cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cautionary Tales of Inapproximability

Abstract Modeling biology as classical problems in computer science allows researchers to leverage the wealth of theoretical advancements in this field. Despite countless studies presenting heuristics that report improvement on specific benchmarking data, there has been comparatively little focus on exploring the theoretical bounds on the performance of practical (polynomial-time) algorithms. Conversely, theoretical studies tend to overstate the generalizability of their conclusions to physical biological processes. In this article we provide a fresh perspective on the concepts of NP-hardness and inapproximability in the computational biology domain, using popular sequence assembly and alignment (mapping) algorithms as illustrative examples. These algorithms exemplify how computer science theory can both (a) lead to substantial improvement in practical performance and (b) highlight areas ripe for future innovation. Importantly, we discuss caveats that seemingly allow the performance of heuristics to excee...
A study of an incremental spectral meta-learner for nonstationary environments

Incrementally learning from large volumes of streaming data over time is a problem that is of crucial importance to the computational intelligence community, especially in scenarios where it is impractical or simply unfeasible to store all historical data. Learning becomes a particularly challenging problem when the probabilistic properties of the data are changing with time (i.e., gradual, abrupt, etc.), and there is scarce availability of class labels. Many existing strategies for learning in nonstationary environments use the most recent batch of training data to tune their parameters (e.g., calculate classifier voting weights), and never reassess these parameters when the unlabeled test data arrive. Making a limited drift assumption is generally one way to justify not needing to re-evaluate the parameters of a classifiers; however, labeled data that have already been learned if presented to the classifier for testing could be forgotten because the data was not observed for a long time. This is one form of abrupt concept drift with unlabeled data. In this work, an incremental spectral learning meta-classifier is presented for learning in nonstationary environments such that: (i) new classifiers can be added into an ensemble when labeled data are available, (ii) the ensemble voting weights are determined from the unlabeled test data to boost recollection of previously learned distributions of data, and (iii) the limited drift assumption is removed from the test-then-train evaluation paradigm. We benchmark our proposed approach on several widely used concept drift data sets.
We Are an African People: independent education, Black Power, and the radical imagination

Russell Rickford’s We Are an African People emerges as Black Power turns half a century old. Many commemorations begin with the rousing cry for African-American political empowerment, which Student...
Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate

(1993). Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 974-976.
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging-Derived Collagen Content and Maturity Correlates with Stress in the Aortic Wall of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Patients

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a degenerative disease of the aorta characterized by severe disruption of the structural integrity of the aortic wall and its major molecular constituents. From the early stages of disease, elastin in the aorta becomes highly degraded and is replaced by collagen. Questions persist as to the contribution of collagen content, quality and maturity to the potential for rupture. Here, using our recently developed Fourier transform infrared imaging spectroscopy (FT-IRIS) method, we quantified collagen content and maturity in the wall of AAA tissues in pairs of specimens with different wall stresses. CT scans of AAAs from 12 patients were used to create finite element models to estimate stress in different regions of tissue. Each patient underwent elective repair of the AAA, and two segments of the AAA tissues from anatomic regions more proximal or distal with different wall stresses were evaluated by histology and FT-IRIS after excision. For each patient, collagen content was generally greater in the tissue location with lower wall stress, which corresponded to the more distal anatomic regions. The wall stress/collagen ratio was greater in the higher stress region compared to the lower stress region (1.01 ± 1.09 vs. 0.55 ± 0.084, p = 0.02). The higher stress region also corresponded to the location with reduced intraluminal thrombus thickness. Further, collagen maturity tended to decrease with increased collagen content (p = 0.068, R = 0.38). Together, these results suggest that an increase in less mature collagen content in AAA patients does not effectively compensate for the loss of elastin in the aortic wall, and results in a reduced capability to endure wall stresses.
Telomeres in cancer: tumour suppression and genome instability

The shortening of human telomeres has two opposing effects during cancer development. On the one hand, telomere shortening can exert a tumour-suppressive effect through the proliferation arrest induced by activating the kinases ATM and ATR at unprotected chromosome ends. On the other hand, loss of telomere protection can lead to telomere crisis, which is a state of extensive genome instability that can promote cancer progression. Recent data, reviewed here, provide new evidence for the telomere tumour suppressor pathway and has revealed that telomere crisis can induce numerous cancer-relevant changes, including chromothripsis, kataegis and tetraploidization.
Model migrants?: Sikh activism and race relations organisations in Britain

AbstractRace relations organisations in Britain hailed Sikhs as models of peaceful integration during volatile political debates about the immigration of Commonwealth peoples during the 1960s and early 1970s. But Sikh campaigns to protect the sanctity of turban-wearing challenged this symbiotic relationship. This article explores how motorcycle helmet laws provoked a campaign to protect the Sikh turban and allowed diasporic Sikhs to articulate their concerns about British integration and race relations expertise during the mid-1970s. Sikh campaigners linked restrictions on turban-wearing to concerns about race relations legislation, equal employment policy, and their rights as British residents. In assessing the fluctuating relationship between Sikh activists and race relations authorities, it reveals the fractures in pluralist integrationist ideologies that continued to prioritise British cultural authority. The evidence here also demonstrates that this moment provided British Sikh communities with an un...
The real culprit behind diabetic nephropathy: impaired renal autoregulation?

More than 29 million of Americans have diabetes. About 30–40% of the diabetic patients will eventually develop diabetic nephropathy (DN), which is the leading cause of end‐stage renal disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014; United States Renal Data System., 2012). Control of blood pressure (BP) and blood glucose has been shown to reduce the risk of developing DN (Nathan 2014). However, not all patients with poor control in BP and plasma glucose will develop renal disease. On the other hand, over 1/3 of patients with type 2 diabetes develop DN despite strict control of BP and/or blood glucose (Mooyaart 2014; Tomino and Gohda 2015). Therefore, further understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the DN is essential to identify potential target for treatment. Many studies demonstrated an association between glomerular capillary hypertension and diabetes‐associated kidney disease. An elevated glomerular capillary pressure was first reported in experimental diabetic Munich‐Wistar rats in 1980s (Hostetter et al. 1982). In physiological conditions, glomerular capillary pressure is well‐maintained within a normal range by a renal autoregulatory mechanism, by which the renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) maintain constant and are independent of …
Skill Learning and Human Brain Evolution: An Experimental Approach

Increasing reliance on skill-intensive subsistence strategies appears to be a hallmark of human evolution, with wide-ranging implications for sociality, brain size, life-history and cognitive adaptations. These parameters describe a human technological niche reliant on efficient intergenerational reproduction of increasingly complex foraging techniques, including especially the production and effective use of tools. The archaeological record provides a valuable source of evidence for tracing the emergence of this modern human condition, but interpretation of this evidence remains challenging and controversial. Application of methods from psychology and neuroscience to Palaeolithic tool-making experiments offers new avenues for establishing empirical links between technological behaviours, neurocognitive substrates and archaeologically observable material residues. Here we review recent progress and highlight key challenges for the future.
microRNA‑124‑3p inhibits the progression of congenital hypothyroidism via targeting programmed cell death protein 6

The incidence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in newborn infants ranges from 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 4,000. Previous studies have indicated the neuroprotective role of microRNA (miR)-124-3p, however the expression and role of miR-124-3p in CH remain unclear. Therefore, the present study was performed to investigate the role and precise molecular mechanism of miR-124-3p in CH. Propylthiouracil (50 mg/day) was injected into the stomach of pregnant rats from gestational day 15 until parturition in order to establish a thyroid hypofunction model. Newborn rats were divided into the following four groups: The control group; the thyroid hypofunction group; the miR-124-3p mimic group; and the miR-124-3p negative control group. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction indicated that miR-124-3p was significantly decreased in the hippocampus of the thyroid hypofunction group compared with the control group. Bioinformatics software was used to predict mRNA targets recognized by miR-124-3p and the programmed cell death protein 6 (PDCD6) 3' untranslated region (UTR) was demonstrated to exhibit the seed sequence of miR-124-3p. The interaction between miRNA-124-3p and PDCD6 was then verified using a dual-luciferase reporter assay system. PDCD6 expression was significantly increased in the hippocampus of rats with CH compared with the control group. Flow cytometry was performed to investigate the effects of miR-124-3p on neuronal cell apoptosis and the results indicated that the apoptosis rate in the thyroid hypofunction group was significantly increased compared with the control group; this increase was reversed by transfection with miR-124-3p mimics. Western blot analysis was used to detect the levels of cleaved poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP), full-length PARP, caspase-3, B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) proteins. The results indicated that the expression of cleaved PARP, caspase-3 and Bax protein were significantly increased and the expression of full-length PARP and Bcl-2 protein was significantly decreased compared with the control group. These effects were reversed by miRNA-124-3p mimic transfection. Taken together, the results of the present study demonstrate that miRNA-124-3p serves a protective role in CH via targeting PDCD6.
Breaching relational obligations in a buyer-supplier relationship: Feelings of violation, fairness perceptions and supplier switching

Abstract Prior research suggests that the interaction of individual agents for buyer and supplier firms influences firm level business relationships. There is a call for empirical research that investigates the interplay of cognitive judgments and behaviors of these agents in their interactions. We therefore evaluate the role that psychological contracts, or unspoken obligations can play in buyer-supplier relationship dissolution. Most empirical studies in this area have focused solely on transactional obligations. Our research uses social exchange theory to explain why breach of relational obligations matters, although they might have no immediate economic consequence. We use two scenario based experiments, with student participants and supply chain professionals, to understand reactions to relational, transactional, and combined breaches in supply chains. Interviews with seasoned, strategic sourcing agents confirm the experimental findings and provide additional insight. We find that breach of a relational psychological contract has both a direct effect on fairness perceptions, and an indirect effect mediated by an emotional response. In contrast, the effect of a breach on the decision to switch suppliers, is fully mediated by emotional response. The implication is that suppliers may be able to ameliorate relationship dissolution by dampening the buyer's emotional response to the psychological breach. The interviews reveal that in practice, relational breaches can be the cause of relationship termination, though a transactional breach may be used as justification. Thus we demonstrate the importance of understanding and fulfilling unspoken relational obligations.
Evaluating Clinical Implementation Approaches for Prostate Cancer Decision Support.

Abstract Purpose Shared decision making is widely promoted for counseling men with localized prostate cancer. Results of randomized trials suggest decision aid efficacy. However, few practices or institutions have implemented decision support as standard practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate various implementation strategies for the decision aid, Personal Patient Profile-Prostate, and analyze feedback from clinical site staff and providers. Materials and Methods A hybrid type-1 effectiveness-implementation trial was conducted. Primary data were collected in six urology clinics of three geographically-distinct health networks. During the implementation phase, site-specific strategies were co-designed with site leaders. Referral and access metrics for men with localized prostate cancer were monitored for up to 7 months. Clinical staff reports of barriers and facilitators of implementation were evaluated in professionally-facilitated focus groups. Results Of 495 men with localized prostate cancer seen in the clinics, 252 (51%; 95% CI 46-55%) were informed of the program, and 107 of those (43%; 95% CI 36-49%) accessed it. The highest access rates were observed with patient care coordinator email and telephone contact (82%) or verbal physician instruction followed by email and phone invitations (87%). During focus groups, physicians appraised the summaries as useful. Staff-identified barriers included creating new workflows within heavy workloads, and staff misunderstanding of context and resources. Promoters to successful implementation included an identified clinical lead and physician engagement. Conclusions Implementation success was realized when physicians engaged and staff provided follow-up contacts. New practice changes to implement interventions require multi-modal strategies for early success.
Wave Packets and Teleconnections

In this chapter, we discuss another aspect of the wave packet theory, wave packet progagation. Earlier chapters mainly focused on the structure and structural change of wave packets, without explicit discussions of the propagation property of wave packets, which is possible only when the structure independence theorem discussed in Chapter 2 holds. However, when the structure independence theorem is not valid, we have to take the propagation property of the wave packet into account, as discussed in Chapter 2. Moreover, the propagation property of wave packet is also of great importance. As shown in Chapter 2, the wave packet is always propagated along the group velocity, that is, the wave packet velocity. Many modern ideas on wave propagation were originated by Rayleigh, including the distinction between the phase velocity and the group velocity; this appears very early in Rayleigh’s work (1877). Since then, there have been numerous studies on wave packet propagation associated with the group velocity, including several monographs (Brillouin, 1946, 1953, 1960; Tolstoy, 1973). The study of wave packet propagation was started as soon as the concept of wave group or wave packet was introduced in wave mechanics (Brillouin, 1946).
Pheromones: Behavioral and Biochemical Aspects

It is my intention in this chapter to provide an overview of behavioral and biochemical aspects of pheromones as they influence social behavior in vertebrates, and, where appropriate, to use selected examples from the literature. The chapter has three major goals: (1) Methods of approach and experimentation are extremely important for studies of pheromone-mediated effects on the social behavior and social biology of vertebrates. I will emphasize general lines of approach to pheromone investigations that explore the interrelationships between the signals and social behavior. (2) Studies of the manner in which pheromones influence social behavior are conducted at levels of organization that range from biochemical events within cells to the ecological surroundings in which the organisms live. The examination of pheromone effects across the levels of organization provides, perhaps, a better working perspective within which to conceptualize previous research and future endeavors than merely exploring the investigations being conducted at any one level of organization. (3) Lastly, useful information can be gained by employing the comparative approach. By utilizing cross-phyletic comparisons, with appropriate restrictions, it is possible to generate both a more comprehensive general picture of the manner in which pheromones affect social behavior, and hopefully, new hypotheses. Too often those working on pheromone effects concentrate their attention solely on the species or taxonomic group with which they are most familiar.
Feature Selection and Heterogeneous Descriptors

While the focus in Chap. 5 was on descriptors that were made up of homogeneous features, the focus in this chapter is on descriptors that are composed of features of different types. Heterogeneous descriptors are created from a combination of various types of features as described in Chap. 4. The features are selected in such a way that the combined feature set delivers the most information about an image or sub-image. Also discussed in this chapter are various feature-selection methods that choose the optimal or suboptimal feature set from a large number of features. Both filter and wrapper feature selection algorithms are discussed, including max-min, sequential forward selection, sequential backward selection, plus l take away r, and branch and bound algorithms.
Improving Mental Health Outcomes for Individuals With Intellectual Disability Through the Iowa START (I-START) Program

Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) experience high rates of psychiatric disorders, and coinciding high rates of emergency service use. The current study seeks to explore strategies to im...
Desiccation tolerance in Acinetobacter baumannii is mediated by the two-component response regulator BfmR.

For the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii, desiccation tolerance is thought to contribute significantly to the persistence of these bacteria in the healthcare environment. We investigated the ability of A. baumannii to survive rapid drying, and found that some strains exhibited a profoundly desiccation-resistant phenotype, characterized by the ability of a large proportion of cells to survive on a dry surface for an extended period of time. However, this phenotype was only displayed during the stationary phase of growth. Most interestingly, we found that drying resistance could be lost after extended cultivation in liquid medium. Genome sequencing of isolates that became drying-sensitive identified mutations in bfmR, which encodes a two-component response regulator that is important for A. baumannii virulence. Additionally, BfmR was necessary for the expression of stress-related proteins during stationary phase, and one of these, KatE, was important for long-term drying survival. These results suggested that BfmR may control stress responses, and we demonstrated that the ΔbfmR mutant was more sensitive to hydrogen peroxide, nutrient starvation, and increased osmolarity. We also found that cross-protection against drying could be stimulated by either starvation, which required BfmR, or increased osmolarity. These results imply that BfmR plays a role in controlling stress responses in A. baumannii which help protect cells during desiccation, and they provide a regulatory link between this organism’s ability to persist in the environment and pathogenicity.
Cross-modal cue effects in motion processing

The everyday environment brings to our sensory systems competing inputs from different modalities. The ability to filter these multisensory inputs in order to identify and efficiently utilize useful spatial cues is necessary to detect and process the relevant information. In the present study, we investigate how feature-based attention affects the detection of motion across sensory modalities. We were interested to determine how subjects use intramodal, cross-modal auditory, and combined audiovisual motion cues to attend to specific visual motion signals. The results showed that in most cases, both the visual and the auditory cues enhance feature-based orienting to a transparent visual motion pattern presented among distractor motion patterns. Whereas previous studies have shown cross-modal effects of spatial attention, our results demonstrate a spread of cross-modal feature-based attention cues, which have been matched for the detection threshold of the visual target. These effects were very robust in comparisons of the effects of valid vs. invalid cues, as well as in comparisons between cued and uncued valid trials. The effect of intramodal visual, cross-modal auditory, and bimodal cues also increased as a function of motion-cue salience. Our results suggest that orienting to visual motion patterns among distracters can be facilitated not only by intramodal priors, but also by feature-based cross-modal information from the auditory system.
Harmonic Function-Based ZMP Trajectory Generation for Nonlinear Motion of Walking Robots

The problems of the trajectory generation for the zero moment point (ZMP) and the center of mass of the bipedal walking robot are closely related to a vertical balance of these robots. One of the traditional approaches to solving this problem consists of the sequentially performing footsteps sequence generation, ZMP trajectory generation and the center of mass trajectory generation. Here we propose a method that directly generates ZMP trajectory using a generalized direction curve. This allows simplifying some of the computations associated with the gait generation. In the paper, the proposed algorithm is analyzed for the case when the generalized direction curve is given by a harmonic function. The gaits implementing the motion between two points as well as turning are presented. The tuning of the gait parameters is discussed.
New Models of Bereavement Theory and Treatment: New Mourning

George Hagman’s book, New Models of Bereavement Theory and Treatment: New Mourning, is an important and thought-provoking collection of papers written by Hagman and other experienced practitioners ...
Pregnancy and Breast Cancer

Breast cancer remains one the most common cancers encountered in the pregnant population, with infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma carrying the highest incidence. Pregnancy-associated breast cancer encompasses cancer diagnosed during pregnancy itself, during the first postpartum year or anytime during lactation. Diagnosis is guided with mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) without gadolinium, and chest X-ray. Diagnosis is confirmed with breast and axillary node biopsy. Termination of pregnancy should be discussed and offered with patients, although termination has not been shown to improve maternal outcomes. Treatment options, including mastectomy and chemotherapy, should not be withheld or delayed due to the gravid state. There is a low level of neonatal complications in fetuses exposed to chemotherapeutic agents. While the risk of vertical transmission to the fetus is unknown, placental metastasis is rarely encountered. Maternal prognosis appears to be reassuring if the cancer is diagnosed and treated appropriately, with survival not being negatively affected in the setting of pregnancy-associated breast cancer.
The Role of Place, Geography, and Geographic Information Systems in Educational Research.

Despite the strong relationship between geography and education policy, educational research tends to draw from other fields of inquiry such as economics, political science, and history. This speci...
A Systematic Review of Patient-Facing Visualizations of Personal Health Data

Objectives As personal health data are being returned to patients with increasing frequency and volume, visualizations are garnering excitement for their potential to facilitate patient interpretation. Evaluating these visualizations is important to ensure that patients are able to understand and, when appropriate, act upon health data in a safe and effective manner. The objective of this systematic review was to review and evaluate the state of the science of patient-facing visualizations of personal health data. Methods We searched five scholarly databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ACM Digital Library [Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library], and IEEE Computational Index [Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computational Index]) through December 1, 2018 for relevant articles. We included English-language articles that developed or tested one or more patient-facing visualizations for personal health data. Three reviewers independently assessed quality of included articles using the Mixed methods Appraisal Tool. Characteristics of included articles and visualizations were extracted and synthesized. Results In 39 articles included in the review, there was heterogeneity in the sample sizes and methods for evaluation but not sample demographics. Few articles measured health literacy, numeracy, or graph literacy. Line graphs were the most common visualization, especially for longitudinal data, but number lines were used more frequently in included articles over past 5 years. Article findings suggested more patients understand the number lines and bar graphs compared with line graphs, and that color is effective at communicating risk, improving comprehension, and increasing confidence in interpretation. Conclusion In this review, we summarize types and components of patient-facing visualizations and methodologies for development and evaluation in the reviewed articles. We also identify recommendations for future work relating to collecting and reporting data, examining clinically actionable boundaries for diverse data types, and leveraging data science. This work will be critically important as patient access of their personal health data through portals and mobile devices continues to rise.
Letter Search by Braille Readers: Implications for Instruction:

Recent research indicates that braille letters, like print letters, are detected more rapidly and accurately in words than in nonwords (nonsense collections of letters). Thus, neither the word nor ...
Internal tandem duplication of FLT3 induces increased ROS production, DNA damage and misrepair: implications for RAC1-STAT5 function in genomic instability in myeloid malignancies

5260 Activating mutations of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) occur in about 30% of myeloid malignancies and at least for the internal tandem duplications (ITDs) of the juxtamembrane region, are an independent predictor of poor clinical outcome. Known FLT3 signaling includes activation of the RAS-MAP kinase, PI3 kinase/AKT, and STAT5 pathways with increased cellular survival. However, little is known about how FLT3/ITD in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) contributes to aggressive disease with poor prognosis. Here, we report that the aggressive nature of FLT3/ITD AML could be due to increased genomic instability that is driven by increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and reduced repair fidelity. A murine myeloid progenitor cell line (32D) stably expressing FLT3/ITD (32D/ITD), show increased ROS, as measured by flow cytometry using the fluorescent probe H2DCFDA, compared with isogenic controls. Intriguingly, we find that STAT5 binds RAC1, an essential component of ROS-producing NADPH oxidase, and this novel finding suggests that STAT5 may have unique non-genomic functions involved in regulating RAC1 activation and ROS generation. FLT3 inhibitor, CEP-701, treated 32D/ITD cells show decreased RAC1-GTP activity as well as ROS levels. Also, FLT3 mutant cells treated with either the inhibitor of RAC1 or with siRNA to knocked-down STAT5 expression show markedly reduced ROS. Importantly, human leukemia cell lines expressing naturally occurring FLT3/ITD mutations (MOLM-14 & MV-4-11) also show significantly decreased ROS in a dose and time dependent manner, following treatment with CEP-701, confirming the mouse cell line data. Inhibition of NADPH oxidase by diphenyleneidonium also showed decreased ROS production in all cell lines tested. Blocking ROS production in FLT3/ITD cells with CEP-701 treatment also showed significant decreases in γH2AX foci formation suggesting reduced DSB. An in vitro DSB repair assay based on plasmid rejoining in nuclear extracts was used to assess DSB repair fidelity following inhibition of FLT3. Higher repair fidelity was observed following inhibition of FLT3-mediated endogenous ROS production in human AML cells. We show that constitutive activation of FLT3 signaling in AML mediates increased ROS production, DNA damage with decreased repair fidelity. Blocking of FLT3 and its downstream signaling decreased these activities that likely promote genomic instability. Our data serve as a model system to further study the role of FLT3-mediated increased ROS in propagating genomic instability and disease progression and could also lead to identification of downstream molecules for therapeutic targeting in an effort to stabilize the genome and halt disease progression in AML
“Sincerely Held Principles” or Prejudice? The Tennessee Counseling Discrimination Law:

In 2016, Tennessee became the first state to allow counselors and therapists in private practice to deny services to any client based on the therapist’s sincerely held principles. The law’s propone...
Negative mood as a mediator of the association between insomnia severity and marijuana problems in college students

Insomnia symptoms have been linked to problematic marijuana use among young adults, but the mechanism underlying this association and whether sex differences exist, remains unclear. Using cross-sectional data, this study examined negative mood as a mediator of the association between insomnia and marijuana problems among male and female college students. Undergraduate students (n = 267; 61% female) reporting marijuana use in the past month completed an online survey assessing insomnia symptoms, negative mood and marijuana problems. Controlling for relevant covariates, negative mood was examined as a mediator of the association between insomnia and marijuana problems using bootstrapped significance tests for indirect effects (n-boot = 1,000). Results indicated that higher levels of insomnia were associated with greater levels of negative mood (regardless of sex), which in turn were associated with greater marijuana-related problems. In conclusion, insomnia symptoms are associated with more negative mood among college students who use marijuana, and this effect on negative mood accounts for a large part of the association of insomnia symptoms with marijuana-related problems. Research is needed to determine if these associations are maintained prospectively.
Refinement of the Chronology of La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico, Using Ceramic Seriation

During the Epiclassic period (AD 600–900), the northern frontier of Mesoamerica consisted of a regional network of polities focused on large, hilltop centers, including the site of La Quemada in the Malpaso Valley of Zacatecas, Mexico. Although extensive archaeological research has been conducted at the site, the refinement of its chronology is essential for two reasons: (1) to establish the chronological control necessary to characterize social processes diachronically and (2) to ensure that the occupational history of La Quemada is accurately integrated into the regional chronology of the northern frontier. A combination of frequency seriation, correspondence analysis, and discriminant function analysis results in the recognition of three occupational phases across the areas excavated by the La Quemada-Malpaso Valley Archaeological Project (LQ-MVAP). Our three-phase chronology independently confirms both the intra-context ordering of analytic units and the previously proposed growth trajectory of the site: beginning in the monumental core, expanding into the western flank, and later retracting back into the core. The separation of the LQ-MVAP material record into chronological phases means it is now possible to track changes in the social processes that may have contributed to the formation, maintenance, and decline of La Quemada and other northern frontier polities.
Error estimation and enhanced stiffness sensitivity in contact resonance force microscopy with a multiple arbitrary frequency lock-in amplifier (MAFLIA)

In contact resonance force microscopy and related dynamic atomic force microscopy methods, an accurate description of the real-time cantilever dynamics is essential to the mapping of local material properties, such as viscoelasticity, piezo response, and chemical composition. Stiffness and damping variations of the tip-sample contact result in variations in the cantilever's resonance frequency and quality factor as it scans a sample of interest. When measuring characteristics of the resonance, generally, there is a tradeoff between full spectral coverage, best obtained by sweeping the amplitude versus frequency response in the time or frequency domain, and high-speed information, obtained by observing the cantilever response at one or two discrete frequencies, that may be required to track a resonance frequency that changes spatially. Here, we introduce a new option for performing contact resonance force microscopy with a low-cost multifrequency lock-in amplifier system with up to eight simultaneous independent excitation and detection frequencies. We demonstrate how the multifrequency approach can measure contact resonance frequency, quality factor, amplitude, and phase during imaging, with high precision and error estimation, without the need for frequency-tracking feedback. We show, using a wood composite sample, that this multifrequency approach can determine resonance frequency and quality factor, and associated uncertainty. This ability to estimate uncertainty of resonance parameters is not possible with 1 and 2 frequency methods. We further utilize the multifrequency lock-in to develop a novel means of increasing the stiffness range for highly sensitive nanomechanical sensing by dividing the eight lock-in frequencies to monitor two or four simultaneous eigenmodes, each of which is optimized for sensitivity in a particular stiffness regime. Overall, we show how multifrequency lock-in amplifiers with observation frequency chosen to coincide with an expected eigenmode's contact resonance can benefit the characterization of strongly heterogeneous samples, while maintaining fast measurement speed.
Clients’ resilience and distress in psychotherapy: a preliminary meta-analysis

Understanding the clinical utility of positive client characteristics like resilience can help bring a balanced perspective to psychotherapy in which clinicians work to alleviate distress and foste...
Soliton solutions of a Calogero model in a harmonic potential

A classical Calogero model in an external harmonic potential is known to be integrable for any number of particles. We consider here reductions which play a role of the 'soliton' solutions of the model. We obtain these solutions both for the model with finite number of particles and in a hydrodynamic limit. In the latter limit, the model is described by hydrodynamic equations on continuous density and velocity fields. Soliton solutions in this case are finite-dimensional reductions of the hydrodynamic model and describe the propagation of lumps of density and velocity in the nontrivial background.
A revisitation of Bill Yost's revisitation of how internal noise affects binaural detection

Bill Yost's contributions to knowledge concerning auditory processing comprise several areas of study including binaural masking and discrimination, localizations of sounds (with both static and rotating listeners), binaural and monaural versions of repetition pitch, and mathematical approaches to understanding of each. Perhaps less well-known is his historical and analytical paper concerning estimation and measurement of “internal noise.” In our view, that paper is also a fundamental contribution. Here, we report our related efforts to characterize and to measure types of internal noise that, on the one hand, limit monaural and/or binaural information processing and, on the other hand, help to explain why some listeners with slight, but clinically negligible, elevations in audiometric thresholds exhibit reliable and meaningful deficits in both binaural detection and binaural discrimination tasks. [Work supported by Office of Naval Research (N00014-15-1-2140; N00014-18-1-2473)]
Direct comparison of triggering motifs on chemiluminescent probes for hydrogen sulfide detection in water

Abstract Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an important biomolecule and significant efforts have focused on developing chemical tools to aid different biological investigations. Of such tools, there are relatively few chemiluminescent or bioluminescent methods for H2S detection. Here we report two dioxetane-based chemiluminescent probes for H2S detection. With these probes, we directly compare the probe response to H2S-mediated azide reduction and nucleophilic displacement of 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) motifs and demonstrate that the SNAr cleavage of the DNP group results in a larger response and greater stability in water.
Nanostructured foods for improved sensory attributes

Abstract Background Advancements in nanotechnology are predicted to revolutionize the food industry. The potential applications of nanotechnology in food production are diverse, including packaging, food safety, functional foods, and nutrition. Another, less explored opportunity, is for the use of nanotechnology to improve sensory attributes. Scope and approach We have identified four nanostructures that are likely to impact consumer perception: nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, nanocapsulations, and nanofibers. For this review, we focus on the available literature that has evaluated qualitative, quantitative, or affective responses to foods prepared with these nanotechnologies. Key findings and conclusions Two key areas of the available literature focus on the use of nanofoods to enhance sensory attributes (e.g., saltiness) or deliver similar sensory profiles while improving their nutritional value (e.g., fat substitute or fortification). Studies focusing on improving the healthfulness, targeted reducing the addition of salt or fat, or the incorporation of beneficial compounds (i.e., calcium fortification). While these data are promising, there is relatively few studies empirically evaluating the sensory attributes or consumer acceptance of nanofoods. Nanotechnology has the potential to improve many facets of product development, but there are limited studies demonstrating the capabilities and implications on the perception and oral processing of foods. Future work should focus on sensory and quality attributes in addition to consumer acceptance of these technologies and novel food ingredients in commercial products. This will allow for a greater understanding of the full potential of this technology to improve the sensory and quality attributes of food and beverages.
A transgenic Alx4-CreER mouse to analyze anterior limb and nephric duct development

Background Genetic tools to study gene function and the fate of cells in the anterior limb bud are very limited. Results We describe a transgenic mouse line expressing CreERT2 from the Aristaless-like 4 (Alx4) promoter that induces recombination in the anterior limb. Cre induction at embryonic day 8.5 revealed that Alx4-CreERT2 labeled cells using the mTmG Cre reporter contributed to anterior digits I to III as well as the radius of the forelimb. Cre activity is expanded further along the AP axis in the hindlimb than in the forelimb resulting in some Cre reporter cells contributing to digit IV. Induction at later time points labeled cells that become progressively restricted to more anterior digits and proximal structures. Comparison of Cre expression from the Alx4 promoter transgene with endogenous Alx4 expression reveals Cre expression is slightly expanded posteriorly relative to the endogenous Alx4 expression. Using Alx4-CreERT2 to induce loss of intraflagellar transport 88 (Ift88), a gene required for ciliogenesis, hedgehog signaling, and limb patterning, did not cause overt skeletal malformations. However, the efficiency of deletion, time needed for Ift88 protein turnover, and for cilia to regress may hinder using this approach to analyze cilia in the limb. Alx4-CreERT2 is also active in the mesonephros and nephric duct that contribute to the collecting tubules and ducts of the adult nephron. Embryonic activation of the Alx4-CreERT2 in the Ift88 conditional line results in cyst formation in the collecting tubules/ducts. Conclusion Overall, the Alx4-CreERT2 line will be a new tool to assess cell fates and analyze gene function in the anterior limb, mesonephros, and nephric duct.
Food waste in municipal mixed waste produced at household level: empirical evidence from the Czech Republic

The problem of food waste is broadly discussed, but empirical data are still missing. The importance of this topic increases as the reporting of food waste levels will be mandatory for EU member states. How much food do we waste? Which categories of food are wasted the most? The main aim of this paper is to estimate the food waste component and its composition in municipal mixed waste. For this purpose, waste composition analysis was conducted in the Czech Republic. Reasons for using this method are explained and its limitations are discussed. Collected data were also used to compare seasonal differences and different types of housing development. Additionally, several ways of reducing household food waste are suggested. The results show a significant variability of measured values within four defined types of residential areas and two monitored periods in 2018 and a relatively small amount of disposed edible food waste. The most significant component of food waste was the inedible part of food which presents in average about 60% of the total amount. The results also indicate that more food waste occurs in an urban area compared to rural area and households threw out more food in September/October than in June/July.
Climate drivers of large magnitude snow avalanche years in the U.S. northern Rocky Mountains

Large magnitude snow avalanches pose a hazard to humans and infrastructure worldwide. Analyzing the spatiotemporal behavior of avalanches and the contributory climate factors is important for understanding historical variability in climate-avalanche relationships as well as improving avalanche forecasting. We used established dendrochronological methods to develop a long-term (1867–2019) regional avalanche chronology for the Rocky Mountains of northwest Montana using tree-rings from 647 trees exhibiting 2134 avalanche-related growth disturbances. We then used principal component analysis and a generalized linear autoregressive moving average model to examine avalanche-climate relationships. Historically, large magnitude regional avalanche years were characterized by stormy winters with positive snowpack anomalies, with avalanche years over recent decades increasingly influenced by warmer temperatures and a shallow snowpack. The amount of snowpack across the region, represented by the first principal component, is shown to be directly related to avalanche probability. Coincident with warming and regional snowpack reductions, a decline of ~ 14% (~ 2% per decade) in overall large magnitude avalanche probability is apparent through the period 1950–2017. As continued climate warming drives further regional snowpack reductions in the study region our results suggest a decreased probability of regional large magnitude avalanche frequency associated with winters characterized by large snowpacks and a potential increase in large magnitude events driven by warming temperatures and spring precipitation.
Genomic Association of Chronic Idiopathic Anhidrosis to a Potassium Channel Subunit in a Large Animal Model.

Similar to humans, the horse relies predominantly on the evaporation of sweat from the skin surface to dissipate excess body heat. Loss of the sweat response or anhidrosis can result in life-threatening hyperthermia. Anhidrosis occurs more frequently in some breeds as well as occurs at an increased frequency among individuals with a family history, suggesting a heritable component to the pathology. Given the natural occurrence and indications of genetic components in the etiology, we utilized genomics to better understand the molecular mechanisms involved in sweat response. We performed a case-control (n = 200) GWAS targeting cases of chronic idiopathic anhidrosis in a controlled genetic background to discover the contributing regions and interrogated gene function for roles in the sweating mechanism. A region containing the KCNE4 gene, which encodes the β-subunit of a potassium channel protein with a possible function in sweat gland outflow, was associated (P = 1.13 × 10-07) with chronic idiopathic anhidrosis through GWAS. A candidate mutation (NC_009149.3:g.11813731A > G, rs68643109) disrupting the KCNE4 protein structure could explain the disease but requires further investigation in larger populations. We show the potential role of ion channels and cellular damage in sweat response, correlating anhidrosis as a possible effect of congenital channelopathy.
Poor Air Quality Along the Wasatch Front During Inversions: Role of Road Transportation and Possible Solutions

Inversions occur due to a complex system of energy exchange, geography, and weather patterns. Every winter in the Wasatch Front, Utah, air inversion traps air pollution from different sources causing nearly 2,000 premature deaths each year. The population in this region continues to grow and is predicted to double in the next thirty years. With a fast-growing population being forced to live in the relatively small space that the Wasatch Front region offers, managing the effects of the inversion becomes an important issue to be solved. One of the main sources of this pollution is emissions from vehicles. As the population grows, emissions being trapped by the inversion grow proportionally. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of winter inversion, the role of road transportation, and possible solutions to this problem. Several solutions were proposed, including increasing electric vehicle infrastructure, raising public awareness of air pollution and health threats, encouraging public transportation use, expanding telework programs, and promoting walking and cycling.