cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Investigation of liver alcohol dehydrogenase catalysis using an NADH biomimetic and comparison with a synthetic zinc model complex

Abstract We have compared the catalytic activity of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH) with a synthetic zinc model complex in the presence of N-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide (BNAH), a cofactor which serves as a biomimetic for the natural cofactor NADH. We have used five different substrates (benzaldehyde, p-anisaldehyde, 4-nitrobenzaldehyde, 2-pyridine carboxaldehyde, and 5-pyrimidine carboxaldehyde) in this study. These substrates vary in their substituent inductive effect, which is the ability to donate or withdraw electron density away from their carbonyl-functional group. Our results reveal that in the presence of NADH, geometric factors (induced fit of the substrate and cofactor in the enzyme active site) are vital. However, reactivity assays show that in the presence of BNAH, there is a strong correlation between substrate electronic environment and the observed catalytic rate, i.e. the more electron withdrawn the substrate, the greater the speed at which the reduction reaction occurs. NMR spectroscopy reveals that a synthetic zinc model complex catalyzes the reduction of substrates in a manner consistent with LADH enzyme.
The ego in diagnosis

This article highlights the salient issues in ego psychological assessment, and offers detailed suggestions on the conduct of such clinical procedures. The article emphasizes the importance of the anamnesis (or detailed, meaningful history), the patient's ego structure, the kind of trauma and its duration, the symptoms presented as well as the dynamic, genetic, and adaptive implications of the patient's symptoms and complaints. The determination of the ego's state is viewed as critical for adequate preparation for therapy and the evolution of the therapeutic relationship.
Increasing flooding hazard in coastal communities due to rising sea level: Case study of Miami Beach, Florida

Abstract Sea level rise (SLR) imposes an increasing flooding hazard on low-lying coastal communities due to higher exposure to high-tide conditions and storm surge. Additional coastal flooding hazard arises due to reduced effectiveness of gravity-based drainage systems to drain rainwater during heavy rain events. Over the past decade, several coastal communities along the US Atlantic coast have experienced an increasing rate of flooding events. In this study, we focus on the increasing flooding hazard in Miami Beach, Florida, which has caused severe property damage and significant disruptions to daily life. We evaluate the flooding frequency and its causes by analyzing tide and rain gauge records, media reports, insurance claims, and photo records from Miami Beach acquired during 1998–2013. Our analysis indicates that significant changes in flooding frequency occurred after 2006, in which rain-induced events increased by 33% and tide-induced events increased by more than 400%. We also analyzed tide gauge records from Southeast Florida and detected a decadal-scale accelerating rates of SLR. The average pre-2006 rate is 3 ± 2 mm/yr, similar to the global long-term rate of SLR, whereas after 2006 the average rate of SLR in Southeast Florida rose to 9 ± 4 mm/yr. Our results suggest that engineering solutions to SLR should rely on regional SLR rate projections and not only on the commonly used global SLR projections.
Radiologic Safety Events Within a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Network.

Objectives The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of radiologic safety events using an analysis of deidentified incident reports (IRs) collected within a large multicenter pediatric emergency medicine network. Methods This study is a report of a planned subanalysis of IRs that were classified as radiologic events. The parent study was performed in the PECARN (Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network). Incident reports involving radiology were classified into subtypes: delay in test, delay in results, misread or changed reading, wrong patient, wrong site, or other. The severity of radiology-related incidents was characterized. Contributing factors were identified and classified as environmental, equipment, human (employee), information technology systems, parent or guardian, or systems based. Results Two hundred three (7.0%) of the 2906 IRs submitted during the study period involved radiology. Eighteen of the hospitals submitted at least 1 IR and 15 of these hospitals reported at least 1 radiologic event. The most common type of radiologic event was misread/changed reading, which accounted for over half of all IRs (50.3%). Human factors were the most frequent contributing factor identified and accounted for 67.6% of all factors. The severity of events ranged from unsafe conditions to events with temporary harm that required hospitalization. Conclusions We described the epidemiology of radiology-related IRs from a large multicenter pediatric emergency research network. The study identified specific themes regarding types of radiologic errors, including the systems issues and the contributing factors associated with those errors. Results from this analysis may help identify effective intervention strategies to ameliorate the frequency of radiology-related safety events in the emergency department setting.
Comparative study of 1000MW steam turbo-generator foundations

By comparing the structural characteristics of 1 000MW grade steam turbo-generator foundations of different types,the dynamic characteristics of different steam turbo-generator foundations are analyzed.And then it is verified that"Code for design of dynamic machine foundation"(GB50040-96)is rational for guiding the design of imported type foundation.
Regulatory Mechanisms Driving Salivary Gland Organogenesis

Salivary glands develop as highly branched structures designed to produce and secrete saliva. Advances in mouse genetics, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine are having a tremendous impact on our understanding of salivary gland organogenesis. Understanding how submandibular gland (SMG) initiation, branching morphogenesis, and cell differentiation occur, as well as defining the progenitor/stem cells and cell and tissue interactions that drive SMG development will help guide regenerative approaches for patients suffering from loss of salivary gland function. This review focuses on recent literature from the past 5 years investigating the regulatory mechanisms driving SMG organogenesis.
Alliance Formation in Civil Wars: A Theory of Warring Group Alliances and Fractionalization in Multiparty Civil Wars

This book seeks to explain two phenomena. The first phenomenon is civil war alliances between warring groups – why they form and why they shift over the course of a conflict. I argue that civil war alliances are instrumental – they are formed by groups in order to (1) win the war and (2) maximize the group's share of postwar political control. Groups seek alliances that are powerful enough to secure victory but small enough to avoid having to share payoffs. Moreover, there is an inherent commitment problem within alliances: With no third-party enforcer, the strongest group cannot credibly commit that it will not turn on its weaker partner(s) and capture complete political control after the war's conclusion. Neither the past histories of alliances between groups nor the track records for trustworthiness of individual groups seem to have any meaningful effect on the intensity of this commitment problem – in an environment so characterized by anarchy, groups can be cheated by seemingly trustworthy partners, so long as the relative power conditions are right. The result of this commitment problem is that the weaker alliance partner, even when it appears to be on the winning side , will often prefer to defect to a balancing alliance and prolong the war if this gives them a chance to be a relatively stronger group within a winning alliance. These complex dynamics, exacerbated by the fog of war, make it very difficult for the multitude of warring parties to determine which side to be on. The result is a process of constant defection, alliance reconfiguration, and group fractionalization. Meanwhile, identity – be it racially, linguistically, religiously, or ideologically defined – appears to have no sustained causal role in the formation of alliances. Rather, elite-constructed identity narratives that arise in justification of alliance choices are a mere product of tactical preferences. Identity matters in that it provides the building blocks from which warring groups are formed, but it does not drive alliance choices. Instead, elites of the warring parties pick allies whose support will result in optimizing their wartime returns, and then look to their identity repertoires for characteristics shared with their allies while not shared with their foes. The resulting identity narratives, while epiphenomenal to elite power considerations, serve as important signals to the rank and file, signals that resonate more strongly than unmasked references to relative power.
Electromagnetic Interference Simulations for Wide-Bandgap Power Electronic Modules

A simulation methodology that incorporates cosimulation techniques using ANSYS EM tools is proposed to predict radiated and conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) from power electronic modules. The radiated EMIs for a coplanar wire bonded and wire bondless power electronic modules are simulated and compared. The instantaneous power-levels conducting through the power devices in the wire bonded power module are significantly higher than those for the wire bondless power electronic module due to parasitic circuit element imbalance. These power-levels occur for a very short duration at the turn-ON and turn-OFF of the devices and can be considered as a potential source of radiated EMI emissions. Through the cosimulation technique, it is shown that the wire bondless power electronic module has a better electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliance compared with that of the coplanar wire bonded power electronic module. Conducted EMI measurements and simulations are also performed to predict the conducted EMI and validate the simulation methodology. The proposed cosimulation technique can be implemented during the initial design phase of power modules to reduce significant time to physically test module-level EMC/EMI.
An Update on the Use of Sedative-Hypnotic Medications in Psychiatric Disorders

Sleep disturbance is a common clinical problem experienced by patients with a wide range of psychiatric disorders. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that insomnia is a comorbid process that affects the course and treatment of a number of forms of mental illness. The efficacy and safety of sedative-hypnotic medications have largely been established in patients who do not have comorbid psychiatric disorders, underscoring the need for further research in this sphere. This review summarizes pertinent findings in the recent literature that have examined the role of hypnotic medication in the treatment of psychiatric illness, and highlights potential areas that may prove fruitful avenues of future research.
Partially observable networks with polytree structure

The paper deals with the problem of unveiling the link structure of a network of linear dynamical systems. A technique is provided guaranteeing an exact detection of the links of a network of dynamical systems with no undirected cycles (Linear Dynamic Polytrees). In particular, the presence of unobserved (latent) nodes is taken into account. Knowledge on the specific number of hidden processes is not required. It is proven that the topology can be consistently reconstructed, as long the degree of each latent node is at least three with outdegree of at least two. The result extends previous work that was limited to a more restricted class of dynamical systems (Rooted Trees).
Considerations of Culture for Understanding the Neuropsychological Sequelae of Medical Disorders

It is generally recognized that there is substantial variation in the population with respect to level and style of cognitive functioning. One obvious example illustrating the wide range of individual differences is in the area of intelligence where IQ scores in the population vary between 20–160 for 99% of the population. Considering the whole population, there is thus approximately an eightfold variation with respect to intellectual capacity.
An Evolutionary Framework for Replicating Neurophysiological Data with Spiking Neural Networks

Here we present a framework for the automatic tuning of spiking neural networks (SNNs) that utilizes an evolutionary algorithm featuring indirect encoding to achieve a drastic reduction in the dimensionality of the parameter space, combined with a GPU-accelerated SNN simulator that results in a considerable decrease in the time needed for fitness evaluation, despite the need for both a training and a testing phase. We tuned the parameters governing a learning rule called spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), which was used to alter the synaptic weights of the network. We validated this framework by applying it to a case study in which synthetic neuronal firing rates were matched to electrophysiologically recorded neuronal firing rates in order to evolve network functionality. Our framework was not only able to match their firing rates, but also captured functional and behavioral aspects of the biological neuronal population, in roughly 50 generations.
Ship-Shore Packet Switched Communications

This article presents an architecture for ship-shore sea service communications. Starting with the ARPANET packet switching model, Network and Logical Link layers are defined which integrate multiple, heterogeneous, one-way links into a complete network.
Locally adapted populations of a copepod can evolve different gene expression patterns under the same environmental pressures

As populations diverge in allopatry, but under similar thermal conditions, do similar thermal performance phenotypes evolve by maintaining similar gene expression patterns, or does genetic divergence lead to divergent patterns of gene expression between these populations? We used genetically divergent populations of the copepod Tigriopus californicus, whose performance at different thermal conditions is well characterized, to investigate transcriptome-wide expression responses under two different thermal regimes: (1) a nonvariable temperature regime and (2) a regime with variable temperature. Our results show the expression profiles of the response to these regimes differed substantially among populations, even for populations that are geographically close. This pattern was accentuated when populations were raised in the variable temperature environment. Less heat-tolerant populations mounted strong but divergent responses to the different thermal regimes, with a large heat-shock response observed in one population, and an apparent reduction in the expression of genes involved in basic cellular processes in the other. Our results suggest that as populations diverge in allopatry, they may evolve starkly different responses to changes in temperature, at the gene expression level, while maintaining similar thermal performance phenotypes.
A new species of dusky salamander (Amphibia: Plethodontidae: Desmognathus) from the Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain of the United States and a redescription of D. auriculatus

The Coastal Plain of the southeastern U. S. is one of the planet’s top biodiversity hotspots and yet many taxa have not been adequately studied. The plethodontid salamander, Desmognathus auriculatus , was originally thought to occur from east Texas to Virginia, a range spanning dozens of interfluves and large river systems. Beamer and Lamb (2008) found five independent mitochondrial lineages of what has been called D. auriculatus in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, but did not examine the extensive distribution of D. auriculatus in the Gulf Coastal Plain. We present morphological and molecular genetic data distinguishing two evolutionarily independent and distantly related lineages that are currently subsumed under the taxon D. auriculatus in the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. We describe one of these as a new species, Desmognathus valentinei sp. nov., and assign the second one to D. auriculatus which we formally redescribe.
Teaching a Course in Regulation of Police Investigation: A Multi-Perspective, Problem-Oriented Course

This article, written for a symposium featuring innovations in teaching criminal procedure, sets out the objectives of my textbook Regulation of Police Investigation: Legal, Historical, Empirical and Comparative Materials. In addition to assuring that students learn the relevant law, those objectives include exposing students to: (1) the world of the police through excerpts from sociological and other empirical literature; (2) the pre-twentieth century history behind current rules governing search and seizure, interrogation, identification, and undercover practices; (3) empirical research that explains the real-world impact of current rules; and (4) police practices in other countries. The book also relies on: problems (120 all-told) that involve students in arguing suppression motions as prosecutors and defenses attorneys; a negotiation exercise that raises significant ethical issues; and a memo-writing assignment that requires digesting over 100 pages of materials from an actual case, including transcripts and court documents. In combination, these aspects of the book make it significantly different from other textbooks on the subject.
Development of phosphorothioate DNA and DNA thioaptamers

Nucleic acid aptamers are short RNA- or DNA-based affinity reagents typically selected from combinatorial libraries to bind to a specific target such as a protein, a small molecule, whole cells or even animals. Aptamers have utility in the development of diagnostic, imaging and therapeutic applications due to their size, physico-chemical nature and ease of synthesis and modification to suit the application. A variety of oligonucleotide modifications have been used to enhance the stability of aptamers from nuclease degradation in vivo. The non-bridging oxygen atoms of the phosphodiester backbones of RNA and DNA aptamers can be substituted with one or two sulfur atoms, resulting in thioaptamers with phosphorothioate or phosphorodithioate linkages, respectively. Such thioaptamers are known to have increased binding affinity towards their target, as well as enhanced resistance to nuclease degradation. In this review, we discuss the development of phosphorothioate chemistry and thioaptamers, with a brief review of selection methods.
Consumer Demand for Low-Acrylamide-Forming Potato Products: Evidence from Lab Auctions

A probable human carcinogen—acrylamide—was discovered about a decade ago to form naturally in potato products cooked at high temperatures. Using incentive compatible lab auctions and adult consumers from three distant U.S. locations, we test food labeling and information effects on willingness-to-pay (WTP) for conventional and genetically engineered potatoes, fries, and chips to reduce acrylamide levels. These new potato products are the first biotech products to have enhanced food safety for a popular food in the American and European diets. Relative to an environmental group’s perspective, scientific and industry information significantly increase WTP for biotech relative to conventional potato products. In addition, we find significant location-specific fixed effects of information treatments. Scientific and industry information can be used to nudge consumers towards improved decision making and healthy diets.
Ambiguity of Pronouns: A Simple Case

In formal logics one is accustomed to associating with each syntactic feature a semantic feature; the semantic interpretation of a sentence parallels the syntactic structure of the sentence in a direct way. In contrast, semantic interpretations of sentences of natural languages, for example, English, have, in transformational grammars, taken place on translations of those sentences into some language similar to the languages of formal logic. It is instructive to attempt semantic interpretation of “surface” sentences of English directly. Richard Montague made some progress in this direction, especially in his treatment of quantifiers in subject and object position of English sentences (Montague 1973). One of the major difficulties facing a direct semantic interpretation of English is ambiguity. Montague simply relativizes semantic interpretations to syntactic structure: what is interpreted is always a sentence together with a syntactic analysis of that sentence. In some cases Montague’s syntactic analyses are so rich that they begin to blur the distinction between his approach and that of transformational grammarians. The present paper attempts to treat ambiguity in quite a different way from Montague, though very much in the spirit of viewing English as a formal language.
Children of the Welfare State: Civilising Practices in Schools, Childcare and Families, by Laura Gilliam and Eva Gullov, with Karen Fog Olwig and Dil Bach

Children of the Welfare State offers a comprehensive and persuasive portrait of how adults socialise children (and how children respond) in Denmark, where many babies and virtually all toddlers and...
Space Motion Sickness and Vestibular Adaptation to Weightlessness

Emesis, or vomiting is a debasing and debilitating act, especially for those with claims to the “right stuff.” It is bad enough to have to reach for the airsick bag in the rear seat of a gyrating fighter jet, but to fill a spacecraft’s motionless flight- or middeck with floating globules of half digested food and noxious odors is worse. Yet this often happened, usually in the first few hours of spaceflight, even to commanders, and often to those who were resistant to sickness in aircraft and other vehicles. Vomiting during spaceflight usually happens without warning and often too suddenly to get a bag up to one’s mouth in time. Emesis is only the beginning of what is known as space motion sickness (SMS). It is followed by increasing malaise, loss of appetite, lethargy, loss of interest and drive, with somnolence and variable headache. Body and head motions, especially pitching motions, are unpleasant and, if persisted in, can produce nausea, prolonged vomiting and other symptoms of motion sickness (MS). Motivated and trained crewmembers can work effectively during this period, albeit with varying amounts of discomfort. All of these symptoms typically dissipate within 2 days, and do not recur in flight. It is not surprising that early astronauts were not eager to report SMS, especially since nothing could be done about it except make it a part of their personal records. It was referred to only half jokingly as the “dreaded space motion sickness.” Somewhat less than half of first time space flyers will experience SMS until vestibular adaptation removes the cause.
Black-swan Events: Population Crashes or Temporary Emigration?

Using the Global Population Dynamics Database (GPDD) to identify extreme events in abundance times series, Anderson et al. (1) state that “Black-swan events manifest primarily as population die-offs and crashes (86%) rather than unexpected increases, and ignoring heavy-tailed process noise leads to an underestimate in the magnitude of population crashes.” While we applaud Anderson et al. (1) on their statistical methodology, as well as the comprehensive documentation provided with their study, their interpretation of these results ignores the role of movement (immigration to and emigration from the study populations) in driving extreme interannual changes in abundance. Interpreting these events in the context of long-term population persistence is therefore inappropriate. Reported fluctuations … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: casey.youngflesh{at}stonybrook.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Preoperative sonographic measurement of endometrial pattern predicts outcome of surgical repair in patients with severe Asherman’s syndrome *

Objective To assess the predictive value of preoperative endometrial sonography in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of women with amenorrhea due to severe Asherman's syndrome. Design Patient series. Setting Academic clinical practice. Patients Seven women with severe Asherman's syndrome characterized by amenorrhea despite normal ovulatory function and complete obstruction of the uterine cavity at the level of the cervix or lower uterine segment at hysterosalpingogram. Main Outcome Ability of vaginal sonography to predict suscessful hysteroscopic treatment as assessed by resumption of menstrual cyclicity and normalization of the uterine cavity. Results Transvaginal sonography demonstrated a well-developed endometrial stripe in three of seven women, while three others had virtually no endometrium seen. All women with well-developed endometrium were found to have adhesions occluding the lower uterine segment and had resumption of normal menses and normalization of the cavity after hysteroscopy. The women with minimal endometrium had no cavity identified and derived no benefit from surgery. A seventh woman with endometrium seen only on one side of the cavity had patency successfully established only on that side. Conclusion The endometrial pattern seen with transvaginal sonography is highly predictive of surgical and clinical outcome in women with severe Asherman's syndrome characterized by complete obstruction of the cavity at hysterosalpingogram.
Watch and Learn? Using EDpuzzle to Enhance the Use of Online Videos:

As the use of videos for learning increases, the need to better use the viewing experience also increases. EDpuzzle is a video-sharing program that offers instructors a way to enhance the use of on...
The influence of parenting practices and neighborhood characteristics on the development of childhood aggression.

The present study examined the way in which neighborhood impoverishment, neighborhood social processes, and parenting practices relate to the development of aggressive behavior among children aged 6-8 years raised in low-income neighborhoods. A total of 424 children (male = 207, female = 217) and their families participated in the study. Hierarchical linear regression revealed that neighborhood impoverishment, neighborhood social processes, and parental monitoring/supervision were associated with childhood aggression 2 years later. Neighborhood social processes did not mediate the relation between neighborhood impoverishment and childhood aggression, nor did parental monitoring/supervision mediate the relation between neighborhood characteristics and childhood aggression. Children residing in neighborhoods with substantial poverty are at greater risk of developing aggressive behavior. Strong neighborhood social processes and high levels of parental supervision/monitoring are associated with lower levels of aggression. Despite the protective benefits of neighborhood social processes and high-quality parenting, neighborhood economic deprivation continues to elevate risk of developing aggressive behavior.
Using National Performance Management Research Data Set for Corridor Performance Measures: A US-281N Corridor Case Study:

The National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS), made available by Federal Highway Administration in 2013, provides fine-resolution travel-time data, which have been used in numerous...
The Kuramoto Model on Power Law Graphs: Synchronization and Contrast States

The relation between the structural properties of the network and its dynamics is a central question in the analysis of dynamical networks. It is especially relevant for complex networks found in real-world applications. This work presents mathematically rigorous analysis of coupled dynamical systems on power law graphs. Specifically, we study large systems of coupled Kuramoto phase oscillators. In the limit as the size of the network tends to infinity, we derive analytically tractable mean field partial differential equation for the probability density function describing the state of the coupled system. The mean field limit is used to establish an explicit formula for the synchronization threshold for coupled phase oscillators with randomly distributed intrinsic frequencies. Furthermore, we study stable spatial patterns generated by the Kuramoto model with repulsive coupling. In particular, we identify a family of stable steady-state solutions having multiple regions with distinct statistical properties. We call these solutions contrast states. Like chimera states, contrast states exhibit coexisting regions of highly localized (coherent) behavior and highly irregular (incoherent) distribution of phases. We provide a detailed mathematical analysis of contrast states in the KM using the Ott–Antonsen ansatz. The analysis of synchronization and contrast states provides new insights into the role of power law connectivity in shaping dynamics of coupled dynamical systems. In particular, we show that despite sparse connectivity, power law networks possess remarkable synchronizability: the synchronization threshold can be made arbitrarily low by varying the parameter of the power law distribution.
A Fully-Papertronic Biosensing Array for High-Throughput Characterization of Microbial Electrogenicity

For the first time, we report a low-cost, disposable fully-papertronic screening platform for rapid screening and identification of electroactive microorganisms. This novel papertronic device is capable of simultaneous characterizing the electrogenicity of 10’ s of the newly discovered, genetically engineered, bacteria. This work explored an exciting range of possibilities with the goal of fusing microbial fuel cell technology with ‘papertronics,’ the emerging field of paper-based electronics. Spatially distinct 64 sensing units of the array were constructed by patterning hydrophilic anodic reservoirs in paper with hydrophobic wax boundaries and utilizing 3-D multi-laminate paper structures. Full integration of a high-performance microbial sensor on paper can be achieved by improving the microbial electron exchange with the electrodes in an engineered conductive paper reservoir and reducing cathodic overpotential by using a solid electron acceptor on paper. Furthermore, the intrinsic capillary force of the paper and the increased capacity from the engineered reservoir allowed for rapid adsorption of the bacterial sample and promote immediate microbial cell attachment to the electrode, leading to instant power generation with even a small amount of the liquid.
Simulation-Informed Probabilistic Methodology for Common Cause Failure Analysis

Abstract Common Cause Failures (CCFs) are critical risk contributors in complex technological systems as they challenge multiple redundant systems simultaneously. To improve the CCF analysis in Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), this research develops the Simulation-Informed Probabilistic Methodology (S-IPM) for CCFs. This new methodology utilizes simulation models of physical failure mechanisms to capture underlying causalities and to generate simulation-based data for the CCF probability estimation. To operationalize the S-IPM in PRA, a computational algorithm is developed that generates simulation-based estimates of CCF parameters and, using the Bayesian approach, integrates them with the data-driven CCF parameters (if relevant data available) from the existing PRA. This computational algorithm is equipped with the Probabilistic Validation that quantifies the degree of confidence in the simulation-based parameter estimates by characterizing and propagating epistemic uncertainty in multiple levels of analysis. The S-IPM can (i) provide more realistic CCF probability estimates by considering CCF data generated from simulations; (ii) reflect as-built, as-operated plant conditions, considering the updates in design, operational, and maintenance policies; and (iii) contribute to more effective prevention and mitigation of CCFs by providing “cause-specific” quantitative risk insights. The paper shows a case study that applies S-IPM to the CCFs of emergency service water pumps of NPPs.
Conceptualizing cyber policy through complexity theory

Complexity is a consistent feature of cyberspace. It is resident within the technical, logical and human layers across which socio-technical structures leverage cyberspace. Yet the development of p...
Can Movie Production Incentives Grow the Economy? Evidence from Georgia and North Carolina

Most US states have adopted movie production incentives with the intention to stimulate state economic growth through film industry investment and related economic activity. Previous cross-state studies of film incentives have not identified a stimulus effect; however, the zero-sum nature of interstate competition to attract business through targeted incentives complicates the identification of economic effects. If benefits accrue only to the few states offering the greatest incentives, then the impact might not be evident through interstate comparisons. This study uses the synthetic control method to examine the economic impact of relatively large film tax credit and grant subsidies offered by Georgia and North Carolina. Both states experienced lower per capita income than expected after implementing film incentives, indicating that economic benefits did not accrue to the winners of this economic incentives arms race.
Revisiting the combinatorics of lifting line and 2D vortex lattice theory

This work revisits analyses of lifting line theory by A.R. Collar from 1958, bringing to bear some modern tools and techniques. The 2D vortex lattice model is also considered. Interesting combinatorial properties and simplified expressions for terms are presented, a simplified proof of model convergence shown, extension of the convergence properties to elliptical and arbitrary wing planforms is demonstrated, and approximations provided. An alternative proof of the optimality of constant downwash is presented. Modern automated theorem proving techniques are employed in confirming the combinatorial results.
Generation and morphological quantification of large scale, three-dimensional, self-assembled vascular networks

One of the largest issues facing the field of tissue engineering is scaling due to tissue necrosis as a result of a lack of vascularization. We have developed an accessible method for generating large scale vascular networks of arbitrary geometries through the self-assembly of endothelial cells in a collagen gel, similar to vasculogenesis that occurs in the developing embryo. This system can be applied to a wide range of collagen concentrations and seeding densities, resulting in networks of varying phenotypes, lending itself to the recapitulation of vascular networks that mimic those found across different tissues. Methods are thus described for the generation and imaging of these self-assembled three-dimensional networks in addition to image processing methods for rigorous quantitative measurement of various morphological parameters. There are several advantages to the system described herein. •Varied molding procedures allow for irregular geometries, similar to those that would be required for tissue grafts.•Robust network formation translates into centimeter scale constructs.•Whereas similar processes suffer from a high degree of variability and inconsistent characterization, our method employs image analysis techniques to stringently characterize each network based on several objective characteristics.
Review of Richard Valliant and Jill A. Dever's Survey Weights: A Step-by-Step Guide to Calculation

In this article, I review the Stata Press publication Survey Weights: A Step-by-Step Guide to Calculation by Valliant and Dever (2018).
Effects of transplant type, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, and soil treatment on growth and yield of strawberry in Florida

The effects of transplant type and soil treatment on growth and yield of strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) produced in annual hill culture were evaluated for three years in Florida field trials. `Sweet Charlie' and `Camarosa' strawberry transplants were propagated as bare root, plug, and plugs amended with a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial (PGPR) treatment, LS213. The transplant treatments were evaluated in combination with methyl bromide, 1, 3-dichloropropene (Telone II), an unregistered iodine-based compound (Plantpro 45), and untreated soil. `Camarosa' plugs amended with LS213 had higher overall yields than bare root transplants in all three years. Both `Camarosa' and `Sweet Charlie' plug and LS213 plug plants produced yields approximately two weeks earlier than bare root transplants in all years. Regardless of transplant type, and in both consecutive years of Plantpro 45 and Telone application, treatment with Plantpro 45 resulted in smaller and less healthy root systems than other soil treatments, and treatment with Telone resulted in yields comparable to methyl bromide.
Uses and limitations of bone mineral density measurements in the management of osteoporosis.

Abstract Context Bone mineral density (BMD) is used to diagnose osteoporosis, and often to measure efficacy in osteoporosis treatment trials; however, there is a poor correlation between lumbar spine BMD increases and vertebral fracture risk reduction in patients receiving treatment for osteoporosis.
Noninvasive Imaging and Correlative Histology of Cone Photoreceptor Structure in the Pig Retina.

Purpose To evaluate different methods of studying cone photoreceptor structure in wild-type (WT) and transgenic pigs carrying the human rhodopsin P23H mutant gene (TgP23H). Methods For in vivo imaging, pigs were anesthetized with tiletamine-zolazepam and isoflurane and given lidocaine-bupivacaine retrobulbar injections. Stay sutures and a custom head mount were used to hold and steer the head for adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO). Six WT and TgP23H littermates were imaged at postnatal day 30 (P30), P90, and P180 with AOSLO and optical coherence tomography (OCT), and two additional sets of littermates were imaged at P3 and P15 with OCT only. AOSLO imaging and correlative differential interference contrast microscopy were performed on a P240 WT pig and on WT and TgP23H littermates at P30 and P180. Results AOSLO cone density generally underestimates histology density (mean difference ± SD = 24.8% ± 21.4%). The intensity of the outer retinal hyperreflective OCT band attributed to photoreceptors is attenuated in TgP23H pigs at all ages. In contrast, AOSLO images show cones that retain inner and outer segments through P180. At retinal locations outside the visual streak, TgP23H pigs show a heterogeneous degenerating cone mosaic by using two criteria: variable contrast on a split detector AOSLO and high reflectivity on a confocal AOSLO. Conclusions AOSLO reveals that the cone mosaic is similar to ex vivo histology. Its use as a noninvasive tool will enable observation of morphologic changes that arise in the cone mosaic of TgP23H pigs over time. Translational relevance Pigs are widely used for translational studies, and the ability to noninvasively assess cellular changes in the cone mosaic will facilitate more detailed investigations of new retinal disease models as well as outcomes of potential therapies.
Adopting Open Educational Resources in a Nursing Informatics Course: An Evaluation of Student Performance and Course Satisfaction.

Background Open educational resources (OERs) provide many benefits in nursing education, such as continuously updated course content and textbook cost savings. Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of OER adoption by analyzing final course grades (to measure student performance) and course evaluations (to measure student satisfaction) in an online nursing informatics course in an RN-BSN completion program. Methods This study used a quantitative, retrospective design to compare course grades and student course satisfaction between an OER-based (n = 70) and textbook-only (n = 73) nursing informatics course. Results A Mann-Whitney U test revealed a statistically significant difference in mean course grades (P = .03, r = 0.18) for the OER group. There were no differences in course satisfaction between the textbook and OER groups (P = .41, r = 0.18). Conclusion The results showed that courses designed with OER content can improve student performance in nursing informatics while maintaining course satisfaction.
The Direct Electrochemical Synthesis of Transition Metal Acetylacetonates

Acetylacetonates were prepared electrochemically in good yield using the pure liquid ligand, acetylacetone, as the solvent, in which the supporting electrolyte, tetra‐n‐butyammonium hexafluorophosphate, was dissolved; the metal of interest served as the electrodes. The products were characterized by UV‐visible spectrometry (color) and mass spectrometry. Both a lower, M(AcAc)2, and a higher, M(AcAc)3, oxidate state were formed for the cobalt and manganese systems; the identity of the product(s) could be biased by a careful choice of the potential used for the synthesis.
A Complex Containing HNRNPA2B1 and N6-methyladenosine Modified Transcripts Mediates Actions of Toxic Tau Oligomers

The microtubule associated protein tau oligomerizes in response to stress and disease, but the function of oligomeric tau (oTau) and the ultimate mechanisms of toxicity are unknown. To gain insights, we have now used Cry2-based optogenetics to induce tau oligomers (oTau-c) in neuronal cultures. oTau-c can seed tau aggregation and biochemical fractionates in a manner similar to oTau. Optical induction of oTau elicits a translational stress response that includes cytoplasmic translocation of the TIA1, abundant stress granules (SGs) and reduced protein synthesis. Proteomic analysis identifies HNRNPA2B1 as a principle target of oTau. Imaging and immunoprecipitation verify the HNRNPA2B1 association with endogenous oTau in neurons, animal models and human Alzheimer brain tissue. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that HNRNPA2B1 functions as a linker, connecting oTau with N6-methyladenosine modified transcripts (m6A). Knockdown of HNRNPA2B1 prevents oTau from associating with m6A, prevents oTau-induced reductions in protein synthesis and reduces oTau-induced toxicity. Finally, we show striking increases in m6A-oTau and -HNRNPA2B1 complexes in brains of Alzheimer subjects and P301S tau mice. These results reveal a novel complex containing oTau, HNRNPA2B1 and m6A that contributes to the integrated stress response of oTau.
Event Detection in Twitter: A Content and Time-Based Analysis.

The detection of events from online social networks is a recent, evolving field that attracts researchers from across a spectrum of disciplines and domains. Here we report a time-series analysis for predicting events. In particular, we evaluated the frequency distribution of top n-grams of terms over time, focusing on two indicators: high-frequency n-grams over both short and long periods of time. Both indicators can refer to certain aspects of events as they evolve. To evaluate the models accuracy in detecting events, we built and used a Twitter dataset of the most popular hashtags that surrounded the well-documented protests that occurred at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) in late 2015.
On integral-input-to-state stabilization

Continues the investigation of the integral version of input-to-state stability (iISS). We study the problem of designing control laws that achieve iISS disturbance attenuation. The main contribution is a concept of control Lyapunov function whose existence leads to an explicit construction of such a control law. The results are compared with the ones available for the ISS case.
Doing something intentionally and knowing that you are doing it

A defence of the idea that an agent's knowledge that he is intentionally doing such-and-such is not ‘based on’ or ‘derived from’ any ‘experience’ of the agent or any item or state he is aware of in acting as he does. The explanation of agents' knowing, in general, what they are intentionally doing lies in the capacity for self-ascription and self-knowledge that is a required for being a subject of any intentional attitudes, and so for competent intentional agency.
Articulate: a semi-automated model for translating natural language queries into meaningful visualizations

While many visualization tools exist that offer sophisticated functions for charting complex data, they still expect users to possess a high degree of expertise in wielding the tools to create an effective visualization. This paper presents Articulate, an attempt at a semi-automated visual analytic model that is guided by a conversational user interface to allow users to verbally describe and then manipulate what they want to see. We use natural language processing and machine learning methods to translate the imprecise sentences into explicit expressions, and then apply a heuristic graph generation algorithm to create a suitable visualization. The goal is to relieve the user of the burden of having to learn a complex user-interface in order to craft a visualization.
In vitro differentiation of dendritic cells in the presence of prostaglandin E2 alters the IL-12/IL-23 balance and promotes differentiation of Th17 cells.

PGE2, an endogenous lipid mediator released in inflammatory conditions, affects both dendritic cell (DC) differentiation and maturation. Whereas the effect of PGE2 on fully differentiated DC was studied extensively, little is known about its effects on DC differentiation. In this study, we show that bone marrow-derived DC generated in the presence of PGE2 (DCp) acquire a proinflammatory profile; produce higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines; express higher levels of MHC class II, costimulatory molecules, and TLRs; and exhibit increased activation of the NF-κB-signaling pathway. In addition, DCp exhibit a different IL-12/IL-23 profile than DC generated in the absence of PGE2. The low IL-12 and high IL-23 production in LPS-stimulated DCp is associated with the down-regulation of p35 and the up-regulation of p19 expression, respectively. In agreement with the DCp proinflammatory phenotype and especially with the altered IL-12/IL-23 balance which strongly favors IL-23, DCp also affect T cell differentiation. In contrast to DC which favor Th1 differentiation, DCp promote Th17 and inhibit Th1/Th2 differentiation, in vitro and in vivo. Previous in vivo studies indicated that PGE2 had a proinflammatory effect, especially in models of autoimmune diseases. Our results suggest that the proinflammatory effects of PGE2 could be mediated, at least partially, through effects on differentiating DC and subsequent alterations in CD4+ T cell differentiation, resulting in the preferential development of pathogenic autoimmune Th17 cells.