cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dealing with Moms and Dads: Family Dilemmas Encountered by Youth Program Leaders

The leaders of youth programs encounter a range of challenging situations that involve youth’s parents or families. This qualitative study obtained data on the variety and nature of these family-related “dilemmas of practice.” Longitudinal interviews with leaders of 10 high quality programs for high-school-aged youth yielded narrative information on a sample of 32 family dilemmas that they had encountered. Grounded theory analysis identified four categories of family dilemmas: 1) problems at home that become a concern to the leader, 2) parents’ expectations are incongruent with program norms or functioning, 3) parents do not support youth’s participation in the program or an aspect of the program, and 4) communicating with parents on sensitive matters. Each of these categories of dilemmas entailed distinct considerations and underlying issues that effective leaders need to be able to understand.
Reverse Locked-In Syndrome.

Basilar artery occlusion can cause locked-in syndrome, which is characterized by quadriplegia, anarthria, and limited communication via eye movements. Here, we describe an uncommon stroke syndrome associated with endovascular recanalization of the top of the basilar artery: “reverse locked-in syndrome.” We report the case of a patient with atypical neurological deficits caused by acute ischemic stroke of the midbrain tegmentum. We perform neuroanatomic localization of the patient’s infarcts by mapping the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data onto a brainstem atlas. A 61-year-old man presented with acute coma and quadriplegia due to top of the basilar artery occlusion. He underwent emergent endovascular thrombectomy, with successful recanalization of the basilar artery at 4 h and 43 min post-ictus. The patient regained consciousness and purposeful movement in all four extremities, but the post-procedure neurological examination demonstrated bilateral ptosis with complete pupillary and oculomotor paralysis. MRI revealed infarction of the bilateral oculomotor nuclei in the midbrain tegmentum. At 9-month follow-up, he had anisocoria and dysconjugate gaze, but was living at home and required minimal assistance in performing all activities of daily living. Since the patient’s deficits were the exact opposite of those described in locked-in syndrome, we propose the term “reverse locked-in syndrome” to describe this neurological entity characterized by bilateral ptosis, non-reactive pupils, and ophthalmoplegia with preservation of consciousness and extremity motor function.
Effect of Agricultural Planning on Farm Management in the Corn Belt

Farm practices in the corn belt were first influenced by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration at wheat planting time in the fall of 1933. We have therefore had only one crop year in which to study the influence of the various reduction programs on cropping systems, field arrangements, labor costs, power costs, and financial returns. It is evident, since the farm financial records for 1934 have not yet been completed, that most farm management workers have collected but little data up to the present time.
The Role of Positive Psychology in Interpersonal Decision Making

There is no doubt that decision making plays a pivotal role in people’s lives and that increasing decision-making competence can have a profound positive impact. The focus of this chapter is primarily upon interpersonal decision making, which is central to maintaining a positive quality of life but which poses particular challenges to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Interpersonal decisions are at the crux of the social vulnerability of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Research to better understand and strengthen interpersonal decision making offers a potential avenue to reducing social vulnerability and increasing positive quality of life. In accord with the tenets of positive psychology, the premise of the chapter is that enabling people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to acquire a repertoire of effective interpersonal decision-making skills can provide them with a powerful tool for building positive, satisfying friendships and intimate relationships as well as for ensuring their own personal safety and preventing harm. This chapter includes a brief description of a working model of four pathways to effective decision making as well as a review of some key decision-making research and intervention studies as well as evidence-based curricula aimed at providing adults and adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities with a useful repertoire of decision-making skills. This chapter concludes with suggestions for future directions for research and practice in decision making.
Examination of the Effects of Video Prompting Across Different Types of Tasks

Video prompting has a strong evidence base as an effective strategy to teach students with severe disabilities a variety of skills including daily living skills. This study examined whether differences in daily living tasks (i.e., multistep, multicomponent, and sequential tasks) would impact skill acquisition using video prompting by three participants with severe to profound disabilities. Results indicated that although video prompting was effective broadly, aspects of task type taught may affect the pace of an individual’s acquisition. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
SMARCAD1 Phosphorylation and Ubiquitination Are Required for Resection during DNA Double-Strand Break Repair

The chromatin remodeling factor SMARCAD1, an SWI/SNF ATPase family member, has a role in 5' end resection at DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) to produce single-strand DNA (ssDNA), a critical step for subsequent checkpoint and repair factor loading to remove DNA damage. However, the mechanistic details of SMARCAD1 coupling to the DNA damage response and repair pathways remains unknown. Here we report that SMARCAD1 is recruited to DNA DSBs through an ATM-dependent process. Depletion of SMARCAD1 reduces ionizing radiation (IR)-induced repairosome foci formation and DSB repair by homologous recombination (HR). IR induces SMARCAD1 phosphorylation at a conserved T906 by ATM kinase, a modification essential for SMARCAD1 recruitment to DSBs. Interestingly, T906 phosphorylation is also important for SMARCAD1 ubiquitination by RING1 at K905. Both these post-translational modifications are critical for regulating the role of SMARCAD1 in DNA end resection, HR-mediated repair, and cell survival after DNA damage.
DYNAMIC FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF A UNIDIRECTIONAL GRAPHITE/EPOXY COMPOSITE

In this investigation, we studied the process of dynamic crack propagation in a fiber-reinforced composite material using the optical Coherent Gradient Sensing (CGS) technique combined with high-speed photography. The mode-I fracture toughness of the unidirectional graphite/epoxy composite, IM7/8551-7, as a function of the crack-tip speed, was measured quantitatively. It was found that up to the Rayleigh wave speed of the composite material, the mode-I fracture toughness is a decreasing function of the crack-tip velocity. This behavior is similar to that observed in the dynamic crack propagation along interfaces between two homogeneous solids.
The Expressive Burden of Reparations: Putting Meaning into Money, Words, and Things

I propose a novel account of the essentially expressive nature of reparations. My account is descriptive of new practices of reparations that have emerged in the past half-century, and it provides normative guidance on conditions of success for reparative attempts. My account attributes to reparative attempts a dual expressive function: a communicative function that requires the gesture to carry a vindicatory message to victims; and an exemplifying function that requires the gesture to model the right relationship that was absent or violated in the wrongdoing to which reparations respond. This account is able to explain the breadth and variety of measures now recognized as reparations; how reparative attempts can fail in two distinct ways; and why material compensation is never sufficient and not always necessary to reparations.
Mortality prediction in pediatric trauma.

Abstract Background In trauma research, accurate estimates of mortality that can be rapidly calculated prior to enrollment are essential to ensure appropriate patient selection and adequate sample size. This study compares the accuracy of the BIG (Base Deficit, International normalized ratio and Glasgow Coma scale) score in predicting mortality in pediatric trauma patients to Pediatric Risk of Mortality III (PRISM III) score, Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 (PIM2) score and Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction (PELOD) score. Methods Data were collected from Virtual Pediatric Systems (VPS, LLC) database for children between 2004 and 2015 from 149 PICUs. Logistic regression models were developed to evaluate mortality prediction. The Area under the Curve (AUC) of Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves were derived from these models and compared between scores. Results A total of 45,377 trauma patients were analyzed. The BIG score could only be calculated for 152 patients (0.33%). PRISM III, PIM2, and PELOD scores were calculated for 44,360, 45,377 and 14,768 patients respectively. The AUC of the BIG score was 0.94 compared to 0.96, 0.97 and 0.93 for the PRISM III, PIM2, and PELOD respectively. Conclusions The BIG score is accurate in predicting mortality in pediatric trauma patients. Level of evidence Level I prognosis.
Use of multiple data sources to identify specific drugs and other factors associated with drug and alcohol screening of fatally injured motor vehicle drivers.

Abstract Objective Drugged driving crashes have significantly increased over the past two decades. The objectives of this study were to identify and characterize the drugs present in motor vehicle driver fatalities using multiple surveillance data sources; assess concordance of the data sources in identifying drug presence; and identify demographic and crash factors associated with drug and alcohol screening in fatally injured motor vehicle drivers. Methods Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), Collision Report Analysis for Safer Highways (CRASH), and mortality data sets were linked; drug screening and positive drug screens were identified. Chi-square and conditional logistic regression were performed. Results The use of FARS data identified the majority of positive drug screens in the linked data set. Supplementation of FARS data with death certificate and CRASH data increased identification of specific drugs and drug classes detected among fatally injured motor vehicle drivers, although there was a low concordance among the data sources. Alcohol and depressants such as alprazolam had the highest frequencies among fatally injured drivers. Speeding, lack of occupant restraints, young age, commercial truck drivers, and speeding were all factors associated with increased odds of the fatally injured driver being drug or alcohol screened. Conclusions These findings indicate that FARS drug information data may be strengthened through increased autopsy and consultation with medical examiners to better understand and interpret decedent toxicology testing results, and that states with low driver drug testing rates should consider mandatory driver drug testing in fatal crashes.
Emerging Potential of Immediate Early Response Gene X-1 in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases.

Immediate early response gene X‐1 (IEX‐1) or immediate early response 3 is an immediate early response gene that is highly expressed in epithelial, endothelial, and immune cells, including macrophages.1, 2, 3, 4 Similar to other immediate early response genes, its induction can be rapidly induced in response to several stimuli, such as UV light, inflammatory cytokines, and mechanical strain.4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Under stress, many immediate early response genes, such as c‐Fos, c‐Jun, c‐Myc, Egr‐1, and other zinc‐finger proteins, usually serve as transcription factors, activators, or repressors to regulate the transcriptional activity of several genes that are critical for a cell to appropriately respond to stress.4, 9, 10, 11, 12 However, IEX‐1 lacks a DNA binding domain and its putative transcription activity remains elusive.4, 13 Investigations from our laboratory show that IEX‐1 controls mitochondrial superoxide production by regulating the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation.13, 14, 15, 16 This action of IEX‐1 might explain the transcriptional activity associated with IEX‐1 because the reactive oxygen species (ROS) at low levels can act as a signaling molecule to alter gene transcription through reduction‐oxidation–sensitive transcription factors or a signaling pathway, such as nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) and nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor.17, 18, 19 Consistent with a key role of mitochondria in vascular and metabolic functions, IEX‐1 deficiency impairs vascular function and increases energy expenditure in mice. A key role of IEX‐1 in regulation of mitochondrial respiration and ROS production may also help to explain how IEX‐1 produces both antiapoptotic and proapoptotic actions in different cell types. Macrophages, the central player in the pathogenesis of many chronic inflammatory conditions, express high levels of IEX‐1. In agreement with the putative role of IEX‐1 in macrophage function, we recently identified a crucial role of IEX‐1 in many chronic conditions, including hypertension, sepsis, insulin resistance, obesity, and arthritis,16, 20, 21, 22 revealing previously unknown functions of IEX‐1 in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In this article, we reviewed the findings in IEX‐1 knockout mice from our laboratory and others and primarily focused on the roles of IEX‐1 in cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. We also alluded to the important findings from other laboratories that are relevant for its role in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In addition, an attempt is made to underline the involvement of IEX‐1 in inflammation and its possible link with the lipid‐mediated metabolic diseases. However, because of the limitations and scope of this article, we refrained from discussing an important role of IEX‐1 in many types of cancers that has been widely reported before.
RNA sequencing-based transcriptomic profiles of embryonic lens development for cataract gene discovery

Isolated or syndromic congenital cataracts are heterogeneous developmental defects, making the identification of the associated genes challenging. In the past, mouse lens expression microarrays have been successfully applied in bioinformatics tools (e.g., iSyTE) to facilitate human cataract-associated gene discovery. To develop a new resource for geneticists, we report high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) profiles of mouse lens at key embryonic stages (E)10.5 (lens pit), E12.5 (primary fiber cell differentiation), E14.5 and E16.5 (secondary fiber cell differentiation). These stages capture important events as the lens develops from an invaginating placode into a transparent tissue. Previously, in silico whole-embryo body (WB)-subtraction-based “lens-enriched” expression has been effective in prioritizing cataract-linked genes. To apply an analogous approach, we generated new mouse WB RNA-seq datasets and show that in silico WB subtraction of lens RNA-seq datasets successfully identifies key genes based on lens-enriched expression. At ≥2 counts-per-million expression, ≥1.5 log2 fold-enrichment (p < 0.05) cutoff, E10.5 lens exhibits 1401 enriched genes (17% lens-expressed genes), E12.5 lens exhibits 1937 enriched genes (22% lens-expressed genes), E14.5 lens exhibits 2514 enriched genes (31% lens-expressed genes), and E16.5 lens exhibits 2745 enriched genes (34% lens-expressed genes). Biological pathway analysis identified genes associated with lens development, transcription regulation and signaling pathways, among other functional groups. Furthermore, these new RNA-seq data confirmed high expression of established cataract-linked genes and identified new potential regulators in the lens. Finally, we developed new lens stage-specific UCSC Genome Brower annotation tracks and made these publicly accessible through iSyTE ( https://research.bioinformatics.udel.edu/iSyTE/ ) for user-friendly visualization of lens gene expression/enrichment to prioritize genes from high-throughput data from cataract cases.
Chapter 12 – Family Caliciviridae

Caliciviruses are small, unenveloped positive-strand RNA viruses. The name calicivirus is derived from the Latin word “calyx” meaning cup or goblet describing the cup-shaped depressions on the capsid surface. Replication is cytoplasmic and RNA synthesis is primed with a virally encoded protein, VPg. Genome-length RNA serves as the mRNA for synthesis of a precursor polyprotein. A subgenomic mRNA, also linked to VPg, encodes one or two structural proteins. (There is some diversity in protein expression strategies.) In contrast to picornaviruses, caliciviruses do not have an IRES. Instead, cap-independent translation requires interactions of VPg with translation initiation factors. Caliciviruses have been isolated from humans, cattle, pigs, cats, chickens, reptiles, dolphins, and amphibians. As a group they have been difficult to study because many, including human noroviruses, are difficult to grow in cultured cells. Feline calicivirus and murine noroviruses are often used as surrogates for human noroviruses. Human noroviruses can cause large outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis and norovirus pathogenesis can only be studied by infecting adult human volunteers with bacterial-free fecal material. Noroviruses are easily transmitted (fecal–oral) and are extremely stable in the environment.
Aversion to playing God and moral condemnation of technology and science

This research provides, to our knowledge, the first systematic empirical investigation of people's aversion to playing God. Seven studies validate this construct and show its association with negat...
Combined Radial to Axillary and Spinal Accessory Nerve (SAN) to Suprascapular Nerve (SSN) Transfers May Confer Superior Shoulder Abduction Compared with Single SA to SSN Transfer

Background The restoration of shoulder function after brachial plexus injury is a high priority. Shoulder abduction and stabilization can be achieved by nerve transfer procedures including spinal accessory nerve (SAN) to suprascapular nerve (SSN) and radial to axillary nerve transfer. The objective of this study is to compare functional outcomes after SAN to SSN transfer versus the combined radial to axillary and SA to SSN transfer. Methods This retrospective chart review included 14 consecutive patients with brachial plexus injury who underwent SAN to SSN transfer, 4 of whom had both SA to SSN and radial to axillary nerve transfer. Results SAN to SSN transfer achieved successful shoulder abduction (≥M3) in 64.3% of this cohort (9/14). During the long-term follow-up, patients achieved an average increase of 67.5° in shoulder abduction. There was no association between motor recovery and time from injury to surgery, age, body mass index (BMI), sex, or smoking status. The 4 patients who had SAN to SSN combined with radial to axillary nerve transfer demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the range of abduction (median, 90° vs. 42.5°, respectively; P = 0.022) compared with those who had SAN to SSN transfer alone; however, the difference in Medical Research Council (MRC) grades (MRC > M3) did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.07). Conclusions Patients with brachial plexus injury and an intact C7 root could benefit from radial to axillary transfer in addition to SAN to SSN transfer. There was no association between recovery of shoulder abduction and time interval from injury to surgery, age, sex, smoking, and BMI.
P148 Parent and Family Childcare Home Provider Feeding Practices and Child Diet Quality at Home and in Childcare

Background Most US children under the age of 6 attend out-of-home care. This has led to a shared feeding responsibility between parents and child care providers, both influencing children's eating habits via feeding practices. However, little is known about caregiver feeding practices and child diet quality among children attending family child care homes (FCCHs). Objective To describe parent/provider (FCCP) feeding practices and child diet quality at home and in the FCCH, and examine associations between caregiver feeding practices and child diet quality. Study Design, Setting, Participants This was a cross-sectional mixed-methods study including 33 FCCPs-parent-child triads (87% and 64% Hispanic, respectively) from two northeastern states. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Caregiver feeding practices were collected via a self-report questionnaire. Child dietary intake at home was collected via telephone interviews, and via direct observation in the FCCH. Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015) scores were calculated for dietary intake in both settings. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. We used the Mann-Whitney U tests to examine differences between caregiver feeding practices, the Signed Rank Test to examine differences in child HEI-2015 between settings and Spearman correlations to examine associations between feeding practices and child diet quality in both settings. All analyses were conducted using SAS 9.4. Results Compared to FCCPs parents engaged in significantly greater frequency of controlling feeding practices (P Conclusion Findings suggest that the FCCH environment is more supportive of promoting healthy eating habits in preschool-aged children. However, there is a need for improvement in both settings to decrease the frequency of non-responsive feeding practices and increase child diet quality. Funding None.
Pluripolar hulls and convergence sets

The pluripolar hull of a pluripolar set E in ℙn is the intersection of all complete pluripolar sets in ℙn that contain E. We prove that the pluripolar hull of each compact pluripolar set in ℙn is Fσ. The convergence set of a divergent formal power series f(z0, … , zn) is the set of all “directions” ξ ∈ ℙn along which f is convergent. We prove that the union of the pluripolar hulls of a countable collection of compact pluripolar sets in ℙn is the convergence set of some divergent series f. The convergence sets on Γ := {[1 : z : ψ (z)] : z ∈ ℂ} ⊂ ℂ2 ⊂ ℙ2, where ψ is a transcendental entire holomorphic function, are also studied and we obtain that a subset on Γ is a convergence set in ℙ2 if and only if it is a countable union of compact projectively convex sets, and hence the union of a countable collection of convergence sets on Γ is a convergence set.
Results of a Community-Based Peer Mentor Program for Spinal-Cord Injury: A Pilot Trial

Date Presented 04/04/19 The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate the feasibility of a community-based peer mentor program to prevent and manage pressure ulcers and identify untreated depression for 20 individuals with spinal-cord injury. Based on this sample, community-based peer mentoring was feasible with positive outcomes for PU prevention; management of PUs and depression; self-management of chronic conditions; and community reintegration. Primary Author and Speaker: Valerie Hill Additional Authors and Speakers: Shawn Phipps Contributing Authors: Christina Wolfe, David Ponce
Compactness measures of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in lung adenocarcinoma are associated with overall patient survival and immune scores

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), the most common type of lung cancer, has an average 5-year survival rate of 15%. In LUAD, interaction between tumor and immune cells has been shown to be highly associated with the likelihood of disease progression and metastases. We have previously demonstrated the association between spatial architecture and arrangement of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) with likelihood of recurrence in early stage NSCLC. Recently, gene set enrichment analysis-derived immune scores have been found to be prognostic of outcome. However, this requires transcriptomics techniques as a precursor, which involves mechanical disruption of cells and tissues. In this work (N = 170), we extracted graph-based histomorphometric features on segmented nuclei from digitized H and E biopsy images and then performed principal component analysis (PCA) to select the most representative tiles from each patient. We then identified TILs and quantitative histomorphometric attributes of different nuclei groups (all-nuclei, TILs, non-TILs) prognostic of overall patient survival (OS) and further investigated their associations with immune scores and biological pathways implicated immune response using gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA). We found TIL-compactness (a set of TIL density features) derived risk scores were prognostic of OS (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 3.26, p = 0.012, C-index = 0.634). The median immune score (IS) in the cohort was used as a threshold to divide the cases into low and high IS expression groups. The TIL compactness measures prognostic of OS were also statistically significantly correlated with the IS and biological pathways related to immune response (Immune System Process, Immune Response, Adaptive Immune Response, and Humoral Immune Response Mediated by Circulating Immunoglobulin).
Interruptible Physical Transmission Contract for the Deregulated Electric Power Industry

This chapter presents a novel transmission congestion management protocol applicable for both pure-bilateral and hybrid electricity market structures. The mechanism is based on an Interruptible Physical Transmission Contract, which guarantees physical access to the transmission network users and provides financial incentives for the bilateral contract holders to forfeit the physical access to the transmission network. The contract specifies a financial reimbursement payable to the insured if the system operator dispatch results into a curtailment of a bilateral contract involving an injection into and withdrawal of power at a specified set of nodes. The insurer is compensated in the form of an insurance premium for providing the service. The contract is structured such that the reimbursement payable to the insured party equals the actual loss incurred so that the insured party is “made whole” with the insurance payment. Similarly, when the insurer is the System Operator itself, it tries to dispatch the generators such that the aggregate insurance reimbursements payable to the insured parties is minimized. In this way, the transmission contract mechanism ensures that a near optimal curtailment policy coincides with the efficient dispatch in the system.
Epigenetic inheritance of circadian period in clonal cells

Circadian oscillations are generated via transcriptional-translational negative feedback loops. However, individual cells from fibroblast cell lines have heterogeneous rhythms, oscillating independently and with different period lengths. Here we showed that heterogeneity in circadian period is heritable and used a multi-omics approach to investigate underlying mechanisms. By examining large-scale phenotype-associated gene expression profiles in hundreds of mouse clonal cell lines, we identified and validated multiple novel candidate genes involved in circadian period determination in the absence of significant genomic variants. We also discovered differentially co-expressed gene networks that were functionally associated with period length. We further demonstrated that global differential DNA methylation bidirectionally regulated these same gene networks. Interestingly, we found that depletion of DNMT1 and DNMT3A had opposite effects on circadian period, suggesting non-redundant roles in circadian gene regulation. Together, our findings identify novel gene candidates involved in periodicity, and reveal DNA methylation as an important regulator of circadian periodicity.
Polymer-Assisted Aripiprazole-Adipic Acid Cocrystals Produced by Hot Melt Extrusion Techniques

Pharmaceutical cocrystals are a promising strategy to increase the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs. However, their manufacturing process requires a large quantity of solvents. The present study aimed to produce cocrystals by a solvent-free hot melt extrusion (HME) method to improve their solubility and dissolution rate. Aripiprazole (ARP) and adipic acid (ADP) were used as a weakly basic drug and acidic coformer, respectively. The processability of a plain ARP-ADP physical mixture (PM) compared with a PM with 5% Soluplus® (SOL) was investigated. Incorporating 5% SOL into the ARP-ADP blend reduced the processing torque and improved processability. The effects of temperature and screw speed on the formation of cocrystals were studied, and cocrystals were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy, and hot-stage microscopy. FTIR spectra revealed noncovalent interaction between ARP and ADP, which was confirmed by NMR spectra. Similarly, PXRD data exhibited characteristic peaks confirming the formation of new crystalline material. Further, the results indicated that cocrystals demonstrated higher dissolution rates and improved compressibility, as well as enhanced flow characteristics compared with pure ARP, suggesting its suitability in the development of solid dosage forms.
Interactions between Passive and Active Vibrations in the Organ of Corti In Vitro

High sensitivity and selectivity of hearing require an active cochlea. The cochlear sensory epithelium, the organ of Corti, vibrates because of external and internal excitations. The external stimulation is acoustic pressures mediated by the scala fluids, whereas the internal excitation is generated by a type of sensory receptor cells (the outer hair cells) in response to the acoustic vibrations. The outer hair cells are cellular actuators that are responsible for cochlear amplification. The organ of Corti is highly structured for transmitting vibrations originating from acoustic pressure and active outer hair cell force to the inner hair cells that synapse on afferent nerves. Understanding how the organ of Corti vibrates because of acoustic pressure and outer hair cell force is critical for explaining cochlear function. In this study, cochleae were freshly isolated from young gerbils. The organ of Corti in the excised cochlea was subjected to mechanical and electrical stimulation that are analogous to acoustic and cellular stimulation in the natural cochlea. Organ of Corti vibrations, including those of individual outer hair cells, were measured using optical coherence tomography. Respective vibration patterns due to mechanical and electrical stimulation were characterized. Interactions between the two vibration patterns were investigated by applying the two forms of stimulation simultaneously. Our results show that the interactions could be either constructive or destructive, which implies that the outer hair cells can either amplify or reduce vibrations in the organ of Corti. We discuss a potential consequence of the two interaction modes for cochlear frequency tuning.
The Effect of the Stiffness of Soft Materials on Hemiwicking Performance

Fabricating micro and nanosized structures to induce hemiwicking on a heated surface has risen in popularity due to the higher heat flux the surface can experience. Recent studies have focused on the effects on the pillar geometry and spacing on the wicking velocity and the critical heat flux. As a result, a majority of the models that have been derived focus on the fluid properties and the wicking structure geometry and spacing. This study presents changes to the wicking performance when the stiffness of a soft material is taken into effect. Multiple similar wicking structures were fabricated using a negative mold method utilizing an in-house stamping apparatus. Using the mold, multiple polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) samples were created, where the stiffness of the samples was varied by altering the mixing ratio and the curing time. The wicking velocity of ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and isooctane did not vary for the samples that had a Young’s Modulus greater than 1 MPa, but a notable decrease in the wicking velocity for all three fluids were observed for samples with a Young’s Modulus less than 1 MPa. This study provides insight to the importance of the stiffness of the material is for hemiwicking on soft materials and that deformation effects have to be taken into account for Young’s Moduli less than 1 MPa.
Evolutionarily Conserved Long Non-coding RNA Regulates Gene Expression in Cytokine Storm During COVID-19

Coronavirus is a family of viruses including alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-coronaviruses. Only alpha- and betacoronaviruses have been observed to infect humans. Past outbreaks of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, both betacoronavirus, are the result of a spillover from animals. Recently, a new strain termed SARS-CoV-2 emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Severe cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). One contributor to the development of ARDS is cytokine storm, an overwhelming inflammatory immune response. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are genetic regulatory elements that, among many functions, alter gene expression and cellular processes. lncRNAs identified to be pertinent in COVID-19 cytokine storm have the potential to serve as disease markers or drug targets. This project aims to computationally identify conserved lncRNAs potentially regulating gene expression in cytokine storm during COVID-19. We found 22 lncRNAs that can target 10 cytokines overexpressed in COVID-19 cytokine storm, 8 of which targeted two or more cytokine storm cytokines. In particular, the lncRNA non-coding RNA activated by DNA damage (NORAD), targeted five out of the ten identified cytokine storm cytokines, and is evolutionarily conserved across multiple species. These lncRNAs are ideal candidates for further in vitro and in vivo analysis.
How State and Protester Violence Affect Protest Dynamics

How do state and protester violence affect whether protests grow or shrink? Previous research finds conflicting results for how violence affects protest dynamics. This paper argues that expectations and emotions should generate an n-shaped relationship between the severity of state repression and changes in protest size the next day. Protester violence should reduce the appeal of protesting and increase the expected cost of protesting, decreasing subsequent protest size. Since testing this argument requires precise measurements, a pipeline is built that applies convolutional neural networks to images shared in geolocated tweets. Continuously valued estimates of state and protester violence are generated per city-day for 24 cities across five countries, as are estimates of protest size and the age and gender of protesters. The results suggest a solution to the repression-dissent puzzle and join a growing body of research benefiting from the use of social media to understand subnational conflict.
“Where I Can Breathe”: Examining the Impact of the Current Racial Climate on Black Students’ Choice to Attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities:

While some in the higher education community have used anecdotal evidence to argue that Black students were attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) because of the broader rac...
The Role of General and Specific Cognitive Abilities in Predicting Performance of Three Occupations: Evidence from Bifactor Models

Cognitive abilities are related to job performance. However, there is less agreement about the relative contribution of general versus specific cognitive abilities to job performance. Similarly, it is not clear how cognitive abilities operate in the context of complex occupations. This study assessed the role of cognitive abilities on the performance of three aviation-related jobs: flying, navigation, and air battle management (ABM). Correlated-factor and bifactor models were used to draw a conclusion about the predictive relations between cognitive abilities and job performance. Overall, the importance of particular cognitive abilities tends to vary across the three occupations, and each occupation has different sets of essential abilities. Importantly, the interplay of general versus specific abilities is different across occupations, and some specific abilities also show substantial predictive power.
Assessment of flumioxazin soil behavior and thermal stability in aqueous solutions

Abstract Flumioxazin is a preemergence, N-phenylpththalimide herbicide that can be applied to control a broad spectrum of weeds in a variety of cropping systems. Limited information exists concerning the environmental fate of flumioxazin, therefore the present studies investigated the kinetic behavior of flumioxazin in soil and aqueous solution using field and analytical techniques to establish its degradation properties. Flumioxazin half-life in a Greenville sandy clay loam and Faceville loamy sand was 26.6 d. Flumioxazin was determined to have a groundwater ubiquity score of 1.79, indicating a low leachability potential. There was an inverse correlation between flumioxazin concentration in soil, rainfall, and solar radiation. There was no direct correlation between flumioxazin concentration and soil temperature. Flumioxazin activation energy was 58.4 (±1.2) kJ mol−1 with a Q10 value of 2.2. Even at the lowest amount of solar radiation and soil temperature, the energy from these environmental measures exceeded the activation energy needed for flumioxazin degradation. Flumioxazin stability in solution and field dissipation indicate that, with the input of thermal energy, degradation can be rapid.
Everyday discrimination in later life: A social network approach

Abstract What factors shape everyday discrimination among older adults? Existing perspectives focus on individual identities and social group membership (e.g., race/ethnicity, age) as key determinants of perceived discrimination. This paper examines the idea that individuals’ broader social contexts – including their personal social networks – also shape perceived discrimination, and in ways that may differ across racial groups. Using data from Round 3 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 3312), I consider how properties of personal networks are associated with how frequently older adults report everyday discrimination. Results indicate that more kin-centric personal networks protect against more frequent everyday discrimination, but that this protective effect may be stronger among White older adults. I propose why more kin-centric networks may play a different role in the perceived discrimination of White and Black older adults, and close by suggesting that social network composition may be a source of heterogeneity in the link between everyday discrimination and inequality in later life outcomes such as health.
Pornography, genres of

This entry describes various types or genres of pornography. Many of these are labeled according to the sexual act occurring in the pornography, such as anal sex, double penetration, or fisting. Others are named for characteristics of the performers involved in the pornography, including age (teen), gender (transsexual), sexual identity (lesbian, queer), body features (breasts, butts), or race (ethic, interracial). Keywords: fetishes; genres; pornography
Ca2+ and frequency dependence of exocytosis in isolated somata of magnocellular supraoptic neurones of the rat hypothalamus

In addition to action potential-evoked exocytotic release at neurohypophysial nerve terminals, the neurohormones arginine vasopressin (aVP) and oxytocin (OT) undergo Ca2+-dependent somatodendritic release within the supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie this release have not been elucidated. In the present study, the whole-cell patch-clamp technique was utilized in combination with high-time-resolved measurements of membrane capacitance (Cm) and microfluorometric measurements of cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) to examine the Ca2+ and stimulus dependence of exocytosis in the somata of magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) isolated from rat supraoptic nucleus (SON). Single depolarizing steps (≥20 ms) that evoked high-voltage-activated (HVA) Ca2+ currents (ICa) and elevations in intracellular Ca2+ concentration were accompanied by an increase in Cm in a majority (40/47) of SON neurones. The Cm responses were composed of an initial Ca2+-independent, transient component and a subsequent, sustained phase of increased Cm (termed ΔCm) mediated by an influx of Ca2+, and increased with corresponding prolongation of depolarizing step durations (20–200 ms). From this relationship we estimated the rate of vesicular release to be 1533 vesicles s−1. Delivery of neurone-derived action potential waveforms (APWs) as stimulus templates elicited ICa and also induced a ΔCm, provided APWs were applied in trains of greater than 13 Hz. A train of APWs modelled after the bursting pattern recorded from an OT-containing neurone during the milk ejection reflex was effective in supporting an exocytotic ΔCm in isolated MNCs, indicating that the somata of SON neurones respond to physiological patterns of neuronal activity with Ca2+-dependent exocytotic activity.
The fuzzy mega-cluster: robustifying FCM by scaling down memberships

A new robust clustering scheme based on fuzzy c-means is proposed and the concept of a fuzzy mega-cluster is introduced in this paper. The fuzzy mega-cluster is conceptually similar to the noise cluster, designed to group outliers in a separate cluster. This proposed scheme, called the mega-clustering algorithm is shown to be robust against outliers. Another interesting property is its ability to distinguish between true outliers and non-outliers (vectors that are neither part of any particular cluster nor can be considered true noise). Robustness is achieved by scaling down the fuzzy memberships, as generated by FCM so that the infamous unity constraint of FCM is relaxed with the intensity of scaling differing across datum. The mega-clustering algorithm is tested on noisy data sets from literature and the results presented.
Sharing Personal Reflections on Health Locally

Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in developing systems that help people live healthier lifestyles. Little attention has been paid, however, to how technology can address the significant health disparities in populations such as low-income African Americans. To address this research gap, I designed EatWell specifically for residents in low-income African American communities in Atlanta, GA. EatWell is a system for cell phones that lets people share how they have tried to eat healthfully with individuals in their local neighborhoods. In this chapter, I discuss the characteristics of the community that was created as people shared their personal stories and reflections in EatWell. Specifically, I describe the users themselves (the who), the context of use (the where), the kind of content people created (the what), and the way in which they interacted with the content (the how). Finally, I discuss the implications of designing health applications for people in local contexts, a class of systems that I call deeply local health applications.
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang model for the fractal structure of cumulus cloud fields

We model the ascent of warm, moist air in the Earth's atmosphere by turbulent convection and expansion with the KPZ equation, familiar in the physics literature on surface growth. Clouds form in domains where the interface between the rising air and its surrounding air achieves an elevation higher than that necessary for condensation. The model predictions are consistent with the perimeter fractal dimension and the cumulative frequency-size distribution of cumulus cloud fields observed from space.
Replication and mutagenesis of UV-damaged DNA templates in human and monkey cell extracts

We have used in vitro DNA replication systems from human HeLa cells and monkey CV-1 cells to replicate a UV-damaged simian virus 40-based shuttle vector plasmid, pZ189. We found that replication of the plasmid was inhibited in a UV fluence-dependent manner, but even at UV fluences which caused damage to essentially all of the plasmid molecules some molecules became completely replicated. This replication was accompanied by an increase (up to 15-fold) in the frequency of mutations detected in the supF gene of the plasmid. These mutations were predominantly G:C-->A:T transitions similar to those observed in vivo. Treatment of the UV-irradiated plasmid DNA with Escherichia coli photolyase to reverse pyrimidine cyclobutane dimers (the predominant UV-induced photoproduct) before replication prevented the UV-induced inhibition of replication and reduced the frequency of mutations in supF to background levels. Therefore, the presence of pyrimidine cyclobutane dimers in the plasmid template appears to be responsible for both inhibition of replication and mutation induction. Further analysis of the replication of the UV-damaged plasmid revealed that closed circular replication products were sensitive to T4 endonuclease V (a pyrimidine cyclobutane dimer-specific endonuclease) and that this sensitivity was abolished by treatment of the replicated DNA with E. coli photolyase after replication but before T4 endonuclease treatment. These results demonstrate that these closed circular replication products contain pyrimidine cyclobutane dimers. Density labeling experiments revealed that the majority of plasmid DNA synthesized in vitro in the presence of bromodeoxyuridine triphosphate was hybrid density whether or not the plasmid was treated with UV radiation before replication; therefore, replication of UV-damaged templates appears to occur by the normal semiconservative mechanism. All of these data suggest that replication of UV-damaged templates occurs in vitro as it does in vivo and that this replication results in mutation fixation.
Adjustment of the (235)U Fission Spectrum

The latest nuclear data are used to examine the sensitivity of the least squares adjustment of the {sup 235}U fission spectrum to the measured reaction rates, dosimetry cross sections, and prior spectrum covariance matrix. All of these parameters were found to be very important in the spectrum adjustment. The most significant deficiency in the nuclear data is the absence of a good prior covariance matrix. Covariance matrices generated from analytic models of the fission spectra have been used in the past. This analysis reveals some unusual features in the covariance matrix produced with this approach. Specific needs are identified for improved nuclear data to better determine the {sup 235}U spectrum. An improved {sup 235}U covariance matrix and adjusted spectrum are recommended for use in radiation transport sensitivity analyses.