cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detection of a Complex That Associates With the Bβ Fibrinogen G−455-A Polymorphism

The promoter region of the Bβ fibrinogen gene containing the polymorphic site (G−455-A) shows an increase in fibrinogen levels for individuals containing an adenine rather than a guanine. Two methods were used to explore the possible functional role of this region. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) were performed using specific DNA probes containing base sequences pertinent to the allelic site. Specific DNA binding proteins were detected and their binding characteristics were determined. Secondly, we placed DNA fragments containing different −455 nucleotide substitutions of the Bβ promoter upstream of a luciferase reporter gene and transfected them into HepG2 cells to determine their effect on transactivation. An adenine at position −455 resulted in greater luciferase activity than when a guanine was present. UV cross-linking bound protein to the DNA demonstrated a 47-kD protein binding preferentially to the site when a guanine rather than an adenine was present at −455. We hypothesize that a transactivation protein complex associates with the site, but its association is stronger when guanine is present, thereby slowing downstream Bβ gene transcription. These data provide the first molecular evidence that accounts for the increase in fibrinogen in individuals carrying this allele. © 1998 by The American Society of Hematology.
Investigation on Consumption Behavior of Sports Lottery Consumer in Zhejiang Province

Through using the method of questionnaire investigation and mathematical statistics,this paper made investigation on consumption behavior of sports lottery consumer in Zhejiang province.The result showed that the biggest group of consumer was the person aged at 20～30,middle and high school education background,salary below average.The main motivation was to try their luck.Those occasionally buying sports lottery occupied large proportion.They usually spend 2～20 RMB each time.The amount of premium was the main factor to influence consumer behavior.
Detection of groEL gene in blood samples of feverish tsutsuqamushi disease patients in Hainan province

Objective To understand the status of tsutsugamushi infection in patients with fever in Hainan province and conduct genotyping ofOrientia tsutsugamushi. Methods Blood samples were collected from 117 patients with unknown fever in hospitals of Hainan Province during 2009~2010 and specific fragment of groEL gene in blood samples of Orientia tsutsugamushi was detected by nested PCR method, the positive samples were sequenced and clustered. Results Fifteen samples positive for groEL were found from 117 with the positive rate of 12.8%. Ten samples were sequenced and the sequence of R.tsutsugamushi(M31887) in Hainan hared a high homology with Oriental tsutsugamushi. Conclusion There is Orientia tsutsugamushi infection among feverish patients in Hainan, and monitoring approaches be taken to control tsutsugamushi disease.
Developmental changes in the modulation of synaptic glycine receptors by ethanol.

During postnatal motoneuron development, the glycine receptor (GlyR) α subunit changes from α2 (fetal) to α1 (adult). To study the effect this change has on ethanol potentiation of GlyR currents in...
The Politics of Global Warming in the U.S.

The response of the U.S. government to evidence of global warming has been limited and fragmented. Several theories from political science shed light on why it is difficult to shift the focus of policy makers away from economic development and undermine support for environmental protection. Some of the same political forces that limit collective action on the issue of carbon emissions and global warming within the U.S. also offer insights into the challenges of bringing about international cooperation in this arena. The power of coal, gas and oil companies to block change and the bias of a market based political economy to place economic development over other social goals are both challenges faced by governments throughout the world. The U.S. is notorious for fragmented institutions with strong veto points that block changes even when they are favored by a majority of the population, but the institutional challenge of enforcing global agreements among autonomous nation states is even greater than the challenge of overcoming barriers to collective action within the U.S.
Toward an Integrated Nuclear Materials Safety Management Approach in the United States and Russia

This paper provides an overview of evolving integrated safety management practices, policy and principles in the US. Its purpose is to present an understanding of US safety management approaches and terminology with a view toward their application for a joint program of the US and Russia in the field of nuclear materials safety management. Recognizing that there are many ways to approach the issue of managing safety for workers, the public and the environment, this presentation offers a basis for initiating discussion and furthering our understanding of parallel technical methods and management approaches which might be mutually adaptable in both countries.
Genome-Wide Association Study of Platelet Function in African Americans

Abstract Abstract 1068 Background: We have previously shown that platelet aggregation, an essential component of pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes, has higher heritability in African Americans than Caucasians. However, a genome-wide association study of native platelet function in African Americans has not been reported. Methods: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was isolated from blood samples obtained from the discovery (GeneSTAR, N=835) and replication (Platelet Genes and Physiology Study, N=119) cohorts. Optical aggregation was used to measure maximal aggregation in PRP after samples were stimulated with arachidonic acid, collagen, ADP, or epinephrine. Genotyping was conducted with Illumina 1M arrays. For each cohort, age- and sex-adjusted linear mixed models were used to test for association between each SNP and each phenotype under an additive model. Results: Of the 117 SNPs that were significant (P Table ). Among the replicated SNPs, a previously reported SNP in European Americans, rs12041331, in the PEAR1 gene was associated with ADP- and epinephrine-mediated aggregation. 47 SNPs in the 17q21.31 region, in one LD block, were associated with collagen-mediated aggregation. Conclusions: In this first GWAS of native agonist-mediated platelet aggregation in African Americans, we have discovered, and replicated in an independent sample, 4 regions that are associated with platelet aggregation. Several genes in the identified regions are expressed in platelets and further study of these genes may provide novel insights in platelet biology. Most significant SNPs associated with native platelet aggregation in the discovery and replication cohorts SNP (MA) Chr:Position Gene Function MAF-GS MAF-PGAP Pheno ES, P (GS) ES, P (PGAP) rs12041331(A) 1:155136338 PEAR1 Intron 38% 32% ADP −9.2, 5.8 × 10−9 −6.5, 0.03 Epi −17.9, 8.3 × 10−17 −14.7, 0.001 rs11202221(G) 10:8592294 BMPR1A intron 8% 9% ADP −12.7, 4.8 × 10−8 −16.4, 2.4 × 10−5 rs1800547(G) 17:41407682 MAPT intron 6% 7% Col 0.09, 7.8 × 10−10 2.5, 0.03 rs7216411(C) 17:43443943 5% 6% Col 0.99, 5.4 × 10−17 2.7, 0.03 Abbreviations: MA = minor allele; MAF = minor allele frequency; GS = GeneSTAR; PGAP = Platelet Genes and Physiology Study; ES = effect size; P = p-value. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The Glass and Ceramic Assemblage of the Mardi Gras Shipwreck

The Mardi Gras Shipwreck, the remains of an approximately 16 m (52 ft.) long vessel that sank roughly 65 km (40 mi.) southeast of the Mississippi Delta during the early 19th century, yielded a substantial number of intact and nearly intact glass and ceramic artifacts. The majority of the glass and ceramic artifacts consists of bottles and creamware tableware, but other items, such as stoneware jugs and an inkwell, are also present. Analysis of the glass and ceramic artifacts helped to date the shipwreck and provided insights regarding consumer choice and shipboard life in the 19th-century Gulf of Mexico.
Long-lived complexes and signatures of chaos in ultracold K 2 +Rb collisions

Lifetimes of complexes formed during ultracold collisions are of current experimental interest as a possible cause of trap loss in ultracold gases of alkali-metal dimers. Microsecond lifetimes for complexes formed during ultracold elastic collisions of ${\mathrm{K}}_{2}$ with Rb are reported, from numerically exact quantum-scattering calculations. Thermally averaged lifetimes are compared with those calculated using a simple density-of-states approach, which are shown to be reasonable. This validates the density-of-states approach and suggests that the formation of long-lived complexes is indeed the cause of observed experimental trap loss in ultracold alkali-metal-dimer systems. Long-lived complexes correspond to narrow scattering resonances which we examine for the statistical signatures of quantum chaos, finding that the positions and widths of the resonances are in good agreement with the Wigner-Dyson and Porter-Thomas distributions, respectively.
Clinical Features and Outcomes of Gastric Ischemia.

Gastric ischemia is a rare condition associated with poor prognosis. Our study aim was to highlight the clinical features and outcomes of patients with gastric ischemia. A retrospective review of patients diagnosed with isolated gastric ischemia at our institution from January 1, 2000, to May 5, 2016, was performed. Demographic, clinical, endoscopic, radiologic, and outcome variables were abstracted for analysis. Seventeen patients (65% men) with mean age of 69.3 ± 11.3 years and body mass index of 28.8 ± 11.1 were identified. The etiologies for gastric ischemia included local vascular causes (n = 8), systemic hypoperfusion (n = 4), and mechanical obstruction (n = 5). The most common presenting symptoms were abdominal pain (65%), gastrointestinal bleeding (47%), and altered mental status (23%). The typical endoscopic appearance was mucosal congestion and erythema with or without ulceration. Gastric pneumatosis and portal venous air were more commonly seen on CT imaging. Radiologic and/or surgical intervention was needed in 9 patients, while the remaining 8 patients were managed conservatively with acid suppression, antibiotics, and nasogastric tube decompression. The median duration of hospital stay was 15 days (range 1–36 days). There were no cases of rebleeding and the mortality rate as a direct result of gastric ischemia was 24% within 6 months of diagnosis. Although uncommon, gastric ischemia is associated with significant mortality. Endoscopy and CT imaging play an important role in its diagnosis. The management of gastric ischemia is dictated by its severity and associated comorbidities.
Diversity - dominance and succession of fungal communities in sandy soils (a beach of v region - chile) on keratinic substrata. I

Con la finalidad de demostrar la sobrevivencia de hongos patogenos o potencialmente patogenos en las arenas de playas recreacionales marinas, informacion de interes ecologico y relacionada a Salud Publica, pesquizamos el crecimiento saprofito de las comunidades fungicas queratinofilicas-liticas en substratos queratinicos en una playa de Vina del Mar (Caleta Abarca), mediante un muestreo mensual entre los meses de Enero a Diciembre de 1982.
Lumbar Disc Herniation and Radiculopathy

Lumbar disc herniations are a common cause of lower extremity pain. Fortunately, the natural history is favorable in most cases, with about 90% of patients reporting improvement with nonoperative treatment within 3 months of onset of symptoms. Surgery can be indicated in those patients who fail nonoperative treatment. Surgical treatment usually involves a lumbar discectomy. The most reliable goal with surgery is improvement of leg pain. Back pain, which can arise from a variety of underlying causes, may or may not improve. Urgent surgery is indicated in cases of cauda equina syndrome or progressive neurological deficit.
RDA implementation and the emergence of BIBFRAME

RDA (Resource Description and Access) has been adopted and is widely used as the standard for descriptive cataloging by libraries and related institutions. Since its implementation, RDA continues to evolve and grow to meet the end user needs. These developments brought into focus some of the shortcomings of MARC 21 as a description tool. Recognizing the need to create a more effective vehicle for bibliographic description, the Library of Congress developed BIBFRAME, a linked data alternative to MARC 21. In my article, I will discuss the evolution of RDA and the challenges of implementing the system, highlight the issues with MARC 21 in its relation to RDA and the role that BIBFRAME can play in the newly emerging information model.
Psoas and paraspinous muscle index as a predictor of mortality in African American men with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Abstract Aim Recent studies revealed a correlation between skeletal muscle mass index and density with longevity; these studies largely evaluated appendicular skeletal muscles in older Caucasians. This retrospective cohort study assessed the association between axial skeletal muscles size and density with survival in African Americans with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods Psoas and paraspinous muscle mass index (cross sectional area/height2) and radiographic density (in Hounsfield Units) were measured using computed tomography in African American-Diabetes Heart Study participants, 314 women and 256 men, with median (25th, 75th quartile) age 55.0(48.0, 62.0) and 57.0(50.0, 64.0) years, respectively. Covariates in fully-adjusted model included age, sex, BMI, smoking, hormone replacement therapy (women), cardiovascular disease, hypertension, coronary artery calcified plaque mass, carotid artery calcified plaque mass, and African ancestry proportion. Results After median of 7.1(5.9, 8.2) years follow-up, 30(9.6%) of women and 49(19.1%) of men were deceased. In fully-adjusted models, psoas muscle mass index and paraspinous muscle mass index were inversely associated with mortality in men (psoas muscle mass index, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.61, P = 0.004; paraspinous muscle mass index, HR = 0.64, P = 0.004), but not in women. Psoas and paraspinous muscle densities did not associate with all-cause mortality. A penalized Cox regression that involved all covariates and predictors associated with mortality showed that only paraspinous muscle mass index remained a significant predictor of mortality (HR = 0.65, P = 0.02). Conclusion Independent from established risk factors for mortality, higher psoas and paraspinous muscle index associate with reduced all-cause mortality in middle-aged African American men with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Improved Synthesis of 4-Cyanotryptophan and Other Tryptophan Analogues in Aqueous Solvent Using Variants of TrpB from Thermotoga maritima

The use of enzymes has become increasingly widespread in synthesis as chemists strive to reduce their reliance on organic solvents in favor of more environmentally benign aqueous media. With this in mind, we previously endeavored to engineer the tryptophan synthase β-subunit (TrpB) for production of noncanonical amino acids that had previously been synthesized through multistep routes involving water-sensitive reagents. This enzymatic platform proved effective for the synthesis of analogues of the amino acid tryptophan (Trp), which are frequently used in pharmaceutical synthesis as well as chemical biology. However, certain valuable compounds, such as the blue fluorescent amino acid 4-cyanotryptophan (4-CN-Trp), could only be made in low yield, even at elevated temperature (75 °C). Here, we describe the engineering of TrpB from Thermotoga maritima that improved synthesis of 4-CN-Trp from 24% to 78% yield. Remarkably, although the final enzyme maintains high thermostability (T50 = 93 °C), its temperature p...
Reducing Depth Distortions for Converged Cameras

In Chapter 8, a configuration was described which provides undistorted stereoscopic viewing when using parallel cameras. This system requires shifting the left and right images electronically in opposite directions and also controls the image size. This system may either present a trade-off between depth resolution and stereoscopic image overlap or require high precision lateral adjustment of the positions of the lenses. The system may not be applicable to all situations, The use of converged camera configurations can avoid these problems or reduce their effects to acceptable levels for many viewing situations.
fMRI identifies a network of structures correlated with retention of positive and negative emotional memory

It is likely that the encoding of emotional experiences involves a complex network of interacting brain regions. The present study used fMRI to identify brain structures involved in the encoding of negative and positive emotional stimuli. Ten subjects viewed alternating blocks of emotionally negative and positive pictures and were tested for long-term recognition memory several months later. Recognition memory for negative and positive pictures was highly correlated. Brain reactivity to negative pictures was positively correlated with better recognition memory for both negative and positive pictures in the amygdala, the insula, and the right middle frontal gyrus. Brain reactivity to positive pictures was positively correlated with better recognition memory for both negative and positive pictures in the left anterior cingulate gyrus. Activation among these brain regions was highly correlated and suggests a network of structures that interact to encode either negative or positive emotional stimuli for long-term recognition memory. Two mechanisms by which this encoding may take place are discussed.
Legitimacy invariance and campus crime: the impact of campus police legitimacy in different reporting contexts

This paper examines whether campus police legitimacy relevance varies across different crime contexts. 519 respondents from 31 undergraduate sections at a public university rated campus police legi...
Hamiltonian of the two atom sublattice system – 2D hexagonal materials

Abstract With the advent of the metal–insulator transition (MIT) as a tool for adjusting the properties of lower dimensions materials, with nanoscale dimensions in one or more of the coordinate directions, it is worthwhile to derive analytical formulas for the electronic energy in k-space, for a generic two-dimensional hexagonal lattice as a prelude for their use in nanoscopic transport devices (using the MIT) or other solid state devices. This is done in the tight binding (TB) approximation, since it allows a tractable analytical development, with some refinements possible. This lattice structure is applicable to many 2D materials like graphene, BN, MoS2, and many others. This chapter treats the reduced Hamiltonian of the system with identical atoms in the sublattices (Section 7.1 ), provides the general solution for the eigenenergy and the eigenvector (Section 7.2 ), the specialized solution obtained by dropping the next nearest neighbor hopping term (Section 7.3 ), the low energy, small momentum deviations about the Dirac points (Section 7.4 ), the phase factor used in the Hamiltonian and eigenfunction at the Dirac points (Section 7.5 ), the Hamiltonian and eigenenergy about the Dirac points (Section 7.6 ), band and Dirac point symmetry breaking due to second order q momentum effects (Section 7.7 ), the density of states near the Dirac points (Section 7.8 ), the density of states in the vicinity of the electron group velocity approaching zero (Section 7.9 ), the density of states in vicinity of the electron group velocity zero for finite k (Section 7.10 ), and the eigenenergy at 1BZ edge at the Van Hove singularity point (Section 7.11 ).
Diabetes and Pregnancy

Diabetes in pregnancy has important implications for both maternal and fetal health. The increasing prevalence of diabetes requires that providers caring for women of childbearing age understand how to counsel and manage women with diabetes. In women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), pregnancy outcome can be improved by pregestational intervention to insure euglycemia during conception and the embryonic period. In gravidas whose glucose intolerance is discovered during pregnancy [i.e., gestational diabetes (GDM)], glucose surveillance during pregnancy and diabetic and other metabolic screening following pregnancy positively impact fetal and maternal health. The aim of this chapter is to describe the effect of pregnancy on glucose metabolism, discuss the clinical importance of diabetes in pregnancy, summarize screening and diagnostic testing models for GDM, and highlight important clinical issues that impact on pregestational and gestational diabetes management.
Chronic stress induces persistent low-grade inflammation

Abstract Introduction This study sought to determine if the systemic cytokine profile of rodents subjected to chronic restraint stress leads to persistent low-grade inflammation. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to restraint stress for a total of seven or fourteen days. Urine norepinephrine (NE), plasma interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP) were assessed with ELISA. Liver expression of IL-6 and TNF-α were assessed with real time PCR. Results Chronic stress at 7 and 14 days sequentially increased plasma acute phase reactants (NE, IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP), liver IL-6 expression, hematopoietic progenitor cell mobilization, and decreased erythroid progenitor colony growth. Weight gain was reduced by chronic stress compared to each models’ naive counterpart. Conclusions Combining this model with trauma and sepsis models will allow evaluation of the contribution of persistent inflammation in disease progression and outcomes.
End-to-end I/O portfolio for the summit supercomputing ecosystem

The I/O subsystem for the Summit supercomputer, No. 1 on the Top500 list, and its ecosystem of analysis platforms is composed of two distinct layers, namely the in-system layer and the center-wide parallel file system layer (PFS), Spider 3. The in-system layer uses node-local SSDs and provides 26.7 TB/s for reads, 9.7 TB/s for writes, and 4.6 billion IOPS to Summit. The Spider 3 PFS layer uses IBM's Spectrum Scale™ and provides 2.5 TB/s and 2.6 million IOPS to Summit and other systems. While deploying them as two distinct layers was operationally efficient, it also presented usability challenges in terms of multiple mount points and lack of transparency in data movement. To address these challenges, we have developed novel end-to-end I/O solutions for the concerted use of the two storage layers. We present the I/O subsystem architecture, the end-to-end I/O solution space, their design considerations and our deployment experience.
The Limits of Education

This chapter traces the family background and patchy art education of Progressive Era designer and social activist Louise Brigham, especially her study of various arts and crafts in Europe and the important mentorship of Viennese designer Josef Hoffmann. There is a consideration of the limitations of design education for women of her generation, as well as the difficulty of establishing professional careers. The chapter also examines her extended involvement with the settlement movement in New York City and Cleveland, Ohio, as well as in Copenhagen, Denmark, focusing on how this may have shaped the early stages of her box furniture project, her commitment to design for the working class, and her later practices as an educator.
Agronomic and Ecological Implications of Biofuels

Abstract Biofuels can be alternative energy sources which simultaneously reduce dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the US, over 50 billion liters of ethanol produced in 2010 is mandated to increase to 136 billion liters by 2022. Globally, approximately 33.3 million ha (Mha) of land under production of biofuels in 2008 may increase to as much as 82 Mha by 2020. Whereas data on the energy efficiency and GHG balances for biofuels are available, information on agronomic and ecological consequences of large-scale production of bioenergy crops is sparse. Thus, this paper describes the potential effects that bioenergy production may have on ecosystems. Conversion of land to biofuel crops may have significant impacts on ecosystem services such soil and water quality, GHG emissions, wildlife habitat, net primary productivity, and biological control, and plant diversity at both the landscape and the regional levels. Production of exotic species for feedstock may increase the risk of escape from agriculture and invasion into natural ecosystems. Several feedstocks, while suitable on the basis of energy and GHG assessments, may have negative ecosystem impacts (i.e., increased N export in the Gulf of Mexico). Bioenergy feedstock may compete with food crops for land, water, and nutrient resources, resulting in higher prices for food as well as potential increases in malnutrition and food insecurity. Biofuels can be a sustainable and renewable source of energy, but assessments must include ecological impacts, economic costs, and energetic efficiencies.
Urban Oxidation Flow Reactor Measurements Reveal Significant Secondary Organic Aerosol Contributions from Volatile Emissions of Emerging Importance

Mobile sampling studies have revealed enhanced levels of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in source-rich urban environments. While these enhancements can be from rapidly reacting vehicular emissions, it was recently hypothesized that nontraditional emissions (volatile chemical products and upstream emissions) are emerging as important sources of urban SOA. We tested this hypothesis by using gas and aerosol mass spectrometry coupled with an oxidation flow reactor (OFR) to characterize pollution levels and SOA potentials in environments influenced by traditional emissions (vehicular, biogenic), and nontraditional emissions (e.g., paint fumes). We used two SOA models to assess contributions of vehicular and biogenic emissions to our observed SOA. The largest gap between observed and modeled SOA potential occurs in the morning-time urban street canyon environment, for which our model can only explain half of our observation. Contributions from VCP emissions (e.g., personal care products) are highest in this environment, suggesting that VCPs are an important missing source of precursors that would close the gap between modeled and observed SOA potential. Targeted OFR oxidation of nontraditional emissions shows that these emissions have SOA potentials that are similar, if not larger, compared to vehicular emissions. Laboratory experiments reveal large differences in SOA potentials of VCPs, implying the need for further characterization of these nontraditional emissions.
K-Nearest Neighbors

Please download the sample Excel files from https://github.com/hhohho/Learn-Data-Mining-through-Excel for this chapter’s exercises.
Effect of Tin in the Bulk of Platinum–Tin Alloys for Ethane Dehydrogenation

Catalytic ethane dehydrogenation was studied with density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the differing role of Sn in the bulk and surface of PtSn alloys on the activity, selectivity, and stability of the catalyst. Pristine Pt(111), a surface alloy of Pt3Sn/Pt(111) and a bulk alloy of Pt3Sn(111) were compared. Binding energies of adsorbates were weakened by Sn on both alloys. With few changes for binding geometries of adsorbates, the change in binding energies was mainly attributed to the changes in the electronic interaction due to the strain effect and/or the ligand effect from d-band theory on the alloys. Especially, the combination of ligand and strain effects on the bulk alloy made the binding energies of adsorbates generally weaker than on Pt but stronger than on the surface alloy. In the successive dehydrogenation of C2Hx species, the activity was expected in the order of Pt > Pt3Sn > Pt3Sn/Pt by comparing the activation energies for ethene formation. The selectivity toward ethene was predicted using two descriptors from which the best selectivity was expected on Pt3Sn/Pt. Sn in the bulk made the gap between the barriers for ethene desorption and further dehydrogenation comparable, whereas ethene desorption was much more favorable on Pt3Sn/Pt. The preference for ethene formation from ethyl was also weakened on Pt3Sn. Therefore, despite the higher Sn composition, worse selectivity was predicted for Sn-rich bulk alloy than the surface alloy, followed by Pt.
Mammalian target of rapamycin complexes: regulation and Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Novel targets to arrest neurodegeneration in several dementing conditions involving misfolded protein accumulations may be found in the diverse signaling pathways of the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR). As a nutrient sensor, mTOR has important homeostatic functions in regulating energy metabolism and supporting neuronal growth and plasticity. However, in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), mTOR alternately plays important pathogenic roles by inhibiting both insulin signaling and autophagic removal of beta amyloid and tau aggregates. It also plays a role in the cerebrovascular dysfunction of AD. mTOR is a serine kinase residing in either of two complexes, mTORC1 or mTORC2. New data suggest that their balanced actions also have implications for Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, frontotemporal dementia, and ALS. Beyond rapamycin, rapalogs having lesser toxicity also hold promise in arresting these age dependent conditions.
Astrocyte-Selective Volume Increase in Elevated Extracellular Potassium Conditions Is Mediated by the Na +/K + ATPase and Occurs Independently of Aquaporin 4

Astrocytes and neurons have been shown to swell across a variety of different conditions, including increases in extracellular potassium concentration (^[K+]o). The mechanisms involved in the coupl...
Patterned nickel interlayers for enhanced silver wetting, spreading and adhesion on ceramic substrates

Abstract The metal current collectors used in electronic, energy conversion, and energy storage devices often have difficulty wetting and adhering to ceramic substrates. Here, a novel Particle Interlayer Directed Wetting and Spreading (PIDWAS) technique is demonstrated that utilizes 1) the low wetting angle of silver on nickel and 2) the high work of adhesion between nickel and various ceramics to produce well-adhered, self-assembled silver patterns on ceramics not normally wet by silver. This is achieved by partially sintering nickel patterns and melt infiltrating either 1) locally-applied silver or 2) silver that simultaneously dewets the bare ceramic and laterally spreads through the porous nickel network. The resulting Ag-Ni patterns have higher ceramic adhesion strengths, higher densities, and similar electronic resistivities to those made using commercially-available silver circuit pastes. Further, these dense Ag-Ni patterns can be produced without externally-applied pressure, making them desirable for circuit, sealing, die-attach, joining and other applications.
Development of the Adolescent Opioid Safety and Learning (AOSL) scale using exploratory factor analysis.

Abstract Background While adolescents in the United States are one of the most affected groups by the opioid crisis, their perceptions on opioid misuse and preferences for education are rarely studied. Although it is critical to educate adolescents on proper opioid use and storage, many educational tools need easy measurement scales to systematically document learning of targeted programs. It is essential to understand adolescents’ knowledge about opioid risks and perceptions about the opioid crisis to design effective preventive interventions. Objective The purpose of this study was to develop an effective scale that measures adolescents’ knowledge about opioid misuse and interest in learning about prescription opioid safety. Methods Using survey data from 188 high school students in the Midwest, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the underlying structure of an initial 68 items. Items were adapted from a statewide survey previously designed to document awareness of prescription drug misuse and abuse in the state of Wisconsin. Refinement of the scale used factor analysis iterations and internal consistency measures. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine internal consistency among the items. Results Three exploratory factor analysis iterations resulted in a 16-item four-factor structure describing adolescents' knowledge of misuse and harm, their interest in learning about prescription opioids, and their tendency to practice misuse behaviors. Internal consistency and the correlation among factors were examined and strong (Cronbach's α > 0.8). The final 16-item instrument was termed the Adolescent Opioid Safety and Learning (AOSL) Scale. Conclusions When combined with adolescent opioid education tools, the AOSL Scale can help assess and document medication safety learning. The four subscales could support researchers and practitioners in measuring adolescents’ orientation towards prescription opioid misuse. The AOSL Scale may also be used in developing targeted educational materials on prevention of opioid misuse for adolescents.
“Once We Know the Language, We Can Use the Language to Empower Us”: Examining How a Teacher Addresses Queer Issues in an ELL Classroom

This chapter investigates the intersection of professional identity and sexuality. This work is carried out by exploring how language educators navigate their professional positioning with an approach to creating diverse and inclusive learning spaces that have space for LGBTQ+ lives and bodies when dealing with linguistically and culturally diverse students. Set in the context of the United States, this study underscores subtly the tensions language educators may feel, especially those in K-12 settings to be largely apolitical entities in the name of being unbiased and how this can clash with the need to be inclusive and the politically and ideologically fraught nature of education. To that end, Longoria closes out their chapter by drawing our attention to how we can better support language educators in their efforts to create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive spaces.
An Exploration of the Mentorship Needs of Research Software Engineers.

As a newly designated professional title, research software engineers (RSEs) link the two worlds of software engineering and research science. They lack clear development and training opportunities, particularly in the realm of mentoring. In this paper, we discuss mentorship as it pertains to the unique needs of RSEs and propose ways in which organizations and institutions can support mentor/mentee relationships for RSEs
Bullies and Victims in the Peer Ecology: Four Questions for Psychologists and School Professionals.

The purpose of this article is to synthesize recent work on aggression and victimization in educational settings from an ecological perspective. Four questions directed towards school psychologists...
A framework for collective personalized communication

The paper explores collective personalized communication. For example, in all-to-all personalized communication (AAPC), each processor sends a distinct message to every other processor. However, for many applications, the collective communication pattern is many-to-many, where each processor sends a distinct message to a subset of processors. We first present strategies that reduce per-message cost to optimize AAPC. We then present performance results of these strategies in both all-to-all and many-to-many scenarios. These strategies are implemented in a flexible, asynchronous library with a non-blocking interface, and a message-driven runtime system. This allows the collective communication to run concurrently with the application, if desired. As a result the computational overhead of the communication is substantially reduced, at least on machines such as PSC Lemieux, which sport a co-processor capable of remote DMA. We demonstrate the advantages of our framework with performance results on several benchmarks and applications.
Functionally distinct helper t cells enriched under different culture conditions cooperate with different b cells.

Helper T cells selected from KLH-primed lymph node cells under different in vitro conditions were analyzed for the ability to cooperate in secondary hapten-specific antibody responses. It is shown that carrier-specific, MHC-restricted helper T cells selected in low-density cultures cooperate with equal efficiency in either PC-specific or DNP-specific responses. In the presence of both PC-specific and DNP-specific B precursors, however, such T cells are limited to participate in only one helper event in vitro. In contrast, the predominant helper T cell in a second population maintained in high-density lymph node cultures cooperates, presumably through a soluble factor, with multiple B precursors. These properties correspond to those previously described for specific and nonspecific effector functions. The experiments reported here further demonstrate that different B cells respond in vitro to carrier-specific and nonspecific helper signals.
Conformal Deformation to Scalar Flat Metrics with Constant Mean Curvature on the Boundary in Higher Dimensions

In 1992, motivated by Riemann mapping theorem, Escobar considered a version of Yamabe problem on manifolds of dimension n greater than 2 with boundary. The problem consists in finding a conformal metric such that the scalar curvature is zero and the mean curvature is constant on the boundary. By using a local test function construction, we are able to seattle the most cases left by Escobar's and Marques's works. Moreover, we reduce the remaining case to the positive mass theorem. In this proof, we use the method developed in previous works by Brendle and by Brendle and the author.
Effect of boundary conditions on string inharmonicity

In studying the vibration of and sound from stringed musical instruments, the string is always considered to be completely fixed. However, this does not reflect the reality, especially for instruments such as guitar and violin where the player presses the strings with fingers. From the results obtained, it is clear that a partially fixed string will produce inharmonicity which will introduce some degree of beat phenomenon. This indicates an important aspect that has not been discussed extensively previously. In this paper, a simple mathematical model has been developed to represent a fixedpartially fixed string. The parameters that cause inharmonicity are discussed and the beat phenomenon between fundamental and inharmonic partials is studied.
Cellulolytic Activity of Lignicolous Marine Ascomycetes and Deuteromycetes

The stimulus of marine mycological research in recent years has initiated the development of aspects of this discipline of direct and considerable interest to workers in marine biology as well as to those in fields concerned with deterioration and microbial physiology. The subject selected for this symposium—the cellulolytic activity of wood-inhabiting marine fungi—has been the focus of much attention since the early studies of Barghoorn and Linder (1944) wherein the occurrence of an abundant fungal biota on submerged wood was first recognized. Since 1944, the amount of literature dealing with marine mycology has increased greatly (Johnson and Meyers, 1957), and has noted the existence of a vast nutritional and ecological array of fungi in the sea. These vary from fastidious stenohaline representatives of the Myxomycetes and Phycomycetes, many of which are parasites on marine plants and animals, to members of the Ascomycetes and Deutero-mycetes, a large number of which attack submerged wood and appear to be active in various decomposition processes. With the exception of the Basidiomycetes, it is quite probable that most, if not all, of the large or main fungal groups are represented in the sea.
The natural history of epilepsy in tuberous sclerosis complex

Background Although epilepsy affects most patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), little is known about the natural history of epilepsy in this genetic disease.
A novel bitmap analysis technique - test sensitivity intensity bitmap

Bitmapping is a common tool used for analysis and device characterisation on volatile and non-volatile memory in integrated circuits. The tester normally provides the electrical failing address and the analyst will use a scramble table to convert the electrical failing address to the physical failing address. A software may be used to descramble the electrical failing addresses and then display the physical location of the failure using simple graphics. In this paper, a novel bitmap technique is presented. Instead of just displaying the X,Y physical location of the failure, which is basically two dimensions, this bitmap technique takes it a step further. The new bitmap technique 'test sensitivity intensity (TSI) bitmap' is a graphical combination of all the listed tools. The idea of using a graphical bitmap was to make it easier to visualise the failure and the pattern of the failure as test conditions change from relaxed conditions to very stringent conditions, compared to a simple data dump memory display.
A Laser Microprobe System for Controlled Atmosphere Time and Spatially Resolved Fluorescence Studies of Analytical Laser Plumes

A laser microprobe system has been developed that provides for time and spatially resolved studies of the interaction between the material ejected by a laser from a sample surface and the gaseous species in a controlled-atmosphere chamber. A microsecond flashlamp pumped dye laser atomizes the sample, and a narrow band, accurately tunable flashlamp pumped dye laser is the light source for absorption and fluorescence measurements of atomic and molecular species. A sample wheel rotates and translates to provide a new surface for hundreds of shots before resurfacing is required. Stepper motors allow the laser plume to be positioned in three dimensions by manual or computer control. Examples are given of the types of measurements that are possible under computer control. In an observation region comprising 0.05% of the plume, 109 atoms of Li are detectable.
Diagnosis of Weaknesses in Modern Error Correction Codes: A Physics Approach

One of the main obstacles to the wider use of the modern error-correction codes is that, due to the complex behavior of their decoding algorithms, no systematic method which would allow characterization of the bit-error-rate (BER) is known. This is especially true at the weak noise where many systems operate and where coding performance is difficult to estimate because of the diminishingly small number of errors. We show how the instanton method of physics allows one to solve the problem of BER analysis in the weak noise range by recasting it as a computationally tractable minimization problem.
Use of Genetic Algorithm for Phase Optimization at Intersections with Minimization of Vehicle and Pedestrian Delays

The two objectives of this research were to develop a methodology to optimize signal timing at intersections by minimization of delay for both vehicles and pedestrians and to establish guidance for the selection of the pedestrian crossing phase (two-way or scramble) and the length of the "Walk" phase when the scramble crossing pattern was used. An optimization procedure for signal plans was developed for an isolated intersection. The procedure can provide up to four vehicular phases with either the twoway or scramble pedestrian crossing phase. Genetic algorithms were used to find suitable signal plans because of the existence of a large solution set. Furthermore, the proposed genetic algorithm procedure can generate contour diagrams as selection guides to determine appropriate pedestrian crossing phases at an intersection with different combinations of vehicle volumes and pedestrian volumes. The impacts of relative time values, initial vehicle queues, and geometric designs on the pedestrian phase selectio...
Novel Biocomposites Sheet Molding Compounds for Low Cost Housing Panel Applications

Biocomposites were made by a novel high volume processing technique named ‘biocomposite sheet molding compound panel’ (BCSMCP) manufacturing process. This process design was inspired by the commercial glass fiber–polyester resin composite fabrication method called sheet molding compounding (SMC). This process yields continuous production of biocomposites on a large scale, and thus can be easily adopted in industries. A unique fiber dispersion method, which enabled uniform distribution of natural fibers, was used in this process. Consistency of the process was tested by evaluating the repeatability of the resultant materials’ mechanical properties. The low cost biocomposites produced as a result of the processing will be used for various panel applications such as housing and transportation. The molded samples were tested for various mechanical and thermal properties, in accordance with ASTM procedures. The biocomposites were made with various natural fibers including, big blue stem grass, jute, and industrial hemp. By combining different natural fibers in varying mass fractions, hybrid biocomposites were made using this process. Grass fiber reinforced polyester biocomposites processed by the SMC line showed very promising results.
A comparison of nerve growth factor binding protocols with native and mutant PC12 cells.

A comparison has been made of various methods for measuring binding of nerve growth factor (NGF) to PC12 cells in suspension, on plates, and by a combination of the two. Results indicated that the extensive washing in the plate binding assay removed some cell surface ligand, underestimated the fast receptor binding, and overestimated the proportion of internalized ligand. In addition, the binding and internalization by a nonresponding PC12 mutant cell line has been studied. The nonresponding mutants had fewer total NGF receptors (10–50%) than normal cells in any binding assay. However, when measured in the suspension assay, the mutant cells showed both fast and slow binding receptors, in proportion approximately equivalent to those found on native PC12 cells. The PC12 nonresponders in suspension were also found to internalize and degrade low levels of NGF, in proportion to their reduced receptor number. Different results concerning PC12 wild type and mutant cells that have been reported in the literature may be due to the particular binding assay protocol that was used.
Retromolar trigone squamous cell carcinoma treated with radiotherapy alone or combined with surgery: a 10-year update.

Abstract Purpose/objectives Treatment outcomes were analyzed for patients who received radiotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the retromolar trigone at a single institution. Materials/methods We reviewed the medical records of 110 patients treated with radiotherapy alone (n = 36) or radiotherapy combined with surgical resection of the primary tumor (n = 74) between June 1966 and October 2013. The median follow-up was 4.5 years for all patients and 11.8 years for living patients (range, 1.3–23.5 years). Results The 5-year local–regional control rates after definitive radiotherapy versus surgery and radiotherapy for stages I–III were 52% and 89% and for stage IV they were 46% and 58%, respectively. The 5-year cause-specific survival rates after definitive radiotherapy compared with surgery and radiotherapy for stages I-III were 57% and 82% and for stage IV they were 45% and 43%, respectively. Multivariate analyses revealed that the likelihood of cure was better with surgery and radiotherapy compared with radiotherapy alone (p = 0.041). Conclusion Patients treated with surgery and radiotherapy had a better chance of cure than those treated with radiotherapy alone. Complications of treatment were common in both groups but more common in patients who underwent surgery.