cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors determining post-operative readmissions after left ventricular assist device implantation

Background In the current era of extensive healthcare reform, there has been a heightened focus on the frequency and cause for readmissions within 30 days of discharge given that readmissions are not reimbursed by most providers. The aim of our study was to determine the frequency, etiology and patterns of 30-day readmissions among recipients of continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) at our institution as well to determine whether there were any significant predictors of readmission. Methods From March 2006 through June 2013, 150 patients underwent implantation of a continuous-flow LVAD at our institution. Patients were stratified into two groups based on their 30-day readmission status. A total of 12 patients died before discharge and were excluded from our analysis. Causes for 30-day readmissions and duration of hospital stay for the readmissions were recorded. Numerous pre-operative variables and post-operative complications were compared using 2-sided t -tests and chi-square tests between patients who were and were not readmitted within 30 days of their discharge after their LVAD implant. Results The 30-day readmission rate was 26.1% (36 of 138), with approximately 70% of post-operative readmissions occurring within 10 days of the patient's initial hospital discharge. Recurrent heart failure (12 of 36, 33.3%) and gastrointestinal bleeding (8 of 36, 22.2%) were the most common causes for 30-day readmission. The median length of stay (LOS) for readmission was 11.7 days. Thirty-day readmission did not affect short- or long-term survival. On univariate analysis, post-operative gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) was a significant risk factor for 30-day readmissions (HR 1.4, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.99, p = 0.05), and overall length of stay was a significant factor in reducing 30-day readmission rates (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.99, p = 0.02). Conclusions Our experience indicates that 30-day readmission rates after LVAD implantation remain relatively high, with most occurring within 10 days of discharge. Recurrent heart failure and GIB were the most common causes of post-operative rehospitalization. In addition, GIB during the index hospitalization was a significant predictor of 30-day readmission.
Proximal Control of Fetal Rat Behavior

We examined the influence of the amniotic sac on spontaneous movement in late gestation fetal rats. Using techniques for in vivo observation of fetal behavior, Day 21 rat fetuses were exteriorized from the uterus, with umbilical connections to the dam intact, and videotaped for 15 min either: (a) through the intact amniotic membranes, or (b) following removal of the membranes. Analysis of fetal behavior categories replicated the findings of previous investigators: Movements of the head, forelimbs, and rearlimbs were significantly increased by sac removal, as was the total frequency of behavior categories and the simultaneous occurrence of different behavior categories. Frame-by-frame analysis of videotaped behavior revealed that amniotic sac removal increased the frequency of movement bouts without altering the overall amount of time that fetuses spent moving. Movement bout durations ranged from 50 msec to 70 s. The average duration of movement bouts was significantly reduced for fetuses lacking the amniotic sac as compared to fetuses within the sac, as was the overall distribution of movement bout durations. Frequency distributions of movement bout durations and interbout interval (IBIS) revealed that sac removal significantly increased the occurrence of short (1-2 s) movement bouts and reduced the frequency of protracted movement bouts and interbout intervals (> 10-s duration). Taken together, these findings indicate that the quantitative dimensions of fetal rat movements are influenced by proximal features of the uterine environment. During prenatal life, the amniotic sac appears to sustain movement, possibly by providing proprioceptive feedback or physical support to the fetus, or by regulating the chemical milieu. 0 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Novel visualization scheme for reasoning with uncertainty

We propose a visualization scheme for the representation of the uncertainty and relations in reasoning using extended logic programming. This scheme has graphical layout and color utilization components borrowed from data mining, cartography, and general principles of graphic design. Even in simple logic programming examples the node count in reasoning grows quickly. Said growth contributes to a “lost in the weeds” feeling for users. As a guideline for future development environment creation this proposal will facilitate effective user interface design to enhance user understanding.
Medicinal cuisines: Diet and ethopharmacology

(1996). Medicinal cuisines: Diet and ethopharmacology. International Journal of Pharmacognosy: Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 313-326.
Institutional Clientele and Comovement

Previous literature has found that stock returns comove more than fundamentals. In this paper, I document the role of institutional clienteles in generating the comovement. To define clienteles, I apply clustering algorithms to institutional holdings. I find that the majority of institutional investors can be stably clustered into a small number of clienteles. Funds within the same clientele tend to suffer correlated liquidity shocks, generating correlated order flows to the underlying stocks. As a result, stocks held by the same clientele comove excessively in trading volume and return.
Clustered Low-Rank Tensor Format: Introduction and Application to Fast Construction of Hartree-Fock Exchange.

We describe the clustered low-rank (CLR) framework for block-sparse and block-low-rank tensor representation and computation. The CLR framework exploits the tensor structure revealed by basis clustering; computational savings arise from low-rank compression of tensor blocks and performing block arithmetic in the low-rank form whenever beneficial. The precision is rigorously controlled by two parameters, avoiding ad-hoc heuristics, such as domains: one controls the CLR block rank truncation, and the other controls screening of small contributions in arithmetic operations on CLR tensors to propagate sparsity through expressions. As these parameters approach zero, the CLR representation and arithmetic become exact. As a pilot application, we considered the use of the CLR format for the order-2 and order-3 tensors in the context of the density fitting (DF) evaluation of the Hartree–Fock (exact) exchange (DF-K). Even for small systems and realistic basis sets, CLR-DF-K becomes more efficient than the standard ...
Dietary fat, hypothalamic glutamate decarboxylase, and food intake of streptozotocin-diabetic rats

The association among changes in glucose status, glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activity, and food intake was evaluated in several hypothalamic areas of streptozotocin-diabetic rats fed a low- (12% of calories as fat) or high-fat diet (59% of calories as fat). Control rats consumed approximately 90 kcal/24 h of either diet, whereas diabetic rats consumed approximately 150 kcal/24 h of the low-fat diet and approximately 100 kcal/24 h of the high-fat diet. At the end of the study, diabetic rats fed the high-fat diet weighed more and had higher retroperitoneal fat depot weights (P less than 0.05) than diabetic rats fed the low-fat diet. In diabetic rats, GAD activity was 15-20% higher in the ventromedial nucleus (P less than 0.01) but similar to controls in the lateral hypothalamus, paraventricular nucleus, and area postrema. Diet did not affect GAD activity in the brain areas studied. The increase in ventromedial nucleus GAD activity was not associated with the level of food intake and was the likely result of altered glucose homeostasis in diabetic rats.
Age-specific Developmental times for Pink Bollworm (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae): Three Age Classes of Eggs, Five Larval Instars, and Pupae

Developmental times of white, orange, and head capsule age classes of pink bollworm (PBW), Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), eggs, five larval instars, and pupae were determined at selected constant temperatures ranging from 20.0 to 35.5°C. Within the egg stage, the orange age class required the longest time to complete development, ca. 50–60% of total egg developmental time. Although most larvae (84–92% of each cohort) developed through only four instars, five instars were also observed for each temperature tested, and at 33.5°C two larvae developed through six instars. The effect of an additional instar increased developmental times 3–6 days for the complete larval stage. At each temperature, developmental time among each of the first three (for four-instar larvae) or four (for five-instar larvae) instars was essentially the same; however the last instar (either fourth or fifth) required ca. 2- to 2.5-fold longer to complete development. Analysis of the developmental rate/temperature relationship for the egg, larval, and pupal stages yielded average lower developmental thresholds of 13.10, 12.38, and 11.69°C, respectively. Degree-day requirements for each age class are reported.
Nomenclature of the bacteriochlorophyllsc,d, ande.

A system for nomenclature of the various homologues of the bacteriochlorophyllsc(1),d(2), ande(3) is presented.
Sampling Program for the Twospotted Spider Mite (Acari: Tetranychidae) in Peanut

Utilizing data collected over 2 years, a sampling program for twospotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, in peanuts was developed around an action threshold and was designed to be integrated into current peanut scouting programs directed against other insects, weeds, and pathogens. Three leaves per row-meter were found to be the most efficient sample size per site. To simplify sampling and to reduce sampling time, a procedure based on the frequency of occurrence of sample counts was devised where no more than five adult mites have to be counted at any site. By reducing sampling time, it becomes practical to sample at more sites, which increases the reliability of mite density estimates.
Encapsulated Guest−Host Dynamics: Guest Rotational Barriers and Tumbling as a Probe of Host Interior Cavity Space

The supramolecular host assembly [Ga4L6]12− (1; L = 1,5-bis[2,3-dihydroxybenzamido]naphthalene) encapsulates cationic guest molecules within its hydrophobic cavity and catalyzes a variety of chemical transformations within its confined interior space. Despite the well-defined structure, the host ligand framework and interior cavity are very flexible and 1 can accommodate a wide range of guest shapes and sizes. These observations raise questions about the steric effects of confinement within 1 and how encapsulation fundamentally changes the motions of guest molecules. Here we examine the motional dynamics (guest bond rotation and tumbling) of encapsulated guest molecules to probe the steric consequences of encapsulation within host 1. Encapsulation is found to increase the Ph−CH2 bond rotational barrier for ortho-substituted benzyl phosphonium guest molecules by 3 to 6 kcal/mol, and the barrier is found to depend on both guest size and shape. The tumbling dynamics of guests encapsulated in 1 were also inve...
Exercise Has a Bone to Pick with Skeletal Muscle

Exercise intolerance and poor exercise capacity are associated with aging, diabetes, cognitive impairment, and premature death. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Mera et al. (2016) report that osteocalcin improves endurance exercise performance by enhancing myofiber fuel uptake and utilization, while osteocalcin supplementation reverses the age-induced decline in endurance exercise performance.
Leibowitz, Defining Status: US Territorial Relations

Review of Defining Status: A Comprehensive Analysis of United States Territorial Relations by A.H. Leibowitz, M. Nijhoff Publ., Dordrecht 1989,
Plasma renin activity and risk of cardiovascular and mortality outcomes among individuals with elevated and nonelevated blood pressure

Abstract Background We sought to evaluate plasma renin activity (PRA) levels and risk of mortality and cardiovascular events among individuals with elevated blood pressure [systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 mmHg] and those with controlled blood pressure (SBP Methods A retrospective cohort study between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2013, among adults (≥ 18 years) within an integrated health system was conducted. Subjects were categorized by SBP into 2 groups: SBP Results Among 6,331 subjects, 32.6% had SBP ≥ 140 mmHg. Multivariable hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval for PRA tertiles T2 and T3 compared to T1 in subjects with SBP ≥ 140 mmHg were 1.42 (0.99–2.03) and 1.61 (1.12–2.33) for ischemic heart events; 1.40 (0.93–2.10) and 2.23 (1.53–3.27) for congestive heart failure; 1.10 (0.73–1.68) and 1.06 (0.68–1.66) for cerebrovascular accident; 1.23 (0.94–1.59) and 1.43 (1.10–1.86) for combined cardiovascular events; and 1.39 (0.97–1.99) and 1.35 (0.92–1.97) for all-cause mortality, respectively. Among the SBP Conclusion Higher PRA levels demonstrated increased risk for ischemic heart events and congestive heart failure and a trend toward higher mortality among individuals with SBP ≥ 140 mmHg but not among those with SBP
TRUST-PREFERRED SECURITIES AND INSURER FINANCING DECISIONS

We analyze insurance holding company (IHC) issuance of trust-preferred securities (TPS) from 1994 to 2013. We find that larger and more financially levered IHCs issued TPS in 1996 and 1997, as well as those that obtained financial strength ratings from A.M. Best. Abnormal stock price returns are positively related to financial distress costs, growth opportunities, and tax burden, but negatively related to size. Consistent with the pecking order theory, intent to use TPS proceeds to retire debt is positively related to abnormal stock returns, whereas intent to use proceeds to retire preferred equity is negatively related to abnormal stock returns.
Highlighting TH-1 Rather Than TH-17 Cytokine Network in Acute Cutaneous Gvhd

Graft versus Host disease (GVHD) is a major lethal complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). As skin is one of the major organs involved and the most accessible, it serves as an ideal organ site to further understand the pathogenesis and progression of acute GVHD and could serve as a window into pathophysiology of other organ sites. Cytokine network aberrations are a central feature of the pathogenesis of acute cutaneous GVHD, terminating in the hallmark of premature apoptosis of keratinocytes. The purpose of this study is to delineate the cytokine network aberrations at the molecular and cellular level in affected skin from patients with acute GVHD with the goal of developing novel therapeutic approaches to defined targets with the goal of preventing or reducing acute GVHD. We performed immuno-phenotypic profiling of acute cutaneous GVHD biopsies determining relative numbers of various types of immunocytes including T cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages. Cytokine expression (IFNγ and TNFα) was determined by RT-PCR on RNA extracted from eight different lesional skin and two non-lesional biopsies. We analyzed for TH-1 (IFN γ and TNFα), TH-2 (IL-4) and TH-17 (IL-17A, IL-22) cytokine mRNAs. We observed that TH-1 cytokine mRNAs were detected in 7 out of 8 different lesional skin biopsies but none of two nonlesional skin biopsies. Interestingly TH-2 and TH-17 cytokine mRNAs were not detectable in acute cutaneous GVHD lesions or nonlesional skin biopsies. RNA extracted from a 2-way mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) served as a positive control for these RT-PCR results. Given recent data that suggested that Notch-1 regulated TH-1 polarization by transcriptionally controlling the Tbx gene (MinterLM et al 2005), we hypothesized that inhibiting Notch signaling might be of potential therapeutic importance given these results of TH-1 polarization in acute skin GVHD. To block Notch signaling we utilized several pharmacological gamma secretase inhibitors (which may have therapeutic applications), and supplemented this pan-Notch receptor inhibition approach by use of a Notch-1 specific siRNA. Preliminary studies suggest that both approaches reduce IFN γ levels in allogeneic T cell responses in-vitro . Further experiments are in progress to confirm these findings and to determine the molecular mechanism. This study begins to define the cytokine network operative within acute cutaneous GVHD lesions highlighting the finding that TH-1 rather than TH-17 cytokines may be the more important target.
Serology of Mycoplasma-Like Organisms

The discovery of mycoplasma-like organisms associated with several plant yellows diseases (5, 7) has widened the scope not only of mycoplasmology but in the field of microbiology as well. In less than 20 years, many exciting developments have been made in studies on the insect and plant mycoplasmas, particularly the discovery and the successful cultivation in vitro of the spiroplasmas. Today, more than 20 serogroups of spiroplasmas have been identified and new ones are being isolated in increasing frequency from arthropods and various ecological niches (3, 4, 6, 19). Among them, only three spiroplasmas have been known to infect plants: Spiroplasma citri, corn stunt spiroplasma, and the P-40 isolate from periwinkle (2, 14, 15, 20).
Measurement of a digital non-Foster negative RLC circuit and digital positive RLC circuit

Measurements and theory are presented for digital discrete-time implementations of series non-Foster negative RLC (resistor-inductor-capacitor) circuits and series positive RLC circuits. This new digital RLC design approach builds upon recent digital implementations of other non-Foster circuits such as negative RC (resistor-capacitor) and negative RL (resistor-inductor) circuits. Such digital implementations of non-Foster circuits have shown promise in addressing common design challenges, such as stability, that may be more difficult to control in analog non-Foster circuits. Furthermore, a digital approach offers inherent potential advantages in applications such as software-tunable or adaptive digital implementations of negative RLC or positive RLC circuits. To confirm the proposed approach and underlying theory, simulation results and prototype measurements are provided that demonstrate the efficacy of digital implementations of both positive RLC and negative RLC circuits.
Music/Voice separation using the 2D fourier transform

Audio source separation is the act of isolating sound sources in an audio scene. One application of source separation is singing voice extraction. In this work, we present a novel approach for music/voice separation that uses the 2D Fourier Transform (2DFT). Our approach leverages how periodic patterns manifest in the 2D Fourier Transform and is connected to research in biological auditory systems as well as image processing. We find that our system is very simple to describe and implement and competitive with existing unsupervised source separation approaches that leverage similar assumptions.
Survival impact of postoperative radiotherapy timing in pediatric and adolescent medulloblastoma.

Background Radiation therapy (RT) remains a critical component of multimodality treatment for medulloblastoma. Traditionally, clinicians strive to start RT within 4-5 weeks of surgery, but the optimal timing after surgery remains unclear. Methods Using the National Cancer Database, we identified pediatric and adolescent patients with medulloblastoma treated with curative-intent surgery, RT, and chemotherapy. Factors associated with early or delayed RT were identified using Pearson chi-squared tests. Overall survival (OS) differences based on RT timing were compared using the Kaplan-Meier estimator with log-rank tests. Patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics associated with OS were analyzed with univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. Results Among the 1338 patients analyzed, early RT (defined as initiation ≤3 wk after surgery) was associated with younger age, M1-3 disease, and subtotal resection. Patients who initiated RT early had decreased 5-year OS compared with patients who initiated RT 3.1-4, 4.1-5, or >5 weeks after surgery (72.5% vs. 80.5%, 79.4%, and 77.8%, respectively; P = 0.019), but there was no significant difference in OS among the latter 3 groups (P = 0.788). On multivariate analysis, early RT versus the 3.1- to 4-week interval was significantly associated with poorer OS (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.72; 95% CI: 1.19-2.48; P = 0.004), while time to RT of >5 weeks but within 90 days of surgery did not adversely impact OS (P = 0.563). Conclusions In this large national database analysis, delaying RT within 90 days of surgery was not associated with inferior outcomes. Although clinical judgment remains paramount, postoperative RT timing should allow for healing and the development of an optimal treatment plan.
Transforming Society from Theory to Practice: Celebrating the Achievements of Rubin Award Recipients from the International Association for Conflict Management

This special issue of Negotiation and Conflict Management Research celebrates the scholarship and intellectual contributions of four recipients of the Jeffrey Z. Rubin Theory‐to‐Practice Award from the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM). The IACM Rubin Award recognizes individuals whose professional contributions over the span of a career emphasize their ability to move effectively and skillfully between theory and practice in their professional activities. Each article in this special issue highlights the scholarly impact of a recipient, offers insights for building an academic career, and identifies directions for future research in conflict management.
Neutralization of erythroid burst-promoting activity in vitro with antimembrane antibodies.

To investigate the relatedness of soluble and pelletable vesicular erythroid burst-promoting activity (BPA) present in lymphocyte- conditioned medium (LCM), we immunized rabbits with partially purified lymphocyte plasma membranes and tested the antisera for biological and immunologic crossreactivity with LCM and its component fractions. When preincubated with IgG purified from post-immune but not from preimmune serum, BPA expression by unseparated LCM, LCM-derived pellets, and supernatants was abolished in a dose-related fashion. As little as 0.001 mg/mL post-immune IgG reduced burst formation by 50%. Antimembrane IgG crossreacted on immunoblots with multiple components of both supernatants and pellets of LCM. Crossreactivity was also seen in LCM-derived supernatants that were subjected to ultracentrifugation. Soluble BPA was adsorbed from LCM supernatants incubated with antimembrane IgG-coated Staphylococcus aureus. Conversely, incubation of purified antimembrane IgG with intact circulating lymphocytes removed BPA-neutralizing effects from the antibody preparation. Antimembrane IgG incompletely suppressed erythroid colony-forming unit (CFU-E)-derived colony formation, an effect that could not be explained by alteration in erythropoietin sensitivity or action. There was no effect of the antibody preparation on erythroid differentiation of K562 cells or on CFU granulocyte/macrophage-derived colony growth, (CFU-G/M) by human or murine bone marrow. Taken together, our findings suggest that antibodies directed against lymphocyte plasma membranes react with both soluble and vesicular BPA, and that these physically separable erythroid growth factors may share antigenic determinants.
Changing Public Policy to Prevent HIV Transmission

Why is it that interventions at the individual level, such as health education and counseling, have become so dominant in the effort to slow the transmission of HIV and AIDS? Are interventions that include a focus on environmental changes perhaps more cost-effective than those that rely only on individual persuasion? Moreover, what can be done to facilitate greater attention to imaginative environmental interventions and the policy changes necessary to implement and sustain such interventions? In this chapter we attempt to answer these questions. First we examine some of the reasons why individually oriented intervention approaches have become so dominant. Next we review theories that have incorporated the role of environmental factors in the promotion of disease. Then we take a closer look at the role of the environment in the transmission of HIV and discuss interventions that can affect change at the environmental level. Finally, we examine the role of public policy in shaping environmental outcomes to stem HIV transmission and look at some of the ways policy advocacy has been conducted with regard to HIV and AIDS issues in rich and poor countries.
EM-type algorithms for image reconstruction with background emission and Poisson noise

Obtaining high quality images is very important in many areas of applied sciences. In this paper, we proposed general robust expectation maximization (EM)-Type algorithms for image reconstruction when the measured data is corrupted by Poisson noise. This method is separated into two steps: EM and regularization. In order to overcome the contrast reduction introduced by some regularizations, we suggested EM-Type algorithms with Bregman iteration by applying a sequence of modified EM-Type algorithms. The numerical experiments show the effectiveness of these methods in different applications.
De novo transcriptome assembly of the clown anemonefish (Amphiprion percula): a new resource to study the evolution of fish color

A fundamental question of evolutionary biology is, why are some animals conspicuously colored? This question may be addressed from both a proximate (genetic and ontogenetic) and ultimate (adaptive value and evolutionary origins) perspective, and integrating these perspectives can provide further insights. Over the last few decades we have made great advances in understanding the causes of conspicuous coloration in terrestrial systems, e.g., birds and butterflies, but we still know relatively little about the causes of conspicuous, ‘poster’ coloration in coral reef fishes. Of all coral reef fishes, the clownfish Amphiprion percula, is perhaps the most conspicuously colored, possessing a bright orange body with three iridescent white bars bordered with pitch black. Here, we review what is known about the proximate and ultimate causes of the conspicuous coloration of clownfishes Amphiprion sp.: coloration has a heritable genetic basis; coloration is influenced by development and environment; coloration has multiple plausible signaling functions; there is a phylogenetic component to coloration. Subsequently, to provide new insights into the genetic mechanisms and potential functions of A. percula coloration we i) generate the first de novo transcriptome for this species, ii) conduct differential gene expression analyses across different colored epidermal tissues, and iii) conduct gene ontology (GO) enrichment analyses to characterize function of these differentially expressed genes. BUSCO indicated that transcriptome assembly was successful and many genes were found to be differentially expressed between epidermal tissues of different colors. In orange tissue, relative to white and black, many GO terms associated with muscle were over-represented. In white tissue, relative to orange and black tissue, there were very few over- or under-represented GO terms. In black tissue, relative to orange and white, many GO terms related to immune function were over-represented, supporting the hypothesis that black (melanin) coloration may serve a protective function. Overall, this study presents the assembly of the A. percula transcriptome, and represents a first step in an integrative investigation of the proximate and ultimate causes of conspicuous coloration of this iconic coral reef fish.
Predicting highly rated crowdfunded products

Online crowdfunding platforms have given creators new opportunities to obtain funding. Despite the popularity and success of many projects on the platforms, the quality of crowd-funded products in the market (e.g., Amazon) was not statistically and scientifically evaluated yet. To fill the gap, in this paper, we (i) compare crowdfunded products with traditional products in terms of their ratings in the largest e-commerce market, Amazon; (ii) analyze characteristics of the successful products (received ≥4 star) and unsuccessful products (received < 4 star); and (iii) build machine learning models in three different stages, which predict whether a crowdfunded product will receive high star ratings or not. Our experimental results show that crowdfunded products, on average, received lower rating than traditional products. Our predictive models effectively identify which product will receive high star-ratings from customers on Amazon. The datasets used in this paper will be available at http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~kmlee/data.html.
Archives and the Study of Nuclear Politics

The recent declassification or release of documents in numerous countries holds immense possibilities for scholars of nuclear politics. To fully reap those possibilities, however, both historians and political scientists will need to rethink their approach to this subject.
Metabolic engineering of Bacillus subtilis for production of para-aminobenzoic acid - unexpected importance of carbon source is an advantage for space application.

High-strength polymers, such as aramid fibres, are important materials in space technology. To obtain these materials in remote locations, such as Mars, biological production is of interest. The aromatic polymer precursor para-aminobenzoic acid (pABA) can be derived from the shikimate pathway through metabolic engineering of Bacillus subtilis, an organism suited for space synthetic biology. Our engineering strategy included repair of the defective indole-3-glycerol phosphate synthase (trpC), knockout of one chorismate mutase isozyme (aroH) and overexpression of the aminodeoxychorismate synthase (pabAB) and aminodeoxychorismate lyase (pabC) from the bacteria Corynebacterium callunae and Xenorhabdus bovienii respectively. Further, a fusion-protein enzyme (pabABC) was created for channelling of the carbon flux. Using adaptive evolution, mutants of the production strain, able to metabolize xylose, were created, to explore and compare pABA production capacity from different carbon sources. Rather than the efficiency of the substrate or performance of the biochemical pathway, the product toxicity, which was strongly dependent on the pH, appeared to be the overall limiting factor. The highest titre achieved in shake flasks was 3.22 g l-1 with a carbon yield of 12.4% [C-mol/C-mol] from an amino sugar. This promises suitability of the system for in situ resource utilization (ISRU) in space biotechnology, where feedstocks that can be derived from cyanobacterial cell lysate play a role.
Gastrointestinal Tract Dysfunction With Critical Illness: Clinical Assessment and Management

The gut is the site of digestion and absorption as well as serving as an endocrine and immune organ. All of these functions may be affected by critical illness. This review will discuss secondary effects of critical illness on the gut in terms of gastrointestinal function that is clinically observable and discuss consequences of gut dysfunction with critical illness to patient outcome. Because there is little evidence-based medicine in the veterinary field, much of our understanding of gut dysfunction with critical illness comes from animal models or from the human medical field. We can extrapolate some of these conclusions and recommendations to companion animals, particularly in dogs, who have similar gastrointestinal physiology to people. Additionally, the evidence regarding gut dysfunction in veterinary patients will be explored. By recognizing signs of dysfunction early and taking preventative measures, we may be able to increase success with treatment of critical illnesses.
CD99 Is Highly Expressed in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Presents a Viable Therapeutic Target

Abstract Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous hematologic malignancy characterized by clonal proliferation and block of differentiation of myeloid precursors. Overall survival for patients with AML remains dismal ( Interestingly, analysis of three datasets (GSE22848, GSE6891, GSE15434) via R2: Genomics Analysis and Visualization Platform showed a correlation between CD99 expression and the presence of FLT3-ITD mutation. In the GSE22848 dataset, CD99 was significantly over-expressed (p=0.007) in 48 patients with FLT3-ITD as compared with 189 patients with FLT3 wildtype. In the GSE6891 dataset, 126 patients with FLT3-ITD had a significant over-expression of CD99 (p=0.006) as compared with 334 patients with FLT3 wildtype and in the GSE15434 dataset 90 FLT3-ITD positive patients had significantly higher levels of CD99 (p CD99 (E2, MIC2), a 32-kD cell surface glycoprotein, is known to be involved in the transendothelium migration of neutrophils, T-cell adhesion, and T-cell death by a caspase-independent pathway. In cancer cells, CD99 was found to be highly expressed on the cell surface of Ewing’s sarcoma tumors and in gliomas. Importantly, CD99 expression levels were found to be correlated with tumor invasiveness and with lower survival rates. In order to examine the role of CD99 in AML, we assessed CD99 expression by flow cytometry in nine AML cell lines (KG-1, KG-1A, MOLM13, MV4-11, Kasumi-1, THP-1, NB4, U937, UOC-M1); we found CD99 to be expressed in all cell lines. To determine whether CD99 is a potential therapeutic target in AML, we treated leukemia cells with anti-CD99 mAb (mAb 0662) at 5 µg/mL and analyzed cell viability 48 hours post-treatment. We found significant decrease in cell viability; 15% in MV4-11 cells (p=0.02), 32% in MOLM13 cells (p=0.002) and 18% in THP-1 cells (p In conclusion, CD99 is highly expressed in AML, and this expression is significantly higher in less differentiated leukemia cells and in patients with FLT3-ITD mutation. Functional studies using CD99 antibodies revealed a possible role of this gene in cell survival and cell migration. Further studies are needed to establish CD99 as a potential therapeutic target and further investigations are ongoing to determine the mechanism by which CD99 regulates cell survival in AML. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Clinical microbiology laboratory automation and laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases: present and future

Targeted or comprehensive culture based microbiology laboratory automation has become reality in clinical laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases,to shorten the time for identification of microorganisms such as bacteria,yeasts and mycobacteria.Automation includes automated plating,staining,blood culture,identification and susceptibility system,matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry,and middleware for Laboratory Information System and Management Information System link.(Chin J Lab Med,2013,36:592-594) Key words: Communicable diseases; Microbiological techniques; Automation
How a Flexible Matrix Structure Could Create Ambidexterity at the Macro Level of Large, Complex Organizations Like MNCs

It is difficult to make large, complex organizations like MNCs ambidextrous—to make them efficient so that they succeed in the short run and in sync with their changing environments so that they succeed and survive in the long run. The two types of learning activity that support ambidexterity, exploitation and exploration, are fundamentally different (March 1991). The well-known structural approach to creating organizational ambidexterity employs separate subunits for exploitation and exploration (O’Reilly and Tushman 2011). We argue that this approach cannot take full advantage of the high levels of product, geographic, and functional diversity that exist in large, complex firms to create ambidexterity at a more macro level. Firms facing this kind of complexity often address it by using a matrix structure. For such firms, we argue that a more flexible form of matrix structure can facilitate the creation of a new form of ambidexterity at the macro level of such firms. As developed in Egelhoff and Wolf (Egelhoff and Wolf 2017), a flexible matrix structure is one which can vary its mode of decision making between balanced decision making, where decisions are jointly made by both dimensions of a matrix, and rule-based decision making, where it is pre-specified which dimension of a matrix will unilaterally make certain types of decision. We argue that rule-based decision making tends to facilitate exploitation and the refinement of existing knowledge while balanced decision making tends to facilitate exploration and the development of new knowledge. By specifying one mode of decision making or the other, firm-level management can deliberately steer important strategic decisions (e.g., new product technology development) into either exploitation or exploration and strategy renewal, creating a new form of ambidexterity at the macro level.
Is There a Gender Self-Advocacy Gap? An Empiric Investigation Into the Gender Pain Gap

There are documented differences in the efficacy of medical treatment for pain for men and women. Women are less likely to have their pain controlled and receive less treatment than men. We are investigating one possible explanation for this gender pain gap: that there is a difference in how women and men report their pain to physicians, and so there is a difference in how physicians understand their pain. This paper describes an exploratory study into gendered attitudes towards reporting uncontrolled pain to a physician. This exploratory study provided subjects with a vignette describing a situation in which their pain is not being treated adequately and asked them questions about their attitudes towards self-advocacy and the strategies they would likely use to express themselves. We found that women scored higher than men on measures of patient likelihood to self-advocate. Women also reported intending to use more varied self-advocacy strategies than men. This suggests it is unlikely that patient's communication styles are to blame for the gender pain gap.
Dehaze-GLCGAN: Unpaired Single Image De-hazing via Adversarial Training.

Single image de-hazing is a challenging problem, and it is far from solved. Most current solutions require paired image datasets that include both hazy images and their corresponding haze-free ground-truth images. However, in reality, lighting conditions and other factors can produce a range of haze-free images that can serve as ground truth for a hazy image, and a single ground truth image cannot capture that range. This limits the scalability and practicality of paired image datasets in real-world applications. In this paper, we focus on unpaired single image de-hazing and we do not rely on the ground truth image or physical scattering model. We reduce the image de-hazing problem to an image-to-image translation problem and propose a dehazing Global-Local Cycle-consistent Generative Adversarial Network (Dehaze-GLCGAN). Generator network of Dehaze-GLCGAN combines an encoder-decoder architecture with residual blocks to better recover the haze free scene. We also employ a global-local discriminator structure to deal with spatially varying haze. Through ablation study, we demonstrate the effectiveness of different factors in the performance of the proposed network. Our extensive experiments over three benchmark datasets show that our network outperforms previous work in terms of PSNR and SSIM while being trained on smaller amount of data compared to other methods.
Status of the Clinician Investigator in America: An Essential Healthcare Provider Driving Advances in Cancer Care.

Background Translation of basic discoveries to clinical care for patients with cancer is a difficult process greatly enabled by physician-trained researchers. Three categories of physicians, with responsibilities spanning from laboratory and preclinical research to direct patient care, are involved in the translational research continuum: physician-scientist (PS), clinician investigator (CI), and academic clinician (AC). Methods To define how protected time for research efforts is supported, the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) conducted a survey of their member institutions, obtaining 56 responses documenting time spent in research and clinical activities across multiple cancer disciplines, and providing information about funding streams for the different categories of cancer physicians. Results Responses showed that PSs and ACs are minimally involved in clinical research activities; the driver or clinical research in academic cancer centers is the CI. A significant concern was a lack of stable funding streams for nonbillable clinical research activities, putting the sustainability of the CI in jeopardy. Limited funding was derived from hospital sources, with most support derived from cancer center sources. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of the CI in translational cancer medicine and represents a call to action for institutions and research funding agencies to develop new programs targeted toward CI support to ensure continued progress against cancer.
NIH Toolbox executive function measures with developmental extensions: Reliability and validity with preschoolers in emergency housing

Research has shown that executive function (EF) skills are associated with resilience in preschoolers experiencing risk and adversity, but these studies have typically relied on large batteries of tasks to measure children's EF skills. There is a need for brief, reliable EF assessments that can be used in the field with diverse young children. The current study assessed the validity and test-retest reliability of two tablet-based EF tasks from the NIH Toolbox: The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) and the Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention Test, each with a developmental extension (Dext) that is triggered when a child struggles with the standardized versions. Dext versions include easier levels intended to improve task accessibility for younger and disadvantaged children. Eighty-six preschoolers residing in emergency housing participated in two study sessions about one week apart, completing tablet-based DCCS-Dext and Flanker-Dext tasks, along with a table-top EF task (Peg-Tapping) and measures of vocabulary and numeracy. The majority of participants triggered the Dext portion of the DCCS and almost half triggered the Dext portion of the Flanker, underscoring the need for extensions of the Toolbox EF tasks to lower the floor of these measures. The Dext EF measures were positively associated with Peg-Tapping, after controlling for age and vocabulary, indicating construct validity. They were also correlated with math achievement, suggesting criterion validity. DCCS-Dext and Flanker-Dext showed moderate test-retest reliability after one week. Together, these findings demonstrate the value of developmental extensions for assessing EF skills among children experiencing risk and adversity.
Reproductive soundness in beef bulls

Veterinarians are called upon to examine bulls for breeding soundness either before purchase or before the breeding season. There are many workers who believe that the reproductive capacity of beef bulls is generally less than that of bulls of dairy breeds. The purpose of this review is to present some comparisons of measures of reproductive capacity in bulls of beef and dairy breed in the United States and to discuss the clinical evaluationof the bull’s reproductive system.
User Experience Matters: Does One size Fit all? Evaluation of Learning Management Systems

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are in use for years and are still crucial assets for both teachers and students for teaching and learning. There is a wide variety of LMS available for institutions to administer learning in and out of the classes. However, deciding to pick an LMS to integrate is a critical decision that affects both instructors and students. On the other hand, although there is previous research LMS from students' perspective, there is a lack of research in the literature from instructors' standpoint. This research aims to gain a deeper understanding of how in-service teachers, enrolled as students in the study program of instructional technology, use of LMS in terms of user experience and satisfaction of three well-known LMS, including Canvas, Blackboard, and Moodle. The results show a significant difference between the three LMS, Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas, in terms of users’ subjective satisfaction, ease of use, and functionality.
National trends in nonoperating room anesthesia: procedures, facilities, and patient characteristics.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Nonoperating room anesthesia (NORA) continues to increase in popularity and scope. This article reviews current and new trends in NORA, trends in anesthesia management in nonoperating room settings, and the evolving debates surrounding these trends. RECENT FINDINGS: National data suggests that NORA cases will continue to rise relative to operating room (OR) anesthesia and there will continue to be a shift towards performing more interventional procedures outside of the OR. These trends have important implications for the safety of interventional procedures as they become increasingly more complex and patients continue to be older and more frail. In order for anesthesia providers and proceduralists to be prepared for this future, rigorous standards must be set for safe anesthetic care outside of the OR.Although the overall association between NORA and patient morbidity and mortality remains unclear, focused studies point toward trends specific to each non-OR procedure type. Given increasing patient and procedure complexity, anesthesiology teams may see a larger role in the interventional suite. However, the ideal setting and placement of anesthesia staff for interventional procedures remain controversial. Also, the impact of COVID-19 on the growth and utilization of non-OR anesthesia remains unclear, and it remains to be seen how the pandemic will influence the delivery of NORA procedures in postpandemic settings. SUMMARY: NORA is a rapidly growing field of anesthesia. Continuing discussions of complication rates and mortality in different subspecialty areas will determine the need for anesthesia care and quality improvement efforts in each setting. As new noninvasive procedures are developed, new data will continue to shape debates surrounding anesthesia care outside of the operating room.
Multiband Spectrum Sensing with Non-exponential Channel Occupancy Times

In a wireless network with dynamic spectrum sharing, tracking temporal spectrum holes across a wide spectrum band is a challenging task. We consider a scenario in which the spectrum is divided into a large number of bands or channels, each of which has the potential to provide dynamic spectrum access opportunities. The occupancy times of each band by primary users are generally non-exponentially distributed. We develop an approach to determine and parameterize a small selected subset of the bands with good spectrum access opportunities, using limited computational resources under noisy measurements. We model the noisy measurements of the received signal in each band as a bivariate Markov modulated Gaussian process, which can be viewed as a continuous-time bivariate Markov chain observed through Gaussian noise. The underlying bivariate Markov process allows for the characterization of non-exponentially distributed state sojourn times. The proposed scheme combines an online expectation-maximization algorithm for parameter estimation with a computing budget allocation algorithm. Observation time is allocated across the bands to determine the subset of G* out of G frequency bands with the largest mean idle times for dynamic spectrum access and at the same time to obtain accurate parameter estimates for this subset of bands. Our simulation results show that when channel holding times are non-exponential, the proposed scheme achieves a substantial improvement in the probability of correct selection of the best subset of bands compared to an approach based on a (univariate) Markov modulated Gaussian process model.