cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reduction in almond moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) infestations using commercial packaging of foods in combination with the parasitic wasp, Bracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).

Bracon hebetor Say significantly reduced Cadra cautella (Walker) infestations in and around commercially packaged raisins and cornmeal. However, the parasite failed to prevent the extremely vulnerable cornmeal packages and the moderately insect-resistant raisin packages from being infested. The merits of insect-resistant packaging in conjunction with biological controls are discussed.
Some q-Convexity Properties of Coverings of Complex Manifolds

Let C be a nowhere dense compact analytic subset of a 2-dimensional complex manifold X. A result of Napier is the construction of a neighborhood V of C such that for any covering space in which is holomorphically convex, there is a C ∞ exhaustion function φ on which is strictly plurisubharmonic on π-1(V) away from the compact irreducible components of . Colţoiu and Vâjâitu obtained a q-convex version of this result for C a q-dimensional fiber of a proper surjective submersion X→Y. The goal of this paper is a similar version for Cprojective.
Long Term Monitoring of Grass Shrimp Palaemonetes spp. Population Metrics at Sites with Agricultural Runoff Influences

Rising concern over pesticide usage near estuarine systems and evidence of physical and physiological impacts on estuarine organisms have strengthened the need to better identify the ecological effects of nonpoint source runoff. Grass shrimp, Palaemonetes spp., are ecologically important and abundant marsh inhabitants that may be impacted by anthropogenic contamination. Populations of grass shrimp were sampled monthly, over a period of ten years, at four sites in South Carolina with varying upland land use characteristics. Spatial and temporal trends in grass shrimp densities were noted over time and between sites. Agricultural and golf course land usage corresponded with decreased grass shrimp population levels, overall shrimp size, and percentage of gravid females. Conservation methods, such as the use of best management practices (BMPs) and integrated pesticide management (IPM) at agricultural fields, corresponded with increased grass shrimp population density.
Changes in age-0 yellow perch habitat and prey selection across a round goby invasion front.

Abstract Round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) are reported to have negative impacts on benthic invertebrate prey and are now highly abundant throughout most of the Laurentian Great Lakes. This study used the initial spread of round gobies north and south from the Milwaukee Harbor as a natural experiment to assess the competitive interactions between age-0 yellow perch and round gobies in western Lake Michigan. Habitat selection and diet of age-0 yellow perch in relation to round goby abundance were analyzed using fish captured in micro-mesh gillnets in 2006 and 2007 at six study locations from Sheboygan to Wind Point, Wisconsin. An age-0 yellow perch shift in habitat preference from rock to sand was associated with relatively high round goby abundance at rock sites. An increase in round goby catch per unit effort was also correlated with a decrease in benthic prey (chironomid larvae + amphipods) abundance at rock sites and occurrence of these prey items in age-0 yellow perch stomach contents. Our results suggest that age-0 yellow perch may have undergone local niche shifts as a consequence of competition with round gobies. Further study may help elucidate the causal mechanism behind our observations and determine what effect round gobies are having on the yellow perch population of western Lake Michigan, as a whole.
Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in adults with sickle cell disease.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to fracture risk and chronic musculoskeletal pain. Adults with sickle cell disease have a high prevalence of low bone density and chronic pain with poorly defined etiologies. We recognized that vitamin D deficiency may represent a treatable etiology and sought to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in adults with sickle cell. We measured 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in adults at 2 university-based sickle cell disease-management programs. Regression was performed in 142 patients to identify predictors of low vitamin D. Mean vitamin D levels were 9.0 ng/mL at Eastern Virginia Medical School and 12.8 ng/mL at University of Chicago; 139 of 142 (98%) had suboptimal levels (
What's Possible? What Matters? Reply to Commentaries

The three discussants agree that a definition of psychoanalysis tied to session frequency is problematic and needs to change. Yet none supports my recommendation to redefine the practice of psychoanalysis in terms of the practitioner's training. This prompted me to look more closely at my proposal and push my thinking further. I argue that psychoanalysis, like many other professions, needs to define its practice as the application of its complex and evolving knowledge and skill base, grounded in its unique field of inquiry. Although there are individual exceptions, the inculcation of this knowledge and skill base is generally best accomplished through psychoanalytic training. This assertion, however, rests on the premise that our training curricula keep pace with our rapidly evolving field of inquiry and knowledge. To further clarify my vision I examine the nature of psychoanalytic expertise. I suggest that such expertise amounts to the inculcation and integration of a large number of psychoanalytic frame...
Characterization of L-homocysteate-induced currents in Purkinje cells from wild-type and NMDA receptor knockout mice.

l-Homocysteic acid (HCA), an endogenous excitatory amino acid in the mammalian CNS, potently activatesN-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in hippocampal neurons. However, the responses to HCA in ...
Identifying Key Issues and Potential Solutions for Integrated Arrival, Departure, Surface Operations by Surveying Stakeholder Preferences

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) collaborates with the FAA and industry to provide concepts and technologies that enhance the transition to the next-generation air-traffic management system (NextGen). To facilitate this collaboration, ARMD has a series of Airspace Technology Demonstration (ATD) sub-projects that develop, demonstrate, and transitions NASA technologies and concepts for implementation in the National Airspace System (NAS). The second of these sub-projects, ATD-2, is focused on the potential benefits to NAS stakeholders of integrated arrival, departure, surface (IADS) operations. To determine the project objectives and assess the benefits of a potential solution, NASA surveyed NAS stakeholders to understand the existing issues in arrival, departure, and surface operations, and the perceived benefits of better integrating these operations. NASA surveyed a broad cross-section of stakeholders representing the airlines, airports, air-navigation service providers, and industry providers of NAS tools. The survey indicated that improving the predictability of flight times (schedules) could improve efficiency in arrival, departure, and surface operations. Stakeholders also mentioned the need for better strategic and tactical information on traffic constraints as well as better information sharing and a coupled collaborative planning process that allows stakeholders to coordinate IADS operations. To assess the impact of a potential solution, NASA sketched an initial departure scheduling concept and assessed its viability by surveying a select group of stakeholders for a second time. The objective of the departure scheduler was to enable flights to move continuously from gate to cruise with minimal interruption in a busy metroplex airspace environment using strategic and tactical scheduling enhanced by collaborative planning between airlines and service providers. The stakeholders agreed that this departure concept could improve schedule predictability and suggested several key attributes that were necessary to make the concept successful. The goals and objectives of the planned ATD-2 sub-project will incorporate the results of this stakeholder feedback.
The Determination of Annular Speed by Comparing Three Computational Methods

Most of the cuttings accumulate in bottom being regrounded, when casing is removing and changed in well repairing program,Which brings much trouble in repairing.From the study on casing changing system,three annular speeds were compared, which were provided by pump,needed for purifying bottom hole and satisfying the requirement of casing change.The range is last be determined that the best one for cuttings carrying. From the theory analyzing,the new study is workable,and will govern field test.
Study of the Status of the Eyesight and Its Protection of 7336 Primary School Students in Heyuan City

Objective To investigate the eyesight conditions of the primary school students in Heyuan city and provide a scientific way of protecting the eyesight.Methods Natural protection method was adopt ed for the protection of eyesight.Data collected from the ch eck up of 7336primary school student s and were compared and analyzed.Results6364student have good eyesight,account for 86.75%.The rate of poor sight is 13.25%.The rate of poor eyesight in sc hool girl is higher than that of boys in grade 5a nd 6.Conclusions Taking measure to protect eyesight s hows a certain degree of success.However,to protect and pre vent poor eyesight is our responsibi lity and long term task.
The clinical use of desflurane

Desflurane, a newly introduced potent, inhaled anesthetic, differs from its predecessors in having a lower solubility in blood and tissues. The lower solubility imparts a greater control to the maintenance of anesthesia and a more rapid elimination and recovery from anesthesia. In other respects, the pharmacological properties of desflurane resemble those of its sister anesthetic, isoflurane, currently the most widely-used potent anesthetic in this and other countries. The qualitative exceptions to this resemblence are that desflurane is more pungent and produces a greater increase in heart rate, particularly at deeper levels of anesthesia.
Impairment of contextual fear extinction by chronic nicotine and withdrawal from chronic nicotine is associated with hippocampal nAChR upregulation.

Chronic nicotine and withdrawal from chronic nicotine have been shown to be major modulators of fear learning behavior. Moreover, recent studies from our laboratory have shown that acute nicotine impaired fear extinction and safety learning in mice. However, the effects of chronic nicotine and withdrawal on fear extinction are unknown. Therefore, the current experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of chronic nicotine as well as withdrawal from chronic nicotine on contextual fear extinction in mice. C57BL6/J mice were given contextual fear conditioning training and retention testing during chronic nicotine administration. Mice then received contextual fear extinction either during chronic nicotine or during withdrawal from chronic nicotine. Our results showed that contextual fear extinction was impaired both during chronic nicotine administration and subsequent withdrawal. However, it was also observed that the effects of prior chronic nicotine disappeared after 72 h in withdrawal, a timeline that closely matches with the timing of the chronic nicotine-induced upregulation of hippocampal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) density. Additional experiments found that 4 days, but not 1 day, of continuous nicotine administration upregulated hippocampal nAChRs and impaired contextual fear extinction. These effects disappeared following 72 h withdrawal. Overall, these experiments provide a potential link between nicotine-induced upregulation of hippocampal nAChRs and fear extinction deficits observed in patients with anxiety disorders, which may lead to advancements in the pharmacological treatment methods for this disorder.
Conclusion: Kingdoms of Romance in Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey

Romance has always been nourished not only by individual memory and international history but also by the cultural myths that enable the creation of whole alternate universes, epic kingdoms of romance. From Camelot to Metropolis to the Federation they emerge, and merge with each other and with memory and history. They re-inscribe, sometimes in “pedestrian” prose, the magical powers of proper names and fugitive meanings that de Certeau’s walker in the street craves as s/he passes through urban spaces reduced to mere numbers, looking for a “crack” in the “techno-structure.” They are the “magical narratives” that Fredric Jameson (1981) half welcomes as “a place of heterogeneity and of freedom from that reality principle to which a now oppressive realistic representation is the hostage,” even though they themselves may be hostage to the capitalist marketplace.1
Social Media Use Among Living Kidney Donors and Recipients: Survey on Current Practice and Potential

Background: In the United States, there is a national shortage of organs donated for transplant. Among the solid organs, most often kidneys are donated by living donors, but the lack of information and complicated processes limit the number of individuals who serve as living kidney donors. Social media can be a tool for advocacy, educating the public about the need, process, and outcomes of live kidney donors, yet little is known about social media use by kidney transplant patients. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the social media use of potential kidney transplant patients and their willingness to use social media and their networks to advocate and educate about living kidney donation. Methods: Using a validated survey, we modified the instrument to apply to the patient population of interest attending the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA. The questions on the survey inquired about current social media use, sites visited, frequency and duration of social media use, and willingness to use social media to share the need for living kidney donors. We asked patients who had received a transplant and those awaiting a transplant to complete the survey during an office visit. Participation was voluntary. Results: A total of 199 patients completed the survey. Approximately half of all kidney transplant patients surveyed used social media (104/199, 52.3%), and approximately one-third (66/199, 33.2%) had more than 100 friends in their social media network. Facebook was the most popular site, and 51% (102/199) reported that they would be willing to post information about living kidney donation on their social networks. More than a quarter of the sample (75/199, 37.7%) had posted about their health status in the past. Conclusions: Social media holds great promise for health-related education and awareness. Our study shows the current social media use of kidney transplant patients. In turn, such information can be used to design interventions to ensure appropriate decision making about live kidney donation. Transplant programs can help increase the number of living donors by providing guidance to kidney transplant patients in how to use social media, to be advocates, and to provide information about living kidney donation to their social network. [J Med Internet Res 2016;18(12):e328]
Making Diversity Matter in a Nonprofit Accreditation Process: Critical Race Theory as a Lens on the Present and Future of Nonprofit Education

The nonprofit sector has a wide and well-documented diversity deficit. As the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC) considers accreditation, we argue that any accreditation process that seeks to elevate the quality and legitimacy of nonprofit education must place diversity at the center of the process. As educators who are preparing students to study, research, and work in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to address the deficits in our institutions through such an emerging accreditation process. Diversified educational environments have been found to improve outcomes for students and for academic institutions at large, and accreditation may provide important leverage for nonprofit education programs to increase diversity. Yet accreditation alone will not address the long-standing and persistent educational structures, policies, practices, and discourses that contribute to the exclusion and marginalization of diverse students and faculty. Using critical race theory as a lens on the policies, practices, methods, and discourses dominant within nonprofit education today, we also call for sustained critical attention to the ways that identity and power dynamics currently operate within nonprofit education and for the development of strategies and approaches that encourage greater diversity, equity, and inclusion across the curriculum.
Spatial and temporal source apportionment of PM 2.5 in Georgia, 2002 to 2013

Abstract The Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) receptor model was applied to estimate PM2.5 source impacts over Georgia from 2002 to 2013 using ambient PM2.5 species concentration data from 13 sites. Measurements of 19 PM2.5 species were used as inputs along with measurement-based source profiles to estimate the impacts of nine sources, including both primary components (from heavy duty diesel vehicle, light duty gasoline vehicle, biomass burning, coal combustion, and suspended dust sources) and secondary pollutants (ammonium sulfate, ammonium bisulfate, ammonium nitrate, and secondary organic carbon). From 2002 to 2013, PM2.5 total mass decreased from 13.8 μg/m3 to 9.2 μg/m3 averaged across all sites, a 33% decrease. Largest decreases were observed for secondary sulfate and nitrate species (58% and 44%, respectively). The amount of neutralization by ammonium did not change substantially over the time period in spite of substantial decreases in sulfate and nitrate concentrations. Total mobile source impacts decreased more at urban sites (39%) than rural sites (23%), whereas biomass burning decreased more at rural sites (34%) than urban sites (27%). The estimated central-site source impacts are found to spatially represent large areas for secondary pollutants, smaller areas for biomass burning and dust, and very local areas for mobile sources and coal combustion. Trends from the National Emissions Inventory were compared with the annual trends of mobile source impacts, coal combustion impacts, and sulfate concentrations, resulting in statistically significant positive trends with Pearson R2 of 0.80, 0.64, and 0.79, respectively. Results presented here suggest that PM2.5 reductions in Georgia and the Southeast have been achieved by control of both stationary and mobile sources, and that PM2.5 is comprised of increasing fractions of biomass burning emissions and suspended dust. The temporal trends of source impacts at each site adds information about source changes beyond the every-three-year emission inventories for evaluation of emission-based model results.
Experimental aspects of buoyancy correction in measuring reliable high-pressure excess adsorption isotherms using the gravimetric method

Addressing reproducibility issues in adsorption measurements is critical to accelerating the path to discovery of new industrial adsorbents and to understanding adsorption processes. A National Institute of Standards and Technology Reference Material, RM 8852 (ammonium ZSM-5 zeolite), and two gravimetric instruments with asymmetric two-beam balances were used to measure high-pressure adsorption isotherms. This work demonstrates how common approaches to buoyancy correction, a key factor in obtaining the mass change due to surface excess gas uptake from the apparent mass change, can impact the adsorption isotherm data. Three different approaches to buoyancy correction were investigated and applied to the subcritical CO2 and supercritical N2 adsorption isotherms at 293 K. It was observed that measuring a collective volume for all balance components for the buoyancy correction (helium method) introduces an inherent bias in temperature partition when there is a temperature gradient (i.e. analysis temperature is not equal to instrument air bath temperature). We demonstrate that a blank subtraction is effective in mitigating the biases associated with temperature partitioning, instrument calibration, and the determined volumes of the balance components. In general, the manual and subtraction methods allow for better treatment of the temperature gradient during buoyancy correction. From the study, best practices specific to asymmetric two-beam balances and more general recommendations for measuring isotherms far from critical temperatures using gravimetric instruments are offered.
Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor Technology for High-Speed Integrated Circuits

A bipolar structure provides many potential benefits for picosecond electronic circuits: 1) current flow is vertical, through epitaxial layers whose total thickness is only a few tenths of a micron, decreasing carrier transit times; 2) large amounts of current can be carried by modest size transistors, enabling rapid charging of interconnect capacitances; and 3) threshold voltages are tied to built-in potentials of p-n junctions, which are easy to reproduce device-to-device, enabling accurate logic voltages to be established. Added advantages result from using III–V heterojunctions rather than Si [1]: a) high electron mobility; b) pronounced transient electron velocity overshoot effects; c) ability to incorporate quasi-electric fields into the devices by semiconductor composition variations; and d) ability to insure adequate emitter efficiency with wide gap emitters, and therefore produce devices with heavily doped, low resistance base regions together with lightly doped, low capacitance emitter regions. As a result of these advantages, HBTs offer prospects for switching time delays in the sub 10 ps regime, with a robust, manufacturable fabrication process.
An Innovative Model for Naloxone Use Within an OTP Setting: A Prospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES Unintentional opioid overdose deaths are a public health crisis, and naloxone is the most effective harm reduction tool to curb many of these deaths. There is growing evidence that take-home naloxone can prevent opioid overdose in targeted populations. The goal of this study is to measure the opioid overdose reversal rate with take-home naloxone among participants with a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) in an opioid treatment program (OTP) setting. METHODS Patients enrolled in an outpatient OTP program were eligible for this prospective cohort study between April 4, 2016 and July 4, 2016. Two hundred forty-four study participants received overdose education, instruction on how to use naloxone, and were provided with 2 doses of a take-home naloxone auto-injector kit. They were subsequently followed for 3 months. RESULTS Thirty-one study participants reported overdose reversals using naloxone auto-injector kits on 38 community members. All overdose reversals were heroin-related. Eighty-seven per cent of the community members reversed with naloxone were friends or relatives of the study participants. CONCLUSIONS This study validates that naloxone is not commonly used on the index study participant, but is often used on a secondary target among people who inject drugs. The large number of overdose reversals reported in this prospective study suggests that this novel model for naloxone use may be replicated at other OTP settings to reduce opioid overdose deaths.
The Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form: Is There Evidence of a Global At-Risk Factor in a Sample of Predominantly African American Youth?:

School-based universal screening for behavioral and emotional risk can serve as a foundation for effective multi-tiered service delivery systems. The current study examines the measurement and stru...
Missed opportunities: Do states require screening of children for health conditions that interfere with learning?

Strong evidence supports the existence of Health Barriers to Learning (HBLs)—health conditions that when untreated or unmanaged can interfere with a child’s ability to learn and succeed in school. These HBLs include vision and hearing deficits, uncontrolled asthma, mental and behavioral problems, dental pain, persistent hunger, and the effects of lead exposure. However, 19% of US children aged 6 to 11 did not receive their annual checkup in the past year. School requirements for health screenings can help identify children with HBLs. This study explores which states require health screening for children in elementary school, and the extent to which the 7 HBLs are included. Methods Investigators reviewed websites of state departments of health and education, and legislation for all 50 states and DC. For states with mandated screenings and a required form, investigators applied structured analysis to assess HBL inclusion. Results No state mandated that schools require screening for all 7 HBLs. Less than half (49%) required comprehensive school health examinations and only 12 states plus DC required a specific form. Of these, 12 of the forms required documentation of vision screening, 11 of hearing screening, and 12 of dental screening. Ten forms asked about asthma and 9 required documentation of lead testing. Seven asked about general well-being, emotional problems, or mental health. None addressed hunger. When including states without comprehensive school health examination requirements, the most commonly required HBL screenings were for vision (80% of states; includes DC), hearing (75% of states; includes DC) and dental (24% of state; includes DC). Conclusion The lack of state mandated requirements for regular student health screening represents a missed opportunity to identify children with HBLs. Without state mandates, accompanying comprehensive forms, and protocols, children continue to be at risk of untreated health conditions that can undermine their success in school.
Character as Nemesis

Teaching is not about me; it is about the values and spirit I embody and share as a teacher. I arrived at this critical realization via the course of thought and reflection forged by Henry Fleming, Jean Valjean, Inspector Javert, and Fantine.
Chemotherapy-Associated Thrombosis

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprising deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a multifactorial disease, involving complex interactions between individuals (including their hemostatic system and genetic predispositions) and their environmental exposures. Active malignancy is a well recognized risk factor for VTE and accounts for almost 20% of incident VTE events occurring in the community [1], with chemotherapy independently adding to that risk [2, 3]. As compared with the general population, the risk of VTE is increased fourfold in patients with cancer and this risk is further elevated to more than sixfold when these patients are receiving chemotherapy [2]. Moreover, there is a twofold increase in recurrent VTE in patients with malignancy and a fourfold increase in this risk for those receiving chemotherapy [2]. In addition, the risk of VTE varies by cancer type and stage [3–6]. The type of chemotherapy administered, hormonal treatments, immunomodulating and anti-angiogenesis agents (e.g., thalidomide, lenalidomide, bevacizumab), and supportive therapy with hematopoietic growth factors like recombinant human erythropoietins have been implicated in alterations in hemostasis and with increased VTE risk. VTE in cancer patients is associated with significant morbidity. These patients may have their active anti-neoplastic therapy delayed or modified, and often require chronic anticoagulation. Compared to VTE patients without cancer, individuals with cancer and VTE have both a higher risk for hemorrhage with anticoagulant therapy and of recurrent VTE [7–9]. Moreover, patients diagnosed with cancer at the time of VTE diagnosis have a poorer survival in contrast with age-, gender-, cancer type-, and year of diagnosismatched cancer patients with no history of VTE [10], and VTE has been noted
Reverse conservation analysis reveals the specificity determining residues of cytochrome P450 family 2 (CYP 2).

The concept of conservation of amino acids is widely used to identify important alignment positions of orthologs. The assumption is that important amino acid residues will be conserved in the protein family during the evolutionary process. For paralog alignment, on the other hand, the opposite concept can be used to identify residues that are responsible for specificity. Assuming that the function-specific or ligand-specific residue positions will have higher diversity since they are under evolutionary pressure to fit the target specificity, these function-specific or ligand-specific residues positions will have a lower degree of conservation than other positions in a highly conserved paralog alignment. This study assessed the ability of reverse conservation analysis to identify function-specific and ligand-specific residue positions in closely related paralog.Reverse conservation analysis of paralog alignments successfully identified all six previously reported substrate recognition sites (SRSs) in cytoc...
The properties of bacteriophages.

Publisher Summary Intensive study of bacteriophages during the past 15 years has shown fairly conclusively that the phages are the most promising objects of study for virologists seeking basic information about the life cycle of viruses. The rather well-known evidence for the preceding statement rests upon the fact that: (1) the host, the bacterium, is an isolatable single-celled organism; (2) the accuracy of assay of both the phages and the host cells; and (3) the speed, with which experiments can be carried out. The coliphage system is surprisingly broad. It includes four different serological groups that are paralleled by four distinct morphologies: at least two different types of mutual interaction between the phages adsorbed to the same bacterium and judging from the evidence available at the moment of writing, possibly two distinct methods of multiplication. At the outset, it should be stressed that it is operationally and experimentally deceptive to talk about phages and to be thinking of the physicochemical particles revealed by the electron microscope. An extracellular phage particle is a nonmetabolizing, nonmultiplying entity; only when it has contacted and merged with a susceptible cell, it has the ability to multiply. The evidence to be discussed in this chapter points strongly to the conclusion that the adsorbed phage particle undergoes such a profound alteration shortly after adsorption as to render almost meaningless the identification of it with the extracellular particle. The experimental findings (and the analogy) point up the necessity of knowing the properties of the extracellular particle, for the nature of the end-product is obviously an important clue to and a necessary limitation on the nature of the machinery of multiplication. Accordingly, after a brief discussion of basic biological properties of the phages, the physical, chemical, and genetic aspects of phages are presented in this chapter. Finally, the life cycle of the phages are outlined in some detail.
Geospatial Data Management in Apache Spark: A Tutorial

The volume of spatial data increases at a staggering rate. This tutorial comprehensively studies how existing works extend Apache Spark to uphold massive-scale spatial data. During this 1.5 hour tutorial, we first provide a background introduction of the characteristics of spatial data and the history of distributed data management systems. A follow-up section presents the common approaches used by the practitioners to extend Spark and introduces the vital components in a generic spatial data management system. The third, fourth and fifth sections then discuss the ongoing efforts and experience in spatial-temporal data, spatial data analytics and streaming spatial data, respectively. The sixth part finally concludes this tutorial to help the audience better grasp the overall content and points out future research directions.
Outlining a New Approach to Study Mobile Marketing: Relevancy as a Primary Mediating Construct to Understand Mobile Advertising Effectiveness

Mobile Marketing is a relatively new field. Many articles attempt to understand, define, encapsulate, find best practices, and describe marketing use applications on mobile devices. A significant part of the research on mobile marketing and mobile advertising focuses on the technology or functionality perspective, i.e., QR Codes, MMS and SMS, APPS, and Smart Tags/Proximity technology implementations, User Interface, and Payments to name a few. Researchers try to understand how consumers' attitudes are formed and influenced by Mobile Marketing, in many cases using models that studied technology acceptance (TAM, UTAUT, etc.). The authors contend that there is a critical misconception in the study of Mobile Marketing. It is argued here that different from extant research, "mobile" in the context of "mobile marketing" is not a technology, it is a medium. That medium can be highly customized, even considered as a one to one conversation. Consequently, different from current research, it is claimed here that consumer intention, acceptance, and redemption of mobile offers are affected directly not by technological, situational, or contextual factors, but through a primary mediating construct: Relevancy or "Agent R". Drawing concepts from the Relevance Theory we offer a new perspective on how to study the effects of mobile advertising on consumer behavior; opening a new field of study, that will focus on how to enhance the "Agent R" construct. We theorize that previously studied factors that affect mobile consumer's behavior are antecedents of the "Agent R" and that without relevancy all those factors are immaterial. This change of paradigm on the investigation of mobile advertising will have direct practical consequences too. The Holy Grail of marketers will be to find ways to win the relevance game, enhancing immediate customer value and improving return on advertising expenditures.
A case study on Bornean gibbons highlights the challenges for incorporating individual identity into passive acoustic monitoring surveys

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has the potential to revolutionize how we study vocal animals, given recent advances in battery life, data storage capabilities and design of recording devices. A major obstacle to the wide-spread implementation of terrestrial PAM programs—particularly with respect to density estimation—is the difficulty in effectively discriminating between calling individuals. Using PAM, identity can be inferred based on caller location or on individually distinct call features. Here, we report the results of a two-month intensive acoustic survey of two gibbon groups in Sabah, Malaysia. We aimed to (1) test a novel acoustic localization method and (2) test how relative distance of recorders to the vocalizing animal, along with recording day and time, influenced our estimates of the call features important for individual identification. We were able to localize calling individuals from within our array with relatively high accuracy, but localization was less accurate at the edges of the array. We found that features estimated from the spectrogram remained relatively stable across recording distances and conditions, whereas Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients were more variable. Our results have important implications for scalability of PAM programs, and based on our results we provide recommendations for incorporating individual identity into PAM programs.
Identification of Gfi1 as a Direct Target of the Leukemogenic Fusion Protein AML1-ETO9a

Abstract AML1-ETO9a (AE9a), a C-terminal splice variant of t(8;21), is highly leukemogenic in mice. Using combined gene expression and promoter occupancy (ChIP-on-chip) profiling of an AE9a induced murine AML model, we identified Gfi1, a transcriptional repressor important for neutrophil differentiation, as a direct target of AE9a. The level of Gfi1 mRNA was down-regulated following leukemia development. We further show that t(8;21) AML-M2 patient samples have lower Gfi1 mRNA levels compared to non-t(8;21) AML-M2 samples. In addition, Gfi1 protein was down-regulated in the human hematopoietic cell line U937 upon AE or AE9a expression. Two consensus AML1 sites (TGTGGT) located at positions −1750 and +405 from the Gfi1 transcriptional initiation site, respectively, are found in the proximity of the peaks of ChIP-on-chip profiling. We confirmed direct DNA binding of AE9a to these regions by ChIP assays. Furthermore, we showed that the activity of the Gfi1 promoter region −1880 to +481 is repressed by AE and AE9a in luciferase reporter assays. To address the effects of down-regulation of Gfi1 on proliferation, we overexpressed it in a primary AML1-ETO C-terminal mutant (AML1-ETOtr) leukemia cell line. Its overexpression slowed down growth and promoted apoptosis and differentiation of this cell line. In this report, we provide evidence that AE9a directly down-regulates Gfi1, thereby inhibiting hematopoietic differentiation, which may contribute to leukemia development.
Loss of SUV420H2 promotes EGFR inhibitor resistance in NSCLC through upregulation of MET via LINC01510

Abstract Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRi) are standard-of-care treatments administered to patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that harbor EGFR alterations. However, development of resistance within a year post-treatment remains a major challenge. Multiple mechanisms can promote survival of EGFRi treated NSCLC cells, including secondary mutations in EGFR and activation of bypass tracks that circumvent the requirement for EGFR signaling. Nevertheless, mechanisms involved in bypass track activation are understudied, and in a subset of cases the mechanisms are unknown. The findings from this study identified an epigenetic factor, SUV420H2 that when lost drives resistance of NSCLC to multiple EGFRi, including erlotinib, gefitinib, afatinib, and osimertinib. SUV420H2 catalyzes trimethylation of histone H4 lysine-20, a modification required for gene repression and maintenance of heterochromatin. Here we show that loss of SUV420H2 leads to upregulation of an oncogenic long non-coding RNA, LINC01510 that promotes transcription of the oncogene MET, a component of a major bypass track involved in EGFRi resistance. Significance Due to an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms involved in promoting resistance to EGFRi, patients often succumb to their disease. Here we identified a global mediator of EGFRi resistance, SUV420H2 that helps to uncover an additional mechanism involved in resistance driven via a major bypass track involving the protooncogene MET.
13 – Diffusion and Permeability

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the fundamental principles of basic processes of diffusion and membrane permeability, by which we can understand the fundamentals of membrane transport and the mechanisms for development of the resting electrical potential of cells. The chapter discusses Fick's law of diffusion, diffusion coefficient, diffusion across a membrane with partitioning, electrodiffusion, and Ussing flux ratio equation. Molecules of gases and liquids, and of all dissolved solutes, are in continuous motion. The velocities of individual molecules vary to a wide extent, as do their kinetic energies. Diffusion is the process whereby particles in a gas, liquid, or solid tend to intermingle because of their spontaneous motion caused by thermal agitation. The relevant equations that govern the diffusion of uncharged particles and charged ions across membranes with and without partitioning are described.. The relationship between the diffusion coefficient (D) and the permeability coefficient (P) and the factors that determine these coefficients are discussed in the chapter. The dependence of P on the mobility of an ion through the membrane under a voltage gradient has also been discussed. Electrochemical potential has been defined, and the inter conversion between flux and current has been developed. Also the Ussing flux ratio equation has been described along with examples. Relating to this, the concept of potential energy wells and barriers has been portrayed. The time course of diffusion is an exponential process and it may be noted that half-time for completion of diffusion does not depend on the concentration gradient, but merely on the diffusion coefficient, the area and the thickness of the membrane, and the volume of solution.The dependence of P on the mobility of an
Google searches reveal changing consumer food sourcing in the COVID-19 pandemic

First paragraph: Consumers are dramatically changing their food purchasing habits in response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic (Kolodinsky, Sitaker, Chase, Smith, & Wang, 2020; Schmidt et al., 2020; Worstell, 2020). In part this is due to growing public awareness that food supply chains, which normally operate largely unnoticed and with great efficiency, are in fact fragile and vulnerable. With supply chain interruptions and mandates in several states for social distancing and a reduced number of grocery shop trips, consumers are compelled to think about food storability as well different food sourcing options. In this commentary we examine how consumer interest has changed since the advent of the pandemic, by observing Google search trends. Google Trends analysis has been widely used to study health-related aspects of COVID-19 and earlier pandemics (Arora, McKee, & Stuckler, 2019; Carneiro & Mylonakis, 2009; Ginsberg et al., 2009; Mavragani & Ochoa, 2019; Mavragani, Ochoa, & Tsagarakis, 2018; Nuti et al., 2014), but to our knowledge not to track changing consumer behavior with respect to food sourcing in real time.[1] We offer these comments both as potential real-time tracking of consumer preferences, as well as working hypotheses for future more vigorous investigations. [1] These searches are not without potential problems; for a summary discussion see: https://medium.com/@pewresearch/using-google-trends-data-for-research-here-are-6-questions-to-ask-a7097f5fb526 See the press release for this article.
Effect of nature exposure on perceived and physiologic stress: A systematic review.

Abstract Objective The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the effect nature exposure has on stress as measured by physiologic markers and self-report. Design Researchers searched PubMed and JSTOR. Randomized control trials and cross-sectional studies were included if they met the following criteria: 1) included a clinical cohort and controls, and the intervention was nature exposure, either real or simulated; (2) utilized measurements of sympathetic activity or perceived stress; (3) study population consisted of greater than thirty male and female volunteers. Twelve studies were included for data extraction and review. Setting Researchers conducted this review at University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. Main outcome measures Researchers measured perceived stress through the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS). Physiologic stress was measured by salivary cortisol, blood pressure (BP), subgenual prefrontal cortex (sgPFC) activation on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), skin conductance level (SCL), heart rate variability (HRV), muscle tension, heart period, pulse transit time, amygdala and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) activation on fMRI, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and pre-ejection period (PEP). Results This review found an inverse relationship between nature exposure and various physiologic markers of stress in all 7 studies measuring physiologic stress. Perceived stress was also affected by higher exposure to nature as indicated by lower self-reports on the PSS and DASS in 5 out of 6 studies measuring perceived stress. Conclusions Nature exposure has been widely shown to have a positive effect in reducing stress, both perceived and physiologic.
Protocol for Partner2Lose: A randomized controlled trial to evaluate partner involvement on long-term weight loss.

Abstract Background Behavioral interventions produce clinically significant weight reduction, with many participants regaining weight subsequently. Most interventions focus on an individual, but dietary and physical activity behaviors occur with, or are influenced by, domestic partners. According to interdependence theory, couples who approach behavior change as a problem to be tackled together versus independently are more likely to utilize communal coping processes to promote behavior change. We utilized interdependence theory to develop a partner-assisted intervention to increase long-term weight loss. Methods Community-dwelling individuals (index participants) cohabitating with a partner with 1) overweight and at least one obesity-related comorbidity or 2) obesity are randomized to participate in a standard weight management program alone or with their partner. The weight management program involves biweekly, in-person, group sessions focusing on weight loss for six months, followed by three group sessions and nine telephone calls focusing on weight loss maintenance for twelve months. In the partner-assisted arm, partners participate in half of the group sessions and telephone calls. Couples receive training in principles of cognitive behavioral therapy for couples, including sharing thoughts and feelings and joint problem solving, to increase communal coping. The primary outcome is participant weight loss at 24 months, with caloric intake and moderate-intensity physical activity as secondary outcomes. Partner weight and caloric intake will also be analyzed. Mediation analyses will examine the role of interdependence variables and social support. Discussion This trial will provide knowledge about effective ways to promote long-term weight loss and the role of interdependence constructs in weight loss. Clinical trials identifier: NCT 03801174.
Measurements and calculations of radionuclides created by [sup 181]Ta([gamma],xn yp) reactions for bremsstrahlung photons produced by 150-MeV electrons

Twenty-three radionuclides, including isomers, from [sup 168m]Lu to [sup 180]Ta, having half-lives between 7 min and 1.4 yr, produced by photon interactions with a sample of elemental tantalum, were observed in decay gamma-ray data obtained using high-resolution detection systems. Yields of production range over six orders of magnitude. The measured yield data for masses [>=] 171 were compared with calculated values. Good agreement was obtained for masses [>=] 174, but for lighter masses, the calculations tend to overestimate the experimental yields by up to a factor of 5. An empirical 'rule-or-two- is proposed, governing reduction in measured mass yield for each additional emitted nucleon following ([gamma], 3n) reactions. These results should have practical use not only for present electron accelerator operation but also for shielding calculations needed for future accelerator designs and applications.
Need for protocolized opioid prescribing after cardiac surgery.

An analysis of a large US administrative claims database suggests that new persistent opioid use occurred in nearly 10% of opioid-naive patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Given the variation in the amounts of opioid prescribed and the increased risk of persistent use with greater amounts of opioid received, protocolized prescribing should be adopted to standardize and improve the care of these patients. The overuse of opioids for acute pain management has led to an epidemic of persistent opioid use. A new study by Brown and colleagues evaluates opioids prescribed at discharge from hospital after coronary artery bypass graft surgery and heart valve procedures.