cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theoretical predictions on the first-passage time for a gene expression model

Expression of a gene is inherently random, leading to variability in a protein's level across a population of cells with same genetic information and environment. Another consequence of this is the cell-to-cell variability in the time at which a certain protein level is achieved inside individual cells. In this work, we model such times using the first-passage time (FPT) framework. Gene expression is modeled in translation bursts wherein each mRNA molecule arrives as per a Poisson process, produces a geometrically distributed burst of protein molecules and degrades instantaneously. Also, the proteins are assumed to degrade as well. The FPT probability density function and statistical moments are determined for this model. In addition, the effects of change in model parameters (transcription rate, mean translation burst size, FPT threshold) on the mean and noise (quantified as the coefficient of variation squared) of FPT are studied. Our analysis shows that the mean FPT increases by increasing the FPT threshold or decreasing the protein production by a lower mean burst size or a lower transcription rate. The noise properties, however, show non-trivial pattern: a U-shape behavior is seen with respect to change in mean burst size or FPT threshold whereas a monotonous trend is observed for change in transcription rate. Lastly, we also discuss how these predictions can possibly be tested via experiments on the lysis time of the bacterial virus bacteriophage λ.
Testing homogeneity of the multinomial proportions

AbstractIn this article, we investigate some statistical procedures for testing homogeneity in a multinomial population. First we focus on the simpler problem of testing homogeneity in the entire vector of multinomial proportions. When the null hypothesis of uniformity is violated, some of the cell frequencies will tend to be small and some will tend to be large. We propose to investigate the performance of tests based on X(k) = max {X1, ...., Xk} or X(1) = min {X1, ...., Xk}, which are functions of the minimal sufficient statistics for this problem. The performance of the likelihood ratio test implemented by the asymptotic chi-square distribution and the simulated exact distribution will be compared to a test which is based on the maximum, the minimum, the pair maximum and minimum, the range, and the ratio statistic: X(k)/X(1). We also investigate the more difficult problem of testing homogeneity of a subset of the p-vector. For this problem, we focus only on likelihood ratio tests and investigate two im...
Precipitation of Active Influenza A Virus from Extra-Embryonic Fluids by Protamine

The allantoic and amniotic fluids of infected chick embryos have been found to contain large amounts of both active influenza virus and the complement fixation antigen1, 2 in spite of their low total protein content. These extra-embryonic fluids, either fresh or lyophilized, constitute a very adequate antigen for the diagnosis of influenza by complement fixation test, and the suggestion has been made by us that they should be superior to the usual tissue emulsions as vaccines because of the relatively small amount of cellular debris.We have carried out a series of experiments to determine the degree of protection afforded to mice by intraperitoneal vaccination with infected extra-embryonic fluids. Five-week-old Swiss mice were inoculated once with 0.05 cc of pooled dialyzed fluids. The fluids used were infectious for mice in dilutions of 10-8 to 10-10 and contained about 0.20 mg of N per ml, dialysis having removed the large amount of uric acid nitrogen originally present.Approximately 3 weeks subsequent ...
Electron transport in AlN under high electric fields

The energy distribution of electrons transported through an intrinsic AlN film was directly measured as a function of the applied field, and AlN film thickness. Following the transport, electrons were extracted into vacuum through a semitransparent Au electrode and their energy distribution was measured using an electron spectrometer. Transport through films thicker than 95 nm and applied field between 200 kV/cm -350 kV/cm occurred as steady-state hot electron transport represented by a Maxwellian energy distribution, with a corresponding carrier temperature. At higher fields (470 kV/cm), intervalley scattering was evidenced by a multi-component energy distribution with a second peak at the energy position of the first satellite valley. Electron transport through films thinner than 95 nm demonstrated velocity overshoot under fields greater than 550 kV/cm. This was evidenced by a symmetric energy distribution centered at an energy above the conduction band minimum. This indicated that the drift component of the electron velocity was on the order of the “thermal” component. A transient length of less than 80 nm was deduced from these observations.
Nature of Protein–CO2 Interactions as Elucidated via Molecular Dynamics

Rising global temperatures require innovative measures to reduce atmospheric concentrations of CO2. The most successful carbon capture technology on Earth is the enzymatic capture of CO2 and its sequestration in the form of glucose. Efforts to improve upon or mimic this naturally occurring process will require a rich understanding of protein–CO2 interactions. Toward that end, extensive all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed on the CO2-utilizing enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). Preliminary simulations were performed using implicit and explicit solvent models, which yielded similar results: arginine, lysine, tyrosine, and asparagine enhance the ability of a protein to bind carbon dioxide. Extensive explicit solvent simulations were performed for both wild-type PEPCK and five single-point PEPCK mutants, revealing three prevalent channels by which CO2 enters (or exits) the active site cleft, as well as a fourth channel (observed only once), the existence of which can be r...
Prediction of mortality from respiratory distress among long-term mechanically ventilated patients

With the advent of inexpensive storage, pervasive networking, and wireless devices, it is now possible to store a large proportion of the medical data that is collected in the intensive care unit (ICU). These data sets can be used as valuable resources for developing and validating predictive analytics. In this report, we focus on the problem of prediction of mortality from respiratory distress among long-term mechanically ventilated patients using data from the publicly-available MIMIC-II database. Rather than only reporting p-values for univariate or multivariate regression, as in previous work, we seek to generate sparsest possible model that will predict mortality. We find that the presence of severe sepsis is highly associated with mortality. We also find that variables related to respiration rate have more predictive accuracy than variables related to oxygenation status. Ultimately, we have developed a model which predicts mortality from respiratory distress in the ICU with a cross-validated area-under-the-curve (AUC) of approximately 0.74. Four methodologies are utilized for model dimensionality-reduction: univariate logistic regression, multivariate logistic regression, decision trees, and penalized logistic regression.
Workplace Indicators of Mood: Behavioral and Cognitive Correlates of Mood Among Information Workers

Positive wellbeing in the workplace is tied to better health. However, lack of wellbeing in the workplace is a serious problem in the U.S, is rising continually, and can lead to poor health conditions. In this study we investigate factors that might be associated with workplace wellbeing. We report on an in situ study in the workplace of 40 information workers whose mood was tracked for 12 days. We used a mixed-methods study using Fitbit actigraphs to measure sleep and physical activity, computer logging, and repeated daily surveys. We found that sleep and perceived productivity are positively correlated with affect balance (the balance of positive and negative affect), whereas concentration difficulty, and amount of time on workplace email, are negatively correlated with affect balance. Our model explains 48% of the variance of workplace mood. We discuss the value and challenges of multi-faceted measures of health as we move towards designing interdisciplinary digital health research.
Corrosion resistant performance of coating system by galvanostatic charge methodology

In order to evaluate the corrosion resistant performance of the coating system quickly, the six kinds of the coating system were polarized by the galvanostatic charge curve methodology. The polarizing resistance of the system was obtained separately based on the equivalent model by the Matlab languag e programme. Simultaneously, the performance of the coating system was evaluated. The conclusion is in line with the traditional method examination. It proves th at th e theoretical analysis is correct and the model is reliable. It comes up with th e new way to evaluate the corrosion resistant performance. It sho ws the method can analyze the perfor mance of the coating system quickly.
Disciplinary thinking, computational doing: promoting interdisciplinary computing while transforming computer science enrollments

This paper describes a 10-year multi-pronged project to introduce students campus-wide to computing, increase enrollments in the computer science department, and change the demographics of students in the introductory computer science courses. The Union College Computer Science (CS) department has changed curricula at the introductory and intermediate levels, and worked with two dozen faculty from 15 disciplines who incorporated computing into their courses. The percentage of women in the introductory CS course has increased from 10% to an average of 37% when measured over a multi-year period.
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of chemical synaptic transmission.

During the last decade much progress has been made in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which nerve cells communicate with each other and nonneural (e.g., muscle) target tissue...
SU-F-I-80: Correction for Bias in a Channelized Hotelling Model Observer Caused by Temporally Variable Non-Stationary Noise

Purpose: Application of a channelized Hotelling model observer (CHO) over a wide range of x-ray angiography detector target dose (DTD) levels demonstrated substantial bias for conditions yielding low detectability indices (d’), including low DTD and small test objects. The purpose of this work was to develop theory and methods to correct this bias. Methods: A hypothesis was developed wherein the measured detectability index (d'b) for a known test object is positively biased by temporally variable non-stationary noise in the images. Hotelling's T2 test statistic provided the foundation for a mathematical theory which accounts for independent contributions to the measured d'b value from both the test object (d'o) and non-stationary noise (d'ns). Experimental methods were developed to directly estimate d'o by determining d'ns and subtracting it from d'b, in accordance with the theory. Specifically, d'ns was determined from two sets of images from which the traditional test object was withheld. This method was applied to angiography images with DTD levels in the range 0 to 240 nGy and for disk-shaped iodine-based contrast targets with diameters 0.5 to 4.0 mm. Results: Bias in d’ was evidenced by d'b values which exceeded values expected from a quantum limited imaging system and decreasing object size and DTD. d'ns increased with decreasing DTD, reaching a maximum of 2.6 for DTD = 0. Bias-corrected d'o estimates demonstrated sub-quantum limited performance of the x-ray angiography for low DTD. Findings demonstrated that the source of non-stationary noise was detector electronic readout noise. Conclusion: Theory and methods to estimate and correct bias in CHO measurements from temporally variable non-stationary noise were presented. The temporal non-stationary noise was shown to be due to electronic readout noise. This method facilitates accurate estimates of d’ values over a large range of object size and detector target dose.
SU-F-T-590: Modeling PTV Dose Fall-Off for Cervical Cancer SBRT Treatment Planning Using VMAT and Step-And-Shoot IMRT

Purpose: Due to the high dose per fraction in SBRT, dose conformity and dose fall-off are critical. In patients with cervical cancer, rapid dose fall-off is particularly important to limit dose to the nearby rectum, small bowel, and bladder. This study compares the target volume dose fall-off for two radiation delivery techniques, fixed-field IMRT & VMAT, using non-coplanar beam geometries. Further comparisons are made between 6 and 10MV photon beam energies. Methods: Eleven (n=11) patients were planned in Pinnacle3 v9.10 with a NovalisTx (HD120 MLC) machine model using 6 and 10 MV photons. The following three techniques were used: (1) IMRT (10 non-coplanar beams) (2) Dual, coplanar 360° VMAT arcs (4° spacing), and (3) Triple, non-coplanar VMAT arcs (1 full arc and dual partial arcs). All plans were normalized such that 98% of the PTV received at least 28Gy/4Fx. Dose was calculated using a 2.0mm isotropic dose grid. To assess dose fall-off, twenty concentric 2mm thick rings were created around the PTV. The maximum dose in each ring was recorded and the data was fitted to model dose fall-off. A separate analysis was performed by separating target volumes into small (0–50cc), medium (51–80cc), and large (81–110cc). Results: Triple, non-coplanar VMAT arcs showed the best dose fall-off for all patients evaluated. All fitted regressions had an R2≥0.99. At 10mm from the PTV edge, 10 MV VMAT3-arc had an absolute improvement in dose fall-off of 3.8% and 6.9% over IMRT and VMAT2-arc, respectively. At 30mm, 10 MV VMAT3-arc had an absolute improvement of 12.0% and 7.0% over IMRT and VMAT2-arc, respectively. Faster dose fall-off was observed for small volumes as opposed to medium and large ones—9.6% at 20mm. Conclusion: Triple, non-coplanar VMAT arcs offer the sharpest dose fall-off for cervical SBRT plans. This improvement is most pronounced when treating smaller target volumes.
Introduction: Reframing the Frame Narrative

“Reframing the Frame Narrative” defines the frame narrative tradition as it appeared in the late Middle Ages. Challenging modern criticism’s tendency to label works such as Boccaccio’s De casibus virorum illustrium encyclopedias, this chapter recovers an overlooked medieval genre. Although derived from a term that did not appear until the nineteenth century, frame narrative analysis reveals a formerly obscured reticulation of interconnected narratives and political frameworks.
Systematic characterization of porosity and mass transport and mechanical properties of porous polyurethane scaffolds

One of the key challenges in porous scaffold design is to create a porous structure with desired mechanical function and mass transport properties which support delivery of biofactors and development of function tissue substitute. In recent years, polyurethane (PU) has become one of the most popular biomaterials in various tissue engineering fields. However, there are no studies fully investigating the relations between porosity and both mass transport and mechanical properties of PU porous scaffolds. In this paper, we fabricated PU scaffolds by combining phase inversion and salt (sodium chloride) leaching methods. The tensile and compressive moduli were examined on PU scaffolds fabricated with different PU concentrations (25%, 20% and 15% w/v) and salt/PU weight ratios (9/1, 6/1, 3/1 and 0/1). The mass transport properties of PU scaffolds including hydraulic permeability and glucose diffusivity were also measured. Furthermore, the relationships between the porosity and mass transport and mechanical properties of porous PU scaffold were systemically investigated. The results demonstrated that porosity is a key parameter which governs both mass transport and mechanical properties of porous PU scaffolds. With similar pore sizes, the mass transport and mechanical properties of porous PU scaffold can be described as single functions of porosity regardless of initial PU concentration. The relationships between scaffold porosity and properties can be utilized to facilitate porous PU scaffold fabrication with specific mass transport and mechanical properties. The systematic approach established in this study can be applied to characterization of other biomaterials for scaffold design and fabrication.
Homoepitaxial Growth of Metal Halide Crystals Investigated by Reflection High-Energy Electron Diffraction

We report the homoepitaxial growth of a metal halide on single crystals investigated with in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). Epitaxial growth of NaCl on NaCl (001) is explored as a function of temperature and growth rate which provides the first detailed report of RHEED oscillations for metal halide growth. Layer-by-layer growth is observed at room temperature accompanied by clear RHEED oscillations while the growth mode transitions to an island (3D) mode at low temperature. At higher temperatures (>100 °C), RHEED oscillations and AFM data indicate a transition to a step-flow growth mode. To show the importance of such metal halide growth, green organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are demonstrated using a doped NaCl film with a phosphorescent emitter as the emissive layer. This study demonstrates the ability to perform in situ and non-destructive RHEED monitoring even on insulating substrates and could enable doped single crystals and crystalline substrates for a range of optoelectronic applications.
Effects of Objective 3-Dimensional Measures of Facial Shape and Symmetry on Perceptions of Facial Attractiveness.

Purpose Meeting patient desires for enhanced facial esthetics requires that providers have standardized and objective methods to measure esthetics. The authors evaluated the effects of objective 3-dimensional (3D) facial shape and asymmetry measurements derived from 3D facial images on perceptions of facial attractiveness. Materials and Methods The 3D facial images of 313 adults in Iowa were digitized with 32 landmarks, and objective 3D facial measurements capturing symmetric and asymmetric components of shape variation, centroid size, and fluctuating asymmetry were obtained from the 3D coordinate data using geo-morphometric analyses. Frontal and profile images of study participants were rated for facial attractiveness by 10 volunteers (5 women and 5 men) on a 5-point Likert scale and a visual analog scale. Multivariate regression was used to identify the effects of the objective 3D facial measurements on attractiveness ratings. Results Several objective 3D facial measurements had marked effects on attractiveness ratings. Shorter facial heights with protrusive chins, midface retrusion, faces with protrusive noses and thin lips, flat mandibular planes with deep labiomental folds, any cants of the lip commissures and floor of the nose, larger faces overall, and increased fluctuating asymmetry were rated as significantly (P Conclusion Perceptions of facial attractiveness can be explained by specific 3D measurements of facial shapes and fluctuating asymmetry, which have important implications for clinical practice and research.
Compositional effects on ideal shear strength in Fe-Cr alloys

Abstract The ideal shear strength is the minimum stress needed to plastically deform a defect free crystal; it is of engineering interest since it sets the upper bound of the strength of a real crystal and connects to the nucleation of dislocations. In this study, we have employed spin-polarized density functional theory to calculate the ideal shear strength, elastic constants and various moduli of body centered cubic Fe-Cr alloys. We have determined the magnetic ground state of the Fe-Cr solid solutions, and noticed that calculations without the correct magnetic ground state would lead to incorrect results of the lattice and elastic constants. We have determined the ideal shear strength along the 〈111〉{110} and 〈111〉{112} slip systems and established the relationship between alloy composition and mechanical properties. We observe strengthening in the 〈111〉{110} system as a function of chromium composition, while there is no change in strength in the 〈111〉{112} system. The observed differences can be explained by the response of the magnetic moments as a function of applied strain. This study provides insights on how electronic and magnetic interaction of constituent alloying elements may influence the properties of the resulting alloys and their dependence on alloy compositions.
Hiding in plain sight: a case of chronic disseminated histoplasmosis with central nervous system involvement

A 64-year-old man presented with gradual onset of confusion, ataxia and 25-pound weight loss over 3 months. MRI of the brain revealed two enhancing cerebellar lesions suspicious for metastases. Positron emission tomography-CT showed enhancement of cervical and axillary lymph nodes. Left axillary lymph node biopsy showed no evidence of malignancy but instead showed fungal organisms morphologically consistent with Histoplasma spp. Disseminated histoplasmosis with central nervous system involvement was suspected. Further history revealed that the patient had been having subjective fever for the past several months. He has had mild pancytopenia for about 2 years, which had not been further evaluated. Additionally, he had an oesophagogastroduodenoscopy 3 months prior to admission, which had shown granulomatous gastritis. Subsequently, the diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis was confirmed by serological testing and bone marrow biopsy. The patient was started on liposomal amphotericin B. Unfortunately, the patient had a catastrophic stroke and was transitioned to comfort care measures.
Building student capacity to lead sustainability transitions in the food system through farm-based authentic research modules in sustainability sciences (FARMS)

Undergraduate courses provide valuable opportunities to train and empower students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to advance society in more sustainable directions. This article emphasizes the value of bridging primary scientific research with undergraduate education through the presentation of an integrated experiential learning and primary research model called Farm-based Authentic Research Modules in Sustainability Sciences (FARMS). FARMS are collaboratively designed with agricultural stakeholders through a community needs assessment on pressing food system issues and opportunities with the objective for faculty and students to jointly identify evidence-based management solutions. We illustrate the implementation of FARMS in an undergraduate course in Ecological Agriculture at Dartmouth College, NH where students assessed various agroecological solutions for managing plant vitality, weeds, soil quality, pests, pollinators, and biodiversity at the Dartmouth Organic Farm. Student reflections indicate that the FARMS course component was beneficial for understanding agroecological theories and concepts while also motivating involvement in sustainability sciences despite the challenges of primary research. Educator reflections noted that the FARMS pedagogical approach facilitated achieving course objectives to develop students’ ability for systems thinking, critical thinking, and interdisciplinarity while fostering students’ collaboration skills and overall motivation for creating change. Adopting the FARMS model should enable faculty in the sustainability sciences to serve as bridges between the learning, practicing, and scientific communities while supporting educational programming at student and community farms. Ultimately, it is expected that the implementation of FARMS will increase student capacity and prepare the next generation of leaders to address complex challenges of the food system using an evidence-based approach.
van Hensbergen, Gijs The Sagrada Familia: The Astonishing Story of Gaudí's Unfinished Masterpiece New York: Bloomsbury 224 pp., $27.00, ISBN 978-1-63286-781-0 Publication Date: July 2017

Gijs van Hensbergen is a Dutch art historian, food critic, and Hispanist, educated at the Courtauld Institute of Art, whose publications have focused on Antoni Gaudi and on Pablo Picasso's Guernica...
Modeling assisted evaluation of direct electricity generation from waste heat of wastewater via a thermoelectric generator.

The thermal energy represents a significant portion of energy potential in municipal wastewater and may be recovered as electricity by a thermoelectric generator (TEG). Converting heat to all-purpose electricity by TEG has been demonstrated with large heat gradients, but its application in waste heat recovery from wastewater has not been well evaluated. Herein, a bench-scale Bi2Te3-based waste heat recovery system was employed to generate electricity from a low temperature gradient through a combination of experiments and mathematical modeling. With an external resistance of 7.8 Ω and a water (hot side) flow rate of 75 mL min-1, a maximum normalized energy recovery of 4.5 × 10-4 kWh m-3 was achieved under a 2.8 °C temperature gradient (ΔT). Model simulation indicated a boost in both power output and energy conversion efficiency from 0.76 mW and 0.13% at ΔT = 2.8 °C to 61.83 mW and 1.15% at ΔT = 25 °C. Based on the data of two-year water/air temperature obtained from the Christiansburg Wastewater Treatment Plant, an estimated energy generation of 1094 to 70,986 kWh could be expected annually with a saving of $163 to $6076. Those results have revealed a potential for TEG-centered direct electricity generation from low-grade heat towards enhanced resource recovery from wastewater and encouraged further exploration of this approach.
Be Mean or Be Nice? Understanding the Effects of Aggressive and Polite Communication Styles in Child Vaccination Debate.

The current study investigated the effect of communication style in the child vaccination debate. Based on expectancy violation theory, this study tested the effects of aggressive, neutral, and pol...
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY | Ice Cores

This article is reproduced from the previous edition, volume 4, pp 1673–1680, © 2003, Elsevier Ltd.
Learning Regular Languages from Positive Evidence

Abstract : Children face an enormously difficult task in learning their native language. It is widely believed that they do not receive or make little use of negative evidence (Marcus, 1993) and yet it has been proven that many classes of languages less powerful than natural languages cannot be learned in the absence of negative evidence (Gold, 1964). In this paper we present an approach to learning good approximations to members of one such class of languages, the regular languages, based on positive evidence alone.
Postschool Engagement Predictors for Youth with Intellectual Disability: Results from South Carolina

ABSTRACTPostschool outcomes of youth with intellectual disability (ID) continue to trouble practitioners and scholars. The purpose of this study was to analyze postschool engagement outcome data fo...
Fault Ride Through Capability Enhancement of Grid-Connected Fuel Cell System by SDBR

To meet the national grid operational requirements, the fuel cells distributed generation (DG) system must be connected to the grid through some control devices to maintain the fault ride through capability during the fault. In this work, a Series Dynamic Braking Resistor (SDBR) methodology is proposed to enhance the low voltage ride through capability of the fuel cell during any fault in a power distribution network. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed SDBR technology in improving the fault ride through capability of the grid connected fuel cell system, both balanced and unbalanced faults have been considered in the power network. Simulation results obtained through the MATLAB/Simulink software show that the proposed SDBR is capable of improving the fault ride through capability of the grid connected fuel cell system.
Modal parameter estimation for a wetted plate under flow excitation: A challenging case in using POD

Abstract In this paper some issues related to the use of the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) for the identification of the modal parameters of 2D structures are highlighted with reference to the experimental identification of the vibration modes of a plate excited on one side by a turbulent boundary layer. The poor convergence of the POD modes to the linear normal modes is explained analytically and provides also the theoretical framework to avoid these issues by applying band-pass filtering (BP-POD). The application of the POD with data pre-filtering has allowed for the evaluation of the modal damping from the proper orthogonal coordinates by using the Random Decrement Technique to obtain the corresponding free-decay function. Though the emphasis is about methodological aspects related to the POD, as a byproduct of the performed analysis some more physical insights concerning the damping sensitivity and the hydrodynamic added mass are finally carried out.
Primary versus Delayed Sternal Closure in Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation Patients: Impact on Infection

Purpose Postoperative delayed chest closure (DCC) in LVAD patients, is often required in cases of bleeding due to coagulopathy or right heart distention. Despite the absence of data about the increased risk of infection, this bias limits the use of DCC in most centers. We retrospectively analyzed patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) who underwent DCC in our center and evaluated the impact of this approach on postoperative infection rates. Methods Between May 2012 and June 2018, we reviewed the medical records of 294 consecutive first-time, LVAD patients and divided them into two groups based on the chest closure approaches: the DCC group and the primary chest closure (PCC) group. Postoperative LVAD-related infection (DLI + PPI), sternal wound infection and mediastinal exploration rates after definite chest closure were documented and compared in two groups. Results 183 patients had PCC (63%) and 107 patients (37%) underwent DCC. Four patients died before chest closure; they were excluded from further analysis. Demographics were similar in both group except for overrepresentation of men (91% vs 74%, p=0.028), INTERMACS class 1 patients (59% vs 30%, p Conclusion Based on these data, it seems that DCC is safe and does not impact the incidence of LVAD-related or sternal wound infections.
Thompson, Laurence Cassius (b.1926)

Mr L. C. Thompson is a descriptivist and comparativist credited with contributions in Vietnamese and Salish (North American Indian). His scholarly career was cut short by stroke-induced aphasia at age 57.
Attitudes Toward Married Persons’ Surnames in Twenty-First Century Japan

Through Article 750 of the Japanese Civil Code, Japan is the only developed country to require that a married couple must choose either the husband’s or the wife’s surname upon marriage. We examine how traditional gender ideology and preference for the three-generation family household are associated with the level of support for conjugal surname sharing, from full support for the wife taking her husband’s surname to support for neither the wife or husband changing their name. We estimate generalized ordered logit models with data from the 2000–2003, 2006, and 2010 Japanese General Social Survey. Findings indicate that those who hold more traditional gender ideology are more likely to endorse surname sharing at all levels. Those who prefer the traditional extended family household are more likely to acknowledge at least some merit in a married couple sharing a surname, but they are less likely to say that the wife should take her husband’s surname without question. Attitudes toward conjugal surname sharing may have important symbolic implications for gender equality as well as potential impact on the surname law.
Modulation of Multiunit Spike Activity by Transcranial AC Stimulation (tACS) in the Rat Cerebellar Cortex

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) techniques have garnered significant interest due to their non-invasiveness and potential to offer a treatment option in a wide variety of brain disorders. Among several modulation techniques, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is favored for its ability to entrain the neural oscillations. The cerebellum is one of the targeted sites because of its involvement in motor and cognitive functions. However, animal studies are lacking in the literature looking into the mechanism of action in cerebellar tACS. In this study, we used a rat model and monitored the activity of the cerebellar cortex, which sculpts the cerebellar output by adjusting the firing rate and timing of the neurons in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN). For neural recording, a tungsten electrode was inserted into the cerebellar cortex through a craniotomy hole located over the right paramedian lobule (PML). A helical Ag/AgCl wire electrode was placed atop the skull near the caudal edge to inject a 1 Hz biphasic sinusoidal current. Our results showed that the multiunit activity (MUA) of the cerebellar cortex was strongly modulated by tACS. The negative phase of the electric current enhanced the neural firing rate while the positive phase suppressed the activity. Furthermore, the spike rate showed modulation by the instantaneous strength of the injected current within the sinusoidal cycle. This warrants research to further look into the mechanism of tACS acting on the cerebellar cortex at the cellular level.
Exploring the Role of the “Ice–Ocean Governor” and Mesoscale Eddies in the Equilibration of the Beaufort Gyre: Lessons from Observations

AbstractObservations of Ekman pumping, sea surface height anomaly, and isohaline depth anomaly over the Beaufort Gyre are used to explore the relative importance and role of (i) feedbacks between i...
A Deep Learning Architecture for Psychometric Natural Language Processing

Psychometric measures reflecting people’s knowledge, ability, attitudes, and personality traits are critical for many real-world applications, such as e-commerce, health care, and cybersecurity. However, traditional methods cannot collect and measure rich psychometric dimensions in a timely and unobtrusive manner. Consequently, despite their importance, psychometric dimensions have received limited attention from the natural language processing and information retrieval communities. In this article, we propose a deep learning architecture, PyNDA, to extract psychometric dimensions from user-generated texts. PyNDA contains a novel representation embedding, a demographic embedding, a structural equation model (SEM) encoder, and a multitask learning mechanism designed to work in unison to address the unique challenges associated with extracting rich, sophisticated, and user-centric psychometric dimensions. Our experiments on three real-world datasets encompassing 11 psychometric dimensions, including trust, anxiety, and literacy, show that PyNDA markedly outperforms traditional feature-based classifiers as well as the state-of-the-art deep learning architectures. Ablation analysis reveals that each component of PyNDA significantly contributes to its overall performance. Collectively, the results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed architecture for facilitating rich psychometric analysis. Our results have important implications for user-centric information extraction and retrieval systems looking to measure and incorporate psychometric dimensions.
Dyslipidemia in adolescents and young adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: a retrospective analysis.

Youth onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasing and associated with earlier vascular complications and mortality. Dyslipidemia is an important modifiable cardiovascular (CVD) risk factor that is under-recognized and undertreated in youth with T1D and T2D. Given this, we evaluated the prevalence and associations between lipid concentrations and clinical CVD risk factors in youth with T1D compared to T2D at our large ethnically diverse diabetes center. A retrospective chart review was performed, evaluating patients with T1D or T2D seen at least once in clinic from 2015 to 2017, age 10–22 years of age, duration of diabetes at least 6 months on the date of most recent LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration, and not on statin therapy. We performed independent and multivariable linear regressions of LDL-C and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations. There were 32.7% with T1D (n = 1701) and 47.7% with T2D (n = 298) with LDL-C above recommend goal (> 100 mg/dL/2.6 mmol/L). Furthermore, there were 9% with T1D and 16.4% with T2D with LDL > 130 mg/dL (> 3.4 mmol/L), who likely met criteria for starting statin therapy. Higher LDL-C and/or lower HDL-C were associated with increased age, diabetes duration, higher HbA1C, female sex, Hispanic ethnicity, obesity, and T2D. After adjusting for these risk factors in a multivariable linear regression model, the association of higher LDL-C and lower HDL-C was higher with T2D than T1D. This highlights the need for more aggressive dyslipidemia screening and treatment in youth with diabetes, especially T2D. At our institution we have created and instituted quality improvement algorithms to try to address this need.
Innovative strategies for combating biofilm-based infections.

Biofilms, defined as a surface attached community of bacteria embedded in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances, are a significant global health problem, causing considerable patient morbidity and mortality and contributing to the economic burden of infectious disease. Conventional antibiotics are largely ineffective against bacteria residing with a biofilm, necessitating alternative strategies to combat biofilms. Such strategies, which either inhibit biofilm formation or disperse existing biofilms, are ideally based upon a non-microbicidal approach, which avoids placing direct evolutionary pressure on the bacteria to develop resistance. Several such approaches are discussed in this chapter and range from the design of small molecules to interfere with the bacterial communication and signaling pathways that control biofilm formation and maintenance, such as quorum sensing and two-component signal transduction systems, to macromolecular approaches to biofilm eradication such as enzymatic degradation of the biofilm matrix and the development of biofilm-specific antibodies. When combined with conventional antibiotics that are effective against planktonic bacteria, the strategies discussed here have the potential to eradicate biofilm based bacterial infections and have a significant impact upon human health.
An efficient implementation of the high-fidelity generalized method of cells for complex microstructures

Abstract The high-fidelity generalized method of cells (HFGMC) enables micromechanical analysis of heterogeneous materials with high accuracy but does so at the cost of computational efficiency. In this paper, an implementation of the triply periodic HFGMC is developed to enable high-resolution simulations of materials with complex microstructures at a significantly reduced computational cost. This paper describes efficient reformulation and develops low-cost algorithms to reduce overall computation time and memory required to analyze complex 3D microstructures. The low-cost algorithms exploit the sparsity of the data by storing and performing calculations on only the non-zero values. The Parallel Direct Sparse Solver (PARADISO) subroutine is used to execute the most computationally intensive processes in parallel on multiple cores. Simulations of two selected test cases demonstrate the validity, computational efficiency, and value of the developed implementation. The results indicate that the savings in computation time and required memory are substantial and more than 100 times in some cases. In addition, parallel processing further reduces the computation time. The efficiency achieved through this work makes the high-resolution simulation of complex microstructures using HFGMC for the prediction of accurate local stress/strain fields computationally feasible.
Exosomes from miRNA-126-modified endothelial progenitor cells alleviate brain injury and promote functional recovery after stroke

Aims We previously showed that the protective effects of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs)-released exosomes (EPC-EXs) on endothelium in diabetes. However, whether EPC-EXs are protective in diabetic ischemic stroke is unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of EPC-EXs on diabetic stroke mice and tested whether miR-126 enriched EPC-EXs (EPC-EXsmiR126 ) have enhanced efficacy. Methods The db/db mice subjected to ischemic stroke were intravenously administrated with EPC-EXs 2 hours after ischemic stroke. The infarct volume, cerebral microvascular density (MVD), cerebral blood flow (CBF), neurological function, angiogenesis and neurogenesis, and levels of cleaved caspase-3, miR-126, and VEGFR2 were measured on day 2 and 14. Results We found that (a) injected EPC-EXs merged with brain endothelial cells, neurons, astrocytes, and microglia in the peri-infarct area; (b) EPC-EXsmiR126 were more effective than EPC-EXs in decreasing infarct size and increasing CBF and MVD, and in promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis as well as neurological functional recovery; (c) These effects were accompanied with downregulated cleaved caspase-3 on day 2 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) upregulation till day 14. Conclusion Our results indicate that enrichment of miR126 enhanced the therapeutic efficacy of EPC-EXs on diabetic ischemic stroke by attenuating acute injury and promoting neurological function recovery.
Considering Nature and Nurture in the Etiology and Prevention of Picky Eating: A Narrative Review

Children are often categorized as picky eaters by parents and caregivers for their rejection of foods, such as vegetables, and for exhibiting other difficult mealtime behaviors. However, there are several factors that contribute to these mealtime behaviors, including early feeding practices (i.e., breastfeeding, introduction to solid food), repeated exposure to novel foods, and genetic taste sensitivity to certain compounds. Using the online database of PubMed, a review of the literature on the development of picky eating in children, its outcomes, and intervention strategies was conducted. This review groups the developmental contributors to picky eating into the categories of nature and nurture and explores the interaction between the two. This paper will also summarize the potential outcomes of picky eating and the various strategies that are currently recommended to mitigate picky eating in young children. However, there is a lack of longitudinal work targeting consistent picky eating behaviors that have the potential to impact long-term food preferences and dietary variety. Future intervention strategies should address the factors that influence the development of picky eating on an individual level.
Navigating the Quagmire: Comparison and Interpretation of COVID-19 Vaccine Phase 1/2 Clinical Trials

Vaccines against Coronavirus Disease 2019 Originated-19) have been developed with unprecedented rapidity, many utilizing novel strategies. As of November 2020, a series of publications have outlined the results of phase 1/2 studies of nine different vaccines planned to move forward to phase 3 trials. The results are encouraging, demonstrating a paucity of severe or serious adverse events and robust induction of antibody titers. Determination of the vaccine candidates with the highest protective efficacy and best adverse event profiles will be essential in refining public health strategies. However, differences in study design and reporting of data make comparisons of existing phase 1/2 studies difficult. With respect to safety, studies have variable follow-up times and may use different definitions for adverse events. Immunogenicity outcomes are even more inconsistent, with variations in timepoints and critical differences in the types of antibodies studied as well as methodological differences in assays. Furthermore, the correlates of protection in COVID-19 are not known. Harmonization of phase 3 trial designs and use of objective and meaningful clinical outcomes will be crucial in streamlining future global responses to the pandemic.
Inspiratory Pressure Rise Time, Ventilator Hardware, and Software Influence Regional Ventilation in a Simulated Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Lung Model.

BACKGROUND: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a heterogeneous disease that poses a challenge when ventilating premature infants. The purpose of this study was to determine how inspiratory pressure rise time (IRT), different ventilators, and their software updates affect the balance of ventilation among 2 heterogeneous lung units. METHODS: A passive dual-chamber lung model was constructed using the IngMar ASL5000 to approximate moderate BPD. One chamber had a short time constant, and the other had a long time constant. Three ventilators were used to provide pressure control intermittent mandatory ventilation: the Servo-i, an Avea ventilator with the volume guarantee software update, and an Avea ventilator without the volume guarantee software update. Using the same settings for pressure control intermittent mandatory ventilation, the IRT was adjusted between minimum and maximum settings. Data from 100 consecutive breaths/IRT were obtained. Inspiration time to 90% of plateau pressure was used as a surrogate for IRT; this was defined as the time needed to achieve a pressure of 18 cm H2O at the simulated trachea and was measured in 5 random breaths using ImageJ for each ventilator at each IRT. Outcome variables were tidal volume, peak inspiratory flow, mean inspiratory pressure, and volume balance (%) defined as the difference in chamber tidal volumes divided by total tidal volume. Linear regression was used to assess the impact of the IRT and ventilators on the different variables. RESULTS: In this model, increasing IRT decreased peak inspiratory flow, mean inspiratory pressure, chamber-specific tidal volume, and volume balance. Furthermore, different ventilator hardware and software influenced the waveforms in pressure control intermittent mandatory ventilation, which independently affected the measured variables. CONCLUSIONS: In a lung model of BPD with 2 very heterogeneous lung units, prolonging IRT without any volume balancing measures improved volume balance between the chambers at the expense of total tidal volume. Furthermore, the different ventilators acted as independent factors from the measured inspiration time to 90% of plateau pressure.
Human Rights Practices in a Globalizing World: The Paradox of Empty Promises

The authors examine the impact of the international human rights regime on governments’ human rights practices. They propose an explanation that highlights a “paradox of empty promises.” Their core arguments are that the global institutionalization of human rights has created an international context in which (1) governments often ratify human rights treaties as a matter of window dressing, radically decoupling policy from practice and at times exacerbating negative human rights practices, but (2) the emergent global legitimacy of human rights exerts independent global civil society effects that improve states’ actual human rights practices. The authors’ statistical analyses on a comprehensive sample of government repression from 1976 to 1999 find support for their argument.
Synthesis: The Common Form of Judgment and Perception

What is the relation between judgment and perception? Like most Kantian commentators, it will be maintained in this chapter that the function of synthesis, which is the unity of representations according to a rule (form or norm) is the common function of each. While perceptual syntheses via intuition are pre-linguistic, they are also proto-rational, and the understanding (Verstand) makes these syntheses conceptually and thus self-consciously explicit. Emphasis will be on the normative a priori understanding of synthetic unity. The main difference between intuitions and concepts as forms is held to be the degree of reason or self-consciousness in each.