37 V and the current density of 2 mA cm–2. A lower limit of TOF of 0.4 s–1 and TON > 8.8 × 104 (over 72 h) was estimated for the Ag nanocoral catalyst at an overpotential of 0.49 V. The Ag nanocoral catalyst demonstrated a 32-fold enhancement in surface-area-normalized activity, at an overpotential of 0.49 V, as compared to Ag foil. We found that, in addition to the effect on nanomorpholog...
Elevated Brain Water During Urease-Induced Hyperammonemia in Dogs

Liver dysfunction often results in elevated levels of plasma ammonium (hyperammonemia), which is thought to be one of several major factors contributing to hepatic encephalopathy. Either hyperammonemia alone or liver dysfunction cause pathological changes marked by astrocytic swelling (Gibson et al. 1974; Laursen 1982), and biochemical changes marked by glutamine accumulation in brain tissue (Bachmann and Colombo 1983; Mans et al. 1982). One major mechanism for ammonia detoxification in brain is glutamine formation from glutamate and ammonia by the enzyme glutamine synthetase (Cooper et al. 1979). Because this enzyme is localized in astrocytes, we speculated that brain swelling might be linked to glutamine accumulation as a biochemical marker of brain ammonia toxicity (Brusilow and Traystman 1986).
Computational prediction and analysis of the 27Al solid-state NMR spectrum of methylaluminoxane (MAO) at variable temperatures and field strengths

Calculations of NMR shielding tensors and nuclear quadrupole coupling (NQC) tensors at the Kohn–Sham density functional level are used to simulate 27Al magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra of the important olefin polymerization co-catalyst methylaluminoxane (MAO) at 77, 298, 398, and 498 K and spectrometer magnetic field inductions B ranging from 14.1 to 23.5 T. The calculations utilize the temperature (T) dependent distribution of species present in MAO determined recently by Zurek and coworkers from first-principles theory [Macromolecules, 2014, 47, 8556]. The NMR calculations suggest that variable-T and variable-B NMR measurements are able to quantify the ratio of free versus bound trimethyl-aluminum (TMA) in MAO via characteristic spectral features assigned to 3-coordinate and 4-coordinate Al sites in MAO as well as spectral features arising from free TMA or its dimer. The T-dependent distribution of species causes other characteristic features in the NMR spectra to appear/disappear that can be associated with different aluminum environments such as square vs. hexagonal faces in cage and tubular structures. The simulated spectra at 298 K and 19.6 T are in reasonably good agreement with the experimental solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectra obtained previously for MAO gel. The promise and limitations of solid-state NMR to unravel the enigma surrounding the structure(s) of MAO are discussed.
The Marketing of Insurance Benefits for Higher Education - The Buyer’s Side

This paper examines how a non-profit organization tries to satisfy its need for insurance. A case study of a medium-sized university is used to illustrate certain practices which should be understood by the marketer in order to market its services effectively.
Trust and Rule: TRANSFORMATIONS OF TRUST NETWORKS

“Dear Mother,” wrote sisters Edith and Sara Pilap from their New York home to their native Polish village of Rypin in 1891, do not think that the country here is like a village at home. Many people from Rypin live here and that is why Sarah [sister] wants to be here … With God's help, we shall send a steamship ticket for father even before Passover. And I hope that after our dear father will arrive here, we shall be able to send for our dear mother and our little brother, even before the summer. (Morawska 1996: 29) Yet another migration chain was drawing people linked by kinship, ethnicity, and religion across the Atlantic to America. Polish villagers vigorously fashioned new social lives in teeming New York City. Chain-linked, long-distance migration provides a privileged laboratory for study of transformations in trust networks. Long-distance migration poses serious risks. Those risks dispose potential migrants who do not have extensive professional connections to rely on members of their trust networks for information and advice. The same risks inhibit potential migrants who lack the mediation of trust networks from migrating at all. Instead of a broad distribution across destinations as a function of economic opportunities at those destinations, chain migration channels long-distance moves into a few origin-destination streams; large numbers of people from the same village end up in the same towns or urban neighborhoods thousands of miles away. Networks persist in the process, but change structure and geographic distribution.
Characterization of NVSM gate stacks with ‘gridded’ capacitors

The scaling of non-volatile semiconductor memories (NVSM) devices has increased the appeal of nitride trapping memory devices over floating gate device as the former are not limited by drain disturb effects or gate coupling issues [1]. The introduction of high-k gate dielectrics and high work function metal gates into the traditional SONOS structure has improved the write/erase speed and increased data retention performance [1–3]. In order to rapidly characterize NVSM devices, as well as conventional MOS transistor gate stacks, we describe a shortened fabrication sequence and a method of testing, which is accomplished with a ‘gridded’ capacitor structure. The ‘gridded’ capacitor fabrication begins with a prefabricated wafer (N+ grids on a p-wafer or P+ grids on an n-wafer) with only one additional mask to evaluate a gate stack. This approach permits the evaluation of C-V, G-V, I-V, write/erase, retention, and endurance. To illustrate the method, we characterize hetero-insulator MINOS gate stacks on N+ ‘gridded’ p-type silicon wafers.
Stars of the light show

What could possibly be more universal than light, our messenger from the stars, the source of nearly all of the energy on Earth, and the centrepiece for the creation of relativity and quantum theory? And the applications! Optical fibres, holography, laser surgery, the Rubble space telescope, tests of different theories of "reality" with photon polarization correlations, extremely precise spectroscopies, accurate studies of basic nonlinear dynamical effects, Bose-Einstein condensation with laser-cooled, optically trapped atoms. Who could have guessed the extent to which modern optics has influenced our science and technology in just a few decades?
Uniform convergence rates for halfspace depth

Abstract Data depth functions are a generalization of one-dimensional order statistics and medians to real spaces of dimension greater than one; in particular, a data depth function quantifies the centrality of a point with respect to a data set or a probability distribution. One of the most commonly studied data depth functions is halfspace depth. Halfspace depth is of interest to computational geometers because it is highly geometric, and it is of interest to statisticians because it shares many desirable theoretical properties with the one-dimensional median. It is known that as the sample size increases, the halfspace depth for a sample converges to the halfspace depth for the underlying distribution, almost surely. In this paper, we use the geometry and structure of halfspace depth to reduce a high-dimensional problem into many one-dimensional problems. This bound requires only mild assumptions on the distribution, and it leads to an improved convergence rate when the underlying distribution decays exponentially, i.e., the probability that a sample point has magnitude at least R is O ( exp ( − λ R 2 / 2 ) ) . We also provide examples and show that our bounds are tight.
Direct Functionalization of an Acid-Terminated Nanodiamond with Azide: Enabling Access to 4-Substituted-1,2,3-Triazole-Functionalized Particles.

Azides on the periphery of nanodiamond materials (ND) are of great utility because they have been shown to undergo Cu-catalyzed and Cu-free cycloaddition reactions with structurally diverse alkynes, affording particles tailored for applications in biology and materials science. However, current methods employed to access ND featuring azide groups typically require either harsh pretreatment procedures or multiple synthesis steps and use surface linking groups that may be susceptible to undesirable cleavage. Here we demonstrate an alternative single-step approach to producing linker-free, azide-functionalized ND. Our method was applied to low-cost, detonation-derived ND powders where surface carbonyl groups undergo silver-mediated decarboxylation and radical substitution with azide. ND with directly grafted azide groups were then treated with a variety of aliphatic, aromatic, and fluorescent alkynes to afford 1-(ND)-4-substituted-1,2,3-triazole materials under standard copper-catalyzed cycloaddition conditi...
The Use of Imaging in the Prediction and Assessment of Cancer Treatment Toxicity

Multimodal imaging is commonly used in the management of patients with cancer. Imaging plays pivotal roles in the diagnosis, initial staging, treatment response assessment, restaging after treatment and the prognosis of many cancers. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine modern precision cancer care without the use of multimodal molecular imaging, which is advancing at a rapid pace with innovative developments in imaging sciences and an improved understanding of the complex biology of cancer. Cancer therapy often leads to undesirable toxicity, which can range from an asymptomatic subclinical state to severe end organ damage and even death. Imaging is helpful in the portrayal of the unwanted effects of cancer therapy and may assist with optimal clinical decision-making, clinical management, and overall improvements in the outcomes and quality of life for patients.
Optimization of an iodine-based nanoparticle contrast agent for molecular CT imaging

Recent advances in CT hardware have renewed interest in the development of contrast agents for molecular CT imaging. Nanoparticle platforms are attractive for CT imaging agent development due to their ability to carry a high payload of imaging moieties, thereby facilitating signal amplification at target site, and ease of surface modification to enable selective in vivo targeting against cells/molecules of interest. In this work, we performed investigations for optimizing an iodine-based liposomal nanoparticle platform for molecular CT imaging applications. Since signal intensity is directly proportional to the imaging moiety concentration, optimization studies were performed to rationally design an iodinated nanoparticle construct with maximal iodine carrying capacity. The effect of particle size, liposomal bilayer composition, iodine moiety and starting iodine concentration were systematically investigated. The in vitro stability of the optimal formulation was evaluated using plasma assay and the in vivo stability was tested by performing longitudinal micro-CT imaging in live animals. Simulations were performed to study the effects of iodine per nanoparticle and iodine contrast sensitivity on detectability of nanoparticles per image voxel. In vitro optimization studies demonstrated that particle size, type of iodine moiety and starting iodine concentration strongly influenced the iodine loading per nanoparticle. A nanoparticle composition was identified that demonstrated highest iodine loading capacity (∼ 8 million iodine atoms per particle). Micro-CT imaging demonstrated in vivo stability of the high-iodine containing nanoparticle construct. Simulation studies demonstrated a non-linear effect of iodine contrast sensitivity and image voxel size on the limit of nanoparticle detectability.
Results of an educational tool for residents and referring physicians on palliative radiation for bone metastases.

82Background: Palliative radiation therapy (RT) for painful bone metastases is underutilized in the United States (U.S.), perhaps due to inappropriate use of multi-fraction (MF) regimens over more convenient, less costly, and equally effective single fraction (SF) regimens. Practice patterns may change with improved knowledge of radiation oncology residents (ROR) and non-radiation oncology physicians who refer patients for palliative RT. The aim of this study was to provide evidence-based educational content to these groups, and assess knowledge and views before and after. Methods: In April - June 2017, an electronic educational tool was sent to medical oncology and palliative care physicians, and ROR in the U.S. Multiple choice questions assessed knowledge, and were followed by evidence supporting the correct answer. Likert and sliding scales gaged tool impact. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests compared groups and pre/post-test responses. Results: Responses were obtained from 109 (2%) referring physician...
Aging Populations, Mortality, and Life Expectancy

Life expectancy has long been seen as an indicator of the quality of life as well as the health of a population. Recent trends in US life expectancy show growing inequality in life expectancy for s...
Simulations of large enhancement of light out-coupling from periodically corrugated OLEDs (Conference Presentation)

Poor light extraction efficiency from OLEDs is among the leading problems facing the science and commercialization of OLEDs. The light outcoupling ~1/2n2, where n is the refractive index of the organic emitting layer, and is only 17-20% for planar OLEDs. The remaining light is waveguided in the organic +ITO layers (>30%), waveguided in the substrate, or lost to plasmonic excitation in the cathode that can be very severe (>40%) for thin ETLs. To enhance outcoupling we investigate the light emission from periodically corrugated OLEDs where the OLED stack is grown conformally on a periodic textured substrate [1]. The corrugation diffracts wave-guided modes to the air cone, thereby increasing outcoupling, but no simulations have predicted enhancements or optimal corrugations. We utilize rigorous scattering matrix simulations solving Maxwell’s equations in Fourier space, for all polarizations. We find the corrugated OLEDS display a remarkable light outcoupling of 60-70%, approaching the targeted value of 70% in the solid-state lighting road-map. We find optimal corrugation pitch of 0.75-3 microns with only a small roll off for larger pitch. The optimal corrugation heights exceed 150 nm. There is a marked decrease in plasmonic losses. Corrugations induce strong diffraction of light into the air cone. We also find that adding a microlens on the air-substrate interface can increase by a further ~5-10%. We compare simulations with experimental results [1].Supported by DOE-EERE [1] C. Hippola et al, Adv. Optical Materials 6, 1701244 (2018).
A secure incentive architecture for ad hoc networks: Research Articles

In an ad hoc network, intermediate nodes on a communication path are expected to forward packets of other nodes so that the mobile nodes can communicate beyond their wireless transmission range. However, because wireless mobile nodes are usually constrained by limited power and computation resources, a selfish node may be unwilling to spend its resources in forwarding packets which are not of its direct interest, even though it expects other nodes to forward its packets to the destination. It has been shown that the presence of such selfish nodes degrades the overall performance of a non-cooperative ad hoc network. To address this problem, we propose a secure and objective reputation-based incentive (SORI) architecture to encourage packet forwarding and discipline selfish behavior. Different from existing schemes, under our architecture, the reputation of a node is quantified by objective measures; the propagation of reputation is efficiently secured by a one-way-hash-chain-based authentication scheme; and secure routing is in place. Armed with the reputation-based mechanism, we design a punishment scheme to penalize selfish nodes. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme can successfully identify selfish nodes and punish them accordingly. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The hypocretin (orexin) system: from a neural circuitry perspective

Hypocretin/orexin neurons are distributed restrictively in the hypothalamus, a brain region known to orchestrate diverse functions including sleep, reward processing, food intake, thermogenesis, and mood. Since the hypocretins/orexins were discovered more than two decades ago, extensive studies have accumulated concrete evidence showing the pivotal role of hypocretin/orexin in diverse neural modulation. New method of viral-mediated tracing system offers the possibility to map the monosynaptic inputs and detailed anatomical connectivity of Hcrt neurons. With the development of powerful research techniques including optogenetics, fiber-photometry, cell-type/pathway specific manipulation and neuronal activity monitoring, as well as single-cell RNA sequencing, the details of how hypocretinergic system execute functional modulation of various behaviors are coming to light. In this review, we focus on the function of neural pathways from hypocretin neurons to target brain regions. Anatomical and functional inputs to hypocretin neurons are also discussed. We further briefly summarize the development of pharmaceutical compounds targeting hypocretin signaling. This article is part of the special issue on Neuropeptides.
The WI+RE Way: a manifesto and a process for learner-led design

WI+RE (Writing Instruction + Research Education) is a learner-led team of undergraduate and graduate student employees at UCLA Library who apply values-driven design principles and grassroots instructional media production techniques to foster breakthroughs in research, reading, and writing for their fellow learners. The WI+RE Way (UCLA Library WI+RE, 2019c) is a collaboratively authored manifesto for learner-led design co-authored by WI+RE's learner-designers in collaboration with library staff.
A simple plant high-molecular-weight DNA extraction method suitable for single-molecule technologies

High-molecular-weight and pure DNA is crucial for high-quality results from 3rd generation DNA Analyzers and optical mapping technologies. Conventional nuclei isolation methods for preparing high-molecular-weight genomic DNA from plant tissues include the preparation of protoplasts or embedding nuclei in an agarose matrix with subsequent manipulations via electro-elution or pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. In this method, plant nuclei are isolated by physically grinding tissues and reconstituting the intact nuclei in a unique Nuclear Isolation Buffer (NIB). The plastid DNAs are released from organelles and eliminated with an osmotic buffer by washing and centrifugation. The purified nuclei are then lysed and further cleaned by organic extraction, and the genomic DNA is precipitated with a high concentration of CTAB. The highly pure, high molecular weight gDNA is extracted from the nuclei, dissolved in a high pH buffer, allowing for stable long-term storage. This method is unique and avoids the use of embedding in agarose, which dramatically reduces time (4–8 h versus days), complexity, and materials cost. This procedure can be used on essentially any plant species and tissue stage. Here we describe a case study and a simple method to rapidly prepare high molecular weight gDNA from Upland cotton, blackgrass, and strawberry suitable for single-molecule sequencing.
Neonatal intensive care nurses’ perceptions of implementing parent discharge preparation tools

Abstract Background Standardized tools for discharge education can facilitate transitions from the neonatal intensive care unit to home. Perceptions of nurses regarding parental discharge preparation and relevant tools can inform implementation. Purpose To describe nurses’ perceptions of discharge preparedness and implementation of a standardized tool to facilitate nurse-parent engagement in discharge education. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven nurses meeting eligibility criteria. Interviews were conducted using an interview guide developed for this study and were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Results Three major themes emerged: 1) Discharge Education is an Ongoing and Evolving Process; 2) Nurse-Parent Partnerships; and 3) Importance of Context to Implementation of Standardized Tools. Sub-themes emerged from the data to support each major theme. Conclusion Standardized tools can improve parent discharge preparedness and implementation of these tools is facilitated by well-described processes, partnerships between nurses and parents, and tailoring to the unit context.
Interactions between Cognition and Hearing Aid Compression Release Time: Effects of Linguistic Context of Speech Test Materials on Speech-in-Noise Performance.

Recent research has established a connection between hearing aid (HA) users’ cognition and speech recognition performance with short and long compression release times (RT). Contradictive findings prevent researchers from using cognition to predict RT prescription. We hypothesized that the linguistic context of speech recognition test materials was one of the factors that accounted for the inconsistency. The present study was designed to examine the relationship between HA users’ cognition and their aided speech recognition performance with short and long RTs using materials with various linguistic contexts. Thirty-four older HA users’ cognitive abilities were quantified using a reading span test. They were fitted with behind-the-ear style HAs with adjustable RT settings. Three speech recognition tests were used: the word-in-noise (WIN) test, the American four alternative auditory feature (AFAAF) test, and the Bamford-Kowal-Bench speech-in-noise (BKB-SIN) test. The results showed that HA users with high cognitive abilities performed better on the AFAAF and the BKB-SIN than those with low cognitive abilities when using short RT. None of the speech recognition tests produced significantly different performance between the two RTs for either cognitive group. These findings did not support our hypothesis. The results suggest that cognition might not be important in prescribing RT.
The requirement of glycoprotein C (gC) for interindividual spread is a conserved function of gC for avian herpesviruses.

We have formerly shown that glycoprotein C (gC) of Gallid alphaherpesvirus 2, better known as Marek’s disease (MD) alphaherpesvirus (MDV), is required for interindividual spread in chickens. Since gC is conserved within the Alphaherpesvirinae subfamily, we hypothesized gC was important for interindividual spread of other alphaherpesviruses. To test this hypothesis, we first generated a fluorescent protein tagged clone of Gallid alphaherpesvirus 3 MD vaccine strain 301B/1 to track virus replication in cell culture and chickens using fluorescent microscopy. Following validation of this system, we removed the open reading frame of 301B/1 gC from the genome and determined whether it was required for interindividual spread using experimental and natural infection studies. Interindividual spread of MD vaccine 301B/1 was abrogated by removal of 301B/1 gC. Rescuent virus in which 301B/1 gC was inserted back into the genome efficiently spread among chickens. To further study the conserved function of gC, we replaced 301B/1 gC with MDV gC and this virus also efficiently spread in chickens. These data suggest the essential function of alphaherpesvirus gC proteins is conserved and can be exploited during the generation of future vaccines against MD that affects the poultry industry worldwide.
NREM delta power and AD-relevant tauopathy are associated with shared cortical gene networks.

Reduced NREM sleep in humans is associated with AD neuropathology. Recent work has demonstrated a reduction in NREM sleep in preclinical AD, pointing to its potential utility as an early marker of dementia. We test the hypothesis that reduced NREM delta power and increased tauopathy are associated with shared underlying cortical molecular networks in preclinical AD. We integrate multi-omics data from two extensive public resources, a human Alzheimer’s disease cohort from the Mount Sinai Brain Bank (N = 125) reflecting AD progression and a (C57BL/6J × 129S1/SvImJ) F2 mouse population in which NREM delta power was measured (N = 98). Two cortical gene networks, including a CLOCK-dependent circadian network, are associated with NREM delta power and AD tauopathy progression. These networks were validated in independent mouse and human cohorts. Identifying gene networks related to preclinical AD elucidate possible mechanisms associated with the early disease phase and potential targets to alter the disease course.