cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nonlinear resistances in hepatic microcirculation

The liver provides a reservoir available for mobilizing large amounts of blood, but if a change in downstream (outflow) pressure below a certain magnitude (break pressure) does not change upstream pressures, blood volume redistribution may be limited. For downstream pressures larger than the break pressure, the upstream pressures change proportionately. We tested the hypothesis that this nonlinear mode of pressure transmission could be found from the abdominal vena cava to the hepatic microcirculation and from the hepatic microcirculation to the portal vein. Using a servo-null micropipette technique, we measured microvascular pressures at the liver surface of rabbits. In 16 of 30 measurements, increasing the pressure at the liver outflow, by partially occluding the caudal thoracic vena cava, caused an increase in hepatic venular pressure only after the abdominal vena caval pressure exceeded a break pressure of 2.85 +/- 0.92 mmHg. In 13 of 31 measurements, portal venous pressure was not changed until the hepatic venular pressure exceeded a break pressure of 3.36 +/- 0.54 mmHg. Similar behavior and values were obtained for sinusoids and portal venules. When present, the sharp inflection in the upstream-downstream pressure plots suggests that this may be caused by a Starling resistor-type mechanism. When the break was absent, the downstream pressure may have been larger than the break pressure. We conclude that significant hepatic resistances with nonlinear characteristics exist upstream and downstream to the central venules, sinusoids, and portal venules.
Increasing western US forest wildfire activity: sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring

Prior work shows western US forest wildfire activity increased abruptly in the mid-1980s. Large forest wildfires and areas burned in them have continued to increase over recent decades, with most of the increase in lightning-ignited fires. Northern US Rockies forests dominated early increases in wildfire activity, and still contributed 50% of the increase in large fires over the last decade. However, the percentage growth in wildfire activity in Pacific northwestern and southwestern US forests has rapidly increased over the last two decades. Wildfire numbers and burned area are also increasing in non-forest vegetation types. Wildfire activity appears strongly associated with warming and earlier spring snowmelt. Analysis of the drivers of forest wildfire sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring demonstrates that forests at elevations where the historical mean snow-free season ranged between two and four months, with relatively high cumulative warm-season actual evapotranspiration, have been most affected. Increases in large wildfires associated with earlier spring snowmelt scale exponentially with changes in moisture deficit, and moisture deficit changes can explain most of the spatial variability in forest wildfire regime response to the timing of spring.This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.
Magnetic properties of press-forged barium ferrite

Preparation de poudres de ferrite de baryum submicroniques par calcination d'un melange de BaCO 3 et de Fe 2 O 3 en presence de CaF 2 . On examine les proprietes magnetiques des materiaux obtenus par pressage de la poudre a 1050°-1125°C. On etudie les correlations entre ces proprietes, les caracteristiques initiales de la poudre et les parametres de fabrication
Contemporary operative management of T4 breast cancer

Background Guidelines advise modified radical mastectomy following neoadjuvant systemic therapy for T4 breast cancer. We studied the influence of current systemic therapy and tumor subtype on pathologic stage and practice patterns to identify patients for whom less aggressive operative treatment might be considered. Methods We identified 98 clinical T4 M0 cases operated on at our institution from October 2008–July 2015. Patient, tumor, and treatment variables were analyzed. Results Clinical T4 substage was 7% T4a, 32% T4b, 3% T4c, and 58% T4d. Tumor biologic subtype was 41% ER+/HER2−, 36% HER2+, and 23% ER−/HER2−. A total of 86 patients (88%) had neoadjuvant systemic therapy; 87% of patients underwent total mastectomy, 9% skin-sparing mastectomy, and 4% breast conservation. Axillary dissection was performed in 74% of patients and sentinel node surgery with (14%) or without (11%) axillary dissection in the remainder; 41/98 (42%) were lymph node negative at operation. The pathologic complete response rate in the breast (31%) and axilla (39%, cN+ cases) correlated with biologic subtype ( P Conclusion Alignment with guidelines was substantial for both breast and axillary operation. Favorable breast cancer–specific survival suggests current multidisciplinary treatment has improved outcomes. Careful assessment of pathology and treatment response may identify clinical T4 patients appropriate for breast or axillary conservation.
The Anatomy of Secular Myth

In this part, my purpose is to establish my concept of “secular myth” as a legitimate literary genre—at least in modern and especially American literature. I justify my use of the word “myth” as a story that builds on the deepest concerns of the society that produced it. Unlike religious myth, secular myth is not sacred but is embodied in secular ideals: for example, the myths of Equality, Self-Reliance, Progress, the Unconscious, and the Classless Society. I identify three of the most characteristic American myths—Rags to Riches (introduced by Horatio Alger’s hundred novels for boys); Cowboys and Indians (initiated by Owen Wister’s novel The Virginians); and Urban Crime (most recently celebrated in the TV series The Sopranos, which is perhaps best understood as a modern novel in serial form).
Effects of LSO detector intrisic radioactivity on SPECT imaging

This work was part of a feasibility study of developing SPECT imaging capability on a lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO)-based animal PET system. The SPECT aspect of the system was enabled by inserting a collimator assembly inside the detector ring and acquiring data in singles mode. The LSO detectors were used for both PET and SPECT imaging. The intrinsic radioactivity of 176 Lu in the LSO crystals, however, contaminates the SPECT data more severely than for PET imaging. This work was to study the imaging characteristics of the intrinsic LSO activity, the effects of correction, and the minimal activity level required for usable SPECT imaging. To understand the structural and noise patterns of LSO activity in images, measured high counts projections from LSO activity only and simulated multiple-replicates of low counts projections from LSO activity with and without a uniform phantom in the field-of-view (FOV) were reconstructed. To identify the minimal activity levels needed for obtaining useful tomographic images with the existence of LSO activity, we derived a formula to estimate the minimal activity in the FOV of one detector crystal ring that would yield a net detectable signal in projection data. A series of phantoms with different activity distribution patterns and total activity levels were scanned for variable length of time through simulation and experiments. The LSO contributions to each study were estimated from a long LSO background acquisition dataset and corrected prior to iterative image reconstruction. The LSO activity showed up as concentric rings in a reconstructed tomographic image. The LSO activity estimation and correction method was effective and it reduced the activity level required for producing images with expected visual patterns to about V* of the level needed without the correction. The minimal activity levels predicted by the projection data based formula correlated well with the activity levels needed for obtaining visible image patterns observed in simulated and experimental studies. Phantom studies demonstrated that while image quality was dependent on source distribution pattern, activity level, and acquisition time, SPECT imaging on LSO based animal PET is feasible with practical dose level and acquisition time used in animal imaging.
Analysis of Computing Policies Using SAT Solvers (Short Paper)

A computing policy is a sequence of rules, where each rule consists of a predicate and a decision, and where each decision is either “accept” or “reject”. A policy P is said to accept (or reject, respectively) a request iif the decision of the first rule in P, that matches the request is “accept” (or “reject”, respectively). Examples of computing policies are firewalls, routing policies and software-defined networks in the Internet, and access control policies. A policy P is called adequate iff P accepts at least one request. It has been shown earlier that the problem of determining whether a given policy is adequate (called the policy adequacy problem) is NP-hard. In this paper, we present an efficient algorithm that use SAT solvers to solve the policy adequacy problem. Experimental results show that our algorithm can determine whether a given policy with 90 K rules is adequate in about 3 min.
Type-II superlattice hole effective masses

Abstract A long wavelength infrared (LWIR) type-II superlattice (T2SL) is typically characterized by a very large valence-band-edge curvature effective mass, which is often assumed to lead to poor hole mobility. A detailed examination of the LWIR T2SL heavy-hole 1 (hh1) band structure reveals that a hole with non-zero in-plane momentum ( k ‖ ≠ 0 ) can move with a much larger group velocity component along the growth direction than one at the band edge ( k ‖ = 0 ), and that the hh1 miniband width can exhibit a very strong dependence on the in-plane wavevector k ‖ . To distill the band structure effects relevant to hole transport into a simple quantity, we describe a formulation for computing the thermally averaged conductivity effective mass. We show that the LWIR T2SL hole conductivity effective masses along the growth direction can be orders of magnitude smaller than the corresponding band-edge curvature effective masses. We compare the conductivities effective masses of InAs/GaSb T2SL and InAs/InAsSb T2SL grown pseudomorphically on GaSb substrate, as well as the metamorphic bulk InAsSb and InAs/InAsSb T2SL.
Final Results of a Phase 1 Study of Vorinostat, Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin, and Bortezomib in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Abstract Introduction/Background Deacetylase inhibitors have synergistic activity in combination with proteasome inhibitors and anthracyclines in preclinical models of multiple myeloma (MM). We therefore evaluated the safety and efficacy of the deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) and bortezomib in relapsed/refractory MM. Patients and Methods Thirty-two patients were treated with PLD and bortezomib in combination with escalating doses of vorinostat on days 4 to 11 or 1 to 14. Results The maximum tolerated dose of vorinostat was 400 mg on days 4 to 11. Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia attributable to protocol therapy were seen in 59% and 94% of patients, of which 37% and 47% were of grade 3 or higher severity, respectively. Constitutional and gastrointestinal adverse events of all grades were common, the majority of which were less than grade 3 in severity. The overall response rate (partial response rate or better) was 65% and the clinical benefit rate (minimal response rate or better) 74%. The overall response rate was 83%, 71%, and 45% for patients with bortezomib-naive, -sensitive, and -refractory MM, respectively. The median progression-free survival was 13.9 months and the 3-year overall survival 77%. Whole blood proteasome activity assays demonstrated a potential impact of vorinostat on the chymotryptic-like activity of the proteasome. Conclusion Further evaluation of PLD, bortezomib, and deacetylase inhibitor combinations is warranted, with special attention directed toward strategies to improve tolerability.
Complexity vs. performance: empirical analysis of machine learning as a service

Machine learning classifiers are basic research tools used in numerous types of network analysis and modeling. To reduce the need for domain expertise and costs of running local ML classifiers, network researchers can instead rely on centralized Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS) platforms. In this paper, we evaluate the effectiveness of MLaaS systems ranging from fully-automated, turnkey systems to fully-customizable systems, and find that with more user control comes greater risk. Good decisions produce even higher performance, and poor decisions result in harsher performance penalties. We also find that server side optimizations help fully-automated systems outperform default settings on competitors, but still lag far behind well-tuned MLaaS systems which compare favorably to standalone ML libraries. Finally, we find classifier choice is the dominating factor in determining model performance, and that users can approximate the performance of an optimal classifier choice by experimenting with a small subset of random classifiers. While network researchers should approach MLaaS systems with caution, they can achieve results comparable to standalone classifiers if they have sufficient insight into key decisions like classifiers and feature selection.
Topics in digital terrain modeling

Digital terrain modeling is an important area of study in computer graphics due to its growing use in scientific visualization and gaming. It encompasses the processing and storage of data, the analysis and extraction of information, and the visualization and integration of multiple information domains (elevation, geographic, symbolic). The primary challenges stem from the enormous size of the data sets and the growing desire for faster and more realistic real-time interactive applications. As a result, much work has focused on the development of algorithms and techniques to improve efficiency and speed. This workshop offers an introduction to digital terrain modeling. It includes descriptions of several of the important algorithms and techniques for processing and visualizing terrain data. It also presents examples of applications. Many application domains use DTMs, aka digital elevation models (DEMs). The applications presented here will focus on ecology, where several of us have some experience. With Geographical Information Systems ecologists can easily view the distribution of certain phenomena spatially --- in 2D --- on "flatland". However, many ecological phenomena vary considerably with topography --- elevation and orientation. As a result, ecologists are very interested in overlaying their 2D spatial data onto digital elevation maps to see what the "poor neglected z" adds to their understanding of the ecology.
Outcome of Architectural Distortion Detected Only at Breast Tomosynthesis versus 2D Mammography

Suspicious architectural distortion (AD) detected only at digital breast tomosynthesis is less likely to represent malignancy than does AD detected at two-dimensional mammography, but the risk of malignancy is not low enough to omit biopsy.
Parasitic resistance modeling and optimization for 10nm-node FinFET

A TCAD-based study on the parasitic resistance (R parasitics ) of 10nm FinFET is performed. A total parasitic resistance of 1490Q/Fin is extracted using calibrated physical models, and the components of the R parasitics are evaluated. It is observed that by introducing wraparound contact and highly doped source/drain, contact resistance (R contact ) of 10nm FinFET is well minimized and current crowding in the fin is suppressed. It is also found that the resistance of the lightly doped spacer region (R spacer ) constitutes more than 50% of total R parasitics and can be optimized by introducing highly doped segments. With the optimized doping profile in the spacer, drain current (Id) and intrinsic gain (Av) can be improved by 11% and 16%, respectively. In the case for 7nm-node FinFET, it was concluded that further R contact reduction is also needed to optimize its performance.
A SMAP-Based Drought Monitoring Index for the United States

Abstract. Since April 2015, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission has monitored near-surface soil moisture, mapping the globe between the latitude bands of 85.044° N/S in 2–3 days depending on location. SMAP Level 3 passive radiometer product (SPL3SMP) measures the amount of water in the top 5 cm of soil except for regions of heavy vegetation (vegetation water content >4.5 kg/m 2 ) and frozen or snow covered locations. SPL3SMP retrievals are spatially and temporally discontinuous, so the 33 months offers a short SMAP record length and poses a statistical challenge for meaningful assessment of its indices. The SMAP SPL4SMAU data product provides global surface and root zone soil moisture at 9-km resolution based on assimilating the SPL3SMP product into the NASA Catchment land surface model. Of particular interest to SMAP-based agricultural applications is a monitoring product that assesses the SMAP near-surface soil moisture in terms of probability percentiles for dry and wet conditions. We describe here SMAP-based indices over the continental United States (CONUS) based on both near-surface and root zone soil moisture percentiles. The percentiles are based on fitting a Beta distribution to the retrieved moisture values. To assess the data adequacy, a statistical comparison is made between fitting the distribution to VIC soil moisture values for the days when SPL3SMP are available, versus fitting to a 1979–2017 VIC data record. For the cold season (November–April), 57 % of grids were deemed to be consistent between the periods, and 68 % in the warm season (May–October), based on a Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistical test. It is assumed that if grids passed the consistency test using VIC data, then the grid had sufficient SMAP data. Our near-surface and root zone drought index on maps are shown to be similar to those produced by the U.S. Drought Monitor (from D0-D4) and GRACE. In a similar manner, we extend the index to include pluvial conditions using indices W0-W4. This study is a step forward towards building a national and international soil moisture monitoring system, without which, quantitative measures of drought and pluvial conditions will remain difficult to judge.
Introducing Scholactivism: Reflections on Transforming Praxis in and Beyond the Classroom

Merging scholarship and activism, Scholactivism evokes a conceptual shadow: scholasticism, a term with its origins in the first medieval universities, now come to signify a “narrow-minded insistence on traditional doctrine.”1 Changing two letters in this old-fashioned word, our emphasis shifts from the dogmatic, tradition-bound tasks of academic adjudication, to a project more in line with Karl Marx’s famous Eleventh Thesis on Ludwig Feurbach, theses aimed at the scholasticism of his own day: “Philosophers have sought to understand the world. The point is to change it.” We move from the frame of resolving contradictions through cloistered academic disputation, to that of exposing and sharpening contradictions, so they can be resolved through extra-curricular, world-transforming practice .
The Design Team: Ensuring a Balance of Creativity and Classroom-based Reality

ABSTRACT The production of high quality educational software is dependent on the successful blending of design ideas and information about the target audience. Success is linked to the composition of the design team and production timelines. The formative evaluator makes four important contributions to the balance between creativity and classroom-based reality. Evaluation activity will be discussed in terms of project development timelines and the meshing of evaluation activities with scripting and programming. Some cautions will be included for project directors. The misuse of evaluation can nullify its impact and waste precious project resources. Examples are taken from a modestly budgeted mathematics software project for grade four students.
Washington Lobbyists in the Core and on the Periphery

For decades, political scientists have had two divergent views on lobbyists in Washington. On the one hand they focus on the privileged access of a few groups in balkanized issue niches, and on the other they observe highly inclusive lobbying campaigns where hundreds of lobbyists vigorously compete for policymakers’ attention. Not surprisingly, these disparate observations lead to contradictory conclusions about lobbying tactics, relations with relevant policymakers, and the nature of interest group influence. In this paper we make a simple, yet novel, empirical observation: these disparate inferences about lobbying at the micro-level are not inconsistent when we uncover the structure of lobbyists’ interactions at the macro-level. That is, both views are correct, depending on the policy context. Using data from 293,631 Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) reports filed between 1998 and 2008—which consists of 2,077,404 observations of 35,826 individual lobbyists reporting lobbying activity in 78 issue areas—we reveal that the Washington lobbying community has a fundamental and stable core-periphery structure. We then document how the empirically derived core-periphery mapping is a superior way to differentiate bandwagon or issue niche policy domains.
South Korea’s collective memory of past human rights abuses:

Embedded in transitional justice processes is an implicit reference to the production of collective memory and history. This article aims to study how memory initiatives become a crucial component ...
The Physiology and Biomechanics of the Master Runner.

The Master runner (age 35 y and above) represents a unique athletic patient. Lifelong participation in endurance running slows the inevitable age-related decline in aerobic function and muscular strength. Still, the Master runner does not escape the inevitable effects of aging. Master runners experi
Magnetostructural phase transitions and large magnetic entropy changes in Ag-doped Mn1−xAgxCoGe intermetallic compounds

The influence of Ag-doping on the crystallographic structure, magnetic properties, and magnetocaloric effects of Mn1−xAgxCoGe (0.01 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.10) is reported. A transformation of crystal structure from orthorhombic to hexagonal was observed at room temperature. Doping Ag in Mn sites results in a first-order magnetostructural transition near room temperature. A Curie-temperature window of 90 K was obtained between the Curie temperatures of the austenite (Ni2In-type) and martensite (TiNiSi-type) phases. Large magnetic entropy change values of ~22.0 and 9.4 J/kg/K, and refrigerant capacity of 308 and 272 J/kg, were found for x = 0.06 and 0.05, respectively, for μ0ΔH = 5 T.
IMPACT OF RACE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CARDIOGENIC SHOCK: ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL INPATIENT SAMPLE 2013-2015

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) has influenced management of cardiogenic shock (CS). We sought to understand the effect of race on MCS utilization. National inpatient sample was analyzed to identify patients (pts) presenting with CS (2013-2015). International classification of disease, 9th
Network analyses of transhumance movements and simulations of foot-and-mouth disease virus transmission among mobile livestock in Cameroon

Abstract Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) affects cloven-hoofed livestock and agricultural economies worldwide. Analyses of the 2001 FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom informed how livestock movement contributed to disease spread. However, livestock reared in other locations use different production systems that might also influence disease dynamics. Here, we investigate a livestock production system known as transhumance, which is the practice of moving livestock between seasonal grazing areas. We built mechanistic models using livestock movement data from the Far North Region of Cameroon. We represented these data as a dynamic network over which we simulated disease transmission and examined three questions. First, we asked what were characteristics of simulated FMDV transmission across a transhumant pastoralist system. Second, we asked how simulated FMDV transmission across a transhumant pastoralist system differed from transmission across this same population held artificially stationary, thereby revealing the effect of movement on disease dynamics. Third, we asked if disease simulations on well-studied theoretical networks are similar to disease simulations on this empirical dynamic network. The results show that the empirical dynamic network was sparsely connected except for an eight-week period in September and October when pastoralists move from rainy season to dry season grazing areas. The mean epidemic size across all 3,744 simulations was 99.9% and the mean epidemic duration was 1.45 years. Disease simulations across the static network showed a smaller mean epidemic size (27.6%) and a similar epidemic duration (1.5 years). Epidemics simulated on theoretical networks showed similar final epidemic sizes (100%) and different mean durations. Our simulations indicate that transhumant livestock systems have the potential to host FMDV outbreaks that affect almost all livestock and last longer than a year. Furthermore, our comparison of empirical and theoretical networks underscores the importance of using empirical data to understand the role of mobility in the transmission of infectious diseases.
Psychometric Properties of Microlongitudinal Assessments: Between- and Within-Person Reliability, Factor Structure, and Discriminant Validity of Daily Cognitive Interference

Establishing the psychometric properties of self-reported scales and constructs is vital to social and behavior sciences. This task is more challenging for researchers interested in withinperson variability. The psychometric qualities of within-person variability require statistical approaches that differ from traditional between-person approaches. This chapter provides a description and tutorial on how to assess the reliability, factor structure, and discriminant validity of a construct simultaneously at the between-and within-person levels of variability using the example of daily cognitive interference.
Design science research in construction management: multi-disciplinary collaboration on the SightPlan system

As a tribute to Ray Levitt’s early computer science contributions, this paper presents the research methodology he and I in close collaboration with Barbara Hayes-Roth followed to develop the Sight...
Oesophageal and proximal gastric adenocarcinomas are rare after detection of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Background Helicobacter pylori infection is the most important risk factor for non-proximal gastric adenocarcinoma, yet some posit it is protective against oesophageal adenocarcinoma and proximal gastric cancers. Aims To evaluate the incidence of and risk factors for future oesophageal and proximal gastric cancers, utilizing the largest North American cohort of patients with previously identified H pylori. Also to identify whether treatment and eradication of H pylori alter future oesophageal and proximal gastric cancer risk. Methods Retrospective cohort study within the Veterans Administration of 36 803 patients (median age 60.4 years; 91.8% male) with confirmed H pylori between 01 January 1994 and 31 December 2018. Primary outcome was diagnosis of future oesophageal and proximal gastric cancers. A time to event with competing risk analysis was performed, evaluating patient factors and whether the patient received H pylori treatment. Secondary analysis of those treated evaluated whether confirmed eradication was associated with cancer. Results The cumulative incidence of oesophageal and proximal gastric cancers 5, 10 and 15 years after H pylori detection was 0.145%, 0.26% and 0.34%. Risk of future oesophageal or proximal gastric cancer was similar amongst whites (reference), African Americans (SHR 0.87, 95%CI 0.57-1.43) and American Indians (SHR 1.31, 95%CI 0.18-9.60) but substantially reduced in those of Asian (no cases amongst 213 H pylori positive) or native Hawaiian origin (no cases amongst 295 H pylori positive) (P 0.20). Conclusions In the largest study of US patients with H pylori, we demonstrate that rates of oesophageal and proximal gastric cancers after treatment of H pylori are low. Older age, and smoking are associated with future cancer, whilst Asian or Native Hawaiian race are protective. H pylori treatment and eradication are not associated with future cancer.
Spatial and temporal distribution of E. coli contamination on three inland lake and recreational beach systems in the upper Midwestern United States

Abstract Swimming advisories are commonly posted at public beaches across the United States every year. In Iowa, weekly monitoring of public swimming areas at state and county beaches have resulted in the impairment of numerous lakes for fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) contamination, as detected by E. coli. An extensive study was established to assess the relationships between E. coli contamination of nearshore beach water environments, open lake conditions and beach sands in three recreational beach/lake systems currently impaired for FIB contamination across Iowa. A transect/grab sample based sampling design was implemented across the systems with collections spanning from April through October of 2015 and 2016. Collections of E. coli along water transects identified strong near to far shore gradients of decreasing concentrations in all systems. Results indicate that concentrations of E. coli observed in swimming waters consistently disassociate with concentrations in the broader lake environment. Swimming water E. coli concentrations correlated with elevated beach sand E. coli, samples collected from beach sands uncovered concentrations up to 86,500 times higher than adjacent swimming waters. Results from this study indicate that foreshore beach sands and other beach proximate FIB sources serve as the major contributing source for swimming zone advisories. The current methodology used by state and federal officials includes impairing entire lake waterbodies for FIB contamination of the swimming area. These impairment listings do not accurately reflect the condition(s) of the larger lake environment outside the swimming area and fail to account for beach proximate conditions in the assessment process. Further, this approach provides potentially misleading information to the public and may undermine implementation strategies deployed by resource managers aimed at addressing FIB contamination at recreational swimming areas. Views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Data mining the Cambridge Structural Database for hydrate–anhydrate pairs with SMILES strings

Many organic molecules can crystallize in either hydrated or anhydrous forms. Predicting the formation of hydrates and their relative stability with respect to water-free alternative phases are significant challenges. Here we use the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and data informatics to identify and analyze hydrate–anhydrate structure pairs. A search method was developed based on Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry strings (SMILES) matching and implemented through the CSD Python Application Programming Interface. Of the >23 000 molecular hydrates containing no metal ions, ∼1400 were found to have at least one corresponding anhydrous form, yielding just over 2000 unique pairs in the CSD. Hydrates with and without a reported anhydrate showed a similar distribution in their water stoichiometries. Lattice symmetry and packing fraction comparisons are reported for the paired hydrates and anhydrates. Structure pairs with one organic component and multiple organic components showed some subtle differences. The details and limitations of the method are outlined in a way that can encourage and guide other types of CSD searches using SMILES.
The Old Testament World

Ancient Israel existed in real time and space. In time, we will recall that ancient Israel was preceded by thousands of years of world history, including, for example, the first writing of the Sumerians (third millennium BCE), the Babylonian Empire, and the renowned history of ancient Egypt. In space, Israel was part of Syria-Palestine. Together with Egypt and Mesopotamia, Israel constituted a vast swath of arable land known as the “Fertile Crescent.” Syria-Palestine was thus a vital land bridge between three continents and, likewise, highly vulnerable to surrounding power struggles. The latter meant frequent invasions and domination by a succession of world empires. The primary purpose of Israel’s story contained in the pages of the OT is to explore its relationship with God. Yahweh initiated an intimate relationship with a man named Abraham, which was defined by a covenant and by promises of descendants and land. The ensuing history covers an era that left its own mark on world history, in no small part due to Israel’s legacy. The age between 800 and 200 BCE (the Axial Age) witnessed the appearance of ethical religion and rational philosophy in human civilization. Israel gave the world the Old Testament and the concept of monotheism emerging in its pages. The OT comes from a specific time and place, a definite world very different from our own. Don’t think of the OT as a holy book dropped from the sky without historical context. Quite the contrary! The OT reflects the world of antiquity rich in literature, in art, and in something we might even call “the sciences,” and with elaborate philosophies about the nature of the world. And the world in which the ancient Israelites lived and worked had a history already spanning thousands of years. The first cities of human civilization and first fledgling empires were as distant in time to ancient Israel as the Roman Empire is to you and me.
Chapter 257 – Trichoptera (Caddisflies)

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the trichoptera (Caddiflies), holometabolous insects closely related to Lepidoptera, or moths. Unlike most moths, their eggs, larvae, and pupae are usually found in or very near freshwater, and adults are aerial, usually not far from their aquatic habitats. The Trichoptera include more species than any of the other primarily aquatic orders of insects. This high species diversity is correlated with an unusual broad range of ecological specialization. Immature caddisflies occur in almost every type of freshwater habitat and on every continent except Antarctica; they are often one of the most abundant insect orders in streams and ponds. Larvae of many species use silk to construct portable cases of various shapes and materials to serve as physical protection, camouflage, or aids in respiration. Others make stationary retreats of silk for similar purposes or to serve as food-gathering structures. The variety of feeding strategies employed by caddisflies is as great as for the highly diverse freshwater Diptera, or true flies. Because of their diversity and density in most clean, freshwater ecosystems, the significance of caddisflies for processing nutrients and transferring energy is often great. The different caddisfly species are variously sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, such that the diversity of the order is commonly used in part as a measure of pollution.
Improved Scale-up Synthesis and Purification of Clinical Asthma Candidate MIDD0301

We report an improved and scalable synthesis of MIDD0301, a positive GABAA receptor modulator that is under development as oral and inhaled treatments for asthma. In contrast to other benzodiazepines in clinical use, MIDD0301 is a chiral compound that has limited brain absorption. The starting material to generate MIDD0301 is 2-amino-5-bromo-2'-fluorobenzophenone, which has a non-basic nitrogen due to electron withdrawing substituents in the ortho and para positions, reducing its reactivity towards activated carboxylic acids. Investigations of peptide coupling reagents on multigram scale resulted in moderate yields due to incomplete conversions. Secondly, basic conditions used for the formation of the seven-membered 1,4-diazepine ring resulted in racemization of the chiral center. We found that neutral conditions comparable to the pKa of the primary amine were sufficient to support the formation of the intramolecular imine but did not enable the simultaneous removal of the protecting group. Both difficulties were overcome with the application of the N-carboxyanhydride of D-alanine. Activated in the presence of acid, this compound reacted with non-basic 2-amino-5-bromo-2'-fluorobenzophenone and formed the 1,4-diazepine upon neutralization with triethylamine. Carefully designed workup procedures and divergent solubility of the synthetic intermediates in solvents and solvent combinations were utilized to eliminate the need for column chromatography. To improve compatibility with large scale reactors, temperature-controlled slow addition of reagents generated the imidazodiazepine at -20 °C. All intermediates were isolated with a purity of >97% and impurities were identified and quantified. After the final hydrolysis step, MIDD0301 was isolated in a 44% overall yield and purity of 98.9% after recrystallization. The enantiomeric excess was greater than 99.0%.
Ebola-GP DNA Prime rAd5-GP Boost: Influence of Prime Frequency and Prime/Boost Time Interval on the Immune Response in Non-human Primates

Heterologous prime-boost immunization regimens are a common strategy for many vaccines. DNA prime rAd5-GP boost immunization has been demonstrated to protect non-human primates against a lethal challenge of Ebola virus, a pathogen that causes fatal hemorrhagic disease in humans. This protection correlates with antibody responses and is also associated with IFNγ+ TNFα+ double positive CD8+ T-cells. In this study, we compared single DNA vs. multiple DNA prime immunizations, and short vs. long time intervals between the DNA prime and the rAd5 boost to evaluate the impact of these different prime-boost strategies on vaccine-induced humoral and cellular responses in non-human primates. We demonstrated that DNA/rAd5 prime-boost strategies can be tailored to induce either CD4+ T-cell or CD8+ T-cell dominant responses while maintaining a high magnitude antibody response. Additionally, a single DNA prime immunization generated a stable memory response that could be boosted by rAd5 3 years later. These results suggest DNA/rAd5 prime-boost provides a flexible platform that can be fine-tuned to generate desirable T-cell memory responses.
A Logic for Belief Contraction

We introduce a logical system in which we can define a belief contraction modal connective. The logic is based on a combination of Moss-Parikh subset space logic and temporal logic. The semantics is the system of spheres used in conditional logic and the belief contraction connective encodes minimization of the distance between two spheres. We prove completeness and decidability and show that the belief contraction connective satisfies most of the AGM postulates when those are translated into statements of the logic.
Designing energy-efficient approximate adders using parallel genetic algorithms

Approximate computing involves selectively reducing the number of transistors in a circuit to improve energy savings. Energy savings may be achieved at the cost of reduced accuracy for signal processing applications whereby constituent adder and multiplier circuits need not generate a precise output. Since the performance versus energy savings landscape is complex, we investigate the acceleration of the design of approximate adders using parallelized Genetic Algorithms (GAs). The fitness evaluation of each approximate adder is explored by the GA in a non-sequential fashion to automatically generate novel approximate designs within specified performance thresholds. This paper advances methods of parallelizing GAs and implements a new parallel GA approach for approximate multi-bit adder design. A speedup of approximately 1∶6-fold is achieved using a quad-core Intel processor and results indicate that the proposed GA is able to find adders which consume 63:8% less energy than accurate adders.
CIRCUITS, DRUGS, AND DRUG ADDICTION

Publisher Summary Certain neurochemical elements of the projection of extended amygdala may be important for the reinforcing effects of drugs. The mesolimbic dopamine system is critical for psychomotor stimulant activation and psychomotor stimulant reinforcement, and plays a role in the reinforcing actions of other drugs. The reinforcing actions of ethanol may involve multiple neurotransmitter systems that intersect with the brain reward circuitry at multiple sites, including the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala. The neural circuits involved in drug reinforcement have used the mesolimbic dopamine system as a focal point. The processing of the reinforcing stimulus requires connections with the terminal regions of the mesolimbic dopamine system, such as the nucleus accumbens, including both afferents and efferents to this region. This connectivity provides multiple sites for access of drugs and other reinforcers that can act independently of the mesolimbic dopamine system, thus providing a neural substrate for dopamine-independent reward. Functional studies support the hypothesis that the medial part of the ventral forebrain, described as the extended amygdala, may have a role in drug reinforcement. However, the heterogeneity of connectivity within subregions of the nucleus accumbens suggests that the medial nucleus accumbens (shell), together with the rest of the extended amygdala, may provide a critical link between the terminals of the mesolimbic dopamine system and other forebrain circuitry involved in drug reinforcement.
The evolving role of the pediatric nurse practitioner in hospital medicine

BACKGROUND This program evaluation sought to compare cost and pediatric patient outcomes among a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) hospitalist team, a combined PNP/doctor of medicine (MD) team, and 2 resident teams without PNPs. METHODS Administrative and electronic medical record data from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 was retrospectively reviewed from Children's Hospital Colorado inpatient medical unit and inpatient satellite sites in the Children's Hospital network of care (NOC). The top 3 All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (APR-DRG) admission codes bronchiolitis and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pneumonia, pneumonia not elsewhere classified (NEC), and asthma were selected for this analysis. Inpatient records representing these APR-DRG admission codes were reviewed (N = 1664). Measures included adherence with relevant clinical care guidelines (CCGs), length of stay (LOS), and cost of care. Chi square, t tests, and analysis of variance were used to analyze between-group differences. RESULTS Approximately 20% of these admissions were on the PNP team, 45% were on the resident teams, and 35% were on the PNP/MD team in the NOC. PNP adherence to CCGs was comparable to resident teams for selected measures. There was no significant difference in LOS among the PNP team, the PNP/MD team, and the resident teams. The direct cost of patient care per encounter provided by the PNP team was significantly less than the PNP/MD team and the resident teams. CONCLUSIONS There is evidence to suggest that PNP hospitalists provide inpatient care comparable to resident teams at a lower cost for patients with uncomplicated bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and asthma. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2014;9:261–265. © 2014 Society of Hospital Medicine
The ecological role of fire in Sierran conifer forests: Its application to National Park management

Abstract The impact of fire on the environment of the various Sierran conifer forests varies with intensity and frequency. Generally, however, fire (1) prepares a seedbed; (2) cycles nutrients within the system; (3) adjusts the successional pattern; (4) modifies conditions affecting wildlife; (5) influences the mosaic of age classes and vegetation types; (6) alters the numbers of trees susceptible to disease and insects; and (7) both reduces and creates fire hazards. Natural fire frequency apparently coincides with levels of fuel accumulation that result in burns of relatively low intensity at frequent intervals. This may average 8 yr in mixed conifer forests, although frequencies from 4 to 20 yr or more are found in particular sites. In all probability, giant sequoia and various pines of the Sierra survive today because of the role fire plays in the various forest types. National Park Service management policies are aimed at restoring fire, as nearly as possible, to its natural role in Sierran conifer forests. This is being accomplished by prescribed burning at lower and middle elevation types and by allowing lightning fires to burn in higher elevation forests.
How to Get Into Heaven

A poem that deals with preconceptions, anxieties, and a process relational view of the Divine.
A Review of “The Anatomy of Blackness: Science and Slavery in an Age of Enlightenment”

Andrew Curran's excellent and important study of the “textualization” of the black African during the Enlightenment opens with a preface in which the author carefully justifies his choice of method...
Cystinosis and the Fanconi Syndrome

Cystinosis is a recessively inherited metabolic disorder characterized biochemically by a high intracellular content of free (nonprotein) cystine which appears to be compartmentalized within lysosomes. This results in crystal deposition in the cornea, conjunctiva, bone marrow, lymph nodes, leukocytes, and internal organs. The primary metabolic defect which leads to cystine accumulation is unknown.
Ribonuclease A suggests how proteins self-chaperone against amyloid fiber formation

Genomic analyses have identified segments with high fiber-forming propensity in many proteins not known to form amyloid. Proteins are often protected from entering the amyloid state by molecular chaperones that permit them to fold in isolation from identical molecules; but, how do proteins self-chaperone their folding in the absence of chaperones? Here, we explore this question with the stable protein ribonuclease A (RNase A). We previously identified fiber-forming segments of amyloid-related proteins and demonstrated that insertion of these segments into the C-terminal hinge loop of nonfiber-forming RNase A can convert RNase A into the amyloid state through three-dimensional domain-swapping, where the inserted fiber-forming segments interact to create a steric zipper spine. In this study, we convert RNase A into amyloid-like fibers by increasing the loop length and hence conformational freedom of an endogenous fiber-forming segment, SSTSAASS, in the N-terminal hinge loop. This is accomplished by sandwiching SSTSAASS between inserted Gly residues. With these inserts, SSTSAASS is now able to form the steric zipper spine, allowing RNase A to form amyloid-like fibers. We show that these fibers contain RNase A molecules retaining their enzymatic activity and therefore native-like structure. Thus, RNase A appears to prevent fiber formation by limiting the conformational freedom of this fiber-forming segment from entering a steric zipper. Our observations suggest that proteins have evolved to self-chaperone by using similar protective mechanisms.
Cortisol concentrations in serum of borderline hypertensive men exposed to a novel experimental setting

We tested the effect of repeated exposure to a novel experimental setting on resting, morning blood cortisol concentrations in borderline hypertensive men. Borderline hypertension is thought to be accompanied by increased central nervous system activation, which would predict enhanced anticipation and cortisol secretion in a novel experimental situation. Twenty-two borderline hypertensive and 23 normotensive male volunteers were tested in four sessions all separated by 2 or more days. Borderline hypertensives had higher cortisol concentrations than normotensives during the first and second days (p < .005) but not on the third and fourth days. Significant reductions in cortisol concentrations across days were noticed in borderline hypertensives but not in normotensives. All subjects reported feeling more activated on the first day than on any other day (p < .01). These results indicate that exposure to a novel experimental situation may enhance secretion of stress related hormones such as cortisol in borderline hypertensives.