cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Re-imagining Asian American Studies

Contributing editor Arif Dirlik has lucidly posed the key questions before us with regard to several possible configurations of Asian American Studies in the academy. He has outlined the advantages and disadvantages of each and sketched out the most salient terms for our debates. What follows is an attempt to address some of the issues regarding the institutional configuration for what we do and furthermore, what we might aspire to do.I hope there is an overall consensus as to our non-negotiable values. While there is a spectrum of views on the subject, I think we can posit a general shared commitment to progressive politics, a legacy of the founding spirit of Asian American Studies. This would include at minimum a commitment to minority rights, social justice, equal access to education, and democratic process. This spectrum is occupied on the one end by those primarily interested in linking Asian American Studies to direct political action, specifically with regard to serving some concrete notion of comm...
Study on Effect of Bacteria Elimination by Chalk Filtration in Rural Area Small Water Supply

Objective To study on elimination of bacteria in rural area small water supply. Methods Natural chalk was used in pool as main filter material, water was filtered to eliminate bacteria after water flowing through the filter material . Results Before filtration the total bacterial count was 1,300/ml, the total coliform was 1,250/L in water source and the incidence of disease was 17.59%. It was exceeded 12 times and 415.6 times the national drinking water health standard respectively. After filtration, the average bacterial count was 20.3/ml, and the average coliform was 3/L. The incidence of disease was 0.29%. Conclusion The water quality after chalk filtration approximates national standard of drinking water, which solves the disinfection problem of rural area small water supply.
Patients' Perspectives on Tapering of Chronic Opioid Therapy: A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVE : There is inadequate evidence of long-term benefit and growing evidence of the risks of chronic opioid therapy (COT). Opioid dose reduction, or opioid tapering, may reduce these risks but may also worsen pain and quality of life. Our objective was to explore patients' perspectives on opioid tapering. DESIGN : Qualitative study using in-person, semistructured interviews. SETTING AND PATIENTS : English-speaking, adult primary care patients (N = 24) in three Colorado health care systems. METHODS : Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in ATLAS.ti. We used a team-based, mixed inductive and deductive approach guided by the Health Belief Model. We iteratively refined emergent themes with input from a multidisciplinary team. RESULTS : Participants had a mean age of 52 years old, were 46% male and 79% white. Six participants (25%) were on COT and not tapering, 12 (50%) were currently tapering COT, and 6 (25%) had discontinued COT. Emergent themes were organized in four domains: risks, barriers, facilitators, and benefits. Patients perceived a low risk of overdose and prioritized the more immediate risk of increased pain with opioid tapering. Barriers included a perceived lack of effectiveness of nonopioid options and fear of opioid withdrawal. Among patients with opioid tapering experience, social support and a trusted health care provider facilitated opioid tapering. These patients endorsed improved quality of life following tapering. CONCLUSIONS : Efforts to support opioid tapering should elicit patients' perceived barriers and seek to build on relationships with family, peers, and providers to facilitate tapering. Future work should identify patient-centered, feasible strategies to support tapering of COT.
The mitochondrial inner surface membrane and its connections.

Using conservative methods to isolate heart muscle mitochondria fractions and to break open the mitochondria resulted in the release of large fragments of the inner surface membrane. After negative staining these fragments were characterized structurally by the presence of particles with a uniform size and a mean diameter of 110 A, distributed uniformly in the membrane with the exception of 400 A wide circumscribed areas within which these particles were missing and instead larger particles were closely associated. These areas are the sites at which the stalklike connections extending from the cristae are inserted at the inner surface membrane, whereby the cristae are connected to the proteinaceous pathways that according to Sjostrand and Candipan (1985) pass through the two surface membranes establishing a connection between the cristae and the cytosol.
Jets and high-pT probes of the QGP

Abstract An overview of the most recent results on jet quenching physics obtained using PbPb and pPb collision data collected with the CMS experiment at s NN = 2.76 TeV and s NN = 5.02 TeV , respectively, will be presented. These measurements make use of many different observables, including momentum imbalance, nuclear modification factor RAA and RpA, as well as flavor dependence of jet quenching, jet shapes and jet fragmentation functions. All these measurements in PbPb and pPb collisions will be presented and compared measurements from reference results. Since many of these observables have low correlation to one-another they serve as useful independent consraints to the nature of the parton energy loss mechanism.
Quantitative traits associated with adaptation of three barley (Hordeum vulgare L) cultivars to suboptimal iron supply

Iron stress responses were examined for 3 barley cultivars (Hordeum vulgare L. cvs. Steptoe, Morex and Dicktoo) grown at 5 iron levels (pFe 16.5, 17, 17.5, 18, 19) in chelator-buffered hydroponic solutions. Among the 3 cultivars, Steptoe produced the highest biomass and maintained the highest leaf chlorophyll content at each incremental decrease in Fe supply, followed by Dicktoo and Morex. All 3 cultivars responded to Fe limitation by early release of phytosiderophore prior to onset of Fe-deficiency chlorosis sp., but differed in the length of time prior to maximum phytosiderophore release. With Steptoe, near maximum release [42 μmol g−1 root (2 h)−1] occurred at day 6 for plants grown at pFe 18, and the plants maintained the same relative growth rate as Fe-sufficient plants (pFe 16.5) until day 15. In contrast, maximum rates of phytosiderophore release in Dicktoo and Morex peaked higher at 67 and 56 μmol g−1 root (2 hr)−1, but not until day 12 and day 18, respectively. By day 10, both Dicktoo and Morex were chlorotic and had a ∼50% decrease in relative growth rate. Under moderate Fe stress, all 3 cultivars decreased their shoot:root ratios by 25–30%, but differed with respect to specific root length and numbers of root tips per unit root length. The results suggest that differences in plant adaptation to Fe limitation cannot always be attributed to differences in quantities of phytosiderophore release, but also reflect several additive responses including timing of phytosiderophore release, root morphological adaptations and efficiency in Fe metabolism at low tissue Fe concentrations.
Trends in topics at SE conferences (1993--2013)

Using topic modeling, we analyse the titles and abstracts of nearly 10,000 papers from 20 years published in 11 top-ranked Software Engineering(SE) conferences between 1993 to 2013. Seven topics are identified as the dominant themes in modern software engineering. We show that these topics are not static, rather, some of them are becoming decidedly less prominent over time (modeling) while others are become very prominent indeed (defect analysis). By clustering conferences according to the topics they publish, we identify four large groups of SE conferences, e.g. ASE, FSE and ICSE publish mostly the same work (exceptions: there are more program analysis results in FSE than in ASE or ICSE). Using these results, we offer numerous recommendations including how to plan an individual's research program, when to make or merge conferences, and how to encourage a broader range of topics at SE conferences. An extended version of this paper, that analyzes more conferences and papers, is available on https://goo.gl/mVdyfj.
Investigation of Combustion Characteristics of a Cottonseed Biodiesel Fuelled Diesel Engine

Abstract Diesel engines are very well known for their high torque and high thermal efficiency. But, the increase in demand of energy, rapid depletion of fossil fuels and meeting the stringent emission regulations, the researchers take interest to derive the alternative fuels from renewable resources. Among from all the different alternative fuels, vegetable oil has potential to substitute the traditional diesel fuels. The well-established transesterification process is generally used for the production of biodiesel from vegetable oil. In transesterification process the tri-glycerides are converted into mono glycerides with the help of alcohol and catalyst under certain temperature. In the present research work cottonseed vegetable oil is used to produce biodiesel by transesterification process using methanol and KOH as catalyst. As diesel engine combustion is heterogeneous spray combustion, it is very complex phenomenon. The physico-chemical properties of biodiesel are slightly different from diesel fuel. It is very interesting to study the combustion characteristics of a cottonseed based biodiesel fuelled diesel engine. This was the main motivation to take up this study to understand and analyze the combustion characteristics of a cottonseed biodiesel fuelled diesel engine. The experiment was carried out on a single cylinder diesel engine for base diesel and cottonseed biodiesel blends (B5, B10, B15, and B20) as a fuel. The combustion characteristics such as ignition delay, start of combustion, premixed, diffusion and after burning combustion phases, end of combustion and combustion duration were analyzed and compared with base diesel. It was observed that ignition delay and maximum rate of pressure rise decreased with biodiesel as compared to base diesel due to higher cetane number of biodiesel blends which confirms the smooth running of the engine. Ignition delay decreased from 11°CA with base diesel to 6.5°CA with B20 biodiesel. The start of combustion was advanced with all biodiesel blends due to higher bulk modulus results in automatic advance in dynamic injection timing and lesser ignition delay. The combustion duration was longer with all biodiesel blends as compared to base diesel due to longer injection duration results in poor performance of the engine with biodiesel blends.
Disentangling the Effects of Weather and Density on the Dynamics of a Fungal Pathogen

Nonlinear fitting algorithms have illuminated the role of weather in human diseases, by allowing for robust tests of mechanistic transmission models, but a lack of data has prevented applications to animal diseases. This is important because classical models that neglect weather predict that there will be a host density threshold, below which epidemic intensity will be slight, but models that include weather predict that this threshold will often be obliterated by weather variability. To test the applicability of thresholds to animal diseases, we estimated infection rates of the fungal pathogen Entomophaga maimaiga in the gypsy moth, by collecting larvae during epidemics at a range of host densities and weather conditions, and we estimated the pathogen's force of infection, by exposing experimental larvae to the pathogen for 24 h periods in the field. By fitting a range of models to our data, we show that epidemics of this pathogen are best explained by a model that allows for positive effects of both host density and cool, moist weather on transmission, such that weather-only and density-dependence-only models provide vastly poorer explanations for the data. Despite the effects of weather, the combined model shows that the effects of density in E. maimaiga are strong enough to ensure that the density threshold will have important effects on the probability of epidemics. Our work shows that weather and density-dependent transmission can interact in non-intuitive ways, and provides an illustration of the usefulness of nonlinear fitting for understanding animal diseases.
What are We Doing When We Think We are Doing Risk Analysis

Risk analyses matter. Sometimes they matter a lot, so it is important for persons who contribute their expertise to the debate to know how both their efforts and their individual specialties fit into the whole.
Hypocholesterolemia in a Large Sickle Cell Cohort: Correlations of Serum Lipids to Markers of Intravascular Hemolysis and Vascular Dysfunction

Background: Hypocholesterolemia in sickle cell disease (SCD) has been documented in small cohorts from Nigeria, Cameron, Iran and the United States. Although not uniformly consistent, these studies found decreased total plasma cholesterol levels, HDL- cholesterol (HDL-C) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), when compared to healthy controls. Consistent with the low levels of LDL-C, atherosclerosis is largely absent in SCD patients. However, vascular dysfunction is prevalent, and higher-than-average triglyceride (TG) levels, a known risk factor for vascular diseases, have also been reported in SCD populations. Methods: In a large SCD cohort, consisting of 405 SCD patients with normal and mildto- significantly elevated pulmonary artery pressures (tricuspid regurgitant jet velocities (TRVs) ranging from 1 to 4.9) as well as 32 healthy African American controls, we determined mean serum lipid levels for total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C and TG. We also determined apolipoprotein levels, ApoA-I, ApoB and the ratio ApoA-I/ApoB. We then investigated the correlations between plasma serum lipids and apolipoproteins against a battery of markers of intravascular hemolysis and vascular dysfunction. Results: In our large cohort, we observe significantly lower mean total cholesterol levels in SCD patients versus healthy controls (135.2 and 187.5 mg/dL, respectively, p In contrast, mean triglyceride levels were significantly higher in the SCD cohort than in healthy subjects (123.2 vs. 76.42 mg/dL respectively, p 2.9) cohorts, the mean plasma TG levels were significantly different between the low and high TRV groups. Specifically, for low-TRV patients (TRV 2.9, n = 58), the TG mean was significantly higher (153.4, 95% CI 131.4–175.5, median=136.0). Interestingly, ApoA-I levels were also low in SCD patients, and there was a trend towards lower ApoA-I levels in the higher TRV patient groups, but this trend did not achieve statistical significance. Lastly, ApoA-I levels were significantly positively correlated with NTProBNP, a marker of pulmonary hypertension (p= 0.0026). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this constitutes the first evidence that hypocholesterolemia in sickle cell disease is correlated with markers of intravascular hemolysis and vascular dysfunction. Further study is needed to explore the mechanistic basis for these correlations; however, one possibility is that the fatty acids carried by triglycerides may become oxidized in SCD patients with hemolytic oxidative stress and serve as signaling molecules, or alternatively, hemolytic oxidative stress may coordinately regulate these pathways. Our findings provide a link between plasma lipids, particularly triglyceride levels, and vascular dysfunction in sickle cell disease.
Carbon and nitrogen molecular composition of soil organic matter fractions resistant to oxidation

The methods used to isolate and characterise pyrogenic organic carbon (PyC) from soils vary widely, and there is little agreement in the literature as to which method truly isolates the most chemically recalcitrant (inferred from oxidative resistance) and persistent (inferred from radiocarbon abundance) fraction of soil organic matter. In addition, the roles of fire, fuel type and soil morphology in the preservation of PyC are not yet defined. In an attempt to elucidate the importance of oxidative recalcitrance, fuel type and soil morphology to the persistence of soil organic matter, we examined two strongly contrasting soils using a variety of PyC isolation techniques coupled with quantifications of the molecular structure and mean residence time of the isolated organic materials. Surface and subsurface soil samples were examined from a Red Chromosol soil and a Black Vertosol soil. The δ13C values suggest that PyC in the Red Chromosol was sourced from eucalyptus, whereas PyC in the Black Vertosol was formed from grass. Soils were sieved at 53µm, treated with hydrofluoric acid to remove organics associated with mineral surfaces, then subjected to three common ‘PyC isolation’ treatments: chromic acid, photo-oxidation and chromic acid followed by photo-oxidation. Molecular structure of the organic residues remaining after each treatment was quantified by solid-state 13C cross polarisation magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and the mean residence time of the organic residues was estimated based on radiocarbon abundance. In all cases, treatment with chromic acid followed by photo-oxidation isolated the smallest proportion of organic matter (5–10% of <53µm C) which also had the longest mean residence time (estimated 600–3460 years). Additionally, molecular structure measurements indicated that this fraction was not composed solely of aromatic compounds, suggesting a non-homogenous source for the most oxidative-resistant fraction of soil organic matter.
Culture Embrained: Going Beyond the Nature-Nurture Dichotomy

Over the past three decades, the cultural psychology literature has established that there is systematic cultural variation in the nature of agency in the domains of cognition, emotion, and motivation. This literature adopted both self-report and performance-based (or behavioral) indicators of these processes, which set the stage for a more recent systematic exploration of cultural influences at the neural and biological level. Moreover, previous work has largely focused on East-West differences, thereby calling for a systematic exploration of other ethnic groups. To address these issues, this article reviews recent work in cultural neuroscience, while paying close attention to Latino Americans-the single most rapidly growing minority group in the United States. We focus on research that has employed neural measures and show that culture has systematic influences on the brain. We also point out that, unlike more traditional self-report or performance-based measures, neural indicators of culture are reliably linked to theoretically relevant individual difference variables such as self-construal and acculturation. Cultural neuroscience offers the framework to go beyond the dichotomy between nature and nurture and to explore how they may dynamically interact.
High-resolution and accelerated multi-parametric mapping with automated characterization of vessel disease using intravascular MRI

Atherosclerosis is prevalent in cardiovascular disease, but present imaging modalities have limited capabilities for characterizing lesion stage, progression and response to intervention. This study tests whether intravascular magnetic resonance imaging (IVMRI) measures of relaxation times (T1, T2) and proton density (PD) in a clinical 3 Tesla scanner could characterize vessel disease, and evaluates a practical strategy for accelerated quantification. IVMRI was performed in fresh human artery segments and swine vessels in vivo, using fast multi-parametric sequences, 1–2 mm diameter loopless antennae and 200–300 μm resolution. T1, T2 and PD data were used to train a machine learning classifier (support vector machine, SVM) to automatically classify normal vessel, and early or advanced disease, using histology for validation. Disease identification using the SVM was tested with receiver operating characteristic curves. To expedite acquisition of T1, T2 and PD data for vessel characterization, the linear algebraic method (‘SLAM’) was modified to accommodate the antenna’s highly-nonuniform sensitivity, and used to provide average T1, T2 and PD measurements from compartments of normal and pathological tissue segmented from high-resolution images at acceleration factors of R ≤ 18-fold. The results were validated using compartment-average measures derived from the high-resolution scans. The SVM accurately classified ~80% of samples into the three disease classes. The ‘area-under-the-curve’ was 0.96 for detecting disease in 248 samples, with T1 providing the best discrimination. SLAM T1, T2 and PD measures for R ≤ 10 were indistinguishable from the true means of segmented tissue compartments. High-resolution IVMRI measures of T1, T2 and PD with a trained SVM can automatically classify normal, early and advanced atherosclerosis with high sensitivity and specificity. Replacing relaxometric MRI with SLAM yields good estimates of T1, T2 and PD an order-of-magnitude faster to facilitate IVMRI-based characterization of vessel disease.
Differences in Management Practices of Founding and Nonfounding Chief Executives of Human Service Organizations

Drawing hypotheses from theories of organizational life cycles, this survey compared the management practices of 37 founding and 133 nonfounding chief executives of human service organizations. The...
Contrast Reversal on Surface Plasmon Resonance Reflectivity in Nickel and Nickel Alloy Films

We have performed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments in the Kretchmann configuration on prisms coated with metal and alloy films. The experiment is performed at various wavelengths that include 1320 nm and 1550 nm wavelengths that are important for optoelectronic applications. The metal films of 20nm/50nm thickness are grown by magnetron sputtering and are binary alloy films of Nickel and Chromium (Nichrome). The aim of this study is two-fold. Our results would show SPR behavior as a sensitive function of film composition and film thickness. Our results also show two interesting thickness regimes where the reflectance is dominated by different processes that take place at the interface between the metal and the dielectric (fused silica prism in our study). Our measurements reveal a contrast reversal in plasmonic signal as we change the alloy thickness from 50 nm to 20 nm for the shorter wavelength.
Game Theory as a Tool for Market Design

Markets evolve, but they are also designed. Entrepreneurs and managers, legislators and regulators, lawyers and judges, all get involved, at least indirectly, in market design. Recently game theorists have also started to take a direct role in design. This is a natural development, because game theory is the part of economics that deals with the “rules of the game” that define market operations.
Infinite Regresses of Recurring Problems and Responses

In this chapter I will examine infinite regress arguments that are presented or analyzed in terms of recurring problems and solutions. Such arguments are typically characterized in this way:
EXCHANGE OF ALPHA -ACTININ IN ISOLATED RIGOR MYOFIBRILS

In the current study, the process of α-actinin binding to the myofibrillar Z-line was investigated to determine its mechanism. Pretreatment of rigor myofibrils with unlabeled α-actinin did not prevent or slow the incorporation of fluorescein skeletal α-actinin into myofibrils suggesting that incorporation was not the filling of empty binding sites but rather an exchange reaction. Further support for this was obtained using quantitative measures of labeled α-actinin incorporation and measures of total myofibrillar α-actinin. These results showed that there was no change in myofibrillar α-actinin content when up to 15% of the total α-actinin was the labeled protein. Measurement of the time-course of fluorescein α-actinin incorporation by quantitative fluorescence microscopy showed that the increase in Z-line fluorescence was well described by a rapid (unresolved) incorporation of fluorescence followed by a much slower phase. The slower phase was independent of fluorescein α-actinin concentration (2.5–160 nM) and had an apparent rate of 0.008–0.016 min−1. Pretreatment of myofibrils with fluorescein α-actinin followed by incubation with unlabeled α-actinin resulted in a decrease in Z-line fluorescence with an apparent rate of 0.021 min−1. The slow phase was interpreted as representing the dissociation rate of intrinsic Z-line α-actinin. Thus, the dissociation rate for the in situ interaction of α-actinin with actin appears to be three orders of magnitude slower than that determined from solution studies.
Cell-free protein synthesis for producing ‘difficult-to-express’ proteins

Abstract Biomanufacturing requires the stable production of active biological molecules including proteins. However, a significant percentage of genes cannot be expressed efficiently in a cell-based system due to cellular homeostasis. Upon overproduction, proteins often form inclusion bodies by becoming insoluble, lose biological activities due to improper folding, or are easily degraded by proteases. Many molecular tools and protocols have been established to improve the production yield of ‘difficult-to-express’ proteins in cell-based systems; however, in vivo approaches have a substantial limitation in that the host strains should be maintained healthy for stable protein production and folding. Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) offers superior advantages in synthesizing ‘difficult-to-express’ proteins due to reaction environment openness and no cell viability constraints. In CFPS systems, active protein production can be maximized by optimizing the reaction environment with selective supplements of positive effectors and the elimination of negative effectors. This review summarizes current strategies for the high-quality production of difficult-to-express proteins including toxic cancer therapeutics, antimicrobial peptides/proteins, toxins, vaccines, antibodies, membrane proteins, and proteins containing nonstandard amino acids.
30-Day outcomes analysis of NSQIP-pediatric for surgical management of head and neck lymphatic malformations in children.

Abstract Objective Identify adverse events associated with surgical management of head and neck lymphatic malformations in children by investigating a US national database. Data source Pediatric American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program® (ACS NSQIP® - pediatric), years 2012–2016. Methods Subjects included children under 18 years with a postoperative diagnosis of International Classification of Diseases (ICD), 9 th revision code: 228.1 – lymphangioma, any site or ICD-10 code D18.1. Results 163 patients were identified. 67 (41.1%) were female and 96 (58.9%) were male. The median age was 4.2 years (interquartile range [IQR] 1.6–11.3 years). Sixty-five (39.9%) underwent head and neck procedures. 19 (11.7%) patients with 30-day adverse events were identified, with unplanned reoperation being the most common; in the head and neck surgery group, there were 5 (7.7%). There was no significant difference in the occurrence of adverse events between head and neck surgery and the non-head and neck surgery group (p = 0.2238). Conclusions No individual patient clinical factors were identified to be associated with increased rates of 30-day adverse event rates for surgical management of lymphatic malformations in children. Our investigation highlights the need for quality improvement to help decrease 30-day adverse events for surgery for this group, as the rate was quite high overall (11.7%). The wound complication rate was very low, but we observed a non-negligible number of reoperations and readmissions. Improving quality of care for surgical management of lymphatic malformations in children should focus future investigations on limiting reoperations and readmissions within the first 30 days postoperatively.
Anterior cervical pain syndrome: Risk factors, variations in hyolaryngeal anatomy, and treatments

Objective Anterior cervical pain syndromes (ACPS) are a poorly understood entity associated with lateral neck discomfort when talking, chewing, or yawning, and with occasional excruciating pain and dysphagia. This investigation aims to describe patients with ACPS presenting symptoms and treatments. Study design Retrospective chart review of all patients with ACPS presenting to a tertiary care laryngology practice in 1 year. Methods All patients diagnosed with ACPS for 1 year were reviewed. Patient gender, age, body mass index (BMI), and pain triggers were documented. The hyolaryngeal complex was measured on computed tomography (CT) scans of the neck. Treatments were recorded. Results Nine patients were diagnosed with an ACPS in a 1-year period. Sixty-seven percent were female with an average age of 47.3 years ± 16.6. The average BMI of a patient with ACPS was 24.8 ± 3.69. The most common symptom was point tenderness at the lateral aspect of the hyoid or superior cornu of the thyroid cartilage (89%). Pain triggers included speaking (67%), head turn (56%), chewing (44%), yawning (56%), and swallowing (56%). On CT imaging, eight of nine patients had abnormalities of the hyoid bone or the superior cornu of the thyroid cartilage, correlating 100% with point tenderness location. Treatments include physical therapy (33%), steroid injection (44%), lidocaine injection (22%), and surgical intervention (56%). Conclusion ACPS is a frustrating condition for patients and physicians. Evaluation of anterior cervical pain with point tenderness should include imaging measurement of the thyrohyoid complex. Effective treatments include local steroid injection and surgical resection of the abnormal structure. Level of evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 130:702-705, 2020.
Potato Tuber Chemical Properties in Storage as Affected by Cultivar and Nitrogen Rate: Implications for Acrylamide Formation

Recently released potato cultivars Dakota Russet and Easton were bred for low reducing sugars, and low acrylamide-forming potential in French fries. The objectives of this study were to determine: (1) the effects of nitrogen rate and storage time on tuber glucose concentrations in different cultivars; (2) the relationships between acrylamide, glucose, and asparagine for the new cultivars and Russet Burbank. The study was conducted at Becker, Minnesota over a period of two years on a loamy sand soil under irrigated conditions. All cultivars were subjected to five N rates from 135 to 404 kg ha-1 in a randomized complete block design. Following harvest, tubers were stored at 7.8 °C and sampled at 0, 16, and 32 weeks. Dakota Russet and Easton had significantly lower concentrations of stem- and bud-end glucose, asparagine, and acrylamide than those of Russet Burbank in both years. The effect of storage time on glucose concentration was significant but differed with cultivar and year. N rate effects on stem- and bud-end glucose concentrations were cultivar and storage time dependent. After 16 weeks of storage, both asparagine and acrylamide concentrations linearly increased with increasing N rate. Glucose concentration was positively correlated with acrylamide concentration (r2 = 0.61). Asparagine concentration was also positively correlated with acrylamide concentration (r2 = 0.45) when the asparagine:glucose ratio was <1.306. The correlation between fry color and stem-end glucose concentration was significant over three cultivars in both years, but stronger in a growing season with minimal environmental stress. Taken together, these results suggest that while acrylamide formation during potato processing is a complex process affected by agronomic practices, environmental conditions during the growing season, and storage conditions, cultivar selection may be the most reliable method to minimize acrylamide in fried products.
Development of steroid-receptor systems in guinea pig brain. I. Cytoplasmic estrogen receptors.

Abstract The development of the cytoplasmic estrogen receptor (CER) system in male and female guinea pigs was examined to determine whether attainment of sensitivity to estrogen action related to lordosis behavior is correlated with increases in brain CER concentrations. Ovariectomized neonatal (7 days old) guinea pigs failed to display lordosis after priming with 10 μg estradiol benzoate (EB) and 0.5 mg progesterone (P). The percentage of ovariectomized steroid-treated females displaying lordosis increased at 29–33 days of age. At 50–65 days of age this percentage increased even further. Plasma levels of estrogen in 4–6 day old animals at 4, 8 and 12 h after 10 μg EB were at least equal to those seen in 50–65 day old animals. Neither the concentration nor the affinity of CER in hypothalamus (HYPO), preoptic area (POA), amygdala (AMYG) and cortex (CORT) were different in 4–6 day olds vs 50–65 day olds. The rank order for concentrations of CER in brain regions was: POA > HYPO > AMYG > CORT. A sex difference in CER was found in HYPO (females > males), but not POA, AMYG or CORT of 4–6 day olds.
Distinctive trajectories of the COVID-19 epidemic by age and gender: A retrospective modeling of the epidemic in South Korea.

Abstract Objectives Elderly people had suffered a disproportionate burden of COVID-19. We hypothesized that males and females in different age groups might have different epidemic trajectories. Methods Using publicly available data from South Korea, daily new COVID-19 cases were assessed using generalized additive models, assuming Poisson and negative binomial distributions. Epidemic dynamics by age and gender groups were explored using interactions between smoothed time terms and age and gender. Results A negative binomial distribution fitted the daily case counts best. The relationship between the dynamic patterns of daily new cases and age groups was statistically significant (p Conclusions Although young people drove the COVID-19 epidemic throughout society, with multiple rebounds, elderly people could still be protected from infection after the peak of the epidemic.
Ketamine Rapidly Enhances Glutamate-Evoked Dendritic Spinogenesis in Medial Prefrontal Cortex Through Dopaminergic Mechanisms.

Abstract Background Ketamine elicits rapid onset antidepressant effects in patients with clinical depression through mechanisms hypothesized to involve the genesis of neocortical dendritic spines and synapses. Yet, the observed changes in dendritic spine morphology usually emerge well after ketamine clearance, raising questions about the link between rapid behavioral effects of ketamine and plasticity. Methods Here, we used two-photon glutamate uncaging/imaging to focally induce spinogenesis in the medial prefrontal cortex, directly interrogating baseline and ketamine-associated plasticity of deep layer pyramidal neurons in C57BL/6 mice. We combined pharmacological, genetic, optogenetic, and chemogenetic manipulations to interrogate dopaminergic mechanisms underlying ketamine-induced rapid enhancement in evoked plasticity and associated behavioral changes. Results We found that ketamine rapidly enhances glutamate-evoked spinogenesis in the medial prefrontal cortex, with timing that matches the onset of its behavioral efficacy and precedes changes in dendritic spine density. Ketamine increases evoked cortical spinogenesis through dopamine Drd1 receptor (Drd1) activation that requires dopamine release, compensating blunted plasticity in a learned helplessness paradigm. The enhancement in evoked spinogenesis after Drd1 activation or ketamine treatment depends on postsynaptic protein kinase A activity. Furthermore, ketamine’s behavioral effects are blocked by chemogenetic inhibition of dopamine release and mimicked by activating presynaptic dopaminergic terminals or postsynaptic Gαs-coupled cascades in the medial prefrontal cortex. Conclusions Our findings highlight dopaminergic mediation of rapid enhancement in activity-dependent dendritic spinogenesis and behavioral effects induced by ketamine.
Vascular comorbidity is associated with lower brain volumes and lower neuroperformance in a large multiple sclerosis cohort

Objective:The objective of this study is to assess the association between vascular comorbidity burden with clinical and imaging features of disease burden in a large population of people with mult...
Loss of furin cleavage site attenuates SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-a new coronavirus that has led to a worldwide pandemic1-has a furin cleavage site (PRRAR) in its spike protein that is absent in other group-2B coronaviruses2. To explore whether the furin cleavage site contributes to infection and pathogenesis in this virus, we generated a mutant SARS-CoV-2 that lacks the furin cleavage site (ΔPRRA). Here we report that replicates of ΔPRRA SARS-CoV-2 had faster kinetics, improved fitness in Vero E6 cells and reduced spike protein processing, as compared to parental SARS-CoV-2. However, the ΔPRRA mutant had reduced replication in a human respiratory cell line and was attenuated in both hamster and K18-hACE2 transgenic mouse models of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. Despite reduced disease, the ΔPRRA mutant conferred protection against rechallenge with the parental SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, the neutralization values of sera from patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and monoclonal antibodies against the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 were lower against the ΔPRRA mutant than against parental SARS-CoV-2, probably owing to an increased ratio of particles to plaque-forming units in infections with the former. Together, our results demonstrate a critical role for the furin cleavage site in infection with SARS-CoV-2 and highlight the importance of this site for evaluating the neutralization activities of antibodies.
Therapeutic drug monitoring of flucytosine in a cardiac transplant patient receiving continuous veno-venous hemofiltration and intermittent hemodialysis: A Case Report.

Invasive candidiasis is one of the common infections in solid organ transplant recipients. Guidelines recommend echinocandins or liposomal amphotericin with consideration of flucytosine (5-fluorocytosine; 5-FC) as synergistic therapy for treatment of select deep-seated Candida infections, including complex endovascular infections. Flucytosine undergoes extensive renal elimination; however, optimal dosing in patients with renal impairment, or those requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT), is not well-established. We describe a case of a 60-year old female who underwent orthotopic heart transplant complicated by Candida parapsilosis complex fungemia with mediastinitis and development of end-stage renal disease requiring RRT. Flucytosine therapeutic drug monitoring was performed on continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) and intermittent hemodialysis (iHD) to guide appropriate dosing. Our results support 5-FC doses of 25 mg/kg daily while undergoing CVVH with a low fluid replacement rate and 21 mg/kg post-iHD or 17 mg/kg daily while receiving thrice weekly iHD.
Connections and Disconnections between Online Health Information Seeking and Offline Consequences

Online Health Information Seeking (HIS) has become pervasive with critical impacts on consumers' health. Yet, little is known about the connections between consumers' online HIS process and subsequent offline behaviors. To fill this gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews by adopting the Critical Incident Technique to understand the real-world search experiences from 24 consumers. We characterized the online HIS around source selection behaviors, information needs, and search starting-point, then further analyzed their impacts on offline emotion change and decision-making. Specifically, we identified that self-diagnosis is a common need for online HIS, where search engines are dominantly used as the starting point. More surprisingly, although mostly being viewed as helpful, online HIS might lead to consumers' extremely negative emotions and decisions. These findings deepen the understanding of consumer-centered health information seeking behaviors and provide insights for designing better interactive technologies to facilitate desirable online-offline transitions and thus promoting the outcomes of healthcare.
Early identification of live bacteria in water samples using time-lapse holographic imaging and deep learning

We present a deep learning-aided imaging system for early detection and classification of live bacterial colonies by capturing time-lapse holographic images of an agar plate and analyzing these images using deep neural networks. We blindly tested our system by identifying Escherichia coli and total coliform bacteria in spiked water samples and successfully detected 90% of the bacterial colonies within 7-10 h, while keeping 99.2~100% precision. We further classified the corresponding species within 7.6-12 h of incubation with 80% accuracy, which represents >12 h time-savings. Our system also achieved a limit-of-detection of ~1 CFU/L within 9 h of total test time.
Investigating Graphene gNEMS ESD Switch for Design Optimization

Traditional in-Silicon PN-junction-based on-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection structures have inherent ESD-induced design overhead problems, including parasitic capacitance, leakage and Si area consumption. A potential solution to the ESD design overhead challenge is to use a non-conventional above-Si graphene-based nano-electrical mechanical system (gNEMS) transient switch structure to protect integrated circuits (ICs) against ESD failures. This paper reports investigation of materials and device structural impacts on gNEMS ESD protection structures. Transmission-line pulse (TLP) testing confirms that single-crystalline graphene gNEMS switch achieves a record high ESD current-handling capability of Jt21.03×109A/cm2, at least four times higher than Jt20.24×109A/cm2 for its poly-crystalline graphene counterpart. Transient 3D finite element method (FEM) simulation reveals that both device dimensions and shapes of the suspended graphene membranes can substantially affect gNEMS ESD discharging characteristics. The discovery offers guidelines for design optimization of gNEMS ESD switch structures.
Physics of Gas-Liquid Flows

Presenting tools for understanding the behaviour of gas-liquid flows based on the ways large scale behaviour relates to small scale interactions, this text is ideal for engineers seeking to enhance the safety and efficiency of natural gas pipelines, water-cooled nuclear reactors, absorbers, distillation columns and gas lift pumps. The review of advanced concepts in fluid mechanics enables both graduate students and practising engineers to tackle the scientific literature and engage in advanced research. It focuses on gas-liquid flow in pipes as a simple system with meaningful experimental data. This unified theory develops design equations for predicting drop size, frictional pressure losses and slug frequency, which can be used to determine flow regimes, the effects of pipe diameter, liquid viscosity and gas density. It describes the effect of wavy boundaries and temporal oscillations on turbulent flows, and explains transition between phases, which is key to understanding the behaviour of gas-liquid flows.
The Impact of Ground Schools in a Collegiate Aviation Program on FAA Written Exam Scores

This is a longitudinal study, tracing student FAA written exam test scores in a collegiate environment. The exams surveyed were administered in the War Eagle CATS testing center located at Auburn University from January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2000. The purpose of the study was to test the significance of ground schools offered at Auburn University on FAA written exam test scores. In addition, it examined the difference on test scores of Auburn students versus non-Auburn University students. The independent variable was set as the group corresponding to each FAA test ground school. The dependent variable was student performance based on each corresponding FAA written exam score. Statistical analysis revealed that there is no significance on the impact of the independent to the dependent variable, or the impact of ground schools on FAA written test performance is not significant.
Social Justice: The Moral Foundations of Public Health and Health Policy

CHAPTER 1: THE JOB OF JUSTICE 1.1 Which Inequalities Matter Most 1.2 Justice and Well-Being 1.3 Justice, Sufficiency, and Systematic Disadvantage 1.4 Foundations of Public Health 1.5 Medical Care and Insurance Markets 1.6 Setting Priorities 1.7 Justice, Democracy, and Social Values CHAPTER 2 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Essential Dimensions of Well-Being 2.3 A Moderate Essentialism 2.4 Well-Being and Nonideal Theory 2.5 The Main Alternatives 2.6 Capabilities, Functioning, and Well-Being 2.7 Relativism, Moral Imperialism, and Political Neutrality 2.8 Justice and Basic Human Rights CHAPTER 3: JUSTICE, SUFFICIENCY, AND SYSTEMATIC DISADVANTAGE 3.1 Varieties of Egalitarianism 3.2 The Leveling-Down Objection 3.3 The Strict Egalitarian's Pluralist Defense 3.4 Is the Appeal to Equality Unavoidable 3.5 A Sufficiency of Well-Being Approach 3.6 Toward a Unified Theory of Social Determinants and Well-Being 3.7 Densely Woven, Systematic Patterns of Disadvantage 3.8 Conclusion CHAPTER 4: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Moral Justification for Public Health 4.3 Public Health, the Negative Point of Justice, and Systematic Disadvantage 4.4 Public Health, the Positive Point of Justice, and Health Inequalities CHAPTER 5: MEDICAL CARE AND INSURANCE MARKETS 5.1 The Moral Foundations of Markets 5.2 Sources of Market Failure 5.3 Responses to Market Failure: Some Examples from the U.S. Experience 5.4 Making Matters Worse: Employer-Based Insurance in the United States 5.5 Private Markets and Public Safety Nets CHAPTER 6: SETTING PRIORITIES 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Mimicking Markets 6.3 Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Utility Alternatives 6.4 Systematic Disadvantage 6.5 The Relevance of Childhood, Old Age, and Human Development 6.6 Beyond Separate Spheres of Justice 6.7 Trade-Offs within Health 6.8 Conclusion CHAPTER 7: JUSTICE, DEMOCRACY, AND SOCIAL VALUES 7.1 Lost on the Oregon Trail 7.2 From Substantive Justice 7.3 Mimicking Majorities: Moralizing Preferences and Empiricizing Equity 7.4 Theory, After All? 7.5 DALYs, Deliberation, and Empirical Ethics CHAPTER 8: FACTS AND THEORY References Author Index Subject Index
Chan alkyne reduction

Stereoselective reduction of acetylenic alcohols to E-allylic alcohols using sodium bis(2-methoxyethoxy)aluminum hydride (SMEAH, also known as Red-Al) or LiAlH4.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: Basic Principles and Liquid State Spectroscopy

The basic physical principles behind nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are introduced in this chapter, along with spectroscopic techniques for the study of liquids. The phenomenon of magnetic resonance is described from a quantum mechanical point of view, using the density operator formalism that has become the standard in the field. Interactions of the nuclear spin with the molecular surroundings such as the chemical shift of the resonance frequency and the scalar spin–spin coupling are introduced. The effect of radio-frequency pulses on the nuclear spin state is discussed, as well as the spin– lattice and spin–spin relaxation processes that take the spin system back to its thermal equilibrium state in the absence of external perturbations. The principle of multidimensional spectroscopy is described, and specific liquid-state NMR techniques that have applications in materials science are discussed. Keywords: nuclear magnetic resonance; density operator; chemical shift; spin–lattice relaxation; two-dimensional spectroscopy; polymer tacticity; molecular weight; 129Xe NMR; diffusion