cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary Surfactant Protein A Up-Regulates Activity of the Mannose Receptor, a Pattern Recognition Receptor Expressed on Human Macrophages

Inhaled particulates and microbes are continually cleared by a complex array of lung innate immune determinants, including alveolar macrophages (AMs). AMs are unique cells with an enhanced capacity for phagocytosis that is due, in part, to increased activity of the macrophage mannose receptor (MR), a pattern recognition receptor for various microorganisms. The local factors that “shape” AM function are not well understood. Surfactant protein A (SP-A), a major component of lung surfactant, participates in the innate immune response and can enhance phagocytosis. Here we show that SP-A selectively enhances MR expression on human monocyte-derived macrophages, a process involving both the attached sugars and collagen-like domain of SP-A. The newly expressed MR is functional. Monocyte-derived macrophages on an SP-A substrate demonstrated enhanced pinocytosis of mannose BSA and phagocytosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoarabinomannan-coated microspheres. The newly expressed MR likely came from intracellular pools because: 1) up-regulation of the MR by SP-A occurred by 1 h, 2) new protein synthesis was not necessary for MR up-regulation, and 3) pinocytosis of mannose BSA via MR recycling was increased. AMs from SP-A−/− mice have reduced MR expression relative to SP-A+/+. SP-A up-regulation of MR activity provides a mechanism for enhanced phagocytosis of microbes by AMs, thereby enhancing lung host defense against extracellular pathogens or, paradoxically, enhancing the potential for intracellular pathogens to enter their intracellular niche. SP-A contributes to the alternative activation state of the AM in the lung.
The Importance Of Being Positive

The most important advance in restoring images during the past decade probably was the realization that positive-enforced solutions are a real advance over unconstrained solutions. Surprisingly, the positive constraint both reduces spurious oscillation and enhances resolution simultaneously. This will be shown by a simple graphical argument. The earliest workers in this exotic field realized that by enforcing positivity they were inducing higher-frequency oscillation into their outputs than even is present in the image data. And more importantly, these were real and not artifacts. That is, super-resolution was being produced in real images for the first time. Some examples of these will be shown. The earliest methods for enforcing positivity were ad hoc, e.g., by arbitrarily representing the restoration as the square of a function. Later positivity was given a firm theoretical basis through the route of "maximum entropy," a concept which originated in the estimation of probability densities. A review of such methods will be given. Of late, positivity has also aided in producing real solutions to the "missing phase problem" of Labeyrie interferometry.
Microwave-assisted foaming of expandable polystyrene beads

A novel method for obtaining polystyrene foam, which uses microwave as the source of energy for expansion process, is developed. In this article, a method to disperse target expansion agent using two-stage bulk polymerization and free radical suspension polymerization of styrene is described. Current and proposed research uses environmentally friendly and potentially recyclable expansion agents and highly efficient volumetric heating systems. Spherical polystyrene beads containing 2-propanol as expansion agent are successfully prepared which are then expanded using microwave energy. Microwave processing conditions developed by trial experiments are reported. A brief discussion on the theory of microwave heating in the context of current research is presented for direct reference and convenience to the reader.
Extended access approaches for plating in the management of facial trauma

Modern-day management of facial trauma has been advanced by the addition of extended access approaches that minimize external scars while providing maximum exposure, and the development of plating systems that provide one-step rigid internal fixation of fractures. This article outlines the rationale and technique of approaching the facial skeleton through a series of surgical approaches specific for the four major anatomic regions of the face.
AGU Legislative Guide available

A guide to help AGU members communicate with legislators and government agency officials is available free of charge from AGU headquarters. The guide is based on the premise that input from the scientific community assists government to make decisions based on the latest factual information available. AGU's Guide to Legislative Information and Contacts was developed by AGU's Committee on Public Affairs and is based largely on a publication of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The guide briefly outlines the key steps in the legislative process and lists sources of information on legislation. The booklet also provides guidelines for corresponding with legislators a n d for providing scientific testimony to Congress. It also delineates some o f the constraints under which AGU must operate when undertaking legislative activities.
The spiritual dimension of individuals: conceptual development.

The concept of spirituality (the spiritual dimension of an individual) is discussed related to concept development using the Path Associated with Differences. Spirituality is discussed as being different from religion and the psychosocial dimension of individuals. Methods for concept development--e.g., concept derivation, intuition, and qualitative analysis--are explored.
College Level Examination Program Scores as Predictors of Grade Point Average

The predictability of Grade Point Average (GPA) from College Level Examination Program (CLEP) General Examination scores (in English, Natural Science, Social Science and History, and Humanities) was determined for a sample of 119 undergraduate continuing education students. In addition, correlations between each General Examination and GPA, and intercorrelations among General Examinations were obtained. A stepwise multiple regression procedure revealed that CLEP Social Science and History scores accounted for 19% of the variance in their prediction of GPA, followed by CLEP English scores which accounted for 3% additional variance. An intercorrelation matrix for all General Examinations and GPA revealed significance for all possible correlations. Implications of results are discussed.
Effect of macrophage depletion on growth and neovascularization of hamster buccal pouch carcinomas

The effect of macrophage depletion on growth and neovascularization of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinomas (HBPC) was evaluated by quantitating tritiated thymidine (3[H]TdR) incorporation by tumor cells and microvascular endothelium in light microscopic autoradiographs. Tumors that were depleted of macrophages with systemic hydrocortisone acetate (HA) and intratumor injections of antimacrophage serum (AMS) were examined 7 days after treatment. In control animals 30% of infiltrating host cells were esterase-positive tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and 28.14% of tumor cells and 14.45% of endothelial cells were 3[H]TdR labelled. Hamsters treated with HA or HA and control serum showed no significant reduction in either the number of TAM or proportion of [3H]TdR labelled tumor of endothelial cells. AMS administered alone had no effect on either the content of TAM or 3[H]TdR labelling. In contrast hamsters treated with HA and AMS showed a 54% decrease in TAM and a 50% and 63% reduction in tumor and endothelial cell labelling respectively. These results suggest that growth and neovascularization of these tumors is mediated in part by macrophages.
Fractal texture analysis in computer-aided diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules.

Rationale and Objectives. The authors investigated the use of fractal texture characterization to improve the accuracy of solitary pulmonary nodule computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. Methods. Thirty chest radiographs were acquired from patients who had no pulmonary nodules. Thirty regions were selected that were considered remotely suspicious-looking for nodules. Artificial nodules of multiple shapes, sizes, and orientations were added at subtle levels of contrast to 30 non-suspicious-looking regions of the radiographs. Fractal dimensions of the 60 “nodule candidates” were calculated to quantify the texture of each region. Four radiologists also interpreted the images. Results. The fractal dimension of each possible nodule provided statistically significant ( P P Conclusion. Fractal texture characterization provides useful information for the classification of potential solitary pulmonary nodules with CAD algorithms.
Cloud‐vegetation interaction: Use of normalized difference cloud index for estimation of cloud optical thickness

A new technique to retrieve cloud optical depth for broken clouds above green vegetation using ground-based zenith radiance measurements is developed. By analogy with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Normalized Difference Cloud Index (NDCI) is defined as a ratio between the difference and the sum of two zenith radiances measured for two narrow spectral bands in the visible and near-IR regions. The very different spectral behavior of cloud liquid water drops and green vegetation is the key physics behind the NDCI. It provides extra tools to remove the radiative effects of the 3D cloud structure. Numerical calculations based on fractal clouds and real measurements of NDCI and cloud liquid water path confirm the improvements.
Evaluating Client Selection and Selection Fidelity Case of Mental Health Probation Supervision

The effectiveness of specialized interventions depends in part on the target population and whether those selected for admission to interventions (i.e., specialized programs) and recruited to participate in research evaluations are representative of the target population. This article describes the process by which clients were selected to participate in a specialized mental health caseload (SMHC). The study focuses on the referral and selection process at the program level and the factors influencing acceptance and rejection. Using a mixed methods approach, we found that selection was guided by a three-stage process: The first was a general education phase, followed by an informal pre-screening stage, and finally a formal screening stage. Once clients were referred, client selection was informed principally by the program’s formal criteria. Informal processes appeared consistent with the formal selection criteria. Further research is necessary to assess potential bias prior to the formal referral process.
Helicobacter-pylori gastritis associated with gastric outlet and biliary obstruction

Background and aims: Helicobacter pylori (HP) causes peptic ulcer disease and occasionally gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) but not biliary obstruction. We describe a case of severe HP gastritis causing both GOO and biliary stricture. Methods: Clinic notes, imaging, endoscopy and pathology reports, and hospital course were reviewed. Design: Single case report. Setting: Tertiary care, academic medical center. Participant/s: One patient encountered in clinical practice. The hospital course is described retrospectively. Clinic notes; endoscopy, pathology, and operative reports; imaging studies are discussed. Interventions: CT scan, esophagastroduodenoscopy (EGD), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). She received conservative medical treatment. Results: HP gastritis, GOO, and obstructive biliary stricture were diagnosed by EGD and ERCP. Peptic ulcer and malignancy were excluded. Medical therapy was curative and resolution confirmed by repeat EGD/ERCP. Conclusions: HP can cause both GOO and biliary stricture, for which medical therapy may be curative.
Decentralized adaptive compliance control of robot manipulators

This paper presents two adaptive schemes for controlling the end-effector compliance of robot manipulators. Each controller possesses a decentralized structure, in which the control input for each configuration degree-of-freedom (DOF) is computed based on information concerning only that DOF. The first scheme is developed using an adaptive impedance control approach and consists of two subsystems: a simple filter which modifies the end-effector position trajectory based on the sensed contact force and the desired dynamic relationship between the position and force, and an adaptive controller that produces the joint torques required to track this modified trajectory. The second compliant motion control strategy is an adaptive admittance controller for position-controlled manipulators. In this scheme a desired contact force is specified and then position setpoints for the inner-loop position controller are generated which ensure that this desired force is achieved. The proposed controllers are extremely simple computationally, do not require knowledge of the manipulator dynamic model or parameter values of the manipulator or the environment, and are implemented in decentralized form. It is shown that the control strategies are globally stable in the presence of bounded disturbances, and that in the absence of disturbances the ultimate size of the controller errors can be made arbitrarily small. The capabilities of the proposed control schemes are illustrated through both computer simulations and actual hardware experiments with a Robotics Research Corporation Model K-1207 redundant manipulator. These studies demonstrate that the first controller provides an accurate and robust means of ensuring that the desired end-effector impedance characteristics are realized, while the second scheme represents a readily implementable method of obtaining high performance force control.
Unique eyelid manifestations in type 1 pseudohypoaldosteronism

Familial pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (PHA1) occurs in two genetically and clinically distinguishable variants. Autosomal-recessive PHA1 that involves a genetic defect in the epithelial sodium channel that affects all aldosterone target organs including the kidney, colon and sweat glands.1 ,2 Two published case reports describe Meibomian gland involvement. …
Nonwoven fiber barriers for control of cabbage maggot and onion maggot (Diptera: Anthomyiidae).

Abstract We investigated the use of nonwoven fiber barriers for control of cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.), and onion maggot, D. antiqua (Meigen). The barriers consist of arrangements of minute fibers loosely intertwined in “web” form. Results from a greenhouse experiment showed that manually applied graphite fibers placed at the base of broccoli plants reduced the number of D. radicum eggs by 64–98%, and that efficacy increased with greater fiber density. Using a melt extrusion process, we devised a method for on-site creation of nonwoven fibers of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). In field trials with broccoli and onion plants, EVA fibers significantly reduced the number of cabbage and onion maggots infesting plants. Fiber barriers provided comparable control to standard insecticide applications. The addition of blue, yellow, red, or black pigments, as well as optical brighteners that absorb UV light did not enhance fiber efficacy. Incorporation of capsaicin olfactory repellent to EVA also did not enhanc...
Gastric Electrical Stimulation for Gastroparesis

The first report on electrical stimulation of the gut can be traced back to 1963; Bilgutay and colleagues applied gastric electrical stimulation (GES) via an intraluminal catheter placed in the stomach nasally and reported GES-induced peristalsis by fluoroscopy and a shortened recovery time from ileus after laparotomy in both humans and dogs. These exciting findings were, however, not reproduced in a few subsequent controlled studies. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a number of investigators began to study gastric myoelectrical activity and its correlation with gastric contractile activity, leading to a better understanding of gastric electrophysiology and further development of GES. In early 1990s, Kelly and colleagues systematically investigated the effects of GES on intrinsic gastric myoelectrical activity or slow waves, gastric contractions, and gastric emptying mostly in dogs. During the past decade, various methods of GES have been developed for the treatment of gastric motility disorders and applied in both patients with gastroparesis and canine models of gastroparesis. According to the stimulus, GES can be classified as short and long pulses. However, limited clinical studies and extensive canine experiments have suggested therapeutic potential of long-pulse GES in treating gastric dysrhythmia and delayed gastric emptying. A number of novel methods have recently been developed for GES, including sequential multichannel GES, dual-pulse GES, and synchronized GES. While there is lack of clinical data due to the unavailability of implantable device, canine studies have demonstrated the viability of these new emerging GES methods in treating gastroparesis.
Hepatic transmethylation and blood alcohol levels

Golden Syrian hamsters that have elevated hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity were divided into four groups and group-fed on four different liquid diets for five weeks. Group I was fed a control diet formulated for hamsters. Group II was fed the control diet containing 20 micrograms of 4 methylpyrazole per litre. Group III was fed the hamster ethanol liquid diet (ethanol amounting to 36% of total calories). Group IV was fed the ethanol diet to which 4-methylpyrazole (20 micrograms/litre) was added. Groups I, II and III were group-fed the amount consumed by Group IV on a daily basis. Upon killing the animals, blood alcohol levels were found to be elevated in Group IV but not in Group III. Hepatic methionine synthetase (MS) was inhibited in Group IV. Betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase was induced in this group to compensate for the MS inhibition and liver betaine was lowered reflecting this induction. None of these changes were seen in Group III. Since none of the animals showed an aversion to their respective diets and gained weight normally, these data indicate that it was the elevated blood levels of ethanol rather than nutritional factors that were related to the changes in methionine metabolism.
High Reliability and High Performance 30μm Through-Package-Vias in Ultra-Thin Bare Glass Interposer

This paper presents, for the first time, the thermo-mechanical reliability and the electrical performance of 30μm through package vias (TPVs) formed by Corning in ultra-thin low-cost bare glass interposers and metallized directly by sputter seed and electroplating. In contrast to glass interposers with polymer coated glass cores reported previously, this paper reports on direct metallization of thin and uncoated glass panels with fine pitch TPVs. The scalability of the unit processes to large panel sizes is expected to result in bare glass interposers at 2 to 10 times lower cost than silicon interposers fabricated using back end of line (BEOL) wafer processes. The thermo-mechanical reliability of 30μm TPVs was studied by conducting accelerated thermal cycling tests (TCT), with most via chains passing 1000 cycles from −55°C to 125°C. The high-frequency behavior of the TPVs was characterized by modeling, design and measurement up to 30 GHz.
Diagnostiek en behandeling van pijn bij kanker

Pijn bij patienten met kanker is meestal chronisch van karakter. Tegen de achtergrond van deze chronische pijn kan een plotselinge toename van pijn optreden, de zogenoemde doorbraakpijn. Deze CME Oncologie gaat over Doorbraakpijn.
Finite Element Analysis of Pressurized Fabric Beams With Material Nonlinearity

This paper presents a finite element analysis of inflated fabric beams that considers nonlinear material response and shear deformations. Applying the principle of virtual work, we obtain the FEM formulation for inflated fabric beams with material nonlinearity. Comparisons between 4-point bend tests of inflated woven fabric beams and finite element results indicate that the finite element analysis provides good estimates of deflections, and that it is important to incorporate the effects of shear deformation and pressure when predicting inflated fabric beam response.© 2006 ASME
Neonatal lupus and autoantibodies reactive with SSA/Ro-SSB/La.

(1998). Neonatal lupus and autoantibodies reactive with SSA/Ro-SSB/La (abstract) Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology: Vol. 27, Second International Conference on Sex Hormones and Pregnancy in Rheumatic Diseases, pp. 23-30.
Stability of prednisone tablets submitted by U.S. hospitals

The stability of prednisone tablets that had been stored in hospitals across the United States was studied. Through a voluntary FDA drug stability program, all hospital pharmacies in the United States were asked in October 1982 to complete a response card indicating information about prednisone tablets they had in stock. Based on the responses, FDA selected 117 samples (representing 18 manufacturers and all available tablet strengths) from pharmacies that represented an adequate cross section of the country. The samples were analyzed for content uniformity, strength, identification, dissolution, and the presence of other steroids. All samples met USP requirements for content uniformity and strength. Four samples failed to meet USP requirements for dissolution. Prednisone tablets appear to be stable when stored under actual marketplace conditions.
Pharmacologic Therapies in Women’s Health : Contraception and Menopause Treatment

Female hormones play a significant role in the etiology and treatment of many women's health conditions. This article focuses on the common uses of hormonal therapy. When prescribing estrogen-containing regimens throughout the span of a woman's life, the risks are similar (ie, cardiovascular risk and venous thromboembolism), but the degree of risk varies significantly depending on a woman's particular set of risk factors and the details of the hormone regimen. In addition to estrogens and progestogens, this article also touches on the use of selective steroid receptor modulators in emergency contraception and in treatment of menopause symptoms.
Regional and temporal variation in canine peripheral lung responses to dry air.

Variation in dry airflow-induced broncho-constriction (AIB) in the canine lung periphery was examined using a wedged bronchoscope technique. Collateral system resistance (Rcs) was measured before and after dry-air challenge. Base-line Rcs was similar throughout the lung periphery, between dogs, and over time. Increasing base-line Rcs was correlated with increasing maximum Rcs 5 min postchallenge (Rcs5), increasing change in Rcs (dRcs5), and decreasing percent change in Rcs above base line (%Rcs5). In contrast to repeated challenge in which base-line Rcs was similar, the magnitude of AIB associated with consecutive challenges with unequal base lines depended on the parameter used to evaluate the response (i.e., Rcs5, dRcs5, or %Rcs5). Peripheral lung resistance then increased to a stimulus specific maximum regardless of base-line Rcs, although data expressed as %Rcs5 or dRcs5 may obscure this observation. Although a change in peripheral lung resistance does not necessarily imply airway narrowing, it is consistent with the idea that changes in Rcs are independent of the collateral system's resting tone.
The Era of the Autogiro

The First Cierva Memorial Lecture was given in the Lecture Theatre of the Society on 16th February 1961 with Dr. E. S. Moult, C.B.E., B.Sc., F.R.Ae.S., M.I.Mech.E., President of the Society, in the Chair. Introducing the lecturer, Dr. Moult said that, beginning in 1948, through the generosity of Wing Commander Graham Douglas, the Helicopter Association of Great Britain awarded a prize annually in commemoration of the great pioneer work of Juan de la Cierva in the field of rotary wing flight. When the Helicopter Association merged with the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1960 it was decided to institute a Cierva Memorial Lecture as a main event in the yearly calendar of the newly-formed Rotorcraft Section of the Society.This was the first lecture of what he was sure would be an outstanding series and they were honoured by having with them for the occasion Dr. Carlos de la Cierva, son of the great pioneer. Professor Bennett had spent much of his working life associated with rotary wing aircraft and had been closely associated with Senor de la Cierva. He had been with the Cierva Autogiro Company for about 10 years, and for some seven years was head of the Helicopter Branch of Fairey Aviation; in America he was for a period a member of the British Air Commission and later, was Chief of Research of Hiller Aircraft. He was now Deputy Principal and Head of the Department of Aerodynamics at the College of Aeronautics.
CHAPTER 281 – Drosophila Nuclear Receptors

The completion of the Drosophila genome sequence in early 2000 revealed 21 nuclear receptor (NR) genes, about half of the 49 NR genes identified to date in the human genome. In striking contrast, ∼270 NR genes have been described in Caenorhabditis elegans. It seems likely that the ∼255 nematode-specific NRs reflect an adaptation unique to the nematode group. The 21 Drosophila NRs represent all major subfamilies described previously, and 16 receptors appear to have orthologs in either vertebrates or nematodes, or both. The other two receptors, DHR39 and DHR83, are closely related to FTZ-Fl and dFAX-1, respectively, and probably represent—in evolutionary terms—relatively recent splits within the arthropod lineage. In general, it appears that most Drosophila NRs are more similar to their human counterparts than to the corresponding C. elegans homolog. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, provides an ideal system to analyze NR function in the context of a developing organism, with a wide range of genetic tools that allow the dissection of regulatory pathways and in-depth characterization of gene function.
Goin’ North: Stories from the Great Migration to Philadelphia

Goin’ North is rich in every way. The website uses dozens of voices from oral history interviews among a variety of media to tell densely textured, in-depth stories of how the Great Migration playe...
Turbulence dependence on winds and stability in a weak-wind canopy sublayer over complex terrain

The daytime and nighttime turbulence profiles within a weak-wind forest canopy were investigated using data collected within a temperate mixed conifer canopy in northern Idaho, USA. Turbulence measurements made at three heights on a single tower within a Douglas fir canopy were compared. Data were split between the daytime and nighttime to determine the relationships among the local temperature gradient, wind direction, wind speed, and turbulence levels. The total flow field distributions and vertical statistical profiles were determined for the overnight and daytime periods to observe how the overall flow changed with time of day. During the day, the wind probability distribution function was consistent between heights but depended on the canopy depth overnight. The skewness changed with the dominant wind direction. The kurtosis increased with depth into the canopy and from during the day to overnight. The range of wind speeds observed was higher under unstable conditions than stable conditions. Daytime turbulence had no dependence on wind direction. Overnight, the relationship between turbulence and wind speed changed with wind direction and canopy depth. The highest turbulence values were associated with downslope winds near the canopy top but the wind direction for the highest turbulence was variable within the trunk space.
Breaking cognitive barriers to a sustainable future

As humans, our decision-making process is biased towards maintaining the status quo, even if an alternative choice has substantial long-term benefits. This cognitive myopia and present bias, when applied to decisions that affect sustainability, could be threatening our future.
The influence of road familiarity on distracted driving activities and driving operation using naturalistic driving study data

Abstract This paper analyzed the influence of familiarity on the involvement of secondary tasks and driving operation using naturalistic driving study (NDS) data. Distracted driving activities were extracted from face videos captured in 557 trips, including 501 trips on familiar roads and 56 trips on unfamiliar roads. These trips were completed by 155 drivers using their own vehicles during daytime hours under good weather conditions. The data showed the frequency of distracted driving activities and duration time were higher on familiar roads compared to unfamiliar roads. More types of secondary tasks were found on familiar roads. Focusing on objects was the most common distracted driving activity on familiar roads. The average time drivers used to eat or drink was highest (8.67 s) on familiar roads. The time drivers spent checking their cell phone was high on both familiar roads and unfamiliar roads. Since driving operation is directly related to crash risk, this paper also analyzed the difference of driving operation on familiar roads and unfamiliar roads. The speed profiles were generated on well-known versus unfamiliar roads. It was shown that drivers were more likely to be speeding and select a short distance to deceleration near the intersections. The findings indicated that distracted driving phenomenon was more serious on familiar roads.
Accelerated neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells on aligned GYIGSR-functionalized nanofibers.

Abstract Substrates for embryonic stem cell culture are typified by poorly defined xenogenic, whole proteins or cellular components that are difficult and expensive to generate, characterize, and recapitulate. Herein, the generation of well-defined scaffolds of Gly-Tyr-Ile-Gly-Ser-Arg (GYIGSR) peptide-functionalized poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) aligned nanofibers are used to accelerate the neural lineage commitment and differentiation of D3 mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Gene expression trends and immunocytochemistry analysis were similar to laminin-coated glass, and indicated an earlier differentiation progression than D3 mESCs on laminin. Further, GYIGSR-functionalized nanofiber substrates yielded an increased gene expression of Sox1, a neural progenitor cell marker, and Tubb3, Cdh2, Syp, neuronal cell markers, at early time points. In addition, guidance of neurites was found to parallel the fiber direction. We demonstrate the fabrication of a well-defined, xeno-free functional nanofiber scaffold and demonstrates its use as a surrogate for xenogenic and complex matrixes currently used for the neural differentiation of stem cells ex vivo. Statement of Significance In this paper, we report the use of GYIGSR-functionalized poly(e-caprolactone) aligned nanofibers as a tool to accelerate the neural lineage commitment and differentiation of D3 mouse embryonic stem cells. The results indicate that functional nanofiber substrates promote faster differentiation than laminin coated substrates. The data suggest that aligned nanofibers and post-electrospinning surface modification with bioactive species can be combined to produce translationally relevant xeno-free substrates for stem cell therapy. Future development efforts are focused on additional bioactive species that are able to function as surrogates for other xenogenic factors found in differentiation media.
The rostromedial tegmental nucleus modulates the development of stress-induced helpless behavior.

Abstract A growing body of clinical and preclinical research suggests that structural and functional changes in the habenula, a component of the epithalamus, are associated with major depressive disorder. A major excitatory, efferent projection from the habenula targets the rostromedial tegmentum (RMTg), a mesopontine region that provides significant input to the ventral tegmentum and raphe nuclei. While the RMTg contributes to monoaminergic responses to aversive events, its role in stress-based animal models of depression has yet to be determined. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that the RMTg is a component of the circuitry mediating the development of a maladaptive behavior in which rats repeatedly exposed to inescapable footshock, fail to avoid or escape the same stressor when subsequently given the opportunity to do so. Excitotoxic lesions of the RMTg significantly diminished the frequency of these escape failures 24 h after exposure to inescapable footshock. Conversely, electrical stimulation of the Hb during the initial uncontrollable aversive event, a manipulation that enhances excitatory input to the RMTg, increased the number of trials in which subjects failed to escape an aversive stimulus when presented the option 24 h later. These complementary results provide evidence supporting a role for the RMTg in the expression of stress-induced helpless phenotype and are an important step in understanding the contribution made by this region to the development of depression-related maladaptive behaviors.
Prehistoric European Chiefdoms

Inequality is a somewhat slippery concept. As Price and Hayden stress in their contributions to this volume, any society is liable to contain potential aggrandizers; and the constraints that suppress these ambitious individuals altogether are imposed only by relatively few societies, all of them (in the ethnographic record, at least) operating in extremely harsh environments, where risk pooling is imperative, and individual accumulation is counterproductive. As a result, one can find some foreshadowing of the characteristics of fully developed “complexity” in almost any simple society. Within the household, as Blanton indicates in his contribution, inequality is pervasive, and households are the charters for society. “Marginalization,” the dimension of inequality emphasized in Arnold’s contribution, likewise occurs at all social scales: within households as well as between them, within settlements and between them, within polities and between them, and so on. The whole thrust of Boasian relativism was to stress these continuities in the social evolutionary scale: the similarities to be found in societies of vastly different scales suggested their essential parity as historical outcomes.
COMPLEXES OF PYRIDINE NUCLEOTIDES AND THEIR FUNCTION

Publisher Summary This chapter elaborates about complexes of pyridine nucleotides and their function. In heart muscle the H-type LDH may function as a lactate dehydrogenase under the aerobic conditions, whereas the M-type LDH may be geared to operate as a pyruvate reductase under anaerobic conditions in voluntary muscle. Some evidence has been obtained indicating that the inhibition of LDH by high concentrations of pyruvate is related to the formation of this abortive complex. Preincubation with DPN+ induces a large inhibitory effect on the H-type LDH, whereas the effect is much less pronounced with the M-type enzymes. It is of interest to note that the dissociation of the ternary complex can be promoted by DPNH; this dissociation proceeds with a considerable lag-time. It is also clear from these results that the inhibition of LDH increases with the period of incubation.
Structure of PC Sequences and the 3rd Prediction Problem

Founders of prediction theory formulated three prediction problems: extrapolation problem, interpolation problem, and the problem of positivity of the angle between the past and the future. The third one is strictly related to the question of representing the predictor as a series of past values of the process. All three have been solved in the case of stationary sequences, however, as far as we know in the case of periodically correlated sequences only the first prediction problem has been studied. The purpose of this chapter is to overview the third prediction problems.
Exonuclease VII of Escherichia coli.

A new exonuclease of Escherichia coli K12, exonuclease VII, has been purified 1700-fold and characterized. The enzyme is specific for single-stranded DNA and can initiate hydrolysis at both 5′ and 3′ termini. It is also capable of thyminedimer excision in vitro. The limit products of the reaction are oligonucleotides, predominantly in the range of tetramers to dodecamers. DNA is hydrolyzed by the enzyme in a processive fashion. Mutants of E. coli have been isolated having reduced levels of exonuclease VII activity in crude extracts. Mapping studies place the exonuclease VII locus between 45 and 56 minutes on the E. coli K12 linkage map.
A Two-Year Cost Analysis of Maximum Nonoperative Treatments in Patients with Cervical Stenosis that Ultimately Required Surgery

Objective The aim of this study is to characterize the use and associated costs of maximal nonoperative therapy (MNT) received within 2-years before anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery in patients with symptomatic cervical stenosis. Methods An insurance database, including private/commercially insured and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, was queried for patients undergoing 1-level, 2-level, or 3-level ACDF procedures between 2007 and 2016. Research records were searchable by International Classification of Diseases diagnosis and procedure, Current Procedural Terminology, and generic drug codes. The use of MNTs within 2 years before index ACDF surgery was assessed by cost billed to patients, prescriptions written, and number of units billed. Results Of 220,902 (7.16%) eligible patients, 15,825 underwent index surgery. Patient breakdown of the use of MNT modalities was as follows: 5731 (36.2%) used nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs; 9827 (62.1%) used opioids; 7383 (46.7%) used muscle relaxants; 3609 (22.8%) received cervical epidural steroid injection; 5504 (34.8%) attended physical therapy/occupational therapy; 1663 (10.5%) received chiropractor treatments; and 200 (1.3%) presented to the emergency department. During the 2-year preoperative period, there were 51,675 prescriptions for diagnostic cervical imaging. The total direct cost associated with all MNTs before ACDF was $16,056,556. Cervical spine imaging comprised the largest portion of the total MNT cost ($8,677,110; 54.0%), followed by cervical epidural steroid injection ($3,315,913; 20.7%) and opioids ($2,228,221; 13.9%). Opiates were the most frequently prescribed therapy (71,602 prescriptions). Discussion Opioids are the most frequently prescribed and most used therapy in the preoperative period for cervical stenosis. Further studies and improved guidelines are necessary to determine which patients may benefit from ACDF earlier in the course of nonoperative therapies.
Some Research Needs to Support Mutagenicity Risk Assessments from Whole Mammal Studies

The primary goal of regulatory agencies concerned with human health is to ensure that exposure to chemical substances does not present unreasonable risks. This involves assessing the potential of chemical substances to cause toxic effects and weighing these effects against cost and benefit considerations. If the toxicity and exposure data allow, attempts are made to estimate health damage to the human population. For most environmental chemicals, human data are unavailable. On those occasions when chemical exposure can be associated with a toxicological response in humans, many people have already been exposed and irreparable damage may have occurred. Examples of such events include the kepone incident, neurological disorders; the dibromochloropropane incident, sterility; and the vinyl chloride incident, liver angiosarcomas. Therefore, it is imperative that animal toxicity studies be conducted to assess the likely human health risk before such effects are observed.
Novel Rare Gas Ions BXe+, BKr+, and BAr+ Formed in a Halogen/Rare Gas Exchange Reaction

Singly charged rare gas borynium ions were prepared for the first time by making use of mass-selected ion/molecule reactions in a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. Halogen for rare-gas exchange reactions leading to the formation of the novel species BAr+, BKr+, and BXe+ were carried out by allowing the radical cation BBr+• to react with neutral rare gas atoms in the second quadrupole under conditions typically used for collision-induced dissociation (CID) in tandem mass spectrometry experiments. The ions formed contain the bonds B−Ar, B−Kr, and B−Xe, the lengths of which were calculated at the B3-LYP/LANL2DZ level of theory to be 2.590, 2.635, and 2.713 A, respectively. Natural bond orbital (NBO) population analysis revealed that the bond order increases with increasing size of the rare gas atom: Ar < Kr < Xe. The reactions leading to the formation of the singly charged boron cations of Ar, Kr, and Xe are endothermic by 50.1, 45.8, and 38.7 kcal/mol, respectively. The energy required to drive these re...
The Influence of Daily Price Extremes on Short-Term Stock Returns

This paper explores whether investors use daily price extremes as reference points for short-term investing decisions by examining their relation with returns. Excess momentum returns are observed ...
Performance of the combined zero degree calorimeter for CMS

The combined zero degree calorimeter (ZDC) is a combination of sampling quartz/tungsten electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters. Two identical combined calorimeters are located in the LHC tunnel at CERN at the straight section ~140 m on each side of the CMS interaction vertex and between the two beam pipes. They will detect very forward |?| ? 8.5 photons and neutrons. ZDC information can be used for a variety of physics measurements as well as improving the collision centrality determination in heavy-ion collisions. Results are presented for ZDC performance studies with the CERN SPS H2 test beam.
Honeypot: Black Southern women who love women: by E. Patrick Johnson, Durham, Duke University Press, 2019, 256 pp., $25.95 (paperback ), $99.95 (hardcover), $25.95 (softcover), ISBN 978-1478005902

All it takes is a series of Southern sayings in the correct drawl and the appropriate accompanying affect to turn a small bookstore into a tiny church, or hair salon, or front porch. One must be bo...
Alternate Ways of Modeling How Deficit Variables Modified by Accommodative Monetary Policy Reduce Crowd Out (Bernanke, Mankiw Definitions of Accommodative Monetary Policy)

In this chapter, we test the hypothesis that a limited portion of the total loanable funds pool, the exogenous part of the pool, namely FR open market securities purchases (Tr + A), is the only part of loanable funds pool that actually offsets crowd out effects of (T) and (G) deficits. In other words, we test the hypothesis that the total pool of loanable funds (S + FB) is just an oversized proxy for the changes in one component of this total that makes a difference: (Tr + A).
Positive Pedagogy of Presentations to Partners

Making the transition from law study to law practice requires focusing attention, synthesizing information, and rigorously applying skills that are new and non-intuitive. One pedagogical tool that combines the knowledge gained in law study with the skills needed for practice is the “Presentation to a Partner” simulation exercise. Presentations to partners combine an oral presentation of the results of research with an information processing exercise in which the student must receive and respond to rapidly changing feedback and inquiries from the audience, all in five or ten minutes.
Reversal of elastase-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm following the delivery of nanoparticle-based pentagalloyl glucose (PGG) is associated with reduced inflammatory and immune markers.

Abstract Objective An Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a deadly disease in elderly population, is featured by expansion of aortic diameter, degradation and weakening of vasculature. Its common and significant characteristics are disarray and inflammation in vasculature. We tested the hypothesis that the reversal of abdominal aortic aneurysm by pentagalloyl glucose-loaded nanoparticles (PGG-NPs) therapy that targets degraded elastin suppresses inflammatory and immune markers to ameliorate the pathophysiology of the disease in advance stage aneurysm in a porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE)-induced mouse model of AAA. Methods and results After induction of aneurysm in pathogen-free C57BL/6 male mice by applying PPE peri-adventitially to the abdominal aorta, once a week for two doses of intravenous injections of pentagalloyl glucose-loaded nanoparticles (PGG-NPs) conjugated with elastin targeted antibody were used to reverse the aneurysms. We showed that PGG-NPs therapy could suppress infiltration of macrophages, CD8 and CD4 subsets of T cells, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), inflammatory cytokines interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-6 at the local and systemic level. Moreover, such PGG-NPs therapy increases the induction of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-13, IL-27 and IL-10 at the local and systemic level. The therapy also led to remodeling of elastic lamina at the aneurysm site. Conclusion Nanoparticles-loaded pentagalloyl glucose therapy can be an effective treatment option against advanced stage aneurysms to reverse the disease by ameliorating inflammation and restoring arterial homeostasis.
Chest Radiograph Disentanglement for COVID-19 Outcome Prediction

Chest radiographs (CXRs) are often the primary front-line diagnostic imaging modality. Pulmonary diseases manifest as characteristic changes in lung tissue texture rather than anatomical structure. Hence, we expect that studying changes in only lung tissue texture without the influence of possible structure variations would be advantageous for downstream prognostic and predictive modeling tasks. In this paper, we propose a generative framework, Lung Swapping Autoencoder (LSAE), that learns a factorized representation of a CXR to disentangle the tissue texture representation from the anatomic structure representation. Upon learning the disentanglement, we leverage LSAE in two applications. 1) After adapting the texture encoder in LSAE to a thoracic disease classification task on the large-scale ChestX-ray14 database (N = 112,120), we achieve a competitive result (mAUC: 79.0\(\%\)) with unsupervised pre-training. Moreover, when compared with Inception v3 on our multi-institutional COVID-19 dataset, COVOC (N = 340), for a COVID-19 outcome prediction task (estimating need for ventilation), the texture encoder achieves 13\(\%\) less error with a 77\(\%\) smaller model size, further demonstrating the efficacy of texture representation for lung diseases. 2) We leverage the LSAE for data augmentation by generating hybrid lung images with textures and labels from the COVOC training data and lung structures from ChestX-ray14. This further improves ventilation outcome prediction on COVOC.
Location matters: The impact of renewable power on transmission congestion and emissions

Abstract Many governments offer subsidies for renewable power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector. However, most support schemes for renewable power do not take into account that emissions depend on the location of renewable and conventional power plants within an electricity grid. I simulate optimal power flow in a test grid when 4 renewable power plants connect to the grid across 24 potential sites, amounting to over 10,000 configurations. Each configuration is associated with different levels of emissions and renewable power output. I find that emission reductions vary by a factor of 7 and that curtailment due to transmission congestion is more likely when renewable power plants are concentrated in an area of the grid with low demand. Large cost savings could be obtained by allowing subsidies for renewable power to vary across locations according to abatement potential or by replacing subsidies with a price on emissions.