cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gene Expression of Nutrient Transporters in the Small Intestine of Chickens from Lines Divergently Selected for High or Low Juvenile Body Weight

Nutrient transporters in the small intestine are responsible for dietary nutrient assimilation; therefore, the expression of these transporters can influence overall nutrient status as well as the growth and development of the animal. This study examined correlated responses to selection in the developmental gene expression of PepT1, EAAT3, SGLT1, and GLUT5 in the small intestine of chickens from lines divergently selected for 48 generations for high (HH) or low (LL) 56-d BW and their reciprocal crosses (HL and LH). Duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were collected from male and female chicks on embryonic d 20, day of hatch with no access to feed, and d 3, 7, and 14 posthatch. Total RNA was extracted, and nutrient transporter expression was assayed by real-time PCR using the relative quantification method. In comparing male and female HH and LL chicks, there was a mating combination x age x sex interaction for PepT1 expression (P < 0.001), a main effect of sex for EAAT3 (P < 0.05) and SGLT1 (P < 0.001) expression, and an age x sex interaction for SGLT1 expression (P < 0.001). These results demonstrate a sexual dimorphism in the capacity to absorb nutrients from the intestine, which has implications for the poultry industry with regard to diet formulations for straight-run and sex-separate grow-out operations. Results from comparing male LL, LH, HL, and HH chicks indicate that selection for high or low juvenile BW may have influenced the gene expression profiles of these nutrient transporters in the small intestine, which may contribute to the overall differences in the growth and development of these lines of chickens.
Protein Kinase C Mediates the Effect of Vasopressin in Pituitary Corticotrophs

The role of protein kinase C (PKC) on vasopressin (VP) action was investigated by inhibition of endogenous PKC using prolonged incubation of the cells with phorbol ester, and by direct measurement of PKC activity in pituitary cells. Preincubation of the cells for 6 h with 100 nm TPA at 37 C resulted in a 90% decrease in total PKC activity. In the PKC-depleted cells, cAMP responses to stimulation with 100 nm CRF for 30 min were normal, but the potentiating effects of VP and PMA on CRF-stimulated cAMP production were abolished. The stimulation of ACTH secretion by VP and PMA alone was also abolished in PKC- depleted cells. PKC activity in cytosolic and detergent-solubilized membrane fractions from enriched pituitary corticotrophs obtained by centrifugal elutriation, was directly measured by enzymatic assays and by immunoblotting techniques. Basal PKC activity was higher in the cytosol than in the membranes (8.43 ± 0.47 and 1.93 ± 0.11 pmol 32P incorporated/10 min, respectively). After incubation of the cell...
Closing the Phosphatization Window: Testing for the Influence of Taphonomic Megabias on the Pattern of Small Shelly Fossil Decline

Abstract Small shelly fossils (SSFs) are a group of mostly problematic, small skeletal elements preserved primarily through secondary phosphatization. They dominate lower Cambrian diversity, but appear to suffer a sharp decline in the Botomian Stage or equivalent levels outside Siberia. This observed decline coincides with a significant reduction in phosphogenesis, suggesting that it may be attributable to the closure of a phosphatization taphonomic window. The influence of taphonomic bias on observed patterns of SSF extinction at the end of the Botomian was tested using a dataset consisting of 558 Cambrian skeletal genus occurrences compiled from 109 references. Analyses indicate that SSF preservation is significantly enhanced by, and for most taxa, restricted to, a phosphatization window. Independent proxies indicate that prevalence of secondary phosphatization declined from 74% and 64% of all preservational modes during Nemakit-Dal'dynian + Tommotian and Atdabanian + Botomian times, respectively, to 40...
The Demand for One-to-One Customization on the Internet: Evidence from the Retail PC Hardware Industry

We study the demand for one-to-one customization in the computer hardware industry. Using household browsing, transaction, and demographic data from the comScore database, we uncover evidence that geographically isolated households that are technologically savvy are more likely to buy and customize computer hardware online. These households intensely search for information, including information from technology websites, implying they find better matches to their preferences through one-to-one customization. Hence, we show evidence the Internet acts as a substitute to brick-and-mortar stores for households in relative isolation that have a nontrivial level of technological sophistication. Firms with capabilities to offer one-to-one customization should therefore focus on households based on their agglomeration: conditional on being technologically savvy, isolated households are more likely to customize the default while agglomerated households are more likely to choose the default itself.
Electrical Characterization of GaN Based Ultraviolet and Blue Light Emitting Diodes

Gallium nitride based ultraviolet (UV) and blue AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double heterojunction structure light emitting diodes (LEDs) were electrically characterized using current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements as a function of frequency. An analysis of logarithmic plots of the forward I-V characteristics indicated that current in these diodes was proportional to V x , as opposed to e qV/nkT , where x was observed to be either 1 or 2 at low biases increasing to as high as 40 at higher biases. The dependence of diode forward current on V x is likely to be due to space charge limited current in the presence of a high concentration of deep level states in the bandgap. The concentration of deep states and their position in the band gap were extracted from these logarithmic plots. For both the blue and the UV LEDs, several closely spaced levels were obtained, located most likely in the range between E V and E V + 0.5 eV with concentrations of the order of 10 16 /cm 3 to 10 17 /cm 3 . Capacitance-voltage measurements as a function of frequency (200 Hz - 1 MHz) at room temperature yielded a density of approximately 1 × 10 15 cm −3 located at 0.46 eV above the valence band-edge for both the UV and blue LED. Even though the location of these deep states from the I-V and C-V measurements are within the same range, the two orders magnitude difference in the concentration of deep states is not well understood at this point.
What do Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities Learn about Sexuality and Dating? A Potential Role for Occupational Therapy

Background: The objective of the qualitative study was to describe the perspectives of high school educators regarding how adolescents with developmental disabilities are taught about sexuality and dating. In addition, the investigators sought to examine how occupational therapy practitioners could be better integrated into the educational team to address this need. Method: Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Results: Three major themes emerged: (a) sexuality is unique to each student, (b) teachers and parents do not know what to do, and (c) a potential role for OT. Conclusions: Occupational therapy practitioners may be well suited to address the needs identified through this study given their unique expertise. Comments The first three authors were Masters of Occupational Therapy students at the time of the investigation.
Closed-Loop Lumped Parameter Cardiovascular Model of Infarct Border Zone Pacing

The border zone (BZ) region has been classified as a unique form of dysfunctional myocardium adjacent to an infarct that is normally perfused but has an abnormal systolic strain pattern (1). This abnormal strain has been theorized to result in a proliferation of the hypocontractility region to extend to involve progressively more normally functioning myocardium, resulting in ventricular dilatation and heart failure (2,3). It has been theorized that contracting the BZ prior to the remote myocardium can normalize strain distribution, which could improve cardiac function and mitigate remodeling. This study developed a closed-loop lumped parameter cardiovascular model to evaluate the effect of BZ pacing on cardiovascular hemodynamics and function.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Crowding Effects on Female Pheromone Production and Male Responsiveness in Trichoplusia ni

Male adult Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), the cabbage looper, were bioassayed to determine the effect on pheromone responsiveness of 3 crowding conditions. Insects were crowded as larvae, as adults in holding cages prior to bioassay, or as adults in bioassay cages. To determine crowding effects on pheromone production, sex pheromone was extracted from adult female T. ni that had been reared at several densities as larvae or held at various densities following adult emergence. No significant effects (P ≤ 0.05) of the crowding conditions tested on pheromone responsiveness in males or on sex pheromone production by females were found.
Simulation of Radiation Generated by Chemical Reactions in Weakly Ionized Shock Waves using DSMC

In this work, we simulate the radiation from the NO and N+2 systems and compare with the shock tube experiments in air by Gorelov. The related shock speeds are high enough to have produced a peak translational temperature of ∼20,000 K or even higher, providing enough energy to ionize some of the flow species. In the current work, we simulate ionized normal shock flows by implementing appropriate ionization models in a 11 species air (N, O, N2, O2, NO, N , O, N+2 , O + 2 , NO + and e−) in DSMC. Electron impact and heavy particle impact excitation for NO is studied using the Quasi-Steady-State (QSS) approximation to compute the NO(AΣ) and the N+2 (B Σu ) state number densities. Line-by-line calculation of the spectra is performed using the NEQAIR code to obtain radiation in the wavelength range of λ = 235 ± 7 and 391.4 ± 0.2 nm. For shock speeds above 7 km/s, the currently calculated radiation are in better agreement with the experimental data than that in our eariler work, but are still about 2∼6 times lower than the experiments. For the N+2 radiation good agreement with the experimental data is obtained for shock speeds above 9 km/s.
Amplified protein detection and identification through DNA-conjugated M13 bacteriophage.

Sensitive protein detection and accurate identification continues to be in great demand for disease screening in clinical and laboratory settings. For these diagnostics to be of clinical value, it is necessary to develop sensors that have high sensitivity but favorable cost-to-benefit ratios. However, many of these sensing platforms are thermally unstable or require significant materials synthesis, engineering, or fabrication. Recently, we demonstrated that naturally occurring M13 bacteriophage can serve as biological scaffolds for engineering protein diagnostics. These viruses have five copies of the pIII protein, which can bind specifically to target antigens, and thousands of pVIII coat proteins, which can be genetically or chemically modified to react with signal-producing materials, such as plasmon-shifting gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). In this report, we show that DNA-conjugated M13 bacteriophage can act as inexpensive protein sensors that can rapidly induce a color change in the presence of a target...
Urinary Excretion of Pantothenic Acid by Normal Individuals

Excretion studies have frequently been employed in assessing the dietary requirement for certain nutritive essentials. It is axiomatic that individuals consuming diets deficient in a particular nutritive essential will excrete less of the material in question than those subsisting on an adequate or optimum regimen. The establishment of normal excretion values is, therefore, a requisite for the application of such a method in evaluating the adequacy of diets.Pantothenic acid is a dietary essential for a variety of species. Evidence has been presented by Spies, et al.,1 that it is essential in human nutrition. Pelczar and Porter,2 using a method based on the essential nature of pantothenic acid for Proteus morganii, found that the pantothenic acid content of 24-hour urine specimens from 9 persons ranged from 1.46 mg to 6.79 mg and averaged 3.81 mg. Pearson,3 using the method of Pennington, Snell, and Williams,4 which employs Lactobacillus casei as the test organism, reported that the amount of pantothenic a...
An Immunofluorescent Procedure for Detection of Hb F (γ Chain) in Peripheral Erythrocytes

A direct fluorescent method for die detection of the γ chain of Hb F in erythrocytes is described. The method is easier to interpret and more sensitive than the classic Kleihauer-Betke procedure.
Modulation of Ca2+ transients by photorelease of caged nucleotides in frog skeletal muscle fibers

Action potentials and intracellular Ca2+ transients were monitored in current-clamped segments of frog skeletal muscle fibers using the triple vaseline-gap technique. Calcium signals were measured with the fluorescent indicator rhod 2. Action potentials produced a transient increase in intracellular Ca2+ that was estimated, by deconvolution of the fluorescence signals, to range between 3 and 12 microM. The comparative effects of flash photolysis of caged adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) and caged ATP on action potentials and Ca signals in muscle were investigated. The photorelease of both nucleotides produced a reduction in the amplitude of the afterpotential that follows the spike. Photorelease of cAMP and ATP prolonged the rate of decay of the Ca signals. No changes in either the rate of rise or in the latent period between stimulation and onset of the Ca signal were observed. Release of cAMP reduced the amplitude of Ca signals, whereas release of ATP had the opposite effect. Our results show that cAMP and ATP, released above their endogenous levels, modulate intracellular Ca2+ release. The cAMP modulation is more significant and may be of physiological importance.
Graves of Unknowns in Gardens of Stone: An Analysis of Infant Anonymity from a Midwestern Cemetery, 1863–1983

To be named is to be, bestowing individuality and the most cogent dimension of social identity. Anonymity, the absence of a name, nearly defies scholarly consideration because the nameless are rare...
Designing Curriculum-Based Mathematics Professional Development for Kindergarten Teachers

This study examines the influence of a year-long mathematics professional development program on Kindergarten teachers’ beliefs, content knowledge, instructional practices, and their students’ achievement. The professional development program is grounded in the theoretical construct of learner-centered professional development and focuses on supporting teachers’ integration of standards-based pedagogies aligned with the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. Data analysis included examining 15 Kindergarten teachers’ mathematics content knowledge, their beliefs about mathematics, their enactment of student-centered pedagogies, and student achievement on curriculum-based assessments. Findings indicated that teachers adopted more student-centered pedagogies and embraced more student-centered beliefs about mathematics teaching during their time in the project. Further, Kindergarten teachers also demonstrated gains in their mathematical content knowledge, and those content knowledge gains were linked to gains in student achievement.
Financial Surrogate Decision Making: Lessons from Applied Experimental Philosophy

An estimated 1 in 4 elderly Americans need a surrogate to make decisions at least once in their lives. With an aging population, that number is almost certainly going to increase. This paper focuses on financial surrogate decision making. To illustrate some of the empirical and moral implications associated with financial surrogate decision making, two experiments suggest that default choice settings can predictably influence some surrogate financial decision making. Experiment 1 suggested that when making hypothetical financial decisions, surrogates tended to stay with default settings (OR = 4.37, 95% CI 1.52, 12.48). Experiment 2 replicated and extended this finding suggesting that in a different context (OR = 2.27, 95% CI 1.1, 4.65). Experiment 2 also suggested that those who were more numerate were less likely to be influenced by default settings than the less numerate, but only when the decision is whether to “opt in” (p = .05). These data highlight the importance of a recent debate about “nudging.” Defaults are common methods to nudge people to make desirable choices while allowing the liberty to choose otherwise. Some of the ethics of using default settings to nudge surrogate decision makers are discussed.
Survey of Microflora on the Top Surface of Vended Canned Drinks1

The top surfaces of 20 canned drinks obtained from vending machines were analyzed for their microbial flora. Members of the genus Flavobacterium predominated and were found on 85% of the cans; the remaining isolates included Pseudomonas , Bacillus , Staphylococcus , Corynebacterium , Erwinia , Klebsiella , Micrococcus , Arthrobacter , Lactobacillus , Nocardia , yeasts, and molds. Pseudomonus aeruginosa , Klebsiella pneumoniae , and Staphylococcus aureus were among these isolates. Total bacterial counts ranged from < 10 organisms per in2. to 3.2 × 104 organisms per in2. on can-top surface, with a mean count of 2.2 × 103 organisms per in2. Highest counts often occurred on samples with flora dominated by genera in the family Enterobacteriaceae .
Transforming the purchasing strategy of high-tech medical equipment in healthcare systems

ABSTRACTIn healthcare settings, implementing centralized strategic sourcing in healthcare systems can result in stronger supply chains, improved logistics, and improve the treatment of patients who utilize the newly purchased technologies. This study examines health technology acquisition and purchasing literature and develops a cross-functional acquisition strategy that leverages the acquisition of high-tech medical equipment for healthcare systems. The strategy is derived by combining best practices developed using decentralized purchasing strategies by healthcare facilities and successful buyer-supplier relationships from multiple industries. The strategy allows hospital systems to evaluate the efficacy of the equipment, the ability of the equipment to benefit the patient population, and the ability of the equipment to integrate with existing hospital IT systems. If the equipment proves to be a beneficial acquisition, the system can then form a buyer-supplier relationship to allow for the most efficien...
Chronic impairment of ERK signaling in glutamatergic neurons of the forebrain does not affect spatial memory retention and LTP in the same manner as acute blockade of the ERK pathway

The ERK/MAPK signaling pathway has been extensively studied in the context of learning and memory. Defects in this pathway underlie genetic diseases associated with intellectual disability, including impaired learning and memory. Numerous studies have investigated the impact of acute ERK/MAPK inhibition on long-term potentiation and spatial memory. However, genetic knockouts of the ERKs have not been utilized to determine whether developmental perturbations of ERK/MAPK signaling affect LTP and memory formation in postnatal life. In this study, two different ERK2 conditional knockout mice were generated that restrict loss of ERK2 to excitatory neurons in the forebrain, but at different time-points (embryonically and post-natally). We found that embryonic loss of ERK2 had minimal effect on spatial memory retention and novel object recognition, while loss of ERK2 post-natally had more pronounced effects in these behaviors. Loss of ERK2 in both models showed intact LTP compared to control animals, while loss of both ERK1 and ERK2 impaired late phase LTP. These findings indicate that ERK2 is not necessary for LTP and spatial memory retention and provide new insights into the functional deficits associated with the chronic impairment of ERK signaling. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Tools for Intervention Effectiveness Research, Quality Improvement Activities, and Program Evaluation

A conceptualization of the research or evaluation as described in Chapters. 2 and 3 provides the basis for operationalizing the PIO MM for intervention effectiveness research, quality improvement activities, and program evaluation. This operationalization requires measures, data, and software. In this chapter, checklists for obtaining new or existing data for operationalizing PIO MM are provided for two situations, new data that will be collected prospectively, and reusing existing data. Nursing’s robust standardized terminologies are described, with emphasis on the Omaha System as an exemplar for all terminologies. Use of large datasets is described, and their unique contribution to the examination of interventions and outcomes is discussed.
Miniature bulge test and energy release rate in HIPed aluminum/aluminum interfacial fracture

Abstract This paper summarizes the development of a technique of using miniature bulge test combined with three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D-DIC) for measuring energy release rate or fracture toughness of bimaterial interface of thin metal foils. The energy release rate associated with the HIPed aluminum/aluminum interfacial delamination is determined experimentally using the proposed technique. Detailed discussions of the schemes of preparing and conducting the bulge test, and computing various quantities required for the determination of the energy release rate are presented.
The Role of Scientific Communication in the Conduct of Research and the Creation of Scientific Knowledge

This chapter discusses the role of scientific communication in the conduct of research and the creation of scientific knowledge. The psychology of scientific communication emphasizes the interaction between the scientist and his environment. Each scientist brings to each situation a particular cluster of psychological attributes, which, combined with specific circumstances in the research process, gives the individual scientist a predisposition to perceive and detect, to assimilate, to associate, etc. what is happening with his research at any given moment. As a consequence, given identical circumstances in the lab, two scientists may perceive them differently, assimilate different information, or apply the same information to fulfill individual needs to advance his particular research. This chapter presents some explanation of why there is an information crisis in one science, that is, psychology. It also describes growth of scientific information and the need for scientific communication services.
Long Range Order. Ferromagnetism and Antiferromagnetism

We now extend the concept of exchange to include interactions through a three- dimensional (3D) crystalline lattice. The interactions themselves are short-ranged, and probably are important only for the first through fourth nearest neighbors, but the effects are observed over large distances in a sample. Transitions to long-range order from the paramagnetic state are characterized both by characteristic specific heat anomalies and by susceptibility behavior quite different from what has been described above. In other words, the transition from the paramagnetic state to a magnetically ordered state with long-range correlations between the magnetic moments is in fact a phase transition.
Stokoe, William (1919–2000)

William C. Stokoe, Jr. (1920–2000) was an American linguist and a pioneer in the study of signed languages. He was born in New Hampshire and educated at Cornell University. Hired in 1955 to teach English at Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University), the college for the Deaf in Washington, D.C., Stokoe became interested in the linguistic structure of American Sign Language and undertook an analysis of it. In 1960, the University of Buffalo published his book Sign language structure: an outline of the visual communication systems of the American Deaf (hereafter SLS), the first published work that applied the analytical techniques of linguistics to a signed language.
The utility of the Fear Survey Schedule-III: An extended replication

This investigation examined the factor structure of the Fear Survey Schedule-III in patients with specific anxiety disorders, including patients with panic disorder, agoraphobia without panic, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorder NOS. Four factors were obtained, reflecting a similar structure as has been noted in other studies. However, the ability of the obtained factors to discriminate among patients with panic disorder, social phobia, and specific phobia was not high. Future directions are highlighted.
Ballistic fragmentation confinement of coated brittle transformer bushing models

Abstract Pressurized borosilicate glass cylinders were used to (1) simulate experimentally high-voltage transformer bushing behavior under high-velocity impact from an air gun, (2) investigate fragment dynamics to estimate the impact range of airborne fragments, and (3) evaluate the efficiency of an elastomeric coating on ballistic damage initiation and fragment confinement. Using high-speed cameras, the velocities and directions of ejected fragments from the cylinders were determined along with fragment distribution symmetry. Drop tower testing was added to independently verify the air gun results on the cylinders through a different test under similar impact energies using flat samples of the same glass. Elastomeric coatings were also applied to both the cylinders and flat samples to increase their resistance to high energy impact. It has been shown that internal pressure in the glass cylinders plays a major role in the failure modes during high-velocity impacts. This pressure affects velocities, directions, and symmetry of fragment distribution. The fragment impact range investigation turned out to be inconclusive due to highly erratic behavior of the fragments after the blast. Most importantly, it has been ascertained that fragment dynamics are drastically altered by elastomeric coatings, producing a high level of fragment confinement both in the drop tower and gun tests. By extrapolating the air gun and drop tower data out to high power rifle energy levels, unique predictions of the critical coating thicknesses to prevent the initiation of ballistic damage and to confine fragments in borosilicate glass cylinders and C-120 porcelain bushings were achieved for the first time.
Building a novel near real-time multisource database to assess and improve infusion wait time at a comprehensive cancer center.

4Background: Evidence has shown that long infusion wait time is one of the main contributors to oncology patient dissatisfaction. To identify bottlenecks and inefficient processing, a comprehensive...
A power peak load shifting mixing with solar energy solution for hybrid energy system of the telecommunication base station

Some areas have poor mains facilities and sufficient solar energy, but the hybrid energy system of telecommunication base station of those areas can not run well and the cost of operation and maintenance is very high. This paper introduce a power peak load shifting mixing with solar energy solution(SE-PPLS) for hybrid energy system of telecom base station. Comparing with traditional power supply solution, this solution can help telecom operators reduce investment and OPEX.
A Mechanism for Timing Conditioned Responses

Classical conditioning procedures instill knowledge about the temporal relationships between conditioned stimuli, which are regarded as predictive signals and triggers for action, and the unconditioned stimulus, the event to be timed. This knowledge is expressed in the temporal features of the conditioned response, which typically develop such that its peak amplitude occurs at times when the unconditioned stimulus is expected. A simple connectionist network, comprised of two neuron-like processing units, provides a mechanism that can account for virtually all aspects of conditioned response timing. The unfolding of time from the onsets and offsets of events such as conditioned stimuli is represented by the propagation of activity along delay lines. Input to the two processing units from conditioned stimuli arise from collateral taps off of each sequential element of these delay lines.
Foreword to the USEPA's National Wetland Condition Assessment Topical Collection.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Aquatic Resources Survey (NARS) is a 5-year ongoing cycle of nationwide aquatic resource surveys which provide a report card on the condition of our nation’s waters. The surveys are performed using a randomized, statistically valid design and provide statistically robust data which are used to develop the reports. These reports assess how well existing pollution prevention programs are protecting those waters, and how to better target future protection efforts. This presentation will focus on the results and uses of the 2011 National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA) outcomes. Some of the outcomes from the NWCA include (1) robust multi-metric indices used to evaluate condition across varying wetland types, streams, and ecoregions and (2) physical, chemical, and biological indicators of stress (risk factors) which identify the factors which contribute most to poor condition. (3) A wealth of quality-assured, statistically valid data which can be mined to pursue other questions within both regulatory and non-regulatory programs by providing a more robust look at wetland and stream condition. There are a variety of ways in which knowledge of condition can be used to better evaluate environmental states and inform decision-making. Knowledge of risk factors, for example, can be used to prioritize restoration efforts to improve the health of streams and wetlands in poor condition, as well as to identify practices to be avoided in reviewing permit applications for work in waters. The use of multi-metric plant condition indices could be useful in better identifying achieved “lift” in wetland mitigation banks, as well as providing a more robust measure of mitigation or restoration success. It is our hope to generate some seeds for future thought and discussion on ways in which the products of these NARS surveys can enhance the protection and restoration of these aquatic resources.
Thermal Stability of Type II Polyketide Acyl Carrier Proteins

Engineering biosynthetic pathways in microorganisms is a compelling route to gain access to novel molecules with drug-like properties. Polyketide synthases (PKSs) utilize acyl carrier proteins (ACP...
Driving Simulator Assessment of Fitness-to-Drive Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Returning to driving is a major goal for individuals recovering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Clinicians have a variety of tools to assess the ability to return to driving for TBI patients, including cognitive assessments, but on-road instrumented vehicle driving assessments have been considered the gold standard. However, these on-road assessments are limited in the ability to ethically expose drivers to certain driving situations or environments. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of a high-fidelity driving simulator to assess driving performance in individuals who have sustained a moderate-to-severe TBI, as well as associate cognitive measures commonly used in this population with simulated driving outcomes. Fourteen participants from a TBI clinic were recruited to drive in a simulator through a series of increasingly complex diving modules: 1) basic vehicle operation; 2) secondary task engagement while driving; 3) car following; 4) divided attention; and 5) navigating left hand turns across oncoming traffic. Half (n = 7) had been released to return to drive and half (n = 7) were considered to never be able to return to driving. Although general trends suggest non-drivers exhibit slower driving and increased lane position variation, group differences driving were not shown likely due to small sample sizes. Differences in patterns of cognitive correlates with driving were found, with higher order cognitive processes, like working memory, being more associated with driving outcomes in active drivers. Suggestions for driving scenario development in this population are discussed.
Finite element analysis of Tumor Treating Fields in a patient with posterior fossa glioblastoma.

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are alternating electric fields at 200 kHz that disrupt tumor cells as they undergo mitosis. Patient survival benefit has been demonstrated in randomized clinical trials but much of the data are available only for supratentorial glioblastomas. We investigated a series of alternative array configurations for the posterior fossa to determine the electric field coverage of a cerebellar glioblastoma. Semi-automated segmentation of neuro-anatomical structures was performed while the gross tumor volume (GTV) was manually delineated. A three-dimensional finite-element mesh was generated and then solved for field distribution. Compared to the supratentorial array configuration, the alternative array configurations consist of posterior displacement the 2 lateral opposing arrays and inferior displacement of the posteroanterior array, resulting in an average increase of 46.6% electric field coverage of the GTV as measured by the area under the curve of the electric field-volume histogram (EAUC). Hotspots, or regions of interest with the highest 5% of TTFields intensity (E5%), had an average increase of 95.6%. Of the 6 posterior fossa configurations modeled, the PAHorizontal arrangement provided the greatest field coverage at the GTV when the posteroanterior array was placed centrally along the patient’s posterior neck and horizontally parallel, along the longer axis, to the coronal plane of the patient’s head. Varying the arrays also produced hotspots proportional to TTFields coverage. Our finite element modeling showed that the alternative array configurations offer an improved TTFields coverage to the cerebellar tumor compared to the conventional supratentorial configuration.
Location as Destiny: Identifying Geospatial Disparities in Radiation Treatment Interruption by Neighborhood, Race, and Insurance.

Purpose Radiation therapy interruption (RTI) worsens cancer outcomes. Our purpose was to benchmark and map RTI across a region in the United States with known cancer outcome disparities. Methods and Materials All radiation therapy (RT) treatments at our academic center were cataloged. Major RTI was defined as ≥5 unplanned RT appointment cancellations. Univariate and multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses identified associated factors. Major RTI was mapped by patient residence. A 2-sided P value Results Between 2015 and 2017, a total of 3754 patients received RT, of whom 3744 were eligible for analysis: 962 patients (25.8%) had ≥2 RT interruptions and 337 patients (9%) had major RTI. Disparities in major RTI were seen across Medicaid versus commercial/Medicare insurance (22.5% vs 7.2%; P Conclusions Radiation treatment interruption disproportionately affects financially and socially vulnerable patient populations and maps to high-poverty neighborhoods. Geospatial mapping affords an opportunity to correlate RT access on a neighborhood level to inform potential intervention strategies.
1.10 – Cognitive Dimension of Operant Learning

Tolman bucked the behaviorist ideology early on when he introduced a cognitive framework for instrumental behavior. He spoke of outcome expectancies and the goal-directed nature of instrumental and operant learning. This framework is supported by recent behavioral and neurobiological findings, which provide evidence for the dissociation between habit learning and goal-directed behavior. Goal-directed behavior provides the substrate for an intentional psychology and for a theory of agency. It also enables an agent to use its interventions to identify cause–effect relationships, and can allow for a deeper understanding of how tools function.
Impact of mitigating interventions and temperature on the instantaneous reproduction number in the COVID-19 pandemic among 30 US metropolitan areas

Abstract Background After more than six months into the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as of August 10, 2020, over 734,664 people had died worldwide. The current study aims to evaluate how mitigating interventions affected the epidemic process in the 30 largest metropolitan areas in the US and whether temperature played a role in the epidemic process. Methods Publicly available data for the time series of COVID-19 cases and deaths and weather were analyzed at the metropolitan level. The time-varying reproductive numbers (Rt) based on retrospective moving average were used to explore the trends. Student t-tests were used to compare temperature and peak Rt cross-sectionally. Results We found that virus transmissibility, measured by instantaneous reproduction number (Rt), had declined since the end of March for all areas and almost all of them reached a Rt of 1 or below after April 15, 2020. The timing of the main decline was concurrent with the implementation of mitigating interventions. However, the Rts remained around 1 for most areas since then and there were some small and short rebounds in some areas, suggesting a persistent epidemic in those areas when interventions were relaxed. Cities with warm temperature also tended to have a lower peak Rt than that of cities with cold temperature. However, they were not statistically significant and large geographic variations existed. Conclusions Aggressive interventions might have mitigated the current pandemic of COVID-19, while temperature might have weak effects on the virus transmission. We may need to prepare for a possible return of the coronavirus outbreak.
Iqbal, Twombly, and the Expected Cost of False Positive Error

Iqbal and Twombly introduced a new standard for pleading federal claims by overruling five-decades old language from Conley v. Gibson. Instead of plaintiffs being entitled to discovery unless the complaint affirmatively forecloses the possibility of recovery, Iqbal and Twombly require a more searching evaluation of the complaint under an ambiguous “plausibility” standard. The policy behind this increased burden on plaintiffs is to prevent the false positive error that burdensome discovery creates. How the plausibility standard from Iqbal and Twombly should operate in the real world is poorly understood. There is general acknowledgement that no clear guidance exists about how to ensure only plausible inferences are indulged. Professor Josh Davis recently summed up the sentiments: “Twombly is a very confusing decision. I really do think . . . it’s going to be a while before we get a rule that produces predictable results.” Professor Adam Steinman is more hyperbolic: “thanks to” Twombly and Iqbal, “federal pleading standards are in a crisis.” This Article fills the void in scholarly and judicial thought by providing an understanding of the Twombly/Iqbal pleading standard that is both theoretically sound and pragmatic. Our approach turns on the policy underlying Iqbal and Twombly—a concern that permitting the case to proceed past the motion to dismiss creates a high-expected cost of false positive error through non-merit-based settlements. The expected cost of false positive error is a function of two variables: the cost to society if the error occurs and the likelihood that the error will occur.
Improving farm decisions: The application of data engineering techniques to manage data streams from contemporary dairy operations

Abstract Modern dairy farms generate vast amounts of data, with different sections of the operation having the ability to produce its own uniquely structured data stream depending on the specific hardware and software used. As a result of this heterogeneity, these streams are difficult to link to each other, thus it is rarely done. This creates an opportunity to add value to the data by integrating and homogenizing data from the different sources, with the end result of enriching analyses and helping to improve farm management decisions. Within a proposed project, a two component modular system is being developed. One component collects, cleans, and integrates data from on-farm systems into a centralized hub (AgDH). This system provides data to a framework designed to deploy and operationalize existing research-derived analytical tools and provide access to these tools and data via a user interface. The AgDH follows five steps to ingest different data streams available at the dairy farm: 1) transporting raw data into a centralized system; 2) decoding and storing data in a database; 3) cleaning data to ensure its validity; 4) homogenization of data by extracting the common features among the different software and farms; and 5) integration of data from the different systems. Each of these steps is crucial to make data available from different sources in a consistent manner, ease algorithmic development and its implementation, and facilitate the deployment of new tools that utilize the integrated data. In order to automate the process and make the data continuously available an open source workflow management platform was used. Both historical and current data can be made available to authenticated users via an application programming interface hosted through a web service. This framework needs to be designated to be flexible and able to adapt quickly to the changes and new technologies that are continuously being developed in the dairy industry. The integration and accessibility of data can facilitate a wide range of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics that can be developed and deployed directly on farms to increase animal performance, efficiency, health and welfare, profit margins, and decrease the environmental impact of dairy farming.
Vaccine Studies, Statistics in

Statistical methodologies have been used in estimating the efficacy of a vaccine from field trials and observational studies. Dynamics of disease transmission interferes with the efficacy of a vaccine. This is a very brief summary of some statistical work related to vaccine studies, especially, in the context of HIV/AIDS vaccine. Keywords: efficacy; HIV/AIDS; infectiousness; susceptibility; transmission
7. The Multianvil Press

Publisher Summary Multianvil high-pressure devices incorporate the principle of “massive support” through the use of four or more coupled or independent anvil systems. Multianvil press systems provide the means for carrying out a variety of high pressure-temperature experiments within a range of conditions which are not sufficiently covered by the use of alternative devices. Although conventional piston-cylinder units are more convenient and economical to use below 4 ot 5 GPa, multianvil presses generally provide a more hydrostatic pressure field in the region of the specimen, as well as larger volume. The most useful application of multianvil presses probably involves experiments in the pressure range 4–9 GPa, where a large specimen volume is desirable. However, specialized and sophisticated pressure cell-sample systems provide for a variety of other unique applications. The earliest uses of multianvil presses centered on materials synthesis and phase equilibrium studies. Numerous measurements of various material physical properties, including volume compression, electrical conductivity, and thermal expansion, have been carried out in multianvil presses. Although the cost of large multianvil devices is high, they provide a range of basic research, engineering, and commercial applications that cannot be duplicated by other methods generating high-pressure.
Successful Remembering and Successful Forgetting : A Festschrift in Honor of Robert A. Bjork

Part 1. On the Relationship Between Remembering and Forgetting. R.A. Bjork, On the Symbiosis of Remembering, Forgetting, and Learning. H.L. Roediger, J.D. Karpicke, Intricacies of Spaced Retrieval: A Resolution. T.K. Landauer, Distributed Learning and the Size of Memory: A 50-year Spacing Odyssey. A.S. Benjamin, B.H. Ross, The Causes and Consequences of Reminding. Part 2. Forgetting, Inhibition, and Competition in Memory. B.C. Storm, Retrieval-induced Forgetting and the Resolution of Competition. M.C. Anderson, B.J. Levy, On the Relationship Between Interference and Inhibition in Cognition. M.D. Macleod, J.C. Hulbert, Sleep, Retrieval Inhibition, and the Resolving Power of Human Memory. S.M. Smith, Blocking Out Blocks: Adaptive Forgetting of Fixation in Memory, Problem Solving, and Creative Ideation. Part 3. Desirable Difficulties in Education and Training. M.A. McDaniel, A.C. Butler, A Contextual Framework for Understanding when Difficulties are Desirable. C.O. Fritz, Testing, Generation, and Spacing Applied to Education - Past, Present, and Future. W.B. Whitten II, Learning from and for Tests. M.C. Linn, Can Desirable Difficulties Overcome Deceptive Clarity in Scientific Visualizations? J. Metcalfe, Desirable Difficulties and Studying in the Region of Proximal Learning. A.F. Healy, J.A. Kole, E.L. Wohldmann, C.J. Buck-Gengler, L.E. Bourne Jr, Data Entry: A Window to Principles of Training. Part 4. Metacognition. A. Koriat, A. Pansky, M. Goldsmith, An Output-Bound Perspective on False Memories: The Case of the Deese-Roediger-McDermott Paradigm. H.P. Bahrick, M.K. Baker, L.K. Hall, L. Abrams, How Should We Define and Differentiate Metacognitions? E.L. Bjork, B.C. Storm, P.A. DeWinstanley Learning From the Consequences of Retrieval: Another Test Effect. N. Kornell, Failing To Predict Changes In Memory: A Stability Bias Yields Long-Term Overconfidence. B.A. Spellman, E.R. Tenney, M.J. Scalia, Relying on Other People's Metamemory. Part 5. The Psychology and Neuroscience of Remembering. T.D. Wickens, Multidimensional Models for Item Recognition and Source Identification. T.A. Smith, D.R. Kimball, Pursuing a General Model of Recall and Recognition. J.M. Oates, L.M. Reder, Memory for Pictures: Sometimes a Picture Is Not Worth a Single Word. B. Stangl, E. Hirshman, J. Verbalis, Administration of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Increases Serum Levels of Androgens and Estrogens but Does Not Enhance Recognition Memory in Post-Menopausal Women. A. Richardson-Klavehn, On the Fruitful Relationship Between Functional Neuroimaging and Cognitive Theories of Human Learning and Memory. D.L. Schacter, B. Gaesser, D.R. Addis, Age-Related Changes in the Episodic Simulation of Past and Future Events.
Multi-material, multi-technology stereolithography: This feature article covers a decade of research into tackling one of the major challenges of the stereolithography technique, which is including multiple materials in one construct

For more than a decade, our group has been developing the methods and systems required to have spatial control over material placement and structure creation, leading to, for example, the realisation of complex three-dimensional (3D) devices that integrate electronics and thus intelligence within mechanical structures as well as 3D spatially complex bioactive, implantable, tissue engineered constructs. There are myriad issues associated with combining multiple materials to create functional products, ranging from the deposition and processing of different materials to the combined performance of the materials in the resulting product. Stereolithography (SL) has been the primary technology focus of this work because it offers high quality surface finish, dimensional accuracy, and a variety of material options that includes implantable materials. Moreover, SL builds in essentially ambient, minimally controlled environmental conditions that provide easy access to the build chamber and enable straightforward ...