cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
When Do Transparent Packages Increase (or Decrease) Food Consumption

Transparent packages are pervasive in food consumption environments. Yet prior research has not systematically examined whether and how transparent packaging affects food consumption. The authors propose that transparent packaging has two opposing effects on food consumption: it enhances food salience, which increases consumption (salience effect), and it facilitates consumption monitoring, which decreases consumption (monitoring effect). They argue that the net effect of transparent packaging on food consumption is moderated by food characteristics (e.g., unit size, appearance). For small, visually attractive foods, the monitoring effect is low, so the salience effect dominates, and people eat more from a transparent package than from an opaque package. For large foods, the monitoring effect dominates the salience effect, decreasing consumption. For vegetables, which are primarily consumed for their health benefits, consumption monitoring is not activated, so the salience effect dominates, which ironical...
Localized Stabilization of Microtubules by Integrin- and FAK-Facilitated Rho Signaling

Microtubule (MT) stabilization is regulated by the small guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein Rho and its effector, mammalian homolog of Diaphanous (mDia), in migrating cells, but factors responsible for localized stabilization at the leading edge are unknown. We report that integrin-mediated activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) at the leading edge is required for MT stabilization by the Rho-mDia signaling pathway in mouse fibroblasts. MT stabilization also involved FAK-regulated localization of a lipid raft marker, ganglioside GM1, to the leading edge. The integrin-FAK signaling pathway may facilitate Rho-mDia signaling through GM1, or through a specialized membrane domain containing GM1, to stabilize MTs in the leading edge of migrating cells.
Puzzles, art, and magic with algorithms

Solving and designing puzzles, creating sculpture and architecture, and inventing magic tricks all lead to fun and interesting algorithmic problems This talk describes some of our explorations into these areas.
Radiative and Nonradiative Transitions of Eu3+ in Binary Solvent Systems

Abstract The fluorescence efficiency of the rare-earth ions in solution increases upon deuteration of the solvent(1–3) and is dependent upon the presence in the solvent molecule of such groups as etc. Lower fluorescence quantum yields observed for Eu3+ and Tb3+ in protic solvents were accounted for, at least qualitatively, by electronic excitation energy transfer from the excited rare-earth ion to some of the vibrational modes in the solvent molecule. The fluorescence quantum yield of Dy3+ in solution is also lower in the presence of groups.(7) Furthermore, significant fluorescence enhancement and long fluorescence lifetimes were observed for both Sm3+ and Eu3+ in such aprotic solvents as POCl3:SnCl4, POCl3:ZrCl4 and POCl3:TiCl4, where both the fluorescence intensities and lifetimes were enhanced by a factor of 1000 and 300, respectively, relative to those in aqueous solutions.(8,9) The fluorescence efficiency of Sm3+ and Eu3+ was also found to depend upon the composition of the primary solvation sphere o...
Transcending the Adaptation/Mitigation Climate Change Science Policy Debate: Unmasking Assumptions about Adaptation and Resilience

AbstractThe two principal policy approaches to global climate change include mitigation and adaption. In recent years, the interest in adaptation and “resilience” has increased significantly in part because anthropogenic climate change appears unavoidable and mitigation agreements are difficult to achieve. This article takes a critical look at the emerging discourse over climate change adaptation and resilience. By drawing upon critiques of environmental resource management and adaptive comanagement, this paper argues that taking the concept of adaptation for granted as an appropriate bottom-up strategy for coping with anthropogenic climate change not only ignores the political and economic contexts in which this environmental strategy developed, but might also unintentionally subvert the vulnerable communities it intends to benefit. Using an ethnographic case study of the 2004 Boscastle Harbour flood in North Cornwall, England, this paper explores the paradoxical way in which adaptation and resilience wo...
Multi‐level decomposition of probabilistic relations

Two methods of decomposition of probabilistic relations are presented in this paper. They consist of splitting relations (blocks) into pairs of smaller blocks related to each other by new variables generated in such a way so as to minimize a cost function which depends on the size and structure of the result. The decomposition is repeated iteratively until a stopping criterion is met. Topology and contents of the resulting structure develop dynamically in the decomposition process and reflect relationships hidden in the data.
Fast generation of abstracts from general domain text corpora by extracting relevant sentences

This paper describes a system for generating text abstracts which relies on a general, purely statistical principle, i.e., on the notion of "relevance", as it is defined in terms of the combination of feild weights of words in a sentence. The system generates abstracts from newspaper articles by selecting the "most relevant" sentences and combining them in text order. Since neither domain knowledge nor text-sort-specific heuristics are involved, this system provides maximal generality and flexibility. Also, it is fast and can be efficiently implemented for both on-line and off-line purposes. An experiment shows that recall and precision for the extracted sentences (taking the sentences extracted by human subjects as a baseline) is within the same range as recall/precision when the human subjects are compared amongst each other: this means in fact that the performance of the system is indistinguishable from the performance of a human abstractor. Finally, the system yields significantly better results than a default "lead" algorithm does which chooses just some initial sentences from the text.
P028: Examining the relationship between fluoroquinolone use and Clostridium difficile infections (CDI): a meta-analysis

The incidence of CDI has increased substantially during the past decade. C. difficile is now one of the most important causes of healthcare-associated infections. Antimicrobial use is the primary risk factor for CDI. Several small studies have assessed whether fluoroquinolones increase the risk of CDI more than other antimicrobials.
Identity, Training and Growth: Family Therapy and Training Child Psychiatrists

The youngest enter the fellowship at age 27 or 28. Many are 30, beginning the fourth decade of their lives, still in training and still seeking their niche of professional identity. Some come to child psychiatry because their past experiences with children had been particularly rewarding. They may have forged important bonds with younger siblings or cousins, worked rewardingly in summer children’s camps, or functioned well with pediatric patients; perhaps some successfully tutored disadvantaged youngsters, or empathically counseled kids in trouble. Others come with less experience and consequently with even more idealistic fervor: “Children are the future! Give me the child and I’ll give you the adult! As the twig is bent, so the tree grows!” Some Child Fellows are wary of adults, feel more secure with children. A few seek to re-parent themselves.
Motivational factors predicting STEM and engineering career intentions for high school students

The objective of this research was to determine various motivational factors that influence high school students towards intended careers in engineering. This study utilized data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, which surveyed over 24,000 students in 9th grade and again in 11th grade. We classified students into four categories of intentions: 1) Not STEM Intending, those who did not select a STEM occupation in either the 2009 or 2011 administrations; 2) Leavers, students who selected a STEM occupation in 2009 but not in 2011, 3) Newcomers, those who did not originally specify a STEM career in 2009, but who did in 2011; and 4) Stayers, those who chose STEM careers in both 2009 and 2011. Repeated measures analysis of variance modeled the extent to which the motivational variables, measured for both mathematics and science, were related to students' career intentions. Results show that occupational intentions change dramatically between 9th and 11th grades, and that the relationship between STEM intention and motivation is highly time-sensitive: Of the 6,788 STEM intending students in 2009 (29% of the total sample), only 3,560 remained STEM intending in 2011 (48% attrition).
Peers and Friends

Outside the family, girls spend more time with friends than with any other individuals. Our friendship and peer group are often a reflection of who we are. During adolescence, girls select (or are selected by) friends. For the most part, girls choose to be with friends and peers who are similar socioeconomically and who hold the same values and beliefs, although there are some exceptions with African American girls. In this chapter, the nature of friendship among African American girls and the influence of friends and peers on their well-being are examined. The chapter discusses how friends and peers influence attitudes and behaviors both positively and negatively. This chapter begins with definitions followed by a discussion of why friendships are so important to African American girls.
Sharp Kolmogorov-Landau Inequalities in W2Hω(I), I = ℝ ⋁ ℝ+

In this chapter we describe extremal functions and sharp Kolmogorov inequalities in the problem, $$ \begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{{{\left\| {{{f}^{{(m)}}}} \right\|}}_{{{{\mathbb{L}}_{\infty }}(I)}}}{\mkern 1mu} \to \sup ,} & {f{\mkern 1mu} {\mkern 1mu} \in {\mkern 1mu} {\mkern 1mu} {{W}^{2}}{{H}^{\omega }}(I),} & {{{{\left\| f \right\|}}_{{{{\mathbb{L}}_{\infty }}(I)}}}{\mkern 1mu} \leqslant {\mkern 1mu} B,} \\ \end{array} $$ for m = 1, 2, and I = ℝ or ℝ+. We also give the corresponding optimal numerical differentation formulae for f′(x) and f″(x).
Perspectives on Torture in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Australia

Historically, torture was used in Greek and Roman societies, as well as the twelfth-century Europe as a means for “truth” extraction and display of power. Abolition of torture, on the other hand, was connected to the changes in the legal system, establishment of new ways of punishment, and alternative demonstration of control (Foot 2006). After the appalling disregard for human rights during World War II, new treaties and conventions were created aimed at prevention of such heinous crimes. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Geneva Convention on the Protection of Victims of War, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) were adopted in recognition of the need to eliminate torture and cruel methods of punishment (Barrett 2001). The Article 3 of the ECHR prohibits torture reading, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (Barrett 2001). Although explicitly prohibiting practice of torture, the convention, however, did not define the concept of torture, allowing for its wide interpretation (Barrett 2001). However, if torture was internationally condemned and abolished, with the special emphasis put on the improvements of human rights, the questions about its practice in the modern world remains unanswered.
Homologous PNA Hybridization to Noncanonical DNA G-Quadruplexes.

Potential guanine (G) quadruplex-forming sequences (QFSs) found throughout the genomes and transcriptomes of organisms have emerged as biologically relevant structures. These G-quadruplexes represent novel opportunities for gene regulation at the DNA and RNA levels. Recently, the definition of functional QFSs has been expanding to include a variety of unconventional motifs, including relatively long loop sequences (i.e., >7 nucleotides) separating adjacent G-tracts. We have identified a QFS within the 25S rDNA gene from Saccharomyces cerevisae that features a long loop separating the two 3′-most G-tracts. An oligonucleotide based on this sequence, QFS3, folds into a stable G-quadruplex in vitro. We have studied the interaction between QFS3 and several loop mutants with a small, homologous (G-rich) peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligomer that is designed to form a DNA/PNA heteroquadruplex. The PNA successfully invades the DNA quadruplex target to form a stable heteroquadruplex, but with surprisingly high PNA:D...
Helping Consumers Find Reliable Health Information on the Internet: An Overview of One Library's Outreach Projects in Virginia

Finding reliable health information should be the highest priority for all health information consumers when searching the Internet. However, without guidelines, support, and training, that can be an intimidating task. Outreach librarians from academic medical centers have developed projects and partnerships that facilitate the identification of, and access to, the most reliable health information the Internet has to offer. The University of Virginia's Claude Moore Health Sciences Library provides Outreach services in central, western, and southwestern Virginia where two Outreach Librarians work in partnership with several community organizations including Area Health Education Centers, cancer coalitions, senior centers, migrant programs, and public libraries. This article highlights several of those projects, many of which have been supported by subcontracts funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
Autonomous Navigation and the Sojourner Microrover

The Mars exploration program has as an overarching theme the search for and understanding of life, climate and resources on Mars. The ability to move about the surface of Mars is key to making measurements and the gathering of the data which address this theme.
Ion Selective Ceramics for Waste Separations. Input for Annual Accomplishments Report

This report discusses“Ion-Selective Ceramics for Waste Separations” which aims to develop an electrochemical approach to remove fission product waste (e.g., Cs+ ) from the LiCl-KCl molten salts used in the pyroprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
Ensuring Correctness in Future Microprocessors

In the concluding chapter of this book we present our outlook at the future of processor verification. As the complexity of microprocessors grows and volumes of production increase, hardware vendors are subjected to greater risks of showstopper bugs. Yet, when it comes to verification, the microprocessor industry is often reactive, developing new solutions after critical escapes occur. Here, we advocate a proactive approach to verification, where the chip’s architecture is analyzed early in the design phase and pre-silicon, post-silicon and runtime techniques are integrated and developed according to a design’s needs. In this chapter we also overview upcoming trends in microprocessor architectures, such as heterogeneous multi-core structures and complex on-chip interconnects, and discuss how these trends will affect the nature of processor validation.
Symposium: Advances in Heart Failure Treatment From Mechanical Cardiac Support to Heart Transplant: A Guide for Sonographers

Advances in cardiac sonography have made it an essential tool for physicians in detection, surveillance, and treatment of patients with advanced heart failure (HF). Echocardiographic examinations a...
Introduction to Dual Diagnosis Special Issue

Psychiatric illnesses do not generally occur in isolation. Many people with a psychiatric disorder have one or more other psychiatric disorders. Termed comorbid disorders, co-occurring disorders, o...
Integrated optics by ion exchange

Integrated optical components based on ion-exchanged glass waveguides are attractive for several reasons. Significant progress has occurred in the past decade in the understanding of the ion-exchange process and its relationship to the dopant profile. It is now possible to model the thermal as well as electric field enhanced ion exchange with reasonable accuracy and to design ion-exchanged waveguides and devices with prespecified characteristics. This paper first describes the theory of the ionexchange process and its application to planar and 2-D (channel) waveguides. Following this, we review the latest results for several passive devices based on single-mode channel waveguides. These include couplers, power dividers, MUX/DEMUX, and polarization splitters. Finally, we point out the latest trends and novel emerging applications of ionexchanged waveguides, such as waveguide lasers and amplifiers, all optical switching, and integration of passive waveguides on glass with optoelectronic devices. We conclude by presenting some of the issues to be addressed for the technology to make an impact on the market.
Effects of agronomic factors on yield and quality of whole corn plants and the impact of feeding high concentrations of corn silage in diets containing distillers grains to finishing cattle

Corn plants were sampled over 2 consecutive years to assess the effects of corn hybrid maturity class, plant population, and harvest time on whole corn plant quality and yield in Nebraska. A finishing experiment evaluated the substitution of corn with corn silage in diets with corn modified distillers grains with solubles (MDGS). The first 2 harvest dates were at the mid- and late-silage harvest times whereas the final harvest was at the grain harvest stage of plant maturity. Whole plant yields increased as harvest time progressed (yr 1 quadratic P < 0.01; yr 2 linear P < 0.01). However, differences in TDN concentration in both years were quite minimal across harvest time, because grain percentage increased but residue NDF in-situ disappearance decreased as harvest time was delayed. In the finishing experiment, as corn silage inclusion increased from 15 to 55% (DM basis) by replacing dry rolled and high moisture corn grain with corn silage in diets containing 40% MDGS, DMI, ADG, and G:F linearly decreased (P ≤ 0.01), with the steers on the 15% corn silage treatment being 1.5%, 5.0%, and 7.7% more efficient than steers on treatments containing 30, 45, and 55% corn silage, respectively. Calculated dietary NEm and NEg decreased linearly as corn silage inclusion increased indicating that net energy values were greater for corn grain than for corn silage. In addition, dressing percentage decreased linearly (P < 0.01) as silage inclusion increased suggesting more fill as silage inclusion increases in diets. Cattle fed greater than 15% corn silage in finishing diets based on corn grain will gain slower and be slightly less efficient and likely require increased days to market at similar carcass fatness and size. When 30% silage was fed with 65% MDGS, DMI, and ADG were decreased (P < 0.01) compared to feeding 30% silage with 40% MDGS suggesting some benefit to including a proportion of corn in the diet. Conversely, when 45% silage was fed with 40% MDGS, ADG, and G:F were greater (P < 0.04) than when 45% silage was fed with just grain implying a greater energy value for MDGS than for corn grain. Substituting corn silage for corn grain in finishing diets decreased ADG and G:F which would increase days to finish to an equal carcass weight; however, in this experiment, increasing corn silage levels with MDGS present reduced carcass fat thickness without significantly decreasing marbling score.
Multicultural Ethnic Music Education in Communist China

The Central Communist Party (CCP) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) describes China as a unified multinational country. National policies advocate cultural diversity in the educational system with particular emphasis on the notion that diverse ethnic minorities contribute to zhonghua minzu — a single united Chinese nationality. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of musical authenticity as well as two tenets of liberalism theory, equal concern and cultural neutrality, the study aims to understand how government-designed national K1 – 9 music textbooks represent the Chinese ethnic minority’s musical and cultural traditions.
A Bayesian approach to correct for unmeasured or semi-unmeasured confounding in survival data using multiple validation data sets

Purpose: The existence of unmeasured confounding can clearly undermine the validity of an observational study. Methods of conducting sensitivity analyses to evaluate the impact of unmeasured confounding are well established. However, application of such methods to survival data (“time-to-event” outcomes) have received little attention in the literature. The purpose of this study is to propose a novel Bayesian method to account for unmeasured confounding for survival data. Methods: The Bayesian method is proposed under an assumption that the supplementary information on unmeasured confounding in the form of internal validation data, external validation data or expert elicited prior distributions is available. The method for incorporating such information to Cox proportional hazard model is described. Simulation studies are performed based on the recently published instrumental variable method to assess the impact of unmeasured confounding and to illustrate the improvement of the proposed method over the naive model which ignores unmeasured confounding. Results: Simulation studies illustrate the impact of ignoring the unmeasured confounding and the effectiveness of our Bayesian approach. The corrected model had significantly less bias and coverage of 95% intervals much closer to nominal. Conclusion: The proposed Bayesian method provides a useful and flexible tool in incorporating different types of supplemental information on unmeasured confounding to adjust the treatment estimates when the outcome is survival data. It out-performed the naive model in simulation studies based on a real world study.
Group A Streptococcus Prevents Mast Cell Degranulation to Promote Extracellular Trap Formation

The resurgence of Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections in the past two decades has been a rising major public health concern. Due to a large number of GAS infections occurring in the skin, mast cells (MCs), innate immune cells known to localize to the dermis, could play an important role in controlling infection. MCs can exert their antimicrobial activities either early during infection, by degranulation and release of antimicrobial proteases and the cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptide LL-37, or by forming antibacterial MC extracellular traps (MCETs) in later stages of infection. We demonstrate that MCs do not directly degranulate in response to GAS, reducing their ability to control bacterial growth in early stages of infection. However, MC granule components are highly cytotoxic to GAS due to the pore-forming activity of LL-37, while MC granule proteases do not significantly affect GAS viability. We therefore confirmed the importance of MCETs by demonstrating their capacity to reduce GAS survival. The data therefore suggests that LL-37 from MC granules become embedded in MCETs, and are the primary effector molecule by which MCs control GAS infection. Our work underscores the importance of a non-traditional immune effector cell, utilizing a non-conventional mechanism, in the defense against an important human pathogen.
Results of a radiological survey at the space radiation effects laboratory, Newport News, Virginia.

The Space Radiation Effects Laboratory located in Newport News, Virginia, was operated by the College of William and Mary for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A synchrocyclotron was formerly in operation in this laboratory and a primary beam of 600 MeV protons and secondary beams of 400 MeV pions and muons were produced for the purpose of studying the effects of radiation on materials planned for use in space. The synchrocyclotron was removed in 1980. At several locations, the scattered radiation caused an induced radioactivity within the walls of the cyclotron room. A radiological survey has been performed to determine the amount of residual radioactivity on the walls. Calculations were performed to determine the thickness of the concrete walls and floor for shielding the residual radiation in the cyclotron room. Recommendations were made to minimize exposure to a potential occupant working in the building from the residual radioactivity on the walls and floor of the cyclotron room.
MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION | Decontamination of Processed Meat

Contamination of processed meat products can occur from any of a number of sources. Intervention technologies including thermal, nonthermal, biological, and chemical, when used appropriately, are designed to inactivate and/or inhibit foodborne pathogens to ensure the safety of meat and poultry products. In the past several years, significant advances have been made, both in improving existing intervention tools and in developing novel inactivation technologies specifically to this category of meat products. Particular attention has been focused on the hurdle approach of combining multiple intervention technologies to inactivae pathogens in processed meats.
Accounting for Historical Forces in the Effort to Align Law with Science

During the course of this year’s Childress lecture, Professor john a. powell identified a number of principles in modern jurisprudence as remnants of Enlightenment Period concepts and argued that current scientific developments have proven these principles false. The foremost Enlightenment concepts that he challenged were those related to individual decision-making processes and causation, both of which play a significant role in almost every aspect of the law. This Article makes no attempt to delve further into science, or the law’s consistency with it, as it largely concurs in powell’s assessment of modern science and jurisprudence. Instead this Article raises the different, but related, question of why certain aspects of the law reflect Enlightenment thinking. In particular, have courts adopted legal standards based on their understanding of science, albeit a flawed understanding, or do current legal standards reflect ulterior motives that may simply coincide with Enlightenment principles? Of course, such a large question cannot be definitively answered in the context of a short Article, but the answer has huge consequences for legal reform efforts. This Article simply hopes to continue the conversation. Relying on a few seminal school desegregation cases, this Article posits that, first, the Supreme Court’s understanding of intent and causation is sometimes more nuanced than we currently appreciate and, second, when the Court’s
A NOVEL MICROSTIRRER AND ARRAYS FOR MICROFLUIDIC MIXING

We present a novel active micro stirrer and its arrays for micro total analysis systems. These mixers are capable of rapid and on-demand mixing. Fabrication of the microstirrers is described. The mixing efficiency is investigated using experimental means and computer-aided fluid simulation.
HOMMEXX 1.0: a performance-portable atmospheric dynamical core for the Energy Exascale Earth System Model

Abstract. We present an architecture-portable and performant implementation of the atmospheric dynamical core (High-Order Methods Modeling Environment, HOMME) of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). The original Fortran implementation is highly performant and scalable on conventional architectures using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) and Open MultiProcessor (OpenMP) programming models. We rewrite the model in C++ and use the Kokkos library to express on-node parallelism in a largely architecture-independent implementation. Kokkos provides an abstraction of a compute node or device, layout-polymorphic multidimensional arrays, and parallel execution constructs. The new implementation achieves the same or better performance on conventional multicore computers and is portable to GPUs. We present performance data for the original and new implementations on multiple platforms, on up to 5400 compute nodes, and study several aspects of the single- and multi-node performance characteristics of the new implementation on conventional CPU (e.g., Intel Xeon), many core CPU (e.g., Intel Xeon Phi Knights Landing), and Nvidia V100 GPU.
Improving the Assessment of Breath-Holding Induced Cerebral Vascular Reactivity Using a Multiband Multi-echo ASL/BOLD Sequence.

Breath holding (BH) is a viable vasodilatory stimulus for calculating functional MRI-derived cerebral vascular reactivity (CVR). The BH technique suffers from reduced repeatability compared with gas inhalation techniques; however, extra equipment is needed to perform gas inhalation techniques, and this equipment is not available at all institutions. This study aimed to determine the sensitivity and repeatability of BH activation and CVR using a multiband multi-echo simultaneous arterial spin labelling/blood oxygenation level dependent (ASL/BOLD) sequence. Whole-brain images were acquired in 14 volunteers. Ten subjects returned for repeat imaging. Each subject performed four cycles of 16 s BH on expiration interleaved with paced breathing. Following standard preprocessing, the echoes were combined using a T2*-weighted approach. BOLD and ASL BH activation was computed, and CVR was then determined as the percent signal change related to the activation. The “M” parameter from the Davis Model was also computed by incorporating the ASL signal. Our results showed higher BH activation strength, volume, and repeatability for the combined multi-echo (MEC) data compared with the single-echo data. MEC CVR also had higher repeatability, sensitivity, specificity, and reliability compared with the single-echo BOLD data. These data support the usefulness of an MBME ASL/BOLD acquisition for BH CVR and M measurements.
UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE AND ENFORCED BENEFICENCE

I examine Allen Buchanan’s arguments for enforced beneficence and express a number of worries concerning his attempt to justify coercive distributive policies that guarantee (basic) health care services for all citizens. The central objection questions whether, given Buchanan’s own stipulation of universally-instantiated attitudes of moral beneficence amongst all society members, his arguments from, first, the coordination problem and, second, the assurance problem successfully establish a justification of enforced contribution. I defend alternative, non-coercive, responses to the aforementioned problems and show that a particular kind of institution (an “information service”) provides all citizens with the sufficient and reliable epistemic resources so that they can effectively help the sick and needy. I notice that Buchanan’s difficulties with justifying coercion can be regarded as providing indirect support for the view that developing a justice-based conception of moral health care rights remains, pace Buchanan, an important task to be completed.
Impact of Automated Time-released Reminders on Patient Preparedness for Colonoscopy.

GOALS To evaluate the effect of an automated time-released colonoscopy reminder program on preparation quality and the rates of canceled procedures. BACKGROUND Patients missing colonoscopy appointments or arriving with inadequate bowel preparations result in delays in care and increase in health care costs. STUDY We initiated a quality improvement program which included switching to a split-dose preparation and delivering preparation instructions and appointment reminders via text messages and emails sent with an automated time-released HIPAA-compliant software platform. All patients scheduled for a colonoscopy from March through June 2017 were enrolled unless mobile phone, email, or preparation type data was missing (nonintervention cohort). Primary outcome metrics were the rate of adequate bowel preparation and the rate of canceled procedures. Outcomes of the intervention group were compared with outcomes from colonoscopies performed from March through June 2016 (baseline cohort). RESULTS There were 1497 patients (40.7% male, mean age 56.4 y) enrolled in the automated reminder program. Compared with the baseline cohort, the rate of adequate bowel preparation increased from 88.5% to 96.2% (P<0.0001). The rate of canceled procedures decreased from 6.1% to 4.3% (P=0.02). On multivariable analysis, the automated reminder program improved adequate preparation quality 2.85-fold (95% confidence interval, 2.03-3.99; P<0.0001). Sensitivity analysis comparing the intervention to nonintervention cohorts showed that improvement in preparation quality was attributable to the automated reminder program. CONCLUSIONS Implementation of automated time-released colonoscopy preparation reminders via text messages and emails improved patient preparedness for colonoscopy, with significantly improved bowel preparation quality and fewer canceled procedures.
Maternal stress and adolescent brain structure and function.

Introduction Adolescence is a time of heightened sensitivity in biological stress systems and the emergence of stress-related psychopathology. Thus, understanding environmental factors in adolescence that might be associated with adolescents'' stress systems is important. Maternal stress levels may be involved. However, the relationship between maternal stress and the adolescent brain is unknown. Method The present study examined the association between mothers' self-reported stress levels and mothers' cortisol stress reactivity and their early adolescents' brain structure and functional activation to stressful negative emotional images. Participants included 66 mothers and their 12- to 14-year old adolescents. Mother's perceived stress and salivary cortisol reactivity to a stressful task were collected. Then, adolescents' brain structure and function were assessed in a magnetic resonance imaging session. Results Functional whole-brain analyses revealed that mothers' higher reported perceived stress, but not cortisol reactivity, predicted adolescents' higher responses in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to stressful negative emotional stimuli. There were no statistically significant associations for structural analyses. Conclusions Given the finding of maternal stress reactivity related to adolescent mPFC function-an integral structure related to stress responses-parent stress may play a role in the development of neural stress systems in adolescence, with potential implications for development of psychopathology.
This Is Not My House

One of the great pleasures of working at a university is the potential of having a sabbatical. Sabbaticals are designed such that faculty can work at other institutions to increase their knowledge in broader subject areas, perform research under unique conditions or special localities, or learn new methods and techniques. These usually only come around once every 7 years and aren’t always granted by the university. An excellent research proposal needs to be written and faculty need to show that the sabbatical will improve their ability to teach and do research at their home institution. I was lucky enough to be granted a sabbatical and fortunate enough to find funding that allowed me to work for 6 months at Lund University in Sweden.
Comparison of cross-flow turbine performance under torque-regulated and speed-regulated control

When experimentally evaluating the performance of a wind or water current turbine, one must impose a regulating torque on the turbine rotor by electrical or mechanical means. Some options limit this controlling torque to a purely resistive quantity, while servomotors and stepper motors allow torque to be applied in the direction of turbine rotation. Any control mode that results in net positive power for a turbine may be of interest for energy harvesting, and all of these are net “fluid-driven.” Here, we present experiments that characterize the power, torque, and force coefficients of a cross-flow turbine operated at a constant rotational speed or under a constant imposed control torque. Time- and phase-average performance coefficients are largely equivalent for the two strategies although torque-regulated control is restricted to a narrower range of rotational speeds and the two strategies result in slightly different blade kinematics.
Rewiring the Prison: Early Radio as a Carceral Technology

Federal prisons in the early 20th century used the technology of radio for distinct ends. The prison at Atlanta facilitated a broadcast concert at the local radio station, with an entirely incarcerated band. At Leavenworth, in Kansas, a warden tried to maintain control over his facility by permitting long radio listening hours for prisoners through individual headsets wired into cells rather than in areas where people could gather. Meanwhile, prison educators believed radio to be a powerful tool in their mission to reform their subjects. This moment of indetermination—for both radio and the new Federal Bureau of Prisons—offers insight into the role of media in the practice of incarceration, as well as in the struggle against it.
Younger patients have worse outcomes after peripheral endovascular interventions for suprainguinal arterial occlusive disease

Abstract Objective The choice of intervention for treating suprainguinal arterial disease, open bypass vs endovascular intervention, is often tempered by patient age and comorbidities. In the present study, we compared the association of patient age with 1-year major adverse limb events (MALE)-free survival and reintervention-free survival (RFS) rates among patients undergoing intervention for suprainguinal arterial disease. Methods The Vascular Quality Initiative datasets for bypass and peripheral endovascular intervention (PVI; aorta and iliac only) were queried from 2010 to 2017. The patients were divided into two age groups: Results A total of 14,301 cases from the Vascular Quality Initiative datasets were included in the present study. Propensity matching led to 3062 cases in the ≥60-year group (1021 bypass; 2041 PVI) and 2548 cases in the Conclusions Among the patients aged
Technical note: Survey of extracellular and cell-pellet-associated DNA from 'touch'/trace samples.

Abstract The goal of this study was to characterize the reproducibility of extracellular and cell pellet associated DNA yields recovered from handled substrates. Results showed that extracellular DNA yields were extremely variable between contributors—ranging between 0 and >10ng—and tended to dwarf cell pellet yields, which varied between 0 and ∼230 pg. DNA yields across multiple samples from the same contributor on different days showed similar levels of variability in both DNA fractions, indicating that extracellular DNA yield is largely influenced by extrinsic and/or environmental factors and is not a contributor-specific attribute. Microscopic surveys of cells from the pellet fraction as well as fingerprints from the same contributor samples were conducted following treatment with fluorescent DNA stain. Nearly all imaged cells exhibited diffuse fluorescence across the cell without discernable evidence of nuclei. This is consistent with the limited nature of DNA recovery from the pellet fraction and the prevalence of extracellular DNA in these samples.
Myeloma-Associated Adipocytes Exhibit Reduced Adipogenic Gene Expression and Delipidation

Abstract Multiple Myeloma (MM) progression and drug resistance depend on bidirectional interactions with the local microenvironment that results both in a destruction of the marrow and survival of the tumor. Similarly to how MM cells both depend on and destroy (or render dysfunctional) BM mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), we hypothesized that MM cells also affect and are affected by BM adipocytes (BMAs), contributing to disease progression. Obesity, which is a risk factor for MM development with overweight individuals being 1.5-2 times more likely to develop the disease, also correlates to increased bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT). Similarly, correlations between aging and BMAT, as well as aging and MM exist. These correlations suggest a role for BMAs in the development and progression of MM and make elucidating the signals and cross-talk between MM and BMAT extremely relevant in the understanding of the disease. BMAT-derived signaling molecules may promote myelomagenesis and enhance tumor growth, but this has been largely unexplored. In addition, while the effect of myeloma on bone cells has been widely characterized within the past few years, the direct effect of MM cells on BMAs is unknown and potentially revolutionary for our understanding and treatment of MM. In the present study, we explored the direct effects of MM cells on adipocytes and BMAs in 2D and novel 3D tissue engineered cultures. 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes or primary mouse or human BM-MSCs were differentiated into lipid-laden adipocytes using previously published methods, and co-cultured with MM cell lines (MM.1S, MM.1R, 5TGM1, and OPM2). For mature adipocytes, cells were differentiated for approximately 9 days (mouse) or 21 days (human) prior to myeloma co-culture. To investigate the effect of myeloma cells on MSC adipogenic differentiation capacity, pre-adipocytes were grown to confluency and then myeloma cells were added for a 3-day exposure period prior to adipogenic differentiation. Direct and indirect (MM conditioned media (CM) and transwell cultures) effects of myeloma cells on MSC adipogenesis were assessed with oil red-o functional assays for lipid accumulation and/or qRT-PCR of total adipocyte RNA. Statistical significance was determined via Student's T-test or ANOVA. We also developed a novel, tissue-engineered (TE) 3-D in vitro MAT model using silk scaffolds seeded with MSCs grown in adipogenic media. TE-MAT was validated to represent normal, healthy MAT using confocal imaging and microarray. MM cells (MM.1S, 5TGM1 and OPM2) were cultured on TE-MAT for up to 2 weeks and examined with confocal microscopy; lipid accumulation was detected via Oil Red-O staining in these cultures. Indirect co-culture of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with myeloma cells severely and significantly reduced both adipogenic transcription factors (Fig. 1A- Ppar γ, OPM2 p Download : Download high-res image (232KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures Falank: BioPact Ventures, LLC: Research Funding. Reagan: BioPact Ventures, LLC: Research Funding.
Sulfated non-anticoagulant heparin derivative modifies intracellular hemoglobin, inhibits cell sickling in vitro, and prolongs survival of sickle cell mice under hypoxia.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an autosomal recessive genetic disease caused by a single point mutation, resulting in abnormal sickle hemoglobin (HbS). During hypoxia or dehydration, HbS polymerizes to form insoluble aggregates and induces sickling of red blood cells (RBCs). RBC sickling increases adhesiveness of RBCs to alter the rheological properties of the blood and triggers inflammatory responses, leading to hemolysis and vaso-occlusive crisis sequelae. Unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low-molecular weight heparins (LMWH) have been suggested as treatments to relieve coagulation complications in SCD. However, they are associated with bleeding complications after repeated dosing. An alternative sulfated nonanticoagulant heparin derivative (S-NACH) was previously reported to have none to low systemic anticoagulant activity and no bleeding side effects, and it interfered with P-selectindependent binding of sickle cells to endothelial cells, with concomitant decrease in the levels of adhesion biomarkers in SCD mice. S-NACH has been further engineered and structurally enhanced to bind with and modify HbS to directly inhibit sickling, thus employing a multimodal approach. Here, we show that S-NACH can (i) directly engage in Schiff-base reactions with HbS to decrease RBC sickling under both normoxia and hypoxia in vitro, ii) prolong the survival of SCD mice under hypoxia, and (iii) regulate the altered steady state levels of pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines. Thus, our proof of concept in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies demonstrate that the multimodal S-NACH is a highly promising candidate for development into an improved and optimized alternative to LMWHs for the treatment of patients with SCD.
Bcr-Abl expression induces redox imbalance with a preferential increase in hydrogen peroxide

382 The Bcr-Abl fusion protein is generated through the t(9;22) chromosome translocation, and is manifested in most patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and in a sub-group of patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Previous studies have observed an increased ROS generation in cells expressing Bcr-Abl. However, the specific type of reactive oxygen species and the mechanisms by which Bcr-Abl induces ROS generation remain unclear. The current study was undertaken to examine the correlation between Bcr-Abl expression, ROS production and the down-stream cellular responses, and to investigate the mechanistic basis for Bcr-Abl induced cellular redox imbalance. The murine Da-1-3b cell line generated by stable transfection of bcr/abl into the parental Da-1 cells, and the tetracycline-inducible bcr/abl-transfected cell lines TonB210 and 32D were used for this study. We demonstrated that the levels of Bcr-Abl expression were correlated with a significant increase in intracellular hydrogen peroxide production. Interestingly, there was only a minimum increase in superoxide levels without significant change in the antioxidant enzyme MnSOD expression, suggesting that the increase of hydrogen peroxide in Bcr-Abl expressing cells was unlikely from the conversion of superoxide to hydrogen peroxide by MnSOD in the mitochondria. Analysis of cellular morphology showed that there was an increase in cell volume in association with Bcr-Abl protein expression. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that induction of Bcr-Abl protein resulted in a rise in mitochondrial Hsp60 expression, and Bcr-Abl appeared to be translocated to mitochondria. Our data suggest that expression of Bcr-Abl causes redox imbalance in the cells with a preferential increase of hydrogen peroxide, and is apparently associated with mitochondrial stress. Experiments are currently being conducted to determine the mechanism by which Bcr-Abl protein expression induces ROS production, the sites of ROS generation, and the relevant biological consequences.
Neuroligin-1 Is a Mediator of Methylmercury Neuromuscular Toxicity.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a developmental toxicant capable of eliciting neurocognitive and neuromuscular deficits in children with in utero exposure. Previous research in Drosophila melanogaster uncovered that developmental MeHg exposure simultaneously targets the developing musculature and innervating motor neuron in the embryo, along with identifying Drosophila neuroligin 1 (nlg1) as a gene associated with developmental MeHg sensitivity. Nlg1 and its transsynaptic partner neurexin 1 (Nrx1) are critical for axonal arborization and NMJ maturation. We investigated the effects of MeHg exposure on indirect flight muscle (IFM) morphogenesis, innervation, and function via flight assays and monitored the expression of NMJ-associated genes to characterize the role of Nlg1 mediating the neuromuscular toxicity of MeHg. Developmental MeHg exposure reduced the innervation of the IFMs, which corresponded with reduced flight ability. In addition, nlg1 expression was selectively reduced during early metamorphosis, whereas a subsequent increase was observed in other NMJ-associated genes, including nrx1, in late metamorphosis. Developmental MeHg exposure also resulted in persistent reduced expression of most nlg and nrx genes during the first 11 days of adulthood. Transgenic modulation of nlg1 and nrx1 revealed that developing muscle is particularly sensitive to nlg1 levels, especially during the 20-36-h window of metamorphosis with reduced nlg1 expression resulting in adult flight deficits. Muscle-specific overexpression of nlg1 partially rescued MeHg-induced deficits in eclosion and flight. We identified Nlg1 as a muscle-specific, NMJ structural component that can mediate MeHg neuromuscular toxicity resulting from early life exposure.