cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Glycemic control, atherosclerosis, and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in individuals with diabetes: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study

OBJECTIVE —Glycemic control (HbA 1c [A1C]) is strongly associated with microvascular disease in individuals with diabetes, but its relation to macrovascular disease and atherosclerosis is less clear. This study examines the relationship between A1C, carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), and traditional cardiovascular risk factors in individuals with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —A cross-sectional study of 2,060 people with diagnosed and undiagnosed (unrecognized) diabetes in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study was performed. RESULTS —LDL and HDL cholesterol, plasma triglycerides, and waist-to-hip ratio were significantly associated with A1C after multivariable adjustment. African Americans with undiagnosed and diagnosed diabetes had significantly elevated A1C values compared with whites, even after adjustment for potentially confounding factors. There was a graded association between A1C and carotid IMT. In a fully adjusted model in individuals with undiagnosed diabetes, the odds ratio (OR) of being in the highest quartile of IMT versus the lowest was 2.46 (95% CI 1.16–5.03, comparing the highest quartile of A1C to the lowest). In people with diagnosed diabetes, the comparable OR was 2.62 (1.36–5.06). CONCLUSIONS —This study identified several important associations between A1C and known risk factors for cardiovascular disease and suggested that A1C is independently related to carotid IMT. Chronically elevated glucose levels may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis in people with diabetes, independent of other risk factors.
Physics of the gap formation in half-Heusler compounds and bismuth chalcogenide systems

Using first principles electronic structure calculations based on the density functional theory, we discuss the reasons behind the formation of energy gaps in different classes of narrow-gap semiconductors which are either good or promising thermoelectrics. We find that in half-Heusler compounds such as ZrNiSn and YNiSb, the Ni atoms take active role in the gap formation, both through local symmetry breaking and hybridization. In Bi/sub 2/Te/sub 3/, the best known room temperature thermoelectric, the subtle gap structure is determined by both spin-orbit interaction and hybridization of Bi p and Te p bands. In other Bi chalcogenides and complex ternary systems containing Bi and Te, it appears that spin-orbit interaction does not play as important a role. We discuss possible reasons for this difference.
MEMS motor-based common-path endoscopic Fourier-domain OCT

A rotational microelectromechanical(MEMS) motor based common-path Fourier-domain OCT for endoscopic imaging, which uses the interface between the index-match oil and distal-end surface of the fiber as a self-aligned reference mirror, is reported. The reference intensity is easy to be tuned by altering the index of the match oil to optimize the signal to noise ratio of the system. An external Michelson interferometer is used to compensate for the optical path difference and dispersion mismatch to the index-match oil and the GRIN lens. Due to this common-path design, the OCT signal is immune to bending or stretching of the endoscopic catheter. The outer diameter of the probe is 3 mm, and 22 circumferential-scans and 50,000 lines A-scans are obtained in one second.
How much antibiotic suspension is enough

Objectives. Pilot data suggest that inadequate antibiotic volumes are often dispensed. Study goals were to determine the frequency of inadequate antibiotic volumes dispensed by local pharmacies, develop prescription-writing guidelines to ensure that adequate antibiotic suspension volumes are dispensed, and document the adequacy of verbal/written counseling pharmacists provide. Methods. Sixty-one local pharmacies filled prescriptions for penicillin potassium (PCN; 250 mg/5 mL [5 mL orally 3 times daily for 10 days]) and Bactrim (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole [TMP-SMX] 5 mL orally twice daily for 10 days). The prescriptions noted only to “dispense a 10-day supply.” Volumes were measured first as total amount dispensed and then into total doses dispensed. Written/verbal instructions were documented. Results. The volume of PCN dispensed was 195 ± 25 mL (range: 105–222 mL) for an average of 29.4 doses, where 30 doses were needed. TMP-SMX dispensed had a volume of 107 ± 5 mL (range: 98–120 mL) resulting in an average of 16.5 doses, where 20 doses were needed. Twenty pharmacies (33%) did not dispense a measuring device. Verbal counseling by the pharmacist and written instructions were not uniformly given. Conclusions. We suggest calculating the actual volume needed plus an additional 10% to 30% of volume (depending on the viscosity). The prescription should also request a medication-measuring/administering device. Patient counseling and instruction should be expanded.
A robust control design in the parameter space

A graphical technique is proposed for design of controllers for plants with uncertain parameters. The technique is an interpretation of the Faedo-Kharitonov analysis in the space of controller parameters using the parameter mapping and the zero exclusion condition. The robust stability regions are delineated explicitly in terms of two controller parameters by plotting at most four curves in the parameter plane, regardless of the number of uncertain parameters. This allows for an effective characterization of lead and lag controllers for high-order interval plants. Multiparameter robust controller designs are accomplished with the same effort by relying on the standard dominant poles requirement. >
Radiation of electromagnetic momentum from systems of particles

Abstract The radiation of electromagnetic momentum from a system of charged particles is written as an integral over finite segments of the world lines of each particle. An example involving circular motion is worked out.
The Relation of the Stage of the Population Growth Curve to the Survival of Tritrichomonas foetus upon Freezing in the Presence of Glycerol

SYNOPSIS. When grown in CPLM medium or in a similar medium containing glucose instead of maltose as its sugar, Tritrichomonas foetus, Strain O, was much more sensitive to injury when frozen to -21d C. in the presence. of 1 m glycerol during the initial and logarithmic phases of its population growth curve than at its peak and for some time thereafter. In 7 experiments in which the population peak occurred an average of 28.1 hours after inoculation, the average culture age at which the protozoa first survived freezing was 20.3 hours, at which time the population had reached 52.6% of its peak. The optimum culture age for survival after 1 day of freezing averaged 37.7 hours at which time the population averaged 75.6% of its peak. The optimum culture age for survival after 7 to 15 days of freezing averaged 32.3 hours, at which time the population averaged 82.7% of its peak. Better survival upon freezing was obtained in those experiments in which the population peak was reached relatively rapidly.
Chronology of glacial Lake Agassiz meltwater routed to the Gulf of Mexico

Sediment cores with new radiocarbon dates from the southern outlet of glacial Lake Agassiz indicate that meltwater delivery to the Mississippi valley was disrupted at 10,800 14C yr B.P. and the outlet was abandoned by 9400 14C yr B.P. These findings confirm the timing of generally accepted terminations of the Lockhart and Emerson Phases of Lake Agassiz. Additionally, the radiocarbon chronology indicates that the spillway was fully formed by 10,800 14C yr B.P. and that the occupancy in late-Emerson time was likely short-lived with minimal spillway erosion.
Government and Business: A Case Study of State Regulation of Corporate Securities, 1850–1933

One of the aims of the States has continually been to provide a favorable legal framework for the work of responsible entrepreneurs and corporations issuing stock and to protect them both against illegitimate competition. This paper illustrates this relationship of government and business through a general survey of State administrative practices in executing corporate securities legislation and a closer study of the single State of California.
GORDIAN: efficient and scalable discovery of composite keys

Identification of (composite) key attributes is of fundamental importance for many different data management tasks such as data modeling, data integration, anomaly detection, query formulation, query optimization, and indexing. However, information about keys is often missing or incomplete in many real-world database scenarios. Surprisingly, the fundamental problem of automatic key discovery has received little attention in the existing literature. Existing solutions ignore composite keys, due to the complexity associated with their discovery. Even for simple keys, current algorithms take a brute-force approach; the resulting exponential CPU and memory requirements limit the applicability of these methods to small datasets. In this paper, we describe GORDIAN, a scalable algorithm for automatic discovery of keys in large datasets, including composite keys. GORDIAN can provide exact results very efficiently for both real-world and synthetic datasets. GORDIAN can be used to find (composite) key attributes in any collection of entities, e.g., key column-groups in relational data, or key leaf-node sets in a collection of XML documents with a common schema. We show empirically that GORDIAN can be combined with sampling to efficiently obtain high quality sets of approximate keys even in very large datasets.
Ketoglutarate Tolerance Test in Liver Disease

Summary This study demonstrated that orally administered citrate was converted to α-ketoglutarate at the level of the intestine and was emptied into the portal vein. This keto acid was almost completely removed from the blood by the normal liver. A ketoglutarate tolerance test has been developed on the basis of the conversion of citrate to ketoglutarate. When citrate was administered orally, α--ketoglutarate in the blood rose to higher levels in patients with cirrhosis and in Eck fistula dogs than it did in normal human subjects and in normal dogs.
The Exponential Map on the Free Loop Space is Fredholm

We study the exponential map on Hilbert riemannian manifolds and show that on the free loop space $ \Omega M^n = H^1 (S^1, M^n) $ it is a nonlinear Fredholm map of index zero. Among corollaries we obtain that only one type of conjugate points exists in $ \Omega M^n $ . This answers a question of W. Klingenberg.
Density differences in embedding theory with external orbital orthogonality.

First results on electron densities and energies for a number of molecular complexes with different interaction strengths (ranging from ca. 0.3 to 40 kcal/mol), obtained using our recently introduced DFT-in-DFT embedding equations (i.e., Kohn–Sham equations with constrained electron density (KSCED) and external orbital orthogonality (ext orth), KSCED(x, ext orth), where x denotes the single particle support: monomer (m); supermolecular (s); or extended monomer (e)) are compared with densities from supermolecular Kohn–Sham (KS)-DFT calculations and traditional DFT-in-DFT results. Because our methodology does not rely on error-prone potentials that are not present in supermolecular KS-DFT calculations, it allows DFT-in-DFT calculations to achieve much higher accuracy than previous protocols of DFT-in-DFT that employed such potentials. It is shown that whereas conventional DFT-in-DFT embedding theory leads to errors in the electron density at the boundary between subsystems, the situation is remedied when or...
Nodulation, Nitrogen Fixation, and Organ Dry Weight of Soybean Infested with Southern Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Larvae

Nitrogen fixation, nodulation, and organ dry weights of soybean infested with the larvae of the southern corn rootworm, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber, were estimated under controlled conditions. Larval southern com rootworm reduced the nitrogen-fixing activity of mid-vegetative and early reproductive soybean, Glycine max Merrill. Soybean of both stages responded to the infestation and subsequent injury by increasing nodulation and organ dry weights of below-ground tissues relative to above-ground tissues. Infestation increased the dry weight of small nodules on vegetative plants and caused a 78.6% increase in the total number of nodules on R5 plants. Leaf area as well as leaf and stem dry weight was reduced in vegetative plants by infestation.
Kinetic Evidence for Reactive Dimeric TAML Iron Species in the Catalytic Oxidation of NADH and a Dye by O2 in AOT Reverse Micelles

The efficacy of the iron(III) TAML activator [Fe{C6H4-1,2-(N1COCMe2N2CO)2CMe2(Fe–N1)(Fe–N2)}(OH2)]− (1) for the catalytic activation of dioxygen in reverse micelles of Aerosol OT (AOT) in n-octane has been studied. Kinetic evidence is presented for the existence of unusual second-order catalytic pathways in the oxidation of NADH to NAD+ and the bleaching of blue pinacyanol chloride (PNC) dye. Depending on the substrate and reaction conditions, a second-order pathway in [1] either dominates or proceeds in obvious combination with a first-order pathway in [1]. Detailed kinetic analysis of the experimental data supports the previously made hypothesis that the reactive intermediate is associated with the mixed-valent dimer system [LFeIIIOFeIVL]3–/[LFeIII(OH)FeIVL]2–.
Thinking of Getotectonic Attribution on Jinshan Group in Shanghai Area

According to the rock association of Jinshan Group, it' s protolith, protolith formation, metamorphic process, structural deformation process and existent isotopic age value, the author considers that Jinshan Group could be consistent with ChencaiGroup in south - east part of Zhejiang Province and it is the base component of Cathaysian paleo - plate. As the view of Cathaysian paleo - plate and converged Yangtze paleo - plate for several times as reference, it could be inferred that the block fault of Jinshan Group which distributed south - east side along Fengjing - Chuansha fault could be the result of collision and impingement of 2 plates in the end of Jinning stage and it also could be structural nappe sheet which formed within integrated assemblage - zone.
When we should say no to TAVR—Defining the line between utility and futility

History of prior coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) is a frequent scenario encountered in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis deemed inoperable and referred for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Aside from indices of frailty and other comorbidities, these patients remain at higher risk for peri-operative mortality and morbidity compared to their counterparts without prior CABG. Presence of concomitant peripheral arterial disease and patent left internal mammary artery (LIMA) graft pose further access related challenges. We present a case of an 84-year-old female with prior CABG and severe PAD who underwent transapical TAVR for severe symptomatic AS sustaining an acute myocardial injury from damage to her apical epicardial collateral circulation. The case entails the importance of recognition of epicardial coronary collateralization where a transapical approach is best avoided or further aided by utilization of peri-procedural angiographic/fluoroscopy guidance to avoid epicardial vascular injury.
Conceptualization and demonstration of the Incident Controller's Problem

Coordinated response to an emergency is typically the responsibility of a single decision making party referred to as the Incident Controller, who must develop solutions before the nature of the incident and response requirements are fully known. In this study, we argue four concepts necessary to build a quintessential model of the Incident Controller's Problem, and demonstrate their implications with a set of numerical experiments. This problem is characterized by the on-going discovery of information, creating an inherently iterative decision making environment in which the Incident Controller updates solutions employing a mix of complementary and potentially perishable response options, to minimize some undesirable condition while seeking efficiency. Our findings support the utility of decision making habits observed in the field, and underscore the need for better recognition of the distinctive nature of decision making under these conditions. We argue the quintessential concepts necessary to modeling emergency response.We demonstrate those concepts in a set of deterministic simulation experiments.Conceptual model allows relation of multiple hazard types, including business examples.Demonstration results illustrate the saliency of the quintessential concepts.Underscores need for recognition of the distinctive nature of emergency response.
Resources for Clinicians

There are many resources emerging for the modern clinical immunologist taking care of patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases, and also for those researching these rare diseases. Resources include websites, professional and patient organizations, interactive search tools, databases, and list serves. This chapter offers an overview of many of the resources available today. The chapter is divided into sections covering professional organizations, registries, clinical/diagnostic tools, research, and advocacy/patient organizations. Many of the websites now share links with each other, and point to other important and useful resources not covered in detail here.
Watershed-scale changes in terrestrial nitrogen cycling during a period of decreased atmospheric nitrate and sulfur deposition

Recent reports suggest that decreases in atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition throughout Europe and North America may have resulted in declining nitrate export in surface waters in recent decades, yet it is unknown if and how terrestrial N cycling was affected. During a period of decreased atmospheric N deposition, we assessed changes in forest N cycling by evaluating trends in tree-ring δ15N values (between 1980 and 2010; n = 20 trees per watershed), stream nitrate yields (between 2000 and 2011), and retention of atmospherically-deposited N (between 2000 and 2011) in the North and South Tributaries (North and South, respectively) of Buck Creek in the Adirondack Mountains, USA. We hypothesized that tree-ring δ15N values would decline following decreases in atmospheric N deposition (after approximately 1995), and that trends in stream nitrate export and retention of atmospherically deposited N would mirror changes in tree-ring δ15N values. Three of the six sampled tree species and the majority of individual trees showed declining linear trends in δ15N for the period 1980–2010; only two individual trees showed increasing trends in δ15N values. From 1980 to 2010, trees in the watersheds of both tributaries displayed long-term declines in tree-ring δ15N values at the watershed scale (R = −0.35 and p = 0.001 in the North and R = −0.37 and p <0.001 in the South). The decreasing δ15N trend in the North was associated with declining stream nitrate concentrations (−0.009 mg N L−1 yr−1, p = 0.02), but no change in the retention of atmospherically deposited N was observed. In contrast, nitrate yields in the South did not exhibit a trend, and the watershed became less retentive of atmospherically deposited N (−7.3% yr−1, p < 0.001). Our δ15N results indicate a change in terrestrial N availability in both watersheds prior to decreases in atmospheric N deposition, suggesting that decreased atmospheric N deposition was not the sole driver of tree-ring δ15N values at these sites. Other factors, such as decreased sulfur deposition, disturbance, long-term successional trends, and/or increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, may also influence trends in tree-ring δ15N values. Furthermore, declines in terrestrial N availability inferred from tree-ring δ15N values do not always correspond with decreased stream nitrate export or increased retention of atmospherically deposited N.
Reducing after-hours prescription refill requests

Abstract Background: It is not convenient or always possible to address parent requests for prescription refills after hours. The primary objective of this quality improvement study was to decrease the number of refill requests received outside of regular business hours. A secondary objective was to reduce the negative effects of call fatigue and related exhaustion for physicians taking calls. Methods: Voluntary participation in this quality improvement project was solicited from the Child Neurology Division at a single academic, tertiary, metropolitan children9s hospital. Study design was developed from a project charter, fishbone diagram, process map, driver diagram, and plan-do-study-act worksheet. A peer-reviewed letter was mailed to all clinic patient families and signs were displayed in the clinic space as notification of a policy change. A peer-reviewed script was provided to the Children9s Mercy Contact Center triage personnel addressing after-hours refill requests. The number of refill requests received during each after-hours call shift was recorded from April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016, with a primary outcome measure of the monthly number of refill requests. Results: Postintervention, the average number of refill requests after hours decreased by 39% from 21 to 11 per month ( p = 0.0055). Conclusions: This simple intervention has promise to limit prescription refill requests made after hours and improve physician quality of life. Continued data collection will help establish the sustainability of the effect made by this intervention.
A comparison of honey bee-collected pollen from working agricultural lands using light microscopy and its metabarcoding

Taxonomic identification of pollen has historically been accomplished via light microscopy but requires specialized knowledge and reference collections, particularly when identification to lower taxonomic levels is necessary. Recently, next-generation sequencing technology has been used as a cost-effective alternative for identifying bee-collected pollen; however, this novel approach has not been tested on a spatially or temporally robust number of pollen samples. Here, we compare pollen identification results derived from light microscopy and DNA sequencing techniques with samples collected from honey bee colonies embedded within a gradient of intensive agricultural landscapes in the Northern Great Plains throughout the 2010–2011 growing seasons. We demonstrate that at all taxonomic levels, DNA sequencing was able to discern a greater number of taxa, and was particularly useful for the identification of infrequently detected species. Importantly, substantial phenological overlap did occur for commonly detected taxa using either technique, suggesting that DNA sequencing is an appropriate, and enhancing, substitutive technique for accurately capturing the breadth of bee-collected species of pollen present across agricultural landscapes. We also show that honey bees located in high and low intensity agricultural settings forage on dissimilar plants, though with overlap of the most abundantly collected pollen taxa. We highlight practical applications of utilizing sequencing technology, including addressing ecological issues surrounding land use, climate change, importance of taxa relative to abundance, and evaluating the impact of conservation program habitat enhancement efforts.
Two decades of change in graduate education in metallurgy/materials—A perspective

It is now almost a decade since the introduction of massive federal support to universities for graduate education and research in the materials field. Accordingly, it is appropriate to examine the changes in the nature and activity of the field which have occurred during this period, both in the universities themselves, and in professional practice in industry and government, and also the implications of such changes for graduate education in metallurgy and materials science in the future.
Imre Lakatos: Some Recollections

Imre read a paper at Belfast one of the years I was a lecturer there — part of ‘Proofs and Refutations.’ It was, it seemed to me then and still does, an immensely illuminating object lesson in the complexities of the life of science, or rather of mathematics. When some one raised a question about the application of this historico-philosophical theme to a case in physics, Imre betrayed a surprising naivete about empirical science, in contrast to his expertise in a mathematical subject matter. All that was clear to us was that, come hell or high water, physics, in his view, had to be treated with Popperian falsificationist dogmatism. Yet the lesson of ‘Proofs and Refutations’ is surely anti-Popperian. What it demonstrates, among other things, is how tenaciously, and even acrobatically, one can hold onto a thesis when the evidence runs against it.
Market Accessibility and Economic Growth: Insights from a New Dimension of Inequality

Summary We modify an AK growth model to allow for households’ differential access to markets. Such local production spillovers highlight a new dimension of inequality arising through geographic remoteness and predicts divergent growth patterns among countries with poorly market-integrated households. The model is tested using an instrumental variables approach that takes advantage of the relationship between market accessibility and exogenous geographic features of the landscape as well as spatial data derived from a unique global dataset characterizing country-level market accessibility distributions. Our findings are consistent with production spillovers diminishing concavely across space before tapering off convexly in remote areas. This result suggests that the marginal household exhibiting production spillovers is located approximately five hours from the nearest market center. The policy implications are that governments could adopt pro-growth inequality-reducing policies using targeted infrastructural investments, relocation subsidies, or income redistribution mechanisms. Based on our spillover threshold estimates, these policies would be access-equality enhancing for 5.1 billion people globally and access-equality reducing for 825 million people globally. We also present findings that growth divergence occurs among countries with geographically less pervasive markets. This outcome may explain why wealthier nations exhibit divergent growth paths relative to poorer nations.
A wide dense architecture neural network for material classification based on spectral BTF

Traditionally, material surface classification has relied on reflectance spectrum measurement and pixel-wise comparison. For best results, the measurement usually requires measurement of the full spectral reflectance which can be the time-consuming issue and error-prone. Our previous works have proved that convolutional neural networks could learn the Bi-directional Texture Function (BTF) data feature hierarchy from pixels to the classifier. In this paper, we trained a wide-dense neural network for BTF data. The dense neural network was developed from the residual network (ResNet), which made a residual mapping for these stacked layers instead of directly fitting a desired underlying mapping. This shortcut idea has excellent performance in deeper layers. The dense structure reduced the redundancy within the feature maps of the individual layers and increased training speed. The narrow size of the dense net layers simplified the feature map for the whole network. The wide structure of the network was applied due to the resolution of our BTF data. In this paper, we generated BTF angular maps for material classification. Our data consisted of 151 lighting and 151 viewing directions. This angular resolution is higher than input data of conventional pre-trained dense network model. By adding a wide net structure, training time is reduced and classification performance improved. Training our own networks for specific data requires a large training dataset, therefore we augmented angular BTF image to improve the robustness of the training model. Within the over 30,000 BTF angular maps, we obtained a more reliable training model. Finally, we compared the improvement of our wide-dense network with other pre-trained neural networks and other feature extraction network.
Enantio‐ and Diastereoselective Synthesis of Chiral Allenes by Palladium‐Catalyzed Asymmetric [3+2] Cycloaddition Reactions

A protocol for the asymmetric synthesis of highly substituted chiral allenes with control of point and axial chirality has been developed. A palladium-catalyzed [3+2] cycloaddition using readily available racemic allenes gives access to densely functionalized chiral allenes with excellent yields and functional group tolerance. The catalytic asymmetric protocol utilizes a broad range of allenyl TMM (trimethylenemethane) donors to form cyclopentanes, pyrrolidines, and spirocycles with very good control of regio-, enantio-, and diastereoselectivity. The chiral allene moiety is shown to be a valuable functional group for rapid elaboration towards complex targets.
Commentary on "Demystifying the Benefits and Harms of Anticoagulation for Atrial Fibrillation in CKD".

In this evidence-based nephrology review, Garlo et al. ([1][1]) review the efficacy and safety of oral anticoagulants—including warfarin and newer direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs)—for the prevention of stroke and thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation and CKD. Given the high
Evacuation decision behavior for no-notice emergency events

Abstract No-notice emergency events refer to unpredictable disasters such as earthquakes, chemical spills, or terrorist attacks, where it is impracticable to forewarn the public about their occurrence and design evacuation plans for them. This calls for an in-depth investigation of people’s evacuation behavior and identifying the most influential factors in their evacuation planning process to develop policy-sensitive pre-disaster plans for such events. As a response to this need, the current study investigates individuals’ evacuation decision behavior in the context of no-notice emergency events. Since it is highly expected that people will have heterogenous decision behavior in such situations, we first apply a clustering algorithm to classify them into three maximally homogeneous clusters. Then, cluster-specific multivariate ordered probit models are developed to estimate the likelihood of selecting any of the three options of ignoring the situation, seeking shelter at the place, and evacuating to a safe place. The model estimation results indicate that a wide spectrum of factors affect the evacuation decision including individuals’ socio-economic attributes, disaster characteristics, built-environment factors, and government evacuation order. Further, variations of estimated coefficients across the population clusters highlight the significant dissimilarities in decision behavior of their associated members.
Challenges in Conducting Studies in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease

The lack of standardized criteria for measuring therapeutic response has been a major obstacle to the development of therapeutic trials in chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD). Nevertheless, recent advances have been made in understanding of the biology and pathophysiology of cGvHD, as well as establishing more precise criteria for the diagnosis and classification of disease manifestations. The momentum has shifted, and currently there is a long list of new potential treatment targets being identified for cGvHD. Consequently, new drugs are being implemented for its prophylaxis and treatment. It is crucial to continue that trend and develop better systems to test new drugs in clinical practice that would eventually translate toward seeking regulatory review and approval. We provide a historical perspective and current challenges in conducting cGvHD clinical trials.
Community Violence in Early Adolescence: Assessing Coping Strategies for Reducing Delinquency and Aggression

Objective: Exposure to community violence has disabling effects on the mental health of youth in the US, especially for African American adolescents from underserved, urban communities, fostering i...
Swine Bone Marrow Derived Multipotent Adult Progenitor Cells.

Abstract We have previously reported that multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs) can be isolated from the bone marrow of rodents and humans. Here we describe isolation of similar cells, fetal swine MAPCs (fsMAPCs) from fetal swine bone marrow (BM). BM was obtained from 5 fetal swine donors. BM mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) were plated into fibronectin-coated T150 flasks at 2x104 cells/cm2 in 58% LG-DMEM and 40% MCDB-201, supplemented with ITS, LA-BSA, 10−8 M dexamethasone, 10−4 M ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, 2% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 10ng/ml EGF and 10ng/ml PDGF-BB. Small clusters of cells appeared by day 5, were detached with 0.25% trypsin-EDTA on day 7 and sub-cloned at 1 cell/well in 96 well plates. Once populations of small cells appeared (40% of wells), they were culture expanded by plating at 500 cells/cm2. Cells were replated at 500cells/cm2 once they divided 2–3 times. Population doubling (PD) time was 24h for the initial 30–40 PDs, and 48 h at higher PDs. 3/5 fetal swine populations have been maintained for more than 100 PDs without cytogenetic abnormalities. For two of the populations, telomere length was evaluated on day-0, 40PDs and 80PDS, and no telomere shortening was seen. The phenotype of cultured cells before 30 PDs is CD45 and MHC class I negative, CD44 and MHC class II positive, while the phenotype after 60 PDs was CD44, CD45, MHC class I and II negative. FsMAPCs, cultured on Matrigel with fibroblast growth factor-4 (FGF-4) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), differentiated into epitheloid cells that expressed cytokeratin 18 (CK18), hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 (HNF-1), albumin protein on day 14–28. Cells differentiated for 21 days secreted 10pg/cell/hour urea (Urea Production Test), as is seen for primary hepatocytes. More functional tests for hepatocytes are ongoing, including LDL uptake, glycogen storage, cytochrome-p450 activity. When treated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fsMAPCs differentiated into endothelium-like cells that expressed CD31, CD34, VEGF-Receptor, vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-Cadherin) and von willebrand factor (VWF) protein and mRNA at day 14–28, formed vascular tube on extracellular matrix and took up LDL. Neuroectoderm differentiation studies are ongoing. Finally, we have preliminary evidence that fsMAPCs may differentiate into cells with cardiomyocyte markers. FsMAPCs, plated at 1,500 cells/cm2, were cultured with dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1) and 0.75% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for 1 day, followed by bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), FGF-8, FGF-4, Dkk-1 for 21 days. Cells acquired muscle morphology after d6. By day 21, cells expressed cardiac Troponin T, cardiac myosin heavy chain (cMHC), phospholamban protein, and Nkx2.5, Cardiac Troponin T, cMHC, GATA-4, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) mRNA. Although suggestive that the cells may differentiate into cardiomyocytes, they did not beat regularly. Electrophysiology studies are ongoing to determine whether the cells have functional characteristics of cardiomyocytes.
Green Heron ( Butorides virescens ) predation at Village Weaver ( Ploceus cucullatus ) nests

Abstract: On 3 June 2000, I observed two incidences of a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) depredating nests and eating nestlings of Village Weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) at a colony in northeastern Dominican Republic. Keywords: Butorides virescens, depredation, Dominican Republic, Green Heron, Ploceus cucullatus, Village Weaver Resumen: Martinete (Butorides virescens) depredacion a nidos de Madam Saga (Ploceus cucullatus)- El 3 de junio de 2000 observe dos ocasiones en las que un Martinete (Butorides virescens) depredo los nidos y consumio los pichones de Madam Saga (Ploceus cucullatus) en una colonia en el nordeste de la Republica Dominicana.
Single cell transcriptome dynamics from pluripotency to FLK1+ mesoderm

Hemangiogenic progenitors generating blood and endothelial cells are specified from FLK1-expressing (FLK1+) mesoderm by the transcription factor ETV2. FLK1+ mesoderm also contributes to smooth muscle and cardiomyocytes. However, the developmental process of FLK1+ mesoderm generation and its allocation to various cell fates remain obscure. Recent single cell RNA-sequencing studies of early embryos or in vitro-differentiated human embryonic stem (ES) cells have provided unprecedented information on the spatiotemporal resolution of cells in embryogenesis. These snapshots, however, lack information on continuous dynamic developmental processes. Here, we performed single cell RNA sequencing of in vitro-differentiated mouse ES cells to capture the continuous developmental process leading to hemangiogenesis. We found that hemangiogenic progenitors from ES cells develop through intermediate gastrulation stages, which are gradually specified by 'relay'-like highly overlapping transcription factor modules. Moreover, the transcriptional program of the Flk1+ mesoderm was maintained in the smooth muscle lineage, suggesting that smooth muscle is the default fate of Flk1+ mesoderm. We also identified the SRC kinase contributing to ETV2-mediated activation of the hemangiogenic program. This continuous transcriptome map will facilitate both basic and applied studies of mesoderm development.
Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea) Flower Extract (BPFE) and Its Use as a pH-Dependent Natural Colorant

Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea), a twining vine native to Southeast Asia, produces deep blue to purple flowers that bloom nearly year-round in ideal conditions. When extracted in a liquid, the addition of a mild acid such as lemon or lime juice turns the naturally deep blue to purple color into a much lighter pink or purple color, giving the extract its color-changing ability. This new 5-page publication of the UF/IFAS Environmental Horticulture Department outlines the use of butterfly pea flower extract (BPFE) as a pH-dependent natural colorant, including an explanation of the science behind the color change, detailed parameters for flower extraction, instructions for storage and processing of the extract as well as a discussion of some of the other benefits of using BPFE. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep573
ABNORMAL GLOBAL LONGITUDINAL STRAIN PERSISTS AFTER RECOVERY OF PERIPARTUM CARDIOMYOPATHY

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare pregnancy associated heart failure resulting in substantial morbidity and mortality. Assessment of global left ventricular strain and right ventricular fractional area change at presentation have been shown to be prognostic of recovery. While the majority
Chapter 228 – Salivary Glands

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses salivary glands in insects. Among insects, there are four pairs of glands associated with the mouth or oral cavity, although all four generally are not present in the same insect. Each of these is associated with and is named after its associated mouthpart: the mandibular, maxillary, hypopharyngeal, and labial glands. The presence or absence of each of these glands varies among insect species, and in holometabolous insects, a given gland may be present in only one life stage. For example, in Lepidoptera, mandibular glands occur in the larval stage, but not in the adult. The four glands serve a variety of functions, including some non-salivary functions, and the same gland may serve different functions in different species or even in different life stages of the same species. Within a given species, one or more of these four pairs of glands usually function as salivary glands.
North Dakota State-Wide High Altitude Balloon Student Payload Competition

The North Dakota Space Grant Consortium (NDSGC) is funding a competition for student groups across the state in grades six through undergraduate level to design and build payloads to fly on a high altitude balloon. The goals of this project are to raise awareness of NDSGC’s education and outreach projects, to help increase students’ interest in STEM activities, and to utilize our school’s high altitude balloon program in fostering state-wide participation. We informed schools of the competition through letters, the NDSGC website, social media, and news stations. Five student groups submitted payload proposals. 10th-12th graders in Mandan proposed a payload testing the effectiveness of solar panels in the upper atmosphere. 10th-12th graders in Cavalier proposed testing the effects of the upper atmosphere on different forms of eggs. 9th-12th graders in Bismarck proposed finding a way to obtain live-streaming video from a payload. 8th graders in Northwood proposed measuring the temperature during the balloon flight as well as taking pictures of the Earth and horizon. Undergraduates in Dickinson proposed testing the viability of two strands of bacteria in the upper atmosphere. We have been working with each team on developing their payloads, and we plan to transport everybody to Bismarck the weekend of April 27-29, 2012 to launch the payloads on a high altitude balloon. After recovery of the payloads, the student groups will submit reports of their findings. We will award cash prizes to the groups’ science departments and a grand prize trip to the UND Space Studies Department.
WINTER MALARIA, URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MISMANAGEMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN KHARTOUM CITY, SUDAN

This study investigates malaria incidence during the hot-wet summer (June to September) and cool-dry winter (January to March) seasons in Khartoum, Sudan. Using data on malaria cases, LandScan grid...
Systematic review of illness uncertainty management interventions for cancer patients and their family caregivers.

Illness uncertainty pervades individuals’ experiences of cancer across the illness trajectory and is associated with poor psychological adjustment. This review systematically examined the characteristics and outcomes of interventions promoting illness uncertainty management among cancer patients and/or their family caregivers. PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were systematically searched for relevant literature. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies focusing on interventions for uncertainty management in cancer patients and/or their family caregivers. Our database searches yielded 26 studies. Twenty interventions were only offered to cancer patients, who were mostly elder, female, and White. All interventions included informational support. Other intervention components included emotional support, appraisal support, and instrumental support. Most interventions were delivered in person and via telephone (n = 8) or exclusively in person (n = 7). Overall, 18 studies identified positive intervention effects on illness uncertainty outcomes. This systematic review foregrounds the promising potential of several interventions—and especially multi-component interventions—to promote uncertainty management among cancer patients and their family caregivers. To further improve these interventions’ effectiveness and expand their potential impact, future uncertainty management interventions should be tested among more diverse populations using rigorous methodologies.
An Experimental Test of the Relationship between Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Use and Alcohol Consumption.

BACKGROUND Increasing research shows that the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) is associated with a higher rate and quantity of alcohol consumption. METHODS The present study used a 2-session, within-subjects design to experimentally examine the relationship between ENDS use and laboratory ad libitum alcohol consumption. A total of N = 31 (mean age = 28.71, SD = 11.17; 45.2% women; 54.8% White/Caucasian) healthy adults from the community who use ENDS and endorsed liking beer completed the study, which included a beer consumption taste-test task that assessed the volume of beer consumed by the participants across 2 counterbalanced sessions: 1 in which concurrent ENDS use was allowed and 1 in which it was not. All analyses controlled for age, race, and gender. RESULTS The effect of ENDS condition on the volume of beer consumed was not statistically significant, F(1, 30) = 0.03, p = 0.86). Results of linear mixed modeling showed that ENDS puffs were significantly related to alcohol sips (estimate = 0.23, SE = 0.07, p = 0.002) across the ad libitum session. CONCLUSIONS Overall, ENDS use did not increase alcohol consumption; however, the data suggest that ENDS puffs might act as a prime for beer sips or that these 2 behaviors are linked through habit. Future studies should more fully measure and compare global and event-level data on ENDS and alcohol use as they might show disparate patterns of relationships.
Vibrating Antenna Doppler Radar

This paper presents a new method of gaining spatial resolution in continuous wave (CW) Doppler radars by using a vibrating antenna. Resolution of direction finding, though conventionally controlled through beam steering or other circuitry, is decoupled from the antenna and front-end circuitry by vibrating the antenna in a controlled fashion. It is shown that vibrating an antenna results in an induced Doppler shift, whereby the return from each spatial angle has a different Doppler frequency. This allows for smaller aperture antennas or antenna arrays to be used in place of larger aperture antennas or antenna arrays, thereby reducing the overall system's size and complexity. As a proof of concept, a single vibrating antenna radar is designed, fabricated, and tested in order to verify the angle finding capability for a single, as well as multiple targets. This method may also be expanded into two-dimensional detection by integrating a vibrating one-dimensional array.
Life Insurance and Annuity Pricing during the Financial Crisis, Revisited

We reexamine life insurance and annuity pricing during the 2008 financial crisis. In contrast with previous research, we find that insurers sold policies at significantly elevated markups over their fundamental values during the crisis months and, moreover, that statutory accounting pressures had the effect of increasing rather than decreasing prices. We show that the experience in 2008 was not extraordinary but instead mirrored earlier episodes where corporate borrowing rates rose quickly, such as 1994 and 1999.
Repeated Sequences Flank the Tubulin Genes of Artemia

We have isolated separate genomic DNA clones containing one α- and two β- tubulin genes of the brine shrimp, Artemia, which we will refer to here as α2, β3 and β7. We have mapped the coding region of each isolate, and we have discovered that the non-coding regions of these isolates contain at least three different kinds of repeated DNA sequence elements. (1) All three isolates contain sequence elements repeated several hundredfold and scattered throughout the Artemia genome (LINES and/or SINES). There is no homology between the elements flanking the α-tubulin gene and those within 2kb of the α-tubulin genes. (2) At least one repeated sequence element in α2 is also present in β7 at a distance of more than 2kb from the tubulin coding region. (3) An inverted repeat element, detected as a “snap-back” structure by S1 nuclease treatment, is adjacent to the coding region in β7. This sequence element is about 2kb in length and is not present in either α2 or β3. Direct DNA sequencing of these repeated elements is in progress.