cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is chemical zonation in plutonic rocks driven by changes in source magma composition or shallow-crustal differentiation?

Lithologic and magnetic-susceptibility mapping of the western Half Dome Granodiorite of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite of California reveals seven km-scale lithologic cycles, each of which is bounded by a sharp west-dipping contact that is subparallel to the external contact of the pluton. Crosscutting relations indicate that the cycles become younger to the east. Each cycle is inferred to have been a zone of partial melt in which an eastern melt-depleted base grades westward to a melt-rich top now preserved as a leucocratic facies of the Half Dome Granodiorite. Sharp contacts between cycles may record freezing episodes when the rate of heat input into the growing pluton dropped below that required to maintain interstitial melt. Thus, the interstitial melt zone migrated with time and its size at any given time need not have differed greatly from the ∼1 km thickness of the cycles. Cycles occur on the outer, older margins of the suite, and disappear toward the interior, younger intrusions. Inward disappearance of cycles likely reflects thermal maturation of the system such that melt was continuously present until the final migration of the solidus through the intrusive suite. Although the cycles span the compositional range from granodiorite to leucogranite, trace-element trends preserved in the cycles differ dramatically from those of both the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite and other Cretaceous zoned plutons of the eastern Sierra Nevada batholith. We suggest that (1) the compositional variations of the intrusive suite and the batholith reflect a signal from the source of the magmas, and (2) the geochemistry within the km-scale cycles reflects in situ crystal/liquid separation.
Analysis of the Reduced Metapopulation Moran Model

In the last chapter, the projection matrix method was used to simplify the migration model to a one-dimensional SDE with the form of Eq. ( 4.27).
Neural processor design enabled by memristor technology

Matrix-vector multiplication is a key computing operation in neural processor design and hence greatly affects the execution efficiency. Memristor crossbar is highly attractive for the implementation of matrix-vector multiplication for its analog storage states, high integration density, and built-in parallel execution. The current deign schemes can be generally divided into two different approaches - “spiking-based” design and “levelbased” design. The performance and robustness of the proposed neural process designs are also evaluated by using the application of digital image recognition. In this work, a heuristic flow including device modeling, circuit design, architecture, and algorithm is studied. The proposed neural processor designs that leverages nano-scale memristor technology are summarize and compared. This work indicates that the spiking neuromorphic engine has a good tolerance in resistive device imperfection, but more vulnerable to the fluctuations in output spike generation. The improved level-based computing engine has a higher computation accuracy with better stability.
Constraints on Nonmetricity from Bounds on Lorentz Violation

Spacetime nonmetricity can be studied experimentally through its couplings to fermions and photons. We use recent high-precision searches for Lorentz violation to deduce first constraints involving the 40 independent nonmetricity components down to levels of order ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}43}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$.
ERRATUM: “UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF STELLAR MULTIPLICITY ON THE DERIVED PLANET RADII FROM TRANSIT SURVEYS: IMPLICATIONS FOR KEPLER, K2, AND TESS” (2015, ApJ, 805, 16)

There was an error in the published version of Equation (6); the equation should read as The calculations and results presented in the paper utilized the correct form of the equation and are unaffected by the error in the equation. The authors sincerely regret the error.
Impact of academic collaboration and quality of clinical orthopaedic research conducted in low- and middle-income countries

Background : Little is known about the quality of orthopaedic investigations conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Academic collaboration is one model to build research capacity and improve research quality. Our study aimed to determine (1) the quality of clinical orthopaedic research conducted in LMICs, (2) the World Bank Regions and LMICs that publish the highest quality studies, (3) the pattern of collaboration among investigators and (4) whether academic collaboration between LMIC and non-LMIC investigators is associated with studies that have higher levels of evidence. Methods : Orthopaedic studies from 2004 to 2014 conducted in LMICs were extracted from multiple electronic databases. The World Bank Region, level of evidence and author country-affiliation were recorded. Collaboration was defined as a study that included an LMIC with non-LMIC investigator. Results : There were 958 studies that met inclusion criteria of 22,714 searched. Ninety-seven (10.1%) of included studies achieved Level 1 or 2 evidence, but case series (52.3%) were the most common. Collaboration occurred in 14.4% of studies and the vast majority of these (88.4%) were among academic institutions. Collaborative studies were more likely to be Level 1 or 2 (20.3% vs. 8.4%, p = 0.04) and controlled (29.7% vs. 14.4%, p : Although orthopaedic studies in LMICs rarely reach Level 1 or 2 evidence, studies published through academic collaboration between LMIC and non-LMIC investigators are associated with higher levels of evidence and more prospective, controlled designs.
Understanding, Supporting and Safeguarding Self-Determination as We Age

The proportion of the population who is aging or elderly is rapidly growing. The health of older adults has improved over the past 30 years with declines in mortality and late onset disability and with disease in old age less likely to result in death or loss of physical or mental functions. However, improved ability to treat diseases and chronic conditions also means increased prevalence of chronic conditions challenging the very independence that medical improvement was designed to increase. Understandings of quality of life concerns and markers of success or decrements in aging or successful aging are increasingly expressed in terms of independence and self-determination. This chapter considers theoretical perspectives on independence and self-determination as people age by examining the positive support of aging in place and the challenges experienced when dementia, self-neglect or abuse, and the approaching of end of life become part of older age. A particular consideration will be both the compromises and the opportunities presented by being the recipient of caregiving.
Taming the Matthew Effect in Online Markets with Social Influence

Social influence has been shown to create a Matthew effect in online markets, increasing inequalities and leading to “winner-take-all” phenomena. Matthew effects have been observed for numerous market policies, including when the products are presented to consumers by popularity or quality. This paper studies how to reduce Matthew effects, while keeping markets efficient and predictable when social influence is used. It presents a market strategy based on randomization and segmentation, that ensures that the best products, if they are close in quality, will have reasonably close market shares. The benefits of this market strategy is justified both theoretically and empirically and the loss in market efficiency is shown to be acceptable.
Subjective and objective sleep quality modulate emotion regulatory brain function in anxiety and depression

Background Disturbances in emotion regulation and sleep are shared across anxiety and mood disorders. Poor sleep has been shown to impair cognitive processes which may undermine cognitive regulatory function. However, it remains unknown if sleep quality impacts regulatory mechanisms in clinical anxiety and depression. Methods During fMRI, 78 patients with social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and/or major depressive disorder completed a validated emotion regulation task, which involved reappraisal (i.e., decrease negative affect) as compared to viewing aversive images. Sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and actigraphy, representing subjective and objective measures of sleep, respectively. Regression analysis was conducted with the PSQI and actigraphy sleep efficiency, duration, and wake-after sleep onset variables. Results PSQI and actigraphy measures indicated that the majority of patients experienced problematic sleep, however, subjective and objective sleep measures were uncorrelated. Whole-brain voxel-wise regression analysis, controlling for diagnosis, revealed worse self-reported sleep corresponded with less reappraise-related activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (DACC). The same analysis performed with actigraphy data showed less sleep efficiency positively corresponded with DACC activation. Post-hoc stepwise regression analysis showed these sleep measures predicted DACC activity whereas anxiety and depression symptoms did not. Conclusions Individual differences in self-perceived and objective sleep quality differentially modulated the DACC, which is implicated in cognitive reappraisal. Findings suggest neural correlates of emotion regulation tracks different aspects of the sleep experience. Results also indicate sleep disturbance may play a role in the emotion dysregulation observed in anxiety and depressive disorders.
RadWatch Near-Realtime Air Monitoring (Natural Radioactive Backgrounds and Outreach)

Radioactive backgrounds establish the limit of sensitivity in detection systems for the general search scenario, and set the reasonably unavoidable dose limits for members of the public. Measurement of NORM isotopes in the air provides a unique opportunity to serve the dual goals of capturing temporal/meteorological NORM variations as well as coordinate public outreach/education of NORM exposure. The RadWatch Near-Realtime Air Monitor (RAM) stores meteorological and high resolution spectroscopy data as a function of time from six stories above UC Berkeley Campus. This data is served hourly to the public via radwatch.berkeley.edu/airsampling to demonstrate, not only the existence of NORM, but also the large variations observed in radioisotope air concentration. Clarity and transparency in this education effort are paramount, and complement the urgency of a ‘realtime’ system. In the future RadWatch will expand to interactive, networked devices to broaden the scope and engage the public.
Bode lecture: Learning from nature: When models meet multitudes

Feedback is as ubiquitous in nature as it is in design. So control theory can help us understand both natural and designed systems. Even better, generalized I models abstracted from nature give us a mathematical means to connect control j theoretic explanations of nature with opportunities in control design. Control theory is enriched by the language, questions, and perspectives of fields as diverse as animal behavior, cognitive science, and dance. I will present a model for multi-agent dynamics that is informed by these fields. The model derives from principles of symmetry and bifurcation, which exploit instability to recover the remarkable capacity of natural groups to trade off flexibility and stability.
Ditching Deterrence: Preventing Crime by Reforming Corporations Rather than Fining Them

This short paper proposes abandoning the corporate criminal fine and exclusively punishing criminal corporations by reforming them. Fining corporations is not an effective way to prevent corporate misconduct. Corporate fines cannot reliably deter at the entity level because corporations faced with fines can invest in concealing misconduct rather than avoiding it. Corporate fines also fail to deter individuals within corporations because the corporate structure distributes the impact of fines among all corporate stakeholders. This paper argues that replacing corporate fines with corporate reform would address both these problems. Coerced reform could directly target entity-level compliance vulnerabilities and would give individuals within corporations stronger incentives to obey the law.
A Four Star Photometer for Use on Small Telescopes

An automated photoelectric four-star photometer has been designed for use on the 46-cm reflector at Appalachian State University’s Dark Sky Observatory. The system will be composed of integrated detector-amplifiers, stepper-motor controlled x-y stages, and automatic counters.
Behavioral Health and Adult Milestones in Young Adults With Perinatal HIV Infection or Exposure

BACKGROUND: Young adults living with perinatally acquired HIV infection (PHIVYAs) are at risk for poor biomedical and behavioral health outcomes. Few studies offer a comprehensive overview of the functioning of this population in young adulthood and the role of HIV. METHODS: Data come from the Child and Adolescent Self-Awareness and Health Study, a longitudinal behavioral health cohort study of PHIVYAs and perinatally HIV–exposed but uninfected young adults (PHEUYAs) who are compared on psychiatric and neurocognitive functioning, sexual and substance use behaviors, health and reproductive outcomes, and young adult milestones. RESULTS: Overall, 27% of participants met criteria for a psychiatric disorder, including mood (11%), anxiety (22%), and substance use (28%), with no HIV status differences. PHIVYAs performed worse on 2 neurocognitive tests. There were no HIV status differences in condomless sex (41%) or pregnancies (41% women; 38% men). Both groups exhibited similar adult milestones: 67% graduated high school or an equivalent, 19% were in college, and 42% were employed. However, 38% were neither in school or working, 12% reported incarceration, and 16% were ever homeless. Among PHIVYAs, 36% were viremic (>200 copies per mL), and 15% were severely immunocompromised (CD4+ cell count CONCLUSIONS: Many PHIVYAs achieve adult milestones related to school, employment, sexual relationships, and starting families. However, they and PHEUYAs have high rates of psychiatric and substance use disorders and behavioral risks, which can jeopardize long-term health and adult functioning, particularly in the context of HIV. These findings underscore an urgent need to escalate interventions.
Analyzing the Social Construction of Media Claims: Enhancing Media Literacy in Social Problems Classes.

Recent research has called on scholars to develop pedagogical interventions to address issues of media literacy. This teaching note answers that call by describing a media literacy project designed...
Techniques for Reducing Toxicity After SBRT

The goal of any effective radiotherapeutic regimen is to deliver optimal tumoricidal doses with minimal subsequent toxicity. In order to accomplish this goal, careful patient selection, simulation, treatment planning, and radiation delivery are required. This is particularly important when delivering ultra-hypofractionated radiation therapy with SBRT. In this chapter, we review strategies that may be used to reduce toxicity of SBRT for prostate cancer.
How To Efficiently Increase Resolution in Neural OCR Models

Modern CRNN OCR models require a fixed line height for all images, and it is known that, up to a point, increasing this input resolution improves recognition performance. However, doing so by simply increasing the line height of input images without changing the CRNN architecture has a large cost in memory and computation (they both scale O(n2) w.r.t. the input line height).We introduce a few very small convolutional and max pooling layers to a CRNN model to rapidly downsample high resolution images to a more manageable resolution before passing off to the "base" CRNN model. Doing this greatly improves recognition performance with a very modest increase in computation and memory requirements. We show a 33% relative improvement in WER, from 8.8% to 5.9% when increasing the input resolution from 30px line height to 240px line height on Open-HART/MADCAT Arabic handwriting data.This is a new state of the art result on Arabic handwriting, and the large improvement from an already strong baseline shows the impact of this technique.
Data Curation and Application of Statewide Data on Involuntary Assessment and Treatment in Behavioral Health

Our university, based data center has curated statewide data on short-term, involuntary examinations for mental illness/co-occurring disorders for over two decades. We recently began receiving petitions and orders for longer-term civil commitment from Clerks of Court. We are currently developing a system to curate data on involuntary assessments/treatment for substance use disorders. The involuntary examination data have been used to produce 100+ ad hoc reports for a variety of stakeholders, a statutorily required annual report, as well as to inform the state legislature, advocates, agencies, and several statewide taskforces relating to criminal justice and mental health initiatives. Data from documents are currently received and entered in a) hard copy via the mail, b) securely scanned and transferred either via SFTP or with secure transfer to our University’s Box.com account, or c) direct provider entry into a secure web portal. Our University’s IT environment has evolved, with an escalation of organizational and policy changes related to the merging of two IT units. While this merging has led to innovation, it has also presented operational, organizational and logistical challenges. Discussed in this presentation will be a) these IT challenges, b) the pros and cons of form submission methods, c) how choice of submission method is informed by the capabilities of those submitting the documents in addition to, the resources and capabilities of our center within the context of current funding, as well as d) how this impacts choices made about data entry, data quality and use of the data for analyses.
Experimental investigation into effects of high reactive fuel on combustion and emission characteristics of the Diesel - Natural gas Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition engine

Abstract Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) engines hold promise for decreasing NOx and particulate emissions. RCCI engines use direct injection (DI) to introduce a high reactivity fuel into the cylinder while a lower reactivity fuel is port fuel injected (PFI). A large reactivity difference between high reactive (diesel) and low reactive (natural gas) fuels provides a strong control variable for phasing and shaping combustion heat release in RCCI engines. Two diesel fuels, a High Reactive Diesel (HRD) fuel with a cetane number (CN) of 85 and a U.S. Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel with a cetane number of 49 were selected for this study. The effects of these two diesel fuels with methane as the low reactivity premixed fuel were compared in RCCI combustion mode and in Conventional Diesel Combustion (CDC) mode. The hypothesis is that using a HRD fuel in RCCI applications, with a double injection strategy, increases the reactivity of the mixture in the squish region, promoting combustion and consequently reducing unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. These emissions are generally difficult to control in RCCI combustion at high Blend Ratio (BR). In addition, a larger reactivity difference between the two fuels in RCCI applications, extends the combustion duration and reduces the Maximum Pressure Rise Rate (MPRR) and in-cylinder peak pressure. The reduction in MPRR in RCCI combustion mode makes it possible to operate the engine at higher engine loads without exceeding the MPRR mechanical constraint. The experiments were performed on a 1.9L inline 4 cylinder turbocharged compression ignition (CI) engine modified for dual fuel operation at an engine speed of 1500 RPM and 8 bar IMEP. A full factorial Design of Experiment (DOE) test program and analysis was conducted with four input variables including the diesel fuel reactivity, BR, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) and Direct Injection (DI) strategy and at two levels of interest. This analysis was used to quantify the impact of the independent input variables on engine out emissions, performance, and MPRR mechanical constraint. Following the DOE testing and analysis the optimum injection strategy to maximize the Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) was found for both fuels by sweeping the main Start of Injection timing (SOImain). The results of the DOE analysis showed that the cetane number is the most significant factor that effects HC and CO emissions. The experimental results showed that HRD fuel provides a 2% improvement in brake-thermal efficiency, a 14 g/kW.hr reduction in HC emissions, and 0.5% lower Coefficient of Variation (COV) of Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) compared to the baseline diesel-NG RCCI combustion.
Stoma Construction: Single-Port Laparoscopic Approach

Laparoscopic stoma creation has become a favorable alternative to conventional open stoma construction, proving to be safe and effective. Laparoscopic techniques permit full visualization of the abdominal cavity, minimize surgical trauma, and afford the potential benefits of improved cosmesis, reduced pain, and shorter recovery time. The indications for laparoscopic stoma formation do not differ from those of open surgery. A variety of intestinal sites may be chosen for stoma formation, although the terminal ileum and sigmoid colon are most commonly used. While stomas are created traditionally with a formal laparotomy, more recently there have been many other means of creative and minimally invasive techniques that are now used to create a stoma. Laparoscopy has emerged as a frontrunner in stoma creation because of the minimally invasive technique and the rather quick patient recovery. Many surgeons now believe that this should be the primary means of stoma creation. In this chapter, we will review general principles of stoma creation and describe the single-port laparoscopic approach in detail.
Strengthening the association of lipomatosis of nerve and nerve-territory overgrowth: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE Lipomatosis of nerve (LN) is a massive enlargement of a nerve due to abundant proliferation of adipose and fibrotic tissue within the epineurium-part of the spectrum of adipose lesions of nerves, including intra- and extraneural lipomas. LN has been frequently associated with soft-tissue and/or osseous overgrowth. Unfortunately, much confusion exists since many names have been used for LN (e.g., fibrolipomatous hamartoma, macrodystrophia lipomatosa, and so on). To better understand this condition and to evaluate its association with nerve-territory overgrowth, the authors attempted to compile the world's literature on published LN cases. METHODS PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched to identify published articles on LN cases, using a variety of terms. Publications in all languages were assessed. All publications with cases determined likely to be LN were read. Cases that provided clear clinicopathological and/or radiological evidence of LN were labeled as "definite" and cases that demonstrated features of LN (e.g., nerve-territory overgrowth) but lacked definite proof of nerve involvement were labeled as "probable." RESULTS Initial screening revealed a total of 2465 papers. After exclusions, 281 publications reported cases with a definite diagnosis of LN and 120 articles reported cases with a probable diagnosis of LN. The authors identified 618 definite and 407 probable cases of LN. Sex distribution was balanced (51% female). Early diagnosis was common, with two-thirds of patients having symptoms in the 1st decade of life. The most commonly affected nerve was the median nerve (n = 391). Nerve-territory overgrowth was common (62% definite LN; 78% combined cases); overgrowth was exclusive to the territory of the affected nerve in all cases but 5. CONCLUSIONS The authors present a comprehensive review and analysis of the literature of LN cases. One of the main findings was the nerve-territory overgrowth was associated with LN, especially when present earlier in life. The authors believe that all cases of LN associated with overgrowth can be explained on anatomical grounds, even in the few reported cases in which this is not immediately obvious.
Making Sense of Sentences: Top-Down Processing of Speech by Adult Cochlear Implant Users.

Purpose Speech recognition relies upon a listener's successful pairing of the acoustic–phonetic details from the bottom-up input with top-down linguistic processing of the incoming speech stream. W...
The use of off-label medications in substance abuse treatment programs

Background: Substance use disorder (SUD) treatment centers serve a population of clients who have diverse needs, and may desire or require access to varied treatments while seeking care for their S...
Circulating tumor cells as a response monitor in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Monitoring circulating tumor cells (CTC) has been shown to be prognostic in most solid malignancies. There is no CTC assay in clinical use for lung cancer therapy monitoring due to inconclusive clinical utility data. Limited data has been published outside of the standard CTC enumerations, regarding clinical significance of phenotypic heterogeneity of CTCs in late stage NSCLC and its ability to correlate with treatment outcomes. In 81 patients with stage IV NSCLC, multiple timepoints for CTC analysis were collected after initiation of treatment across 139 lines of therapy using single cell high definition diagnostic pathology imaging of all nucleated cells from 362 peripheral blood samples as a liquid biopsy. We analyzed the subset of 25 patients with complete time series data, totaling 117 blood samples, to determine the significance of HD-CTC kinetics during the initiation of treatment. These kinetics follow three distinct patterns: an increase in HD-CTCs with therapy (mean + 118.40 HD-CTCs/mL), unchanged HD-CTCs numbers (stable; mean 0.54 HD-CTCs/mL), and a decrease in HD-CTCs numbers (mean − 81.40 HD-CTCs/mL). Patients with an increasing CTC count during the first 3 months post initiation of new treatment had a better PFS and OS compared to the other groups. There was weak correlation between the absolute number of HD-CTCs at a single time point of therapy and patient outcomes (OS p value = 0.0754). In the whole cohort of 81 patients, HD-CTCs were detected in 51 (63%) patients at initiation of therapy with a median of 2.20 (range 0–509.20) and a mean of 26.21 HD-CTCs/mL (± 15.64). CTCs are identifiable in most patients with stage IV NSCLC. While absolute HD-CTC counts do not correlate with prognosis, the changes in CTC counts were predictive of survival in patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving chemotherapy. The level and dynamics of CTCs indicate very different biological and pharmacological phenomena at different stages of disease and timepoints of treatment, highlighting the complex role of CTCs in cancer research and clinical management.
Influence of land use and region on glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in streams in the USA

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the United States for agricultural and non-agricultural weed control. Many studies demonstrate possible effects of glyphosate and its degradate AMPA on human and ecological health. Although glyphosate is thought to have limited mobility in soil, it is found year-round in many rivers and streams throughout the world in both agricultural and developed environments. It is vitally important to continue to increase the knowledge base of glyphosate use, distribution, transport, and impacts on human health and the environment. Here we show that glyphosate and AMPA are found in nearly all of 70 streams throughout the United States at concentrations far below human health or ecological benchmarks, with less occurrence in the Northeast and that undeveloped land, classified as such by land use near the sampling station, has lower concentrations compared to other types of land. Results also show that sites with large watersheds tend to have more AMPA than glyphosate and the opposite is true for small watersheds. Travel times and opportunity for glyphosate to degrade to AMPA and for reservoirs of AMPA to grow are greater in large watersheds. Factors that promoted quick movement of glyphosate to streams, such as subsurface tile or storm drains, sewers, overland flow from developed landscapes, and arid landscapes were associated with sites that had greater concentrations of glyphosate compared to AMPA. These results contribute contemporary information and generalized interpretations adding to the knowledge base of the fate of glyphosate on a national scale and provide a springboard for further exploration of technical processes controlling transport to streams.
Block Differential Pulse Code Modulation OPCM) Coding

A differential pulse code modulation (DPCM) coding technique called "block" DPCM is proposed. It attempts to achieve a bit rate below 2.0 bits/pixel without using adaptive methods. Two slightly different schemes called "maximum" block DPCM and "sequential" block DPCM are introduced. Linear interpolation is used to fill in untransmitted samples. Filtering is also applied in order to improve image quality. The performance of these two schemes are evaluated by simulation results.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP OVER THE LIFE CYCLE: WHERE ARE THE YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS?

Most individuals do not start a business and, if they do, they start well into their thirties. I study multiple mechanisms explaining these stylized facts. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, I estimate a dynamic Roy model with accumulation of experience, risk aversion, and imperfect information about ability. Risk aversion reduces entrepreneurship by up to 40% and providing full information about ability increases it by 35%. The gap in first entry ages between paid employment and entrepreneurship results mainly from entry costs and information frictions. I study counterfactual policies (subsidies and education) that target these barriers to young entrepreneurship, thereby closing the gap, and show that fostering young entrepreneurship can yield higher returns than fostering entrepreneurship later in individuals' careers because the gains from early information are larger.
Selected Oil-Water Separation Techniques—Lessons from Living Nature

Species exist in living nature which either attract or repel water in air, and some are oil repellant underwater. By using nature’s inspiration, porous bioinspired surfaces can be fabricated which provide a combination of water and oil repellency and affinity. These surfaces can be used for oil-water separation and water purification (Bhushan in Biomimetics: bioinspired hierarchical-structured surfaces for green science and technology. Springer International, Cham, 2018; Phil Trans R Soc, 377:20180274, 201901202019).
On holomorphic extendability and the strong maximum principle for CR functions

We explore some links between the holomorphic extendability of CR functions on a hypersurface and the validity of the strong maximum principle for continuous CR functions.
Feedback Effects in Heart-Arterial System Interaction

Dynamic arterio-ventricular interaction in terms of left ventricle elastance and nonlinear arterial system compliance, pulse wave reflections and coronary blood flow was investigated, combining the use of analog models of the circulation with data from animal experiments. Results show that dynamic factors, as well as “feedback” effects are important.
Stabilization of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Proteins by Packaging in Virus-like Particles.

Near-IR fluorescent Qβ virus-like particles (VLPs) were produced in a high yield by packaging highly red-shifted monomeric and dimeric versions of biliverdin-dependent fluorescent proteins within t...
Machine learning to predict transplant outcomes: helpful or hype? A national cohort study

An increasing number of studies claim machine learning (ML) predicts transplant outcomes more accurately. However, these claims were possibly confounded by other factors, namely, supplying new variables to ML models. To better understand the prospects of ML in transplantation, we compared ML to conventional regression in a "common" analytic task: predicting kidney transplant outcomes using national registry data. We studied 133 431 adult deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients between 2005 and 2017. Transplant centers were randomly divided into 70% training set (190 centers/97 787 recipients) and 30% validation set (82 centers/35 644 recipients). Using the training set, we performed regression and ML procedures [gradient boosting (GB) and random forests (RF)] to predict delayed graft function, one-year acute rejection, death-censored graft failure C, all-cause graft failure, and death. Their performances were compared on the validation set using -statistics. In predicting rejection, regression (C = 0.601 0.6110.621 ) actually outperformed GB (C = 0.581 0.5910.601 ) and RF (C = 0.569 0.5790.589 ). For all other outcomes, the C-statistics were nearly identical across methods (delayed graft function, 0.717-0.723; death-censored graft failure, 0.637-0.642; all-cause graft failure, 0.633-0.635; and death, 0.705-0.708). Given its shortcomings in model interpretability and hypothesis testing, ML is advantageous only when it clearly outperforms conventional regression; in the case of transplant outcomes prediction, ML seems more hype than helpful.
Responsible Translational Pathways for Germline Gene Editing

Continued development of gene editing techniques has raised the real possibility of clinical application of germline gene editing. These results, as well as reports of an unethical experiment which resulted in the birth of at least two children from edited embryos in 2018, have highlighted the urgency and importance of ethical issues about translational pathways for editing of human germline cells. Charting responsible translational pathways for germline gene editing requires tackling some significant and complex ethical issues. A literature on development of clinical applications of germline gene editing is emerging, and several key ethical issues are coming into focus as major challenges for responsible translational pathways. Potential clinical utility, clinical justification, and human subjects research for germline gene editing raise outstanding ethical questions. Work on these questions will help provide guidance to researchers and clinicians and direct translational projects toward justifiable applications.
Biology of Mushroom Phorid Flies, Megaselia halterata (Diptera: Phoridae): Effects of Temperature, Humidity, Crowding, and Compost Stage

The mushroom phorid fly, Megaselia halterata (Wood), is a common pest of mushroom production in many parts of the world. Due to the reduced availability of conventional insecticides for mushroom production, M. halterata has recently developed into a major pest in the top mushroom-producing county in the United States (Chester County, PA). Mushrooms are grown entirely indoors, and though larval development of M. halterata occurs in the mushroom-growing substrate, adult flies have been captured both inside and outside of the facilities. Here, we investigated three factors that might contribute to their growth and development. 1) The effects of ambient temperature (15-30°C) and relative humidity (RH; 21-98%) on adult M. halterata lifespan, 2) the effect of spawned compost stage (freshly inoculated with spawn vs 14-d spawned compost) on reproductive output, and 3) the effect of population density on reproductive output. The longevity of adult M. halterata increased under cooler temperatures and more humid conditions (>75% RH), which reflect the conditions inside mushroom-growing facilities. Similar numbers of flies emerged from freshly inoculated and 14-d spawned compost, but flies emerged earlier from 14-d spawned compost. The higher the parental fly density, the more offspring emerged from spawned compost, but the positive relationship reached a plateau beyond 40 parental mating pairs per 100 g of compost. Our findings highlight relevant abiotic and biotic factors that may contribute to M. halterata population dynamics.
Fluorination-Enhanced Surface Stability of Cation-Disordered Rocksalt Cathodes for Li-Ion Batteries

Author(s): Li, L; Lun, Z; Chen, D; Yue, Y; Tong, W; Chen, G; Ceder, G; Wang, C | Abstract: Cation-disordered rocksalt (DRX) materials have emerged as a class of novel high-capacity cathodes for Li-ion batteries. However, the commercialization of DRX cathodes will require reducing their capacity decay, which has been associated with oxygen loss during cycling. Recent studies show that fluorination of DRX cathodes can effectively reduce oxygen loss and improve cycling stability; however, the underlying atomic-scale mechanisms remain elusive. Herein, using a combination of electrochemical measurements, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and electron energy loss spectroscopy, the correlation between the electrochemical properties and structural evolution in Mn-redox-based DRX cathodes, Li1.2Ti0.4–xMn0.4+xO2.0-xFx (xn= 0 and 0.2) is examined. It is found that fluorination strongly suppresses structural amorphization and void formation initiated from the particle surface, therefore greatly enhancing the cyclability of the cathode. A novel rocksalt-to-spinel-like structural transformation in the DRX bulk is further revealed, which surprisingly contributes to a gradual capacity increase during cycling. The results provide important insight for the design of novel DRX cathodes with high capacity and long cycle life.
Isolation of Borrelia miyamotoi and other Borreliae using a modified BSK medium.

Borrelia spirochetes are the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis (LB) and relapsing fever (RF). Despite the steady rise in infections and the identification of new species causing human illness over the last decade, isolation of borreliae in culture has become increasingly rare. A modified Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK) media formulation, BSK-R, was developed for isolation of the emerging RF pathogen, Borrelia miyamotoi. BSK-R is a diluted BSK-II derivative supplemented with Lebovitz’s L-15, mouse and fetal calf serum. Decreasing the concentration of CMRL 1066 and other components was essential for growth of North American B. miyamotoi. Sixteen B. miyamotoi isolates, originating from Ixodes scapularis ticks, rodent and human blood collected in the eastern and upper midwestern United States, were isolated and propagated to densities > 108 spirochetes/mL. Growth of five other RF and ten different LB borreliae readily occurred in BSK-R. Additionally, primary culture recovery of 20 isolates of Borrelia hermsii, Borrelia turicatae, Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii was achieved in BSK-R using whole blood from infected patients. These data indicate this broadly encompassing borreliae media can aid in in vitro culture recovery of RF and LB spirochetes, including the direct isolation of new and emerging human pathogens.
Seeing from and being Seen

Civic astronomy is an idea whose time almost, but never quite, came. So it is appropriate that the spirit of civic astronomy is best captured in a painting showing an actual event almost, but not quite, as it occurred. The painting depicts the inauguration of Albany, New York’s, first astronomical observatory on August 28, 1856. The event was billed as the greatest assemblage of distinguished ladies and gentlemen ever to convene in that city. Alas, some of the invited dignitaries, including Senator William Seward and former president Millard Fillmore, failed to show up. No matter. The painter put them into the picture anyway.1
Chapter 5 Subcellular Targeting and Regulation of Glucose Transporters

Publisher Summary Glucose transporter isoforms are to a great extent homologous, but differ markedly in their subcellular targeting. The intracellular sequestration of glutamate (GLUT)4 appears to be independent of cell type, suggesting the involvement of a ubiquitous targeting mechanism. Glucose transport in many cell types is not a rate-limiting step for overall cellular glucose metabolism and is, therefore, not subject to acute regulation. For example, the major glucose transporter isoforms expressed in the endothelial cells, hepatocytes, and neurons (GLUT1, GLUT2, and GLUT3, respectively) are expressed constitutively at high levels in the plasma membrane. The flux of glucose across the membrane of these cell types varies primarily according to the circulating glucose concentration and is largely unaffected by changes in the levels of hormones and other circulatory factors. On the other hand, the so-called insulin-sensitive tissues, muscle and fat, respond within minutes to the elevated blood insulin levels, with a dramatic increase in cellular glucose uptake. The effect of insulin on glucose transport in fat and muscle is made possible by the intracellular sequestration of GLUT4 in the absence of the hormone. The rapid response of GLUT4 to insulin is critical for the maintenance of normal glucose homeostasis, because skeletal muscle is the major depot for sugar disposal in the postprandial state. Thus, unraveling the subcellular trafficking of glucose transporters in insulin-sensitive cell types is a prerequisite for understanding the mechanism by which insulin regulates the blood glucose levels.
The Nature of Science & the Next Generation of Biology Education

The nature of science (NOS) is an often neglected part of science teaching, yet it provides a vital background for students, detailing how science and scientists work and how scientific knowledge is created, validated, and influenced. Here, I review the concept of NOS and some of the challenges to its inclusion in science classes. In addition, I outline proposals, including those in the Next Generation Science Standards, for those aspects of NOS that should be featured in science classes. Finally, I discuss distinctions in NOS specific to the science of biology and conclude with some thoughts on how NOS can be incorporated into science instruction.
Regulation of mouse major urinary protein production by the Mup-A gene.

A method was developed to quantitate the daily excretion of the three major urinary proteins (mups) to test which parameters of the mup phenotype are controlled by the the Mup-a gene. Electrophoretic separation of the mup proteins, followed by staining and spectrophotometric scanning was used to characterize the phenotypes of various inbred strains. The mup phenotype of a strain proved to have two components: the absolute levels and the relative proportions of the mups present in the urine. Testosterone treatment alters both components of the mup phenotype, increasing mup excretion and altering their relative proportions. The induced proteins are the same as the basal proteins as judged by electrophoretic mobility, molecular weight, and reactivity with antibody. All strains excrete all three mups when induced. The Mup-a gene appears to be a single, codominantly expressed regulatory locus that controls the induced proportions of the three proteins. However, other genes in addition to Mup-a participate in controlling the basal mup proportions, as well as individual and total mup levels before and after testosterone treatment.
Fiber Type Profile Change after Partial and Total Denervation in Rat Soleus Muscles

The short-term effects after experimental partial and total denervation on histochemical fiber type profiles were studied in rat soleus muscles by the myofibrillar ATPase stain. In 58 control soleus muscles, a total of 155788 fibers were counted, comprising type 1 (75.1%), type 2A (13.3%), type 2B (1.4%) and type 2C (10.3%), respectively. In 34 animals with total denervation, including 17 with soleus nerve resection at 1cm before entering the soleus muscle and 17 with total sciatic neurectomy, the proportion of type 1 fiber was decreased in denervated muscles to 39.1% 5 weeks after the procedures. In parallel with a decrease in type 1 fiber proportion, undifferentiated type 2C fibers increased, thereby suggesting muscle fiber type dedifferentiation taking place in totally denervated muscle. In contrast, 24 muscles with partial denervation showed a decreased proportion of type 1 fibers at the initial stage followed by an increase in type 1 fiber to 89.0% 5 weeks after denervation, resulting from an active reinnervating process.
Reduction in DNA Binding Activity of the Transcription Factor Pax-5a in B Lymphocytes of Aged Mice

Aging has been associated with intrinsic changes of the humoral immune response, which may lead to an increased occurrence of autoimmune disorders and pathogenic susceptibility. The transcription factor Pax-5 is a key regulator of B cell development. Pax-5a/B cell-specific activator protein and an alternatively spliced isoform, Pax-5d, may have opposing functions in transcriptional regulation due to the lack of a transactivation domain in Pax-5d. To study B cell-specific changes that occur during the aging process, we investigated expression patterns of Pax-5a and 5d in mature B cells of young and aged mice. RNase protection assays showed a similar transcriptional pattern for both age groups that indicates that aging has no affect on transcription initiation or alternative splicing for either isoform. In contrast, a significant reduction in the DNA binding activity of Pax-5a but not Pax-5d protein was observed in aged B cells in vitro, while Western blot analyses showed that similar levels of Pax-5a and 5d proteins were present in both age groups. The observed decrease in Pax-5a binding activity correlated with changes in expression of two Pax-5 target genes in aged B cells. Expression of the Ig J chain and the secreted form of Ig mu, which are both known to be suppressed by Pax-5a in mature B cells, were increased in B cells of aged mice. Together, our studies suggest that changes associated with the aging phenotype cause posttranslational modification(s) of Pax-5a but not Pax-5d, which may lead to an abnormal B cell phenotype in aged mice, associated with elevated levels of J chain, and secretion of IgM.
"Shotgunning" in a population of patients with severe mental illness and comorbid substance use disorders.

“Shotgunning” refers to the practice of one individual forcibly exhaling smoke into the mouth of another, and may increase the risk of transmission of respiratory pathogens. The extent of shotgunning among individuals with co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use is unknown. We included questions about shotgunning in an interview of 236 participants of a study testing a model to prevent and treat HIV and hepatitis. Shotgunning was common (61%[145/236]) and correlated with increased substance use severity and several high-risk behaviors. Only 8% (11/145) understood that shotgunning could transmit disease. Further research and patient education on shotgunning is warranted. (Am J Addict 2012;21:120–125)
Problems with the medicalization of marijuana.

“Medical” marijuana is approved in 21 states and the District of Columbia for numerous conditions, including glaucoma, Crohn disease, posttraumatic stress disorder, epilepsy, Alzheimer disease, and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Both the number of states and the number of approved indications for medical marijuana are expected to increase. Physicians will bear the responsibility of prescribing marijuana and thus have an obligation to understand the issues involved in its “medicalization.”