cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Hedgehog Regulated Transcription Factor and Tumor Suppressor, Gli3, Regulates Hematopoietic Stem Cell Number, Self-Renewal and Differentiation

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays a critical role in embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis and has emerged as an important therapeutic target in many cancers, including leukemia and myeloproliferative diseases. Our mechanistic understanding of Hh pathway signaling and regulation comes primarily from developmental studies in neural and limb development. Studies of Hedgehog signaling in the hematopoietic system have produced contradictory results, and no clear consensus regarding Hh signaling in normal hematopoiesis is available to inform the role of Hedgehog signaling in hematologic malignancies. In our work we have focused on understanding the downstream effectors of Hedgehog signaling, the Gli transcription factors. The three Gli proteins, Gli1, Gli2 and Gli3 have both transcriptional activator and repressor functions, which allow for regulation and fine-tuning of Hedgehog pathway output. Previous studies from our group have revealed that Gli1null HSCs had no defects in self-renewal, however myeloid differentiation and stress hematopoiesis were severely impaired (Merchant, et al., Blood 2010). In normal tissues, Hh pathway activation via Ptch/Smo causes an increase in the downstream activating transcription factor GLI1 and a decrease in the transcriptional repressor Gli3R. Our recent studies demonstrated that GLI3R has a tumor suppressor role in human acute myeloid leukemia by directly repressing AKT expression (Chaudhry et al., AACR Annual Meeting 2015). To date nothing is known about the role of Gli3 in normal hematopoiesis. In the present study, we crossed Vav-Cre transgenic mice to Gli3fl/fl mice to generate mice with a conditional loss of Gli3 (Gli3null) in the hematopoietic system. HSC self-renewal was analyzed by serial transplant. In comparison to HSCs from Gli3 wild type (Gli3WT) mice bone marrow (BM), HSCs from Gli3null BM showed decreased long-term engraftment and self-renewal. In addition, quantification of long-term HSC (LT-HSC, CD34neg Flt3neg KSL), short-term HSC (ST-HSC, CD34+ Flt3neg KSL), and multi-potent progenitor (MPP, CD34+ Flt3+ KSL) revealed that the frequency of LT-HSCs in Gli3null BM (0.004-0.007%) was lower compared to Gli3 WT BM (0.008-0.02%). In mice transplanted with Gli3null BM, myeloid expansion was observed with a block in T and B cell lineage differentiation. Analysis of the c-Kit+ Sca1neg Linneg (KL) myeloid progenitor compartment revealed a two-fold increase in the FcRγhigh CD34+ KL granulocyte-monocyte progenitors (GMPs) in Gli3null BM, suggesting an expansion of granulocytic compartment. Since Gli3R is a key negative regulator of Gli1, these are consistent with decrease in GMP and myeloid differentiation previously seen in Gli1null mice. In summary, our studies reveal a previously unknown function for Gli3 in regulating HSCs and myeloid differentiation, and help to elucidate the complex regulation of Hh signaling in the hematopoietic system. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Occupational Engagement in Low-Income Latina Breast Cancer Survivors.

Objective This qualitative study examined the experience of occupational engagement in low-income Latina breast cancer survivors and suggests the potential for occupational therapy practitioners to improve health outcomes in this vulnerable and underserved population. Method Semistructured interviews were conducted with 9 participants. Inductive analysis was used to code for themes and patterns related to occupational engagement and quality of life (QOL). Results Lack of occupational engagement negatively affected QOL, but participation in occupations such as religious activity and caregiving promoted well-being. Financial concerns and communication barriers decreased QOL. Conclusion Breast cancer can have a negative impact on occupational engagement in low-income Latina breast cancer survivors; however, some occupations may increase QOL. Socioeconomic status and cultural values influence occupational engagement and QOL. Occupational therapy practitioners can improve health outcomes in this population through awareness of relevant sociocultural factors and attention to appropriate patient communication.
Chondrosarcoma of the Hand

A case of chondrosarcoma of the proximal Phalanx of the thumb is described. A review of the literature disclosed only sixteen documented cases of chondrosarcoma of the hand. There was no evidence that this tumor developed in an enchondroma. The concentration and distribution of radioactive sulphur in the tumor and in the other tissues of the digit were studied following injection of a tracer dose of S 35 -sodium sulphate. Such isotope studies are of value to distinguish benign from malignant cartilaginous tumors.
Resistant Hypertension: An Update of Experimental and Clinical Findings

An estimated 10% to 30% of hypertensive patients can be considered to be resistant to treatment defined as controlled or uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) with use of ≥4 medications, including a diuretic.1–4 A large number of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have demonstrated that patients with treatment-resistant hypertension compared with patients with more easily controlled hypertension have increased cardiovascular risk, including coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Since publication of the first Scientific Statement on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Resistant Hypertension by the American Heart Association in 2008, which coincided with development of device-based strategies for treating resistant hypertension, resistant hypertension has become a major focus of intensive experimental and clinical investigation.1 In that context, this review highlights scientific advances specific for resistant hypertension that have occurred in the last 2 years, including important findings related to prognosis, medication adherence, clinical use of aldosterone antagonists, and application of device-based therapies. Multiple cross-sectional studies have related resistant hypertension to prevalent cardiovascular and renal diseases.2–8 Recent analyses have strengthened those associations with use of longitudinal or prospective assessments. From a secondary analysis of the ALLHAT (Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial) results, which included 1870 participants with resistant hypertension, Muntner et al9 reported that compared with study participants without resistant hypertension, participants with resistant hypertension had a 44%, 57%, 23%, 88%, 95%, and 30% higher risk of incident coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, heart failure, end-stage renal disease, and all-cause mortality, respectively, during the almost 5-year duration of the study after adjustment for multiple traditional risk factors, such as age, smoking, diabetes mellitus, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Because of the ALLHAT study design, diuretic use in this analysis was not required to …
Using theoretical models from adult stroke recovery to improve use of noninvasive brain stimulation for children with congenital hemiparesis

Noninvasive brain stimulation has been widely used for adults with stroke to improve upper limb motor function. A recent study by Kirton and colleagues (Kirton A, Ciechanski P, Zewdie E, Andersen J...
Haploidentical Hematopoietic Cell Transplant with Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Grafts in Older Adults with Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Abstract Many hematologic malignancies are diseases of aging, and the use of hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) is growing rapidly among older adults. Modern post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) protocols with haploidentical (haplo) donors have dramatically expanded the donor pool for patients requiring HCT. Initial studies were performed with bone marrow grafts, which require the donor to undergo anesthesia during harvest. However, the use of mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) may be desirable, especially with older donors. However, data on PBSC haplo-HCT in older adults are lacking. To characterize the impact of age on outcomes in haplo-HCT, we identified all adult patients undergoing haplo-HCT with PTCy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) at our institution from January 2009 to June 2016. Patients were grouped into 3 cohorts: Age 1 (≤55), Age 2 (55 to 65), and Age 3 (≥65). To characterize the impact of donor type on outcomes in older patients, we identified age- and disease risk index (DRI)-matched patient age ≥ 65 undergoing HLA-matched unrelated donor (MUD) HCT for AML or MDS during the same time frame. Patients were scored for disease risk and underlying comorbidities using the DRI and HCT-specific comorbidity index. Overall survival (OS) was analyzed using 3 different Cox proportional hazards models. We identified 112 haplo-HCT patients, 95 with AML and 17 with MDS. There were 61 patients in Age 1, 29 patients in Age 2, and 22 in Age 3. Median OS was 448, 397, and 147 days in Age 1, Age 2, and Age 3 patients (log-rank, P = .04). After adjusting for other risk factors, age ≥ 65 was associated with significantly worse OS after haplo-HCT (aHR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.15 to 4.07). There was a trend toward increased relapse among older patients at 2 years (56%; 95% CI, 32% to 79%) versus Age 1 (41%; 95% CI, 28% to 54%) and Age 2 (31%; 95% CI, 12% to 50%) (P = .08). Among patients age ≥ 65, donor type (MUD versus haplo) did not impact OS (aHR, 1.03; 95% CI, .56 to 1.88) after adjusting for other risk factors. Prior allo-HCT (aHR, 4.95; 95% CI, 1.82 to 13.49) and myeloablative conditioning (aHR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.04 to 3.73) were associated with inferior survival. Although age ≥ 65 was associated with inferior OS in our haplo-HCT cohort, no difference was seen in survival between MUD and haplo-HCT. Therefore, the use of haploidentical donors in older patients is a reasonable treatment option, especially if there is concern for clinical deterioration. A careful pretransplant evaluation and analysis of risks and benefits is warranted when offering this transplant modality to older adults, especially in patients with previous transplant or poor performance status. Strategies to reduce the risk of relapse and decrease nonrelapse mortality in older adults are areas of ongoing research, and prospective studies are needed.
Anticoagulation prevented recurrent vascular events

Source Citation European Atrial Fibrillation Trial Study Group. Secondary prevention in non-rheumatic atrial fibrillation after transient ischaemic attack or minor stroke. Lancet. 1993 Nov 20;342:1...
Current-Use Flame Retardants in the Water of Lake Michigan Tributaries

In this study, we measured the concentrations of 65 flame retardants in water samples from five Lake Michigan tributaries. These flame retardants included organophosphate esters (OPEs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs), and Dechlorane-related compounds. A total of 59 samples, including both the particulate and the dissolved phases, were collected from the Grand, Kalamazoo, Saint Joseph, and Lower Fox rivers and from the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal (IHSC) in 2015. OPEs were the most abundant among the targeted compounds with geometric mean concentrations ranging from 20 to 54 ng/L; OPE concentrations were comparable among the five tributaries. BFR concentrations were about 1 ng/L, and the most-abundant compounds were bis(2-ethylhexyl) tetrabromophthalate, 2-ethylhexyl 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate, and decabromodiphenyl ether. The highest BFR concentrations were measured in either the IHSC or the Saint Joseph River. The dechlorane-related compounds were detected at low concentrations (<1 pg/L). The fracti...
Ligand dynamics and protonation preferences of Rh and Ir complexes bearing an almost, but not quite, pendent base.

Pendent nucleophiles are essential partners in the cleavage and formation of bonds with hydrogen (e.g. protonation/deprotonation), but binding of the pendent group to the metal and the potential trapping of complexes in inactive states are a significant problem. The dipyridylmethane-based ligand framework bis(2-pyridyl)-N-pyrrolidinomethane (R,pyrCPy2), bearing a hemilabile pyrrolidine moiety, has been synthesized and complexes of the type [(R,pyrCPy2)M(COD)]X (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) were prepared. The solution-phase ligand dynamics and relative protonation preferences were investigated via1H NMR spectroscopy; although favorable, pendent amine binding does not kinetically inhibit pendent base protonation. Protonation at the metal (with concomitant pyrrolidine binding) has been found to be favorable for Ir, whereas N-protonation is favorable for Rh. DFT calculations predict that the RhIII hydrides have much higher relative acidities than their Ir congeners (ΔpKa ≃ 7–8 in CH2Cl2), and are also more acidic than the strong acid [H(OEt2)2][B(C6F5)4].
Protecting the Stack with Metadata Policies and Tagged Hardware

The program call stack is a major source of exploitable security vulnerabilities in low-level, unsafe languages like C. In conventional runtime implementations, the underlying stack data is exposed and unprotected, allowing programming errors to turn into security violations. In this work, we design novel metadata-tag based, stack-protection security policies for a general-purpose tagged architecture. Our policies specifically exploit the natural locality of dynamic program call graphs to achieve cacheability of the metadata rules that they require. Our simple Return Address Protection policy has a performance overhead of 1.2% but just protects return addresses. The two richer policies we present, Static Authorities and Depth Isolation, provide object-level protection for all stack objects. When enforcing memory safety, our Static Authorities policy has a performance overhead of 5.7% and our Depth Isolation policy has a performance overhead of 4.5%. When enforcing data-flow integrity (DFI), in which we only detect a violation when a corrupted value is read, our Static Authorities policy has a performance overhead of 3.6% and our Depth Isolation policy has a performance overhead of 2.4%. To characterize our policies, we provide a stack threat taxonomy and show which threats are prevented by both prior work protection mechanisms and our policies.
Discovering transcriptional signatures of disease for diagnosis versus mechanism.

Transcriptional signatures of disease can be used for diagnosis or to gain insight into disease mechanisms. This Comment article discusses the different sets of criteria that should be considered for the optimal design of investigations addressing these two purposes, using examples from the study of tuberculosis.
Interactions of body temperature and nutritional status on hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in pre-thermoregulatory eastern bluebird chicks (Sialia sialis).

Abstract Early life experiences can affect the function of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis of vertebrates, with potential fitness consequences later in life. In altricial species, for example, variation in parental behavior, e.g. brooding or feeding, can modify the activity of the HPA axis of the young by altering their exposure to noxious stimuli as the young develop in the nest. We have shown that a drop in the body temperature of eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) chicks, such as occurs when females are away from the nest, elevates their blood corticosterone levels. If repeated during the early days of their development, cooling bouts also reduce the chicks’ later corticosterone secretion in response to handling. Thus, variation in maternal behavior has the capacity to shape the function of the chicks’ HPA axis. To better understand how maternal absence from the nest activates the HPA axis of bluebird chicks, we experimentally mimicked the cooling that occurs when the female is away from the nest, and investigated a) the age at which the HPA axis becomes capable of responding to cooling by increasing corticosterone secretion, b) whether corticosterone secretion remains elevated throughout long periods of cooling, and c) whether fasting (also potentially associated with maternal absence) interacts with cooling to affect corticosterone secretion. Cooling for 18 min significantly elevated circulating corticosterone levels of chicks as young as 4 days post-hatch, indicating that their HPA axis is sensitive to cooling very early in life. Corticosterone levels remained elevated throughout longer bouts of cooling. However, a 1-hr period of fasting had no effect on corticosterone secretion, regardless of whether chicks were cooled or not. Collectively, these data demonstrate that variation in maternal brooding behavior can substantially modify the corticosterone profiles of chicks during early postnatal development, and that chick temperature is likely the main driver of this.
The Immunologic Network

Conventional therapy in autoimmune diseases and transplantation, although at times quite effective, brings with it a host of undesirable side effects ranging from severe osteoporosis and iatrogenic Cushing’s syndrome (with corticosteroids) to generalized immunosuppression and increased risk for opportunistic infection (with cyclophosphamide and azathioprine). Based on new developments in our understanding of the functioning and regulation of the immunologic network, a new immunopharmacology has been quietly developed over the past decade whose goals are more precise and defined treatment rationale with specific targeting of drugs to specific molecular sites.
Incongruities Between the Theory and Perception of Regional Development in Less Developed Countries: Toward Bridging the Gap

Planning education for less developed countries suffers from several interrelated problems, of which three are particularly significant. First, despite recent advances, most less developed countries still lack adequate educational resources, including universities, graduate programs, faculty, research facilities, and professional organizations, to educate and train their own planners. A number of publications have examined aspects of such inadequacies, particularly in regional development curricula and have advanced remedial proposals (Friedmann, 1967 and 1973; Dunham and Hilhorst, 1970 and 1971; Perloff, 1971; Kuklinski, 1971; Celestin, 1972; United Nations, 1972; Dix, 1980a). Fundamental to such inadequacies in less developed countries is the allocation of relatively small budgets to higher education in general, compared with defense spending, for example, and to the field of planning in particular (Amirahmadi, 1987a). Research on this aspect of the problem with planning education in less developed countries remains largely underdeveloped.
Just in Crime: Guiding Economic Crime Reform after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

The collapse of Enron in the fall of 2001 left investors, creditors, former employees, and legitimate business leaders asking whether the bankruptcy of the company was solely the product of bad business practices or the consequence of criminal conduct. Deregulation in the energy and telecommunications industries, special access to politicians through lawful generous campaign contributions, and civil litigation "reforms" limiting private securities litigation permitted Enron's conduct to continue unabated by either government regulation or private enforcement. In response to the corporate and accounting scandals that began with Enron, Congress attempted to restore faith in America's financial markets by enacting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which included new criminal statutes and mandated stiffer penalties for economic crimes. Included in the legislation were directives for the United States Sentencing Commission ("Sentencing Commission") to promulgate any amendments to the Guidelines necessary to "reflect the serious nature" of corporate fraud.This Article considers the application of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to current economic crime, addressing two Guidelines-related issues that will impact sentencing of the new millennium's economic criminals: first, whether substantive changes in the Sentencing Guidelines based on the new legislation are needed given the recently adopted 2001 Economic Crime Package and Money Laundering Guidelines; and second, whether the increased trend in downward departures under the Guidelines can be curbed to affect the nature of the Economic Crime Package and corporate fraud reforms in light of the broad discretion permitted sentencing judges as acknowledged by the Supreme Court.Currently, either because of deregulation or litigation "reform," the civil deterrence matrix is insufficient. History has shown that it is not just the consumers, the investors, and the employees who are harmed. The business community itself cannot function with companies like Enron slowly eroding the confidence in our financial markets. While the revisions to the fraud section of the Guidelines are a start, this Article suggests that the use of downward departures in economic crime cases must be restricted to rare instances when the Sentencing Guidelines do not adequately take into account extraordinary circumstances. In that vein, this Article sets forth a "guided" departure scheme for sentencing economic crimes to narrow discretionary departures in economic crime cases so that the basis for departure is not permitted to alter the sentencing range by more than a fraction of the overall term of imprisonment.
Disarming the War of the Growth Machines: A Panel Study

Intercommunity variation in growth machine activities, including the manipulation of the business climate and vertical integration with state economic development programs, net migration, and land use change are examined using a sample of 96 small urban places. A panel design and key informant methodology, 1970–90, permit cross-sectional and longitudinal observation. Using regression analysis with appropriate statistical controls, the research indicates that growth machines, particularly those in affluent communities, do intensify land uses. The business climate also negatively affects changes in business and industrial land uses as well as net migration. Some local efforts may not affect growth until the subsequent decade. The research suggests that growth machine activities are intensifying and may be exacerbating social inequality between places, especially affluent residential communities and declining working-class communities in the old industrial belt.
Mental Organs and the Origins of Mind

I introduce a new hypothesis of the origin of complex mind through the emergence of “mental organs,” populations of neurons that bear a specific G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) on their surface. Mental organs provide a direct connection between mental properties (compassion, comfort, awe, joy, reason, consciousness), and the genes and regulatory elements associated with GPCR. Mental properties associated with mental organs have heritable genetic variation and are thus evolvable. Mental organs evolve by duplication and divergence. Over three hundred different GPCR are expressed in the human brain, providing a genetic and regulatory system that allows evolution to richly sculpt the mind.
Photophysical studies of Ru(II)tris(2,2′-bipyridine) encapsulated within the ZnHKUST-1 metal organic framework

Abstract The ability to encapsulate photoactive metal complexes within porous metal organic frameworks (MOF) provides a new platform through which to develop photocatalytic materials. A particularly attractive MOF for photocatalytic guest encapsulation is the ZnHKUST-1 material due to the fact that this materials is optically transparent, has cavities of the appropriate size for encapsulation of transition metal guests and can be easily synthesized. Here we report the synthesis, structural characterization and photophysical properties of [Ru(2,2′-bipyridine)3]2+ (RuBpy) encapsulated within ZnHKUST-1 (RuBpy@ZnHKUST-1). The photophysics observed from the encapsulated RuBpy are distinct from those observed in solution exhibiting a biphasic decay of the triplet metal-to-ligand charge transfer state (3MLCT). The fast phase (133 ns) is attributed to RuBpy encapsulation within non-periodic regions that contain quenchers and a slow phase (744 ns) consistent with encapsulation within a confined environment. The RuBpy@ZnHKUST-1 also displays a bathochromic shift in the steady state emission spectrum relative to RuBpy in ethanol similar to that previously observed in RuBpy@Uio66 but distinct from the isostructural RuBpy@USF2.
Phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor of the nasal cavity: Clinicopathologic correlation is essential for diagnosis

Abstract Phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor (PMT) is a rare neoplasm in which the tumor cells produce fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), leading to oncogenic osteomalacia and thus a distinct clinical presentation. However, the pathologic findings of PMT are often non-specific and variable, especially in tumors occurring in the head and neck. We present a case of a 66-year-old female who presented with osteomalacia-related symptoms and was found to have a nasal cavity mass. Histopathologic examination was suggestive of PMT but certain characteristic features were lacking, requiring confirmation of the diagnosis by chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) assay for FGF23 mRNA. The patient's symptoms and laboratory abnormalities resolved upon resection of the tumor.
Na pele de seda da criação - reescritura como tradução em Cobra Norato, de Raul Bopp

Apresento uma leitura do continuado trabalho de reescritura que Raul Bopp conferiu a Cobra Norato , no qual faz a criacao do poema mimetizar uma imagem do poema-rapisodico (“a pele de seda elastica”) como procedimento de auto-traducao lirica. Exploro o imagismo do poema, percorrendo possibilidades interpretativas sobre uma etica do olhar levada a cabo por um discurso poetico que se anuncia “de olhos vendados” e “de corpo aberto”. Assim, a reescritura de Bopp permite conceber um trabalho de traducao de uma sensibilidade a materialidade discursiva que lhe serve de substrato, redundando, por sua vez, numa perspectiva do poeta moderno como mediador de corpos em heterodoxas zonas de contato cultural, como a Amazonia
Surgical Ethics and the Surgical Societies: What Are We Doing?

Surgical professional societies constitute a diverse group of organizations whose primary purposes are generally a combination of education and advocacy—advocacy for both the profession and for patients. Such organizations also reflect the ethical norms and values of their members which they may publish through policies and written codes of conduct. The purpose of this chapter is to examine how professional surgical societies address various ethical issues—whether it be at the policy level, the internal self-governance of the organization, discipline and supervision of the professional behavior of its members, or the educational level. This chapter will also address the issue of managing conflicts between the ethical perspectives of different professional societies—whether an individual member has to choose between the ethical obligations espoused by multiple organizations or whether there can be a middle ground.
Accelerated trans-sulfuration metabolically defines a discrete subclass of ALS patients

Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disease characterized by progressive paralysis and death. Most ALS cases are sporadic (sALS) and patient heterogeneity poses a formidable challenge for the development of viable biomarkers and effective therapies. Applying untargeted metabolite profiling on 77 sALS patient-derived primary dermal fibroblast lines and 45 sex/age matched controls, we found that ∼25% of cell lines (termed sALS-1) are characterized by upregulated trans-sulfuration, where methionine-derived homocysteine is channeled into cysteine and glutathione synthesis. sALS-1 fibroblasts exhibit a growth defect when grown under oxidative conditions, that can be fully-rescued by N-acetylcysteine. [U-13C]-glucose tracing shows that activation of the trans-sulfuration pathway is associated with accelerated glucose flux into the TCA cycle. Based on four metabolites, we developed a support vector machine model capable of distinguishing sALS-1 with 97.5% accuracy. Importantly, plasma metabolite profiling identifies a systemic perturbation of cysteine metabolism as a hallmark of sALS-1. These results indicate that sALS patients can be stratified into distinct metabotypes, differently sensitive to metabolic stress, and provides new insights into metabolic biomarkers for personalized sALS therapy.
Demographic change, political backlash, and challenges in the study of geography.

Hill et al.’s study (1) of the relationship between Hispanic population growth and voters’ support for Donald Trump contributes to our understanding of the larger puzzle of diversity and politics. The relationship between diversity and reactionary politics should be considered one of the most important sociopolitical issues facing the world today—it is a near certainty that almost every developed country and many developing countries will be more diverse a generation from now than they are today (2). And, thus, if increasing diversity affects political outcomes, the relationship can point in two consequentially different directions: toward increased diversity liberalizing politics or toward increased diversity causing a reactionary backlash. The different possible directions of this effect may point to profoundly divergent paths for the harmony of future societies. If demographic change causes a reactionary backlash, this has grave implications for the long-term success of diverse places: If people are compelled to “hunker down” in the face of demographic change (2) and cannot achieve political and economic cooperation with diverse peers (3, 4), then societies face a choice of trading short-term economic and political success for the long-term social, economic, and ethical benefits of increasing diversity (5). Indeed, the relationship between ethnic diversity and a host of socially undesirable outcomes, including poor economic growth (6), unstable politics (7), and even violence (8), paints a grim picture for the future of a diversifying world. The election of Trump in 2016 is, by some accounts, a demonstration of this phenomenon: Following on his antiimmigrant campaign rhetoric, Trump has pursued the xenophobic policies that have slowed the flow of immigration into the United States—thus a reactionary backlash to demographic change has damaged the potential human-capital benefits that come with future diversity. And the antiimmigrant sentiment that brought Trump victory is, by some accounts, part of … [↵][1]1Email: renos{at}gov.harvard.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Quality of Life in Older Patients with Congestive Heart Failure

Prolonged angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition has been consistently demonstrated to increase life expectancy in symptomatic patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), and decrease morbidity in asymptomatic patients with left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction. However, prolonged ACE inhibition has not been shown to consistently improve the quality of life of patients with symptomatic CHF. The failure of ACE inhibition to improve quality of life cannot be readily explained, but several factors may contribute to this apparent lack of effect. First, endpoints such as death or hospitalisation are clearly easier to quantify and monitor than a patient’s perception of how much CHF affects his/her life. Secondly, while ACE inhibition delays the progression of LV systolic dysfunction, which is the primary determinant of prognosis, it may not reverse the alterations in skeletal muscle vasculature, metabolism and mass, which are primarily responsible for exercise intolerance in patients with CHF. Lastly, patients with CHF, and particularly older patients, are also often incapacitated by other disease processes such as arthritis, loss of balance, pulmonary disorders and anaemia, which, to a large extent, affect the quality of their life more than LV systolic dysfunction and/or CHF.
Symplectic Banach–Mazur distances between subsets of ℂn

Following proposals of Ostrover and Polterovich, we introduce and study “coarse” and “fine” versions of a symplectic Banach–Mazur distance on certain open subsets of ℂn and other open Liouville dom...
Combining obesity pharmacotherapy with endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies

Abstract Endoscopic bariatric and metabolic therapies (EBMT) are rarely used in the United States. Compared with EBMTs alone, combining EBMTs with obesity pharmacotherapy may increase the magnitude and durability of weight loss and ultimately may contribute to increased patient satisfaction and EBMT utilization. Though combination therapy is frequently used in clinical practice, few published studies of combination EBMT/pharmacotherapy are available. Available studies and abstracts suggest that combination strategies are promising, but further research and clinical trials are needed. This article will review available obesity pharmacotherapy options and describe current data on combining EBMT and pharmacotherapy.
Addition of an irrigation channel to a surgical template to facilitate cooling during implant osteotomy.

Abstract The increased precision and design of surgical templates for static computer-aided implant surgery has led to concerns of excessive heat generation from the friction between the twist drills, metal sleeves in the surgical template, and guide handles during osteotomy preparation. In addition, the presence of a surgical template can prevent proper cooling of the twist drill as it enters the osteotomy site, leading to greater heat generation. This excessive heat may result in bone necrosis and failure of osseointegration to the implant surface. This article describes a straightforward technique of incorporating an existing design feature in many virtual implant planning software programs to add an irrigation channel to the implant surgical template for effective cooling during osteotomy preparation.
Hypersonic Gas Dynamics of Slender Bodies

This article is devoted to a study of current work on theoretical gas dynamics associated with hypersonic flow past slender bodies. From the viewpoint of nonlinear fluid mechanics, the problems are attractive in that they yield to asymptotic analysis. The many flow regimes and distinct layers, on the other hand, make challenging studies of singular perturbations. The relevance of the present study to the engineering problems of hypersonic flight may be found in the discussions in (1–5).
Lymphopenia and clinical outcomes in patients with residual nodal disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer

Patients with residual nodal disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer have a poor prognosis. We wanted to evaluate whether lymphopenia after treatment for breast cancer impacted clinical outcomes. We assessed 99 patients with node-positive disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Absolute lymphocyte count was recorded 1 year after radiation. Dates of local, regional, and distant failure were recorded. Time to event outcomes were evaluated using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Multivariable analysis determined factors predictive for overall survival. Median follow-up was 44 months (range 3–150). Median age was 48 years (range 23–79). Twenty-six patients (26%) had lymphopenia 1 year after RT. Patients with lymphopenia had a greater incidence of regional (p = 0.03) and distant failure (p = 0.009) compared to those with normal lymphocyte counts and had a 6.05 greater risk of death (p = 0.0002). In patients with residual nodal disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, lymphopenia after breast cancer treatment was associated with overall survival. The relationship between lymphopenia and breast cancer outcomes warrants further investigation.
Efficacy And Safety of Low-dose Intravenous Vitamin K For International Normalized Ratio Reversal In Left Ventricular Assist Device Patients

Introduction Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients require warfarin, a vitamin K antagonist, as an anticoagulant to prevent thromboembolic events. LVAD patients that present with bleeding requiring a non-emergent procedure (ie. endoscopy) often require an international normalized ratio (INR) Hypothesis Low-dose IV vitamin K ( Methods We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort analysis comparing low-dose IV vitamin K to “watchful waiting” in 100 LVAD patients. Baseline characteristics such as LVAD type, baseline INR (median and IQR), and vitamin K dose were collected. Primary endpoints included thrombotic and bleeding events within 90 days of discharge and number of patients with INR Results Patients in the IV vitamin K group had no thrombotic events compared to 23% of patients in the “watchful waiting” group (p=0.085). There were 38.5% and 11.8% bleeding event rates in the Vitamin K and “watchful waiting” groups, respectively (p=0.091). Patients receiving Vitamin K were more likely to have an INR Conclusion Using IV vitamin K to reverse warfarin prior to a non-emergent procedure was as safe as and more efficacious than “watchful waiting” alone. The major limitation of this study is its retrospective, non-randomized nature. Future prospective evaluation with a randomized controlled trial will be needed to corroborate these findings.
Use of DEA to Evaluate Non-linear and Imprecise Information in Construction Contractor Performance

This paper explores the use of Data Envelopment Analysis as a tool to evaluate the efficiency of building construction projects in Oregon where the inputs, including, “reported information” available prior to pricing and contractor selection is imprecise or at least, cannot be entirely or accurately captured by exogenous measures. This work builds on prior work in the field that evaluated missing, imprecise or non-existent information in DEA models and has broad application to the service sector of the economy where information is the prime input in the system.
Human-Robot Collaboration and Dialogue for Fault Recovery on Hierarchical Tasks

Robotic systems typically follow a rigid approach to task execution, in which they perform the necessary steps in a specific order, but fail when having to cope with issues that arise during execution. We propose an approach that handles such cases through dialogue and human-robot collaboration. The proposed approach contributes a hierarchical control architecture that 1) autonomously detects and is cognizant of task execution failures, 2) initiates a dialogue with a human helper to obtain assistance, and 3) enables collaborative human-robot task execution through extended dialogue in order to 4) ensure robust execution of hierarchical tasks with complex constraints, such as sequential, non-ordering, and multiple paths of execution. The architecture ensures that the constraints are adhered to throughout the entire task execution, including during failures. The recovery of the architecture from issues during execution is validated by a human-robot team on a building task.
Dispersion calibration for the National Ignition Facility electron-positron-proton spectrometers for intense laser matter interactions.

Electron–positron pairs, produced in intense laser–solid interactions, are diagnosed using magnetic spectrometers with image plates, such as the National Ignition Facility Electron–Positron–Proton Spectrometers (EPPSs). Although modeling can help infer the quantitative value, the accuracy of the models needs to be verified to ensure measurement quality. The dispersion of low-energy electrons and positrons may be affected by fringe magnetic fields near the entrance of the EPPS. We have calibrated the EPPS with six electron beams from a Siemens Oncor linear accelerator (linac) ranging in energy from 2.7 MeV to 15.2 MeV as they enter the spectrometer. A Geant4 Tool for Particle Simulation Monte Carlo simulation was set up to match depth dose curves and lateral profiles measured in water at 100 cm source–surface distance. An accurate relationship was established between the bending magnet current setting and the energy of the electron beam at the exit window. The simulations and measurements were used to determine the energy distributions of the six electron beams at the EPPS slit. Analysis of the scanned image plates together with the determined energy distribution arriving in the spectrometer provides improved dispersion curves for the EPPS.
How Does Contact Length Impact Titanium Tapered Splined Stem Stability: A Biomechanical Matched Pair Cadaveric Study.

Abstract Background Titanium tapered stems (TTS) achieve fixation in the femoral diaphysis and are commonly used in revision total hip arthroplasty. The initial stability of a TTS is critical, but the minimum contact length needed and impact of implant-specific taper angles on axial stability are unknown. This biomechanical study was performed to better guide operative decision-making by addressing these clinical questions. Methods Two TTS with varying conical taper angles (2° spline taper vs 3.5° spline taper) were implanted in 9 right and left matched fresh human femora. The proximal femur was removed, and the remaining femoral diaphysis was prepared to allow for either a 2 cm (n = 6), 3 cm (n = 6), or 4 cm (n = 6) cortical contact length with each implanted stem. Stepwise axial load was then applied to a maximum of 2600N or until the femur fractured. Failure was defined as either subsidence >5 mm or femur fracture. Results All 6 femora with 2 cm of stem-cortical contact length failed axial testing, a significantly higher failure rate (P Conclusion 4 cm of cortical contact length with a TTS demonstrates reliable initial axial stability, while 2 cm is insufficient regardless of taper angle. For 3 cm of cortical contact, successful initial fixation can be achieved in most cases with both taper angle designs.
Juxta-(re)position: challenging U.S. military and women subject positions through Instagram posts

Exploration of how U.S. military minority service members, including active-duty women, communicate personal and social identity remains an underexplored area of organizational communication resear...
"PocketBot Is Like a Knock-On-the-Door!": Designing a Chatbot to Support Long-Distance Relationships

Many couples experience long-distance relationships (LDRs), and "couple technologies" have been designed to influence certain relational practices or maintain them in challenging situations. Chatbots show great potential in mediating people's interactions. However, little is known about whether and how chatbots can be desirable and effective for mediating LDRs. In this paper, we conducted a two-phase study to design and evaluate a chatbot, PocketBot, that aims to provide effective interventions for LDRs. In Phase I, we adopted an iterative design process through conducting need-finding interviews to formulate design ideas and piloted the implemented PocketBot with 11 participants. In Phase II, we evaluated PocketBot with eighteen participants (nine LDR couples)in a week-long field trial followed by exit interviews, which yielded empirical understandings of the feasibility, effectiveness, and potential pitfalls of using PocketBot. First, a knock-on-the-door feature allowed couples to know when to resume an interaction after evading a conflict; this feature was preferred by certain participants (e.g., participants with stoic personalities). Second, a humor feature was introduced to spice up couples' conversations. This feature was favored by all participants, although some couples' perceptions of the feature varied due to their different cultural or language backgrounds. Third, a deep talk feature enabled couples at different relational stages to conduct opportunistic conversations about sensitive topics for exploring unknowns about each other, which resulted in surprising discoveries between couples who have been in relationships for years. Our findings provide inspiration for future conversational-based couple technologies that support emotional communication.
Scheduling the Valley Baseball League

The Valley Baseball League is a collegiate summer baseball league with 11 teams playing 42 games between June and August. Producing a schedule has proved challenging for league management, because ...
Strangers at the Gates: The Phantom at the Opera

The study of politics has long been marked by a stark disciplinary divide. Forty years ago the study of formal political institutions was seen as the proper province of political science while research on social movements was left to psychologists or “social psychologists whose intellectual tools prepare him to better understand the irrational” (Gamson 1990: 133). Movements were seen as one form of “collective behavior; a category of behavioral forms – including fads, crazes, panics, and crowds – that defined the unusual, the exotic, the irrational in social life.” In short, movements weren’t seen as a form of politics at all. Much of that changed with the movements of the 1960s. After the coming of the robust reformist movements of that decade and the “new” social movements of the 1970s, scholars worked hard to link movements to politics. This was particularly true in Western Europe, where scholars like Donatella della Porta (1995), Hanspeter Kriesi and his collaborators (1995), and Dieter Rucht (1989) strove to link the study of these movements to parties and cleavage systems. But among American scholars, there was little attempt to identify the mechanisms that link movements to party politics. The index to The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements , arguably the definitive contemporary resource on the subject, illustrates this point: the collection includes exactly two page listings for the term “elections.” By contrast “religion” has twenty-one listings, “emotion” boasts thirty two and even “communism” has fifteen (Snow et al. 2004: 717–754).
A Choice of Fundamental Solutions

A key ingredient in the formulation of boundary integral equations via the direct method is the so called “fundamental solution”. This is generally obtained as the particular singular solution of an elliptic boundary value problem which corresponds to a “concentrated load” (i.e. the right hand side is a delta function; see, for example, Chapter 4 of Brebbia and Walker, 1980). Now it turns out that in general, the singular part of the fundamental solution is not uniquely determined by this specification, but the indeterminacy is usually eliminated by requiring that the solution be single valued in a neighborhood of the singular point. Indeed, single valuedness is an essential requirement when generating the boundary integral representation for interior points. However, for the boundary integral equations needed to determine the unspecified boundary data the singular point is itself on the boundary of the region and it is therefore not necessary to use the single valued fundamental solution in the representation.
The effect of hypoxia on progesterone synthesis by placental villi in organ culture.

Abstract To study the effect of hypoxia on progesterone synthesis, explants of human term or immature placental villi were maintained in an environment of moderate (6 per cent O 2 ) or severe (1 per cent O 2 ) hypoxia for 6 to 24 hours. Measurements of lactic and pyruvic acid production as well as pH indicated the presence of hypoxia and metabolic acidosis in culture. The explants were then homogenized and incubated in room air with pregnenolone-7α- 3 H. Term placental villi were affected only by extreme oxygen deprivation, whereas placental explants from 11 to 19 week pregnancies were impaired by both moderate and severe hypoxia. The resistance of term placental endocrine function to periods of limited oxygen supply can be related to its potential for anaerobic metabolism. The cellular distribution of the enzymes required for the conversion of pregnenolone to progesterone may restrict their ability to withstand a hypoxic insult.