cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Defending Vicarious Felony Murder

Felony murder is a much-maligned and much-misunderstood doctrine. At its broadest, it is indefensible. Guyora Binder and David Crump have compellingly shown that this broad felony murder never really existed and that the limitations that jurisdictions have placed on the doctrine largely make it normatively acceptable. Vicarious felony murder, however, has not been so defended. This article provides such a defense, drawing from philosophy and psychology work on joint shared intention, action and omission, and imputation of culpability. It concludes that, to the extent that underlying felony murder is normatively appropriate and methods of proof are reliable, vicarious felony murder is also eminently defensible because it reliably functions to discern culpability and impose condign punishment.
The Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation On Calcium Excretion in Thalassemia

Abstract Abstract 1029 Purpose of study: Transfusion dependent thalassemia (TM) patients are routinely supplemented with vitamin D due to their increased risk of developing osteoporosis. Recent studies from North America have found that these patients have high rates of vitamin D “deficiency” and “insufficiency,” despite supplementation. The amount of vitamin D supplementation required to raise serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OHD) to optimal levels is not known in these patients. Recent studies have linked 25-OHD levels to hypercalciuria and nephrolithiasis in patients with TM. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of various doses of vitamin D supplementation on vitamin D stores and calcium excretion in TM patients. Description of project: Prospective, single-blind, placebo-controlled study of TM patients followed in the transfusion center at Weill Cornell/New York Presbyterian Hospital. Patients with 25-OHD concentrations between 15–29 ng/mL were eligible for this 3-month study. Subjects were assigned in a block type of enrollment to the “high dose” equivalent of 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day versus placebo. Results: 14 subjects were enrolled, with 8 assigned to the “high dose” group and 6 assigned to the placebo group. The “high dose” group consisted of 6 females, aged 15.2–45.5 years with an average baseline 25-OHD level of 22.4 ng/mL (15–26). The “placebo” group consisted of 4 females, aged 22.5–45.7 years with an average baseline 25-OHD level of 19.8 ng/mL (16–24). After the 3 month study period, hypercalciuria developed more frequently in those treated in the “high dose” group. In the placebo group, hypercalciuria was noted in 1/6 (16.7%) spot urine calcium/creatinine tests and 0/3 (0%) 24 hour urine calcium estimations. In the “high dose” group, the corresponding number of patients based on the same methods of testing were 5/8 (62.5%) and 2/5 (40%). No episodes of hypocalcemia, hypercalcemia or nephrolithiasis occurred in either group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that “high dose” vitamin D supplementation results in higher rates of hypercalciuria in TM patients. Further studies are necessary to determine the optimal dose of vitamin D supplementation to minimize the risk of osteoporosis while preventing nephrolithiasis in TM patients. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
AMPA-ergic regulation of amyloid-β levels in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model

Extracellular aggregation of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide into toxic multimers is a key event in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. Aβ aggregation is concentration-dependent, with higher concentrations of Aβ much more likely to form toxic species. The processes that regulate extracellular levels of Aβ therefore stand to directly affect AD pathology onset. Studies from our lab and others have demonstrated that synaptic activity is a critical regulator of Aβ production through both presynaptic and postsynaptic mechanisms. AMPA receptors (AMPA-Rs), as the most abundant ionotropic glutamate receptors, have the potential to greatly impact Aβ levels. In order to study the role of AMPA-Rs in Aβ regulation, we used in vivo microdialysis in an APP/PS1 mouse model to simultaneously deliver AMPA and other treatments while collecting Aβ from the interstitial fluid (ISF). Changes in Aβ production and clearance along with inflammation were assessed using biochemical approaches. IL-6 deficient mice were utilized to test the role of IL-6 signaling in AMPA-R-mediated regulation of Aβ levels. We found that AMPA-R activation decreases in ISF Aβ levels in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the effect of AMPA treatment involves three distinct pathways. Steady-state activity of AMPA-Rs normally promotes higher ISF Aβ. Evoked AMPA-R activity, however, decreases Aβ levels by both stimulating glutamatergic transmission and activating downstream NMDA receptor (NMDA-R) signaling and, with extended AMPA treatment, acting independently of NMDA-Rs. Surprisingly, we found this latter, direct AMPA pathway of Aβ regulation increases Aβ clearance, while Aβ production appears to be largely unaffected. Furthermore, the AMPA-dependent decrease is not observed in IL-6 deficient mice, indicating a role for IL-6 signaling in AMPA-R-mediated Aβ clearance. Though basal levels of AMPA-R activity promote higher levels of ISF Aβ, evoked AMPA-R signaling decreases Aβ through both NMDA-R-dependent and -independent pathways. We find that evoked AMPA-R signaling increases clearance of extracellular Aβ, at least in part through enhanced IL-6 signaling. These data emphasize that Aβ regulation by synaptic activity involves a number of independent pathways that together determine extracellular Aβ levels. Understanding how these pathways maintain Aβ levels prior to AD pathology may provide insights into disease pathogenesis.
Close-packed block copolymer micelles induced by temperature quenching

Close-packed structures of uniformly sized spheres are ubiquitous across diverse material systems including elements, micelles, and colloidal assemblies. However, the controlled access to a specific symmetry of self-assembled close-packed spherical particles has not been well established. We investigated the ordering of spherical block copolymer micelles in aqueous solutions that was induced by rapid temperature changes referred to as quenching. As a function of quench depth, the quenched self-assembled block copolymer micelles formed three different close-packed structures: face-centered cubic (fcc), random stacking of hexagonal-close-packed layers (rhcp), and hexagonal-close-packed (hcp). The induced hcp and rhcp structures were stable for at least a few weeks when maintained at their quench temperatures, but heating or cooling these hcp and rhcp structures transformed both structures to fcc crystallites with coarsening of the crystal grains, which suggests that these noncubic close-packed structures are intermediate states. Time-resolved scattering experiments prove that the micellar rhcp structures do not originate from the rapid growth of competing close-packed structures. We speculate that the long-lived metastable hcp and rhcp structures originate from the small size of crystal grains, which introduces a nonnegligible Laplace pressure to the crystal domains. The reported transitions from the less stable hcp to the more stable rhcp and fcc are experimental observations of Ostwald's rule manifesting the transition order of the key close-packed structures in the crystallization of close-packed uniform spheres.
Incorporating Individual Behavior, Knowledge, and Roles in Simulating Evacuation

Emergency evacuation (egress) is an important issue in safety design of facilities and buildings. Studies of past emergency events have highlighted the need to consider occupants’ behaviors for better understanding of evacuation patterns. Occupants’ background and knowledge (such as the level of familiarity with the space and previous experience of emergencies) influence how individuals perceive the emergency situations that in turn can lead to different individual behaviors observed in evacuation. Furthermore, as reported by previous studies, people with special roles, such as staff members and emergency responders, often assume certain responsibilities and extend their roles to assist others and facilitate evacuation. Through simulations of stadium evacuation with 13,200 agents using SAFEgress, we show that the evacuation can be significantly more efficient when occupants possess the knowledge of the floor plan and evacuate from the nearest exit, leading to a shortening of evacuation time of 40%. Furthermore, strategically arranging stewards for crowd control can further enhance egress performance. The simulation study indicates the importance in considering the unique egress design of the venue (such as exit locations and signage), participating occupants’ knowledge of the space, and effective crowd control to achieve optimal egress outcome. By using SAFEgress to model different plausible evacuation behaviors, engineers, designers, and facility managers can evaluate and improve the design of safe egress systems and emergency preparedness planning.
Programming in autoepistemic logic

We propose a language for programming in autoepistemic logic that extends the standard logic programming and incorporates incomplete information. By syntactically distinguishing the "true negation" from the "lack of information," we also provide a way to define negative information explicitly. A fixpoint semantics can be defined for stratified and conservative programs. In this paper, we investigate definite autoepistemic programs. We investigate fixpoints of definite autoepistemic programs and show that they coincide with the declarative semantics of these programs. We also define a resolution procedure, called SLSAE-resolution, for such programs. SLSAE-resolution is sound and complete for stratified, conservative, and solvable programs.
Assessment of Ventricular Muscle Function in Man: The End-Systolic Index

Accurate assessment of ventricular muscle contractile function is clinically important, but difficult to achieve. Cardiac muscle function before valve replacement [1-7] and before coronary surgery [1, 2, 8-10] is a major determinant of outcome. Selection of appropriate medical therapy for other forms of cardiac disease depends upon knowledge of ventricular muscle contractile function. Full assessment of new cardiac drugs also requires determination of the drugs’ effects on cardiac muscle. Unfortunately, accurate assessment of ventricular muscle contractile function in heart disease is impaired by the alterations in afterload, preload, and wall thickness which often accompany disease. Thus, standard ejection phase indices of contractile function which have been used extensively can be misleading. For example, a disease which increases afterload may artificially lower ventricular ejection fraction, while a disease which either lowers afterload or increases preload may artificially elevate the ejection fraction and thus obscure a true reduction of contractile function. The relationship between pressure and volume at end-systole is thought to provide a contractile index which is independent of preload and which accounts for afterload. We have recently used the relationship of end-systolic stress to end-systole volume index to assess ventricular muscle contractile function in several disease states where preload, afterload, wall thickness, and pump function may be abnormal. This technique of assessing ventricular contractile performance appears clinically useful and it is now possible to acquire the needed measurements of end-systolic pressure, thickness, and volume using several available techniques.
Accurate sound localization behavior in a gleaning bat, Antrozous pallidus.

Acute auditory processing in bats is typically associated with echolocation. A subset of bats, called gleaners, listens to prey-generated noise to hunt surface-dwelling prey. Gleaners depend less on echolocation to hunt and, therefore, accurate localization of prey-generated noise is necessary for foraging success. Here we studied azimuth sound localization behavior in the pallid bat, a gleaning bat in which spatial encoding has been studied extensively. We tested pallid bats on a relatively difficult open loop task (single sound, duration ≤ 200 ms). The bats were trained to face the midline when stimulus was presented, and this was confirmed with video analysis. Bats localized broadband noise (5–30 kHz) from 1 out of 11 speakers spaced evenly across the horizontal plane of the frontal sound field. Approach to the correct speaker was rewarded. Pallid bats show accurate localization near the midline with mean errors between 3–6°. Remarkably, the accuracy does not decline significantly at peripheral locations with bats averaging <~7° error upto 72° off midline. Manipulation of stimulus bandwidth shows that higher frequencies (20–30 kHz) are necessary for accurate localization. Comparative studies of gleaning bats will reveal convergent adaptations across auditory systems for non-echolocation-based behaviors in bats.
What do Christian Clergy Say?: Advice from Christian Pastors to Family Therapists about Working with LGB Clients

This qualitative study informed by queer theory explored Christian pastors’ advice for family therapists seeking to work more competently and affirmatively with LGB individuals and their families. Twenty-one pastors leading Christian congregations (e.g., Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal, United Church of Christ, and Presbyterian), who identified as LGB affirmative to varying extents, were interviewed. Thematic analysis identified the following categories: (1) therapists holding a positive stance toward LGB clients, (2) therapists developing ethical boundaries around their religious beliefs, (3) therapists being open to spirituality as a resource for LGB clients, and (4) therapists gaining the necessary knowledge to work affirmatively with LGB Clients. Implications based on the findings of this study include a need for family therapists to engage in self-of-the-therapist work to address religious biases and heteronormative assumptions in order to provide competent therapy to religious LGB clients, as well as important insight for how therapists can collaborate with pastors to better serve their LGB clients.
Inflation Adjustments Affecting Individual Taxpayers in 2006: Analysis and Commentary

Without inflation adjustments to key portions of the tax system, individuals would be faced with an erosion of their purchasing power. Beginning in 1985, Congress implemented an indexation procedure to adjust various income tax components, including the tax rate schedules, standard deduction, and personal and dependency exemptions. Although suspended by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, indexation resumed in 1989 and now applies to many items in the tax system. In this article, Young discusses 2006 inflation adjustments to specific portions of the individual tax system that are tied to a consumer price index year ending in August. Items adjusted by that indexation procedure include the tax rate schedules, standard deductions, exemptions (and related phaseout), the overall limit on itemized deductions, the annual gift tax exclusion, and some computational elements related to the unearned income of minor children, child credit, earned income tax credit, adoption expenses, educational savings bonds, education credits, education loan interest, qualified transportation fringe benefits, medical savings arrangements (Archer MSAs), health savings accounts, long-term care insurance premiums, and the section 179 expense election.
Simple start for complex products.

Natural products often provide lead scaffolds for the development of therapeutics, but complexity of their synthesis can limit the discovery of improved analogues. Pharmacophore-directed retrosynthesis aims to accelerate the building of a structure–activity relationship profile of a natural product, aiming to identifying a simplified lead.
Role of provider encouragement on patient engagement via online portals

OBJECTIVE The study sought to examine whether provider encouragement is associated with improvements in engaging patients with their healthcare processes using online portals. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using the Health Information National Trends Survey 2017 (N = 2, 670), we conducted an exploratory factor analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation and derived 3 outcome variables on patient engagement: (1) information access score, (2) care convenience score, and (3) patient engagement score. Multivariable linear regression on each outcome variable was conducted with provider encouragement as the main predictor, controlling for patient demographics. RESULTS Women (60%), white participants (69%), and those with a college degree (49%) were more likely to report receiving provider encouragement. Those who were encouraged to use patient portals scored higher on all 3 outcome measures compared with those who were not encouraged (B = 0 .80 vs B = 0.11 for information access, B = 1.13 vs B = 0.13 for care convenience, and B = 0.44 vs B = 0.05 for patient engagement; all P < .001). For every additional 100 patients receiving encouragement, 65 more information access tasks, 94 more care convenience tasks, and 40 more patient engagement tasks would be performed. DISCUSSION Provider encouragement was most influential concerning care convenience tasks and least influential on complex decision-making tasks. This may be due to portal design and the content available to patients, which merit consideration in future studies. CONCLUSIONS Provider encouragement is associated with more patient engagement, as indicated by significantly higher utilization of patient portals for accessing information, participating in routine care processes, and making complex healthcare decisions.
Nuclear chemical engineering

Chemical engineers comprise a significant segment within the U. S. nuclear industry, yet few study nuclear subjects before they begin their careers. Nuclear chemical engineering is defined, then, as an arena for action rather than a field of knowledge. Of the classical problem areas in nuclear chemical engineering, fuel fabrication and isotope separation have made the best recent progress. Radiation chemical engineering, once an activity of ebullient promise, is nearly moribund. Only rarely do chemical engineers approach the central locus of reactor design; when they do the results are often ambivalent or worse. Surprisingly, perhaps, chemical engineering has made several important contributions to elementary particle physics. Fusion technology presents many challenges for creative chemical engineering, e.g., in fuel recovery, gaseous permeation, and the materials effects that result from ionic bombardment. (auth)
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Is Associated With Arterial Distensibility and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: (from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered a potential independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis cohort enrolled 6,814 adults without previous CVD. We excluded 2,692 participants who had missing variables, were heavy drinkers, or history of steroid use and/or chronic liver disease. NAFLD was defined using noncontrast cardiac CT and a liver/spleen Hounsfield Unit attenuation ratio 0 were used as markers of subclinical CVD. A multivariate robust linear regression and logistic regression analysis were done to evaluate the association of NAFLD and this subclinical CVD markers. Our analysis of 4,123 participants showed 55% were female with a mean age of 63 (±10) years, 39% white, 10% Chinese, 28% black, and 23% were Hispanic. The prevalence of NAFLD was 17% (n = 729). Patients with NAFLD had higher distensibility coefficient and higher CIMT. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed the presence of NAFLD was associated with both the common carotid and internal carotid IMT and logCAC. Logistic analysis showed an independent association with CAC > 0 (odds ratio [OR] 1.44 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18, 1.75) and CIMT > 1 mm (OR 1.30 95% 1.08, 1.56). When stratified by race the association with CIMT > 1 mm was significant in whites (OR 1.37 95% 1.00, 1.90) and Hispanic (OR 1.53 95% 1.08, 2. 17) and CAC > 0 was significant in Hispanics (OR 1.52 95% 1.06, 2.19). In conclusion, NAFLD is modestly associated with carotid IMT and coronary artery calcification in a multiethnic population.
Establishing Safe Extra-articular Parameters for Cortical Button Distal Fixation During Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction.

Background:A variety of methods exist for fixation during ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction on the ulna for the overhead throwing athlete. Current biomechanical evidence suggests that ...
Bacterial Amyloids: The Link between Bacterial Infections and Autoimmunity

Molecular mimicry is a common mechanism used by many bacteria to evade immune responses. In recent years, it has become evident that bacteria also decorate the extracellular matrix (ECM) of their biofilms with molecules that resemble those of the host. These molecules include amyloids and other proteins, polysaccharides, and extracellular DNA. Bacterial amyloids, like curli, and extracellular DNA are found in the biofilms of many species. Recent work demonstrated that curli and DNA form unique molecular structures that are recognized by the immune system, causing activation of autoimmune pathways. Although a variety of mechanisms have been suggested as the means by which infections initiate and/or exacerbate autoimmune diseases, the mechanism remains unknown. In this article, we discuss recent work on biofilms that highlight the role of amyloids as a carrier for DNA and potentiator of autoimmune responses, and we propose a novel link between bacterial infections and autoimmune diseases.
Simultaneous profiling of gene expression and chromatin accessibility in single cells

Profiling multiple omic layers in a single cell enables the discovery and analysis of biological phenomena that are not apparent from analysis of mono-omic data. While methods for multi-omic profiling have been reported, their adoption has been limited due to high cost and complex workflows. Here, we present a simple method for joint profiling of gene expression and chromatin accessibility in tens to hundreds of single cells. We assess the quality of resulting single cell ATAC- and RNA-seq data across three cell types, examine the link between accessibility and expression at the CD3G and FTH1 loci in human primary T cells and monocytes, and compare the accuracy of clustering solutions for mono-omic and combined data. The new method allows biological laboratories to perform simultaneous profiling of gene expression and chromatin accessibility using standard reagents and instrumentation. This technique, in conjunction with other advances in multi-omic profiling, will enable highly-resolved cell state classification and more specific mechanistic hypothesis generation than is possible with mono-omic analysis.
Improving Federated Learning Personalization via Model Agnostic Meta Learning.

Federated Learning (FL) refers to learning a high quality global model based on decentralized data storage, without ever copying the raw data. A natural scenario arises with data created on mobile phones by the activity of their users. Given the typical data heterogeneity in such situations, it is natural to ask how can the global model be personalized for every such device, individually. In this work, we point out that the setting of Model Agnostic Meta Learning (MAML), where one optimizes for a fast, gradient-based, few-shot adaptation to a heterogeneous distribution of tasks, has a number of similarities with the objective of personalization for FL. We present FL as a natural source of practical applications for MAML algorithms, and make the following observations. 1) The popular FL algorithm, Federated Averaging, can be interpreted as a meta learning algorithm. 2) Careful fine-tuning can yield a global model with higher accuracy, which is at the same time easier to personalize. However, solely optimizing for the global model accuracy yields a weaker personalization result. 3) A model trained using a standard datacenter optimization method is much harder to personalize, compared to one trained using Federated Averaging, supporting the first claim. These results raise new questions for FL, MAML, and broader ML research.
Intervention-specific patterns of cortical function plasticity during auditory encoding in people with schizophrenia

Abstract Schizophrenia is a neurocognitive illness characterized by behavioral and neural impairments in both early auditory processing and higher order verbal working memory. Previously we have shown intervention-specific cognitive performance improvements with computerized, targeted training of auditory processing (AT) when compared to a computer games (CG) control intervention that emphasized visual processing. To investigate spatiotemporal changes in patterns of neural activity specific to the AT intervention, the current study used magnetoencephalography (MEG) imaging to derive induced high gamma band oscillations (HGO) during auditory encoding, before and after 50 h (∼10 weeks) of exposure to either the AT or CG intervention. During stimulus encoding, AT intervention-specific changes in high gamma activity occurred in left middle frontal and left middle-superior temporal cortices. In contrast, CG intervention-specific changes were observed in right medial frontal and supramarginal gyri during stimulus encoding, and in bilateral temporal cortices during response preparation. These data reveal that, in schizophrenia, intensive exposure to either training of auditory processing or exposure to visuospatial activities produces significant but complementary patterns of cortical function plasticity within a distributed fronto-temporal network. These results underscore the importance of delineating the specific neuroplastic effects of targeted behavioral interventions to ensure desired neurophysiological changes and avoid unintended consequences on neural system functioning.
DEATH ANXIETY AND FINANCIAL DECISION-MAKING IN AGING: A STUDY FROM THE HUMAN CONNECTOME PROJECT AGING (HCP-A)

While research addressing late-life death anxiety (the fear of death or the dying process) has focused on end-of-life care decision-making, few have studied the effect of late-life death anxiety on financial decision-making. This is particularly relevant to financial decision-making as older adults are more vulnerable to fraud and deception. The aim of this study was to determine how age and death anxiety affect financial decision-making in a sample of older adults of 60-93 years of age (N = 102), who participated in the HCP-A project at UCLA. To study this relationship, we used a delayed reward discounting task to model financial decision-making, where higher rates of discounting indicate a greater preference for immediate, smaller monetary rewards and lower rates of discounting indicate more future-oriented planning. To account for age-related cognitive decline, cognitive functioning was assessed using the NIH Toolbox. We hypothesized that the presence of death anxiety will increase discounting of future rewards in older adults. Results from a univariate ANOVA showed an interaction between age, death anxiety, and delayed reward discounting. Specifically, older adults with self-reported death anxiety showed greater preference for immediate, smaller monetary rewards. By controlling for cognition, these findings suggest that death anxiety moderates decision-making in late-life adults and may add to our understanding of why older adults are more susceptible to financial abuse. These results suggest a need to consider death anxiety as a moderating variable when developing and implementing policies and services that are geared towards older adults.
Flexible water molecule in C60: Intramolecular vibrational frequencies and translation-rotation eigenstates from fully coupled nine-dimensional quantum calculations with small basis sets

We present a method for efficient calculation of intramolecular vibrational excitations of H2O inside C60, together with the low-energy intermolecular translation-rotation states within each intramolecular vibrational manifold. Apart from assuming rigid C60, this nine-dimensional (9D) quantum treatment is fully coupled. Following the recently introduced approach [P. M. Felker and Z. Bacic, J. Chem. Phys. 151, 024305 (2019)], the full 9D vibrational Hamiltonian of H2O@C60 is partitioned into two reduced-dimension Hamiltonians, a 6D one for the intermolecular vibrations and another in 3D for the intramolecular degrees of freedom, and a 9D remainder term. The two reduced-dimension Hamiltonians are diagonalized, and their eigenvectors are used to build up a product contracted basis in which the full vibrational Hamiltonian is diagonalized. The efficiency of this methodology derives from the insight of our earlier study referenced above that converged high-energy intramolecular vibrational excitations of weakly bound molecular complexes can be obtained from fully coupled quantum calculations where the full-dimensional product contracted basis includes only a small number of intermolecular vibrational eigenstates spanning the range of energies much below those of the intramolecular vibrational states of interest. In this study, the eigenstates included in the 6D intermolecular contacted basis extend to only 410 cm−1 above the ground state, which is much less than the H2O stretch and bend fundamentals, at ≈3700 and ≈1600 cm−1, respectively. The 9D calculations predict that the fundamentals of all three intramolecular modes, as well as the bend overtone, of the caged H2O are blueshifted relative to those of the gas-phase H2O, the two stretch modes much more so than the bend. Excitation of the bend mode affects the energies of the low-lying H2O rotational states significantly more than exciting either of the stretching modes. The center-of-mass translational fundamental is virtually unaffected by the excitation of any of the intramolecular vibrational modes. Further progress hinges on the experimental measurement of the vibrational frequency shifts in H2O@C60 and ab initio calculation of a high-quality 9D potential energy surface for this endohedral complex, neither of which is presently available.
Identification of chia seed (Salvia hispanica L.) peptides with enzyme inhibition activity towards skin-aging enzymes.

Chia (Salvia hispanica) seed peptides have drawn attention because of their antioxidant, antihypertensive and anti-inflammatory activities, making them ideal candidates for development of cosmeceutical skin products. However, there are no preceding reports that address their aging-related enzyme inhibitory activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro and in silico inhibitory activity of chia seed peptides towards the main aging-related enzymes. Enzyme-inhibition activity of < 3 kDa chia seed peptides towards collagenase, hyaluronidase, tyrosinase, and elastase was evaluated. Further fractions were obtained by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and re-tested for enzyme inhibitory activity. Peptide sequences were identified from the most effective fraction and used for in silico analysis. The < 3 kDa peptides exhibited inhibitory activities towards elastase (65.32%, IC50 = 0.43 mg/mL), tyrosinase (58.74%, IC50 = 0.66 mg/mL), hyaluronidase (26.96%, IC50 = 1.28 mg/mL), and collagenase (28.90%, IC50 = 1.41 mg/mL). They showed mixed-type inhibition patterns towards elastase and hyaluronidase, while a non-competitive inhibition pattern was observed towards collagenase and tyrosinase. Fraction II obtained by SEC, showed higher enzyme inhibitory activity. Seven peptides were identified in this fraction (APHWYTN, DQNPRSF, GDAHWAY, GDAHWTY, GDAHWVY, GFEWITF, and KKLKRVYV), which according to in silico analysis, possess 19–29 enzyme–peptide pair interactions towards elastase and three peptide sequences shared homology sequence (GDAHW). These results demonstrate that peptides from chia seeds may contribute in the improvement of skin health by offering protection against aging-related enzymes by preventing degradation of the protein matrix on the skin; however, further in vivo studies are needed to evaluate its actual capability.
Abstract 14622: Longitudinal Changes in Left Ventricular Diastolic Function in Late Life: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Introduction: Diastolic dysfunction is a potent risk factor for heart failure (HF). However, there is limited data regarding longitudinal changes of diastolic function in the very old, who are at t...
Picky Palmchats ( Dulus dominicus ): do they really prefer to nest in royal palms?

Abstract Palmchats (Dulus dominicus) are widespread, medium-sized passerines endemic to Hispaniola. Palmchats build large, intricate stick nests mostly in palm trees, sometimes in deciduous trees, and rarely on the ground. The purpose of this study was to determine which palm tree species Palmchats nest in, and what factors influence tree choice for nest building. At sites with four different palm species, we found that Palmchats preferred royal palms (Roystonea borinquena) and Hispaniolan silver thatch palms (Coccothrinax argentea) for nesting over cana (Sabal domingensis) and coconut palms (Cocos nucifera). Palm trees with nests are taller and have a larger circumference at breast height than neighboring trees without nests, regardless of tree species. Keywords Dominican Republic, Dulus dominicus, Hispaniola, nest site selection, Punta Cana, tree species Resumen Dulus dominicus: ?realmente prefiere anidar en palmas reales? • Dulus dominicus es una especie de paseriforme de tamano mediano, amplia distribucion y endemica de La Espanola. Sus representantes construyen grandes e intrincados nidos con ramas, principalmente en palmas, a veces en arboles deciduos y rara vez en el suelo. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar en que especies de palmas anidan estas aves y que factores influyen en la seleccion del arbol para la construccion de nidos. En sitios con cuatro especies de palmas diferentes, encontramos que D. dominicus prefirio Roystonea borinquena y Coccothrinax argentea para nidificar, mas que Sabal domingensis y Cocos nucifera. Las palmas con nidos son mas altas y tienen una circunferencia mayor a la altura del pecho que los arboles vecinos sin nidos, independientemente de la especie de arbol. Palabras clave Dulus dominicus, especies arboreas, La Espanola, Punta Cana, Republica Dominicana, seleccion del sitio de nidificacion Resume L’Esclave palmiste (Dulus dominicus) prefere-t-il vraiment nicher dans les palmiers royaux ? • L’Esclave palmiste (Dulus dominicus) est un passereau de taille moyenne, tres repandu et endemique d’Hispaniola. Il construit de grands nids complexes formes d’amas de brindilles, le plus souvent dans les palmiers, parfois dans les arbres a feuilles caduques, et rarement sur le sol. L’objet de cette etude etait de determiner les especes de palmiers dans lesquelles nichent les Esclaves palmistes, et les facteurs qui influent sur le choix des arbres pour la construction des nids. Sur des sites comportant quatre especes de palmiers differentes, nous avons constate que les Esclaves palmistes preferaient nicher dans Roystonea borinquena et Coccothrinax argentea plutot que dans Sabal domingensis ou Cocos nucifera. Les palmiers avec nids etaient plus grands et avaient une circonference plus importante a hauteur de poitrine que les arbres voisins sans nids, quelle que soit l’espece d’arbre. Mots cles Dulus dominicus, especes d’arbres, Hispaniola, Punta Cana, Republique dominicaine, selection du site de nidification
NIH BRAIN Circuits Programs: An Experiment in Supporting Team Neuroscience

The NIH BRAIN Initiative is aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. Here, we present a discussion of support for team research in investigative neuroscience at different stages and on various scales.
AUDIT OF MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA IN CHILDREN IN A DISTRICT GENERAL HOSPITAL

Objective Community acquired pneumonia CAP is a common cause for hospitalisation in children. The British Thoracic Society BTS has published guidelines for management of CAP in children. This audit was aimed at determining whether clinical diagnostic criteria, initial investigations, general management and antibiotic treatment of children presenting with CAP are in line with the British Thoracic Society BTS guidelines. Methods Retrospective data were collected from the inpatient medical records of 20 children with a clinical diagnosis of CAP admitted to this District General Hospital over a sixmonth period. Results Practices conforming to the BTS guidelines 1. The presenting clinical features were consistent with clinical diagnosis of CAP in all patients. 2. Hospitalisation criteria were based on hypoxia, poor intake andor dehydration, and severity of respiratory distress. 3. Amoxicillin was the most commonly used oral antibiotic. Macrolide antibiotics were used in all children aged above 5 years. Practices not conforming to the BTS guidelines 1. Blood tests for acute phase reactants were performed in the majority of patients. Chest Xray was performed in all patients. 2. Nasopharyngeal aspirate for viral antigen detection was not consistently requested for children below the age of 18months. 3. Most antibiotics were initially administered via the intravenous route. Conclusions 1. Oral antibiotics are safe and effective. Intravenous route should only be used when oral intake or absorption is a problem, or when the clinical course is complicated. 2. Most children with CAP can be managed in the community with appropriate advice and support to parents.
Information Seeking and MSM's Beliefs about PrEP and Condoms.

This study examined how frequently men who have sex with men (MSM) used a selection of sources, including news media, social media, health organizations, and dating/hookup apps, for HIV information...
The Substantive Basis of Ideological Identification and its Behavioral Consequences in the United States

Scholars of political representation debate whether ideology is issue based–i.e., founded on substantive attitudes — or a social identity — i.e., derived from a sense of group-belonging. I argue that there is no contradiction between identity and issue-based ideology and that the degree of disconnect between attitudes and ideological self-placement has been exaggerated. I examine 10 panel surveys, spanning 45 years and 295,405 interviews, to show that ideological identification is about as stable over time as that greatest of political identities: partisanship. Additionally, data from the American National Election Studies indicate that ideological self-placement today is as affectively loaded as party identification. I also show that the labels liberal,'' "moderate,'' and "conservative'' are strongly predictive of attitudes, once we control for measurement error. Therefore, ideology has both an identity-based and an attitudinal dimension to it. Scholars also debate whether or not ideology matters in American politics. Some argue that it is predictive of behavior, while others claim its role is negligible. I employ a variety of estimators to isolate the independent relationship between ideological identification and presidential, Congressional and gubernatorial vote choice. I find significant and substantively large effects of ideology on presidential and Congressional elections. These results suggest a more optimistic view of democracy than has been the norm among most students of American politics — one in which voters are comfortable with ideological language and vote accordingly.
Moving toward student-faculty partnership in systems-level assessment: A qualitative analysis

Partnership models have been effective across many areas of higher education such as involving students as teaching and learning consultants, in course design and redesign, and as co-instructors. However, there are few systems-level (i.e., entire programs or institutions) examples of partnership work and virtually none in systems-level assessment. Systems-level assessment models, such as program-level assessment in the United States, are used to inform broad changes to academic programs. Thus, student input may be crucial. This study sought to explore the broad factors that underlie potential student-faculty partnership efforts in systems-level assessment. Participants were faculty and staff members based in the United States and the United Kingdom who engaged in student-faculty partnerships at the program and/or classroom level. Qualitative coding and analyses of interviews with participants resulted in seven primary themes. This study examines patterns evident in student-faculty partnership work across several areas of higher education and begins to lay the foundation for a theory of student-faculty partnership in systems-level assessment.
Painlevé Representation of Tracy–Widom{_\beta} Distribution for {\beta} = 6

In Rumanov (J Math Phys 56:013508, 2015), we found explicit Lax pairs for the soft edge of beta ensembles with even integer values of $${\beta}$$ . Using this general result, the case $${\beta = 6}$$ is further considered here. This is the smallest even $${\beta}$$ , when the corresponding Lax pair and its relation to Painleve II (PII) have not been known before, unlike cases $${\beta = 2}$$ and 4. It turns out that again everything can be expressed in terms of the Hastings–McLeod solution of PII. In particular, a second order nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) for the logarithmic derivative of Tracy–Widom distribution for $${\beta = 6}$$ involving the PII function in the coefficients is found, which allows one to compute asymptotics for the distribution function. The ODE is a consequence of a linear system of three ODEs for which the local singularity analysis yields series solutions with exponents in the set 4/3, 1/3 and −2/3.
Simulated Diagnostic Performance of Ultra-Low-Field MRI: Harnessing Open-Access Datasets to Evaluate Novel Devices

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a method for virtually evaluating novel imaging devices using machine learning and open-access datasets, here applied to a new, ultra-low-field strength (ULF), 64mT, portable MRI device. Paired 3T and 64mT brain images were used to develop and validate a transformation converting standard clinical images to ULF-quality images. Separately, 3T images were aggregated from open-source databases spanning four neuropathologies: low-grade glioma (LGG, N=76), high-grade glioma (HGG, N=259), stroke (N=28), and multiple sclerosis (MS, N=20). The transformation method was then applied to the open-source data to generate simulated ULF images for each pathology. Convolutional neural networks (DenseNet-121) were trained to detect pathology in axial slices from either 3T or simulated 64 mT images, and their relative performance was compared to characterize the potential diagnostic capabilities of ULF imaging. Algorithm performance was measured using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Across all cohorts, pathology detection was similar between 3T and simulated 64mT images (LGG: 0.97 vs. 0.98; HGG: 0.96 vs. 0.95; stroke: 0.94 vs. 0.94; MS: 0.90 vs 0.87). Pathology detection was further characterized as a function of lesion size, intensity, and contrast. Simulated images showed decreasing sensitivity for lesions smaller than 4 cm2 ([~]2.25 cm in diameter). While simulations cannot replace prospective trials during the evaluation of medical devices, they can provide guidance and justification for prospective studies. Simulated data derived from open-source imaging databases may facilitate testing and validation of new imaging devices. HighlightsO_LIUltra-low-field, point-of-care MRI has potential to detect a range of pathologies including brain tumors, strokes, and multiple sclerosis. However, determining the diagnostic capabilities and appropriate use case for such devices requires further prospective studies. C_LIO_LIOpen-source image datasets provide a powerful tool for accelerating imaging research and enable simulated trials that can guide prospective clinical trials or device development. C_LI
Dispersion of Pollutants in Automobile Wakes

An experimental study was undertaken to study the distribution of gaseous pollutants emanating from a car exhaust in the wake of a car. A water flume simulation was used to study high-speed interstate conditions. Results of the study show that the concentration distribution behind the automobile can be broken down into three regions. These include a core, transition, and fully developed region. In both the core and fully developed regions, the experimental concentration at various spatial coordinates are shown to collapse to single curves by introducing an appropriate similarity variable. In all regions the concentration distribution approximates a Gaussian distribution. These results should prove valuable for all those interested in modeling the dispersion of pollutants resulting from automobile traffic on interstate highways.
A Review of “The Death of French Culture”

This book was first published in French as Que reste-t-il de la culture francaise? followed by Antoine Compagnon's response, Le Souci de la grandeur (Paris: Editions Denoel, 2008). In the Polity Pr...
Endocytosis and degradation of alpha 1-antitrypsin-protease complexes is mediated by the serpin-enzyme complex (SEC) receptor.

Alpha 1-Antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) is similar to other members of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) supergene family in that it undergoes structural rearrangement during the formation of a covalently stabilized inhibitory complex with its cognate enzyme, neutrophil elastase. We have recently demonstrated an abundant, high-affinity cell surface receptor on human hepatoma cells and human mononuclear phagocytes which recognizes a conformation-specific domain of the alpha 1-AT-elastase complex as well as of other serpin-enzyme complexes (Perlmutter, D. H., Glover, G. I., Rivetna, M., Schasteen, C. S., and Fallon, R. J. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 3753-3757). Binding to this serpin-enzyme complex (SEC) receptor activates a signal transduction pathway for increased expression of the alpha 1-AT gene and may be responsible for clearance of serpin-enzyme complexes. In this study, we show that there is time-dependent and saturable internalization of alpha 1-AT-elastase and alpha 1-AT-trypsin complexes in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. Internalization is mediated by the SEC receptor as defined by inhibition by synthetic peptides corresponding to residues 359-374 of alpha 1-AT. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of intracellular radioactivity demonstrated that intact 75- and 66-kDa alpha 1-AT-trypsin complexes were internalized. Kinetic analysis of internalization at 37 degrees C showed that a single cohort of 125I-alpha 1-AT-trypsin complexes, prebound to cells at 4 degrees C, disappeared from the cell surface and accumulated intracellularly within 5-15 min at 37 degrees C. The intracellular concentration of radiolabeled complexes then decreased rapidly coincident with appearance of acid-soluble degradation products in the extracellular culture fluid. Intracellular degradation was inhibited by internalization at 18 degrees C or by internalization at 37 degrees C in the presence of weak bases ammonium chloride, primaquine, and chloroquine, indicating that degradation is lysosomal. These results indicate that in addition to its role in signal transduction the SEC receptor participates in internalization and delivery of alpha 1-AT-protease complexes to lysosome for degradation.