cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nesting Success and Mortality of the Boat-Tailed Grackle

-Of 605 Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) nests with complete clutches, 60.5% fledged young. Survival of nests to the hatching stage averaged 78.7%, and survival from hatching to fledging averaged 76.9%. Nesting success between localities varied from none to almost all nests fledging some young. Fledging success for 3-egg clutches averaged 64.8% and was significantly higher than the 50.8% success rate that 2-egg clutches averaged. Individual survival of eggs from laying through hatching was lower in 2-egg clutches than in 3-egg clutches, but from hatching to fledging nestling survival was higher. Thus, in contrast to nest survival, equal proportions of eggs in 2and 3-egg clutches produced fledglings. Predation was the greatest source of mortality, with predators taking 14.8% of the 1,605 eggs and 13.1% of the 1,145 nestlings. Of eggs that survived to the hatching stage, 9.2% failed to hatch. Starvation (13.4%) was the most common source of nestling mortality. Nest abandonment accounted for the death of 5.7% of the eggs and 2.9% of the young. The sources of mortality varied spatially and temporally in an unpredictable way. This uncertainty has resulted in the flexible nesting biology of grackles. Received 30 November 1984, accepted 15
Behavioral, pharmacological and neuroanatomical analysis of serotonin 2C receptor agonism on maternal behavior in rats

As a highly motivated social behavior, maternal behavior in rats has been routinely used to study psychoactive drugs for clinical, neuroscience and pharmacological purposes. Recent evidence indicates that acute activation of serotonin 2C (5-HT2C) receptors causes a disruption of rat maternal behavior. The present study was designed to elucidate the behavioral, pharmacological mechanisms and neuroanatomical basis of this 5-HT2C effect. First, we replicated the finding that acute MK212 injection (2.0mg/kg, a highly selective 5-HT2C agonist) disrupts maternal behavior, especially on pup retrieval. Interestingly, this disruption was significantly attenuated by 4-h pup separation (a procedure putatively increased maternal motivation). MK212 also suppressed food retrieval, indicating that it has a general effect on motivated behaviors. Second, we showed that MK212 disrupts maternal behavior by specifically activating 5-HT2C receptor, as pretreatment with a 5-HT2C receptor antagonist SB242084 (0.6 and 1.0mg/kg) alleviated MK212-induced disruption on pup retrieval. Third, we microinjected MK212 into various brain regions implicated in the regulation of maternal behavior: nucleus accumbens shell (25, 75, 250ng/0.5μl/side), medial prefrontal cortex (25 and 250ng, 1, 2 and 5μg/0.5μl/side), and medial preoptic area (MPOA, 75ng, 1 and 5μg/0.5μl/side). Pup retrieval and other maternal responses were not affected by any of these manipulations. Finally, we used c-Fos immunohistochemistry to identify the central mechanisms of the acute and repeated MK212 effects on maternal behavior. Acute MK212 (2.0mg/kg) disrupted pup retrieval and concurrently decreased c-Fos expression in the ventral part of lateral septal nucleus (LSv), MPOA, dentate gyrus (DG) and dorsal raphe (DR), but increased it in the central amygdala (CeA). Five days of repeated MK212 (2.0mg/kg) treatment produced a persistent disruption of pup retrieval and only decreased c-Fos expression in the DR. These findings not only confirm a role of 5-HT2C receptor in rat maternal behavior, but also suggest that the coordinated 5-HT2C activity in various limbic (e.g., LSv, DG, CeA), hypothalamic regions (e.g., MPOA) and brainstem areas (e.g. DR), is likely involved in the mediation of important psychological processes (e.g. motor function, motivation) necessary for the normal expression of maternal behavior.
Clustering-based joint feature selection for semantic attribute prediction

Semantic attributes have been proposed to bridge the semantic gap between low-level feature representation and high-level semantic understanding of visual objects. Obtaining a good representation of semantic attributes usually requires learning from high-dimensional low-level features, which not only significantly increases the time and space requirement but also degrades the performance due to numerous irrelevant features. Since multiattribute prediction can be generalized as an multitask learning problem, sparse-based multi-task feature selection approaches have been introduced, utilizing the relatedness among multiple attributes. However, such approaches either do not investigate the pattern of the relatedness among attributes, or require prior knowledge about the pattern. In this paper, we propose a novel feature selection approach which embeds attribute correlation modeling in multi-attribute joint feature selection. Experiments on both synthetic dataset and multiple public benchmark datasets demonstrate that the proposed approach effectively captures the correlation among multiple attributes and significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches.
Transfer matrices to characterize linear and quadratic acoustic black holes in duct terminations

Abstract The acoustic black hole (ABH) effect for sound reduction in duct terminations can be accomplished by means of retarding structures. The latter act as waveguides and their performance relies on two factors. First, a power-law decay of the duct radius and, second, an appropriate dependence of the wall admittance with the duct radius. In theory, the ABH can be achieved placing a set of rigid rings inside the duct, with inner radii and inter-spacing decreasing to zero as the tube end section is approached. In this work we focus on the linear and quadratic inner radius decay cases, referred to as the linear and quadratic ABHs. To begin with, analytical expressions are derived for the quadratic ABH and compared to those of the linear one. In both cases the solutions become singular at the final section of the duct. The wall admittance manifests the same behavior. Therefore, one has to deal with imperfect ABHs ending before the singularity, even in the best case scenario. Yet in practice, one may encounter further factors that deteriorate the ABH behavior. The number of rings and cavities between them is finite as it is the ring thicknesses. Damping also plays an important role. It is herein proposed to analyze the influence of all these factors on the reflection coefficient of the ABHs by means of the transfer matrix method (TMM). Transfer matrices are presented which allow one to relate the acoustic pressure and acoustic particle velocity between different sections of the retarding structure. They constitute a quick and valuable tool for an initial design of ABHs.
Role of ligands in the stability of BnXn and CBn−1Xn (n = 5–10; X = H, F, CN) and their potential as building blocks of electrolytes in lithium ion batteries

Stabilizing small multiply charged negative ions in the gas phase has been of considerable interest in recent years. B12H122− is one of the most well-known dianions which is stable against auto-detachment of its second electron in the gas phase by 0.9 eV, whereas BnHn2− with n < 12 is unstable. Using density functional theory, we have examined systematically the role of ligands in stabilizing smaller mono- and di-anions of BnXn and CBn−1Xn (n = 5–10; X = H, F, CN). We show that the stability of the negative ions of these complexes increases with the electron affinity of the ligand and Bn(CN)n2− can even be stable against electron emission for n ≥ 5. We also show that CBn−1(CN)n2− is stable against electron emission for n ≥ 8, even though these moieties contain one electron more than needed to satisfy the Wade–Mingos rule. We have examined the potential of these stable negative ions as building blocks of electrolytes in Li-ion batteries. By calculating the binding energies between the CBn−1Xn1−,2− and Li+, we find that some of these clusters may even outperform CB11H12− as electrolytes in metal-ion batteries.
Croce and Dewey

The article focuses on the polemics between Dewey and Croce. After having theoretically skechted the peculiar stance of Dewey, it clarifies the reasons which reciprocally kept distant two thinkers both interested in putting aesthetics at the core of human experience.
Through-body Capacitive Touch Communication

To overcome the drawbacks and security issues of traditional wireless and RF-based communication techniques, multiple alternative "wireless" communication methods have been investigated. Among them, capacitive touch communication which utilizes the touchscreen process as communication channel has been proposed with the promising future since capacitive touchscreen has been widely known as an important component of pervasive touch-enabled smart devices. In this paper, we present for the first time the indirect method of capacitive touch communication that allows the users to transmit their information from the wearable devices to the touch-enabled devices using human body as a medium. The key idea is to modulate the signal emitted from a wearable device propagating through user's body. These signal can be decoded to extract the transmitted data when the user touch to the touch-surface. In particular, we show a system design of through-body capacitive touch communication channel together with the circuit model analysis. We present our preliminary results of our system, and identify possible challenges for future research and development.
PrivBioMTAuth: Privacy Preserving Biometrics-Based and User Centric Protocol for User Authentication From Mobile Phones

We introduce a privacy preserving biometrics-based authentication solution by which users can authenticate to different service providers from mobile phones without involving identity providers in the transactions. Authentication is performed via zero-knowledge proof of knowledge, based on a cryptographic identity token that encodes the biometric identifier of the user and a secret provided by the user, making it three-factor authentication. Our approach for generating a unique, repeatable, and revocable biometric identifier from the user’s biometric image is based on a machine learning-based classification technique, which involves the features extracted from the user’s biometric image. We have implemented a prototype of the proposed authentication solution and evaluated our solution with respect to its performance, security, and privacy. The evaluation has been performed on a public data set of face images.
Coupling in Densely Integrated Metallo-dielectric Nanolasers

We demonstrated coupling between two metallo-dielectric nanolasers using three-dimensional finite-element method simulations. Splits in resonant wavelength and quality factor were observed due to bonding and anti-bonding states. To prevent coupling, cavity resonances were slightly detuned.
The global potential for converting renewable electricity to negative-CO 2 -emissions hydrogen

The IPCC has assigned a critical role to negative-CO2-emissions energy in meeting energy and climate goals by the end of the century, with biomass energy plus carbon capture and storage (BECCS) prominently featured. We estimate that methods of combining saline water electrolysis with mineral weathering powered by any source of non-fossil fuel-derived electricity could, on average, increase energy generation and CO2 removal by >50 times relative to BECCS, at equivalent or lower cost. This electrogeochemistry avoids the need to produce and store concentrated CO2, instead converting and sequestering CO2 as already abundant, long-lived forms of ocean alkalinity. Such energy systems could also greatly reduce land and freshwater impacts relative to BECCS, and could also be integrated into conventional energy production to reduce its carbon footprint. Further research is needed to better understand the full range and capacity of the world’s negative-emissions options.
The Meaning and Function of Religion in an Imperial World

It is fairly evident today that the modern Western theory of religion has been intimately connected with the critique or defense of Christianity in a context imperialism and increased secularism. Most analyses have focused on the tensions between Christianity and secular ideas, while a critique of the workings of the theory of religion in relation to imperialism has been more recent. This essay contributes to these more recent efforts by offering a Fanonian sociogenic analysis of religion in an imperial world. It brings out the necessity to consider intersubjectivity and spatiality as relevant coordinates to study religion and the theory of religion in the West. The analysis is grounded on Frantz Fanon's critique of ontology and his descriptions of the imperial/colonial context, in critical dialogue with the work of L. Feuerbach, GWF Hegel, and F. Nietzsche. A Fanonian approach insists on the centrality of intersubjective relations and dynamics of power that can only be understood by illuminating the constitutive role of spatial relations among regions and subjects that conform the modern world.
Introduction: A Variety of Betting Lines

From 1976 to 1996, legalized betting in the U.S. increased from $17.3 billion to $586.5 billion. Apart from legal betting, O’Brien1 estimates that illegal sports betting could amount to $88 billion annually with $4 billion to $5 billion wagered on the Super Bowl alone.
Conceptualizing the Family: Introduction

Family life poses some of the most difficult and disputed questions taken up in contemporary social thought and politics. Often these are issues about which major thinkers of the past have little to offer us: issues about power relations in the family, about the impact of public agencies and mass culture on family life, political issues about school curricula, about biological engineering, and so on. As these examples suggest, if earlier theorists did not speak to our questions about family, this is not—entirely—a matter of their having rested, so to speak, on patriarchal privilege. Nor is it because they ignored family issues: Plato, Rousseau, Hegel all gave thought to questions about family and household as part of their larger considerations of rational social life. But it is true that family was not a matter of primary concern for them: they did not see it as an end in itself. Its importance was more in preparing individuals for participation in the political and cultural spheres in which genuine human experience and achievement were thought to be possible. Reference to outstanding questions of our day suggests that it is no longer so easy to separate family (and economic) concerns from political and cultural questions. Issues raised by the women’s movement are evidence of this, but so are questions of education, welfare, healthcare, and housing.
Synthesizing and tuning stochastic chemical reaction networks with specified behaviours

Methods from stochastic dynamical systems theory have been instrumental in understanding the behaviours of chemical reaction networks (CRNs) arising in natural systems. However, considerably less attention has been given to the inverse problem of synthesizing CRNs with a specified behaviour, which is important for the forward engineering of biological systems. Here, we present a method for generating discrete-state stochastic CRNs from functional specifications, which combines synthesis of reactions using satisfiability modulo theories and parameter optimization using Markov chain Monte Carlo. First, we identify candidate CRNs that have the possibility to produce correct computations for a given finite set of inputs. We then optimize the parameters of each CRN, using a combination of stochastic search techniques applied to the chemical master equation, to improve the probability of correct behaviour and rule out spurious solutions. In addition, we use techniques from continuous-time Markov chain theory to analyse the expected termination time for each CRN. We illustrate our approach by synthesizing CRNs for probabilistically computing majority, maximum and division, producing both known and previously unknown networks, including a novel CRN for probabilistically computing the maximum of two species. In future, synthesis techniques such as these could be used to automate the design of engineered biological circuits and chemical systems.
Specifying Callback Control Flow of Mobile Apps Using Finite Automata

Given the event-driven and framework-based architecture of Android apps, finding the ordering of callbacks executed by the framework remains a problem that affects every tool that requires inter-callback reasoning. Previous work has focused on the ordering of callbacks related to the Android components and GUI events. But the execution of callbacks can also come from direct calls of the framework (API calls). This paper defines a novel program representation, called Callback Control Flow Automata (CCFA) , that specifies the control flow of callbacks invoked via a variety of sources. We present an analysis to automatically construct CCFAs by combining two callback control flow representations developed from the previous research, namely, Window Transition Graphs (WTGs) and Predicate Callback Summaries (PCSs) . To demonstrate the usefulness of our representation, we integrated CCFAs into two client analyses: a taint analysis using FLOWDROID, and a value-flow analysis that computes source and sink pairs of a program. Our evaluation shows that we can compute CCFAs efficiently and that CCFAs improved the callback coverages over WTGs. As a result of using CCFAs, we obtained 33 more true positive security leaks than FLOWDROID over a total of 55 apps we have run. With a low false positive rate, we found that 22.76 percent of source-sink pairs we computed are located in different callbacks and that 31 out of 55 apps contain source-sink pairs spreading across components. Thus, callback control flow graphs and inter-callback analysis are indeed important. Although this paper mainly uses Android, we believe that CCFAs can be useful for modeling control flow of callbacks for other event-driven, framework-based systems.
A Statistical Comparative Study of Photoplethysmographic Signals in Wrist-Worn and Fingertip Pulse-Oximetry Devices

Prolonged time-matching continuous recordings of electrocardiogram and photoplethysmographic waveforms from fingertip pulse oximeter and wrist-worn devices obtained from stroke patients admitted to the intensive care unit were analyzed. Heart rate and pulse rate variability indices and signal complexity were estimated and statistically compared to investigate the reliability of heart rate estimation using photoplethymography and whether fingertip pulse oximetry and radial photoplethymography reflect the same pulse rate variability. Heart rates were generally found to be accurately estimated by both photoplethysmographic modalities when using the electrocardiogram as a reference. Pulse rate variability analysis showed statistically comparable properties between photoplethysmographic modalities, suggesting that fingertip pulse oximetry and wrist photoplethymography reflect the same cardiovascular changes.
Xenon NMR Spectroscopy

Xenon NMR spectroscopy has become an important and widely used tool for characterizing complex chemical systems and host phases. Issues central to new and existing uses of xenon NMR in materials research are emphasized, including xenon mass transport considerations, the sensitivity of xenon’s NMR parameters to local and macroscopic material structure and dynamics, and novel optical polarization techniques. After reviewing the foundations of 129Xe and 131Xe NMR spectroscopy methods, a number of applications are presented, particularly those focusing on new developments in the field.
Postural, Visual, and Manual Coordination in the Development of Prehension

We investigated the real-time cascade of postural, visual, and manual actions for object prehension in 38 6- to 12-month-old infants (all independent sitters) and eight adults. Participants' task was to retrieve a target as they spun past it at different speeds on a motorized chair. A head-mounted eye tracker recorded visual actions and video captured postural and manual actions. Prehension played out in a coordinated sequence of postural-visual-manual behaviors starting with turning the head and trunk to bring the toy into view, which in turn instigated the start of the reach. Visually fixating the toy to locate its position guided the hand for toy contact and retrieval. Prehension performance decreased at faster speeds, but quick planning and implementation of actions predicted better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Exploring the Use of Immersive Virtual Reality to Assess the Impact of Outdoor Views on the Perceived Size and Spaciousness of Architectural Interiors

It has been widely reported that rooms with larger windows tend to feel more spacious, and previous studies have found a significant impact of the particular external view that a window affords on people’s preferences for its size and shape. However, little is yet well-understood about how what is seen through the window affects either the subjective sense of spaciousness in a room or the apparent metric size of the interior space. We report the results of a two-part experiment with 14 participants that uses HMD-based immersive virtual reality technology to assess the impact of multiple characteristics of outdoor views on both subjective ratings of spaciousness within a room and on action-based judgments of the room size. Across four different outdoor view conditions, spanning day/night and vista distance variations, as well as three different control conditions including the use of frosted glass, substituting a 2D painting for the window, and removing the window altogether, we found no significant differences in participants’ spaciousness ratings. Comparing room size judgments in a subset of the aforementioned conditions, we found a slightly greater underestimation of egocentric distance to the opposing wall when it contained a window onto a distant vista than when the wall was blank, with intermediate results in the case that a painting, rather than a window, was present. We discuss possible explanations for these findings and outline planned follow-up studies.
Modeling evacuation demand during no-notice emergency events: tour formation behavior

Abstract Disastrous events have been drastically increasing – both in frequency and destructive capacity – over the past few years. While advance-notice events have received a great deal of attention in the literature of disaster management, not much attention so far has been given to the no-notice events mainly because of the scarcity of data. As an attempt to address this critical gap, the current study proposes a disaggregate evacuation demand framework to understand evacuees’ travel behavior in case of no-notice emergency events. The proposed framework comprises four main steps of evacuation decision, evacuation planning, tour formation, and activity schedule update. This article is dedicated to the introduction of the framework structure and elaboration on the tour formation step. In this step, we first estimate the total number of intermediate stops, travel time, and distance of the evacuation tours for those who decide to evacuate through a joint modeling structure and then, determine the type of each intermediate stop (if any). It is found that a broad range of factors including evacuees’ demographic profiles, built-environment attributes, and characteristics of the disastrous event plays a significant role in people’s evacuation behavior during no-notice emergency events. The findings of this study can assist responsible agencies in understanding evacuees’ complex behavior, and consequently, in devising effective strategies to alleviate economic damages and casualties resulted by such events.
Clinical characteristics and predictors of mortality in African-Americans with COVID-19 from an inner-city community teaching hospital in New York.

There is limited data on the clinical presentation and predictors of mortality in the African-American (AA) patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) despite the disproportionately higher burden and mortality. The aim of this study is to report on the clinical characteristics and the predictors of mortality in hospitalized AA patients with COVID-19 infection. In this retrospective cohort review, we included all AA patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection admitted to an inner-city teaching community hospital in New York city. Demographics, clinical presentation, baseline co-morbidities, and laboratory data were compared between survivors and non-survivors. The predictors of mortality were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Of the 408 (median age, 67 years) patients included, 276 (66.65%, median age 63 years) survived while 132 (33.35%, median age 71 years) died. The most common presenting symptoms were cough, myalgia, fever/chills, shortness of breath, and gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain), with a prevalence of 62.50%, 43.87%, 53.68%, and 27.21%, respectively. Age (odds ratio [OR], 1.06; confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.08; P < .001), body mass index (OR, 1.07; CI, 1.04-1.11; P < .001), elevated serum ferritin (OR, 1.99; CI, 1.08-3.66; P < .02), C-reactive protein (OR, 2.42; CI, 1.36-4.33; P < .01), and D-dimers (OR, 3.79; CI, 2.21-6.50; P < .001) at the time of presentation were identified as the independent predictors of mortality. Cough, shortness of breath, fever/chills, gastrointestinal symptoms, and myalgia were the predominant presentation among AAs hospitalized with COVID-19 infection. Advanced age, higher body mass index, elevated serum ferritin, C-reactive protein, and D-dimers are independent predictors of mortality among hospitalized AAs with COVID-19 infection.
Intrastate Conflict and Natural Resources:A Question of Geology?

How do natural resources deposits affect how armed actors behave in intrastate conflict? I argue that armed actors use a strategic calculus which includes resource extraction complexity when determining which natural resource deposits to fight over. Although often unaddressed, the extraction process directly affects the ‘lootability’ of a resource as well as the relationship of local, state, and international governments and multinational corporations with the actors that control natural resource deposits. I argue that sedimentary deposits, which pose minor technical complexity and human capital, but are more difficult to exploit than surficial deposits and easier to exploit than igneous or metamorphic deposits, are the most likely sites of violence in intrastate conflict. Using this novel conceptualization of natural resources by geological characteristics, I find support for this hypothesis at the global level.
The association of skipping breakfast with cancer-related and all-cause mortality in a national cohort of United States adults.

Many lifestyle and dietary factors have been recognized as risk factors for cancer morbidity and mortality. However, investigations of the association of the frequency of breakfast consumption and cancer are limited. This study aimed to examine the association of skipping breakfast with all-cause and cancer-related mortality in a national cohort of United States men and women. Data were from 7,007 adults aged ≥ 40 years who participated in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988–1994) and had follow-up information on mortality up until 31 December 2015. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The mean age of participants was 55.4 years, with 54.4% and 79% being women and non-Hispanic whites, respectively. Approximately, 16% of participants rarely consumed breakfast, 23.0% consumed breakfast some days, and 61% consumed breakfast every day. During a median follow-up of 22.2 years, 3,573 deaths occurred with 795 being related to cancer. In models adjusting for sociodemographic factors, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol levels, total energy intake and diet quality, persons who rarely consumed breakfast had a higher risk of cancer-related mortality (HR = 1.52; CI:1.06–2.18) and all-cause (HR = 1.69; CI: 1.42–2.02) compared to those who took breakfast every day. In this nationally representative sample, skipping breakfast was associated with elevated risks for all-cause and cancer-related mortality. This study provides evidence for the benefits of regular breakfast consumption in reducing the risk of all-cause and cancer mortality.
Assessment of reproducibility of volumetric breast density measurement using dual energy digital breast tomosynthesis

Breast density (BD) has been shown to be an independent risk factor for breast cancer, and it can be quantified by measuring the volumetric breast density (VBD). The longitudinal change in VBD has been used as a biomarker to assess the effect of chemoprevention drug for breast cancer risk reduction. However, the reproducibility of VBD measurement is hindered by breast compression, which causes temporal changes in the distribution of breast tissues, making it difficult to assess small longitudinal changes in VBD. Dual energy digital breast tomosynthesis (DE DBT) may provide more reproducible VBD measurements over different breast compressions. In this study, we aim to evaluate the reproducibility of VBD measurement using DE DBT. Digital breast phantoms were generated using a virtual clinical trial software (VICTRE) and were compressed multiple times into different clinical-relevant compressed breast thicknesses to emulate the change in repeated imaging of the same breast. The compressed thickness difference of 10 mm exaggerates the variation seen in clinical practice. DE DBT projection images of the phantoms were generated by Monte-Carlo simulations and included quantum noise and scatter radiation. A previously developed scatter correction method and a DE material decomposition technique were applied to obtain the BD map and calculate VBD. Our results show that DE DBT can provide reproducible VBD measurements for breasts under different compressions with the average absolute discrepancy of 2.3% ± 1.1% between two repeated measurements for all phantoms. The largest discrepancy is 3.9% for the extreme case with 20 mm compressed thickness difference.
At Home: Housing and Energy Use

This chapter illustrates the regression control technique for causal inference, through an empirical case study of building codes and household energy consumption. It describes and defines key concepts, like logged variables and fixed effects, so that the beginning reader can both understand and use the regression control technique. This chapter also describes the research process, and the path a researcher can take from replicating a study, to extending it and doing original research based on the study. Questions for Review at the end of the chapter walk the reader through this process, from downloading data and replicating a published research study, to modifying the computer code and creating new knowledge.
Sphingosine 1 Phosphate (S1P) Receptor 1 Is Decreased in Human Lung Microvascular Endothelial Cells of Smokers and Mediates S1P Effect on Autophagy

Destruction of alveoli by apoptosis induced by cigarette smoke (CS) is a major driver of emphysema pathogenesis. However, when compared to cells isolated from non-smokers, primary human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HLMVECs) isolated from chronic smokers are more resilient when exposed to apoptosis-inducing ceramide. Whether this adaptation restores homeostasis is unknown. To better understand the phenotype of HLMVEC in smokers, we interrogated a major pro-survival pathway supported by sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) signaling via S1P receptor 1 (S1P1). Primary HLMVECs from lungs of non-smoker or smoker donors were isolated and studied in culture for up to five passages. S1P1 mRNA and protein abundance were significantly decreased in HLMVECs from smokers compared to non-smokers. S1P1 was also decreased in situ in lungs of mice chronically exposed to CS. Levels of S1P1 expression tended to correlate with those of autophagy markers, and increasing S1P (via S1P lyase knockdown with siRNA) stimulated baseline macroautophagy with lysosomal degradation. In turn, loss of S1P1 (siRNA) inhibited these effects of S1P on HLMVECs autophagy. These findings suggest that the anti-apoptotic phenotype of HLMVECs from smokers may be maladaptive, since it is associated with decreased S1P1 expression that may impair their autophagic response to S1P.
Damnatio Memoriae and Black Lives Matter

This Essay defends the recent scrutiny of civic symbols, triggered by police brutality and killings, against the Trump Administration’s criticism that it constituted a frivolous exercise in cancel culture. It examines links between recent destruction of monuments and the age-old Roman legal procedure of damnatio memoriae to show that condemnation of memory may serve legitimate purposes, especially in rehabilitating public spaces to express society’s disapproval of past offensive actions.
Energy spectrum and structure of confined one-dimensional few-electron systems with and without coupling to light in a cavity

An explicitly correlated Gaussian basis is used to calculate the energies and wave functions of one-dimensional few-electron systems in confinement potentials created by external potentials or coupling to light in cavity. The appearance and properties of electron density peaks as the function of the relative strength of the confinement and the Coulomb interaction are studied. It is shown that similar Wigner crystal-like structures can be formed by coupling electrons to light due to the dipole self-interaction term in the light-matter Hamiltonian, provided an additional extremely weak confining potential is present. The relation of these systems to Wigner crystals is discussed.
Die Metallurgie des Bleis

Die Metallurgie des Bleis besteht in der Gewinnung des Rohmetalles aus den Erzen und der nachfolgenden Raffination zu Handelsblei (Weichblei). Bas wichtigste Bleierz ist der Bleiglanz PbS, doch kommt auch das Karbonat (Cerussit) PbCO3 und das Sulfat (Anglesit) PbSO4 vereinzelt in bedeutenden Mengen vor. Dagegen sind Blei-Silikat, -Phosphat, -Molybdat, -Wolframat, -Chlorid und gediegenes Blei seltene Mineralien.
Optimizing end to end routing performance in wireless sensor networks

The geographic routing is an ideal approach to realize pointto-point routing in wireless sensor networks because packets can be delivered by only maintaining a small set of neighbors' physical positions. The geographic routing assumes that a packet can be moved closer to the destination in the network topology if it is moved geographically closer to the destination in the physical space. This assumption, however, only holds in an ideal model where uniformly distributed nodes communicate with neighbors through wireless channels with perfect reception. Because this model oversimplifies the spatial complexity of a wireless sensor network, the geographic routing may often lead a packet to the local minimum or low quality route. Unlike the geographic forwarding, the ETX-embedding proposed in this paper can accurately encode both a network's topological structure and channel quality to small size nodes' virtual coordinates, which makes it possible for greedy forwarding to guide a packet along an optimal routing path. Our performance evaluation based on both the MICA2 sensor platform and TOSSIM simulator shows that the greedy forwarding based on ETX-embedding outperforms previous geographic routing approaches.
Electrochemical Oxidation of Hydrogen on Partially Immersed Platinum Electrodes II . Theoretical Treatment

The mechanism of the anodic oxidation of molecular hydrogen on partially immersed platinum electrodes in acidic solutions, serving as an idealized model for a gas diffusion electrode, has been treated theoretically. The mechanism, which earlier experiments had suggested, consists of the slow diffusion of molecular hydrogen through the upper edge of the electrolyte meniscus and a thin liquid film covering the electrode surface above the intrinsic meniscus. On the basis of this model, the relationship between current and applied potential is derived which agrees with experimental data over a potential range from zero to 1.8v. The relative contributions of meniscus and film to the total current are calculated. The reaction takes place mainly at a few tenths of a millimeter length of the electrode close to the upper meniscus edge. The true current density at this narrow band and the thickness of the liquid film are calculated. The surface diffusion of hydrogen atoms as rate‐determining transport mechanism has also been treated, and it is shown that the results of this treatment are not in agreement with the experimental data.
The Taped-Problems Intervention: Increasing Multiplication Fact Fluency Using a Low-Tech, Classwide, Time-Delay Intervention

A multiple-probes-across-tasks design was used to evaluate the effects of a taped-problems intervention on the multiplication fact fluency of 18 students from an intact general education third-grad...
Interactions between lac repressor protein and site-specific bromodeoxyuridine-substituted operator DNA. Ultraviolet footprinting and protein-DNA cross-link formation.

Specific contacts between the lac repressor and operator have been explored using 5-bromodeoxyuridine-substituted DNA. Substitution of BrdU for single thymidine positions in a synthetic 40-base pair operator provides substrate for ultraviolet irradiation; upon irradiation, strand scission occurs at the BrdU residues. When bound, lac repressor protein provides protection against UV-induced breakage depending on the nature of the sites and type of interaction. We have confirmed 13 unique sites of inducer-sensitive protection along the operator sequence using this method compared to complete substitution with BrdU; differences were observed at two positions for singly substituted versus completely substituted DNAs (Ogata, R., and Gilbert, W. (1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 4973-4976). The ability of these photosensitive DNAs to form short range cross-links to bound protein has been used to determine the efficiency with which cross-linked protein-DNA complexes are generated at each individual site of BrdU substitution. Five sites of high efficiency cross-linking to the repressor protein have been identified. At one site, cross-linking without protection from strand scission was observed; this result suggests an unusual mechanism of strand scission and/or cross-linking at this site. Comparison of the UV protection results and the cross-linking data show that these processes provide complementary tools for identifying and analyzing individual protein-DNA contacts.
The impact on learning of generating vs. selecting descriptions in analyzing algebra example solutions

Self-explanation of worked examples is an effective strategy for student learning. This paper examines the impact on learning of self-generating explanations of worked examples vs. selecting them from a menu in an intelligent tutoring system. In this study, students describe the structure of algebraic models of real-world problem situations. In one tutor version students select their descriptions from menus and in a second version students type their explanations in their own words. In a third version menu-selection and self-generation are interleaved. In this condition the canonical menu entries may serve to scaffold self-generated descriptions. Students completed the problems fastest with the menu version and the students learned to both explain and generate the target algebraic models equally well in all versions. However, the type-in version led to more successful transfer to describing novel algebraic models of problem situations. The scaffolded version was the least successful of the three.
Abstract 1804: New insights in the induction of cell death by the imidazolium based compound YM155

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA The inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) Survivin is robustly over-expressed in a variety of cancers including prostate carcinomas, and has been shown to play pivotal roles in cancer progression and resistance to chemotherapy. The imidazolium based small molecule YM155, which was first identified as a robust suppressor of the Survivin promoter of PC-3 prostate carcinoma and under clinical investigation for the treatment of multiple cancers, is a potent apoptosis inducer of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells. However, the mechanisms by which it inhibits the expression of Survivin and kills cancer cells remain unclear. Here we studied early signaling responses to YM155 in a panel of prostate and kidney cancer cell lines in standard cell culture conditions and showed that YM155 rapidly decreases the expression of cyclin Ds 1, 2 and 3, and activates the retinoblastoma protein (Rb), leading to the downregulation of the Survivin promoter. However, despite the robust lost of cyclin Ds, YM155 promotes an S-phase arrest rather than arrests cells at either G1 or G2/M. This suggests cell killing by YM155 involves S-phase arrest, consistent with a DNA damage response. In addition, we show that YM155 also downregulates the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 and induces the expression of proapoptotic proteins Bad and Bim followed by the activation of caspases -3 and -8. Moreover, early time course experiments show that YM155 induces rapid (10 - 60 min) but transient activation of Akt and Erk1/2 followed by a marked suppression by 4 to 8 h likely via the induced expression of phosphatases 1 and 5 (DUSP1 and 5). Taken together we suggest YM155 induces apoptosis of prostate epithelial cells through a complex mechanism involving Akt, Erk1/2, DUSPs, cyclin Ds, Rb, S-phase arrest, Bim, Bad, Mcl-1,Survivin, and activation of caspases -3 and -8. Citation Format: David Danielpour, Eswar Shankar, Sarah L. Corum. New insights in the induction of cell death by the imidazolium based compound YM155. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1804. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1804
Can Models Capture the Complexity of the Systems Engineering Process

Many large-scale, complex systems engineering (SE) programs have been problematic; a few examples are listed below (Bar-Yam, 2003 and Cullen, 2004), and many others have been late, well over budget, or have failed: Hilton/Marriott/American Airlines system for hotel reservations and flights; 1988–1992; $125 million; “scrapped” Federal Aviation Administration Advanced Automation System; 1982–1994; $3+billion; “scrapped” Internal Revenue Service tax system modernization; 1989–1997; $4 billion; “scrapped” Boston “Big Dig” highway infrastructure project; roughly $15 billion; about $9 to $10 billion over budget and late.
Phase Behavior of a Single Structured Ionomer Chain in Solution

Structured polymers offer a means to tailor transport pathways within mechanically stable manifolds. Here we examine the building block of such a membrane, namely a single large pentablock co-polymer that consist of a center block of a randomly sulfonated polystyrene, designed for transport, tethered to poly-ethylene-r-propylene and end-capped by poly-t-butyl styrene, for mechanical stability,using molecular dynamics simulations. The polymer structure in a cyclohexane-heptane mixture, a technologically viable solvent, and in water, a poor solvent for all segments and a ubiquitous substance is extracted. In all solvents the pentablock collapsed into nearly spherical aggregates where the ionic block is segregated. In hydrophobic solvents, the ionic block resides in the center, surrounded by swollen intermix of flexible and end blocks. In water all blocks are collapsed with the sulfonated block residing on the surface. Our results demonstrate that solvents drive different local nano-segregation, providing a gateway to assemble membranes with controlled topology.
Synthesis and Characterization of a Linear Dinitrosyl‐Triiron Complex

Nitric oxide is released during the immune response by the host during bacterial infection. To counteract this response, bacteria have evolved nitric oxide reductases to convert NO to N2O. Some of these nitric oxide reductases contain a flavodiiron active site that has bridging carboxylates and hydroxides. Only a handful of synthetic complexes currently exist as models for the protein reactivity. Here, we report the reaction of [Fe2(μ-OH)(μ-Ph4DBA)(TMEDA)2(OTf)] (4) with NO(g) and Ph3CSNO to prepare the dinitrosyl-triiron complex [Fe3(μ-OH)2(μ-Ph4DBA)2(TMEDA)2(NO)2](OTf) (5). The reaction was monitored by UV/Vis and ReactIR spectroscopy, and compound 5 was characterized by X-ray crystallography, 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy, Evan's method, and FTIR spectroscopy. The IR spectrum of compound 5 compares favorably to experimental spectroscopic data obtained for the proposed mononitrosylated intermediate of the protein.
Media discourse on ageing water infrastructure

Urban infrastructure in the United States is ageing, but media portrayal of this phenomena has been insufficient. Failures such as water main breaks are a daily occurrence in many cities. In addition, citizens are regularly reminded of the costs through increases in water and sewer rates. To explore media discourse on this issue, a content analysis of print media articles on water main breaks (Breaks), and water and sewer rate increases (Rates) for the period 1999–2012 was conducted. The analysis of approximately 500 randomly drawn articles on each topic found that media coverage of water infrastructure is an episodic affair with little attention to ongoing issues. Rates articles contained more details and a focus on governance, while Breaks articles addressed business concerns and were concentrated in older cities. The article concludes that media stories are not providing sufficient information to serve the needs of democratic governance of urban infrastructure issues.
Legume inoculation: Successes and failures

The contribution of leguminous plants including food, forage and tree legumes to the nitrogen needs of agricultural systems is well recognized. At the same time the efficacy of inoculation with specific rhizobia to improve biological nitrogen fixation remains less certain. In a historical perspective it is interesting to note that attempts at improving N-fixation through inoculation of soil or seed began almost simultaneously with the successful demonstration that symbiotic N-fixation was associated with legume root nodules. At the same time the problems which plagued these early investigators, i.e. differences in response to method of inoculation, problems in assuring adequate inoculant quality, excessive claims of efficiacy by some inoculation producers and the inability of inoculant rhizobia to compete against indigenous rhizobia, remain with us today. This is true even though our journals contain a voluminous literature covering inoculation trials, the intricacies of the symbiosis, methods of inoculation, rhizobium ecology, the genetics of rhizobia, etc. The challenge to successfully and selectively introduce selected or genetically engineered highly effective rhizobium strains remains a high priority. Methods such as massive inoculation, use of highly competitive strains, improved inoculation technology, co-inoculation, chemical modification of the rhizosphere, and altered legume-rhizobium specificity show promise in meeting this challenge.