cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Post-translational and transcriptional regulation of glycolipid glycosyltransferase genes in apoptotic breast carcinoma cells: VII. Studied by DNA-microarray after treatment with l-PPMP

Functions of glycosphingolipids on the eukaryotic cell membranes during the onset of oncogenic processes and cell death are not well understood. Inhibitors of glycosphingolipid biosynthesis were recently found to trigger apoptosis in many carcinoma including breast cancer SKBR-3, MCF-7, and MDA-468 cells through either intrinsic or extrinsic apoptotic pathways as we previously reported. These anti-cancer inhibitors could increase ceramide concentration by blocking functions of glycolipid glycosyltransferases (GLTs). In this study, using a novel fluorescent dye (ASK-0) revealed the damage of cell organelle membranes by an inhibitor of glucosylceramide biosynthesis (L-PPMP). A highly drug- and cell-dependent regulation of MAPKs was also found by cis-platin and L-PPMP when inducing apoptosis in SKBR-3, MCF-7, and MDA-468 cells. A dose and time-dependent regulation of GLTs were investigated by enzymatic assay and DNA microarray analyses. These GLTs are involved in biosynthesis of Le(X) and sialosyl-Le(X) (neolactosyl-ceramide series) such as GalT-4 (UDP-Gal: LcOse3cer beta-galactosyltransferase, GalT-5 (UDP-Gal: nLcOse4Cer alpha1, 3galactosyltransferase, FucT-3 (GDP-Fucose: LM1 alpha1, 4fucosyltransferase). A similar effect was observed with the GLTs involved in the biosyntheses of Gg-series gangliosides, such as SAT-4 (CMP-NeuAc: GgOse4Cer alpha2, 3sialyltransferase, and SAT-2 (CMP-NeuAc: GM3 alpha2, 8sialyltransferase). The glycol-related gene DNA-microarrays also suggested the transcriptional regulation of several GLTs involved in the biosynthesis of neolactosylceramide containing cell-surface antigens in these apoptotic breast carcinoma cells. In the early apoptotic stages (2 to 6 h after L-PPMP treatment) in addition to GlcT-1 gene, several genes (betaGalTs and betaGlcNAcTs) in the SA-Le(a) pathway were stimulated.
Electroactive polymers (EAP) as actuators for potential future planetary mechanisms

In the last fifteen years a series of electroactive polymers (EAP) materials have emerged that exhibit a significant shape or size change in response to electrical stimulation. These materials have the closest response similarity to biological muscles enabling to engineer novel capabilities that were considered until recently science fiction ideas. Initially, EAP received relatively little attention due to their limited actuation capability. Recent progress led to dramatic improvements in the capability of these materials and efforts are underway to address the many challenges that are hampering the practical application of these materials. Various novel mechanisms and devices were already demonstrated including robot fish, catheter steering element, robotic arm, gripper, loudspeaker, active diaphragm, and dust-wiper. For developers of future planetary mechanisms the flexibility, fracture toughness, low mass and low power requirements of these materials are offering numerous advantages. This paper provides background about these materials and it includes a review of the state of the art, challenges and potential applications of these materials for future space missions.
The Role of “Vortical” Hot Towers in the Formation of Tropical Cyclone Diana (1984)

Abstract A high-resolution (3-km horizontal grid spacing) near-cloud-resolving numerical simulation of the formation of Hurricane Diana (1984) is used to examine the contribution of deep convective processes to tropical cyclone formation. This study is focused on the 3-km horizontal grid spacing simulation because this simulation was previously found to furnish an accurate forecast of the later stages of the observed storm life cycle. The numerical simulation reveals the presence of vortical hot towers, or cores of deep cumulonimbus convection possessing strong vertical vorticity, that arise from buoyancy-induced stretching of local absolute vertical vorticity in a vorticity-rich prehurricane environment. At near-cloud-resolving scales, these vortical hot towers are the preferred mode of convection. They are demonstrated to be the most important influence to the formation of the tropical storm via a two-stage evolutionary process: (i) preconditioning of the local environment via diabatic production of mul...
Do the Police Believe That Legitimacy Promotes Cooperation From the Public

Tyler’s process-based model of regulation suggests that when citizens perceive the police as a legitimate authority, they are more likely to cooperate in the form of reporting crimes and providing information to the police. Yet most studies have considered citizens’ perceptions of police legitimacy—few studies have asked the police what they feel makes them legitimate in the eyes of the public. Likewise, no studies have considered whether the police believe legitimacy is associated with cooperation from the public. The present study addresses this gap using data from a stratified sample of U.S. police executives. Findings suggest police believe performance, rather than procedural justice, is the key to generating cooperation from the public.
The first stars: formation under cosmic ray feedback

We explore the impact of a cosmic ray (CR) background generated by supernova explosions from the rst stars on star-forming metal-free gas in a minihalo at z 25. Starting from cosmological initial conditions, we use the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code GADGET-2 to follow gas collapsing under the inuence of a CR background up to densities of n = 10 12 cm 3 , at which point we form sink particles. Using a suite of simulations with two sets of initial conditions and employing a range of CR background models, we follow each simulation for 5000 yr after the rst sink forms. CRs both heat and ionise the gas, boosting H2 formation. Additional H2 enhances the cooling eciency of the gas, allowing it to full the Rees-Ostriker criterion sooner and expediting the collapse, such that each simulation reaches high densities at a dierent epoch. As it exits the loitering phase, the thermodynamic path of the collapsing gas converges to that seen in the absence of any CR background. By the time the gas approaches sink formation densities, the thermodynamic state of the gas is thus remarkably similar across all simulations. This leads to a robust characteristic mass that is largely independent of the CR background, of order a few 10 M even as the CR background strength varies by ve orders of magnitude.
Temperature Gradient Approach for Rapidly Assessing Sensor Binding Kinetics and Thermodynamics

We report a highly resolved approach for quantitatively measuring the temperature dependence of molecular binding in a sensor format. The method is based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging measurements made across a spatial temperature gradient. Simultaneous recording of sensor response over the range of temperatures spanned by the gradient avoids many of the complications that arise in the analysis of SPR measurements where temperature is varied. In addition to simplifying quantitative analysis of binding interactions, the method allows the temperature dependence of binding to be monitored as a function of time, and provides a straightforward route for calibrating how temperature varies across the gradient. Using DNA hybridization as an example, we show how the gradient approach can be used to measure the temperature dependence of binding kinetics and thermodynamics (e.g., melt/denaturation profile) in a single experiment.
Inertial-confinement fusion with lasers

The quest for controlled fusion energy has been ongoing for over a half century. The demonstration of ignition and energy gain from thermonuclear fuels in the laboratory has been a major goal of fusion research for decades. Thermonuclear ignition is widely considered a milestone in the development of fusion energy, as well as a major scientific achievement with important applications in national security and basic sciences. The US is arguably the world leader in the inertial confinement approach to fusion and has invested in large facilities to pursue it, with the objective of establishing the science related to the safety and reliability of the stockpile of nuclear weapons. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, major challenges still remain in the quest for thermonuclear ignition via laser fusion. Here, we review the current state of the art in inertial confinement fusion research and describe the underlying physical principles. The quest for energy production from controlled nuclear fusion reactions has been ongoing for many decades. Here, the inertial confinement fusion approach, based on heating and compressing a fuel pellet with intense lasers, is reviewed.
Rapid determination of 17 industrial dyes in grape wine and chilli powder by UFLC-MS-MS

Objective To establish a method for rapid screening of 17 industrial dyes in grape wine and chilli powder by ultra fast liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Methods The pigments in the samples were extracted with acetonitrile,and then separated on a C18 column with methanol- 0. 1% formic acid solution as mobile phase for gradient elution. With multiple reaction monitoring( MRM) mode,the 17 industrial dyes were all detected in positive ion mode. The matrix matching and external standard method were used for quantitation. Results In grape wine,the detection limits of the 17 industrial dyes were 0. 2 μg / kg ~ 9 μg / kg,the limits of quantitation were 0. 6 μg / kg ~ 30 μg / kg,the rates of recovery were 59. 7% ~ 115. 3%,and the relative standard deviations were 1. 2% ~ 14. 7%. While in chilli powder,those were 0. 2 μg / kg ~ 9 μg / kg, 0. 6 μg / kg ~ 30 μg / kg,70. 4% ~ 121. 7% and 2. 3% ~ 18. 4% respectively. Conclusion The method is simple and convenient,rapid,easy and suitable for screening the illegal industrial dyes in grape wine and chilli powder.
BBB transport and rapid tissue binding of cyclofoxy: comparison of active and inactive enantiomers.

The "rapid-phase" brain distribution of 3H-labeled enantiomers of the opiate receptor antagonist cyclofoxy (CF), receptor active (-) and inert (+) forms, was measured during 20- to 180-s intravenous infusion in rats. [14C]iodoantipyrine was coinfused during these experiments to obtain a simultaneous measure of blood flow. The influx clearance (K1) across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the rapid binding equilibrium constant (Keq) were estimated in different brain regions for both enantiomers (2-compartmental model); a possible receptor binding process (k3) was also examined for (-)-CF (3-compartment model). K1 (0.46-0.91 ml.min-1.g-1), the capillary permeability-surface area product (PS; 0.75 approximately 1.4 ml.min-1.g-1) and the tissue extraction fraction (E; 0.6-0.7) were found to be identical for both enantiomers in the nonreceptor binding model; Keq was identical in cerebellum but larger for (-)-CF in other brain structures. The difference in Keq between the enantiomers (2-compartment model) correlated with the rank order of opiate receptor density observed in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that concomitant use of (-)-CF and (+)-CF will be useful for in vivo receptor binding analyses.
Etch process monitoring possibilities and root cause analysis

Tilt of the shallow trench isolation on the wafer edge with the radial signature is a known issue for all technology nodes. Presence of this tilt was proven by cross-sectional TEM measurements. For advanced nodes, starting from 28 nm, this tilt becomes one of the crucial yield-killer strongly influencing the performance of the edge dies. If this tilt is not corrected for, overlay values of all FEOL layers will include an error on the wafer edge which leads to low performance of the devices and possibly yield loss. The etch process is thought to be responsible for the tilt, however even for the simplest stack the mechanism and reason of the tilt is not clear. The ability to monitor this tilt in production opens a way for understanding this mechanism and even eliminate the root cause. In this paper we will present the opportunity to measure with Spectroscopic critical dimension (SCD) and Overlay-Accuracy flags the asymmetry of tilted etch structures as well as identify the possible root cause of the tilt by monitoring the nanotopography before and after the etch process.
Thou Shalt Be Reproducible! A Technology Perspective

This article elaborates on reproducibility in psychology from a technological viewpoint. Modern open source computational environments are shown and explained that foster reproducibility throughout the whole research life cycle, and to which emerging psychology researchers should be sensitized, are shown and explained. First, data archiving platforms that make datasets publicly available are presented. Second, R is advocated as the data-analytic lingua franca in psychology for achieving reproducible statistical analysis. Third, dynamic report generation environments for writing reproducible manuscripts that integrate text, data analysis, and statistical outputs such as figures and tables in a single document are described. Supplementary materials are provided in order to get the reader started with these technologies.
Analysis of bile acids in conventional and germfree rats

The well-known bile acid analysis technique used by us and others (Grundy, Ahrens, and Miettinen. 1965. J. Lipid Res. 6:397-410) does not allow for the detection of hyodeoxycholic acid, a product of quantitative importance in rodent feces. Using updated methodology, it was established that hyodeoxycholic acid and omega-muricholic acid, both apparent conversion products of beta-muricholic acid, occur in apppreciable amounts in intestinal contents and feces of conventional Wistar type Lobund rats. In conventional rats, these bile acids comprise about 50% of fecal bile acids; they are not found in intestinal contents or feces of germfree rats. Others have demonstrated that hyodeoxycholic acid if formed by combined action of gut flora and liver. A new method for the separation of conjugated and free bile acids in biological samples was developed. Results with this method confirmed the total conjugation of bile acids in the germfree rat, and the almost total deconjugation that takes place in the cecum of the conventional rat.
Treatment of Functional Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation by Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

This chapter reviews recent developments in the treatment of ischemic mitral regurgitation. Recent and ongoing studies have added to our understanding of this dynamic disease process. We discuss current investigations on outcomes of new and established approaches, including adjunctive surgical techniques.
THE PROBLEMS OF COORDINATION AND COOPERATION OF THE BRACHES OF TRANSPORT COMPLEX IN UKRAINIAN SSR (1970 – 1980)

In the presented article the level of activity and coordination of Ukrainian SSR transport branches in 1970 – 1980-s is considered on the basis of archives and scientific literature. The author comes to a conclusion that under condition of general growth of transportation the lack of proper coordination of different kinds of transport and department non-coordination had their negative influence on the transportation organization in that period. First of all it was relative to the problems of general motor transport usage, transport expedition service, irrational transportation by the railway transport, economic stimulation of co-operating transport enterprise workers for their common work results. The effectiveness of measures on their coordination stayed low.
Purchase decision regret: Negative consequences of the Steadily Increasing Discount strategy

Abstract The Steadily Increasing Discount pricing strategy pits product scarcity against a future discount and forces consumers to make a choice between cost savings and the potential risk of missing the purchase opportunity. Dual non-student samples provide insight into the regret associated with this decision. The first study finds that product scarcity increases both action regret (purchase) and inaction regret (non-purchase) while the level of discount only influences inaction regret. In study two, the individual characteristics of materialism and price consciousness both impact the decision to buy, only materialism influences purchase decision regret. Theoretically, the results reverse the omission bias, demonstrating that regret from inaction is more salient than regret from action in this purchase situation. The studies underscore the high-risk, high-reward nature of multi-period pricing for managers. While firms control product availability and discount levels, they cannot control their customers' personality traits. Therefore, they should make every effort to understand their customers before embarking on such a strategy.
Feasibility study of cardiac magnetic resonance elastography in cardiac amyloidosis

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has been used clinically to assess tissue stiffness in diseases such as liver cirrhosis [1]. However, whether MRE is feasible for myocardial stiffness is uncle...
The ‘Baltimore Plan’: case-study from the prehistory of urban rehabilitation

Federally funded ‘urban rehabilitation’ began with the Housing Act of 1954 in the United States. Baltimore's Harlem Park was selected to pilot this experimental programme; a logical choice seeing how the pilot largely built on a programme dating from the prehistory of legislated urban rehabilitation that originated in Baltimore. This article lays bare the history of this programme, known as the ‘Baltimore Plan’, which offered empirical evidence that substantiated the potential of participatory urban planning. Beyond transferring upon minority communities a level of control over housing that black communities had seldom possessed before, the Baltimore Plan also constituted in an alternative to public housing.
On the Use of Matrix Bloom Filters in Data Leak Protection

Data leak prevention systems become a must-have component of enterprise information security. To minimize the communication delay, these systems require quick mechanisms for massive document comparison. Bloom filters have been proven to be a fast tool for membership checkup. Taking into account specific needs of fast text comparison this chapter proposes modifications to the Matrix Bloom filters. Approach proposed in this chapter allows improving density in Matrix Bloom filters with the help of special index to track documents uploaded into the system. Density is improved by combining a few documents in one line of the matrix to reduce the filter size and to address the problem of document removal. Special attention is paid to the negative impact of filter-to-filter comparison in matrix filters. Theoretical evaluation of the threshold for false positive results is provided. The experiment provided in the chapter outlines advantages and applicability of the proposed approach.
Bone-eating kidney disease:

In the current era of early detection of chronic kidney disease and efficient therapeutic options for management of its complications, skeletal manifestations of renal hyperparathyroidism are increasingly rare. A 31-year-old female patient presented for evaluation of severe pain in the left forearm, right hand, right knee, right hip, and lower back following a fall sustained 3 days prior to presentation. She had a history of end-stage renal disease and received maintenance hemodialysis. Review of the medical records revealed that she had poor compliance with her diet, medications, and dialysis treatments. Laboratory values were significant for marked elevation in serum parathyroid hormone level (1735 pg/mL), as well as hyperphosphatemia and normal serum calcium levels. Interestingly, X-ray images showed generalized severe demineralization of the extremities with the pelvic computed tomography scan revealing presence of diffuse brown tumors. In addition, she had insufficiency fractures of the extremities that left her incapacitated and had to be managed conservatively due to her poor functional status and ongoing severe hyperparathyroidism. Unfortunately, the patient refused surgical removal of the parathyroid glands and was hence treated with a high-dose phosphate binder and a calcimimetic agent together with reinforcement of compliance. This case highlights the importance of metabolic assessment of patients presenting with unexpected bone complications and can be used to raise awareness of the physicians on the extreme cases of mineral bone complications secondary to renal disease that are observed rarely.
Interface solvers and preconditioners of domain decomposition type for multiphase flow in multiblock porous media

A multiblock mortar approach to modeling multiphase flow in porous media decomposes the simulation domain into a series of blocks with possibly different physical and numerical models employed in each block. Matching conditions along the interfaces are imposed through the use of mortar finite elements. A parallel domain decomposition algorithm reduces the algebraic nonlinear system to an interface problem which is solved via a nonlinear multigrid with Newton-GMRES smoothing.
The principle of imperfect synchronization: I. Ionization of carbon acids

Abstract The Principle of Imperfect Synchronization (PIS) states that a product stabilizing factor will lower the intrinsic rate of a reaction if it develops late, but increase the intrinsic rate if the factor develops early. It is shown in this paper that much of the structure-reactivity behavior of proton transfers involving carbon acids can be understood in the context of this principle. The factors discussed include the effect of resonance near the reaction site as well as in remote substituents, the polar effect of mote substituents, and the effects of solvation of reactants and products A sample matheatical formalism is developed to describe the contribution of each factor to the intrinsic rate constant. The possible reasons why there is a lack of synchronization between the various events which occur during the reaction are also discussed
Ensemble perception: Summarizing the scene and broadening the limits of visual processing.

A vast amount of information is available to the visual system at any given moment. Processing the billions of bits of information on the retina is a monumental challenge, but the way in which the brain accomplishes this is not via brute force. Numerous studies have unequivocally demonstrated that the brain has severe processing limitations, resulting in a sparse representation of our environment (e.g. visual short term memory, change blindness, multiple object tracking, attentional blink; Luck & Vogel, 1997; Raymond, Shapiro, & Arnell, 1992; Rensink, ORegan, & Clark, 1997; Scholl & Pylyshyn, 1999; Simons & Chabris, 1999). To surmount some of these limitations and lighten the computational load, the brain utilizes numerous heuristics. Such heuristics or assumptions are learned over time because of the predictability and stability of the visual world, and they work well enough. Rather than generating high fidelity representations of everything within our field of view, our brains exploit the world’s statistical regularity to condense information. The leaves of a tree, the blades of grass, the tiles of the floor are redundant, giving rise to the percept of ‘tree-ness,’ ‘lawn-ness,’and ‘floor-ness,’ respectively. The individual components of those textures are lost in favor of a concise, summary statistical representation.
CaneScanner: Obstacle detection for people with visual disabilities

RADARs, LIDARs and, ultrasonic sensors have been used in products and research prototypes to offer navigation facilities to People with Visual Disabilities (PVD). However, those are not widely adopted due to their cost, high power consumption, and reliance on their users for scanning the environment. Sensing solutions for PVD must be portable, economical and robust. We propose CaneScanner, a lightweight inexpensive solution designed to find the depth-map of an indoor environment using a white-cane equipped with a single camera and inertial sensors. CaneScanner is the first work which addresses the low power long-range depth sensing needs of PVD.
To Mars! (But Why?)

The space race that was one of the central and thrilling narratives of the 1960s would not have been possible without the stimulus that has so often been the goad in federal science policy: Fear. As Stephen Baxter wrote in Spaceflight, the journal of the British Interplanetary Society, “Throughout its history, American government has been at its most effective in reacting to threats, perceived or real.”1 By effective, of course, he means expansive — and expensive.
Examining student characteristics, goals, and engagement in Massive Open Online Courses

Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have emerged with much popularity in the last five years, yet many questions remain about whom MOOCs best serve and what constitutes learner success. Completion rates, a common metric of student success, remain low, averaging less than 8%, and may be a misleading measure of success unless learner intentions are considered. This research addresses the relationships among learner characteristics and goals for enrolling in MOOCs, and the impacts on student persistence and completion in varying disciplines. We examined learner self-reported goals for taking a MOOC, characteristics, and rate of completion of 15,655 participants in eight MOOC courses. Results revealed that while age was positively associated with MOOC participation, motivation differed across course disciplines. The relationship between learner goals and engagement differed between those enrolled in Humanities/Liberal Arts (HLA) and STEM courses. Most notably, while taking the course due to personal interest or usefulness to a participant's career held a positive relationship with engagement in HLA courses, the endorsement of these same goals was predictive of less engagement in STEM courses. Our findings indicate that learner goals impact engagement and success, and that there are differences in engagement and goals between course disciplines. Suggestions for future MOOC research and potential course improvement to better align with learner goals are also provided.
Super-resolution using a microscale membrane array metasurface

A metasurface or 2D metamaterial composed of a membrane array can support an interesting acoustic wave field. These waves are evanescent in the direction normal to the array and propagate in the immersion fluid along the metasurface. These waves are a result of the resonant membranes coupling to the fluid medium and propagate with a group and phase speed lower than that of the bulk waves in the surrounding fluid. Additionally these membranes can generate and detect membrane displacement capacitively such as in an array of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (CMUT) as a specific example. A model is developed that can solve for the modes of the membrane array in addition to transiently modeling the behavior of the array to help show the performance of the array in relation to wave propagation. Potential applications of this wave field are examined in the context of subwavelength focusing and imaging. Several methods of acoustic focusing are used on an array consisting of dense grid of membranes and several membranes spatially removed from the structure. Subwavelength acoustic focusing to a resolution of λ/5, limited by the size of one membrane, is shown in simulations and verified with experiments. This fundamental work in characterizing the waves above the membrane metasurfaces is expected to have impact and implications for transducer design, resonant sensors, 2D acoustic lenses, and subwavelength focusing and imaging.
Biosafety Considerations of a Capacitive Link for Wireless Power Transfer to Biomedical Implants

This paper presents the design, modeling, and characterization of a capacitive link for wireless power transfer (WPT) to biomedical implants. The work specifically focuses on investigating the optimal range of link operation frequency, f op , that maximizes the power transfer efficiency (PTE) and power delivered to the load (PDL) parameters under biosafety constraints imposed by specific absorption rate and electric-field strength in living tissue. A capacitive link, comprising two pairs of parallel plates (20mm × 20mm) coated with −63.S, ‥,m-thick layer of Kapton and aligned around 3mm-thick muscle tissue, was set up in ANSYS HFSS™ for simulating PTE and biosafety-constrained PDL parameters over a wide range of f op (0.2–20MHz), load resistance (0.0l-l0kΩ), and plates edge-to-edge distance, $L$ (2–70cm). It is shown that for a wide range of $L$ values, fop in the range of ~ 5-l0MHz allows PTE and biosafety-constrained PDL concurrently reach −90% of their maximum achievable levels. Moreover, for large values of $L$ (≥ 50cm), PDL levels of ~200mW can be achieved with PTE of −60–70%.
Automated detection and sorting of microencapsulation via machine learning

Microfluidic-based microencapsulation requires significant oversight to prevent material and quality loss due to sporadic disruptions in fluid flow that routinely arise. State-of-the-art microcapsule production is laborious and relies on experts to monitor the process, e.g. through a microscope. Unnoticed defects diminish the quality of collected material and/or may cause irreversible clogging. To address these issues, we developed an automated monitoring and sorting system that operates on consumer-grade hardware in real-time. Using human-labeled microscope images acquired during typical operation, we train a convolutional neural network that assesses microencapsulation. Based on output from the machine learning algorithm, an integrated valving system collects desirable microcapsules or diverts waste material accordingly. Although the system notifies operators to make necessary adjustments to restore microencapsulation, we can extend the system to automate corrections. Since microfluidic-based production platforms customarily collect image and sensor data, machine learning can help to scale up and improve microfluidic techniques beyond microencapsulation.
Part 1: A Novel Model for Three-Dimensional Culture of 3T3-L1 Preadipocytes Stimulates Spontaneous Cell Differentiation Independent of Chemical Induction Typically Required in Monolayer.

Differences in monolayer and three-dimensional (3D) culture systems have been recognized for several years. Despite the recognized importance of 3D systems, low cost and convenience of monolayer cu...
Traffic Signal Phasing Problem-Solving Rationales of Professional Engineers Developed from Eye-Tracking and Clinical Interviews:

There is a lack of knowledge on the way transportation engineering practitioners engage with various Contextual Representations (CRs) to solve traffic engineering design problems. CRs such as equat...
High specific activity tritiation of various methylated histamine analogues

It has been nearly 110 years since the discovery of histamine and its profound physiological actions as well as the four distinct binding sites that constitute its receptor family. Histamine agonists and antagonists when labelled with tritium have been very valuable in advancing our understanding of histamine receptors. Over the years, scores of histamine receptor ligands have been tritiated but few if any have been methylated derivatives of histamine. For that reason, this paper describes the tritiation of several methylated histamine analogues as well as their analytical characterization by HPLC, MS and tritium NMR.
The Caspian Sea and Climatic Processes in the Northern Hemisphere

The nature of the relationship between the hydrometeorological characteristics of the Caspian Sea and climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere is investigated in this chapter. An analysis of teleconnections is conducted in section 3.1. Section 3.2 considers whether there are any statistically significant differences (and of what kind) in climatic situations in the Northern Hemisphere during the years of CSL rise and decline as well as in preceding years. Section 3.3 provides more detail on this issue, focusing on the North Atlantic. Special attention is given to the possible causes of the extraordinary rise in the CSL after 1977 (section 3.4). Section 3.5 discusses secular changes in the CSL and their associations with the Northern Hemisphere climate during the past millennium.
Customized novel routing metrics for wireless mesh-based swarm-of-drones applications

Abstract With the proliferation of drones, there is an increasing interest on utilizing swarm-of-drones in numerous applications from surveillance to search and rescue. While a swarm-of-drones (a.k.a flying ad hoc networks (FANETs)) is essentially a special form of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) which has been studied for many years, there are unique requirements of drone applications that necessitate re-visiting MANET protocols. These challenges stem from 3-D environments the drones are deployed in, and their specific way of mobility which adds to the wireless link management challenges among the drones. To tackle these challenges, in this paper, we propose adopting the current mesh standard, namely IEEE 802.11s, in its routing capabilities to provide improved performance. Specifically, we propose two new link quality routing metrics called SrFTime and CRP as an alternative to the IEEE 802.11s default Airtime routing metric to meet network throughput requirements for FANET applications. Basically, SrFTime improves network performance of stationary FANETs, while CRP is designed to fit the transient link characteristics of mobile drones and enable more efficient routes from drones to their destinations. To be able to test these metrics, we also introduce a group mobility model adaptation for FANET’s needs. The evaluations in the actual 802.11s standard using ns-3 simulator and introduced 3-D mobility models indicate that our proposed metrics outperform the existing one consistently under various conditions.
Three-Year Reliability of MEG Visual and Somatosensory Responses.

A major goal of many translational neuroimaging studies is the identification of biomarkers of disease. However, a prerequisite for any such biomarker is robust reliability, which for magnetoencephalography (MEG) and many other imaging modalities has not been established. In this study, we examined the reliability of visual (Experiment 1) and somatosensory gating (Experiment 2) responses in 19 healthy adults who repeated these experiments for three visits spaced 18 months apart. Visual oscillatory and somatosensory oscillatory and evoked responses were imaged, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were computed to examine the long-term reliability of these responses. In Experiment 1, ICCs showed good reliability for visual theta and alpha responses in occipital cortices, but poor reliability for gamma responses. In Experiment 2, the time series of somatosensory gamma and evoked responses in the contralateral somatosensory cortex showed good reliability. Finally, analyses of spontaneous baseline activity indicated excellent reliability for occipital alpha, moderate reliability for occipital theta, and poor reliability for visual/somatosensory gamma activity. Overall, MEG responses to visual and somatosensory stimuli show a high degree of reliability across 3 years and therefore may be stable indicators of sensory processing long term and thereby of potential interest as biomarkers of disease.
Safety analysis of a multispecialty surgical volunteerism mission over thirteen years - age alone is not a contradiction.

INTRODUCTION About five billion people worldwide lack access to safe surgery and multispecialty surgical volunteer missions (SVMs) offer a plausible solution to this problem. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of elderly patients operated on over 13 surgical missions between 2006 and 2019 from "Operation Giving Back Bohol" Tagbilaran, Philippines. PATIENTS AND METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on all patients treated during SVM over 13 years (2006-2019). Non-elderly (age 16-64 years) were compared with the elderly (age ≥65 years) for pre-, intra-, and postoperative variables. Multivariable logistic regression was utilized to identify independent predictors of postoperative complications. RESULTS Of 1184 patients, the majority (1030) were in the non-elderly group and 154 in the elderly. The mean age was 36 ± 13.6 and 68.3 ± 3.8 years in the non-elderly and elderly groups, respectively. Comorbidities, type of surgery, type of anesthesia, operating time, estimated blood loss, estimated blood loss, need for blood transfusion, postoperative complication rates, comprehensive complication index, length of hospital, ICU requirement, and mortality rates stay did not significantly differ between the groups. Multivariable logistic regression found pelvic surgery (OR (95%CI) = 3.7 (1.3-10.8); p = 0.01), hypertension (OR (95%CI) = 8.4 (2.2-32.9); p < 0.01), and intraoperative blood loss (OR (95%CI) = 1.007 (1.005-1.009); p < 0.01) to be independent predictors of postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS Elderly patients may be safely undergo general surgery procedures in surgical volunteer missions, and age alone should not preclude them.
Unemployment and cancer screening: Baseline estimates to inform health care delivery in the context of COVID-19 economic distress.

Background During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, US unemployment rates rose to historic highs, and they remain nearly double those of prepandemic levels. Employers are the most common source of health insurance among nonelderly adults. Thus, job loss may lead to a loss of health insurance and reduce access to cancer screening. This study examined associations between unemployment, health insurance, and cancer screening to inform the pandemic's potential impacts on early cancer detection. Methods Up-to-date and past-year breast, cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancer screening prevalences were computed for nonelderly respondents (aged Results Unemployed adults (2000-2018) were 4 times more likely to lack insurance than employed adults (41.4% vs 10.0%; P Conclusions Unemployment was adversely associated with up-to-date cancer screening, and this was fully explained by a lack of health insurance. Ensuring the continuation of health insurance coverage after job loss may mitigate the pandemic's economic distress and future economic downturns' impact on cancer screening.
An Important Regulatory Role for PKC in Lens Cell Differentiation

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if Protein Kinase Cγ (PKCγ) is involved in the regulated loss of Cx43 during lens epithelial cell differentiation to fiber cells. Methods: N/N 1003A rabbit lens epithelial cells were treated with the PKCγ activator, phorbol-12 myristate 13 acetate (TPA) at 400nM, for up to 24 hours and Western blotting was performed to quantitate PKCγ, Cx43 and Cx50 protein levels. The distribution of Cx43 in the control (b6129pf21j100903) and PKCγ knockout (B6;129p-Prkcctm1St1) mouse lenses was determined from dissected epithelial, cortical, and nuclear regions. Light microscopy was utilized to examine lens structure for control and knock out mouse lenses. Results: Long-term exposure of lens epithelial cells in culture to TPA resulted in the degradation of Cx43 but not Cx50. Since hyper-phosphorylation of Cx43 has been shown to result in the down-regulation of Cx43, we examined the effects of a PKCγ knockout mouse, where phosphorylation of Cx43 by PKCγ does not occur. In normal mouse lenses, PKCγ was found in the epithelial, cortical, and nuclear regions of the whole lens but was absent from the knockout mice. In the wild type mice Cx43 was found only in the epithelial layers. In contrast, in the PKCγ knockout mouse lens, Cx43 persisted into the outer and cortical regions of the lens. The location of Cx50 and Cx46 were identical in both wild type and knockout mice. Light and electron microscopy demonstrated that in the bow region the characteristic V-shape arrangement of nuclei was disrupted in the knockout mice. However, fiber cell differentiation appeared otherwise normal despite the abnormal and persistent distribution of Cx43 in the knockout mouse lens. Conclusions: PKCγ is required for the degradation of Cx43 during lens differentiation. The loss of PKCγ does not alter Cx50 or Cx46 levels. The presence of the hyperphosphorylation sites at residues 363 375 of Cx43, not found in Cx50, are probably required for the PKCγ-catalyzed loss of Cx43. This would not occur in the absence of PKCγ as observed in the knockout mice.
Heuristics for fast exact model counting

An important extension of satisfiability testing is model-counting, a task that corresponds to problems such as probabilistic reasoning and computing the permanent of a Boolean matrix. We recently introduced Cachet, an exact model-counting algorithm that combines formula caching, clause learning, and component analysis. This paper reports on experiments with various techniques for improving the performance of Cachet, including component-selection strategies, variable-selection branching heuristics, randomization, backtracking schemes, and cross-component implications. The result of this work is a highly-tuned version of Cachet, the first (and currently, only) system able to exactly determine the marginal probabilities of variables in random 3-SAT formulas with 150+ variables. We use this to discover an interesting property of random formulas that does not seem to have been previously observed.
Evaluation of salt-tolerant forages for sequential water reuse systems: I. Biomass production

Abstract Reuse of saline drainage waters is a management option that has been suggested for the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) of California in order to reduce both the area affected by shallow water tables and the volume of drainage effluent requiring disposal. Salt-tolerant forages may play an important role in this strategy, while at the same time producing a food source for sheep and cattle. Crop selection for reuse systems, however, will depend upon production potential under saline-sodic conditions. To identify potentially suitable crops, a controlled study using an elaborate sand-tank system was conducted at the US Salinity Laboratory to evaluate ten promising forage crops irrigated with synthetic drainage waters dominated by Na2SO4 with an EC of either 15 or 25 dS/m each containing 500 μg/L Se and Mo as SeO42− and MoO42−. Forages were cut several times over the year-long duration of the experiment. The forage species tested performed differently in terms of absolute biomass accumulation and biomass production relative to salinity level. Cumulative biomass production of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), a relatively salt sensitive crop, was higher than most other forages at moderate salinity. As salinity increased to 25 dS/m, however, cumulative biomass of the alfalfa cultivars were reduced by nearly half whereas biomass of the most salt tolerant grasses was reduced between 0 and 20%. Although most forage species tested showed promise, those that performed particularly well based on biomass accumulation, overall salt-tolerance, and forage quality were ‘Jose’ tall wheatgrass, bermudagrass and ‘PI 299042’ paspalum.
6.3.2 End User Involvement in Establishing Software Requirements for Aerospace Software Systems

Requirement practitioners often cite end user involvement as an important element of an effective requirement derivation process. The research reported in this paper provides quantitative data of end user involvement in the software requirement derivation process. The paper includes information on the identity of the end user versus the customer, end user involvement, frequency of end user and customer changes, value added by the end user, enablers, and end user satisfaction. The findings presented were part of a larger two-year research effort involving over one hundred and seventy requirement practitioners from the Aerospace industry, United States Air Force, and MIT. The goal of the research effort was to identify effective practices for deriving software requirements.
Foundations for Health Promotion with Youth: A Review of Observations from the Bogalusa Heart Study

Abstract Cardiovascular risk factors associated with underlying coronary artery and hypertensive disease develop during childhood. Although the major adult heart diseases do not become symptomatic until adulthood, cardiovascular risk factors predictive of these diseases can be identified early in life. Race- and gender-specific observations from childhood to young adulthood provide clues to the early onset of cardiovascular disease risk. Observations on the distributions of levels, tracking, and determinants of blood pressure and serum lipids and lipoproteins and the impact of obesity on cardiovascular risk are of particular importance in understanding the clinical presentation of cardiovascular diseases later in life. Genetic and environmental factors obviously determine the development of the major cardiovascular diseases; however, there is a growing awareness that certain factors, for example, improper diet, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking, that lead to heart disease are ...
Chapter 1 – Nanotechnology emerging trends, markets, and concerns

Nanotechnology is the fastest-growing technology in the world, and it is also called the Industrial Revolution of the twenty-first century. Many research, development, and manufacturing methods have been used globally to develop better and safer nanomaterials for various applications. Nanotechnology teaches us the critical properties of day-to-day materials and structures. The invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and fullerenes (or buckyballs) laid a path toward nanotechnology because atomic- and molecular-level studies could be performed using the STM and nanomaterials. Today this technology is employed in various fields such as engineering, technology, applied sciences, biomedical, pharmaceuticals, food and agriculture, and construction industries. The number of technical articles and patents related to nanotechnology and nanoproducts has been continuously increasing for nearly two decades. Within 10 or 15 years, it is expected that the industrial production of nanotechnology will be worth over $1 trillion. Thus, this technology will drastically change science, education, manufacturing, and the lifestyles of people around the world.
Caco-2 Cell Iron Uptake from Meat and Casein Digests Parallels in Vivo Studies: Use of a Novel in Vitro Method for Rapid Estimation of Iron Bioavailability

We developed a model for assessing iron bioavailability from foods which combines simulated peptic and intestinal digestion with measurement of iron uptake by Caco-2 cell monolayers. Our objective was to further validate this model by determining if meat enhances Caco-2 cell iron uptake relative to casein. Caco-2 cell monolayers were covered with Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS) buffered with HEPES, pH 7.4. An upper chamber was created over the cells by fitting the bottom of a Costar Transwell® insert with a 12,000-14,000 molecular weight cut-off dialysis membrane. This membrane allowed low molecular weight iron complexes to diffuse into the media bathing the cells and prevented damage to the cells from the digestive enzymes. Prior to digestion, each sample (homogenate of beef, chicken, fish or casein) was mixed with 59 FeCl 3 to achieve an iron concentration of 10 μmol/L. Following pepsin digestion (pH 2), pH was adjusted to 7.4, pancreatic enzymes and bile extract were added to each digest, and an aliquot was then introduced into the upper chamber of the culture dish. During this intestinal digestion period, 59 Fe uptake occurred from iron that dialyzed into the lower chamber. The 59 Fe uptake from beef, chicken and fish digests was 300-400% of the 59 Fe uptake from a casein digest. Our results parallel human absorption studies indicating that meat enhances iron absorption. The results suggest that digestion products of the meat proteins were at least partially responsible for the enhancement of iron uptake. Overall, this study supports the usefulness of our model as a means of assessing iron bioavailability.