cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutation in the leucine rich repeat of platelet glycoprotein Ibα results in defects in its interaction with immobilized von Willebrand factor under flow

OBJECTIVE To characterize effects of the GP Ib alpha mutation (A156V) on its interaction with von Willebrand factor (vWf) under high fluid shear stress. METHODS The residue A156 of GP Ib alpha was converted to a valine and the mutant expressed in CHO cells expressing wild-type GP Ib beta and GPIX. The transfected cells were tested for their interaction with a panel of GP Ib alpha antibodies and for rolling on immobilized vWf under high shear. RESULTS The mutation led to surface expression of a GP Ib alpha polypeptide that adopted a different conformation at its N-terminus because binding of the GP Ib alpha antibody AN51, which has a binding epitope in the N-terminal 35 residues, was eliminated, whereas binding of the others (AK2, MB45, and SZ2, all of which bind to regions C-terminal to the AN51 epitope) was normal. Mutant-expressing cells could adhere and roll on immobilized vWf under high fluid shear stress and rolled significantly faster than wild-type cells. CONCLUSION These studies demonstrate that the mutation A156V results in a conformation change at the N-terminus of GP Ib alpha, which leads to an increase in the dissociation rate of the bond between the GP Ib alpha mutant and vWf.
Identification of Corn Germplasm Resistant to the First Generation of Southwestern Corn Borer

Six selected genotypes of corn, Zea mays L., a known resistant population, (MpSWCB-4), and crosses of these genotypes were evaluated for resistance to leaf feeding by 1st generation larvae of Diatraea grandiosella (Dyar) using a nonreciprocal diallel crossing system. Three of 6 D. grandiosella selections showed levels of resistance in crosses that were significantly better than the level of resistance in MpSWCB-4. Since most of the variation among crosses was due to general combining ability, recurrent selection should be effective in increasing the gene frequency for resistance in a population involving these genotypes.
The effect of process variables on drum granulation behavior and granules of wet distillers grains with solubles

Abstract A laboratory scale batch drum granulation process was used to manufacture granules of DDGS by adding condensed distillers solubles (CDS) as a binder to wet distillers grains (WDG), coproducts from corn dry-grind ethanol process, under varying formulation and process conditions. A full factorial experimental design was used to test all combinations of factor levels, which included the amount of CDS binder (30%, 35%, and 40% (w/w)), CDS binder solids content (22% and 38%, wet basis), screen size opening (3.175 and 6.35 mm), and residence time (1, 2.5, 5, and 10 min). Measured response variables included granule size (geometric mean diameter), granule yield (1.68–3.35 mm), bulk density, true density, and porosity. Results show that as the amount of binder added increased from 30% to 40% the granule size significantly increased from 2.08 to 4.45 mm, respectively. Increasing the binder solids content resulted in granules with greater bulk density. Granules produced from the low solids CDS had lower porosity as a result of intraparticle voids in them. Screen sizing influenced nucleation and produced significant differences in the final granule size distribution. The greatest growth was observed for granules prepared with 40% amount of binder and low solids content CDS. Compression testing of wet granule compacts corresponded to observed growth behavior; wet pellets made from higher solids CDS had greater resistance to deformation and enhanced plasticity while the opposite was observed for the low solids CDS. The best yields of granules between 1.68 and 3.35 mm were achieved at ∼80% using 35% amount of binder with the high solids content CDS, the small screen size opening and residence times between 2.5 and 10 min.
Transient Voltage Stability Analysis of East China Receiving-End Power Grid With Multi-Infeed HVDC Transmission Lines

Based on the summer peak load operation mode of the planned "North China-Central China-East China" UHV power grid in 2015,there will be 10 HVDC transmission lines feeding into East China power grid.The strength of East China receiving-end power grid is analyzed by short circuit ratio(SCR) and multi-infeed short circuit ratio(MISCR),and the impacts of network topology adjustment in receiving-end power grid and the positions where the multi-infeed DC transmission lines are connected with East China receiving-end power grid on SCR/MISCR are dissected.By use of PSD-BPA transient stability program,transient voltage stability of East China receiving-end power grid under various faults is analyzed.Analysis results show that the positions,where the multi-infeed DC transmission lines are connected with East China receiving-end power grid,greatly impacts the strength of the latter;all unipolar block faults occurred in DC systems,single faults occurred in AC/DC system,three-phase permanent short-circuit fault,which causes the tripout of two circuits,occurred in UHVAC transmission line of receiving-end system and that occurred in the line near commutation buses of inverter station and majority of DC bipolar block faults occurred in DC systems will not lead to transient voltage instability of East China receiving-end power grid;when DC bipolar block faults occurred in UHVDC transmission lines,which are from Jinping to Tongli,Grenoble union of cylinder to Jintan,Fulong to Fengxian and Xiluodu to Zhexi respectively,it is necessary for East China receiving-end power grid to take generator tripping measures or its system stability cannot be maintained.
Full-Time Reactive Voltage Engineer’s Work Outline for Smart Grid in Past, Present and Future

As a full -time reactive voltage engineer ’ s work quality determines the power quality and transmission and transformation grid loss to an extent. This paper discussed the engineer ’ s work outline for smart grid in past, present. It serves to help improve the product quality and economical benefits for power grid companies, and prepares knowledge and skills for operation of the forthcoming smart grid.
Forming the Self: Nudging and the Ethics of Shaping Autonomy.

There is understandable concern about policies or practices that impose one person's will on another. These seem to disrespect autonomy. But such concerns suppose that there is something there to r...
Rewarding Self-Initiated Expatriates: A Skills-Based Approach

Expatriate compensation is considered one of the most difficult issues in expatriate policy, yet it is an important area of international HRM since it can attract and retain high-skilled employees, increasing satisfaction and reducing turnover. Most of the literature on expatriate compensation has focused on traditional organizational expatriates (OEs). This article uses insights from the OE compensation literature to discuss the compensation of an overlooked group of expatriates known as self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). We first define SIEs, discuss their motivations to pursue an expatriate experience, and categorize them into three different groups based on their skill level. Then we focus the discussion on rewarding high-skilled SIEs, a valuable group of expatriates that are receiving increased attention by MNEs. We argue that to attract high-skilled SIEs, HR managers should consider using more nonfinancial rewards in addition to financial rewards. This article has implications for both academic research and organizational practice. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Immunologic Aspects of the Biogenesis of Erythropoietin

Immunologic evidence is presented that the interaction of Renal Erythropoietic Factor (REF) and a serum substrate results in the production in vitro of erythropoietin. Antibody capable of neutralizing erythropoietin (ESF) does not combine with either the REF or the serum substrate. Immune serum against the crude REF extract has been produced. This immune serum does not prevent the in vitro action or in vivo production of REF. This failure, however, may result from the diversity of antibodies produced.
The Role of Marketing in the Evolution of Residential Real Estate in Kiev, Ukraine

This paper looks at the way the Ukrainian residential real estate market has evolved in Kiev, Ukraine through an analysis of primary sources. Real estate information bulletins from three different agencies are studied over a period of four years. The scope and sophistication of marketing has clearly improved and there is strong evidence for growing professionalism within the industry. The authors suggest that improved marketing practices have had an impact in improving the quality of information available to Ukrainian consumers.
An Investigation into the Roots of Salesforce Alcoholism

Research on abusive drinking behaviors of marketing and business students was conducted. Preliminary results support the business manager premise that abusive drinkers are attracted to sales careers. While the research is supportive of management views, there is need for greater analysis in the area of the causes of sales-force alcoholism.
1989: The Adam Smith Address the Suicidal Impulse of the Business Community

As business economists, you straddle two fields: economics and business. Those two fields are not synonymous by any manner of means, as Adam Smith, whose name has been given to this series of lectures, clearly recognized. Adam Smith is correctly and properly regarded as the father of modern economics and particularly of the idea that a free, private market society is capable of combining material prosperity with human freedom. Although that idea has been expressed by others before and since, Adam Smith’s two great books, The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations, are the classical works on that theme.
Characterization of Novel High Performance Lubricants

This work will provide a method to characterize a variety of novel high performance lubricants. In particular, surface tension and evolution of the contact angle on a variety of surfaces over one hour were recorded. Contact angles were measured using a rame-hart Goniometer. Surface tension is measured with the same device using the pendant drop method. Fluids studied here include: trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl) amide ([THTDP][NTf2]), trihexyltetradecyl-phosphonium decanoate ([THTDP][Deca]), 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium trifluorosulfonyl imide ([EMI][NTf2]), and 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([EMI][FMS]). Contact angles were measured on the following surfaces: AISI 52100 stainless steel disks polished to 0.01–0.05 μm, Kapton, SU-8, Teflon, and glass slides. The resultant change in roughness on 52100 steel disks was measured to provide insight into the corrosive properties of each liquid.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
The BAFF Inhibitor AMG523 Blocks Adhesion and Survival of Human Multiple Myeloma Cells in the Bone Marrow Microenvironment: Clinical Implication.

Abstract We previously identified a role of B-cell activating factor (BAFF), a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily, in localization and survival of MM cells in the BM microenvironment (Cancer Res 2006, 66:6675–82). In the present study, we examined the potential therapeutic utility of the BAFF inhibitor, AMG523, for treating human MM using MM lines, either sensitive or resistant to conventional chemotherapy, as well as freshly isolated patient MM cells, in the presence or absence of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). AMG523 induces modest cytotoxicity in MM cell lines and patient MM cells, suggesting a minor role of autocrine mechanism of BAFF for MM growth and survival. In the presence of BMSCs, AMG523 significantly decreased growth and survival in dexamethasone (Dex)-sensitive MM1S, Dex-resistant MM1R, INA6 MM cells and in patient MM cells (n=7), in a dose-dependent manner (0.1–10 μg/ml). BAFF-augmented MM adhesion to BMSCs is also blocked by AMG523 at 0.1 mg/ml in MM lines (MM1S, 28PE, INA6), as well as in freshly isolated patient MM cells (n=4). BAFF protects MM cells against dex- and lenalidomide-induced cytotoxicity; conversely, AMG523 blocks BAFF-induced protection against drug-induced apoptosis. Importantly, pretreatment of AMG523 blocks BAFF-induced activation of AKT, nuclear factor kB, and ERK in MM cells, confirming its inhibitory effect on BAFF-mediated adhesion and survival. We next asked whether AMG523 enhances Dex-, bortezomib-, Lenalidomide-induced MM cell cytotoxicity. AMG523 augments the inhibitory effect of Dex and lenalidomide in patient MM cells in the presence of BMSCs. Since osteoclasts (OCLs) secrete BAFF in the bone marrow microenvironment, we further asked whether AMG523 inhibits protection by MM-OCL interaction. OCLs were derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from MM patients after 2-week culture with M-CSF and RANKL, and MM cells were added in the presence or absence of AMG523. OCLs significantly increased MM cell survival, evidenced by annexin V and PI staining followed by flow cytometric analysis; conversely, AMG523 blocked MM cell survival by coculture with OCLs. Taken together, our data demonstrate that the novel therapeutic AMG523 blocks the interaction between BAFF and its receptors in human MM, thereby providing the rationale for clinical trials of AMG523 to improve patient outcome in MM.
180 Plasma myeloperoxidase is inversely associated with future atherosclerosis progression and inflammatory hdl function in sle

Background and aims Women with SLE have increased atherosclerosis (ATH) that is not adequately explained by traditional risk factors. We previously discovered that a “high risk” score on a panel of biomarkers, PREDICTS , confers 28-fold increased odds for carotid plaque in SLE women. The biomarkers included in PREDICTS are sTWEAK, pro-inflammatory HDL (piHDL), homocysteine, leptin, age ≥48, and DMII. It is unknown, however, whether other biomarkers of oxidative stress also predict progression of ATH in SLE. The enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO) catalyses formation of reactive oxygen species and generates piHDL. The aim of this study was to determine whether MPO levels might predict future progression of ATH in SLE. Methods B-mode and Doppler scanning of carotid arteries was performed at baseline and 24–36 months. Baseline plasma MPO levels were measured using ELISA. Results Repeat carotid ultrasounds and MPO measurements were completed on 202 SLE women. Plaque progression (defined as new or increased plaque) was seen in 42 subjects (21%). Baseline MPO levels were significantly lower in SLE patients with plaque progression vs. those without (p Conclusions Plasma MPO levels are inversely associated with plaque progression in SLE. Lower baseline MPO levels are also associated with future formation of inflammatory piHDL, suggesting that this could be one mechanism to explain the association.
An Expansion Theorem for State Space of Unitary Linear System Whose Transfer Function is a Riemann Mapping Function

A power series W(z) with complex coefficients which represents a function bounded by one in the unit disk is the transfer function of a canonical unitary linear system whose state space D(W)is a Hilbert space. If the power series has constant coefficient zero and coefficient of z positive, and if it represents an injective mapping of the unit disk, it appears as a factor mapping in a Lowner family of injective analytic mappings of the disk. The Lowner differential equation supplies a family of Herglotz functions. Each Herglotz function is associated with a Herglotz space of functions analytic in the unit disk. There exists an associated extended Herglotz space. An application of the Lowner differential equation is an expansion theorem for the starting state space in terms of the extended Herglotz spaces of the Lowner family. A generalization of orthogonality called complementation is used in the proof.
The Cost of Research Tools and the Direction of Innovation: Evidence from Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Understanding the factors that affect the rate and direction of technical change has been a central aim of research in the study of science and innovation for more than a half-century. Although substantial evidence exists regarding the policies and institutions that affect the rate of knowledge accumulation, substantially less is known about factors that affect the direction of inventive activity. We examine how a change in the cost of access to knowledge influences the direction of inventive activity by exploiting the hack of Microsoft Kinect as an exogenous event that resulted in a sudden, unexpected, and substantial reduction in the cost of motion-sensing research technology. To estimate whether this shock induces changes in scientists’ research trajectories, we employ novel measures based on machine learning (topic modeling) techniques as well as traditional measures based on bibliometric indicators of knowledge accumulation Our analysis demonstrates that the Kinect shock increases the diversity of research of both incumbents and entrants in motion-sensing and that the effect is greater for entrants than for incumbents. Importantly, the increase in diversification of entrants is not fully explained by diversification into motion-sensing. Rather, entrants diversify their research even in projects that do not directly use motion-sensing. Our results paint a picture in which a reduction in the cost of research tools increases the breadth of research activity, expanding the trajectories of scholars both inside and outside of the affected area.
Anisotropic properties of Na-β″-alumina + YSZ composite synthesized by vapor phase method

Two α-alumina + YSZ samples were prepared by sintering for 3 h one at 1500 °C and the other at 1700 °C. The samples were then converted to Na-β″-alumina + YSZ by vapor phase conversion. Characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in addition to dimensional geometrical changes reveal the evolution of slight anisotropy in these samples during conversion. This results in an electrical conductivity anisotropy factor of about 5.5 and 1.8 for samples sintered at 1500 °C and 1700 °C, respectively. In all samples, the higher ionic conductivity was measured across the sample thickness as opposed to parallel to the disc faces. The ionic conductivity measurements show the conductivity of about 0.15 S/cm and 0.07 S/cm at 300 °C for samples sintered at 1500 °C and 1700 °C, respectively. The larger anisotropy in samples sintered at 1500 °C is explained by the higher aspect ratio of grains in this sample and by different Na concentrations.
Extending legacy metadata with linked open data

Library special collections are valued by scholars and relied on to support both research and teaching. In recent years, libraries have invested heavily in digitizing many of these collections. Unfortunately, less effort and fewer resources have been expended post-digitization and many digitized library special collections today exist on the Web only in isolated information silos, difficult to find and disconnected from other resources that could provide users with valuable context. This begs the question: Can Linked Open Data (LOD) approaches be leveraged to help contextualize & enrich item-level descriptions of such collections and provide links to related information resources? This project report describes preliminary results from Exploring the Benefits for Users of LOD for Digitized Special Collections, a project still in progress which is examining this and related questions. Among the findings reported here: while special collections metadata are typically rich and ripe with LOD potential, the idiosyncratic nature of the collections and the metadata schemes used pose unique mapping and transformation challenges; the opportunity for adding links to item-level metadata is great, but finding links still requires significant cataloger involvement; at the scale of most library special collections, information from LOD sources can be retrieved in real time to enhance the presentation of items to end-users, providing context and links to related information. These findings suggest that the transformation of metadata into LOD and the inclusion in item descriptions of links can improve the connectedness of digitized special collections and enhance user interactions with these resources.
iVote: Do cost savings outweigh security risks?

iVote allows voters to register, cast their vote and verify their vote from any internet capable device or phone. The process requires no travel time and no wait time, can perform anywhere, and allows disabled voters to cast a secret vote of their own without assistance. iVote has been tested in multiple large scale elections in Australia with positive user feedback. When compared to traditional elections these electronic elections demonstrated higher cost efficiency when applied to elections of over 1,000,000 voters. The efficiency also shows the potential to be further optimized for future applications. While iVote has some clear security vulnerabilities, the effective cost saving allows for reinvestment to combat these problems.
Mathematical Models of Physiological Responses to Exercise

This paper develops empirical mathematical models for physiological responses to exercise. We first find single-input single-output models describing heart rate variability, ventilation, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production in response to workload changes and then identify a single-input multi-output model from workload to these physiological variabilities. We also investigate the possibility of the existence of a universal model for physiological variability in different individuals during treadmill running. Simulations based on real data substantiate that the obtained models accurately capture the physiological responses to workload variations. In particular, it is observed that (i) different physiological responses to exercise can be captured by low-order linear or mildly nonlinear models; and (ii) there may exist a universal model for oxygen consumption that works for different individuals.
Analyzing research trends on drug safety using topic modeling.

Introduction: Published drug safety data has evolved in the past decade due to scientific and technological advances in the relevant research fields. Considering that a vast amount of scientific li...
Time-Resolved Surface Microscopy of Single Shot Few-Cycle Pulse Laser Ablation of Single Layer TiO 2 Thin Films

The dynamics of the few-cycle pulse laser ablation process of a single layer TiO 2 thin film from 6 ps to 1.1 ns after a single pulse hits the surface are studied using time-resolved microscopy.
Behavioral Interventions for Inappropriate Sexual Behavior in Individuals With Developmental Disabilities and Acquired Brain Injury: A Review

Inappropriate sexual behavior (ISB) is a common, but understudied, issue for individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities (DD), intellectual disability (ID), and/or acquired brain injuries (ABI). We conducted a systematic review to identify, analyze, and synthesize published behavior-analytic approaches to intervention for ISB in DD, ID, or ABI populations. Twenty-three studies employing single-subject research methodology were identified and evaluated using quality indicators described by Horner et al. (2005) . Results of our analysis suggest insufficient evidence exists to consider any specific response-suppression technique an overarching treatment for decreasing ISB using the Horner et al. criteria. However, broadly speaking, behavior analytic approaches have been highly effective. Practitioners should consider function-based intervention and draw from studies identified as having strong supporting evidence.
An ice nucleation reporter gene system: identification of inducible pathogenicity genes in Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola.

We have constructed derivatives of the transposon Tn3 that allow an ice nucleation gene (inaZ) to be used as 'reporter' of the transcriptional activity of genes into which it is inserted. In these derivatives (Tn3-Ice and Tn3-Spice), the lacZYA sequences of transposon Tn3-HoHo1 were replaced with inaZ lacking its native promoter. The ice nucleation activity of virB::inaZ fusions in the correct transcriptional orientation was inducible by acetosyringone, a plant metabolite which activates the vir operon of Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmids, while fusions in the opposite orientation were unresponsive to the inducer. Tn3-Spice was also used to investigate the expression of a cluster of genes (hrp) which control pathogenicity and hypersensitivity elicited by Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola. An inducible region was identified which is expressed at low levels in vitro but becomes activated when the bacteria come into contact with the susceptible host, bean. Activation of this region occurred within 2 h post-inoculation and was nearly complete by the time the bacteria began to multiply in the leaf tissue. The inaZ reporter appears to be at least 10(5)-fold more sensitive than lacZ in P.s.phaseolicola. Thus, the inaZ fusion system provides a sensitive, convenient and inexpensive tool for the study of bacterial gene expression, particularly during plant pathogenesis, and should be generally useful as a reporter gene system in Gram-negative bacteria.
ACNE: An Overview of Clinical Research Findings

Although acne represents the most common chronic skin condition seen by dermatologists, there are still many unanswered questions regarding its pathophysiology, and patients are still in need of more effective therapies, particularly those aimed at the hormonal aspects of acne. Recent clinical research has led to advances in our understanding of factors such as cytokines in follicular hyperkeratinization and the role of androgens in acne, the emergence and significance of antibiotic resistance of P. acnes, the long-term safety and efficacy of isotretinoin, and the safety and efficacy of new topical retinoids, such as tazarotene and adapalene. Fruitful interactions between basic scientists and clinical researchers within medicine and the pharmaceutical industry will, it is hoped, provide for future advances in this area.
Development of a Navigation System for a Smart Farm

Abstract Autonomous agricultural robots will be important for future smart farms. Autonomous navigation as one of the robots’ abilities, could save labors for driving vehicles and provide accurate and consistent localizations to perform farm operations. The goal of this study was to develop a navigation system that could guide a field robot to travel from a farm station to a citrus grove and visit each tree autonomously with obstacle avoidance ability. The system was developed with consideration of the concept of future smart farms, in which internet of things and big data analysis would be implemented.
The Medicalization of Poverty in the Lives of Low-Income Black Mothers and Children.

Scholars are beginning to use the concept medicalization of poverty to theorize how the United States spends large amounts of money on illnesses related to poverty but invests much less in preventi...
Coronary endothelial function testing may improve long-term quality of life in subjects with microvascular coronary endothelial dysfunction.

Aim Angina pectoris in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) is common and is associated with poor quality of life (QOL). Coronary microvascular endothelial dysfunction is associated with myocardial ischaemia and is a common cause of angina. We hypothesise that evaluation of coronary endothelial function, its diagnosis and treatment will favourably impact QOL in patients with angina symptoms and non-obstructive CAD. Methods and results Follow-up was done on 457 patients with chest pain and non-obstructive coronary arteries who had undergone coronary vascular reactivity evaluation by administration of intracoronary acetylcholine at the time of diagnostic study. After a mean follow-up of 8.4±4.7 years, QOL was assessed by administration of the SF-36 QOL survey. Patients diagnosed and treated for microvascular endothelial dysfunction had a higher (better) overall mental composite score (44.8 vs 40.9, p=0.036) and mental health score (44.2 vs 40.7, p=0.047), and a trend towards higher vitality scores (39.1 vs 35.9, p=0.053) and role emotional scores (43.6 vs 40.4, p=0.073), compared with patients with normal endothelial function. Conclusion Among patients with chest pain and normal coronaries, diagnosis and treatment of coronary microvascular endothelial dysfunction in those with angina pectoris and non-obstructive CAD are associated with better QOL compared with patients with normal endothelial function.
Randomness in periodic metamaterials

The most straightforward way to design artificial structures is to use periodicity and leverage its potential mathematical and physical consequences to our favor. However, strict periodicity, which is usually employed in designing artificial materials, is not practically feasible and most often some degrees of randomness are introduced in the fabrication process, which degrade the performance. In this presentation, using the Furstenberg theory on the product of random matrices and Monte Carlo simulations we explore the effect of randomness in the transmission performance of periodic structures designed to realize density-near-zero (DNZ) metamaterials. We show that DNZ propagation is very sensitive to randomness, and we unravel the physics behind this sensitivity with analytical theory and full-wave simulations.
The grammatical class effect is separable from the concreteness effect in language learning

Typically concrete words are learned better than abstract words (Kaushanskaya & Rechtzigel, 2012), and nouns are learned better than verbs (Kauschke & Stenneken, 2008). However, most studies on concreteness have not manipulated grammatical class (and vice versa), leaving the relationship between the two unclear. Therefore, in two experiments we examined the effects of grammatical class and concreteness simultaneously in foreign language vocabulary learning. In Experiment 1, English speakers learned ‘foreign language’ words (English pseudowords) mapped to concrete and abstract nouns and verbs. In Experiment 2, English speakers learned German words with the same procedure. Overall, the typical advantages for concrete words and nouns were observed. Hierarchical regression analyses provided evidence that the grammatical class effect is separable from the concreteness effect. This result challenges a strict concreteness-based source of noun/verb differences. The results also suggest that the influences of concreteness and grammatical class may vary across language measures and tasks.
Efficient Near-Optimal Testing of Community Changes in Balanced Stochastic Block Models

We propose and analyze the problems of \textit{community goodness-of-fit and two-sample testing} for stochastic block models (SBM), where changes arise due to modification in community memberships of nodes. Motivated by practical applications, we consider the challenging sparse regime, where expected node degrees are constant, and the inter-community mean degree ($b$) scales proportionally to intra-community mean degree ($a$). Prior work has sharply characterized partial or full community recovery in terms of a ``signal-to-noise ratio'' ($\mathrm{SNR}$) based on $a$ and $b$. For both problems, we propose computationally-efficient tests that can succeed far beyond the regime where recovery of community membership is even possible. Overall, for large changes, $s \gg \sqrt{n}$, we need only $\mathrm{SNR}= O(1)$ whereas a na\"ive test based on community recovery with $O(s)$ errors requires $\mathrm{SNR}= \Theta(\log n)$. Conversely, in the small change regime, $s \ll \sqrt{n}$, via an information theoretic lower bound, we show that, surprisingly, no algorithm can do better than the na\"ive algorithm that first estimates the community up to $O(s)$ errors and then detects changes. We validate these phenomena numerically on SBMs and on real-world datasets as well as Markov Random Fields where we only observe node data rather than the existence of links.
The Effect of a Child’s Chronic Illness on the Family

Chronic illness in children may cause a disturbance in what may be called the “psychosocial metabolism” of the entire family. The baseline, homeostatic state of the family’s psychosocial metabolism will often be shifted by the child’s chronic illness. This conceptualization can be examined in two major areas: (a) The affective issues for the child and his family, and (b) The socioeconomic and physical environmental issues for the entire family.
Multiregional Projection and Stable Growth

We have seen that the multiregional projection process focuses on the temporal evolution of a multiregional population by considering survivorship and migration, fertility and reproduction—and in instances of unchanging rates, the steady approach of that population to stable growth. Relations under stability are explored, particularly as they arise in populations approaching spatial zero population growth.
Modeling and Simulation of Mechatronic Systems using Simscape

Mechatronic Systems consist of components and/or sub-systems which are from different engineering domains. For example, a solenoid valve has three domains that work in a synergistic fashion: electrical, magnetic, and mechanical (translation). Over the last few decades, engineering systems have become more and more mechatronic. Automobiles are transforming from being gasoline-powered mechanical devices to electric, hybrid electric and even autonomous. This kind of evolution has been possible through the synergistic integration of technology that is derived from different disciplines. Understanding and designing mechatronic systems needs to be a vital component of today's engineering education. Typical engineering programs, however, mostly continue to train students in academic silos (otherwise known as majors) such as mechanical, electrical, or computer engineering. Some universities have started offering one or more courses on this subject and a few have even started full programs around the theme of Mechatronics. Modeling the behavior of Mechatronic systems is an important step for analysis, synthesis, and optimal design of such systems. One key training necessary for developing this expertise is to have comfort and understanding of the basic physics of different domains. A second need is a suitable software tool that implements these laws with appropriate flexibility and is easy to learn. This short text addresses the two needs: it is written for an audience who will likely have good knowledge and comfort in one of the several domains that we will consider, but not necessarily all; the book will also serve as a guide for the students to learn how to develop mechatronic system models with Simscape (a MATLAB tool box). The book uses many examples from different engineering domains to demonstrate how to develop mechatronic system models and what type of information can be obtained from the analyses.
Genetic background and thermal environment differentially influence the ontogeny of immune components during early life in an ectothermic vertebrate

An understudied aspect of vertebrate ecoimmunology has been the relative contributions of environmental factors (E), genetic background (G) and their interaction (G × E) in shaping immune development and function. Environmental temperature is known to affect many aspects of immune function and alterations in temperature regimes have been implicated in emergent disease outbreaks, making it a critical environmental factor to study in the context of immune phenotype determinants of wild animals. We assessed the relative influences of environmental temperature, genetic background and their interaction on first-year development of innate and adaptive immune defences of captive-born garter snakes Thamnophis elegans using a reciprocal transplant laboratory experiment. We used a full-factorial design with snakes from two divergent life-history ecotypes, which are known to differ in immune function in their native habitats, raised under conditions mimicking the natural thermal regime-that is, warmer and cooler-of each habitat. Genetic background (ecotype) and thermal regime influenced innate and adaptive immune parameters of snakes, but in an immune-component specific manner. We found some evidence of G × E interactions but no indication of adaptive plasticity with respect to thermal environment. At the individual level, the effects of thermal environment on resource allocation decisions varied between the fast- and the slow-paced life-history ecotypes. Under warmer conditions, which increased food consumption of individuals in both ecotypes, the former invested mostly in growth, whereas the latter invested more evenly between growth and immune development. Overall, immune parameters were highly flexible, but results suggest that other environmental factors are likely more important than temperature per se in driving the ecotype differences in immunity previously documented in the snakes under field conditions. Our results also add to the understanding of investment in immune development and growth during early postnatal life under different thermal environments. Our finding of immune-component specific patterns strongly cautions against oversimplification of the highly complex immune system in ecoimmunological studies. In conjunction, these results deepen our understanding of the degree of immunological flexibility wild animals present, information that is ever more vital in the context of rapid global environmental change.
Loss of coiled-coil protein Cep55 impairs abscission processes and results in p53-dependent apoptosis in developing cortex

To produce a brain of normal size and structure, embryonic neural stem cell (NSCs) must tightly regulate their cell divisions. Cerebral cortex NSCs undergo a polarized form of cytokinesis whose regulation is poorly understood. Cytokinetic abscission severs the daughter cells and is mediated by the midbody at the apical membrane. Here we elucidate the role of the coiled-coil midbody protein Cep55 in NSC abscission and brain development. A knockout of Cep55 in mice causes microcephaly with reduced NSCs and neurons, but relatively normal body size. Fixed and live analyses show NSCs lacking Cep55 have decreased but not eliminated ESCRT recruitment, and have abnormal abscission and higher rates of failure. P53-mediated apoptosis is greatly increased in the brain, but not other tissues, and p53 knockout partly rescues brain size. Thus, loss of Cep55 causes abscission defects and failures in multiple cell types, but the secondary p53 response and apoptosis is brain-specific.
Are Engineered Tissues Useful for Tracheal Reconstruction

The human trachea is a vital structure with complex architecture and well-defined mechanical properties. Trauma, neoplasm, congenital defects and iatrogenic injury can lead to loss of patency and necessitate surgical intervention to reestablish its function as a viable and disease resistant airway. Due to the trachea’s structural redundancy, and longitudinal elasticity, circumferential tracheal resection and primary anastomosis is safe in the majority of patients. For those who require removal of more than half of the trachea, options are limited. This unmet need, and the apparent simplicity of the trachea as a hollow tube, have inspired surgeons and scientists to engineer tracheal substitutes over nearly a century. None of these implants have achieved long term patency. As a result, patients have suffered from complications of premature clinical translation. While experimental research in this area has to continue, engineered tissues are not a viable form of treatment at this point in time.
Measuring the Dark Exciton in a Quantum Dot inside a Planar Microcavity using a Bright State Cycling Transition

We demonstrate the resonant excitation of a so-called dark exciton state in a quantum dot with a readout scheme based on the resonance fluorescence of the correlated bright exciton.
Truncated Predictor Feedback for Discrete-Time Linear Systems

Based on the predictor feedback law for the stabilization of discrete-time systems with delay, as introduced in Sect. 1.5, we develop a truncated predictor feedback (TPF) law that simplifies the implementation of its predictor feedback prototype. An eigenstructure assignment based low gain design as well as an alternative Lyapunov equation based design are employed to parameterize the feedback gain matrix of the TPF law in a low gain parameter. The core of low gain feedback designs is that a sufficiently small low gain parameter would compensate an arbitrarily large delay in a discrete-time linear system without exponentially unstable open loop poles.
Fifty Years of Research on Prenatal Substances: Lessons Learned for the Opioid Epidemic.

Current efforts to design research on developmental effects of prenatal opioid exposure can benefit from knowledge gained from 50 years of studies of fetal alcohol and prenatal drug exposures such as cocaine. Scientific advances in neurobiology, developmental psychopathology, infant assessments, genetics, and imaging support the principles of developmental neurotoxicology that guide research in prenatal exposures. Important to research design is accurate assessment of amount, frequency, and timing of exposure which benefits from accurate self-report and biomarkers of exposure. Identifying and control of pre- and postnatal factors that impact development are difficult and dependent on appropriate research design and selection of comparison groups and measurement of confounding, mediating, and moderating variables. Polysubstance exposure has increased due to the number of prescribed and nonprescribed substances used by pregnant women and varying combinations of drugs may have differential effects on the outcome. Multiple experimental and clinical assessments of infant behavior have been developed but predicting outcome before 18–24 months of age remains difficult. With some exceptions, prenatal substance exposure effect sizes have been small, and cognitive and behavioral effects tend to be specific rather than global. Studies require large sample sizes, adequate retention, and support for social services in at-risk samples. The ethical and legal contexts and stigma associated with drug/alcohol use disorder should be considered in order to prevent harm to families in research programs. Recognition of the pervasive use of addictive substances in this nation should lead to broad scientific efforts to understand how substances affect child outcomes and to initiate prevention and intervention where needed.
Independence of points on elliptic curves arising from special points on modular and Shimura curves, I: Global results

Given a correspondence between a modular curve S and an elliptic curve A, we prove that the intersection of any finite-rank subgroup of A with the set of points on A corresponding to CM points on S is finite. We prove also a version in which S is replaced by a Shimura curve and A is replaced by a higher-dimensional abelian variety
Chemoradiation as a nonsurgical treatment option for early-stage esophageal cancers: a retrospective cohort study.

Background Complete tumor removal via esophagectomy or endoscopic excision has been associated with the greatest survival in early-stage esophageal cancer. However, patient health, anatomy, or goals of care may render patients ineligible for excision or resection. In this setting, chemoradiation (CRT) may be considered as a nonsurgical approach, however the outcomes associated with CRT in early-stage esophageal cancer are incompletely understood. Methods The National Cancer Database was queried for treatment-naive cT1/T2, N0, M0 esophageal cancer patients managed with concurrent multi-agent CRT (≥50 Gy) between 2004 and 2015. Medically inoperable patients were excluded. Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to estimate 5-year overall survival (OS) from diagnosis in both stages. Results Of the 828 patients identified, 279 were cT1 and 549 were cT2. For cases after 2010, cT1 (N=124) was further stratified in cT1a (N=32, 25.8%) and cT1b (N=46, 37.1%). Kaplan-Meier estimates demonstrated a 5-year survival of 21.7% for cT1 and 25.9% for cT2. Sensitivity analyses were performed to mitigate competing survival risk from poor health. Among 589 comorbidity-free patients (i.e., Charlson = score zero), the 5-year survival with CRT was 23.4% for cT1 and 27.8% for cT2. Finally, a subset of patients who refused a recommended surgery were evaluated with 5-year survival cT1 =33.5% and cT2 =33.4%). Conclusions Up to a third of selected patients with early-stage esophageal cancer may be cured after CRT as definitive non-surgical treatment. However, cure rates may be underestimated in this setting, secondary to persistent health-related bias.
Organic electrode materials for fast-rate, high-power battery applications

Abstract The development of new battery materials with fast charging/discharging capabilities is necessary to meet the growing demands of modern technologies. While counter ion transport in inorganic materials (generally by de/intercalation) currently limits charge/discharge rates in lithium-ion batteries, the weak intermolecular forces in organic materials result in flexible, spacious structures that offer improved ion transport capabilities. Herein, we present the principles which enable fast rate capabilities in organic electrode materials, accompanied by specific literature examples illustrating exceptional rate performances. We discuss approaches to material design which support electron and/or ion transport and the limitations associated with each approach. This review aims to highlight the unique characteristics of organic materials as high-power density electrodes and inspire continued work in the field.
Approach to Anesthesia

Anesthesia can be of several types, general, regional (epidural/spinal), peripheral nerve blocks, or monitored anesthesia care (MAC). The type of anesthesia administered depends on the choice of the patient, choice of the surgeon, and the type of surgery being performed. Each type of anesthesia involves a logical sequence of steps with which the practitioner needs to get familiar. This chapter will describe the basic steps involved in the administration of general anesthesia and MAC/TIVA (total intravenous anesthesia).
Behaviorism and Neurofeedback: Still Married

ABSTRACT Many behavioral science practitioners do not appear to understand basic behavioral concepts and may easily misuse and misunderstand behavioral language. The notion that the non-linear nature of the neural system requires a perspective based on either general systems theory or chaos theory in order to describe EEG training, and that a behavioral conceptualization is inadequate, is unjustified. All aspects of effective EEG training programs can be described in behavioral terms. Behavioral language is particularly useful for identifying and describing important components of the training procedure.
African-American Mothering

Abstract This article addresses deficits in the psychological literature by bringing the perspective of an African-American grandmother and a psychotherapist to the psychology of African-American mothering. An historical narrative and viewpoint, as well as some additional thoughts on African-American mothering, grandmothering and “othermothering” are followed by some famous, and some not so famous, words of and about African-America's mothers and foremothers. By presenting African-American mothers' words and perspectives, the author increases the fund of knowledge about the psychological influences on African-American women.