cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Glucose decouples intracellular Ca2+ activity from glucagon secretion in mouse pancreatic islet alpha-cells.

The mechanisms of glucagon secretion and its suppression by glucose are presently unknown. This study investigates the relationship between intracellular calcium levels ([Ca2+]i) and hormone secretion under low and high glucose conditions. We examined the effects of modulating ion channel activities on [Ca2+]i and hormone secretion from ex vivo mouse pancreatic islets. Glucagon-secreting α-cells were unambiguously identified by cell specific expression of fluorescent proteins. We found that activation of L-type voltage-gated calcium channels is critical for α-cell calcium oscillations and glucagon secretion at low glucose levels. Calcium channel activation depends on KATP channel activity but not on tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ channels. The use of glucagon secretagogues reveals a positive correlation between α-cell [Ca2+]i and secretion at low glucose levels. Glucose elevation suppresses glucagon secretion even after treatment with secretagogues. Importantly, this inhibition is not mediated by KATP channel activity or reduction in α-cell [Ca2+]i. Our results demonstrate that glucose uncouples the positive relationship between [Ca2+]i and secretory activity. We conclude that glucose suppression of glucagon secretion is not mediated by inactivation of calcium channels, but instead, it requires a calcium-independent inhibitory pathway.
The design of the MGAP-2: a micro-grained massively parallel array

The Micro-Grain Array Processor-2 (MGAP-2) is a two-dimensional SIMD array of 49152 fine-grain processors designed primarily for high-performance signal and image processing. Each processor can compute two arbitrary three-input Boolean functions, contains local RAM, and has additional logic for interprocessor communication. The MGAP-2 differs from existing fine-grain arrays in that it has a high degree of integration while incorporating processor level interconnect control. Each processor can independently select its communication direction. This allows a programmer to map algorithms onto the array in a more efficient manner than if the processors communicated in the standard SIMD fashion. Also, the MGAP-2's processor level interconnect allows groups of processors to be clustered into larger computational units, making the basic computational units as powerful as they need to be for a given problem.
CO2/H2S Corrosion under Scale Forming Conditions

Three different mild steel coupons with two different surface areas were exposed to a CO2 saturated multiphase environment with a trace amount of hydrogen sulfide under supersaturated scale forming conditions designed to increase the probability of localized corrosion. Corrosion testing was conducted in the region of low supersaturation values for iron carbonate (SSFeCO3 < 10) and three different supersaturation values for iron sulfide (2.5 < SSFeS < 125) through adjustment of the partial pressure of H2S during 30 day exposures to system conditions. Experiments were conducted in a 1% NaCl solution at 60oC, pH 6.0, 0.77MPa partial pressure CO2 with trace amounts of H2S in both single phase flow (Vsl = 1 m/s) and multiphase flow (Vsg=3 m/s, Vsl= 1 m/s). Under the conditions tested, both siderite and mackinawite films were developed as adherent corrosion product films. Localized corrosion was observed.
Links between preschoolers' literacy interest, inattention, and emergent literacy skills

Abstract There is strong evidence that inattention and interest are associated with academic-related skills in school-age children. However, less research has examined the unique and overlapping relations between these constructs in early childhood. This study examined the relations between inattention, literacy interest, and early literacy development in 169 preschool-age children. Inattention was assessed with both teacher reports and a continuous performance test. Literacy interest, as a component of motivation for literacy, was assessed with parent reports, and early literacy skills were assessed with the Test of Preschool Early Literacy. Inattention and literacy interest uniquely related to each other and to early literacy skills in regression analyses. Mediation analysis indicated that the relation between inattention and early literacy skills was partially mediated by children's interest in literacy. These findings indicate that literacy interest and inattentive behaviors contribute individually, directly, and indirectly to the development of early literacy skills.
Prediction of Continuous Phenotypes in Mouse, Fly, and Rice Genome Wide Association Studies with Support Vector Regression SNPs and Ridge Regression Classifier

The ranking of SNPs and prediction of phenotypes in continuous genome wide association studies is a subject of increasing interest with applications in personalized medicine and animal and plant breeding. The ranking of SNPs in case control (discrete label) genome wide association studies has been examined in several previous studies with machine learning techniques but this is poorly explored for studies with quantitative labels. Here we study ranking of SNPs in mouse, fly, and rice continuous genome wide association studies given by the popular univariate Pearson correlation coefficient and the multivariate support vector regression and ridge regression. We perform cross-validation with the support vector regression and ridge regression models on top ranked SNPs and compute correlation coefficients between true and predicted phenotypes. Our results show that ridge regression prediction with top ranked support vector regression SNPs gives the highest accuracy. On all datasets we achieve accuracies comparable to previously published values but with fewer SNPs. Our work shows we can learn parsimonious SNP models for predicting continuous labels in genome wide studies.
Influence of photoperiod on the propagation of two rhododendron cultivars

SummaryVegetative development of stock plants of Rhododendron obtuseum japonicum (Maxim.) Wils, cvs Hinodegiri and Snow was greater when plants were grown under a 16 h light period than under 8 h. This increase in growth occurred because of internodal elongation and the formation of more nodes per stem. Cuttings from stock plants receiving a 16 hr light period rooted better than those receiving an 8 h photoperiod. The two cultivars differed in degree of response. LD or SD photoperiodic treatment of cuttings during the rooting period did not significantly improve rooting.
Analysis of operation effect of heating system such as electric heating warler-source heat pump etc.

Combined with the situation of the latest policy and tasks,it researches the effectiveness of the implementing existed policy;Electricity consumptions of electric heating users,heating supply area,hot water are estimated.The article analyzes practical problems,provides recommendations and measures for power market developing of Gansu Electric Power Company and Lanzhou Power Supply Company,and strives to guide the sound development of the electric heating market,promotes the popularization and promotion of demand side management technologies.
Integrating the Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Male Potency Disturbance

AbstractA program of screening and diagnostic assessment is outlined for making decisions about the disposition of patients with potency disturbances. Initial screening of the psychological status and nocturnal penile tumescence provides a basis for deciding the need for full scale sleep studies, medical diagnostic studies, intensive psychological and psychiatric evaluation and so forth. By basing decisions on the use of expensive diagnostic procedures upon reliable but cost-efficient assessment devices we believe that the patient’s time and resources will be conserved without sacrificing good medical practice. Indeed, a “decision tree” method of evaluation and diagnosis probably will result in less inappropriate usage of psychological intervention and medical-surgical intervention among individuals complaining of an erectile dysfunction.
Evidence for a Link Between Dietary Protein and Bone & Muscle Health in Adults

This chapter will provide an overview regarding bone, osteoporosis, musculoskeletal health and dietary protein intakes in adult men and women. A background on evolving thoughts and tested hypotheses on the Acid-base theory will be presented, followed by an overview of the major scientific findings of the effect of dietary protein intake upon bone and muscle health. This review will not cover dietary patterns, although this topic is of keen interest and population-based future studies are encouraged in this area of interest. It would appear that higher levels of dietary protein intake, within the range commonly consumed by U.S. adults, do not result in bone loss in older adults. These positive outcomes may be due to increased calcium absorption, circulating levels of IGF-1 and suppression of PTH. The link between dietary protein intakes and bone health is certainly more complex than simple association studies can tease apart and more in-depth work is still necessary to give insights that are helpful to populations interested in maximizing their bone health. Protein appears to make more of an impact on bone with adequate calcium intake.
Sparsity-Based Generalization Bounds for Predictive Sparse Coding

The goal of predictive sparse coding is to learn a representation of examples as sparse linear combinations of elements from a dictionary, such that a learned hypothesis linear in the new representation performs well on a predictive task. Predictive sparse coding has demonstrated impressive performance on a variety of supervised tasks, but its generalization properties have not been studied. We establish the first generalization error bounds for predictive sparse coding, in the overcomplete setting, where the number of features k exceeds the original dimensionality d. The learning bound decays as O(√dk/m) with respect to d, k, and the size m of the training sample. It depends intimately on stability properties of the learned sparse encoder, as measured on the training sample. Consequently, we also present a fundamental stability result for the LASSO, a result that characterizes the stability of the sparse codes with respect to dictionary perturbations.
Irak'taki Bektaşi Tekkeleri

The Bektashi convents in Iraq, which have so far received little attention from scholars, are significant for an appreciation of the extent of Bektashi influence beyond Anatolia and the Balkans. Moreover, a new body of documents, which have been passed down from generation to generation within Alevi dede families as a type of sacred trust, has come to light in recent years. These documents reveal that the dedes, during their periodic trips to Iraq, also regularly visited some of these convents. This new body of documents, referred to here simply as "Ale vi documents," along with some archival records, and various other primary and secondary sources, constitute the source base of the study at hand. Our sources point to the presence of Bektashis in Iraq from the early seventeenth century onwards. But some of the convents in question were apparently founded long before this date, and were earlier affiliated with other dervish groups. Of these, especially the convent located in the shrine complex of Imam Husayn in Karbala, which, according to its endowment deed dated Sefer 962/ 1554-55, was earlier inhabited by the Abdals of Rum, seems to have been an important center for the Alevi dedes between the mid sixteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. This is shown by the fact that, among the Alevi documents from this period, a large number were either granted at this convent, or bear the seals of dervishes affiliated with this and other Bektashi convents in the region. This paper evaluates relations between the Alevi dedes and the Bektashi convents in Iraq within the context of Ottoman-Safavid conflict, which embroiled the region from the early sixteenth century onwards, and hypothesizes that some of the Bektashi convents in Iraq were the domain of pro-Safavid dervishes who may have acted as clandestine liaisons between the Safavid shahs and their followers in Anatolia.
Extreme Loads and Load Combinations

A simple model for combining extreme responses of correlated load components has been developed in this paper for use in design of marine structures. The combined response has the form f c =f 1 +Kf 2 for a two correlated load case and f c =f 1 +K 2 f 2 +K 3 f 3 for a three correlated load case. The load factors K i are determined from probabilistic analysis of the combined response of a multiple component system subjected to common input (waves). Application examples are given and modeling errors are discussed. The model is suitable for use in the usual deterministic design analysis or probabilistic and reliability design procedures. This is the first of a three-paper series on this subject
An introduction to the nature of coal

Abstract To comprehend the varied composition, properties and uses coal ash, it is important to begin with an understanding of the coal from which it is derived. Coal is essentially an assemblage of organic and inorganic material that transforms over geologic time into a relatively high energy density fuel through the process of coalification. Energy density, or rank, increases as coalification proceeds, which accounts for the wide ranges in coal quality that exist in the world today. Wherever practical, mined coal is cleaned using physical beneficiation techniques to reduce the amount of inorganic material present in order to increase energy density and reduce fuel impurities, a practice that is limited to higher rank coals. The most common practice for electricity generation is to pulverize coal prior to combustion. Combustion consumes organic phases, while remaining inorganic components, such as minerals and trace elements, transform into coal ash. The composition, properties and use of the residual ash is dependent upon both the inorganic material present in the fuel and the combustion conditions. Clean coal technologies (CCT) are practices developed to reduce emissions of SOx and NOx produced by coal combustion. Since CCTs are quite different from pulverized coal combustion, the composition and properties of the ash they produce are also quite different.
Microfluidic Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry for Analysis of Monosaccharides, Oligosaccharides, and Glycopeptides.

Glycomics and glycoproteomics analyses by mass spectrometry require efficient front-end separation methods to enable deep characterization of heterogeneous glycoform populations. Chromatography methods are generally limited in their ability to resolve glycoforms using mobile phases that are compatible with online liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The adoption of capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry methods (CE-MS) for glycomics and glycoproteomics is limited by the lack of convenient interfaces for coupling the CE devices to mass spectrometers. Here, we describe the application of a microfluidics-based CE-MS system for analysis of released glycans, glycopeptides and monosaccharides. We demonstrate a single CE method for three different modalities, thus contributing to comprehensive glycoproteomics analyses. In addition, we explored compatible sample derivatization methods. We used glycan TMT-labeling to improve electrophoretic migration and enable multiplexed quantitation by tandem M...
Intranasal oxytocin treatment for social deficits and biomarkers of response in children with autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by core social deficits. Prognosis is poor, in part, because existing medications target only associated ASD features. Emerging evidence suggests that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) may be a blood-based biomarker of social functioning and a possible treatment for ASD. However, prior OXT treatment trials have produced equivocal results, perhaps because of variability in patients’ underlying neuropeptide biology, but this hypothesis has not been tested. Using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel design, we tested the efficacy and tolerability of 4-wk intranasal OXT treatment (24 International Units, twice daily) in 32 children with ASD, aged 6–12 y. When pretreatment neuropeptide measures were included in the statistical model, OXT compared with placebo treatment significantly enhanced social abilities in children with ASD [as measured by the trial’s primary outcome measure, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)]. Importantly, pretreatment blood OXT concentrations also predicted treatment response, such that individuals with the lowest pretreatment OXT concentrations showed the greatest social improvement. OXT was well tolerated, and its effects were specific to social functioning, with no observed decrease in repetitive behaviors or anxiety. Finally, as with many trials, some placebo-treated participants showed improvement on the SRS. This enhanced social functioning was mirrored by a posttreatment increase in their blood OXT concentrations, suggesting that increased endogenous OXT secretion may underlie this improvement. These findings indicate that OXT treatment enhances social abilities in children with ASD and that individuals with pretreatment OXT signaling deficits may stand to benefit the most from OXT treatment.
The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Public Right Angle Program

The new Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) Public Right Angle Program (RAP) offers the opportunity for researchers to obtain observations with the EUVE imaging telescopes, oriented at right angles to the EUVE spectrometer used for the NASA Guest Observer Program. Scientists may submit proposals electronically through the World Wide Web or e-mail using a template form to list specific targets and present the scientific motivation for the work. The RAP electronic proposal process is streamlined from proposal submission through data delivery and is a prototype for a system to be used for all guest observers during the EUVE extended mission starting in February, 1996.
Failure Analysis of an Arresting Hook Point Shank

During full-scale fatigue testing, an F/A-18 E/F arresting hook point shank failed after 1,361 simulated arrestments. This part is designed to last 4,500 arrestments without cracking. Therefore, an investigation was undertaken to determine the cause of premature catastrophic failure.
The functional response and prey preference of generalist Nabis (Hemiptera: Nabidae) predators to leafhopper prey (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae).

Insects of the family Nabidae (Hemiptera) are generalist predators commonly found in agroecosystems, but little is known about their predation rates on common pests of forage crops. We determined the functional response and prey preference of Nabis Latreille species to two common leafhopper pests of red clover (Trifolium pratense Linnaeus; Fabaceae): Agallia constricta Van Duzee (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and Ceratagallia agricola (Hamilton) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). We also determined the survivorship of A. constricta to predation by Nabis species over the course of five days. The Nabis species displayed a Type III functional response to both leafhopper species with a preference for A. constricta. The 10-A. constricta/cage treatments and 20-A. constricta/cage treatments had the highest survival probabilities after five days with survival probabilities of 0.19 and 0.23, respectively. These results indicate that Nabis species may help in controlling leafhopper populations in forage-crop systems.
Surgical solutions for refractory J-pouch inlet obstruction.

Aim Many surgeons consider total proctectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis as the treatment of choice for patients with medically refractory ulcerative colitis or ulcerative colitis with dysplasia. However, obstruction occurring at the pouch inlet or involving the afferent limb can be refractory to nonoperative or endoscopic management. Historically, these refractory obstructions have usually required resection of the pouch. There is now increasing evidence to suggest that pouch salvage surgery may be feasible in these patients. Methods A retrospective review was performed of all patients of a single surgical practice who underwent a neo ileal-pouch anastomosis for J-pouch inlet obstructions between 2000 and 2017. Data collected included patient demographics, preoperative workup, intra-operative findings, type of surgical intervention and postoperative outcomes. Results Surgical interventions were performed on eight patients with J-pouch inlet obstructions. Six patients had inlet strictures or acute angulations at the inlet, which were either bypassed or resected and primarily anastomosed. Two patients had internal hernias posterior to the mesentery, with volvulus of the pouch. At a mean follow-up of 36.5 months, all patients retained their pouches and the mean number of daily bowel movements was eight. Two major and two minor complications occurred. Discussion J-pouch inlet obstructions may take years to develop. In patients with obstruction who are refractory to endoscopic or medical treatment, good functional results may be obtained with pouch salvage procedures. With increasing numbers of J-pouches being performed, awareness of novel surgical techniques is important.
United States-based global otolaryngology surgery: A call to more horizontal sustainable efforts.

Abstract Objective To examine global surgery involvement among general members of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) and characterize international otolaryngology surgical interventions. Methods Data on global surgery involvement were derived from responses provided by voluntary online survey respondent members of the AAO-HNS, obtained in October 2017. These data were compared against World Bank metrics of national health expenditure and surgical specialists per capita as benchmarks for need. Results There were 362 responses (response rate of 3.7%). A large proportion of respondents reported being involved in global surgery (61.3%). Locations where respondents worked included: South America (13.3%), Central America (17.7%), Caribbean (10.2%), Europe (4.1%), Africa (16.3%), Asia (16.6%), the Middle East (4.1%), and Oceania (3.6%). A greater proportion of respondents reported traveling to locations that have lower health care expenditure per capita and lower mean number of surgical specialists per 100,000 people, according to data from the World Bank. The primary purpose of trips was most commonly surgical mission (60.3%), followed by education (37.8%), and research (1.9%). Conclusion Members of the AAO-HNS are active in global surgery efforts around the world. Collaboration among members of the AAO-HNS may serve to improve long-term sustainability of these efforts.
Toward curation and personality-driven social networks.

Whether or not social networks are significantly changing due to emergent technologies continues to be contested by researchers. Our understanding may advance by clarifying the cognitive mechanisms through which people curate their connections, along with the accompanying role of personality in shaping networks in the future.
Retrospective Assessment of Beef Cow Numbers to Climate Variability Throughout the U.S. Great Plains

Abstract The Great Plains provide a major portion of US beef cattle production, and beef cattle represent the largest sector of the regional agricultural economy. Cattle producers regularly contend with climate variability, but the consequences of this variability are less well understood than for cropping systems. A retrospective analysis of US Department of Agriculture AgCensus data was conducted to assess the extent to which climate variability (1978 − 2017) has affected the spatial and temporal distribution of beef cow numbers throughout the Great Plains. Cow numbers were remarkably stable, declining only 3.1% between 1978 and 2017. However, beef production increased 30% during this period, in response to a steady increase in live animal slaughter weight. Cow numbers decreased during droughts in the late 1980s and the early 2010s but recovered before the subsequent 5-yr census. Cow numbers decreased 5.1%, 8.8%, and 4.0% in the Northern, Central, and Southern Plains, respectively, between the 1982 and 1987 censuses, even though annual precipitation only decreased in the Northern Plains. The reduction in cow numbers during the 2010s drought, which is assumed to portend future extreme droughts, was greatest in the Southern Plains (− 17.6%) followed by the Central (− 11%) and Northern Plains (− 4.9%), compared with the 2007 census. The relative increase in beef cow numbers in the Northern Plains may represent an emerging signal of climate variability on rangeland beef production. This may be a consequence of weaker correlations between cow numbers and mean annual precipitation and temperature established by lower mean annual temperatures in the Northern Plains. This retrospective analysis indicates that continued climate warming and drying will adversely affect rangeland beef production, it identifies a large knowledge gap between climate variability and sustainable rangeland beef production, and it provides a reference to begin assessing the vulnerability of rangeland beef cattle production in future climates.
Metabolomic Profiling for Diagnosis and Prognostication in Surgery: A Scoping Review.

Objective This review assimilates and critically evaluates available literature regarding the use of metabolomic profiling in surgical decision-making. Background Metabolomic profiling is performed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy or mass spectrometry of biofluids and tissues to quantify biomarkers (ie, sugars, amino acids, and lipids), producing diagnostic and prognostic information that has been applied among patients with cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and solid organ transplants. Methods PubMed was searched from 1995 to 2019 to identify studies investigating metabolomic profiling of surgical patients. Articles were included and assimilated into relevant categories per PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Results were summarized with descriptive analytical methods. Results Forty-seven studies were included, most of which were retrospective studies with small sample sizes using various combinations of analytic techniques and types of biofluids and tissues. Results suggest that metabolomic profiling has the potential to effectively screen for surgical diseases, suggest diagnoses, and predict outcomes such as postoperative complications and disease recurrence. Major barriers to clinical adoption include a lack of high-level evidence from prospective studies, heterogeneity in study design regarding tissue and biofluid procurement and analytical methods, and the absence of large, multicenter metabolome databases to facilitate systematic investigation of the efficacy, reproducibility, and generalizability of metabolomic profiling diagnoses and prognoses. Conclusions Metabolomic profiling research would benefit from standardization of study design and analytic approaches. As technologies improve and knowledge garnered from research accumulates, metabolomic profiling has the potential to provide personalized diagnostic and prognostic information to support surgical decision-making from preoperative to postdischarge phases of care.
RAY JACKENDOFF. Semantics and cognition; GEORGE LAKOFF. Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind

(1992). RAY JACKENDOFF. Semantics and cognition; GEORGE LAKOFF. Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. WORD: Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 297-317.
“Send Back the Bloodstained Money”: Frederick Douglass on Tainted Gifts

Institutions today face calls to return “tainted” donations from controversial donors like the Sackler family. Such critiques of “dirty money,” while gaining in public salience, are prone to charges of puritanism or of hypocrisy. This paper recovers a distinctive position on dirty money, capable of responding to these charges, from the early speeches and writings of Frederick Douglass. In Great Britain in 1846, Douglass delivered a series of speeches claiming that the Free Church of Scotland had “made itself responsible for slavery” by accepting donations from American slaveholders, and he led a public campaign to “Send back the money.” Douglass’s argument centers on the claim that accepting money and other gifts can distort political relationships and subvert political judgment. His rhetoric also shows how criticizing objectionable gifts is an opportunity to shape people’s moral reasoning and political judgment for the better.
A novel approach to perioperative risk assessment for patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Rationale Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with significant perioperative morbidity and mortality. We hypothesized that pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) composite risk assessment scores could estimate perioperative risk for PH patients when adjusted for inherent procedural risk. Methods We identified patients in the Johns Hopkins PH Center Registry that had non-cardiac surgery (including endoscopies) between September 2015 and January 2020. We collected information on preoperative patient-level and procedural variables and used logistic regression to evaluate associations with a composite outcome of death within 30 days or serious post-operative complication. We generated composite patient-level risk assessment scores for each subject and used logistic regression to estimate the association with adverse surgical outcomes. We adjusted multivariable models for inherent procedural risk of major cardiovascular events, and used these models to generate a numerical PH perioperative risk (PHPR) score. Results Among 150 subjects, 19 (12.7%) reached the primary outcome including seven deaths (4.7%). Individual patient-level and procedural variables were associated with the primary outcome (all p 10%) risk of reaching the primary outcome. Conclusion Composite PAH risk assessment scores can predict perioperative risk for PH patients after accounting for inherent procedural risk. Validation of the PHPR score in a multi-center, prospective cohort is warranted.
An emerging spectrum of variants and clinical features in KCNMA1-linked channelopathy

KCNMA1-linked channelopathy is an emerging neurological disorder characterized by heterogeneous and overlapping combinations of movement disorder, seizure, developmental delay, and intellectual disability. KCNMA1 encodes the BK K+ channel, which contributes to both excitatory and inhibitory neuronal and muscle activity. Understanding the basis of the disorder is an important area of active investigation; however, the rare prevalence has hampered the development of large patient cohorts necessary to establish genotype-phenotype correlations. In this review, we summarize 37 KCNMA1 alleles from 69 patients currently defining the channelopathy and assess key diagnostic and clinical hallmarks. At present, 3 variants are classified as gain-of-function with respect to BK channel activity, 14 loss-of-function, 15 variants of uncertain significance, and putative benign/VUS. Symptoms associated with these variants were curated from patient-provided information and prior publications to define the spectrum of clinical phenotypes. In this newly expanded cohort, seizures showed no differential distribution between patients harboring GOF and LOF variants, while movement disorders segregated by mutation type. Paroxysmal non-kinesigenic dyskinesia was predominantly observed among patients with GOF alleles of the BK channel, although not exclusively so, while additional movement disorders were observed in patients with LOF variants. Neurodevelopmental and structural brain abnormalities were prevalent in patients with LOF mutations. In contrast to mutations, disease-associated KCNMA1 single nucleotide polymorphisms were not predominantly related to neurological phenotypes but covered a wider set of peripheral physiological functions. Together, this review provides additional evidence exploring the genetic and biochemical basis for KCNMA1-linked channelopathy and summarizes the clinical repository of patient symptoms across multiple types of KCNMA1 gene variants.
High worry in pregnancy predicts postpartum depression.

Abstract Background Anxiety in pregnancy is one of the strongest risk factors for postpartum depression (PPD), and high worry is a hallmark of many anxiety disorders. We sought to determine whether the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), designed for the general population, could identify high worry in pregnancy and predict the development of PPD symptoms (PPDS). Methods We followed women (N = 295) with and without mood and anxiety disorders across pregnancy and up to 6 months postpartum. Diagnoses were confirmed by SCID and by an experienced perinatal psychiatrist, and we administered the PSWQ and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at up to 6 time points. We determined the trajectory of worry across time and its relationship to PPDS. Results Women with a history or current diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) were more likely to experience high antenatal worry (defined as PSWQ >60), p Limitations Our study used self-report measures in a largely homogeneous population, which may limit the generalizability of our results. Conclusions The PSWQ may be a useful clinical tool in pregnancy. High worry is a strong predictor of PPDS, and is a better predictor of PPDS than psychiatric diagnosis or elevated antenatal depressive symptoms in this population.
Letter to the editor regarding "Budget impact analysis of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in Colombia".

Gomez and colleagues [1] recently published a budget impact analysis (BIA) evaluating pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) use over 5 years (2020 to 2024) in the National Immunization Program (NI...
Commentary: Differential Human Life Value Perception, Guatemala Experiment and Bioethics

The objective of this opinionated paper is to reflect on the potential of perceptions of different values of human life in influencing ethics violations particularly in health and medical research. It is posited that sometimes members of the research community perceive their own lives as being more precious than other lives. The factor discussed for bioethical violations is the perception of different levels of importance of human lives of people of different races, cultures, regions, countries or ethnic origins in the minds of fellow humans. The experiments carried out on Jews in Nazi camps, African-American people in The Tuskegee experiment, and Guatemalans in The Guatemala Syphilis experiment point to this perception. More often than not, the learned medical scientists know what morally sound medical research is, as is brought forward by an example of Guatemala study; however, sometimes they resort to bioethical violations presumably influenced by their perception of value for other human lives. The researchers for clinical or experimental trials are often drawn to inhabitants of underdeveloped or developing nations as they perceive that if in case there is any harm to the clinical subjects’ health, there won’t be any big payouts; as the worth of those subjects is less than clinical subjects in a developed country. In some of the unethical human experimentations, the affected populations were vulnerable due to their social or economic conditions: being war personnel, mentally depressed or being inmates in prisons. This vulnerability of the subjects makes the researcher throw away the concept of ‘equality in the value of human life’. It is the opinion of the author that as long as this mentality of different values of human life persists, it will have the potential to feed into ethical violations in spite of regulations or laws.
New Findings Concerning the Localization by Electron Microscopy of Acetylcholinesterase in Autonomic Ganglia

Publisher Summary With the development of the copper thiocholine (CuThCh) histochemical method for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and pseudocholinesterase (ChE), it became possible to determine the localization of these enzymes in fresh frozen sections with high degrees of specificity and sensitivity and to a reasonable degree of accuracy within the limits of resolution afforded by light microscopy. In order to investigate the cytological localization of AChE in the superior cervical, ciliary, and other autonomic ganglia of the cat, beyond what could be seen by direct light-microscopic observation of stained sections, additional procedures were employed. Prior to staining, tissues were treated in vitro and in vivo, with various anticholinesterase (anti-ChE) agents, including reversible and irreversible, and lipidsoluble and -insoluble compounds, administered alone and in combination with both normal and preganglionically denervated cats. Electron microscopic studies have been performed with modifications of the CuThCh method and the related thiocholine- copper-ferricyanide method. However, this approach has inherent limitations to the accuracy of localization obtainable, such as the quaternary, and hence poorly penetrating nature of the substrate (acetylthiocholine) and the relatively large dimensions and low electron-density of the primary reaction products.
Next Steps: Navistar's compensation reserve expert system advisor

The worker's compensation reserve expert system advisor helps worker's compensation analysts to make timely and accurate estimates about compensation claims. A description is presented of the system, focusing on several issues which are typical of those facing developers working in commercial settings: access to expertise, computer phobia of end-users, and maintenance. The advisor performs three principal operations: creation of a reserve estimate, revision of existing estimates, and update of state statue files. >
Thoracic limb alignment in healthy labrador retrievers: evaluation of standing versus recumbent frontal plane radiography.

Objective To report thoracic limb alignment values in healthy dogs; to determine if limb alignment values are significantly different when obtained from standing versus recumbent radiographic projections. Study Design Prospective cross-sectional study. Animals Labrador Retrievers (n = 45) >15 months of age. Methods Standing and recumbent radiographs were obtained and limb montages were randomized before analysis by a single investigator blinded to dog, limb, and limb position. Twelve limb alignment values were determined using the CORA methodology. Measurements were performed in triplicate and intra-observer variability was evaluated by intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Limb alignment values were reported as mean ± SD and 95% confidence intervals. Linear mixed models were used to determine if significant associations existed between limb alignment values and limb, limb position, gender, age, weight, and body condition score. Results There were significant differences in standing and recumbent limb alignment values for all values except elbow mechanical axis deviation (eMAD). Limb, gender, age, body weight, and body condition score had no effect. ICC values ranged from 0.522 to 0.758, indicating moderate to substantial agreement for repeated measurements by a single investigator. Conclusions Limb alignment values are significantly different when determined from standing versus recumbent radiographs in healthy Labrador Retrievers.
R&D Productivity in the Personal Computer Industry

We empirically study the dynamics of R&D productivity by firm size over an industry's life cycle. To do this, we examine the relationship between R&D expenditures, firm size, and new product introductions at the firm level in the personal computer industry. In general, we find the following. (1) Although R&D productivity generally shows decreasing marginal returns to additional expenditures, small firms have increasing returns to R&D efforts in the introductory stage of the industry life cycle. (2) In the early part of the industry life cycle, small firms exhibit greater R&D productivity than large firms. However, this is reversed as the industry approaches maturity when large firms have higher R&D productivity than smaller firms. (3) R&D productivity generally decreases over time, indicating diminishing innovation opportunities as the industry matures. Thus, our results suggest that an advantage of size occurs in the long run as higher R&D productivity later in the industry life cycle. We argue that this higher R&D productivity may come from larger firms being able to spread their R&D expenditures over a longer product line.
Data Provenance: Some Basic Issues

The ease with which one can copy and transform data on the Web, has made it increasingly difficult to determine the origins of a piece of data. We use the term data provenance to refer to the process of tracing and recording the origins of data and its movement between databases. Provenance is now an acute issue in scientific databases where it is central to the validation of data. In this paper we discuss some of the technical issues that have emerged in an initial exploration of the topic.
EFFECT OF MELTER-FEED-MAKEUP ON VITRIFICATION PROCESS

Increasing the rate of glass processing in the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) will allow shortening the life cycle of waste cleanup at the Hanford Site. While the WTP melters have approached the limit of increasing the rate of melting by enhancing the heat transfer rate from molten glass to the cold cap, a substantial improvement can still be achieved by accelerating the feed-to-glass conversion kinetics. This study investigates how the feed-to-glass conversion process responds to the feed makeup. By identifying the means of control of primary foam formation and silica grain dissolution, it provides data needed for a meaningful and economical design of large-scale experiments aimed at achieving faster melting.
On the mechanism of erythropoietin-induced differentiation. VII. The relationship between stimulated deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and ribonucleic acid synthesis.

Abstract Erythropoietin causes the conversion of primitive cells to erythrocytes. Some biochemical alterations seen in vitro during this induced process are increased RNA synthesis, DNA synthesis, iron uptake, and hemoglobin synthesis. In experiments of relatively long duration, inhibition of DNA synthesis prevents erythropoietin-stimulated iron uptake and hemoglobin synthesis. In shorter experiments, both these functions and stimulated RNA synthesis are completely expressed in the absence of stimulated DNA synthesis. Inhibition of either RNA or protein synthesis, however, causes complete suppression of the erythropoietin effect on iron uptake, hemoglobin synthesis, and DNA synthesis. These data, and earlier data on the time course of erythropoietin-stimulated RNA synthesis, indicate that the primary action of the inducer is not on cell division or DNA replication but on RNA or protein synthesis.
Homogeneous Nucleation of Water Anomalies Explained by Recognition and Elimination of Heterogeneous Species

Abstract A piston-typo expansion cloud chamber, capable of producing short pulses of nucleation, was used to study the homogeneous nucleation of water over a wide range of temperature and supersaturation. A large effort was made to remove impurities capable of acting as heterogeneous nuclei from the system. The chamber was found to be capable of performing experiments that were relatively free of interfering impurities and the results resolved several anomalous nucleation phenomena appearing in the literature: the knee in drop concentration vs supersaturation data, the temperature dependence of the critical supersaturation, and the decay of the nucleation rate with time. The anomalies were found to be due to impurities active at different temperature and supersaturation regimes.
Not all forms of dialect contact are the same: Effects of regional media, travel, and social contacts on the perception of Spanish aspirated-/s/

Previous work has found that speakers who move to a new dialect region may come to adopt features of the second dialect. This study investigates whether other types of dialect exposure – those present without ever leaving one’s home dialectal region – similarly result in differences in language use. An identification task and a dialect contact questionnaire were administered to two Spanish-speaking dialect groups in Latin America to determine the effect of different types of dialect contact on the perceptual categorization of the regionally and socially variable feature of syllable-final /s/-aspiration (e.g., fresco [fɾeh.ko], ‘fresh’). Short-term travel and exposure to Media from /s/-weakening regions were not found to play a role in identification of aspirated-/s/. However, the regional background of reported social contacts (i.e., the social network) was a significant factor in how the regional variant was identified. Findings highlight the importance of live social interaction in language contact and change.
Glucose-Lactose Diauxie in Escherichia coli

Growth of Escherichia coli in medium containing glucose, at a concentration insufficient to support full growth, and containing lactose, is diauxic. A mutation in the gene, CR, which determines catabolite repression specific to the lac operon, was found to relieve glucose-lactose but not glucose-maltose diauxie. Furthermore, a high concentration of lactose was shown to overcome diauxie in a CR+ strain. Studies on the induction of β-galactosidase by lactose suggested that glucose inhibits induction by 10−2m lactose. Preinduction of the lac operon was found to overcome this effect. The ability of glucose to prevent expression of the lac operon by reducing the internal concentration of inducer as well as by catabolite repression is discussed.
Discrimination: a new cardiovascular risk factor?

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among all Americans; however, it carries a disproportionate burden on the health and well-being of blacks. Over the past several decades, blacks have not achieved the same reductions in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality compared with whites. Racial inequalities in health have been described for nearly a century. W. E. B. Dubois, a renowned scholar of 20th century social and political thought, referenced racial inequities in health in a novel entitled the Health and Physique of the Negro American (1906). There are currently hundreds of studies that show racial disparities in care and health outcomes. The publication of the Institute of Medicine report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health Care has been instrumental in bringing racial disparities in health care to the forefront of political and medical agendas. Despite these efforts, racial inequalities in health care remain an enigmatic truth that casts a shadow on the integrity of the practice of medicine in America. In this issue of the Journal, Albert et al (p. 1103) attempts to expand our understanding of determinants of cardiovascular risk in diverse populations. The authors should be congratulated for tackling a difficult subject, racial and ethnic (r/e) discrimination, while exploring a novel mechanism for increased cardiovascular risk in subjects who perceived r/e discrimination. The investigators analyzed data from a sample of multiethnic/multiracial residents of Dallas participating in the Dallas Heart Study. Subjects who identified themselves as black or Hispanic were more likely to have the perception that they have experienced r/e discrimination compared with whites. Nearly 50% of blacks queried indicated that they had experienced discrimination based on their race or ethnicity. This perception of discrimination among blacks was noted more often in individuals who were men, college graduates, more vigorously active, and more likely to have a family history of myocardial infarction. In a smaller representative sample, Hispanics who reported experiencing discrimination compared with those who had not were more often male, younger, current smokers, and college graduates. Despite assessing a myriad of markers of subclinical cardiovascular disease,