cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
New Miocene mammalian faunas from west central Nevada

Four new fossil mammalian assemblages are now recognized from west central Nevada. The late Barstovian or earliest Clarendonian Eagle-Picher Mine Site assemblage was recovered from the upper sedimentary member of the ?Desert Peak Formation exposed in the northeastern Virginia Range of Storey County and consists of the following taxa; Camelidae, gen. indet. and Rhinocerotidae, gen. indet. The ?Clarendonian Churchill Valley Local Fauna and Clarendonian or Hemphillian Churchill Narrows Site assemblage were recovered from correlatives of the type Coal Valley Formation exposed along the southern flanks of the Virginia Range and in the vicinity of the Churchill Narrows area, respectively. The Churchill Narrows Site assemblage consists of the following taxa: Rhinocerotidae, gen. indet.; Camelidae, gen. indet. (small-sized); and Camelidae, gen. indet. (large-sized). The Churchill Valley Local Fauna consists of the following taxa: Leporidae, gen. indet.; cf. Mustelidae, gen. indet.; Teleoceras sp. indet.; Dinohippus sp. indet.; Camelidae, gen. indet. (small-sized); and Camelidae, gen. indet. (large-sized). The late Hemphillian Silver Springs Local Fauna was recovered from outcrops of the Truckee Formation exposed in the southeastern Virginia Range of Lyons and Churchill counties. It is the first biostratigraphically datable fauna from the upper member of the formation and consists of the following taxa: Lepoides cf. lepoides; Hypolagus ringoldensis; Hypolagus tedfordi; Hypolagus sp.; Pliotaxidea sp. indet; Teleoceras sp. indet.; Dinohippus sp. indet.; Hemiauchenia vera; Camelidae, gen. indet. (medium-sized); and Antilocapridae, gen. indet.
Simulations of Cyclic Voltammetry for Electric Double Layers in Asymmetric Electrolytes: A Generalized Modified Poisson–Nernst–Planck Model

This paper presents a generalized modified Poisson–Nernst–Planck (MPNP) model derived from first principles based on excess chemical potential and Langmuir activity coefficient to simulate electric double-layer dynamics in asymmetric electrolytes. The model accounts simultaneously for (1) asymmetric electrolytes with (2) multiple ion species, (3) finite ion sizes, and (4) Stern and diffuse layers along with Ohmic potential drop in the electrode. It was used to simulate cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements for binary asymmetric electrolytes. The results demonstrated that the current density increased significantly with decreasing ion diameter and/or increasing valency |zi| of either ion species. By contrast, the ion diffusion coefficients affected the CV curves and capacitance only at large scan rates. Dimensional analysis was also performed, and 11 dimensionless numbers were identified to govern the CV measurements of the electric double layer in binary asymmetric electrolytes between two identical planar...
Lidar Cloud Research

With the invention of the laser, lidar systems were developed to probe the atmosphere for avariety of purposes, including the opening of a new frontier of cloud physics research. Theirhigh range resolution and increased sensitivity to small hydrometeors were suited for determiningthe properties of some overlooked types of clouds (e. g., cirrus), which over timeassumed increased stature for our understanding of climate. Although one-channel lidars candefine the physical boundaries of clouds, the most widely exploited technique has been polarizationdiversity, which relies on fundamental principles to discriminate between water and icephase clouds. Our understanding of the properties of all types of clouds has been enhanced bypolarization lidar field studies, often using a synergistic multiple remote sensorapproach. Theincorporation of polarization diversity into lidar systems based on spectroscopic approachesalso promises to increase their utility and accuracy. We graphically illustrate here the currentscope of lidar research pertaining to clouds.
Tunable Transmission Line With Nanopatterned Thin Films for Smart RF Applications

A concept of tunable transmission line (TL) enabled with nanopatterned ferromagnetic permalloy (Py) and ferroelectric lead zirconium titanate (PZT) thin films is presented. The permittivity (e r ) of PZT is electrical tunable with dc voltage, and the permeability (μ r ) of Py is electrical tunable with dc current, thus simultaneous electric tunable capacitance and inductance capability are provided for the proposed TL. The proposed TL has been fabricated and compared with a regular line without nanofilm patterns. Py is patterned with the dimensions of 10 μm × 150 nm and thickness of 100 nm for high built-in anisotropy field. The ferromagnetic resonant frequency is measured to be 6.3 GHz. Compared with the regular TL, the implemented TL has only generated 0.05 dB additional insertion loss at 4 GHz. The electrical tunability of both the capacitance and the inductance has been demonstrated for the first time. By applying the varied dc current (0-150 mA) and the dc voltage (0-20 V), measured results have shown that the proposed line can provide 90° phase shift from 3.75 to 4 GHz with the fixed characteristic impedance. The continuous tuning of the characteristics impedance from 59 to 61 Ω under suitable bias conditions shows its promise as an impedance matching network. Tunable range of both the phase shifter and the impedance matching network can be further increased with thicker and multilayer films.
Pilot Testing the Debriefing for Meaningful Learning Evaluation Scale

Abstract Background Debriefing for Meaningful Learning (DML), an evidence-based debriefing method, promotes thinking like a nurse through reflective learning. Despite widespread adoption of DML, little is known about how well it is implemented. To assess the effectiveness of DML implementation, an evaluative rubric was developed and tested. Sample Three debriefers who had been trained to use DML at least 1 year previously, submitted five recorded debriefings each for evaluation. Methods Three raters who were experts in DML scored each of the 15 recorded debriefing session using DML Evaluation Scale (DMLES). Observable behaviors were scored with binary options. These raters also assessed the items in the DMLES for content validity. Results Cronbach's alpha, intraclass correlation coefficients, and Content Validity Index scores were calculated to determine reliability and validity. Conclusion Use of DMLES could support quality improvement, teacher preparation, and faculty development. Future testing is warranted to investigate the relationship between DML implementation and clinical reasoning.
Cool look at cold fusion

Written by the co-chairman of the US Department of Energy (DOE) panel that extensively reviewed cold fusion in 1989, this book is factual and hard-hitting. Huizenga has clearly made a careful and thorough study of the scientific and sociological issues relating to this controversy. He provides insightful scrutiny of experimental searches for cold-fusion excess heat, as well as for possible nuclear products such as helium, tritium and neutrons. The relevant theoretical efforts are also explored and the information density is high. However, this is not a dry report: portraits of the scientists, journalists and others involved make the story quite riveting. I can only recommend it, although it challenges me as well as other researchers.
Transient Asymptomatic Pulmonary Opacities Occurring during Osimertinib Treatment

Abstract Introduction Osimertinib is an EGFR inhibitor licensed for the treatment of EGFR-mutant, T790M-positive NSCLC. Previously unreported, frequent transient asymptomatic pulmonary opacities were noted in patients during osimertinib therapy at the University of Colorado. Methods Computed tomography imaging and clinical notes on patients with NSCLC who had been treated with osimertinib at the University of Colorado were retrospectively reviewed. Results Transient asymptomatic pulmonary opacities developed in seven of 20 patients (35%) while they were receiving osimertinib. The radiological patterns seen included ground-glass opacities with or without nodular consolidation. The median time to development of the first lesion was 8.7 weeks (range 1.6–43 weeks), the median time to resolution during continued osimertinib was 6 weeks (range 1–11 weeks). Conclusions Transient asymptomatic pulmonary opacities may be a previously unrecognized, benign feature associated with osimertinib therapy that may be mistaken for isolated pulmonary progression or the beginning of more severe pneumonitis. If new-onset pulmonary lesions, especially those associated with ground-glass appearances, are asymptomatic and localized and there is no evidence of disease progression elsewhere, it may be reasonable to continue treatment with osimertinib and monitor the lesions for resolution.
Critical Blood Pressure Threshold Dependence of Hypertensive Injury and Repair in a Malignant Nephrosclerosis Model

Most patients with essential hypertension do not exhibit substantial renal damage. Renal autoregulation by preventing glomerular transmission of systemic pressures has been postulated to mediate this resistance. Conversely, malignant nephrosclerosis (MN) has been postulated to develop when severe hypertension exceeds a critical ceiling. If the concept is valid, even modest blood pressure (BP) reductions to below this threshold regardless of antihypertensive class (1) should prevent MN and (2) lead to the healing of the already developed MN lesions. Both predicates were tested using BP radiotelemetry in the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats receiving 1% NaCl as drinking fluid for 4 weeks. Severe hypertension (final 2 weeks average systolic BP, >200 mm Hg) and MN (histological damage score 36±5; n=27) developed in the untreated stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats but were prevented by all antihypertensive classes (enalapril [n=15], amlodipine [n=13], or a hydralazine/hydrochlorothiazide combination [n=15]) if the final 2-week systolic BP remained P
Chapter 11 The role of GTP in protein targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum

Abstract GTP has been shown to be required for the translocation of nascent secretory and membrane proteins into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). To date, three components known to be involved in protein translocation, the 54 kDa sub-unit of SRP (SRP54) and both the alpha and the beta subunits of the SRP receptor (SRa and SRβ) have been shown to be GTPases. Here, we briefly review what is known about the role of GTP in protein translocation, and we present a speculative model that incorporates these findings.
Quantum Nanophotonics: From Inverse Design to Implementations

By exploring the full parameter space in nanophotonics design, one can implement structures for studies of new regimes in quantum and nonlinear optics, and for new applications in communications, computing, and sensing.
Analysis of BEAM (Carmustine, Etoposide, Cytosine Arabinoside, Melphalan) versus high dose Melphalan (HDM) with autologous rescue in multiple myeloma(MM)

Autologous stem cell transplantation is an established treatment that leads to prolongation in overall and disease free survival in MM. BEAM and M have been widely used as conditioning regimen for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) in patients with MM. At our centre MM patients with low creatinine clearance (Crcl) and a low performance status were offered Melphalan only as conditioning regime for ASCT. We report on our experience of HDM in comparison with standard BEAM. Records of 53 consecutive patients who had ASCT for myeloma at our centre between 2000 and 2003 were examined. Patients were staged as per Salmon and Durie (SD) criteria and EBMT response criteria were used for assessment post transplant .35 patients had BEAM conditioning (SD criteria 31-IIIA, 3-IA, 1-IIA) and 18(SD criteria 14- IIIA, 4-IIIB) had M.).Patients who received BEAM had a median age of 55 (range 38–66), median follow up of 19 months and those who received HDM had a median age of 60 (range 45 –69), follow up of 20.5 months. Stem cell source was peripheral blood (PBSC) in 50 patients, 1 Bone marrow (BM), and 2 BM and PBSC. HDM at a Dosage of 140 –200 mg/m2was administered in all HDM cases except for 1 patient who had 70mg/m2 because of Crcl of 17.4 ml/min. BEAM group had Carmustine 300mg/m2 (−6), Ara- C 800mg/m2 (−5 to −2), Etoposide 800mg/m2 (−5 to −2), M 140mg/m2 (−1). Patients in the M group had significantly lower haemoglobin and higher serum creatinine levels in comparison with the BEAM group. The 100-day treatment related mortality (TRM) was 5.5 % in HDM group, which was comparable to 2.2 % in the BEAM group. 9 out of 18 patients who had HDM relapsed and 9 out of 35 patients who had BEAM relapsed at follow up with Median relapse free survival (RFS) being 575 days in HDM group and has not achieved yet in BEAM group (p= .017). This data confirm that BEAM ASCT lead to significant prolongation of disease free survival with low TRM.Our data also suggest the effectiveness of HDM in patients who because of poor performance status and/or abnormal renal function may not tolerate BEAM ASCT
Radical and Incremental Innovation Problem-Driven to Support Competitive Advantage of Firms

A fundamental problem in the field of management of technology is how to explain the sources of radical and incremental innovations that sustain the competitive advantage of firms. Current frameworks have trouble explaining some facts about the source of technical change and dynamics of innovation of firms in markets. The current study confronts this problem by developing a conceptual framework of problem-driven innovation. The evidence of a case study research in medicine (ground-breaking drugs for lung cancer treatment) seems to support that consequential problems and their solutions induce the evolution of technology by radical and incremental innovations and paradigms shift as well. In fact, firms have a strong incentive to find innovative solutions to unsolved problems in order to achieve the prospect of a (temporary) profit monopoly and competitive advantage in markets characterized by competitive intensity, technological and market dynamisms. The theoretical framework of this study can be generalized to explain the source and evolution of technology of different industries and, as a consequence, one of driving forces that supports technological and industrial change in a Schumpeterian world of innovation-based competition.
Mobile Device Accuracy for Step Counting Across Age Groups

Background: Only one in five American meets the physical activity recommendations of the Department of Health and Human Services. The proliferation of wearable devices and smartphones for physical activity tracking has led to an increasing number of interventions designed to facilitate regular physical activity, in particular to address the obesity epidemic, but also for cardiovascular disease patients, cancer survivors, and older adults. However, the inconsistent findings pertaining to the accuracy of wearable devices for step counting needs to be addressed, as well as factors known to affect gait (and thus potentially impact accuracy) such as age, body mass index (BMI), or leading arm. Objective: We aim to assess the accuracy of recent mobile devices for counting steps, across three different age groups. Methods: We recruited 60 participants in three age groups: 18-39 years, 40-64 years, and 65-84 years, who completed two separate 1000 step walks on a treadmill at a self-selected speed between 2 and 3 miles per hour. We tested two smartphones attached on each side of the waist, and five wrist-based devices worn on both wrists (2 devices on one wrist and 3 devices on the other), as well as the Actigraph wGT3X-BT, and swapped sides between each walk. All devices were swapped dominant-to-nondominant side and vice-versa between the two 1000 step walks. The number of steps was recorded with a tally counter. Age, sex, height, weight, and dominant hand were self-reported by each participant. Results: Among the 60 participants, 36 were female (60%) and 54 were right-handed (90%). Median age was 53 years (min=19, max=83), median BMI was 24.1 (min=18.4, max=39.6). There was no significant difference in left- and right-hand step counts by device. Our analyses show that the Fitbit Surge significantly undercounted steps across all age groups. Samsung Gear S2 significantly undercounted steps only for participants among the 40-64 year age group. Finally, the Nexus 6P significantly undercounted steps for the group ranging from 65-84 years. Conclusions: Our analysis shows that apart from the Fitbit Surge, most of the recent mobile devices we tested do not overcount or undercount steps in the 18-39-year-old age group, however some devices undercount steps in older age groups. This finding suggests that accuracy in step counting may be an issue with some popular wearable devices, and that age may be a factor in undercounting. These results are particularly important for clinical interventions using such devices and other activity trackers, in particular to balance energy requirements with energy expenditure in the context of a weight loss intervention program. [JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2017;5(6):e88]
Underwater Platforms for Chemical Detection

Abstract : Chemical detection underwater is playing increasingly important roles for both military and environmental applications. Use of unmanned underwater vehicles as sensor platforms allow extended ranges and greater area coverage with minimal risk to personnel and high-value assets. There are a variety of underwater platform types available including remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and crawlers. The benefits and tradeoffs of each platform type will be discussed with regard to the specific mission and environments. ROVs are the most mature of the platforms, with a wide range of systems in use in the Fleet and commercially. AUVs are becoming available and will provide extended capabilities in the future. State of the art systems and directions will be presented.
Ligand-Enabled γ-C(sp3)–H Cross-Coupling of Nosyl-Protected Amines with Aryl- and Alkylboron Reagents

Pd(II)-catalyzed γ-C(sp3)–H cross-coupling of 4-nitrobenzenesulfonyl (Ns)-protected amines is realized using both arylboron and alkylboron coupling partners. An acetyl-protected aminomethyl oxazoline (APAO) ligand is found to enable the C(sp3)–H arylation reaction, whereas mono-N-protected amino acid (MPAA) ligands promote the C(sp3)–H cross-coupling with various alkylboron reagents. Notably, the APAO-promoted C–H arylation reactions afford high diastereoselectivity (>20:1), providing a useful method for modifying chiral amines. The use of a common nosyl protecting group to direct C(sp3)–H activation significantly improves the practicality of this transformation, as demonstrated by the gram-scale stereoselective synthesis of γ-aryl- and γ-alkyl-α-amino acids.
Understanding the Effects of Stigma Messages: Danger Appraisal and Message Judgments.

Media coverage of health issues has been criticized for creating health stigmas. The model of stigma communication (MSC, Smith, 2007) provides insights into why this is so, but it has two problems:...
A Compact 212.5-Gbit/s Transmitter Optical Sub-Assembly with DMLs and Quad Linear Driver

We present a compact 212.5-Gbit/s transmitter optical sub-assembly equipped with directly modulated lasers and quad 53.125-Gbit/s linear driver. We demonstrate high-quality and high-output-power operation with low-power consumption (1.01 W), which is desirable for 200GBASE-LR4 application.
Electrochemical Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-Furandicarboxylic Acid (FDCA) in Acidic Media Enabling Spontaneous FDCA Separation.

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) has become an increasingly desirable platform chemical to replace terephthalic acid in the production of a variety of polymeric materials, including polyethylene terephthalate. FDCA can be produced by the oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which can be derived from cellulosic biomass. Oxidation of HMF to FDCA is typically performed under basic conditions. Separation of FDCA is most easily accomplished by lowering the pH until FDCA is insoluble and filtering it from solution. In a large-scale process, this would lead to a high operating cost to purchase the required acid and base and to dispose of the resulting salt waste. In this study, electrochemical oxidation of HMF was carried out in acidic media by using a manganese oxide (MnOx ) anode to remove the need to vary the pH to separate FDCA. The MnOx anode afforded a FDCA yield of 53.8 % in a pH 1 H2 SO4 solution, in which FDCA precipitation occurred spontaneously from the same reaction solution without altering the pH or other aspects of the solution composition. Electrochemical oxidation in acidic media offers a new pathway to convert HMF into maleic acid, which is another desirable biomass-derived platform molecule. The performance of the MnOx anode was investigated in comparison with that of a Pt anode to identify unique electrocatalytic properties of the MnOx anode for HMF oxidation.
Which method of flicker perimetry is most effective for detection of glaucomatous visual field loss

Purpose The authors compared the efficacy of two different forms of flicker perimetry: temporal modulation perimetry (TMP), which measures contrast thresholds for a fixed temporal frequency, and critical flicker frequency (CFF), which measures the highest frequency for which flicker is detected at a fixed contrast. Methods The authors compared 16 patients with early to moderate glaucomatous visual field loss with 16 age-matched normal controls. Flicker stimuli consisted of 2 degrees diameter targets of 2 seconds in duration, presented in 44 locations throughout the central 30 degrees visual field. Flicker was presented within a cosine envelope to avoid temporal transients. For TMP, contrast sensitivity thresholds were measured for 8-Hz sinusoidal flicker; CFF thresholds were measured for a stimulus of 100% contrast. Results The results indicate that TMP and CFF produced similar test-retest reliability in normals. CFF had slightly better reliability in glaucoma patients. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that TMP could provide better separation of normals and glaucoma patients than did CFF. Similar findings were obtained when the thresholds for both procedures were converted to Z scores. Conclusions Both methods of flicker perimetry testing provide acceptable test-retest reliability, and both can distinguish normal subjects from glaucoma patients. However, TMP is more effective in separating normal subjects from glaucoma patients than CFF, suggesting that TMP is the method of choice for detecting glaucomatous damage using flicker perimetry.
Pancreatic cancer stem cells and EMT in drug resistance and metastasis

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is an aggressive malignancy with one of the worst outcomes among all cancers. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States with a very low five-year survival rate. The high mortality of PC could, in part, be due to their drug resistance characteristics and high propensity for metastasis. Recently, cancer stem cells (CSCs) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-type cells, which shares molecular characteristics with CSCs, have been believed to play critical roles in drug resistance and cancer metastasis as demonstrated in several human malignancies including PC. Thus, the discovery of molecular knowledge of drug resistance and metastasis in relation to CSCs and EMT in PC is becoming an important area of research, and such knowledge is likely to be helpful in the discovery of newer drugs as well as designing novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of PC with better outcome. In this brief review, we will summarize the current knowledge regarding the CSCs and EMT in the context of drug resistance and metastasis in PC, the molecular events occurring in CSCs and EMT, and the design of novel therapeutic strategies targeting CSCs and EMT-type cells to increase drug sensitivity and suppression of metastasis toward better treatment outcome of patients diagnosed with PC.
What to Expect in Morphosyntactic Typology and Terminology

There is no single right way of doing fieldwork, but there are some wrong ways. For example, it would be wrong for a fieldworker to begin a data gathering session with no knowledge of the possible grammatical structures that s/he is about to encounter.
Indications for Abrupt Holocene Climatic Change: Late Holocene Oxygen Isotope Stratigraphy of the Great Salt Lake, Utah

Oxygen-isotope stratigraphy in sediment cores together with carbonate mineralogy and percent carbonate stratigraphies have been used to reconstruct salinity changes, that is lake-level changes of the Great Salt Lake, Utah. For the late Holocene (last 5,500 years), the data suggest the following: 1) the lake level fluctuated frequently with abrupt changes above and below the modern mean elevation showing high and low extremes greater than those recorded in the historic lake-level curve, 2) there were two periods (minima) of approximately 750 years duration each, when salinities were probably greater and more constant than the modern mean, interpreted as periods of lower average lake levels with fresh-water inflow predominantly from summer precipitation, 3) there were three periods (maxima) of approximately 1500 years duration each, when probable salinities were often less than now but experienced large excursions around the modern mean. These are interpreted as periods of higher lake levels with fresh-water inflow predominantly from winter precipitation, 4) the maxima and minima show an apparent cyclicity and are considered to be controlled by climatically induced changes in weather patterns. The transitions between periods appear to be abrupt occurring on the order of about 100 years.
Epidemiology of Herpes Simplex Viruses

Epidemiology treatises are notoriously dull as they recite statistics on the incidence and prevalence of infection as well as the implications of these infections on the salubrity of the community. In these commentaries, the data presented and their evaluation, which is often subject to multiple interpretations, invariably reflect the bias of the author. In studies of herpes simplex viruses (HSV), these biases are particularly apparent. The field has been influenced by many investigators who have performed excellent research aimed toward the understanding of the physiology of these viruses and their interactions with the host. Every attempt will be made to distinguish sound and precise clinical observations from those that warrant further clarification. Controversial issues range from the very simplistic, such as the incidence of symptomatic versus asymptomatic primary infections, to the more complex and unique propensities of these viruses, namely their apparent ability to cause recurrent disease and incrimination as oncogenic agents.
Semi-supervised abstraction-augmented string kernel for multi-level bio-relation extraction

Bio-relation extraction (bRE), an important goal in bio-text mining, involves subtasks identifying relationships between bio-entities in text at multiple levels, e.g., at the article, sentence or relation level. A key limitation of current bRE systems is that they are restricted by the availability of annotated corpora. In this work we introduce a semisupervised approach that can tackle multi-level bRE via string comparisons with mismatches in the string kernel framework. Our string kernel implements an abstraction step, which groups similar words to generate more abstract entities, which can be learnt with unlabeled data. Specifically, two unsupervised models are proposed to capture contextual (local or global) semantic similarities between words from a large unannotated corpus. This Abstraction-augmented String Kernel (ASK) allows for better generalization of patterns learned from annotated data and provides a unified framework for solving bRE with multiple degrees of detail. ASK shows effective improvements over classic string kernels on four datasets and achieves state-of-the-art bRE performance without the need for complex linguistic features.
Feeding behavior of Lemur catta and Lemur fulvus

The feeding behavior of two sympatric species of lemurs, Lemur cattaand Lemur fulvus,was studied in an enclosure simulating a natural habitat at the Duke University Primate Center. L. fulvusspent less time feeding during the day than L. catta.But the former species ate more fruit and had longer feeding bouts on preferred food items than L. catta.They also had a shorter food passage time than L. cattaand their choice of resting places was more influenced by food distribution. Furthermore, the two lemur species ate parts of different plant species and showed different reactions to chemical plant components. According to these results, L. fulvusis a more conservative feeder than L. catta.These interspecific differences in feeding behavior may be one of a number of differences that allow the two species to coexist. In allopatry, however, L. fulvusmay also adopt feeding patterns similar to those of L. catta.But L. cattawas never found to change its feeding strategies in different areas. It may be this option of L. fulvusto adopt different feeding strategies in different situations that allows this species to have the widest range of all Malagasy lemurs.
The Clinical Implications of Adding CT Angiography in the Evaluation of Cervical Spine Fractures: A Propensity-Matched Analysis.

Background Advanced-imaging screening for asymptomatic blunt cerebrovascular injury is controversial. Vertebral artery injury (VAI) is most commonly associated with cervical spine fracture, and many guidelines advocate indiscriminate screening for all cervical spine fractures. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the addition of computed tomographic angiography (CTA) results in a change in management for patients with cervical spine fractures. Methods Adult patients treated for acute cervical spine fractures after blunt trauma during the period of 2000 to 2015 were retrospectively identified. Patients who sustained a penetrating trauma or who had a history of neoplasm or prior cervical spine surgery were excluded. The following variables were recorded: age, biologic sex, race, medical comorbidities, Injury Severity Score (ISS), mechanism of injury, whether CTA of the neck was obtained in addition to computed tomography (CT), cervical spine fracture characteristics and treatment, and the presence of VAI. Recommendation for a change in management with antithrombotic therapy was the primary outcome measure. Detection of stroke and of VAI were secondary outcomes. Propensity-score matching was performed to negate the significant differences in baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. Results A total of 3,943 patients were screened for eligibility, and 2,831 patients met the inclusion criteria. Propensity-score matching yielded 1 cohort who underwent CT + CTA and 1 cohort who underwent CT alone, both with 644 patients and equivalent demographic and clinical characteristics. CTA identified definite or indeterminate VAI in 113 patients, and for 62 patients, antithrombotic therapy was recommended. In the CT-alone cohort, VAI was identified in 11 patients incidentally through other imaging, and antithrombotic therapy was recommended for 8 patients. Two patients in the CT + CTA group had major adverse bleeding events as a result of the initiation of antithrombotic therapy. There were no preventable strokes in either group. Conclusions The addition of CTA increased detection of VAI and the recommendation for antithrombotic therapy. There were no preventable strokes in either cohort and 2 major adverse bleeding events attributable to the recommended pharmacologic antithrombotic therapy. Nonselective screening is not warranted and should be limited to a high-risk subset of patients. Level of evidence Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Recent Immigrants’ Use of Dental Care and Health Insurance Status in the USA

According to existing research, immigrants have poorer oral health than the US-born population. Evidence suggests that immigrants’ poor oral health is associated with a lack of health insurance and a lower use of preventive dental services. However, the role of Medicaid coverage on immigrants’ use of dental healthcare has not been well investigated. To explore if the use of oral healthcare services increased among immigrants with Medicaid, this study analyzed a sample of 7578 legal immigrants aged between 18 and 65 using the 2003 New Immigrant Survey. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to examine the relationship between immigrants’ health insurance status and the use of dental healthcare. More than 60% of recent immigrants were not covered by any health insurance, and 56% did not schedule any dental services during the year prior to the survey. The results of the logistic regression revealed that immigrants covered by employment or private insurance were 74.3% more likely to have a regularly scheduled dental service, compared to immigrants who were uninsured. Having Medicaid coverage, however, was either not associated with or had smaller effect size in predicting immigrants’ use of dental services using the two analytic samples. The results of an additional bivariate analysis suggested that Medicaid was insufficient in covering dental healthcare expenses. This study highlighted the low use of dental services among recent immigrants and the high proportion of them currently uninsured. The study also suggested the need for better coverage of dental healthcare expenses for Medicaid recipients.
An Exploration of Useful Telemedicine-Based Resources for Clinical Research

Background: Clinical trials are key to ensuring high-quality, effective, and safe health care interventions, but there are many barriers to their successful and timely implementation. Difficulties with participant recruitment and enrollment are largely affected by difficulties with obtaining informed consent. Teleconsent is a telemedicine- based approach to obtaining informed consent and offers a unique solution to limitations of traditional consent approaches. Methods: We conducted a survey among 134 clinical trial researchers in academic/university-, industry-, and clinically based settings. The survey addressed important aspects of teleconsent, potential teleconsent enhancements, and other telehealth capabilities to support clinical research. Results: The majority of respondents viewed teleconsent as an important approach for obtaining informed consent and indicated that they would likely use teleconsent if available. Consenting participants at remote sites, increasing access to clinical trials, and consenting participants in their homes were viewed as the greatest opportunities for teleconsent. Features for building, validating, and assessing understanding of teleconsent forms, mobile capabilities, three-way teleconsent calls, and direct links to forms via recruitment websites were viewed as important teleconsent enhancements. Other telehealth capabilities to support clinical research, including surveys, file transfer, three-way video, screenshare, and photo capture during telemedicine visits, and proposed telemedicine capabilities such as video call recording, ID information capture, and integration of medical devices, were also viewed as important. Conclusions: Teleconsent and telemedicine are promising solutions to some common challenges to clinical trials. Many barriers to study recruitment and enrollment might be overcome by investing time and resources and further evaluating this technology.
Mitochondria in gastric epithelial cells are the key targets for NSAIDs-induced injury and NGF cytoprotection.

Gastric epithelial cells are important components of mucosal protection and targets of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)-induced injury. Diclofenac (DFN) is one of the most widely used NSAIDs; however, even its short-term use can induce gastric erosions and ulcers. Nerve growth factor (NGF) has been reported to act not only on neuronal cells but also on endothelial cells; however, its action on gastric epithelial cells is unknown. This study was aimed to determine, whether NGF can protect gastric epithelial cells against DFN-induced injury, and to determine the underlying molecular mechanisms with a focus on mitochondria, survivin, and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Cultured normal rat gastric mucosal epithelial cells 1 (RGM1) were treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; control), NGF (100 ng/mL) and/or DFN (0.25-1.00 mM) for 4 hours. We examined: (1) cell injury by confocal microscopy; (2) cell death/survival using Calcein AM live cell tracking dye; (3) mitochondrial structure and membrane potential function using MitoTracker in live cells; and (4) expression of NGF, its receptor - tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA), survivin and IGF-1 by immunostaining. DFN treatment of RGM1 cells for 4 hours caused extensive cell injury, mitochondrial disintegration, reduced cell viability (from 94 ± 3% in controls to 14 ± 4% in 0.5 mM DFN-treated cells; P < 0.001), and expression of survivin and IGF-1. NGF treatment significantly increased survivin and IGF-1 expression by 41% and 75%, respectively versus PBS controls. Pretreatment with NGF before DFN treatment reduced mitochondrial damage and cell death by 73% and 82%, respectively versus treatment with DFN alone (all P < 0.001). This study also showed the presence of high-affinity TrkA receptors in the plasma membrane and mitochondria of RGM1 cells indicating novel actions of NGF.
SUBMASSIVE PULMONARY EMBOLISM: ARE WE FALSELY REASSURED BY NORMOTENSION?

Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Current risk stratification tools utilize clinical parameters such as blood pressure (BP), cardiac biomarkers, and evidence of right ventricular strain to prognosticate patients with acute PE. We sought to
A Dynamic Individual-Based Model for High-Resolution Ant Interactions

Ant feeding interactions (i.e., trophallaxis events) are thought to regulate the flow of nutrients and disease within a colony. Consequently, there is great interest in learning which environmental and behavioral factors drive ant trophallaxis. In this paper, we analyze ant trophallaxis behavior in a colony of 73 carpenter ants, observed at 1-s intervals over a period of 4 h. The data represent repeated observations from a dynamic contact network; however, traditional statistical analyses of network models are ill-suited for data observed at such high temporal resolution. We present a model for high-resolution longitudinal network data, where the network is assumed to be a time inhomogeneous, continuous-time Markov chain, with transition rates modeled as a function of time-varying individual and pairwise biological covariates. In particular, the high temporal resolution of the data leads to a tractable likelihood function, and likelihood-based inference procedures are utilized to explain which biological factors drive contact. Our results reveal how differences in ant social castes and individual behaviors, such as ant speed and activity levels, influence patterns of ant trophallaxis in the colony. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online.
Hybrid Batch Bayesian Optimization

Bayesian Optimization (BO) aims at optimizing an unknown function that is costly to evaluate. We focus on applications where concurrent function evaluations are possible. In such cases, BO could choose to either sequentially evaluate the function (sequential mode) or evaluate the function with multiple inputs at once (batch mode). The sequential mode generally leads to better optimization performance as each function evaluation is selected with more information, whereas the batch mode is more time efficient (smaller number of iterations). Our goal is to combine the strength of both settings. We systematically analyze BO using a Gaussian Process as the posterior estimator and provide a hybrid algorithm that dynamically switches between sequential and batch with variable batch sizes. We theoretically justify our algorithm and present experimental results on eight benchmark BO problems. The results show that our method achieves substantial speedup (up to 78%) compared to sequential, without suffering any significant performance loss.
Characterization of the Interaction between Cleaved High Molecular Weight Kininogen (HKa) and Tropomyosin (TM) on Endothelial Cells.

We previously reported that two chain human high molecular weight kininogen (HKa) inhibited angiogenesis by selectively inducing apoptosis of proliferating endothelial cells (Zhang et al. FASEB J., 2000). This activity appears to depend upon binding of HKa to endothelial cell tropomyosin, as it was completely inhibited by anti-tropomyosin monoclonal antibody (mAb) TM-311. mAb TM-311 also blocked the high-affinity Zn2+-dependent binding of HKa to both purified tropomyosin (TM) and proliferating endothelial cells (Zhang et al., PNAS 2003). However, endothelial cells express several different isoforms of TM, and the isoform(s) expressed on the endothelial cell surface, and the regions within it that bind HKa are unknown. To identify which isoform of TM is expressed on the surface of endothelial cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were briefly exposed to a buffer containing 0.05 M glycine, 0.1 M NaCl, pH 3.0, and the resultant eluate was probed with isoform specific anti-tropomyosin antibodies that recognize TMs 1–5. Only TM5 was detected, with approximately 2.5-fold more TM5 eluted from proliferating versus confluent cells. Northern blot analysis also showed that the expression of TM5 mRNA was higher in the proliferating versus confluent cells. To locate the binding site for HKa in human TM, hTM3 was digested by CNBr, producing three fragments containing amino acids 10–127, 141–200 and 208–270. These were incubated with HKa and the mixture then passed through a Superose 6 gel filtration column. Analysis of the first peak that eluted from the column by tricine gel electrophoresis revealed two bands, the smaller of which contained the N-terminal CNBr-derived TM fragment (aa 10–127), and the larger of which contained HKa. Taken together with our previous observation that HKa binds with similar affinity to TM isoforms 1–5, suggesting that it binds to a homologous region among these proteins, these findings suggest that the binding site for HKa resides within the homologous region within the N-terminal TM fragment, and is likely contained within amino acids 81 to127aa of TM3 (Figure). Since these results suggest that at least hTM5 is non-covalently associated with the endothelial cell surface, we have begun to explore the nature of this interaction. Endothelial cell surface proteins were cross linked using the membrane-impermeable cross-linker, BS3, and cell extracts were then immunoblotted using the anti-hTM5 antibody LC-1. These result revealed native hTM5 (~30 kD), as well as a new band of ~60 kD, suggesting an association of hTM5 with a cell surface protein of approximately equal size. In conclusion, our results suggest that the anti-endothelial cell activity of HKa is mediated through binding to cell surface hTM5, via a homologous region of this protein shared with other non-muscle tropomyosins. ![Figure][1] [1]: pending:yes
A Dynamic Perspective

The concluding step in our Odyssey is a look back, with the intention of combining the themes of product costing, decision making, and performance evaluation. For pedagogical purposes we approached these topics in stages, moving from product costing to decision making to performance evaluation. It behooves us to devote some resources to integrating these themes. We do this by emphasizing a more dynamic perspective.
Single-molecule interaction microscopy reveals antibody binding kinetics

Single-molecule imaging has provided new insights on weak transient biomolecular interactions with micromolar to millimolar affinity. However, the limited duration of observation has hindered the study of strong and reversible interactions with sub-nanomolar affinity. We report single-molecule interaction microscopy (SMIM), which combines point accumulation for imaging in nanoscale topography (PAINT) with extended imaging durations that enables the study of antibody binding kinetics in the cellular environment. SMIM revealed heterogeneous binding kinetics and the effect of concentration and antibody valency on the association and dissociation rates on antibody-antigen interactions in their cellular environments. We thereby demonstrate SMIM as a versatile single-molecule technique for studying strong, transient biomolecular interactions.
Realtime WRF LES Simulations to Support UAS Flight Planning and Operations During 2018 LAPSE-RATE

Abstract. The simulations were forced using data from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) and the Global Forecast System (GFS) obtained from the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Central Operations (NCO). The nested WRF configuration used in this study featured a large-eddy-permitting, 111-m grid spacing mesh for the inner-most domain. Output from the WRF forecasts were processed on-the-fly using the Unified Post Processor (UPP). A THREDDS data server was coupled with a web-viewer to provide real-time graphics that were used to support UAS flight planning and decision making. The simulations ran in under six hours on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Cheyenne supercomputer using 59 cores (2124 processors). The simulations were run twice per day (12 runs total during the experiment) to support both next-day mission planning and day-of tactical guidance. The simulations provided a high-resolution depiction of the four-dimensional variability of weather conditions across the northern half of the San Luis Valley, Colorado, where UAS operations took place. The simulations were used to assess the possibility of a number of small UAS weather hazards including wind shift boundaries, vertical shear, strong thermals, turbulence intensity, fog, low ceilings, and thunderstorms. Details of the model configuration used to perform the simulations and the data processing steps used to produce the final grids of state variables and other sensible weather products (e.g., ceiling and visibility, turbulence) are given. A few examples of predictive capabilities of the modeling system are provided to illustrate the skill of the model at predicting fine-scale boundary layer structures and turbulence associated with drainage winds, up-valley flows, and convective storm outflows. A subset of the at data is available at the Zenodo data archive ( https://zenodo.org/communities/lapse-rate/ ) while full dataset (see Pinto et al. 2020a) is archived on the NCAR Digital Asset Services Hub (DASH) and may be obtained at https://doi.org/10.5065/83r2-0579 .