cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Duplication of the H1 (Flagellar Antigen) Locus in Salmonella

T YPICAL Salmonella strains are “diphasic” with respect to their flagellar antigens. That is, they manifest one of two genes, H, or H,, but not both in a given clone until a phase variation takes place and the alternative antigen is expressed. The genetic analysis of this alternation by transductional methods (LEDERBERG and EDWARDS 1953; LEDERBERG and IINO 1956) has shown that the variation depends on a “change of state” at the H, locus. The alternating factor has not been separated by recombination from the determinant for antigenic specificity of H,. On the other hand, repeated cycles of alternation in state have occurred at H, without influencing its antigenic specificity. The H, gene, the determinant of the antigen of the alternative phase, is not linked to HZ, but the expression of H, depends on the inactive state of H,. The present paper is part of a comprehensive study of the genetics of Salmonella phase variation (IINO 1958; 1961a,b). Various anomalies, or exceptions to the simple pattern of diphasic variation have occurred, whose assimilation to the general scheme can throw light on the genie control of protein synthesis. The anomaly presented in this paper is represented by CDC-157, a strain of Salmonella paratyphi B, now much used as an antigen for the production of diagnostic anti-12 antiserum (EDWARDS and BRUNER 1942). The advantage of CDC-157 for this purpose is its apparent monophasic behavior; that is, large clones will consist nearly exclusively of cells whose flagellar antigen is 1.2. A genetic analysis of this strain has revealed two anomalies: ( 1) The 1.2 antigen is determined by an allele at the H, locus instead of the H, usual for this antigen, and (2) the stock is carrying a duplicate H, locus. The genotypic formula of CDC-157 is thus HlbH,‘.P, by contrast to the genotype HIbHB1.* for typical strains of S. paratyphi B. These genotypes accurately summarize the genetic behavior of the respective strains.
Government Economic Policy in Pre-Industrial Europe

Government had an enormous impact on economic growth and development in pre-industrial Europe. Mostly, this was unintended - a side effect, for example, of government exaction or of the waging of war. However, governments did also intervene in their economies deliberately. These interventions can be grouped into a number of policies - the pursuit of legibility, a policy of provision, protectionism, bullionism, and mercantilism. This paper examines why governments pursued these policies, what form these policies took, and what were their effects on the economy.
Evidence for the Negative Surface Energy Models of Superconductivity in Nb 3 Sn, Nb 3 Al, V 3 Ga, and V 3 Si

The magnetization loops of powdered Nb/sub 3/Sn, Nb/sub 3/Al, V/sub 3/ Ga, and V/sub 3/Si do not close symmetrically about the applied magnetic field axis with decreasing particle size, as should be expected if high-field superconductivity originates solely from the presence of physically real superconducting filaments. The asymmetric magnetization loops obtained have a form very similar to that predicted by the negative surface energy models of superconductivity. The results for the four intermetallics in terms of the induced superconducting current density and the magnetic field at which fluxoids first penetrate into the superconductor are presented and discussed. (H.D.R.)
Hyperglycemic choreaballism: A rare syndrome of acute dyskinesias in the adult population

Abstract Hemiballismus–hemichorea is a rare complication of nonketotic hyperglycemia. Neuroimaging in patients with this syndrome show characteristic findings with hyperintensity in basal ganglia. We present case of a 65 year old female showing classic clinical and radiographic feature of this syndrome. We aim to illustrate the importance of prompt diagnosis of this disorder and treatment of hyperglycemia to achieve a favorable prognosis and prevent adverse outcomes.
Insect Parasitism and Biological Control

There are certain of the more practical aspects of insect parasitism, in relation to the practice of biological control, which are of particular interest and concern at this time. The present account will omit consideration of the more technical phases and will deal only with those which have a direct bearing upon the methods of insect control. A brief review will also be given of the beginnings of the biological control movement in the United States and of the present status of the international movement of insect parasites and predators.
An unexpected cause of infantile failure to thrive.

The etiology of infantile failure to thrive in the US is extremely diverse. Causes range from naive or malevolent parents; cost of formula for low-income families; mothers inexperienced with breast-feeding; and a range of organic causes. Many experts categorize failure-tothrive (FTT) as either organic or nonorganic. Recognizing the initial stages of FTT is challenging, but becomes readily apparent over weeks of infant office visits by observing basic vital signs and growth curves. However, many insurance companies and Medicaid EPSDT only allow these in the first week of life and then again at 2 months of age. I am afraid this means we are going to miss some serious cases of FTT (and newborn jaundice). We should probably ensure the healthy newborn who is breastor bottle-fed is gaining weight steadily by incorporating a second office visit or a nurse visit at 10 to 14 days of life — regardless of insurance coverage or how payments are capped. CASE 1 The 2-month-old, healthy female had a birth weight of 6 lb,10 oz as a twin gestation. Her antenatal course, labor and delivery, and newborn hospital course were uncomplicated. She had been feeding 2 to 3 oz of standard milkbased formula every 2 to 3 hours with a weight gain of 16 oz over the previous 21 days. At this visit, her physical examination was entirely normal. At 3 months old, the patient presented with a chief complaint of constipation noted by small, hard round stools. The mother reported the child was bottle feeding about 4 oz every 3 hours, plus the mother reported adding some rice cereal to most of her bottles. But the child had gained only 8 oz in 1 month. The patient’s head circumference and length were on the appropriate growth curves, and her vital signs and overall examination were normal except for her mild malnourished appearance and loss of subcutaneous body fat. The infant also was very cranky, even while feeding. I decided to evaluate her apparent FTT more thoroughly. The initial laboratory evaluation revealed that her CBC was normal except for her leukocyte count, which was elevated at 17,500 cells/mm3. This prompted me to perform even more tests to exclude a possible infectious source of her FTT. She had a normal urinalysis with a specific gravity (SG) of 1.010 and no ketones. Her urine culture by catheterization was negative. Her chest radiograph was negative. Her An Unexpected Cause of Infantile Failure to Thrive
The influence of a sulfur dioxide point source on the rain chemistry of a single storm in the Puget sound region

Sampling and chemical analysis of a rainstorm were undertaken to determine the influence of a large source of SO2 on regional precipitation chemistry. A definite correlation was obtained between hydrogen ion, sulfate ion and As concentration increases downwind of the source. Estimated sulfate deposition in a 1500 km2 downwind area was compared to existing models.
Abstract SS01-05: Designing useful cost‐effectiveness research in cancer prevention

Introduction: While there are several excellent manuscripts on how to design and carry out economic evaluations of health program alternatives, researchers often fail to consider practical issues useful to the decision‐makers. These issues will become increasingly important as we use comparative effectiveness research and cost‐effectiveness analysis to assess and improve healthcare delivery in the U.S. healthcare system. Objective: Identify and describe key research design and methods issues that facilitate decision‐makers9 use of economic evaluations of cancer prevention. Methods: Assume the perspective of a health plan or provider group interested in selecting and providing the most cost‐effective cancer prevention services. Examine the economic evaluation literature to identify and describe issues that are important to decision‐makers9 selection, planning and execution of prevention strategies, that may be unexamined and/or underreported. Explain the importance of these issues for translating research into practice. Results and Conclusion: Key limitations include 1) designing overly restrictive trials that fail to represent the target population, 2) excluding cost of identifying and recruiting the target populations, 3) not providing separate unit cost from quantity of resources, 4) understating labor cost, 5) not providing a budget impact analysis, 6) not separating fixed from variable cost. The primary purpose of economic evaluation studies is to inform decision‐makers about the relative costs and effects of program or treatment alternatives, but this falls short of what is needed to accurately plan and implement changes in health plans and healthcare organizations. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):SS01-05.
On the Determination of Partial RDFs for Amorphous Materials

Radial distribution functions (RDFs) for vitreous silica (v-SiO2) have been obtained from energy-filtered electron diffraction data obtained in the HB5 scanning transmission electron microscope. Results have been compared with those obtained from high-resolution neutron diffraction experiments, and are in good agreement within experimental errors. It was found to be impractical to obtain partial RDFs for this material from combined neutron, X-ray and electron diffraction data, because the similarities in characteristics of X-ray and electron scattering cause indeterminacies. A criterion equation has been given to determine feasibility.
REFORM AND RESEARCH OF TUNNEL SUPPORT IN SOFT ROCKS AT SHENBEI MINES

SYNOPSIS The development history of tunnel support in clay rock at Shenbei Mines is reviewed in this paper. In particular, the tunnel support experiments conducted in recent two years in Daqiao Mine of Shenbei Mines are described. The working procedures, experimental techniques, construction of support and back-analysis of in-situ measured data are also presented.
Cellular Metabolism and T-ALL Specificity of Arabinosylguanine: a Review

A metabolic disorder resulting from deficiency of a purine nucleoside catabolizing enzyme first focused attention on the specific sensitivity of immature T-cells to deoxyguanosine nucleotides. Recognition that T-cell malignancies might have similar sensitivities coupled with the clinical success of other arabinosyl nucleosides subsequently led to the preclinical evaluation of arabinosylguanine for this purpose. Strong correlations between the specificity of arabinosylguanine for immature T-cells was explained by the favorable anabolism of the drug in cell lines and primary human leukemia cells in vitro. Development of a prodrug of ara-G, compound 506U, has now permitted clinical trials. Preliminary reports indicate that the laboratory studies were predictive of the spectrum of clinical activity; a high initial response rate was seen in T-cell malignancies. Pharmacology studies in circulating leukemia cells during therapy demonstrated that the peak accumulation of the active metabolite, arabinosylguanine triphosphate, was strongly correlated with clinical response. Strategies to maximize accumulation of the triphosphate in non-T-cell malignancies are now being designed.
Constructing National Identity through Autobiographical Memory of Childhood

A 1939 illustrated book about Egyptian peasants by scholar ‘A’isha ‘Abd al-Rahman equates corpses to girls doing domestic chores. Another image in the same book depicts an exhausted girl squatting by the side of a box of freshly picked onions. The caption reads: “Young Misery.” ‘Abd al-Rahman’s book was a foray into the then popular genre of peasant studies,1 and also into the growing feminist press, the latter concerning us here. The book came out in the midst of a vibrant feminist press and movement in Egypt, the junior branch of the Egyptian Feminist Union (EFU) being formed a few years earlier. The photographs and captions reflect a clear condemnation of girls’ relegation to the domestic sphere in contemporary Egyptian villages. ‘Abd al-Rahman published this book in the same year in which she overcame decades of gendered barriers to receive an undergraduate degree. After the book’s publication, she went on to obtain a PhD and become a professor of Arabic literature, and she was one of the first modern Arab women to undertake Qur’anic exegesis. ‘Abd al-Rahman lived until 1989, and published many short stories and academic works about early Muslim women. At the peak of her career in the late 1960s, she temporarily expressed feminist themes in a more personal format: the autobiography.
St Paul and Protestantism (1870), Literature and Dogma (1873), God and the Bible (1875), Last Essays on Church and Religion (1877)

Arnold’s religious and Biblical criticism grows directly out of his writings about culture. His critique of the English Dissenters begins with ‘My Countrymen’ in 1866, and he refers to St Paul repeatedly in the essays of Culture and Anarchy. To Arnold St Paul represents the best of the Christian ‘Hebraic’ tradition because, up to a point, he incorporated Hellenism, a free flow of consciousness, into his thinking about morality. The English Puritans, however, treated his teachings in a mechanical way, much like the mechanical way that the Jews treated the Mosaic law in Paul’s day. Observers who have watched Puritanism ‘handle such terms as grace, faith, election, righteousness’ must feel that these terms ‘have for the mind of Puritanism a sense false and misleading’ and that ‘this sense is the most monstrous and grotesque caricature of the sense of St Paul, and his true meaning is by these worshippers of his words altogether lost’ (CPW 5:182). In addition, Arnold wanted to challenge the Dissenters’ claim to the historical justification of their separation from the English Church. Arnold felt that he was qualified to make these judgments.
Nudging the digital pirate

Anecdotal evidence from the software industry shows us that digital pirates sometimes change their illegal behavior on a case-by-case basis and become paying customers of the same good they already possess. Pilot data for this project suggests that consumers are more likely (significant mean-shift) to remain a pirate rather than convert to a paying customer if the subject is reminded of their prior non-piracy behavior. Conversely, if a consumer is reminded of past piracy behavior, they are equally likely to pirate a new good in the future, consistent with the likelihood of piracy in the case mentioned prior. This suggests consumers may be lured away by the momentary temptation of piracy, overriding their larger goal of not being a pirate. This is a work in progress. Our continued objective is to explain the underlying decisions that subjects make as they are nudged away from being pirates, and reinforce policies that should be used by industry to encourage this behavior.
Examining gender, class, and ethnicity in Nineteenth-Century New York City

Ceramic vessels are used in a first step for comparing how working- and middle-class women constructed domesticity in 19th-century New York City. In addition to exploring some of the interpretive problems encountered in studying working-class families who lived in tenements, the analysis indicates that the women of the working class apparently did not emulate middle-class women when it came to choosing the dishes they used to set their tables.
An Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism In Higher Plants

The predominant sources of nitrogen for higher plants are NH4 +, NO3 - and N2. In most forests, where soils are acidic and low in nitrogen, NH4 + is the major nitrogen source. In agricultural soils, NO3 - is the primary source of nitrogen for plant growth and development, even though NH4 + or urea fertilizers may have been applied. Soil microorganisms, under normal conditions, oxidize the NH4 + or urea-N to NO3 - by the process of nitrification. In this review, the metabolism of nitrogen obtained by higher plants from NH4 +, N03 -; or N2 will be discussed.
Robotically assembled aerospace structures: Digital material assembly using a gantry-type assembler

This paper evaluates the development of automated assembly techniques for discrete lattice structures using a multi-axis gantry type CNC machine. These lattices are made of discrete components and are referred to as “digital materials.” We present the development of a specialized end effector that works in conjunction with the CNC machine to assemble these lattices. With this configuration we are able to place voxels at a rate of 1.5 per minute. The scalability of digital material structures due to the incremental modular assembly is one of its key traits and an important metric of interest. We investigate the build times of a 5×5 beam structure on the scale of 1 meter (325 parts), 10 meters (3,250 parts), and 30 meters (9,750 parts). Utilizing the current configuration with a single end effector, performing serial assembly with a globally fixed feed station at the edge of the build volume, the build time increases according to a scaling law of n4, where n is the build scale. Build times can be reduced significantly by integrating feed systems into the gantry itself, resulting in a scaling law of n3. A completely serial assembly process will encounter time limitations as build scale increases. Automated assembly for digital materials can assemble high performance structures from discrete parts, and techniques such as built in feed systems, parallelization, and optimization of the fastening process will yield much higher throughput.
HIV/Opportunistic Infections

HIV adversely affects the immune system via destruction of T cells, macrophages and related effector cells. Clinical manifestations include a spectrum of opportunistic infections, neoplasms and inflammatory conditions. Control of HIV replication involves combination of drugs from two or more classes that significantly lower the viral load and allow increases in immune effector cells. They extend the length and quality of life of HIV patients. These drugs, however, are very expensive and can be associated with resistance and to a number of adverse events. Although effective use of these drugs can reduce transmission of HIV, they do not produce a cure. The best hope for control of the pandemic of HIV is the development of a safe and effective preventative vaccine.
Improving the Diagnosability of Scan Chain Faults Under Transparent-Scan by Observation Points

Observation points in the combinational logic of a circuit can aid in the diagnosis of logic defects by reducing the number of indistinguished fault pairs. This paper considers the use of observation points in the combinational logic for the diagnosis of scan chain defects under an approach to test application called transparent-scan. Tests that are used for the diagnosis of scan chain defects include functional capture cycles that propagate the effects of scan chain faults through the combinational logic. Scan chain faults can thus be distinguished based on the values that are propagated in their presence to an observation point in the combinational logic. The procedure for observation point insertion considers the following parameters with respect to scan chain faults: 1) the number of indistinguished fault pairs and 2) the distances, measured in numbers of scan cells, between the faults that cannot be distinguished. With lower distances, a set of candidates for a faulty scan chain is likely to contain faults in the same vicinity of the scan chain. This facilitates failure analysis. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of observation points in the combinational logic for scan chain diagnosis under transparent-scan.
Perceptions of Psychological Abuse: The Role of Perpetrator Gender, Victim's Response, and Sexism.

It is commonly assumed that male abuse is more damaging than female abuse, just as it previously has been assumed that physical abuse is more harmful than psychological abuse. We sought to examine gender assumptions given that they may cause people to overlook the harm that men experience with a psychologically abusive partner. The current experiment compared perceptions of male and female perpetrators of psychological abuse, and examined whether gendered perceptions were affected by sexist beliefs or participants’ own sex. The experiment also explored the effect of the victim’s response to a perpetrator’s abuse. College participants (N = 195) read a scenario depicting a hypothetical marital conflict that manipulated the sex of the perpetrator, the level of abuse (abuse or no abuse), and whether the victim did or did not respond with some aggression. In scenarios that featured abuse (relative to no-abuse conditions), a male perpetrator was consistently perceived more harshly than a female perpetrator. Par...
Evaluation of bovine viral diarrhea virus transmission potential to naïve calves by direct and indirect exposure routes.

Bovine viral diarrhea viruses (BVDV) can cause both acute and persistent infections in cattle. Exposure to BVDV persistently infected (PI) animals results in transmission of the virus to a naive animal which causes a transient acute infection. While it is known that direct exposure to PI animals is a highly efficient means of transmission, less information is available regarding the potential for transmission from acutely infected either by direct or indirect exposure to naive animals. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential for spread of the virus from calves acutely infected, with typical virulence field viruses know to have minimal shedding and viremia, to naive contact animals either by direct or indirect exposure. To accomplish this objective, two BVDV isolates belonging to two species of BVDV, type 1 and type 2, were used to inoculate calves. Subsequently on day 2 post-infection, naive calves were exposed to inoculated calves, either directly or indirectly, over a period of two weeks. All calves were evaluated for the presence of virus in blood samples and nasal swabs, pyrexia, lymphopenia and seroconversion. BVDV was isolated from inoculated calves but not from any of the direct and indirect contact animals or from control calves. Similarly, pyrexia and lymphopenia were observed in the inoculated calves, but not in contact and control calves. Only the inoculated calves seroconverted by day 38 of the study indicating that no transmission had occurred to the naive contact calves. This data would suggest that there may be an infectious dose needed for transmission of virus for typical virulent isolates.
Corrections to “Abelian Group Codes for Channel Coding and Source Coding”

The group capacity of a discrete memoryless channel $(\mathcal {X},\mathcal {Y},W_{Y|X})$ is characterized with maximal probability of error in of [1, Sec. II] . There is a mistake in the proof of achievability as given in Section VII.A. It is correctly shown on page 2408–2409 that \begin{equation*} \lim _{n \rightarrow \infty } \max _{a} \mathbb {E} \left [{ P(E(a)) }\right ] =0 \end{equation*} if for all $\hat {\theta } \neq \boldsymbol {s}$ , \begin{align*}&\hspace {-0.5pc}R \frac {\sum _{(p,s)\in \mathcal {S}(G)} (s- \hat {\theta }_{p,s}) w_{p,s} \log p}{\sum _{(p,s) \in \mathcal {S} (G)} s w_{p,s} \log q} \\&\qquad \qquad \quad \qquad However it is incorrectly claimed that the achievability conditions are: for all $\hat {\theta } \neq \pmb {s}$ , \begin{equation*} R\le \frac {1}{1-\omega _{\hat {\theta }}} I(X_{\eta ^{*},b};Y|[X_{\eta ^{*},b}]_{\hat {\theta }}). \end{equation*} Our original objective was to characterize the average error group capacity of a discrete memoryless channel. The average error is more widely used than the maximal error. Although we had the proof of achievability for the average error case, we could not prove the converse. So we settled for characterizing the maximal error group capacity. In light of the above error, we have the following resolution.
Quantification of biological responses as predictors of cognitive outcome after developmental TBI

Successful translational studies within the field of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) are concerned with determining reliable markers of injury outcome at chronic time points. Determination of injury severity following Fluid Percussion Injury (FPI) has long been limited to the measured atmospheric pressure associated with the delivered pulse. Duration of unresponsiveness to toe pinch (unconsciousness) was next introduced as an extra marker of injury severity. The current study is an effort to assess the utilization of acute injury-induced biological responses (duration of toe pinch unresponsiveness, percent body weight change, quantification of brain edema, and apnea duration) to predict cognitive performance at a subacute time point following developmental brain injury. Cognitive performance, when measured at a subacute phase, after developmental FPI was negatively correlated with the following variables, duration of toe pinch unresponsiveness, percent weight change, and quantified level of brain edema. These finding suggest the potential utilization of reliable severity assessment of injury-induced biological responses in determining outcome measures at subacute time points.
How sensitive are Singapore’s inpayments and outpayments to exchange rate changes: Evidence from commodity trade with Malaysia

There are a few methods that could be used to assess the impact of exchange rate changes on the trade balance of a country. One of them is to analyse the effects of exchange rate changes on a country's inpayments and outpayments at the bilateral level. One study that did this between Singapore and her 13 largest partners did not find any significant effects of exchange rate changes on Singapore's inpayments from and outpayments to Malaysia, the largest trading partner. Suspecting that such findings could suffer from aggregation bias, we disaggregate the trade flows between the two countries by commodity and investigate the sensitivity of the inpayments of 156 Singapore export industries which engage in 98% of exports to Malaysia, and the outpayments of 133 import industries which conduct 96.7% of imports from Malaysia. Application of the bounds testing approach to each and every industry's model revealed that most industries respond to exchange rate changes in the short run. In the long run, however, only the inpayments of 62 industries and outpayments of 52 industries are affected.
Yeast Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Sensitivity to Inhibition by Chlorpropamide Analogues as an Indicator of Human Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Sensitivity to These Agents

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.2.1.3) is a polymorphic enzyme that is relatively substrate-nonspecific. Several isoenzymes are found in human tissues. Based on primary structure or subcellular distribution and kinetic, physical and immunochemical properties, they have been placed into one of three classes, viz., class 1, e.g., ALDH-1, class 2, e.g., ALDH-2 and class 3, e.g., ALDH-3 (Anonymous, 1989; Lindahl and Hempel, 1990; Goedde and Agarwal, 1990; Lindahl, 1992). These enzymes catalyze the biotransformation (bioactivation and/or bioinactivation) of a broad spectrum of endogenous (biogenic) and exogenous (xenobiotic) aldehydes that are physiologically and/or pharmacologically important (Sladek et al., 1989, 1995; Lindahl, 1992; Sladek, 1993, 1994). For example, ALDH-1 catalyzes the oxidation of retinaldehyde to retinoic acid, the latter being a potent modulator of cell growth and differentiation; ALDH-1 and, especially, ALDH-2 catalyze the oxidation of ethanol-derived acetaldehyde to acetate, a detoxifying reaction; ALDH-3 catalyzes the oxidation of 4-hydroxynonenal and other aldehydic products of lipid peroxidation to their corresponding acids, also a detoxifying reaction; and ALDH-1 and ALDH-3 catalyze the oxidation of aldophosphamide to carboxyphosphamide, yet another detoxifying reaction, since, alternatively, aldophosphamide, a metabolite of anticancer prodrugs collectively known as oxazaphosphorines, e.g., cyclophosphamide, gives rise to phosphoramide mustard, the metabolite that effects the cytotoxic action of these prodrugs.
Evaluation of plasma erythropoietic-stimulating factors in anemic uremic patients.

1. Plasma samples from certain chronically anemic humans have a humoral erythropoietic-stimulating factor. 2. Sixteen anemic uremic patients were studied to evaluate plasma levels of erythropoietic-stimulating factor. Fifteen of these patients showed no active erythropoietic-stimulating factors.
Forging the Consumption Paradigm: A Morally Neutral Moral Crusade

Traces how the major figures who followed Keynes adopted his moral crusade, but clothed it in the nineteenth-century language of moral neutrality, producing a fully developed Consumption paradigm that claimed to be morally neutral while actually conducting the discipline of economics as a moral crusade to maximize consumption. In particular, John Hicks popularized the ideas found in the General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money through his essay, “Mr. Keynes and the Classics,” which included the first version of the IS–LM diagram. While Hicks translated Keynes for the economists, Paul Samuelson translated Keynes for college students everywhere in his textbook, which included the Keynesian Cross diagram. These translators of Keynes produced a technical method based on Keynes’ theory that allowed it to be operationalized.
Analysis of the performance of an integrated small-scale biomass gasification system in a Canadian context

Small-scale downdraft biomass gasification is a promising technology for off-grid combined heat and power generation utilizing Canada’s vast biomass resources. As small-scale gasifiers are currently emerging into the Canadian market, the current study investigates the required feedstock characteristics for stable operation using Canadian softwood, along with the quality of the biochar produced as a byproduct. It was found that reducing feedstock moisture from 20 to 9% increased overall system efficiency from 8.2 to 12%. Equilibrium simulations were utilized to evaluate the deviation from ideal conversion when using feedstock outside the gasifier feedstock specifications. These showed the gasifier was operating close to equilibrium, with the lower heating value of the actual producer gas deviating by an average of 9% from simulated results. This study provides a novel methodology for the quantification of reliability and efficiency of these systems which can be used to evaluate the economic benefit of these systems in Canada.
Random Walk Gradient Descent for Decentralized Learning on Graphs

We design a new variant of the stochastic gradient descent algorithm applied for learning a global model based on the data distributed over the nodes of a network. Motivated by settings such as in decentralized learning, we suppose that one special node in the network, which we call node 1, is interested in learning the global model. We seek a decentralized and distributed algorithm for many reasons including privacy and fault-tolerance. A natural candidate here is Gossip-style SGD. However, it suffers from slow convergence and high communication cost mainly because at the end all nodes, and not only the special node, will learn the model. We propose a distributed SGD algorithm using a weighted random walk to sample the nodes. The Markov chain is designed to have stationary probability distribution that is proportional to the smoothness bound L_i of the local loss function at node i. We study the convergence rate of this algorithm and prove that it depends on the smoothness average L. This outperforms the case of uniform sampling algorithm obtained by a Metropolis-Hasting random walk (MHRW) which depends on the supremum of all L_i s noted L. We present numerical simulations that substantiate our theoretical findings and show that our algorithm outperforms random walk and gossip-style algorithms.
Postmortem vs. neoplastic gene expression: Clues to cancer development and therapy

Abstract Organismal death does not immediately end gene expression. Studies of postmortem gene expression in zebrafish and mice and in the myocardium, liver, prostate, pericardial fluid, and blood of human cadavers have identified genes whose expression is increased after organismal death. Cancer can be considered a form of “un-death” since excessively proliferating cells are typically unusually resistant to apoptosis (programmed cell death), and are subject to strong selective pressure for “uncontrolled life.” The changes in gene expression observed in organismal death, particularly in mammals (mice and humans), can be compared to that observed in human neoplasia, and the comparison of these expression patterns can inform us about human cancer. Here we present a hypothesis based on the following three tenets: (a) there will be distinct and opposing patterns of gene expression between the postmortem state and cancer with respect to key physiological outputs such as growth, apoptosis, invasion, and prognosis; (b) cancer cells considered more aggressive (e.g., derived from a metastasis and/or resistant to agents that suppress growth or induce apoptosis) will exhibit expression of relevant genes more unlike that of the postmortem condition while less aggressive neoplastic cells will exhibit gene expression more similar to the postmortem condition; and (c) targeting gene expression in cancer to produce a more postmortem-like pattern will promote less tumorigenic and less aggressive cell phenotypes. To evaluate components (a) and (b) of our hypothesis, we focus on previously published gene expression data from colorectal cancer (CRC) and colonic adenoma cells and compare that to postmortem expression data. This preliminary analysis in general supports our hypothesis, with more aggressive neoplastic cell types exhibiting gene expression patterns most unlike that found in the postmortem condition; this suggests that cancer and the postmortem condition represent opposing ends of a gene expression spectrum in the balance between life and death. Subsequently, we discuss the possibilities for further testing of the hypothesis, particularly for part (c), and we also discuss the possible implications of the hypothesis for cancer therapeutics.
Tales from topographic oceans: topologically associated domains and cancer

The 3D organization of the genome within the cell nucleus has come into sharp focus over the last decade. This has largely arisen because of the application of genomic approaches that have revealed numerous levels of genomic and chromatin interactions, including topologically associated domains (TADs). The current review examines how these domains were identified, are organized, how their boundaries arise and are regulated, and how genes within TADs are coordinately regulated. There are many examples of the disruption to TAD structure in cancer and the altered regulation, structure and function of TADs are discussed in the context of hormone responsive cancers, including breast, prostate and ovarian cancer. Finally, some aspects of the statistical insight and computational skills required to interrogate TAD organization are considered and future directions discussed.
Automated training sample definition for seasonal burned area mapping

Abstract Monitoring of environmental change can benefit from the increasing availability of multitemporal satellite imagery, and efficient and effective analysis tools are needed to generate relevant spatio-temporal land cover datasets. We present a data driven approach for automatic training sample selection to support supervised spatio-temporal mapping of seasonally burned areas in the semi-arid savannas of Southern Africa. Our approach leveraged the distinctive spectral-temporal trajectories associated with areas on the landscape burned at different times or areas remaining unburned over time. Using fuzzy c-means clustering, we extracted distinctive trajectories from the multitemporal mid-infrared burn index (MIRBI) data derived from Landsat data and characterized them based on empirically developed labeling rules. The selected training trajectories captured both the burn condition (burned or unburned) and if burned, the timeframe of the burn event. We assessed the approach by training a Random Forests model using over 2500 automatically selected training data and validated the model against ground truth for years 2009 and 2014. Based on over 1000 validation points in each year, we obtained overall accuracies above 90% showing reliable and consistent training data were supplied by our automatic training sample selection approach. The method provides a data driven and automatic approach which can reduce the time-consuming and expensive training task, enabling quicker generation of relevant burned area information that can support fire monitoring programs and climate change research.
Implementation of a High-Value Care Curriculum for General Surgery Residents.

Introduction Healthcare expenditures account for more than 3.5 trillion dollars annually with estimates of nearly one-half being wasteful. High-value care (HVC) balances the benefits, harms, and costs of healthcare. Since 2012, the American College of Physicians and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education developed a HVC curriculum and incorporated HVC into milestones for medicine residents. However, currently no HVC curriculum or milestones exist for general surgery residents (GSR). We sought to implement a HVC curriculum for GSR and evaluate awareness and attitudes toward HVC, hypothesizing improved resident awareness and attitudes toward HVC without affecting patient outcomes. Methods A prospective comparison between pre-HVC curriculum (7/1/2017-11/30/2017) and post-HVC curriculum (2/1/2018-6/30/2018) was performed. The curriculum included 6 didactic lectures with group discussions. A 14-question Likert-scale survey evaluating awareness, use of, and attitudes toward HVC was performed on all GSR. Additional patient outcomes were collected for all trauma patients cared for during the study period. Bivariate analysis using Mann-Whitney U test was performed. Results There were 38/38 GSR respondents (100% response rate) for the pre-HVC survey and 35/38 (92.1% response rate) for the post-HVC survey. More post-HVC respondents somewhat agreed (34.3% vs 5.3%) and less strongly disagreed (31.4% vs 52.6%) with improved knowledge of where to find costs of labs/imaging/treatment (p = 0.02) compared to the pre-HVC group. More post-HVC respondents strongly agreed they balanced the benefit of clinical care with costs and harm when treating patients (25.7% vs 21.1%; p = 0.01). More post-HVC respondents strongly agreed they customized care plans to incorporate patients’ values/concerns after implementation of the curriculum (51.4% vs 23.7%, p = 0.0006). From 3254 trauma patients studied, 1722 (52.9%) were pre-HVC and 1532 (47.1%) post-HVC patients. There was no difference between the pre- and post-HVC-curriculum trauma patients in terms of demographics and outcomes such as mortality (3.6% vs 2.4%, p = 0.07) and median length of stay (2 vs 2 days, p = 0.6). Conclusions Implementation of a HVC curriculum for GSR led to improved awareness regarding healthcare costs and customizing decision plans for patients, with no difference in trauma patient outcomes. Future research incorporating cost data is needed; however, with implementation of the 2020 general surgery milestones (addition of Systems-Based Practice-3), this curriculum could prove beneficial.
Gas and Gas Diesel Four-Stroke Marine Engines

According to Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence experts, the world merchant fleet as for 2018 has more than 50,000 vessels with a total carrying capacity of about 1.4 billion tons, which carry about 75% of the goods, transported all over the world. The part of harmful emissions from ship power plants into the atmosphere is relatively not high and does not exceed 5–7%. However, the requirements for the environmental performance of marine diesel engines are becoming more stringent from year to year. This is explained by the large aggregate capacity, which in some cases already exceeds 100 MW. Thus, in areas of intensive navigation, air pollution can reach critical values.
An experimentally validated dynamic model for spring-driven autoinjectors.

Abstract This study focuses on developing a predictive dynamic model for spring-driven autoinjectors. The values of unknown physical parameters, such as the heat convection coefficient and the friction force between the plunger and the syringe barrel, are obtained by fitting the experimentally measured displacements of the plunger and the syringe barrel. The predicted kinematics of the components, such as the displacement and velocity of the syringe barrel, agree well with the experiments with a l 2 -norm error smaller than 10 % . The predictions of the needle displacement at the start of drug delivery agree with the experimental measurements with a l 2 -norm error of 20 % . The maximum air gap pressure and temperature decrease with the initial air gap height but increase with the elasticity and viscosity of the plunger and the mechanical stop. The proposed experimentally validated dynamic model can be effectively used for device design optimization as it is not computationally demanding.
Urinary Levels of the Acrolein Conjugates of Carnosine Are Associated with Cardiovascular Disease Risk.

Carnosine is a naturally occurring dipeptide (β-alanine-L-histidine) which supports physiological homeostasis by buffering intracellular pH, chelating metals, and conjugating with and neutralizing toxic aldehydes such as acrolein. However, it is not clear if carnosine can support cardiovascular function or modify cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. To examine this, we measured urinary levels of nonconjugated carnosine and its acrolein conjugates (carnosine-propanal and carnosine-propanol) in participants of the Louisville Healthy Heart Study and examined associations with indices of CVD risk. We found that nonconjugated carnosine was significantly associated with hypertension (p = 0.011), heart failure (p = 0.015), those categorized with high CVD risk (p < 0.001), body mass index (BMI; p = 0.007), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP; p = 0.026), high-density lipoprotein (HDL; p = 0.007) and certain medication uses. Levels of carnosine-propanal and carnosine-propanol demonstrated significant associations with BMI, blood glucose, HDL and diagnosis of diabetes. Carnosine-propanal was also associated with heart failure (p = 0.045) and hyperlipidemia (p = 0.002), but no associations with myocardial infarction or stroke were identified. We found that the positive associations of carnosine conjugates with diabetes and HDL remain statistically significant (p < 0.05) in an adjusted, linear regression model. These findings suggest that urinary levels of nonconjugated carnosine, carnosine-propanal and carnosine-propanol may be informative biomarkers for the assessment of CVD risk—and particularly reflective of skeletal muscle injury and carnosine depletion in diabetes.
Most men with artificial urinary sphincter cuff erosion have low serum testosterone levels

Aims To evaluate the relationship between serum testosterone (T) levels and artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) cuff erosion in a population of incontinent men who underwent AUS placement. Methods A retrospective analysis of our single-surgeon AUS database was performed to identify men with T levels within 24 months of AUS placement. Men were stratified into two groups based on serum testosterone: low serum testosterone (LT) ( 280 ng/dl). Multivariable analysis was performed to control for risk factors. The outcome of interest was the incidence of and time to spontaneous urethral cuff erosion; other risk factors for cuff erosion were also evaluated. Results Among 161 AUS patients with serum testosterone levels, 84 (52.2%) had LT (mean: 136.8 ng/dl, SD: 150.4 ng/dl) and 77 (47.8%) had NT (mean: 455.8 ng/dl, SD: 197.3 ng/dl). Cuff erosion was identified in 42 men (26.1%) at a median of 7.1 months postoperatively (interquartile range: 3.6-13.4 months), most of whom (30/42, 71.4%) were testosterone deficient. LT levels were less common (54/119, 45.4%) in the non-erosion cohort (p = 0.004). Men with low T were nearly three times as likely to suffer AUS erosion than men with normal T (odds ratio = 2.519, p = 0.021). LT level was the only factor associated with AUS erosion on multivariable analysis. Conclusions LT is an independent risk factor for AUS cuff erosion. Men with LT are more likely to present with cuff erosion, but there is no difference in time to erosion.
Effect of bisphosphonates on fracture incidence in young adults with low bone density.

Abstract Objective To assess the effect of bisphosphonates on fracture incidence in young adults over a 5-year follow-up period. Methods Based on the Kaiser Permanente electronic health record, this retrospective study investigated patients aged 19 to 40 years with abnormal bone density (either any Z-score of ≤−2 standard deviation [SD] or any T-score of ≤−2.5 SD). The incidence and time to fracture between the control (patients with Results A total of 422 patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Fractures occurred in 18 patients (5.0%) of the control group (n = 358) and 5 patients (7.8%) of the treatment group (n = 64; P = .37). T-scores were significantly lower in the treatment group (−2.53 ± 0.58 SD) than those in the control group (−2.30 ± 0.80 SD; P = .002) but did not correlate with fracture risk. No significant differences were found in total fracture incidence (hazard ratio = 1.54; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-6.26). Similarly, no correlation was noted between the length of bisphosphonate therapy and fracture incidence (odds ratio = 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.966-1.026). Conclusion In summary, we did not find a clear correlation of fracture incidence with the use of bisphosphonates in young adults. Further research into the pathophysiology, specific etiologies, and treatment options in this population is needed.