cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The effect of within-year variation in acorn crop size on seed harvesting by avian hoarders

Spatial and temporal variation in resource distribution affect the movement and foraging behavior of many animals. In the case of animal-dispersed trees, numerous studies have addressed masting-the synchronized variation in seed production between years-but the fitness consequences of spatial variation in seed production within a year are unclear. We investigated the effects of variable acorn production in a population of valley oaks (Quercus lobata) on the composition and behavior of the avian-disperser community. We found that western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica), high-quality dispersers that store seeds in the ground, were attracted to, and exhibited increased per capita dispersal rates from, trees with large acorn crops. In contrast, acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), low-quality dispersers that store acorns in trees where they are unlikely to germinate, increased per capita hoarding rates but did not attend trees with large seed crops in higher numbers, suggesting that the two species responded to resources on different spatial scales. Antagonistic interactions within and between species increased with the number of birds attending a tree, resulting in a potential cost for foraging birds, but did not reduce dispersal rates. Using a simulation model, we estimated that trees with large initial crops experienced a greater proportion (77 %) of high-quality seed dispersal events than trees with small crops (62 %). Our findings provide support for a mechanistic link between seed production and foraging behavior of seed dispersers as predicted by the predator dispersal hypothesis for the functional consequences of variable seed production in hoarder-dispersed trees.
Exploring Resiliency: Academic Achievement among Disadvantaged Black Youth in South Africa:

This study attempted to understand how a group of black youth in South Africa who experienced poverty achieved academic success and demonstrated a resilient trajectory. Through a qualitative research design that included ethnographic interviewing, case studies and observation, an insider's perspective was gained. This method was chosen for its ability to generate rich descriptive accounts and use multiple data sources. The results of this study indicated that this group of black students who achieved academic success in South Africa was high achieving, had strong initiative and motivation, was goal orientated and experienced the self as having agency. The atmosphere in the family, usually characterised by strong support also influenced a resilient response. Relationships with teachers, role models and supportive community members were viewed as protective factors. The findings of this research are helpful for educators; in the formulation of child and family policy, and for future comparative studies.
Climate Change as a Global Security Issue

This inaugural issue of the Journal of Global Security Studies , and the workshop that preceded it, covers a broad range of topics that push the traditional boundaries of international security studies. Yet, disappointingly, the subject of climate change was largely absent, with the exception of Burke et al.’s discussion of it as a case study in global ethics. At a point in history when the US president calls climate change “a serious threat to global security” (Obama 2015), this absence begs to be filled. In this essay, I offer some ideas on the connections of global warming with global security. Is climate change a global security issue? The answer depends on one’s concept of security, but in three ways, the answer could be “yes.” First, and least controversially, a changing climate will affect how and where military forces operate. The US administration has laid out the parameters of these effects in several recent policy documents (White House 2015).1 Perhaps most interesting from an International Relations (IR) perspective is the opening of the Arctic region as sea ice melts, requiring the adaptation of military forces to operate effectively there, especially if new shipping routes require protection or if conflicts develop over natural resources in this previously inaccessible area (White House 2013). An obvious example is the question of additional US heavy icebreakers, which currently number just two (lagging behind Russia with twenty-seven as well as Canada, Finland, and Sweden). The navy relies on the coast guard for icebreaking, but even one new heavy icebreaker at a billion dollars would consume the entire annual coast guard acquisition budget. The likelihood of sea-level rise, storm surges, and widespread extreme weather at home and abroad also affects military planning. Naval bases tend to be located on the coast (!) and …
Francisco Garcés's 1775–1776 Diary and the Napac: A Further Inquiry

This paper is a sequel to “Who Were the Napac?” (Whiteley, Peter M. 2011 Who Were the Napac? Decoding an Ethnohistorical Enigma. Kiva (77:59–86), which demonstrated how the term “Napac,” in the 1775–1776 diary of Francisco Garces, has been misinterpreted as “Navajo.” “Napac” rather was shown to be a Havasupai reference to the San Francisco Peaks and to a Yavapai band seasonally resident there. The present paper examines additional manuscript copies of Garces's diary, both to test that earlier inference, and to better understand variations among different versions of the diary. Concentrating on watermarks and on a phylogenetic analysis of textual forms, the argument highlights two previously unexamined manuscript copies (at The University of Arizona Special Collections and the Huntington Library). A new interpretation of the history of Garces's diary includes further comparison to nine additional manuscript copies in European and Mexican archives.
Azathioprine therapy for steroid-resistant Henoch-Schönlein purpura: a report of 6 cases.

Background A small percentage of children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) develop a chronic form of the disease that often requires prolonged corticosteroid therapy. Disease modifying anti-rheumatic agents (DMARDs) or biologics have been successfully used to treat those refractory cases. Azathioprine is a DMARD that has been reported to be effective in HSP nephritis and in adult cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis, a condition with cutaneous histology similar to HSP.
Growth Variation Among Species and Strains of Listeria in Culture Broth

Culture suspensions of 45 species and strains of Listeria were prepared in tryptic soy broth with 0.6% yeast extract (TSBYE) for 24 h at 37°C, and were then diluted with phosphate buffer solution and standardized to 0.10 ± 0.01 absorbance at 600 nm. Spectrophotometer tubes containing 5 ml of TSBYE (pH 7.2) were inoculated with 0.1 ml of the standardized cultures and incubated at 4, 10 or 37°C. Absorbance readings were taken during storage. Growth curves were fitted using the Gompertz function, and growth parameters were calculated. There were major differences in lag phase duration (LPD), generation time (GT) and exponential growth rate (EGR) among species and strains of Listeria tested. Values for LPD and GT decreased (P 0.05) trends were observed in average values among different serotypes of L. monocytogenes tested.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up

This chapter describes Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC), a short-term (10-week) intervention that focuses on enhancing parents’ capacities for interacting with their young children (up to 24 months); randomized controlled trial (RCT) data support the program’s effectiveness several years post-intervention across social-emotional, biological, and relational indices. ABC consists of 10 weekly 60-min sessions with both the parent and child present. ABC is designed to be implemented in the home where the parent and child are most comfortable, thereby increasing confidence and skill generalization. The focus of the intervention is to increase synchrony (following the lead) and nurturing parenting behaviors, as well as decrease frightening behavior. Parent coaches encourage these behaviors by making frequent, in-the-moment comments. Specific research on the effectiveness of the intervention is discussed as well as expanding ABC in two different ways: adaptation of the intervention for toddlers (24–48 months) and disseminating ABC to national and international sites. Preliminary data from both endeavors, as well as implementation challenges and improving the dissemination and implementation of ABC, are presented, along with the next steps for the intervention.
LAGRANGIAN ANALYSIS WITH AN EMPHASIS ON UNLOADING PROCESSES

The Lagrangian analysis for determining stress-strain relations from particle velocity histories obtained during shock loading has been extended to produce high precision during unloading. First, a surface is fitted over all velocity records in velocity-distance-time space. The fit is constructed to emphasize path lines, and it allows for a reflected wave. The integration procedure to compute stress can proceed along lines of constant time from the shock front, a stress history, or a free surface. Several new experimental configurations are permitted within the new method.
The recognition method of thunder based on a noise-estimation algorithm for highly non-stationary environments

A recognition method of the thunder signal based on the end-point detection method with a noise-estimation algorithm for highly non-stationary environments is proposed. To determine the parameter of the algorithm and verify the effectiveness and accuracy of the method we analyze the acoustic signals obtained from two microphone arrays installed at the top platform on a seven-floor building in Wuhan. In this paper, we have chosen two acoustic signals to test the endpoint detection method. It is revealed from the recognition result that the method can find out the accurate beginning and ending time of the thunder signal from the acoustic signals.
Prospective study of nonmyeloablative, HLA-mismatched unrelated BMT with high-dose posttransplantation cyclophosphamide

Allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation (BMT) candidates may lack HLA-matched, related haploidentical, and unrelated umbilical cord options. Barriers to partially HLA-mismatched, unrelated donor (mMUD) BMT include excess graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), graft failure, and death. We prospectively studied nonmyeloablative (NMA) mMUD BMT with high-dose posttransplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) for patients with hematologic malignancies. Three transplants were performed with busulfan/fludarabine conditioning, with subsequent change to fludarabine/Cy/total body irradiation (flu/Cy/TBI). Twenty mMUD transplants are reported using flu/Cy/TBI, T-cell replete bone marrow grafts, and PTCy, mycophenolate mofetil, and sirolimus or tacrolimus (1 patient) for GVHD prophylaxis. The median patient age was 56. Ofthese unrelated grafts, 45% had ≥2 mismatched HLA loci, 25% had ≥3 mismatched loci, and 50% had HLA-C mismatches. No graft failure or grades 3-4 acute GVHD occurred. The median times to neutrophil recovery (≥500/μL) and platelet recovery (≥20 000/μL) were 19 days and 31 days, respectively. Full-donor chimerism was achieved in 95% of evaluable patients by day 60. The 180-day probability of grades 2-4 acute GVHD (all grade 2) was 25%, and the 1-year probability of any chronic GVHD was 16% (none severe). The 2-year nonrelapse mortality probability was 6%. With 4-year median follow-up, the 1-year progression-free and overall survival probabilities were 65% and 75%, respectively. NMA, T-cell replete mMUD BMT is thus a potentially viable option for patients without other suitable donors. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01203722.
Addressing hardware reliability challenges in general-purpose GPUs

With these increasing computing power and improved programmability, General-Purpose Computing on GPUs (GPGPUs) emerge as a highly attractive platform for a wide range of HPC applications exhibiting strong data-level or thread-level parallelism. The error detection and fault tolerance on GPUs receive little attention since graphic applications effectively mask errors and have relaxed request on computation correctness. However, HPC applications have rigorous requirements on execution correctness, which makes reliability a growing concern in GPGPU architecture design. This urges the need for characterizing and addressing reliability in GPGPU architecture design. There are two paramount hardware reliability challenges in GPGPUs, which are particle strikes induced soft errors, and manufacturing process variations. In this chapter, we mainly target at these two types of reliability issues. We explore a set of mechanisms to leverage the unique GPGPUs architecture features to effectively optimize the GPGPUs reliability.
Thermal-depth fusion for occluded body skeletal posture estimation

Reliable occluded skeletal posture estimation is a fundamentally challenging problem for vision-based monitoring techniques. This is due to several imaging related challenges introduced by existing depth-based pose estimation techniques that fail to provide accurate joint position estimates when the line of sight between the imaging device and the patient is obscured by an occluding material. In this work, we present a new method of estimating skeletal posture in occluded applications using both depth and thermal imaging through volumetric modeling and introduce a new occluded ground-truth tracking method inspired by modern motion capture solutions. Using this integrated volumetric model, we utilize Convolutional Neural Networks to characterize and identify volumetric thermal distributions that match trained skeletal posture estimates which includes disconnected skeletal definitions and allows correct posture estimation in highly ambiguous cases. We demonstrate this approach by correctly identifying common sleep postures that present challenging cases for current skeletal joint estimations, obtaining an average classification accuracy of ~94.45%.
Presence of Androgen Receptor Variant in Neuronal Lipid Rafts

Fast, nongenomic androgen actions have been described in various cell types, including neurons. However, the receptor mediating this cell membrane-initiated rapid signaling remains unknown. This study found a putative androgen receptor splice variant in a dopaminergic N27 cell line and in several brain regions (substantia nigra pars compacta, entorhinal cortex, and hippocampus) from gonadally intact and gonadectomized (young and middle-aged) male rats. This putative splice variant protein has a molecular weight of 45 kDa and lacks an N-terminal domain, indicating it is homologous to the human AR45 splice variant. Interestingly, AR45 was highly expressed in all brain regions examined. In dopaminergic neurons, AR45 is localized to plasma membrane lipid rafts, a microdomain involved in cellular signaling. Further, AR45 protein interacts with membrane-associated G proteins Gαq and Gαo. Neither age nor hormone levels altered AR45 expression in dopaminergic neurons. These results provide the first evidence of AR45 protein expression in the brain, specifically plasma membrane lipid rafts. AR45 presence in lipid rafts indicates that it may function as a membrane androgen receptor to mediate fast, nongenomic androgen actions.
Modeling alloantibody formation to high-incidence red blood cell antigens in immune responders using genotypic data.

CONCLUSIONS Alloimmunization to red blood cell antigens is unpredictable and poorly understood. Patients who are negative for high-incidence antigens (HIAs) are at risk for developing the corresponding antibodies. Molecular methods can easily predict the lack of an antigen and thus, the risk of an individual to become immunized. We examined the prevalence and risk factors for HIA alloimmunization in patients at risk based on genotyping results. Genotyping using a molecular method (HEA BeadChip™, Immucor, Warren, NJ) was performed on all patient specimens referred for molecular testing over 45 months; serologic and clinical data were analyzed. We used simple and multiple logistic regression to model the risk factors for alloimmunization to an HIA. Of the 2591 patients genotyped, 32 (1.2%) were homozygous for at least one variant predicting absence of an HIA. Of these 32 patients, prior transfusion or pregnancy history was available for 29 (91%). Four susceptible patients made an antibody to an HIA (12.5% of all, 13.8% of those with a documented exposure). Two of these four patients (50%) had made an alloantibody to another antigen. The odds of forming an antibody to an HIA were not related to the total number of transfusions (p = 0.47), the total number of alloantibodies (p = 0.61), or diagnosis of sickle cell disease (p = 0.77) in simple logistic regression. Adjustment for the other two variables in a multiple logistic regression was also not significant for each variable (p = 0.6, p = 0.7, and p = 0.7, respectively). Although they had a known exposure to alloantigens through transfusion or pregnancy, 86.2 percent of patients (25 of 29) at risk for alloantibody formation to an HIA in fact did not mount an immune response to that antigen. Possible risk factors including the number of transfused units or the total number of alloantibodies made were not predictors of making an alloantibody to an HIA in our sampling. Our results suggest that other patient-specific risk factors for alloimmunization exist.
In-row Vegetation-free Strip Width Effect on Established ‘Navaho’ Blackberry

Abstract A field study was conducted in 2014 and 2015 in an established 5-yr old commercial blackberry planting to determine the effect of vegetation-free strip width (VFSW) on ‘Navaho’ blackberry vegetative growth, yield and fruit quality parameters, identify the optimum VFSW for blackberry plantings in the southeastern USA, and provide practical groundcover management recommendations that can increase the productivity of blackberry plantings. In Fall 2013, tall fescue was seeded in-row and allowed to establish. In Spring 2014, VFSW treatments (0, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.8 m) were established in a randomized complete block statistical design with four replications. Blackberry growth measurements included primocane and floricane number, cane diam, individual fruit weight and yield. Fruit quality measurements included, soluble solids concentration (SSC), titratable acidity (TA) and pH. Primocane number increased with increasing VFSW in both years. Floricane number increased with increasing VFSW in 2014. Primo...
The physical basis for estimating wave-energy spectra with the radar ocean-wave spectrometer

The derivation of the reflectivity modulation spectrum of the sea surface for near-nadir-viewing microwave radars using geometrical optics is described. The equations required for the derivation are presented. The derived reflectivity modulation spectrum provides data on the physical basis of the radar ocean-wave spectrometer measurements of ocean-wave directional spectra.
Alterations in the oral microbiome in HIV-infected participants after antiretroviral therapy administration are influenced by immune status.

Objective:To characterize the oral bacterial microbiome in HIV-infected participants at baseline and after 24 weeks of EFV/FTC/TDF.Design:Thirty-five participants co-enrolled in two AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) studies, A5272 and A5280, with paired saliva samples and complete data sets were ass
Abstract 3832: A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) directly impacts immune regulatory subsets to regulate suppressive multiple myeloma bone marrow microenvironment

A proliferation inducing ligand (APRIL), abundant in serum samples of multiple myeloma (MM) patients, promotes MM cell progression in vivo predominantly via MM-specific receptor B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) (Blood. 2016; 127:3225). Here, we study whether APRIL directly regulate non-MM subpopulations to influence immunosuppressive bone marrow (BM) milieu and further define molecular mechanisms regulating these processes. First, transmembrane activator and calcium modulator (TACI) protein, the other APRIL receptor expressed at lower levels than BCMA on MM cell membrane, is consistently expressed at higher levels on CD4+CD25 high FoxP3 high T regulatory (Treg) vs autologous CD4+CD25- conventional T cells (Tcon) from MM patients (n=10, p 10-fold in purified Tregs vs autologous Tcon (n=12, p high Treg vs paired TACI low/- Tcon. Finally, APRIL upregulates CD19+CD24 high CD38 high B regulatory cells (Breg) which interact with MM cells in the BM to confer an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Importantly, APRIL-induced Breg has higher IL-10, which is blocked by a blocking APRIL monoclonal antibody. Taken together, we are the first to characterize significantly high TACI expression that is functional in immune checkpoint Treg and Breg subsets which barely express BCMA. Importantly, we identify additional biological functions of APRIL in regulating immunosuppression via specific TACI- but not BCMA-mediated signaling cascades in the MM BM milieu, further supporting targeting this mechanism-based immunotherapeutic pathway to simultaneously target MM cells and revert immunosuppression. Citation Format: Yu-Tzu Tai, Liang Lin, Liji Xing, Liji Xing, Kenneth Wen, Nikhil Munshi, Paul Richardson, Kenneth Anderson. A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) directly impacts immune regulatory subsets to regulate suppressive multiple myeloma bone marrow microenvironment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3832.
Embryonic corneal epithelial actin alters distribution in response to laminin.

In the current study, laser scanning confocal image analysis was used to investigate the actin distribution in whole-mount preparations of freshly isolated and cultured corneal epithelia. Actin staining defined the cell borders and microvilli of the periderm cells. The actin was prominent as an organized network at the interface between the basal and periderm cells and in the basal compartment of the basal cells (actin cortical mat) when isolated with the basal lamina (BL). In epithelia isolated without BL, the actin in the periderm cells and the network at the periderm-basal cell interface was the same as in epithelia isolated with BL. However, the actin in the basal compartment of the basal cells was localized in the cellular blebs that projected from the basal cell surface. Epithelia isolated without BL and cultured in the presence of laminin reorganized the actin cortical mat within 2 hours. However, epithelia isolated without BL and cultured without BL proteins continued to have basal cell projections, sometimes into the pores of the filter. Treatment of epithelia with 2 pM cytochalasin D prevented the reorganization of the actin by laminin. In conclusion, the use of confocal analysis increased our understanding of actin distribution in the epithelial sheets. These results confirmed and extended previous studies using electron microscopy to determine that corneal epithelial cells respond to extracellular matrix molecules by an actin-dependent mechanism. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 33:324-333,1992 Recently, we developed a technique for viewing structural proteins in freshly isolated or cultured epithelial sheets with confocal microscopy. The chick embryonic corneal epithelium was used for these studies. This epithelium has been well characterized 1 as a twocell-layer structure with a thin flat outer layer, the periderm, and a cuboidal-to-columnar inner layer, the basal cells. The basal epithelial cells have a flat basal surface with a well-defined basal lamina (BL). Both cell layers are characterized by abundant secretory organelles that are necessary for the synthesis of the secreted glycoproteins that form the primary stroma. 1 ' 2 The chick corneal epithelial basal cell surface interacts with the underlying stroma through extracellular matrix (ECM) binding proteins in the lamina lucida of the BL, such as the integrin molecules (a6j84), previously described. 3 These molecules are composed of two subunits with three domains: a cytoplasmic region, a membrane spanning region, and the extracel
Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law: Finding the peripheries: colonialism in nineteenth-century international law

By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded. Introduction International law is universal. It is a body of law which applies to all states regardless of their specific and distinctive cultures, belief systems and political organizations. It is a common set of doctrines which all states, whether from Europe or Latin America, Africa or Asia use to regulate relations with each other. The association between international law and universality is so ingrained that pointing to this connection appears tautologous; it is today hard to conceive of an international law which is not universal. And yet, the universality of international law is a relatively recent development. It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that a set of doctrines was established as applicable to all states, whether these were in Asia, Africa or Europe. The universalization of international law was principally a consequence of the imperial expansion which took place towards the end of the ‘long nineteenth century’. The conquest of non-European peoples for economic and political advantage was the most prominent feature of this period termed, by one eminent historian, the ‘Age of Empire’. By 1914, after numerous colonial wars, virtually all the territories of Asia, Africa and the Pacific were controlled by the major European states and this resulted in the assimilation of all these non-European peoples into a system of law which was fundamentally European in that it derived from European thought and experience.
An efficient, high-order method for solving Poisson equation for immersed boundaries: Combination of compact difference and multiscale multigrid methods

Abstract A new efficient and high-order accurate sharp-interface method for solving the Poisson equation on irregular domains and non-uniform meshes is presented. The approach is based on a combination of a fourth-order compact finite difference scheme and a multiscale multigrid (MSMG) method. The key aspect of the new method is that the regular compact finite difference stencil is modified at the irregular grid points near the immersed boundary to obtain a sharp interface solution while maintaining the formal fourth-order accuracy. The MSMG method is designed based on the standard multigrid V-cycle technique to solve the system of equations derived from the fourth-order compact discretization, while the corresponding multigrid relaxation, restriction and prolongation operators are properly constructed for non-uniform grids with immersed boundaries. The contribution of the present work is the design of a fourth-order-accurate Poisson solver whose accuracy, efficiency and computational cost are independent of the complexity of the geometry and the presence or not of an immersed boundary. The new method is demonstrated and validated for a number of problems including smooth and jagged boundaries. The test cases confirm that the new method is fourth-order accurate in the maximum norm whether an immersed boundary is present or not and on uniform or non-uniform meshes. Furthermore, the computational efficiency of the new method is demonstrated with regard to convergence rate and run time, which shows that the MSMG method is equally efficient for domains with immersed boundaries as for simple domains. The new compact difference method is evaluated by comparison with the standard fourth-order (non-compact) finite difference approximation in terms of both accuracy and computational efficiency. The new compact difference scheme yields indeed more accurate numerical solutions. The striking difference between the two schemes is the much higher computational efficiency: The number of V-cycles needed to reach the discretization error is significantly lower for the new compact method compared to the standard difference scheme. As a result, the new compact scheme requires only a fraction of the computer time for convergence in comparison to the standard fourth-order difference scheme.
Cell-based biosynthesis of linear protein nanoarrays

We describe an approach for using the flagella axoneme as the basis for biological self-assembling protein nanoarrays. The axoneme is the insoluble protein core of the eukaryotic flagellum or cilium. By attaching a protein of interest to particular axonemal proteins, it is possible to exploit the intraflagellar transport system to incorporate those proteins into the axoneme as it assembles. Using the axoneme as a protein array confers several advantages, such as high protein loading capacity compared to other bioparticle systems; genetically programmed self-assembly without the need for any linking steps; single-step purification of particles without the need for cell lysis, allowing retention and re-use of biomass; and choice of isolating the particle as a membrane enclosed vesicle or as an exposed protein array. Here we test several potential axonemal proteins as adaptor proteins, using green fluorescent protein as a test case. We find that FAP20 is an ideal scaffold protein for this purpose in that it shows high incorporation and uniform localization. We verify that FAP20-GFP constructs are stably associated with the axoneme during purification and storage, that the GFP moiety can be released by protease cleavage, and that the flagellar array can be easily encapsulated in aqueous-oil emulsion droplets for use in microfluidic assays.
LODESTAR: Creating Locally-Dense CNNs for Efficient Inference on Systolic Arrays

The performance of sparse problems suffers from lack of spatial locality and low memory bandwidth utilization. However, the distribution of non-zero values in the data structures of a class of sparse problems, such as matrix operations in neural networks, is modifiable so that it can be matched with an efficient underlying hardware, such as systolic arrays. Such modification helps addressing the challenges coupled with sparsity. To efficiently execute sparse neural network inference on systolic arrays, we propose a structured pruning algorithm that increases the spatial locality in neural network models, while maintaining the accuracy of inference.
Examples in (\(3+1\)) GR

Important early calculations in (\(3+1\)) cosmological spacetimes were carried out by Audretsch, and Schafer [1, 2]. Several solutions in a non-cosmological context are [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. In our first example we shall calculate the Fock-Ivanenkocoefficients and the resulting Dirac equations for the Schwarzschild metric (with signature (\(+2\))). The \(\gamma \) matrices are in the standard representation, however because of our signature choice, we have to multiply each of the matrices (B.8), with a factor of \(+i\). Then Eq. (B.9) change sign and Eq. (B.3) holds with \(\varepsilon =+1\).
Enteral nutrition better than proton pump inhibitors

Purpose of reviewStress ulcer prophylaxis in critically-ill patients has been a subject of extensive research, with multiple clinical trials attempting to study the best method of stress ulcer prophylaxis with the least adverse effects. Until recently, pharmacologic prophylaxis has prevailed as the
The Exposome in Human Evolution: From Dust to Diesel

Global exposures to air pollution and cigarette smoke are novel in human evolutionary history and are associated with about 16 million premature deaths per year. We investigate the history of the human exposome for relationships between novel environmental toxins and genetic changes during human evolution in six phases. Phase I: With increased walking on savannas, early human ancestors inhaled crustal dust, fecal aerosols, and spores; carrion scavenging introduced new infectious pathogens. Phase II: Domestic fire exposed early Homo to novel toxins from smoke and cooking. Phases III and IV: Neolithic to preindustrial Homo sapiens incurred infectious pathogens from domestic animals and dense communities with limited sanitation. Phase V: Industrialization introduced novel toxins from fossil fuels, industrial chemicals, and tobacco at the same time infectious pathogens were diminishing. Thereby, pathogen-driven causes of mortality were replaced by chronic diseases driven by sterile inflammogens, exogenous and endogenous. Phase VI: Considers future health during global warming with increased air pollution and infections. We hypothesize that adaptation to some ancient toxins persists in genetic variations associated with inflammation and longevity.
Education Innovation Clusters: Supporting transformative teaching and learning

If we are to bring innovative practices into our classrooms and make a true transformative difference, cooperation among educators, researchers, and entrepreneurs will be necessary.
Immune-mediated adverse events following concomitant radiotherapy and immunotherapy in patients with melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma: A preliminary report from an evolving retrospective registry.

3144Background: Radiotherapy (RT) potentiates immune-mediated responses against tumor antigens, an effect that is enhanced by checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) and may hold therapeutic promise. However,...
Immunogenicity of Alternative Dosing Schedules for HPV Vaccines among Adolescent Girls and Young Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Alternative dosing schedules for licensed human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines, particularly single dose and extended intervals between doses (>12 months), are being considered to address vaccine shortages and improve operational flexibility. We searched PUBMED/MEDLINE for publications reporting immunogenicity data following administration of one of the licensed HPV vaccines (2vHPV, 4vHPV, and 9vHPV) to females aged 9–26 years. We conducted non-inferiority analyses comparing alternative to standard schedules using mixed effects meta-regression controlling for baseline HPV status and disaggregated by vaccine, subtype, time point, and age group (9–14 and 15–26 years). Non-inferiority was defined as the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the geometric mean titer (GMT) ratio being greater than 0.5. Our search returned 2464 studies, of which 23 were included in data analyses. When evaluated against standard schedules, although robust immunogenicity was demonstrated across all multi-dose groups, non-inferiority of extended interval dosing was mixed across vaccines, subtypes, and time points. Single dose did not meet the criteria for non-inferiority in any comparisons. Sparse data limited the number of possible comparisons, and further research is warranted.
Nanostructured Biomaterials for In Vitro Models of Bone Metastasis Cancer.

Abstract In recent years, tissue engineering approaches have attracted substantial attention owing to their ability to create physiologically relevant in vitro disease models that closely mimic in vivo conditions. Here, we review nanocomposite materials and scaffolds used for the design of in vitro models of cancer, including metastatic sites. We discuss the role of material properties in modulating cellular phenotype in 3D disease models. Also, we highlight the application of tissue-engineered bone as a tool for faithful recapitulation of the microenvironment of metastatic prostate and breast cancer, since these two types of cancer have the propensity to metastasize to bone. Overall, we summarize recent efforts on developing 3D in vitro models of bone metastatic cancers that provide a platform to study tumor progression and facilitate high-throughput drug screening.
Patient Racial Preferences and the Medical Culture of Accommodation

One of medicine’s open secrets is that patients routinely refuse or demand medical treatment based on the assigned physician’s racial identity, and hospitals typically yield to patients’ racial preferences. This widely practiced, if rarely acknowledged, phenomenon— about which there is new empirical evidence—poses a fundamental dilemma for law, medicine, and ethics. It also raises difficult questions about how we should think about race, health, and individual autonomy in this context. Informed consent rules and common law battery dictate that a competent patient has an almost-unqualified right to refuse medical care, including treatment provided by an unwanted physician. Yet the accommodation of patients’ racial preferences with respect to their choice of physician in the hospital context appears to violate antidiscrimination principles. How should we reconcile this apparent conflict between respect for patient autonomy and accepted notions of racial equality? Moreover, is the accommodation of patients’ racial preferences the type of invidious discrimination that civil rights laws were enacted to prevent? This Article engages these questions through an evaluation of antidiscrimination norms, principles of medical ethics, and federal laws, including Titles II, VI, and VII of the Civil Rights Act. In so doing, the Article offers critical insights into why a form of discrimination that is prohibited in other contexts is tolerated in the hospital setting and draws important conclusions about the legal propriety and medical efficacy of this practice. The Article contends that the various titles of the Civil Rights Act offer no clear legal directive on this practice, and it makes the counterintuitive claim that although hospital accommodation of patients’ racial preferences appears to contravene antidiscrimination principles, it is not only consistent with our normative commitments to racial equality but, in fact, constitutes an effective means of alleviating race-based health disparities, improving health outcomes, and quite possibly, saving patients’ lives.
Timing and Clinical Significance of Fluid Overload in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objectives Fluid overload is associated with worse outcomes in adult and pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, the time-course of fluid overload and its relationship to outcome has not been described. We aimed to determine the relationship between the timing of fluid overload and outcomes over the first 7 days after acute respiratory distress syndrome onset in children. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Single tertiary care PICU. Patients Intubated children with acute respiratory distress syndrome between 2011 and 2019. Interventions None. Measurements and main results Daily and cumulative total fluid intake, total output, urine output, and fluid balance were collected for each 24-hour period from days 1 to 7 after acute respiratory distress syndrome onset. We tested the association between daily cumulative fluid metrics with PICU mortality and probability of extubation by 28 days using multivariable logistic and competing risk regression, respectively. In a subset of children, plasma was collected on day 1 and day 3 of acute respiratory distress syndrome and angiopoietin-2 quantified. Of 723 children with acute respiratory distress syndrome, 132 died (18%). In unadjusted analysis, nonsurvivors had higher cumulative fluid balance starting on day 3. In multivariable analysis, a positive cumulative fluid balance on days 5 through 7 was associated with increased mortality. Higher cumulative fluid balance on days 4 to 7 was associated with lower probability of extubation. Elevated angiopoietin-2 on day 1 predicted early (within 3 d) fluid overload greater than or equal to 10%, and elevated angiopoietin-2 on day 3 predicted late (between days 4 and 7) fluid overload. Conclusions Fluid overload after day 4 of acute respiratory distress syndrome, but not before, was associated with worse outcomes. Higher angiopoietin-2 predicted subsequent fluid overload. Our results suggest that future interventions aimed at managing fluid overload may have differential efficacy depending on when in the time-course of acute respiratory distress syndrome they are initiated.
Deterministic Global Optimization in Nonlinear Optimal Control Problems

The accurate solution of optimal control problems is crucial in many areas of engineering and applied science. For systems which are described by a nonlinear set of differential-algebraic equations, these problems have been shown to often contain multiple local minima. Methods exist which attempt to determine the global solution of these formulations. These algorithms are stochastic in nature and can still get trapped in local minima. There is currently no deterministic method which can solve, to global optimality, the nonlinear optimal control problem. In this paper a deterministic global optimization approach based on a branch and bound framework is introduced to address the nonlinear optimal control problem to global optimality. Only mild conditions on the differentiability of the dynamic system are required. The implementa-tion of the approach is discussed and computational studies are presented for four control problems which exhibit multiple local minima.
Presynaptic Inhibition of Primary Olfactory Afferents Mediated by Different Mechanisms in Lobster and Turtle

Presynaptic regulation of transmission at the first olfactory synapse was investigated by selectively imaging axon terminals of receptor neurons in the lobster olfactory lobe and turtle olfactory bulb. In both species, action potential propagation into axon terminals after olfactory nerve stimulation was measured using voltage-sensitive dyes. In addition, in the turtle, calcium influx into terminals was measured by selectively labeling receptor neurons with dextran-conjugated calcium indicator dyes. In the lobster, application of the inhibitory transmitters GABA or histamine suppressed action potentials in the terminals. The suppression was blocked by picrotoxin and cimetidine, respective antagonists to lobster GABA and histamine receptors. These results suggest that previously characterized GABA and histaminergic interneurons regulate olfactory input by suppressing action potential propagation into axon terminals of olfactory afferents. In contrast, in the turtle olfactory bulb, neither GABA nor dopamine had any effect on receptor cell action potentials as measured with voltage-sensitive dyes. However, calcium influx into axon terminals was reduced by the GABAB agonist baclofen and the dopamine D2 agonist quinpirole, and paired-pulse suppression of calcium influx was reduced by the GABABantagonist saclofen. These results indicate that in the turtle, GABA and dopamine mediate presynaptic inhibition not by affecting action potentials directly, as in the lobster, but by reducing calcium influx via GABAB and dopamine D2 receptors. Thus, although mediated by different cellular mechanisms, presynaptic regulation of olfactory input to the CNS, via dual synaptic pathways, is a feature common to vertebrates and invertebrates. This inhibition may be important in the processing of olfactory information.
Evaluating Capacity Utilization Options for US West Coast Container Ports

As global trade continues to recover from the recent economic recession, US container port congestion experienced in the last decade will likely re-emerge. Yet there is limited research that examines network-wide port capacity in support of solutions for minimizing such congestion. To address this gap, we simulate the US West Coast container port network, quantifying the costs and benefits of different options to better utilize current port capacity across the entire network. We specifically assess both efficiency improvement and operational coordination options on historical and future container volumes. The results demonstrate the strength of efficiency as a means to alleviate future port congestion. However, the results also portray inequitable savings across different stakeholders as well as difficulty among these stakeholders in perceiving actual benefits. We discuss the impacts of these challenges on implementation of the capacity utilization options.
Conditional Expectation and Martingale Theory

In the theories of estimation and control involving stochastic differential systems, a central role is played by the concept of Martingales (due largely to Doob [l]). The Martingale theory in turn requires the notion of Conditional Expectation. In view of their importance, we shall now study these two concepts and some of the related results of particular relevance to our purposes.
An fMRI examination of the effects of acoustic-phonetic and lexical competition on access to the lexical-semantic network.

The current study explored how factors of acoustic-phonetic and lexical competition affect access to the lexical-semantic network during spoken word recognition. An auditory semantic priming lexical decision task was presented to subjects while in the MR scanner. Prime-target pairs consisted of prime words with the initial voiceless stop consonants /p/, /t/, and /k/ followed by word and nonword targets. To examine the neural consequences of lexical and sound structure competition, primes either had voiced minimal pair competitors or they did not, and they were either acoustically modified to be poorer exemplars of the voiceless phonetic category or not. Neural activation associated with semantic priming (Unrelated–Related conditions) revealed a bilateral fronto-temporo-parietal network. Within this network, clusters in the left insula/inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left superior temporal gyrus (STG), and left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) showed sensitivity to lexical competition. The pMTG also demonstrated sensitivity to acoustic modification, and the insula/IFG showed an interaction between lexical competition and acoustic modification. These findings suggest the posterior lexical-semantic network is modulated by both acoustic-phonetic and lexical structure, and that the resolution of these two sources of competition recruits frontal structures.
Humoral immune responses in Rana catesbiana frogs and tadpoles.

Rana catesbiana adult frogs and tadples were immunized with the bacteriophage F2, ϕX-174, and T4 and the haptens 2,4 dinitrophenyl (DNP) and fluorescein (FTC). The haptens were conjugated with bovine serum albumin (BSA), bovine gamma globulin (BGG), or horseshoe crab hemocyanin (Hycn). Sera were obtained from immunized animals at intervals up to six months after immunization. The antibody activities were measured by bacteriophage neutralization techniques. Sucrose density gradients were used to separate the antibody classes. Both adults and tadpoles responded to each of the antigens tested. High molecular weight antibodies were predominant in both groups of animals. Low molecular weight antibody activity was not found in adults until nine weeks post immunization but, thereafter, this fraction increased throughout the immune response. Low molecular weight antibodies could also be identified in serum of tadpoles, but only under certain conditions.
The Generalized Solution for the Critical Conditions of the Ferroresonant Parallel Circuit

In a recent paper ``Similitude of Critical Conditions in Ferroresonant Circuits,''24 a generalized solution for the critical conditions of the series circuit was given. The same type of generalized treatment when applied to the parallel circuit yields a number of interesting conclusions to supplement those found for the series circuit.
The contact heating and lubricating flow of a body of glass

Abstract This paper describes analytically the process in which a body of glass is heated, softened and eroded (‘melted’ away) by direct contact with a solid surface of much higher temperature. This surface can slide relative to the body of glass. The glass is modelled as a liquid the viscosity of which varies as T − n , where T is the absolute temperature and n is a number in the range 10–20. The temperature and velocity distributions in the thin layer of hot (soft) glass are determined. Simple calculation procedures are developed for the rate at which the block of glass is eroded, and for the general relationship between the forces exerted on the block and the combined heat transfer and lubrication phenomenon that governs the glass removal process.