cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantification of low density lipoprotein and transferrin endocytic sorting HEp2 cells using confocal microscopy.

Numerous experiments on CHO cells have shown that endosomes are composed of separate vesicular and tubulovesicular compartments, such as the sorting endosome, the recycling compartment, and the late endosome. However, Hopkins et al. (Nature 346, 335–339, 1990) have reported that endosomes in HEp2 human carcinoma cells form an extensive tubular reticulum. To resolve their observations with previous results from CHO and other cells, we examined the sorting and intracellular transport of endocytosed macromolecules in HEp2 cells, using low density lipoprotein (LDL) and transferrin (Tf) to probe the lysosomally directed and recycling pathways, respectively. Fluorescent LDL and Tf were observed with laser scanning confocal microscopy to visualize simultaneously both probes9 sorting and subsequent post-sorting behavior in HEp2 cells. Quantifying the 3-dimensional cellular distributions of fluorescent LDL and Tf, after a variety of pulsechase schemes, gave the ligands9 trafficking rates. Initially, both ligands appear in the same punctate sorting endosomes, and fingers of Tf start extending from these sorting endosomes. Tf rapidly leaves dual-labeled sorting endosomes (t1/2 approximately 2.5 minutes) and enters a post-sorting recycling compartment from which it is recycled out of the cell (t1/2 approximately 7 minutes). We present both morphological and kinetic data supporting the existence of these two separate compartments along the recycling pathway in HEp2 cells. LDL remains in punctate sorting endosomes that eventually lose the ability to receive newly endocytosed LDL, and mature into late endosomes. The trafficking and sorting of Tf and LDL in HEp2 cells follow the same general scheme as in CHO cells, indicating that the tubular endosomes previously seen may be the tubular parts of the sorting endosomes and recycling compartments in these cells. We propose that the endosomes in the recycling pathway of HEp2 cells, as in CHO cells, are composed of short-lived sorting endosomes, accessible to both Tf and LDL, and long-lived post-sorting recycling compartments, which contain Tf and recycling receptors but not LDL.
Physico-Chemical Interactions between Alcohol and Biological Membranes

The search for a cogent, unifying mechanism that can be invoked to explain the multiple actions of ethanol and of other related alcohols on the physiology, biochemistry, and behavior of organisms has been pursued for many years. Multiple attempts have been made to link the development of ethanol-induced intoxication and neurological changes as well as damage to other organs to altered metabolic states of various organs following acute or chronic ethanol intake. The many changes in liver, heart, kidney, and brain metabolism caused by acute and chronic ethanol intake have been reviewed thoroughly (Hawkins and Kalant 1972; Lieber, 1979; Wallgren, 1971). The general conclusion reached from such studies is that acute and chronic ethanol intake leads to changes in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in liver and other organs (Cherrick and Leevy, 1965; Maling et al., 1967; Lieber, 1979), that it decreases protein release from livercells and may also affect protein synthesis and degradation (Lieber, 1980; Rothschild et al., 1980), and that it alters amino acid transport and amino acid levelsin various tissues, including brain cells (Chambers et aI., 1966; Israel et aI.,1968, 1969; Hakkinen and Kulonen, 1959, 1961, 1967; Roach and Reese, 1971;Roach et aI., 1973a,b).
Accurate determination of Fe3+/∑Fe of andesitic glass by Mössbauer spectroscopy

To evaluate the accuracy of Fe3+ and Fe2+ ratios in silicate glasses determined by Mossbauer spectroscopy, we examine in detail the temperature (47–293 K) of Mossbauer spectra for two andesitic glasses, one quenched at 1 atm, 1400 °C (VF3) and the other at 3.5 GPa, 1600 °C (M544). Variable-temperature Mossbauer spectra of these two glasses are used to characterize the recoilless fraction, f , by two different methods—a relative method (RM) based on the temperature dependence of the ratios of Fe3+ and Fe2+ Mossbauer doublets and the second based on the temperature dependence of the center shift (CS) of the doublets. The ratio of the recoilless fractions for Fe3+ and Fe2+, C T, can then be used to adjust the observed area of the Mossbauer doublets into the Fe3+/∑Fe ratio in the sample. We also evaluated the contributions of non-paramagnetic components to the Fe in the glasses by determining the influence of applied magnetic field on sample magnetization. Finally, for the VF3 glass, we determined the Fe3+/∑Fe independently by wet chemical determination of the FeO content combined with careful electron microprobe analyses of total Fe. Recoilless fractions determined with the CS method (CSM) are significantly smaller than those determined with the relative method and suggest larger corrections to room-temperature Fe3+/∑Fe ratios. However, the RM determinations are believed to be more accurate because they depend less on the assumption of the Debye harmonic model and because they produce more nearly temperature-independent estimates of Fe3+/∑Fe ratios. Non-linear responses of sample magnetizations to applied magnetic fields indicate that the glasses contain a small (0.4–1.1% for VF3) superparamagnetic component that is most likely to be nanophase precipitates of (Fe,Mg)Fe2O4 oxide, but corrections for this component have negligible influence on the total Fe3+/∑Fe determined for the glass. For the VF3 glass, the Fe3+/∑Fe produced by uncorrected room-temperature Mossbauer spectroscopy [0.685 ± 0.014 in two standard deviation (2σ)] agrees within 3% of that determined by wet chemistry (0.666 ± 0.030 in 2σ). The Fe3+/∑Fe corrected for recoilless fraction contributions is 0.634 ± 0.078(2σ), which is 7.5% lower than the uncorrected room-temperature ratio, but also agrees within 5% of wet chemical ratio. At least for this andesitic glass, the room-temperature determination of Fe3+/∑Fe is accurate within analytical uncertainty, but room-temperature Mossbauer determinations of Fe3+/∑Fe are always systematically higher compared to recoilless-fraction corrected ratios.
Tonic immobility as a reaction to predation: Artificial eyes as a fear stimulus for chickens

Young habituated chickens exposed to artificial eyes suspended overhead remained immobile in response to manual restraint appreciably longer than did controls and were more susceptible to immobility. The results were discussed in relation to a defensive-distance dimension and in terms of the notion that tonic immobility may have evolved in response to predation.
THE PHENETICS AND ECOLOGY OF A NARROW HYBRID ZONE

Hybrid zones between races and semispecies hold considerable interest for evolutionary biology. They may be examined in regard to the selection pressures that adapt each population to its geographic range (Blair, 1943). The width and age of the hybrid zone and the mechanisms which restrict gene flow across it are of particular relevance to understanding the origin and evolution of ethological isolating mechanisms. This paper considers three narrow hybrid zones between the iguanid lizards Sceloporus woodi and S. u. undulatus. Sceloporus woodi is normally restricted to the sand-pine scrub association of the Florida peninsula. S. u. undulatus inhabits dry, open forests in the southeastern United States; in Florida it is most abundant in the longleaf-pine/turkey-oak association (hereafter termed sandhill vegetation). Laessle (1942) defined these associations, and the striking differences in physiognomy between them have been detailed (Laessle, 1958). The overstory of sand-pine scrub consists only of Pinus clausa. The understory is a dense thicket of evergreen sclerophyllous shrubs and is dominated by oaks which range in height from one-half to two meters. The ground surface is a mosaic of bare sand and thin, but well-compacted, leaf litter over which herbaceous growth is extremely sparse. Pinus palustris was the dominant tree in primeval sandhill vegetation, and Quercus laevis was both less common and lower in height. However, logging and fire control have favored Quercus, and it is presently the more abundant tree in most stands of sandhill vegetation. In contrast to sandpine scrub, shrubs are few and scattered while herbaceous ground cover is welldeveloped. The herbaceous layer, composed mainly of wiregrasses (Aristida; Sporobolus) but with many species of forbs, combines with fallen pine needles and oak leaves and forms a loose cushion that varies in depth depending on the recency of ground fire. The associations are frequently adjacent, and the transition between them usually takes place within only a few meters; in some places, one can stand in both associations simultaneously. The three hybrid zones studied are along ecotones in the Ocala National Forest. The Lake Eaton ecotone is near the intersection of FS-79A and FS-96 about 0.5 miles south of Lake Eaton (Section 26, T. 14 S., R. 24 E.). The Forts Bear Hole ecotone is south of FS-95 about 1.5 miles southwest of Forts Bear Hole (Sections 17 and 18, T. 16 S., R. 25 E.). The Alexander Springs ecotone parallels SR-445 0.3 miles to its west and about 2.0 miles southwest of Alexander Springs.
Effect of Satellite Formations and Imaging Modes on Global Albedo Estimation

Abstract We confirm the applicability of using small satellite formation flight for multi-angular earth observation to retrieve global, narrow band, narrow field-of-view albedo. The value of formation flight is assessed using a coupled systems engineering and science evaluation model, driven by Model Based Systems Engineering and Observing System Simulation Experiments. Albedo errors are calculated against bi-directional reflectance data obtained from NASA airborne campaigns made by the Cloud Absorption Radiometer for the seven major surface types, binned using MODIS’ land cover map – water, forest, cropland, grassland, snow, desert and cities. A full tradespace of architectures with three to eight satellites, maintainable orbits and imaging modes (collective payload pointing strategies) are assessed. For an arbitrary 4-sat formation, changing the reference, nadir-pointing satellite dynamically reduces the average albedo error to 0.003, from 0.006 found in the static reference case. Tracking pre-selected waypoints with all the satellites reduces the average error further to 0.001, allows better polar imaging and continued operations even with a broken formation. An albedo error of 0.001 translates to 1.36 W/m 2 or 0.4% in Earth’s outgoing radiation error. Estimation errors are found to be independent of the satellites’ altitude and inclination, if the nadir-looking is changed dynamically. The formation satellites are restricted to differ in only right ascension of planes and mean anomalies within slotted bounds. Three satellites in some specific formations show average albedo errors of less than 2% with respect to airborne, ground data and seven satellites in any slotted formation outperform the monolithic error of 3.6%. In fact, the maximum possible albedo error, purely based on angular sampling, of 12% for monoliths is outperformed by a five-satellite formation in any slotted arrangement and an eight satellite formation can bring that error down four fold to 3%. More than 70% ground spot overlap between the satellites is possible with 0.5° of pointing accuracy, 2 Km of GPS accuracy and commands uplinked once a day. The formations can be maintained at less than 1 m/s of monthly Δ V per satellite.
How context interferes with similarity-attraction between customers and service providers

Abstract According to the similarity-attraction effect, customers should prefer service providers who are perceived to be similar; yet cosmetic features such as visible tattoos are often prohibited in professional settings, suggesting that they do not provide an advantage for service providers. This research explores the extent to which contextual factors interfere with the similarity-attraction effect for any particular cosmetic feature. The findings of three experimental studies demonstrate that sharing a cosmetic feature with a customer is not enough to elicit the similarity-attraction effect; a shared cosmetic feature must also be (1) salient, (2) unique among a set of service providers, and (3) the only salient shared cosmetic feature. The implication is that the similarity-attraction effect will be over-estimated in controlled experiments that do not account for contextual information.
Experimental Study on Ignition Property of Composite Propellants on Different Condition

The ignition characteristics of three typical composite propellants were studied,in order to promote the new high energy composite propellant's application.On different density of heat flow rate, environmental pressure and original temperature conditions, the ignition law of the HTPB propellant, two types of high energy propellant were obtained.The result shows that the new generation high energy propellant can be ignited easily, the ignition energy of it is less than the other two propellants ,its ignition security should be paid more attention.
How Large Is the Role of Emotion in Judgments of Moral Dilemmas

Moral dilemmas often pose dramatic and gut-wrenching emotional choices. It is now widely accepted that emotions are not simply experienced alongside people's judgments about moral dilemmas, but that our affective processes play a central role in determining those judgments. However, much of the evidence purporting to demonstrate the connection between people's emotional responses and their judgments about moral dilemmas has recently been called into question. In the present studies, we reexamined the role of emotion in people's judgments about moral dilemmas using a validated self-report measure of emotion. We measured participants' specific emotional responses to moral dilemmas and, although we found that moral dilemmas evoked strong emotional responses, we found that these responses were only weakly correlated with participants' moral judgments. We argue that the purportedly strong connection between emotion and judgments of moral dilemmas may have been overestimated.
Characterization of 2D MoS2 and WS2 Dispersed in Organic Solvents for Composite Applications

In this work, we have explored the prospects of MoS2 and WS2, both of which are semiconducting 2D materials, for potential composite applications. In order to form 2D materials composites we have to first disperse them chemically in solution. MoS2 and WS2 powders were oversaturated in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solution at 37.5 mg/mL and sonicated at room temperature (RT) for sonication times ranging from 30 minutes to close to 24 hours. After solution processing, the samples with the 2D flakes were transferred to an Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) bath for particle size distribution analysis. We have observed significant changes in particle size distribution spanning two orders of magnitude as a function of the sonication conditions. Specifically, the observed changes in particle size distribution for MoS2 and WS2 powders ranged from 44 microns down to 0.409 microns, and 148 microns down to 0.409, respectively, as compared to the untreated materials. Structural analysis was conducted using the SEM and X-Ray diffraction. The structural analysis using the SEM revealed morphological signatures between the two materials, where the MoS2 flakes had a randomly oriented distribution with occasional triangular flakes. In the case of the WS2, regardless of the sonication conditions, the WS2 flakes seemed to have a characteristic 120° angular distribution at the vertices, representing a rhombus with concave edges. The XRD analysis showed a minute shift in the characteristic peaks that maybe due to strain-induced effects as a result of the solution processing. Optical characterization of the materials was also conducted using Raman Spectroscopy to validate the average layer number resulting from the solution dispersions and the spatial and compositional uniformity of the two material samples.
Hot Flash Frequency and Blood Pressure: Data from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Abstract Background: Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) are highly prevalent among midlife women and have been associated with subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the association between VMS frequency and risk factors such as hypertension (HTN) remains unclear. Materials and Methods: We examined VMS frequency and blood pressure (BP) among 2839 participants of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multiethnic, prospective, study of women enrolled from seven U.S. sites between November 1995 and October 1997. Women were age 42–52, with no history of CVD, and not postmenopausal at baseline. VMS was defined by the number of days a woman reported VMS over the 2-week period before each annual visit. Frequent VMS was defined as ≥6 days of VMS; less frequent VMS was defined 1–5 days of symptoms with asymptomatic women the reference group. BP was measured at each visit in addition to demographic and clinic factors. Results: At baseline, 298 women reported frequent VMS, 794 less frequent VMS a...
Bowling Together: Mobilization of Collective Action by Environmental NGOs

Social capital generated by frequent, face-to-face interactions provides the foundation for collective action. Does this also hold for a community action in post-communist, Central European countries where modern NGOs are perceived to be ineffective? This article examines this question in the context of the cleanup of illegal dumpsites organized by a Slovenian NGO, Ecologists without Borders, in 2010. This community cleanup effort sought to produce local public goods such as improved aesthetics, sanitation, and ground water quality. Local participation levels (percentage of adults contributing to the cleanup effort) varied across 192 districts of Slovenia. Analyzing an original, micro-level dataset, this article finds that, all else equal, social capitals rooted in frequent face-to-face interactions (the common Catholic religion and membership in Hunters clubs) are associated with increased participation levels. However, social capital generated via common native language does not show statistical association with participation levels.
Dynamic Matching in Overloaded Waiting Lists

Commonly used waiting list mechanisms allocate items by offering agents a choice between items and associated expected waiting times. Because the expected waiting times fluctuate over time, different agents may face different waiting times, potentially resulting in misallocation of items. In a stylized model of overloaded waiting lists, we show that welfare is maximized by maximizing the value of assigned items and derive expressions for welfare loss from fluctuations. A simple randomized assignment policy can decrease expected wait fluctuations, thereby reducing misallocation and increasing welfare.
Passageway: a cloud-based approach to collecting foot traffic data

Passageway is an attempt to provide a cost-effective, scalable, and automated method of aggregating foot traffic data within a facility. Such data aggregation offers meaningful statistics about the foot traffic of individuals within a defined space. With Passageway, users are able to see heat maps and view graphs that represent the foot traffic in a building, and analyze it on a website with various building floor-plans layered onto a Google Map. Users may also specify a certain time frame to see specific temporal data. All of the data is collected within the facilities through a system including Raspberry Pi computers connected to a pair of Infrared break beams. Ultimately, the data may be used to determine the frequency of activity for specific rooms, hallways, or entryways. Foot traffic data may be useful for understanding activity within a facility, seeing popularity of certain areas during specific times, or identifying times where room capacity is exceeded and thus presents a fire code violation.
Managing Industry Sponsored Capstone for Learning & Customer Satisfaction

Capstone ranges across the spectrum as to how it is taught at various universities. Regardless, capstone’s purpose is to give the students an experience which includes technical education while emphasizing the aspects of: producing a product, planning, team work, project management, economics, safety for all, ethical behavior, and much more. Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kansas uses a three-course capstone sequence. The first course targets fully preparing students so that they’ve seen and done a complete project before tackling their main capstone project. For the two following courses, this allows planning their capstone projects and focusing on actually doing their projects. For project management, two faculty members handle the management and technical aspects of the design process; and the Sponsor is the Client, who wants a final product for its customers. This requires students to trade off the conflicting demands of “two bosses” and a Client, and requires that students learn to make priority decisions to accomplish their projects. Challenges are to improve Sponsor engagement, better engage students in the first course, and help students address conflicting direction from multiple bosses.
Monitoring the Clearance of Apoptotic and Necrotic Cells in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an excellent model organism for studying the mechanisms -controlling cell death, including apoptosis, a cell suicide event, and necrosis, pathological cell deaths caused by environmental insults or genetic alterations. C. elegans has also been established as a model for understanding how dying cells are cleared from animal bodies. In particular, the transparent nature of worm bodies and eggshells make C. elegans particularly amenable for live-cell microscopy. Here we describe methods for identifying apoptotic and necrotic cells in living C. elegans embryos, larvae, and adults and for monitoring their clearance during development. We further discuss specific methods to distinguish engulfed from unengulfed apoptotic cells, and methods to monitor cellular and molecular events occurring during phagosome maturation. These methods are based on Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscopy or fluorescence microscopy using GFP-based reporters.
Availability of Low-Fat Milk and Produce in Small and Mid-Sized Grocery Stores After 2014 WIC Final Rule Changes, Tennessee.

Introduction The 2007 Interim Rule mandated changes to food packages in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for implementation by 2009. The 2014 Final Rule required additional changes, including increasing the cash value voucher for fruits and vegetables from $6 to $8 for children by June 2014, and allowing only low-fat (1%) or nonfat milk for mothers and children aged 2 to 4 years by October 2014. This study evaluated the effect of the 2014 Final Rule changes on the food environment of small and mid-sized WIC-authorized grocery stores. Methods We analyzed secondary data using a natural experimental design to compare the percentage of shelf space for low-fat and nonfat milk and the number of fresh fruit and vegetable varieties in stock before and after the changes. We collected observational data on 18 small and mid-sized WIC-authorized grocery stores in Nashville, Tennessee, using the Nutrition Environment Measures in Store tool in March 2014 and February 2016. Results The mean percentage of shelf space occupied by low-fat and nonfat milk increased from 2.5% to 14.4% (P = .003), primarily because of an increase in the proportion of low-fat milk (P = .001). The mean number of fresh fruit and vegetable varieties increased from 24.3 to 27.7 (P = .01), with a significant increase for vegetables (P = .008) but not fruit. Conclusion Availability of low-fat milk and variety of fresh vegetables increased after the Final Rule changes in the observed stores. Future research should examine outcomes in other cities.
Infection control for practice standards

AbstractThis report was compiled as part of the author’s work in the completion of the BVNA’s LANTRA approved course Infection Control for Practice Standards, and was an interesting and proactive exercise in interrogating, evaluating and applying the biosecurity knowledge gleaned throughout the course, with a view to identifying the current strengths and areas for implementing improvement for infection control within one general practice.
EZH2 in B lymphocyte commitment (HEM1P.229)

EZH2 is the histone methyltransferase subunit of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 that catalyzes the repressive histone modification, H3K27me3. We hypothesize that EZH2 is required to repress alternative lineages during B cell development. Loss of EZH2 in hematopoietic cells leads to blocks in B and T cell development. Here we use an Il7racre mouse model to delete Ezh2 at the common lymphoid progenitor stage to study the role of EZH2 in B lymphocyte commitment. We confirm that Il7racreEzh2fl/fl mice have a cell-intrinsic block at the pro-B cell stage of development. Although there are normal numbers of pro-B cells in Il7racreEzh2fl/fl mice, EZH2-deficient pro-B cells are outcompeted by WT cells in competitive chimeras. By qPCR we find that there is modest upregulation of Gata3 and Nfil3, which regulate innate lymphocyte development. Future studies will investigate the developmental plasticity of EZH2-deficient pro-B cells.
Nonlinear wave dynamics in the presence of mud-induced dissipation on Atchafalaya Shelf, Louisiana, USA

Abstract The interplay between wave nonlinearity and mud-induced dissipation is studied here using wave and sediment transport measurements collected in winter 2008, on the Atchafalaya Shelf, Louisiana, between the 8-m and the 4-m isobaths. This study focuses on the relatively energetic storm that occurred on March 4th (2-m wave height in 8-m water depth), which caused significant bed reworking and left in its wake a 20-cm layer of hindered-settling fluid mud. While the net wave dissipation rate was maximal during the hindered-settling phase after the storm, consistent with previous observations, significant dissipation was observed throughout the storm duration, with a secondary maximum associated with the peak of the storm and the maximum bed-reworking effects. The effects of mud-induced dissipation on the nonlinear shoaling process are investigated here using TRIADS, a newly-developed spectral model for nonlinear shoaling of waves. With mud-parameter values estimated using a crude inverse modeling approach, the model was used to separate the effects of mud-induced dissipation from nonlinear transfers, during both the erosion and deposition phases of bed reworking. Numerical simulations show that nonlinear transfers are always active, even under strong dissipation regimes. Remarkably, they also suggest that heavy mud-induced dissipation causes the nonlinear energy cascade to revert direction, with bulk transfers occurring from high-frequency to low-frequency spectral bands. This supports the hypothesis that the interplay between mud-induced dissipation, which is much more significant than the bottom dissipation over sandy beds, and wave nonlinearity can drain energy from the entire spectrum, and not just from the frequency bands that interact directly with the seafloor. The decay of high-frequency variance induced by the reversal of spectral flux in effect reduces the nonlinearity of the wave field.
Markers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are associated with mortality in people living with HIV.

Author(s): Triplette, Matthew; Justice, Amy; Attia, Engi F; Tate, Janet; Brown, Sheldon T; Goetz, Matthew Bidwell; Kim, Joon W; Rodriguez-Barradas, Maria C; Hoo, Guy W Soo; Wongtrakool, Cherry; Akgun, Kathleen; Crothers, Kristina | Abstract: OBJECTIVE:Aging people living with HIV (PLWH) face an increased burden of comorbidities, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The impact of COPD on mortality in HIV remains unclear. We examined associations between markers of COPD and mortality among PLWH and uninfected study participants. DESIGN:Longitudinal analysis of the Examinations of HIV-Associated Lung Emphysema (EXHALE) cohort study. METHODS:EXHALE includes 196 PLWH and 165 uninfected smoking-matched study participants who underwent pulmonary function testing and computed tomography (CT) to define COPD and were followed. We determined associations between markers of COPD with mortality using multivariable Cox regression models, adjusted for smoking and the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) Index, a validated predictor of mortality in HIV. RESULTS:Median follow-up time was 6.9 years; the mortality rate was 2.7/100 person-years among PLWH and 1.7/100 person-years among uninfected study participants (P = 0.11). The VACS Index was associated with mortality in both PLWH and uninfected study participants. In multivariable models, pulmonary function and CT characteristics defining COPD were associated with mortality in PLWH: those with airflow obstruction (forced expiratory volume in 1 s/ forced vital capacity l0.7) had 3.1 times the risk of death [hazard ratio 3.1 (95% confidence interval 1.4-7.1)], compared with those without; those with emphysema (g10% burden) had 2.4 times the risk of death [hazard ratio 2.4 (95% confidence interval 1.1-5.5)] compared with those with ≤ 10% emphysema. In uninfected subjects, pulmonary variables were not significantly associated with mortality, which may reflect fewer deaths limiting power. CONCLUSION:Markers of COPD were associated with greater mortality in PWLH, independent of the VACS Index. COPD is likely an important contributor to mortality in contemporary PLWH.
The Geography of Entrepreneurship

From the earliest records of ancient civilizations to present-day accounts of the knowledge-economy, the geographic concentration of people and their activity has been and always will be a constant feature of human existence. In broad historical terms, the concentration of people in villages, towns, and cities has served many cultural, security, and commercial ends (Kotkin, 2005). Dense pockets of people enable a shared culture, ease enforcement of the rule of law, facilitate a common defense, allow efficient economic exchange, and free people to acquire specialized skills and knowledge. In the modern era, the defensive walls of ancient cities have given way to the provision of public goods and the operation of local markets open to all to buy and sell consumer and commercial necessities.
A Chemical Reaction to the Historiography of Biology

This article examines the often-overlooked role of chemical ideas and practices in the history of modern biology. The first section analyses how the conventional histories of the life sciences have, through the twentieth century, come to focus nearly exclusively on evolutionary theory and genetics, and why this storyline is inadequate. The second section elaborates on what the restricted neo-Darwinian history of biology misses, noting a variety of episodes in the history of biology that relied on developments in - or tools from - chemistry, including an example from the author's own work. The diverse ways in which biologists have used chemical approaches often relate to the concrete, infrastructural side of research; a more inclusive history thus also connects to a historiography of materials and objects in science.
Is a Pauline Spirituality Still Viable

Is Paul's vision of life in the Spirit still relevant for the digital age, or was it an experience of Jesus’ power unique to Paul and his ministry? A critical analysis of the spirituality that Paul...
Measuring Mutual Fund Performance

We study standard mutual fund performance measures, using simulation procedures combined with random and random-stratified samples of NYSE and AMEX securities. We track simulated fund portfolios over time. These portfolios' performance is ordinary, and well-specified performance measures should not indicate abnormal performance. Our main result, however, is that the performance measures are badly misspecified. Regardless of the performance measure, there are indications of abnormal fund performance, including market-timing ability, when none exists.
A Clinical Trial of TumorGlow to Identify Residual Disease During Pleurectomy and Decortication

Background Macroscopic complete resection can improve survival in a select group of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. During resection, differentiating residual tumor from inflammation or scar can be challenging. This trial evaluated near-infrared (NIR) intraoperative imaging using TumorGlow (a novel NIR imaging approach utilizing high-dose indocyanine green and delayed imaging) technology to improve detection of macroscopic residual disease. Methods Twenty subjects were enrolled in an open-label clinical trial of NIR intraoperative imaging with TumorGlow (Indocyanine Green for Solid Tumors [NCT02280954]). Twenty-four hours before pleural biopsy or pleurectomy and decortication (P/D), patients received intravenous indocyanine green. All specimens identified during standard-of-care surgical resection and with NIR imaging underwent histopathologic profiling and correlative microscopic fluorescent tomographic evaluation. For subjects undergoing P/D (n = 13), the hemithorax was evaluated with NIR imaging during P/D to assess for residual disease. When possible, additional fluorescent lesions were resected. Results Of 203 resected specimens submitted for evaluation, indocyanine green accumulated within 113 of 113 of resected mesothelioma specimens, with a mean signal-to-background fluorescence ratio of 3.1 (SD, 2.2 to 4.8). The mean signal-to-background fluorescence ratio of benign tissues was 2.2 (SD, 1.4 to 2.4), which was significantly lower than in malignant specimens (p = 0.001). NIR imaging identified occult macroscopic residual disease in 10 of 13 subjects. A median of 5.6 resectable residual deposits per patient (range, 0 to 11 deposits per patient), with a mean size of 0.3 cm (range, 0.1 to 1.5 cm), were identified. Conclusions TumorGlow for malignant pleural mesothelioma is safe and feasible. Excellent sensitivity allows for to reliable detection of macroscopic residual disease during cytoreductive surgical procedures.
Citizens of Convenience: The Imperial Origins of American Nationhood on the US–Canadian border

Lawrence B. A. Hatter reminds us in his well-researched and smartly written first book of the common past of Canada and the United States. As recounted in Citizens of Convenience: The Imperial Orig...
Biological Databases for Medicinal Plant Research

Bioinformatics resources serve as an important source of data, knowledge, and information in biological studies, including plants having medicinal properties. Most of the plants found in nature have different medicinal properties; therefore, these are used to cure many human diseases from ancient times all over the world. Plant-derived medicines are an important source of lifesaving drugs. The availability of bioinformatics resources brought a major change in medicinal plant research, in terms of time, money, and labor. In this chapter, we have focused on various biological databases which are helpful in medicinal plant research and may result in a rapid and cost-effective lead generation toward finding remedies from plants.
Market institutions and the evolution of culture

We find experimental evidence suggesting that market institutions are capable of developing their own cultures by influencing generalized and individualized trust. We employ two different markets in this study: the first market fully and automatically enforces all agreed-upon contracts; and the second market offers no such enforcement and allows subjects to defect on previously agreed-upon contracts. We find that a type of culture where people treat one another more or less equally and indiscriminately emerges with the first market, while a culture where people differentiate between the trustworthy and the untrustworthy emerges with the second market. While generalized trust remains the same across both treatments, individualized trust was only important in the treatment where contracts were not enforced in the experimental market. In the treatment where the market offered no enforcement, subjects exhibited less trust towards those with whom they had developed negative relationships and reciprocated at higher levels to those with whom that had developed positive relationships.
Data dreams: planning for the future of historical medical documents

Historical medical collections with privacy-sensitive information are a potentially rich source of social, behavioral, and economic data for a wide array of researchers. They remain relatively undiscoverable and at risk for destruction, however, because of their restricted content and challenging media formats. Team members from two institutions—the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Texas at Austin—present their respective initiatives to create digital archives and databases that address the privacy and technological challenges of such collections. In doing so, they also argue for the importance (and feasibility) of medical libraries and archives to take the initiative to preserve and make accessible historical patient data.
An android smartphone as IDE and robot controller

FIRST® is a non-profit organization whose mission is "to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators..." The FIRST Tech Challenge robotics program invites students in grades 7-12 to participate in a yearly competition in which teams design, build, and program a robot to play a competitive game, using certain kits and modules approved by FIRST. In 2015 FIRST introduced a new architecture for robots controlled by an Android smartphone with attached interface modules for sensors and motors. To program the robot, a team would use either Android Studio or a custom build of AppInventor to create a native app called FTC Robot Controller, with the aid of software libraries developed by Qualcomm Inc. and Google.
Design and Fabrication of 3D Fused Quartz Shell Resonators for Broad Range of Frequencies and Increased Decay Time

This paper presents the design and fabrication of fused quartz 3D shell resonators using high-temperature micro-glassblowing process. We propose novel micro-glassblowing processes allowing to control the operating frequencies without losing the key characteristics of the resonator (symmetry and the Q-factor). A Finite Element (FE) model is presented, demonstrating the self-limiting characteristic of the micro-glassblowing process and predicting the final geometry of the glassblown shells under different process parameters. Three variations of the micro-glassblowing process are presented. A fused quartz shell resonator with n=2 wineglass mode resonant frequency as low as 20 kHz was fabricated using the proposed process, demonstrating a quality factor of 1.7 million. The thermal annealing of the micro-glassblown shells was demonstrated to improve the quality factor of the fabricated shell resonators.
Novel Neuroimmune Gene Regulation In Human Alcoholics

Abstract The genetic liability for alcohol dependence is 50-60%, but genetic linkage is likely more complicated than the presence or absence of individual annotated genes. We generated a large-scale RNA-Seq dataset from human postmortem brain to investigate the transcriptional landscape associated with excessive alcohol consumption. The dataset included 4 regions: central nucleus of amygdala, basolateral amygdala, nucleus accumbens and superior prefrontal cortex. We identified novel gene isoforms by assembling transcripts present in alcoholic versus matched control samples in a genome-guided fashion. In alcoholic samples, 8% of the transcripts were annotated, but a remarkable 80% were mapped to unknown/intergenic regions and 12% flanked annotated genes with different gene intervals. The transcripts associated with intergenic regions were of interest because of the potential relevance of non-coding RNAs in regulating gene expression. We identified 15% of these transcripts as candidates for non-coding RNAs. We also found differentially expressed genes between alcoholic and control samples that contained potentially novel isoforms. These included genes related to innate immune responses such as proinflammatory cytokines (IL18BP, ILF3, TNFAIP2). Functional units that were enriched among the differentially expressed isoforms included immune pathways (toll-like receptor pathway) and inflammatory-related processes (MAPK binding and negative regulation of interferon I). System biology approaches were then used to identify gene networks specific to these isoforms. Overall, we identified splicing signatures that could drive the generation of novel transcript isoforms. This approach does not rely purely on annotated genes and provides an overview of all the transcriptional and regulatory elements involved in chronic alcohol abuse.
On Stability of Linear Estimators in Poisson Noise

This paper considers estimation of a random variable in Poisson noise. Specifically, the main focus is to assess optimality and near optimality conditions for linear estimators.In the first part of the paper, it is shown that linear estimators are optimal if and only if the underlying prior is a gamma distribution and the dark current parameter is zero.In the second part of the paper, a stability analysis of linear estimators is undertaken. Specifically, it is shown that if an optimal estimator is close to a linear estimator in an L p ,p ≥1 distance, then the underlying prior distribution is approximately gamma in the Levy metric and the Kolmogorov metric.
Impact of Gate Oxide Thickness on Electrical Characteristics of 1200 V 4H-SiC Planar-Gate Power MOSFETs

Many papers have been published on 1200 V planar-gate SiC power MOSFETs with gate oxide thickness of 50 nm but the impact of reducing the gate oxide thickness has not been reported. We report for the first time the successful fabrication of 1200 V planar-gate SiC power MOSFETs with 25 nm gate oxide thickness in a 6 inch foundry. Their electrical performance is compared with the conventional 50 nm gate oxide MOSFET for the first time in this paper.
Comparison of Amplitude Estimation Algorithms by Implementation

Since the quantum amplitude estimation (QAE) was invented by Brassard et al., 2002, several advanced algorithms have recently been published (Grinko et al., 2019, Aaronson et al, and Suzuki et al., 2020). The main difference between the variants and the original algorithm is that the variants do not need quantum phase estimation (QPE), a key component of the canonical QAE (Brassard et al., 2002), that is composed of many expensive operations on NISQ devices. In this paper, we compare and analyze two of these new QAE approaches (Grinko et al., 2019, and Suzuki et al., 2020) by implementation using the Qiskit package. The comparisons are drawn based on number of oracle queries, quantum circuit depth, and other complexities of implementation for a fixed accuracy. We discuss the strengths and limitations of each algorithm from a computational perspective.
Long Short-Term Memory Autoencoder Neural Networks Based DC Pulsed Load Monitoring Using Short-Time Fourier Transform Feature Extraction

Dc loads are increasingly used in electric ship power systems supplying a larger amount of power electronic loads. The need for load monitoring and fault detection in dc microgrids has grown but traditional ac methods cannot be easily transferred into dc system. Also, the short-circuit fault is similar to a pulsed load profile which makes it even more difficult in distinguishing shunt faults from normal pulsed power operation. In real-time signal analysis, the neural network receives a majority of attention and parallel computing has allowed for numerical application of neural network research in recent years. The recurrent neural network (RNN) is a specific architecture designed for time-domain signal classification and regeneration. The RNN architecture is different from traditional neural networks in that it keeps a history array buffer of previous signals. The long short-term memory (LSTM) is a type of RNN that addresses gradient propagation issues during network training that are present in vanilla RNN architectures. This paper employs short-time Fourier transform feature extraction and LSTM autoencoder neural networks based classification and fault detection on dc pulsed load monitoring to demonstrate non-intrusive load monitoring applications.
Decitabine treatment demethylates vast majority of high-confidence differentially methylated regions in HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells

Background: Gene silencing by CpG island hypermethylation often plays a role in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. Certain regions of the genome, called high confidence differentially-methylated regions (DMRs), are consistently hypermethylated across numerous patient samples. Methods: In this study, we used bioinformatics and bisulfite PCR sequencing of HCT-116 cells to investigate methylation levels at DMRs in the promoters of six genes: DKK3, EN1, MiR34b, SDC2, SPG20 , and TLX1 . We then investigated whether the anti-cancer drug decitabine, had a demethylating effect at these promoter regions. Results: We found that hypermethylation correlated with lack of transcriptional enhancer binding in these six regions. Importantly, we observed that for all DMRs, decitabine significantly reduced CpG methylation. Decitabine also reduced clonogenic survival, suggesting that there is a correlation between lower CpG island methylation levels and reduced cancerous properties. Conclusions: Our study provided single-nucleotide resolution and revealed hypermethylated CpG sites not shown by previous genome-wide methylation studies. In the future, we plan to perform experiments that demonstrate a causal link between promoter hypermethylation and carcinogenesis and that more accurately model treatments in CRC patients.
Exploring Support for and Solutions to Family CABs (Chauffeur-Associated Burdens):

Children who are too young to drive and adults who are unable to drive can represent a significant transportation burden, one typically shouldered by family members, i.e., “family chauffeur-associa...
Expressions of stance-to-text: discourse management markers as stance markers

Abstract The aim of this paper is to suggest that pragmatic markers of stance-to-text should be an area of inquiry in stance studies and thought of as a subset of grammatical stance markers. Stance-to-text markers are metalinguistic discourse management markers (Fraser, 2009) that are used to comment on the speaker/writer's view of the coherence, given certain norms, of the speaker/writer's own or of others' contribution to the discourse. The paper builds on Traugott (2019) and explores the issues with reference to the development of a set of expressions that in clause-initial position have been said to be used as topic-shift markers (Mittwoch et al., 2002, p. 779): by the way, incidentally and parenthetically, with focus on combinations with Oh. In the case of Oh, by the way, the marker has recently been used to signal disaffiliation from perceived inconsistencies in an (often) institutional Other's discourse. Data are drawn from the following electronic corpora: EEBO 1470s–1690s, COHA 1810–2009 and COCA 1990–2017.