cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Collagen microsphere serving as a cell carrier supports oligodendrocyte progenitor cell growth and differentiation for neurite myelination in vitro

Microspheres fabricated from natural materials serve as a promising biodegradable and biocompatible carrier in a small volume for efficient cell delivery to the lesion of the injured neural tissue to generate biological functions. As the major component of extracellular matrix and due to its natural abundance within the body, collagen may be fabricated into microspheres and improve the ability of pre-seeded cells on the microspheres to encounter the hostile micro-environment in the lesion. In this study, collagen microspheres were fabricated using the water-in-oil emulsion technique and cross-linked with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropryl) carbodiimide. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells isolated from postnatal day P1 to 2 rats were cultured and differentiated on the microspheres. The microspheres carrying the oligodendrocyte progenitor cells were co-cultured with dorsal root ganglions from 15-day-old rat embryos. The myelination formation was studied for the co-culture of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and dorsal root ganglions. We showed that the viability of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, B104 cells and PC12 cells grown on microspheres was not significantly different with those in cell culture plates. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells differentiated into oligodendrocytes on collagen microspheres. The oligodendrocytes grown on microspheres extended processes that wrapped the axons of dorsal root ganglion neurons and the formation of myelin sheath was observed in the co-culture. This study demonstrates the feasibility of collagen microspheres in further applications for the delivery of neural progenitor cells for neural regeneration.
KATP vs Purkinje fibers: Which should we shoot first, or should we?

backs. 4 ICDs, which are widely used to prevent arrhythmic SCDs, can also deliver inappropriate shocks that can not only damage the diseased heart but also provoke arrhythmias. In spite of these shortcomings, ICDs are the only available therapy that can effectively terminate VF soon after it initiates. Moreover, select antiarrhythmic medications such as beta-blockers and amiodarone are used to reduce the frequency of ICD shocks but are associated with undesirable side effects. 5 Additionally, ablation of proarrhythmic ventricular tissue can decrease the number of ICD shocks but does not significantly alter mortality rate and potentially can result in multiple complications 6 possibly due to electroporation damage. 7 Therefore, identifying novel mechanisms and therapeutic strategies to effectively treat malignant arrhythmias such as VF is an absolute necessity to improve prognosis for the growing population with cardiac disease. One important approach to achieve this goal is to determine the cellular basis of these fatal arrhythmias. Historically, ion channels that maintain normal electrical homeostasis across the cell membrane are the primary candidates to treat arrhythmias. The ATP-sensitive potassium current IK(ATP) is one such ion current that plays an important role in cardiac repolarization and contraction during both physiologic and especially pathologic conditions. 8 Specifically, KATP channels are known to play a cardioprotective role during myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, wherein the increased potassium efflux causes a reduction in action potential duration. Although beneficial, the anatomically heteterogeneous decrease in action potential duration and hence dispersed refractoriness also can increase the propensity for VF. 9–11 Experimental manipulation of the KATP channels using channel openers (e.g., pinacidil and diazoxide) and inhibitors (e.g., glibenclamide) has clearly established the channel’s role in the induction and maintenance of VF in different animal models, 8,12 explanted human hearts, 9 and in non–insulin-dependent diabetic patients during transient ischemia. 13 Clearly, activation of KATP channels could be one mechanism of ischemia-induced VF, especially in diseased, metabolically challenged hearts. Another important player implicated in VF development is the Purkinje fiber system (PS), where triggered activity has been proposed to initiate as well as maintain VF. 14,15 Premature beats originating in the PS may initiate VF, and ablation focused on these fibers can reduce the arrhythmic burden in patients with idiopathic VF. 14 In the canine heart,
The necessity of the small-gain theorem for time-varying and nonlinear systems

It is shown that an appropriately modified version of the small-gain theorem which uses the 'asymptotic gain' of a fading-memory system leads to a necessary and sufficient condition for the stable invertibility of certain feedback operators. This modified small-gain theorem is then used to obtain conditions for robust finite-energy input-output stability of: (1) nonlinear plants subject to nonlinear time-varying perturbations; and (2) linear time-varying plants subject to linear time-varying perturbations. These conditions are shown to be necessary as well as sufficient. >
Akt Switches TopBP1 Function from Checkpoint Activation to Transcriptional Regulation through Phosphoserine Binding-Mediated Oligomerization

Our previous study showed that Akt phosphorylates TopBP1 at the Ser-1159 residue and induces its oligomerization. Oligomerization is required for TopBP1 to bind and repress E2F1 activity. However, the mechanism through which phosphorylation of TopBP1 by Akt leads to its oligomerization remains to be determined. Here, we demonstrate that binding between the phosphorylated Ser-1159 (pS1159) residue and the 7th and 8th BRCT domains of TopBP1 mediates TopBP1 oligomerization. Mutations within the 7th and 8th BRCT domains of TopBP1 that block binding to a pS1159-containing peptide block TopBP1 oligomerization and its ability to bind and repress E2F1 activities. The Akt-induced TopBP1 oligomerization is also directly demonstrated in vitro by size exclusion chromatography. Importantly, oligomerization perturbs the checkpoint-activating function of TopBP1 by preventing its recruitment to chromatin and ATR binding upon replicative stress. Hyperactivation of Akt inhibits Chk1 phosphorylation after hydroxyurea treatment, and this effect is dependent on TopBP1 phosphorylation at Ser-1159. Thus, Akt can switch the TopBP1 function from checkpoint activation to transcriptional regulation by regulating its quaternary structure. This pathway of regulation is clinically significant, since treatment of a specific Akt inhibitor in PTEN-mutated cancer cells inhibits TopBP1 oligomerization and causes its function to revert from promoting survival to checkpoint activation.
Scan matching for flooded subterranean voids

This paper presents a new technique for scan matching with sparse, noisy sensors such as sonar range finders. This method allows an underwater vehicle to estimate its position within a 2-D plane. When combined with other sensors typically used on such vehicles, full 6 degree of freedom pose estimation is possible in flooded subterranean environments. Our approach uses a particle filter and an approximation of the likelihood of sensor readings, based on nearest neighbor distances, to approximate the probability distribution over possible poses. We present simulated results based on field-collected data, demonstrating our approaches advantages over traditional scan matching techniques.
Antipredator behavior promotes diversification of feeding strategies.

Animals often facultatively engage in less risky behavior when predators are present. Few studies, however, have investigated whether, or how, such predator-mediated behavior promotes diversification. Here, we ask whether tadpoles of the spadefoot toad Scaphiopus couchii have a diminished ability to utilize a potentially valuable resource––anostracan fairy shrimp––because of behavioral responses to predation risk imposed by carnivorous tadpoles of the genus Spea. Observations of a congener of Sc. couchii that occurs in allopatry with Spea, coupled with an ancestral character state reconstruction, revealed that Sc. couchii’s ancestors likely consumed shrimp. By experimentally manipulating the presence of Spea carnivore-morph tadpoles in microcosms, we found that Sc. couchii reduce feeding and avoid areas where both Spea carnivores and shrimp occur. We hypothesize that the recurrent expression of such behaviors in sympatric populations of Sc. couchii led to the evolutionary fixation of a detritivorous feeding strategy, which is associated with a reduced risk of predation from Spea carnivores. Generally, predator-mediated behavior might play a key role in promoting diversification of feeding strategies.
Consumption of black tea elicits an increase in plasma antioxidant potential in humans

Epidemiological studies suggest that the consumption of tea flavonoids may be associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer-related deaths. The flavonoids are polyphenols which in vitro exhibit antioxidant properties. Tea flavonoids are known to be rapidly absorbed into the circulation following oral ingestion. To date few studies have demonstrated that these bioavailable flavonoids retain antioxidant properties in vivo. Nine healthy subjects aged between 26 and 59 (one male and eight females) took part in 3 study days. On 1 day subjects consumed no tea and on the other 2 days subjects drank either black tea with milk, or black tea alone at hourly intervals between 9.00 a.m. and 14.00 p.m. Blood was sampled at 9.00 a.m. and at 12.00 p.m. and 15.00 p.m. The antioxidant potential of plasma was determined using the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Subjects consuming no tea exhibited no significant change in FRAP across the 6 hours of the study day. Similarly consumption of milky tea produced no change in FRAP between 9.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m. and the 50% increase in FRAP noted between 12.00 p.m. and 15.00 p.m. was not statistically significant. When the subjects consumed black tea without milk FRAP increased by 65% between 9.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m. (P = 0.02) and at 15.00 p.m. was 76% higher than at 9.00 a.m. (P = 0.002). Heavy consumption of black tea thus appears to elevate circulating antioxidant potentials in vivo. This is an effect which appears to be totally negated by the drinking of tea with milk. Although tea may thus represent an important source of dietary antioxidants in many societies, the role of tea in reducing risk of major disease states needs to be investigated in more detail.
The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis: a perspective for the 1990s

Atherosclerosis, the principal cause of heart attack, stroke and gangrene of the extremities, is responsible for 50% of all mortality in the USA, Europe and Japan. The lesions result from an excessive, inflammatory-fibroproliferative response to various forms of insult to the endothelium and smooth muscle of the artery wall. A large number of growth factors, cytokines and vasoregulatory molecules participate in this process. Our ability to control the expression of genes encoding these molecules and to target specific cell types provides opportunities to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic agents to induce the regression of the lesions and, possibly, to prevent their formation.
A Spatial Probit Modeling Approach to Account for Spatial Spillover Effects in Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Surveys

We present a demonstration of a Bayesian spatial probit model for a dichotomous choice contingent valuation method willingness-to-pay (WTP) questions. If voting behavior is spatially correlated, spatial interdependence exists within the data, and standard probit models will result in biased and inconsistent estimated nonbid coefficients. Adjusting sample WTP to population WTP requires unbiased estimates of the nonbid coefficients, and we find a $17 difference in population WTP per household in a standard vs. spatial model. We conclude that failure to correctly model spatial dependence can lead to differences in WTP estimates with potentially important policy ramifications.
Cottage Cheese from Retentate-Supplemented Skim Milk

Abstract Pasteurized milks for cottage cheese were supplemented with skim milk retentate to approximately 1.2:1, 1.4:1, 1.7:1, and 2:1 total protein concentration. Cottage cheese was observed for composition, quality, yields, and whey component losses. Moisture decreased and total protein, casein, and ash rose in cottage cheese made from skim milks of increasing supplementation. Optimum cheese flavor, body-texture, and appearance were obtained from retentate-supplemented skim milks of 1.7:1 total protein concentration. Total weight of cottage cheese increased in direct proportion to supplementation. Yield efficiency of control cheese made from unsupplemented skim milks averaged 1.6 kg cheese/kg total solids. Cheese made from 2:1 retentate skim milks averaged 2.2 kg. Yield efficiencies based on casein were essentially the same for control and retentate cheese with from 5.1 to 5.3 kg cheese/kg casein. All major components of whey calculated as percentage by weight increased with retentate supplementation. Computed as kilograms lost to whey per kilogram cheese obtained, total solids and ash decreased with supplementation and total protein and casein values were equal in wheys from control and retentate cheese.
Regulating Financial Innovation: A More Principles-Based Alternative?

The global financial crisis has exposed the complexity of modern financial markets. One of the primary drivers of this complexity has been financial innovation. From sub-prime mortgages, securitization and credit default swaps to sophisticated quantitative models for measuring and managing risk, the footprints of financial innovation can be found at almost every step along the road to the Great Recession. More broadly, complexity and innovation have combined to generate significant asymmetries of information and expertise between public regulators and private actors, thereby exacerbating the agency problems which pervade financial markets. At the same time, the pace of innovation has left regulators and regulation chronically behind the curve. This paper examines the desirability of ‘more principles-based’ regulation (MPBR) as a response to the challenges stemming from the complexity and innovativeness of modern financial markets. This paper advances the scholarly and public policy debates surrounding the optimal approach toward financial regulation in three ways. First, it re-conceptualizes the theoretical core of MPBR and demonstrates how this core transcends the now stale ‘rules versus principles’ debate within which the debate over MPBR has been historically mired. Second, using over-the-counter derivatives markets as a case study, it illuminates the pervasiveness and significance of asymmetries of information and expertise and agency problems within complex, innovative financial markets and how MPBR manifests the potential to address many of the attendant regulatory challenges. Finally, it moves the debate beyond the structure, perimeter and even substance of regulation and toward the examination of the optimal philosophy of regulation given the complexity and innovation exhibited within modern financial markets.
Gel permeation chromatography: Evaluation of porous glass‐column packing materials for low molecular weight solutes

Currently available small pore-size porous glass packing materials have been characterized as substrates for gel permeation-chromatographic separations. The elution volumes of narrow molecular weight-distribution polystyrene standards and hydrocarbon solutes have been determined using tetrahydrofuran as solvent. The results show that none has a sufficiently small pore diameter to enable low molecular weight oligomers to be separated. New smaller pore-diameter packing materials are required to enable these rigid materials to be used for separations of oligomer mixtures by GPC.
Social Construction of Skill: Gender, Power, and Comparable Worth

Conventional definitions of skill have been challenged by comparable worth. The pressures that contribute to simple definitions of skill are uncovered through an identification of the major sources of gender bias in job evaluation systems. Actual pay equity initiatives are examined to highlight the conflictual process by which new definitions of skill are socially constructed or blocked through political action. Research on comparable worth offers a unique opportunity to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the power relations that maintain the gendered character of the labor market.
Estimating Voter Preference Distributions from Individual-Level Voting Data

This paper presents a method for inferring the distribution of voter ideal points on a single dimension from individual-level binary choice data. The statistical model and estimation technique draw heavily on the psychometric literature on test taking and, in particular, on the work of Bock and Aitkin (1981) and are similar to several recent methods of estimating legislative ideal points (Londregan 2000; Bailey 2001). I present Monte Carlo results validating the method. The method is then applied to determining the partisan and ideological basis of support for presidential candidates in 1992 and to U.S. mass and congressional partisan realignment on abortion policy since 1973.
Immigrant Entrepreneurs in 272 SMSAs

Utilizing data collected from the 1980 public-use sample of the U.S. Census, we examine the effect of percentage foreign born in the labor force upon aggregate self-employment rate in 272 SMSAs. Because mean self-employment among the foreign born was higher than among the native born, an increased percentage in the foreign born in a SMSA labor force caused increased aggregate self-employment. Also, as a result of renewed immigration during the 1970s, and the resulting increase in the foreign-born component of the civilian labor force, nonfarm self-employment in the United States increased about 3% above what would have been expected from a comparable “influx” of native-born workers. Depending on which method of estimation one selects, this immigration-prompted increase explains from 16% to 52% of the decade's total increase in nonfarm self-employment, a surprising reversal of nearly 10 decades of uninterrupted decrease. Rate of self-employment among immigrants had no effect upon the rate of or returns to ...
The Game of Life in Non-square Environments

Here we explore the Game of Life (GoL) where it exists in other cellular automata (CA) “universes” of from one to four dimensions. We also look at various tessellations — triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, and three dimensional “densely packed spheres”. For our exploration, we specifically define (and examine) only CA rules that conform to the definition of a GoL given in Chap. 1 — namely that for a given rule, (1) random configurations must stabilize, (2) at least one glider must exist under the rule and (3) all neighbors are treated the same. These rather intuitive restrictions will limit our survey to a reasonable number of interesting rules.
Social Identity Development and the Situation of Scientists and Engineers as New Leaders

The current study examined the retrospective experience of scientists and engineers as they became new unit leaders in science and engineering firms. The goal of the study was to propose a theory that would lead to a better understanding of how scientists and engineers can be successful in their evolution into new leaders. The evolution was considered in the context of Robledo, Peterson, and Mumford's (2012) 3-Vectors Model to appreciate the situation in which new leaders in scientific and engineering firms find themselves. The evolution was then considered in the perspective of Social Identity Theory to understand the relational development of the scientist or engineer as a new leader. The theory that emerged was that without a sound understanding of both the situation and adaptation of a new sociotechnical identity, achieving success in the leadership role is, at best, uncertain. Identity development and situational understanding are both necessary to facilitate and expedite the transition of scientists and engineers into the new leadership role. The transition from staff-level scientist to leader can be made more productive through individual and organizational action espoused herein. The implications reveal many aspects of importance for organizations, individuals, researchers, and educators in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and similar technical disciplines.
Status of Zodion Zebrinum, Z. auricaudatum, and Z. albonotatum (Diptera: Conopidae)

The 2 male cotypes of Zodion auricaudatum Williston, 1892, are not conspecific. By present designation of the one from Tepetlapa as lectotype, Z. albonotatum Townsend, 1897, becomes a synonym of auricaudatum. Williston's other cotype of auricaudatum is a specimen of Z. zebrinum Bigot, 1887. A key to Zodion north of Mexico is presented.
SURVEY ON DISINFECTION QUALITY OF MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS OF ZHENGZHOU

Objective To know disinfection quality of medical institutions in Zhengzhou,in order to strengthen the standardized management of hospital disinfection.Methods On-the-spot investigation and sampling were used to monitor disinfection efficacy of different levels of medical institutions in Zhengzhou.Results The average passing rate of disinfection quality was 93.38% in 5 109 samples sampled in 22 medical institutions during the past five years.The passing rate of disinfection quality of mostly monitoring objects were above 90%,and only the pass rate of sterilizing effect of steam sterilizer was 100%,the pass rate of disinfection quality of indoor air was low which was 83.66%.There is no statistically significant difference in the pass rate of disinfection quality between the different type of medical institutions.Conclusion The level of disinfection quality in the medical institutions of Zhengzhou is high.But there were some weak links of indoor air disinfection and the sewage treatment in the hospital.It should be strengthen management.
Critique of Podiatric biomechanics by William Eric Lee, DPM.

This critique of Dr Lee's article is an attempt to clarify some misinterpretations and accreditations concerning his description of Dr Merton Root's work in biomechanics. The criticisms are based on personal discussion with most of the other mentioned authors and their teachings. Lee has been involved with the subject matter for 45 years and has had the benefit of practicing biomechanics since its beginning.
The eras of radiation, matter, and dark energy: new information from the Planck Collaboration

Data released by the Planck Collaboration in 2015 imply new dates for the era of radiation, the era of matter, and the era of dark energy. The era of radiation ended, and the era of matter began, when the density of radiation dropped below that of matter. This happened 50,953 \pm 2236 years after the time of infinite redshift when the ratio a(t)/a_0 of scale factors was (2.9332 \pm 0.0711) x 10^{-4}. The era of matter ended, and the era of dark energy began, when the density of matter dropped below that of dark energy (assumed constant). This happened 10.1928 \pm 0.0375 Gyr after the time of infinite redshift when the scale-factor ratio was 0.7646 \pm 0.0168. The era of dark energy started 3.606 billion years ago. In this pedagogical paper, five figures trace the evolution of the densities of radiation and matter, the scale factor, and the redshift through the eras of radiation, matter, and dark energy.
A Dual-Stage, Ultra-Low-Power Acoustic Event Detection System

A dual-stage, ultra-low power (ULP) acoustic event detection (AED) system is presented. The proposed system consists of two stages, the always-on stage with ultra-low power serialized (ULPS) feature extraction, and the high performance stage based on long-term speech diversion (LTSD). The dual stage approach achieves ultra-low power consumption without significantly degrading system performance. A hardware-efficient ULP AED system architecture is discussed, and system performance evaluation is provided in details. The proposed system can achieve > 95% detection rate with 0.2% false alarm rate for voice activity detection (VAD) and 97% detection rate with 1% false alarm rate for AED while its estimated power consumption is in a nano-Watts range. By controlling the duty cycle ratio between two stages, the proposed system enables graceful tradeoff in system performance and power consumption.
The management of childhood asthma – what is new?

Abstract Childhood asthma is a common condition where there is no consensus on definition, no diagnostic test and no reliable test to monitor symptoms. Despite (or because of) these considerable clinical challenges, many national bodies produce guidelines for the diagnosis and management of childhood asthma. The British Thoracic Society and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (BTS/SIGN) published their first asthma guideline in 1995 and have updated regularly, and most recently in 2016. The present article will (i) summarise changes in the BTS/SIGN asthma guideline between 1995 and 2014 and (ii) highlight what has changed between 2014 and 2016. The guideline has evolved considerably over 21 years, but the core principles for diagnosis and management have remained constant. The major changes to the 2016 guideline include (i) the initial trial of treatment should be with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) (ii) there is new terminology for the dose of ICS (iii) there are new recommendations for the traditional “steps” 1 to 3 and (iv) the 5–12 and less than 5 year old stepwise algorithms in the 2014 guideline are now unified. For acute severe asthma, the first choice intravenous treatment is magnesium sulphate. Childhood asthma remains a clinical diagnosis where management is symptom-based and patient-focussed.
The institutional determinants of self-governance: a comment on Edward Stringham’s Private Governance

Many pages would be require to discuss Private Governance’s important contributions, so I focus on a relatively minor flaw: chapter 9 on moral beliefs is inconsistent with Stringham’s general treatment of private governance institutions as endogenous. Moral beliefs are essentially depicted as unchanging, but they actually are endogenous too. Individuals can pursue wealth through cooperative interaction, which requires trust, creating incentives to develop beliefs that encourage ethical and benevolent behavior. Alternatively wealth can be taken from others through force and/or guile. Beliefs to facilitate involuntary transfers also are institutionalized. For instance, in order to benefit from coercive wealth transfers “in good conscience,” recipients have incentives to see their victims as enemies to justify a moral “right” to transfers. Changing moral beliefs is costly, however, so they tend to be fixed in the short term. Once it becomes apparent that existing beliefs significantly conflict with an individual’s interests, she is forced to question those beliefs. The impetus for rationalizing new beliefs arises. The direction of evolution can be predicted with a rational decision-making model. To illustrate the endogeneity of moral beliefs, three institutional settings are examined: “dignity culture,” “honor culture,” and “victimhood culture”.
Abstract 1878: Association of MYPT2 and Inflammatory Markers Using Principal Component Analysis in a Family-Based Genome-wide Association Study

Background: Vascular inflammation is a major mechanism leading to atherosclerosis. We performed a genome-wide association study to look for genes that influence individual latent inflammatory traits based on principal component analysis (PCA), as well as inflammatory marker levels. Method: Hs-CRP, IL-6 and MCP-1 were measured in healthy members of families with early onset coronary artery disease (CAD). Latent inflammatory traits were constructed using PCA, and tested for genome-wide association in the Illumina HumanMap 1M SNP chip. SNPs were screened for association with individual markers and PCA traits adjusting for age and sex, using generalized estimating equations to adjust for family-relatedness. Population stratification was taken into account using EIGENSTRAT. Signals from screening with p-value Result: PC1 represented a latent trait that loaded positively on CRP and IL-6, and PC2 represented mainly a latent trait loaded on MCP-1. Table 1 shows the top five SNPs that passed genome-wide significance for PCA trait analysis, and Table 2 shows the results for individual marker analysis - one intergenic SNP in chromosome 5, and four SNPs in the MYPT2 gene in chromosome 1. Summary: We have shown that variants in MYPT2, which encodes a phosphatase widely expressed in heart and skeletal muscle, are associated with the inflammatory markers hs-CRP, IL-6 and MCP-1, with the strongest associations to CRP and to a principal component weighted heavily for CRP and IL-6. This gene may underlie pathologic inflammatory cascades resulting in myocyte or vascular dysfunction.
Influence of waste tire addition on wheat straw pyrolysis yield and oil quality

Abstract This study investigates the effect of waste tire (WT) addition to wheat straw (WS) pyrolysis feedstock on consequent liquid yield quality and quantity. Samples of WS, WT and different blend ratios of the two wastes were fed to a fixed bed reactor. Reactor temperature was increased at 20 °C/min up to 500 °C as suggested by the thermogravimetric analysis of the feedstocks. Nitrogen was used as sweeping gas. Among the blends, WS/WT 2:3 produced maximum liquid yield. The organic phases of pyrolysis oil of WS and WT along with co-pyrolysis (WS/WT 2:3) oil were further analyzed by GC-MS, FTIR, elemental analyzer and calorimeter as well as other analytical instruments for respective physico-chemical properties. Addition of WT increased the calorific value (from 23.3 to 40.7 MJ/kg), carbon (58–85%) and hydrogen (8.6–9.6%) content and decreased oxygen content (from 32.8 to 5.1%) of the co-pyrolysis oil as compared to that of WS. Co-pyrolysis oil was also found to be more stable with significantly lesser quantity of aldehydes. Addition of WT to WS pyrolysis feedstock decreased the further fuel processing requirements to convert liquid yield into usable fuel, proving the co-pyrolysis as preferable option for the management of the two waste types.
Communication on the move with satellite digital beamforming

The main objective of this paper is to develop an efficient satellite digital beam-forming (BF) method that can provide user specific desirable signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) or data rate for each user in each zone. And a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications system model and its favorable channel propagation condition are assumed (i.e., channel independence among all channel coefficients from transmitter antenna elements to receiver antenna elements). Then, this paper derives a desirable user-specific BF expression. And the numerical results indicate that the user-specific SINRs can be achieved satisfactorily with the proposed method. However, in practice, the satellite channel may not meet the channel favorable propagation condition due to the known key hole effect. In future, it is desirable to study a BF method under a keyhole channel condition.
ACTH, beta-lipotropin, and related peptides in brain, pituitary, and blood.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the demonstration of a precursor molecule containing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and β -lipotropin in multiple tissues, which has the potential to be processed into products both similar to and different from those elaborated by the anterior and intermediate pituitary lobes. This has raised a number of fundamental questions with regard to its biosynthetic pathways and regulation and to the functions of the peptide products. The chapter discusses the nature and regulation of extrapituitary form of ACTH family of peptides and the forms secreted by human pituitary, both in normal subjects and in diseases characterized by disorders of ACTH regulation. Both ACTH and β -lipotropin can serve as precursors for other biologically active peptides. In humans, ACTH and β -melanotropin ( β -MSH) are secreted concomitantly and occur within the same cell of the anterior pituitary. The distribution of ACTH and β -lipotropin cells is identical. Within the arcuate nucleus, these cells in colchicine-treated rats are distributed throughout its rostrocaudal extent as for α -MSH in the vinblastine-treated rat. The concept of a hypothalamic center distributing ACTH, α -MSH, or β -endorphin via axons to regulate many other brain regions is comparable to the oxytocin and vasopressin fibers in many extra hypothalamic sites that originate in the magnocellular paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. The ACTH- β -lipotropin and vasopressin-oxytocin systems are unique among known brain peptides as their perikarya is restricted to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the center of the ACTH- β -lipotropin brain.
Descent and ascent of perinormality in some ring extension settings

Abstract In this paper, we investigate some open questions regarding perinormal domains posed by Neal Epstein and Jay Shapiro in [6] . More specifically, we focus on the ascent/descent property of perinormality between “canonical” integral domain extensions, in particular, A ⊂ A [ X ] and A ⊂ A ˆ . We give special conditions under which perinormality ascends from A to the polynomial ring A [ X ] in the case of an universally catenary domain A. Whereas we have a characterizing result for when perinormality descends from A [ X ] to A, the sufficient condition for the descent is cumbersome to check. For this reason, we turn to special cases for which perinormality descends from A [ X ] to A. In the case of an analytically irreducible local domain ( A , m ) and its m -adic completion ( A ˆ , m ˆ ) , we refer to a technique for generating examples in which perinormality fails to ascend. When A ˆ is perinormal, we explore hypotheses under which A must be normal, perinormal, or weakly normal. Finally, we make connexions between the concepts of semi-normality, weak-normality, relative and global perinormality, and normality.
Data science for finite strain mechanical science of ductile materials

A mechanical science of materials, based on data science, is formulated to predict process–structure–property–performance relationships. Sampling techniques are used to build a training database, which is then compressed using unsupervised learning methods, and finally used to generate predictions by means of supervised learning methods or mechanistic equations. The method presented in this paper relies on an a priori deterministic sampling of the solution space, a K-means clustering method, and a mechanistic Lippmann–Schwinger equation solved using a self-consistent scheme. This method is formulated in a finite strain setting in order to model the large plastic strains that develop during metal forming processes. An efficient implementation of an inclusion fragmentation model is introduced in order to model this micromechanism in a clustered discretization. With the addition of a fatigue strength prediction method also based on data science, process–structure–property–performance relationships can be predicted in the case of cold-drawn NiTi tubes.
Collagen Signaling in Cancer

Abstract The most abundant proteins in vertebrates are collagens; this superfamily of proteins consists of 28 members that share a triple helical motif but are structurally and functionally diverse. The majority of collagens are deposited in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and can be bound by different classes of transmembrane receptors, including integrins, receptor tyrosine kinases such as discoidin domain receptors 1 and 2 (DDR1 and DDR2), glycoprotein VI, and the leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor-1. Tumors develop and progress in the context of an ECM that is rich in collagens. Furthermore, collagen signaling in tumors contributes to tumor progression, metastasis, and resistance to chemotherapy. DDRs in particular are implicated in regulating tumor cell proliferation, migration, adhesion, and response to growth factors, and in promoting chemoresistance. As such, DDR inhibitors have been developed by different groups in an effort to inhibit collagen-mediated chemoresistance. This chapter provides an overview of the contribution of collagen and collagen signaling to tissue integrity and tumor progression and describes recent strategies to block collagen signaling to enhance chemosensitivity.
Food aversion learning to eliminate cattle consumption of pine needles.

Conditioned food aversions are a potentially useful tool to eliminate consumption of some toxic plants by livestock. This study examined consumption of pine needles (Pinus ponderosa Lawson) in South Dakota and Oregon by pregnant cattle. Averted cattle were conditioned to avoid green pine needles using a gastrointestinal emetic, lithium chloride; control (non-averted) animals were not treated. Averted and non-averted cattle were offered green pine needles during pen trials, and they were also grazed in pastures with abundant pine needles in 2 winter trials during 1997 and 1998. Averted cattle ate no green needles in pen trials in Oregon and South Dakota in either year; whereas, control cattle always ate some green needles during those tests. The 1997 South Dakota field trial was inconclusive: the averted cattle ate no needles and the control cattle ate almost no needles while grazing. In the 1998 Oregon field study, the averted cows began eating pine litter after 4 days in the pasture, and the aversion to green needles extinguished rapidly thereafter. In Oregon, controls ate more than 50% of their diet as pine needles, and particularly selected green needles from recently cut trees or branches. When the trial ended after 16 days, the controls and averted cattle were both eating about the same amount of green pine needles and dry needle litter even though they grazed in different pastures. Although averted to green needles, cattle did not appear to generalize the aversion from green needles to dry needle litter. Conditioning permanent aversions may require averting cattle to all forms of pine needles (i.e., green and dry) likely to be encountered in a pasture.
Tryptophan: Biochemical and Health Implications

Tryptophan: A Unique Entity Findings in Deficiency States Genetics Chemical Pathways, Protein Metabolism, and Interrelationships Blood and Hormonal Responses to Tryptophan (Lack or Excess) Tryptophan Effects or Influences on Biological Processes Effects or Influences on Organ Systems Pharmacology and Selected Therapeutic Uses Toxicity Serotonin and Melatonin The Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome Tryptophan: Past and Future Directions
Drug Delivery to the Brain via Focused Ultrasound

In the last two decades, significant technological developments have enabled focused ultrasound (FUS) devices that can safely and precisely focus high intensity ultrasound beams through the intact human skull. The fine balance between tolerable skull heating and focal thermal doses capable of inducing coagulation necrosis, along with the integration with high-field MRI, have made noninvasive FUS ablation in the brain a reality that is already transforming functional neurosurgery. In addition to thermal effects, the mechanical effects associated with ultrasonically driven microbubbles in the brain vessels can provide a number of new therapies, including focal opening of the blood–brain barrier, enhancing gene therapies, and amplifying thrombolysis. At the same time, novel simulation tools and imaging approaches are enabling FUS treatment planning, monitoring, and assessment with unprecedented precision. With the success of the initial human trials, it is anticipated that this technology will continue to grow exponentially.
The interacting roles of abortion stigma and gender on attitudes toward abortion legality

Abstract Abortion remains a hot-button political topic in the United States. Previous research demonstrates the impact of religiosity and gender on attitudes toward abortion legality. However, limited work has examined the relationship between abortion stigma and abortion legality attitudes. Furthermore, as both gender and religiosity are connected to stigma, it is plausible that gender, religiosity, and stigma might interact to drive abortion legality attitudes. The current work used an online, self-administered sample of U.S. adults, recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk. A moderated moderation analysis aimed to demonstrate the effects of abortion stigma on abortion legality attitudes, and explore interactions between gender, religiosity, and abortion stigma. Results showed a significant main effect of stigma on legality attitudes, such that increased stigma was related to more negative attitudes. Furthermore, there was a significant three-way interaction of religiosity, gender, and stigma. For men, religiosity significantly predicted abortion legality attitudes at low stigma, but for women, religiosity was related to legality attitudes at all levels of stigma. These results have implications for prediction of abortion legality attitudes, policy support, and voting behaviors and can inform abortion stigma reduction programs.
PhaST: Model-free Phaseless Subspace Tracking

Phaseless subspace tracking is the problem of recovering a time sequence of discrete signals from magnitude-only measurements of their linear projections, when the true signal lies in a low-dimensional subspace that can change with time. A typical assumption used in a lot of work is that the subspace changes gradually over time. We define this as (i) the maximum principal angle between the old and new subspaces is not too large (less than 90 degrees) or the number directions that changes is few or both; and (ii) the delay between subspace change times is large enough. This paper presents a novel algorithm, that we call PhaST, for model-free, mini- batch and fast Phaseless Subspace Tracking. We show via experiments that PhaST is significantly faster, and significantly more memory-efficient, than an existing algorithm for low- rank phase retrieval (which can be interpreted as a batch version of phaseless subspace tracking that does not assume anything about subspace changes). When fewer measurements are available, it also has significantly better recovery performance than both LRPR and single signal phase retrieval methods when its structural assumptions are valid.
Towards Optimized Online Task Allocation in Cost-Sensitive Crowdsensing Applications

In crowdsensing applications, participants (crowd sensors) work collectively to report their measurements about the physical world. This paper focuses on the optimized online task allocation problem in cost-sensitive crowdsensing applications where the goal is to dynamically allocate the sensing tasks to participants to meet the requirement of the applications while minimizing the sensing costs. Recent progress has been made to tackle the task allocation problem in crowdsensing. However, two important challenges have not been well addressed: i) “physical dynamics”: the values of the measured variables in crowdsensing often change significantly over time and space. It is essential for the task allocation schemes to adapt to such changes efficiently to optimize the task allocation process; ii) “crowd irregularity”: the number of participants in crowdsensing is often smaller than the number of desirable sensing locations and not all crowd sensors contribute data all the time (e.g., due to incentive or budget constraints). To address the above challenges, this paper develops an Online Optimized Task Allocation (OO-TA) scheme inspired by techniques from information theory and online learning. We evaluate the OO-TA scheme using a dataset collected from a real-world crowdsensing application. The evaluation results show that OO-TA scheme significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency.
Integrating Advanced CAD Modeling Simulation, 3D Printing, and Manufacturing into Higher Education STEM courses

Whether they realize it or not, the majority of college students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs will undoubtedly someday work for a company that manufactures a product. STEM students need to be shown real-world industry-based challenges, problems, and applications to support the rigorous theory taught in the classroom. With the advent of affordable and easy-to-use 3D printing technology, accurate and expansive parametric Computer Aided Design (CAD) simulation software, and modern manufacturing applications, the opportunity to create 1:1 physical examples to supplement the textbook has never been greater. We will demonstrate through case studies the application of such processes in the Connecticut State College and University (CSCU) system.
The Effects of Globalization on Art and Aesthetics

This chapter traces the ways globalization caused art around the world to shift toward inclusion. Both the West and the majority world followed unique paths toward the same globalized reality, creating a vast cross-cultural dialogue that envelops every aspect of culture, including art. In today’s world of art, globalization is not a one-way street where Western artists indoctrinate the total discourse on art. Rather, majority world artists and markets are also feeding into and changing the global discourse. The rise of global art biennials, and the sociological concept of “reverse flow,” perpetuates a plurality of critical voices. With a new emphasis on plurality, theories of art fail if they are based on particularized intrinsic qualities. As such, a glocal theory of art must find extrinsic qualities for classifying and evaluating art.
Stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep and its association with body mass index in middle-aged workers.

There is evidence that insufficient sleep and more stressors are individually associated with poor metabolic health outcomes. Examining sleep and stressors jointly may account for greater variability in health outcomes; however, we know little about the combined effect of both insufficient sleep and more stressors on metabolic health. This study examined whether experiencing more stressors in response to insufficient sleep ("stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep") was associated with body mass index in middle-aged workers. One-hundred and twenty-seven participants (Mage = 45.24 ± 6.22 years) reported nightly sleep characteristics and daily stressors on 8 consecutive days. We collected height and weight measurements to calculate body mass index (kg m-2 ). On average, workers reported more stressors following nights with shorter-than-usual sleep duration or poorer-than-usual sleep quality (negative slope means higher stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep). When examining stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep with insufficient sleep represented by shorter-than-usual sleep duration, compared with those with average stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep (within ±½ SD; reference), workers with high stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep (≤-½ SD) had higher body mass index (B = 3.24, p < .05). The body mass index of these workers fell in the obese range. There was no difference in body mass index between workers with low stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep (≥+½ SD) and the reference group. When examining stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep with insufficient sleep represented by poorer-than-usual sleep quality, stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep was not significantly associated with body mass index. Results suggest that middle-aged workers with higher stressor reactivity to insufficient sleep duration may be at greater risk for obesity. Results may inform future studies on interventions for improving sleep and reducing stress in middle-aged workers.
How Our Paradigms Limit Our Measures

Response to: Podcast with Donovan Schaefer, 28 November 2016Interviewed by Christopher R. CotterTranscribed by Catrin J. SawfordAudio and transcript available at: https://religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/is-secularism-a-world-religion/