cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hospital-based, Multidisciplinary, youth mentoring and medical exposure program positively influences and reinforces health care career choice: “The Reach One Each One Program early Experience”

Abstract Background According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, underrepresented minorities (URMs) are more likely to leave science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at higher rates than their peers during undergraduate studies. Many institutions of higher learning have implemented pipeline programs aimed at preparing and inspiring high school and college aged students in select careers in health sciences with varying levels of success. Research has shown that a health care workforce that mirrors the community they serve is more effective in reducing health disparities and increasing positive health outcomes. We hypothesize that a hospital-based, multidisciplinary youth mentoring and medical exposure program will enhance the decision of URM high school students to choose healthcare careers. Materials and method A retrospective analysis of the Reach One Each One Program (ROEO) was performed. ROEO is a hospital based, 11-week multidisciplinary youth mentoring and medical exposure program for inner-city high school students. The analysis was based on a phone survey of the twenty-six (26) seniors who completed the program and subsequently graduated from high school between May 2013 and May 2015 to assess the following: 1) College enrollment/attendance, 2) Health profession majors, and 3) Pre-med status. The study was approved by the Morehouse School of Medicine Institutional Review Board. Results Of the twenty-six students, 23 were female and 3 were male; 25 (96%) of the students were African American and one student was a Caucasian female. Twenty-four (92.3%) of the students were enrolled in college and 2 (7.7%) were scheduled to begin in the spring semester of 2016. Twenty-one of the 24 attending college at the time of the survey (87.5%) were enrolled in a health science degree program and 16 (66.7%) confirmed that they were enrolled in pre-medical (Pre-med) curriculum. Conclusion Hospital-based, multidisciplinary medical mentoring programs can have a positive impact on the lives and health care career decisions of aspiring URM high school students. Further study will be necessary to validate the most influential components needed for the success of such programs.
Outcomes Following Multilevel Cervical Disc Arthroplasty in the Young Active Population.

ABSTRACT Background: Cervical radiculopathy is a common disorder that portends significant morbidity. The presence of radiculopathy can have a debilitating effect on patients as well as a significant economic impact. Active duty military patients with increased physical occupational demands can be significantly impacted by cervical disease. The resulting disability can have a strong negative impact on operational readiness. Several studies have demonstrated comparably good functional outcomes between cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for single-level disease. To date, no study has specifically evaluated the functional and occupational outcomes following adjacent 2-level CDA in a young, active patient population as represented by the active duty military population. Purpose: To evaluate functional and occupational outcomes following adjacent 2-level CDA for cervical radiculopathy in the U.S. military population. We hypothesized that this population would have exce...
Adverse Drug Reaction Prediction with Symbolic Latent Dirichlet Allocation

Adverse drug reaction (ADR) is a major burden for patients and healthcare industry. It usually causes preventable hospitalizations and deaths, while associated with a huge amount of cost. Traditional preclinical in vitro safety profiling and clinical safety trials are restricted in terms of small scale, long duration, huge financial costs and limited statistical signifi- cance. The availability of large amounts of drug and ADR data potentially allows ADR predictions during the drugs’ early preclinical stage with data analytics methods to inform more targeted clinical safety tests. Despite their initial success, existing methods have trade-offs among interpretability, predictive power and efficiency. This urges us to explore methods that could have all these strengths and provide practical solutions for real world ADR predictions. We cast the ADR-drug relation structure into a three-layer hierarchical Bayesian model. We interpret each ADR as a symbolic word and apply latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) to learn topics that may represent certain biochemical mechanism that relates ADRs with drug structures. Based on LDA, we designed an equivalent regularization term to incorporate the hierarchical ADR domain knowledge. Finally, we developed a mixed input model leveraging a fast collapsed Gibbs sampling method that the complexity of each iteration of Gibbs sampling proportional only to the number of positive ADRs. Experiments on real world data show our models achieved higher prediction accuracy and shorter running time than the state-of-the-art alternatives.
Ensuring Impact: Thought Leadership in Logistics and Supply Chain Research

Achieving impact in research is the goal of any singular article and for the journal, in total. This editorial helps to define how impact in scholarship and practice is achieved in the Journal of Business Logistics. We encourage scholars to “get out ahead” of practice by identifying problems that truly matter to industry and to conduct those inquiries using state-of-the-art methods, such that relevance, rigor, and impact are fully realized.
Consumption of key food groups during the postpartum period in low-income, non-Hispanic black mothers

The postpartum period can impact diet quality and subsequently place women at greater risk for overweight or obesity. This study examined consumption of key food groups during the first 2 years postpartum among low income, non-Hispanic black, first-time mothers. Data were from the Infant Care, Feeding and Risk of Obesity Study, a cohort of 217 mother-infant dyads, followed from 3 to 18 months postpartum, collected from 2003 to 2007. At each study visit (3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months) 24-h dietary recalls were collected. Consumption levels were compared to those recommended from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) for each of the following food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, whole grains, protein foods and dairy, as well as an estimated upper limit for sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption. At each time point, mothers met recommended intake levels for grains and protein foods only. In random-intercept logistic regression models, no demographic or household characteristics were associated with a likelihood of consuming recommended levels for any of the food groups according to the DGAs. Given the low intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein foods and high intake of SSBs and refined grains, interventions targeting women's diet during the postpartum period are warranted.
Differential magnetless circulator using modulated bandstop filters

In this paper, we present a differential magnetless circulator by combining two angular-momentum-biased single-ended circulators, each of which consists of three first-order bandstop LC filters connected in a delta topology and modulated in time with a phase difference of 120 deg between each other. Compared to a single-ended architecture, the differential one drastically reduces even-order intermodulation products, improves insertion loss, extends the bandwidth, and significantly decreases the required modulation frequency. We present the theory of such a circulator and validate it with simulated and measured results.
Robot Training With Vector Fields Based on Stroke Survivors’ Individual Movement Statistics

The wide variation in upper extremity motor impairments among stroke survivors necessitates more intelligent methods of customized therapy. However, current strategies for characterizing individual motor impairments are limited by the use of traditional clinical assessments (e.g., Fugl-Meyer) and simple engineering metrics (e.g., goal-directed performance). Our overall approach is to statistically identify the range of volitional movement capabilities, and then apply a robot-applied force vector field intervention that encourages under-expressed movements. We investigated whether explorative training with such customized force fields would improve stroke survivors’ (n = 11) movement patterns in comparison to a control group that trained without forces (n = 11). Force and control groups increased Fugl-Meyer UE scores (average of 1.0 and 1.1, respectively), which is not considered clinically meaningful. Interestingly, participants from both groups demonstrated dramatic increases in their range of velocity during exploration following only six days of training (average increase of 166.4% and 153.7% for the Force and Control group, respectively). While both groups showed evidence of improvement, we also found evidence that customized forces affected learning in a systematic way. When customized forces were active, we observed broader distributions of velocity that were not present in the controls. Second, we found that these changes led to specific changes in unassisted motion. In addition, while the shape of movement distributions changed significantly for both groups, detailed analysis of the velocity distributions revealed that customized forces promoted a greater proportion of favorable changes. Taken together, these results provide encouraging evidence that patient-specific force fields based on individuals’ movement statistics can be used to create new movement patterns and shape them in a customized manner. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to directly link engineering assessments of stroke survivors’ exploration movement behaviors to the design of customized robot therapy.
Digital Storytelling: A Narrative Method for Positive Identity Development in Minority Youth

ABSTRACTThis article explores the use of digital storytelling as a group narrative method for positive identity development in the case of African American youth residing in economically disadvanta...
On elongation factor eEFSec, its role and mechanism during selenium incorporation into nascent selenoproteins

Abstract Background Selenium, an essential dietary micronutrient, is incorporated into proteins as the amino acid selenocysteine (Sec) in response to in-frame UGA codons. Complex machinery ensures accurate recoding of Sec codons in higher organisms. A specialized elongation factor eEFSec is central to the process. Scope of review Selenoprotein synthesis relies on selenocysteinyl-tRNASec (Sec-tRNASec), selenocysteine inserting sequence (SECIS) and other selenoprotein mRNA elements, an in-trans SECIS binding protein 2 (SBP2) protein factor, and eEFSec. The exact mechanisms of discrete steps of the Sec UGA recoding are not well understood. However, recent studies on mammalian model systems have revealed the first insights into these mechanisms. Herein, we summarize the current knowledge about the structure and role of mammalian eEFSec. Major conclusions eEFSec folds into a chalice-like structure resembling that of the archaeal and bacterial orthologues SelB and the initiation protein factor IF2/eIF5B. The three N-terminal domains harbor major functional sites and adopt an EF-Tu-like fold. The C-terminal domain 4 binds to Sec-tRNASec and SBP2, senses distinct binding domains, and modulates the GTPase activity. Remarkably, GTP hydrolysis does not induce a canonical conformational change in eEFSec, but instead promotes a slight ratchet of domains 1 and 2 and a lever-like movement of domain 4, which may be critical for the release of Sec-tRNASec on the ribosome. General significance Based on current findings, a non-canonical mechanism for elongation of selenoprotein synthesis at the Sec UGA codon is proposed. Although incomplete, our understanding of this fundamental biological process is significantly improved, and it is being harnessed for biomedical and synthetic biology initiatives. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled “Selenium research” in celebration of 200 years of selenium discovery, edited by Dr. Elias Arner and Dr. Regina Brigelius-Flohe.
IT leadership and ERP: a challenging day for a new leader

This case is a set of leadership role-plays that address several critical IT issues including understanding (1) differing objectives of critical project stakeholders; (2) concepts of change management and their importance and process; (3) escalation issues of when and how to do it; and (4) issues arising from client/customer communication. The case combines role-plays with traditional case discussion. The scenario is an IT manager of a large university leading an ERP implementation that must satisfy differing stakeholders including academic, administrative, and curriculum leadership. The case highlights problems of objective alignment, execution, and communication.
Thyroid hormone metabolism. A comparative evaluation.

Knowledge of thyroid hormone and iodide metabolism is derived from a combination of in vivo and in vitro studies in a variety of mammalian species. Each species provides a unique opportunity to investigate various aspects of normal or altered thyroid hormone physiology. This article compares thyroid hormone and iodide metabolism in dogs, cats, and humans, with emphasis on similarities and differences as well as on areas in which data are not currently available.
Shape Measurement of Large Structures in Space: Experiments

A method to reconstruct the shape of a large planar structure in space is introduced and demonstrated through a lab-scale experiment. Lightweight sun sensors are distributed on the structure to measure local angles relative to the sun. The methodology to integrate the measured angles into the shape of the structure, based on a decomposition of the shape into basis functions is introduced. This methodology has been implemented on a lab-scale experiment. The design of the sensors is based on a 4 pixel pinhole camera. The calibration method for these sensors is presented as well as the techniques to integrate and communicate with them. A 1.2 m by 20 cm structure was designed and populated with sensors to show the performance of an integrated system. Preliminary results show an accuracy of 1 mm RMS on the shape reconstruction of this structure.
Management of Crohn’s Disease

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory disorder characterized by focal inflammation along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and may include extraintestinal signs. Management is initially medical with surgery reserved for treatment failure. However, surgery is also required with perforations, obstructions, and other serious manifestations. It is important for a surgeon to be aware of the clinical workup involved and the signs that warrant surgical intervention and to have the goal of preserving proper bowel function if intervention is necessary.
Can’t or Won’t? Immunometabolic Constraints on Dopaminergic Drive

Inflammatory cytokines have been shown to have a direct effect on mesolimbic dopamine (DA) that is associated with a reduced willingness to expend effort for reward. To date, however, the broader implications of this communication between inflammation and mesolimbic DA have yet to be explored. Here, we suggest that the metabolic demands of chronic low-grade inflammation induce a reduction of striatal DA that in turn leads to a steeper effort-discounting curve because of reduced perceived ability (can't) versus preference (won't) for reward. This theoretical framework can inform how the mesolimbic DA system responds to increased immunometabolic demands during chronic inflammation, ultimately contributing to motivational impairments in psychiatric and other medical disorders.
Synthesis of isoxazoles via electrophilic cyclization.

A variety of 3,5-disubstituted 4-halo(seleno)isoxazoles are readily prepared in good to excellent yields under mild reaction conditions by the reaction of 2-alkyn-1-one O-methyl oximes with ICl, I2, Br2, or PhSeBr.
Statistical Analysis of Novel and Traditional Orientation Estimates from an IMU-Instrumented Glove

This paper outlines the statistical evaluation of novel and traditional orientation estimates from an IMU-instrumented glove. Thirty human subjects participated in the experiment by performing the instructed hand movements in order to compare the performance of the proposed orientation correction algorithm with Kalman-based orientation filtering. The result of two-way multivariate analysis of variance indicates that there is no statistically significant difference in the means of the orientation errors: Phi (\(F(1,580)=.080; p=.777\)), Theta (\(F(1,580)=2.556; p=.110\)) and Psi (\(F(1,580)=.049; p=.825\)) between the orientation correction algorithm using the gravity and magnetic North vectors (GMV) and the correction using Kalman-based orientation filtering (KF). The different hand poses have a statistically significant effect on the orientation errors: Phi (\(F(9,580)=129.555; p=.000\)), Theta(\(F(9,580)=85.109; p=.000\)) and Psi (\(F(9,580)=134.474; p=.000\)). The effect of the two algorithms on the orientation errors is consistent across the different hand poses.
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Glycemic Control in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: United States 2003-2014.

The aim of this study was to determine whether racial differences in HbA1c persist in older adults (≥65 years) living with type 2 diabetes. Data from The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2014 were used to examine the association between HbA1c and older adults (≥65 years) over time. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, Mexican Americans had the greatest difference in average HbA1c among minority groups, followed by those with unspecified/mixed ethnicities and non-Hispanic Blacks. In the adjusted linear model, racial minorities had a statistically significant relationship with HbA1c. There was no relationship between HbA1c and older age and insulin use. Trends in mean HbA1c over time increased for non-Hispanic Blacks and Mexican Americans and decreased for non-Hispanic Whites. The findings suggest that racial differences in HbA1c persist into older age and compared to non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks and Mexican Americans are at an increased risk of morbidity, mortality, and disability due to high HbA1c. Furthermore, alternate measures of glycemic control may be needed to screen and manage T2DM in racial minorities.
Temporal Trends and Predictors of Pancreatitis Patients Who Leave Against Medical Advice: A Nationwide Analysis.

Background Acute pancreatitis is the leading gastrointestinal cause of hospital admissions. Our study aims to determine the trends and predictors of discharge against medical advice (AMA). Methods We utilized the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2003 - 2016) to identify patients admitted with pancreatitis. We compared in-hospital complications and determined predictors of discharge AMA using a multivariate logistic regression. Results A total of 7,158,894 patients were admitted with pancreatitis. Of those, 199,351 left AMA. Discharge AMA increased over time from 2.3% to 3.2%. Patients who left AMA were more likely to be younger, male, black, and a lower socioeconomic status (SES). They had a greater prevalence of depression, cirrhosis, smoking, drug abuse, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Alcohol use was the most likely etiology of pancreatitis among those leaving AMA. In a multivariate regression, patients more likely to leave AMA included: age 18 - 44, male, and black. Patients with a history of depression, drug abuse, and HIV infection were also more likely to be discharged AMA. Conclusions Discharges AMA increased over time. Predictors of AMA include patients who are younger, male, black, lower socioeconomic status, and have a history of depression, HIV infection, alcohol and drug use. Future studies are necessary to examine the reasons for discharge AMA among this population.
Ten simple rules for reading a scientific paper.

“There is no problem that a library card can't solve” according to author Eleanor Brown [1]. This advice is sound, probably for both life and science, but even the best tool (like the library) is most effective when accompanied by instructions and a basic understanding of how and when to use it. For many budding scientists, the first day in a new lab setting often involves a stack of papers, an email full of links to pertinent articles, or some promise of a richer understanding so long as one reads enough of the scientific literature. However, the purpose and approach to reading a scientific article is unlike that of reading a news story, novel, or even a textbook and can initially seem unapproachable. Having good habits for reading scientific literature is key to setting oneself up for success, identifying new research questions, and filling in the gaps in one’s current understanding; developing these good habits is the first crucial step. Advice typically centers around two main tips: read actively and read often. However, active reading, or reading with an intent to understand, is both a learned skill and a level of effort. Although there is no one best way to do this, we present 10 simple rules, relevant to novices and seasoned scientists alike, to teach our strategy for active reading based on our experience as readers and as mentors of undergraduate and graduate researchers, medical students, fellows, and early career faculty. Rules 1–5 are big picture recommendations. Rules 6–8 relate to philosophy of reading. Rules 9–10 guide the “now what?” questions one should ask after reading and how to integrate what was learned into one’s own science.
Mobile shared resources in the context of IoT low power lossy networks

Abstract Mobile wireless sensors are becoming an increasingly important component of many IoT initiatives that, ranging from smart city to clean agriculture, heavily rely on participatory sensing. Most of these scenarios and technologies are deployed as Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) where devices exhibit low power consumption in order to extend battery life. Low power consumption implies that sensors depend on duty cycles to periodically enable or disable functionality for a predefined amount of time. Although duty cycles affect connectivity, under participatory sensing, mobility enables multiple sensors to observe a single asset. In this context, it is advantageous to control the transmission of redundant traffic in order to prevent inefficient use of device energy as well as computational and memory resources. This paper addresses this as well as other relevant and related issues by introducing a mechanism that based on well known state-of-the-art IoT protocols extends the battery life of the devices in the network.
In situ electrochemical H2 production for efficient and stable power-to-gas electromethanogenesis

Bioelectrochemical power-to-gas presents a promising technology for long-term storage of excess renewable energy in the form of methane. The transition of the technology from laboratory to applied scale is currently challenged by low volumetric production rates, energy losses at the cathode, as well as the unknown physiology of the microbes in an electrochemical reactor. Here, we introduce a stable electromethanogenesis system based on efficient in situ hydrogen production by non-precious-metal catalysts and effective hydrogen uptake by the methanogenic microorganisms. Using NiMo-cathodes and pure cultures of hydrogenotrophic Methanococcus maripaludis, our system achieved an unprecedented volumetric methane production rate from CO2 of 1.4 L methane per L per day. The system performed stably for over 4 weeks with columbic efficiencies steadily above 90%. A physiological analysis of cells in the electromethanogenic reactor revealed robustly-growing cells with nearly identical protein expression patterns to gas-fed controls. Local pH fluctuations at the surface of cathode and cation exchange membrane resulted in a small but noticeable fraction of cell lysis. Our data collectively indicate that physiologically uncompromised cells of a pure methanogenic culture can perform methanogenesis robustly at high specific rate in a biocompatible electromethanogenic reactor using inexpensive, earth-abundant cathode materials.
Intradural Extramedullary Primary Central Nervous System Melanoma of the Craniovertebral Junction during Pregnancy: Observations and Outcomes.

Background Primary central nervous system (CNS) melanoma is a rare lesion derived from neural crest precursors. While its management is analogous to metastatic spinal melanoma, the literature does not describe this entity clearly in pregnant patients and the unique implications it presents. Here, we describe the case of a pregnant patient who presented with primary CNS melanoma of the cervical spine. Case Description A 27-year-old pregnant patient presented with a 3-month history of neck and interscapular pain. MRI of the cervical spine demonstrated a ventral intradural extramedullary mass adjacent to the C2-C3 vertebral bodies causing severe cord compression. The patient was induced at 31 weeks and shortly thereafter developed quadriparesis and became obtunded. The patient underwent emergent right-sided C1 hemilaminectomy, complete C2-C4 laminectomy, and right-sided intradural division of the dentate ligaments for removal of the ventral intradural mass. Full neurological recovery was achieved before discharge. At follow-up, the infant was found to be negative for transplacental metastasis. We performed fractionated radiotherapy 4 weeks after index surgery. Nine months following index surgery, she presented with severe axial neck pain. Radiographs of the cervical spine demonstrated postlaminectomy kyphosis. The patient later underwent a posterior cervical fusion. She was recurrence-free 9 months follow-up. Conclusion The differential for intradural extramedullary spinal lesions should include schwannoma, neurofibroma, meningioma, metastasis, and melanoma. Physicians caring for pregnant patients with melanoma should be aware of the potential for transplacental metastasis and perform follow-up for fetal complications.
Optimal Gate Driving Strategy for Si/SiC Hybrid Switch-Based 3L-ANPC Inverter with Improved Output Capacity

A silicon IGBT/silicon carbide MOSFET hybrid switch (Si/SiC HyS)-based three-level active neutral point clamped (3L-ANPC) inverter has been proposed to achieve a high inverter efficiency with relatively low device cost. However, the conventional gate driving strategy will concentrate all the high-frequency switching losses on the small current-rated SiC MOSFETs within the Si/SiC HyS. The power devices will suffer from thermal unbalance which limits the output capacity of the Si/SiC HyS-based 3L-ANPC inverter. To improve the output capacity of the Si/SiC HyS-based 3L-ANPC inverter, an optimal gate driving (OGD) strategy is proposed in this paper. The Si/SiC HyS-based 3L-ANPC inverter will operate in "energy-efficient mode" to maximize inverter efficiency under rated power. When overload operation is needed, the inverter will perform "thermal-balance mode" to balance the thermal distribution and maximize the output capacity. A thermal model-based junction temperature balancing method is proposed in this paper to balance the junction temperature to improve the output capacity of the Si/SiC HyS-based 3L-ANPC inverter. The proposed OGD strategy is validated experimentally on a 3.5kW Si/SiC HyS-based 3L-ANPC inverter platform. The experimental results demonstrate that the device temperatures are distributed more uniformly with the proposed OGD strategy, which also improves the output capacity of the Si/SiC HyS-based 3L-ANPC inverter.
Survival Outcomes of Patients With Borderline Resectable and Resectable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Treated With Neoadjuvant Short-Course Chemoradiotherapy With Capecitabine-Based vs. Gemcitabine-Based Concurrent Chemotherapy.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is a critical treatment for borderline resectable and resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma ((B)RPC). The PREOPANC trials employ a short course chemoradiation (SCCRT) regimen of 3600 cGy in 15 fractions with concurrent gemcitabine (GEM)-based chemotherapy, but little is known about the relative efficacy of capecitabine (CAPE)-based concurrent chemotherapy in this population. We hypothesize that patients treated with SCCRT with CAPE-based concurrent chemotherapy will have superior overall survival (OS) compared to GEM-based strategies. MATERIALS/METHODS Medical records were retrospectively reviewed at a single center for patients diagnosed with (B)RPC between 1/2005 and 12/2020. Patients treated with neoadjuvant SCCRT were included in the analysis. Descriptive statistics were quantified for baseline characteristics. OS was estimated using Kaplan-Meier estimates, statistical difference was determined using the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis was conducted to estimate hazard ratios (HR) when controlling for confounding factors. RESULTS Thirty-one (n = 31) patients were included in the analysis. 71% of patients (n = 22) were treated with CAPE-based concurrent chemotherapy, while 29% of patients (n = 9) were treated with GEM-based concurrent chemotherapy. Median age at diagnosis was 65 (interquartile range (IQR): 60 to 71) for the CAPE group, compared to 66 (IQR: 63 to 71) for the GEM group, P = 0.414. 100% of patients in the CAPE group were borderline resectable, compared to 82% of patients in the GEM group, P = 0.171. 44% of patients in the CAPE group were treated with neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX, compared to 14% in the GEM group, P = 0.016. Patients treated with concurrent 5-CAPE-based chemotherapy had a longer median OS than other concurrent chemotherapy approaches: Not reached (95% confidence interval (CI): 24 to not reached) vs. 17 months (95% CI: 6 to 22 months), P < 0.0001. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, controlling for borderline vs. resectable status, age at diagnosis, and use of neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX, demonstrated that CAPE-based concurrent chemotherapy had a HR of death of 0.081 (95% CI: 0.018 to 0.369, P = 0.0012) compared to GEM-based concurrent chemotherapy. CONCLUSION Patients diagnosed with (B)RPC have many therapeutic options; this study suggests a benefit to CAPE-based concurrent chemotherapy when treating patients with SCCRT, even after controlling for significant confounding by greater use of neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX with CAPE-based concurrent chemotherapy. SCCRT may be more effective with concurrent capecitabine instead of concurrent gemcitabine for (B)RPC.
Reductions in dietary energy density to moderate children's energy intake

Publisher Summary Several major health organizations have recently made recommendations concerning the prevention of childhood overweight. One strategy advised is to change children's eating patterns in order to modify dietary energy density (the concentration of calories in food). For example, the World Health Organization recommends that children and adolescents restrict their intake of energy-dense, micronutrient-poor foods in order to prevent obesity. The Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth recommends that “parents should promote healthful food choices among toddlers and young children by making a variety of nutritious, low-energy-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables, available to them.” These recommendations rely on research in adults showing that consuming a diet low in energy density is an effective way to moderate energy intake and improve diet quality, both of which are important goals in light of the childhood obesity epidemic and mounting concern for children's nutritional status. This chapter considers whether reducing the energy density of the diet may be an effective strategy to moderate energy intake and improve nutrient intakes in young children.
Magnetically separable base catalysts for isomerization of glucose to fructose

Abstract Isomerization of glucose to fructose is a key intermediate step for the biochemical conversion of lignocellulose to liquid fuels and chemicals through the sugar platform. This study demonstrates facile and general strategies to fabricate heterogeneous or magnetic base catalysts based on organic bases for the isomerization of glucose to fructose in water. The heterogeneous or magnetic base catalyst can achieve similar glucose-to-fructose yield and selectivity to homogenous organic base catalyst. The accumulated by-products influence the reusability of the heterogeneous base catalyst; however, the magnetic base catalyst shows excellent stability and reusability.
Officer friendly: Changing children's attitudes about the police

A police-community relations program in elementary schools, called the “Officer Friendly Program,” was evaluated. The program attempted to increase awareness of legitimate services performed by the police and to improve rapport with uniformed police officers. Males (second graders) who used a “Crime Resistance Activity Book” or had the book and officer visits in their classes were more likely than a control group to represent officers as helping someone in a situation where a crime had occurred. Females did not change their beliefs about a police officer's role as a result of degree of participation in the program. Also, white children (male and female) who had officer visits stood closer to an unfamiliar police officer during a conversation than those who did not have officer visits (i.e., control or book-alone conditions). These results were not found for black children. Previous writers have been either unduly optimistic or pessimistic about the possible impact of police-community relations programs in the schools. Results of this study show that beneficial effects of an Officer Friendly Program relate to child's sex and race as well as to the type of evaluation measure used.
Ultra Large Castings to Produce Low Cost Aluminum Vehicle Structures

Through a cooperative effort with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies (OHVT), Alcoa is developing a casting process to produce ultra large thin wall components. The casting process is a low pressure, metal mold, multiport injection vertical casting process. The specific system for demonstration of the process is located at Alcoa's Technology Center and will be capable of producing parts extending 3 M long, 1.7 M wide and 0.4 M high. For example, single castings of car floor pan frames or side wall aperture structures are candidates for this installation. This shall provide a major opportunity to reduce the cost of lightweight transportation vehicle structures by (a) reducing the components or part count and (b) reducing the cost of assembly. To develop and demonstrate the process, an inner panel of the Chrysler minivan liftgate will be first produced on this system. Through computer analyses, the cast inner panel design was developed to satisfy both structural performance and casting process requirements. Currently, this is an 11 part assembly of steel components. At the time of this abstract, the numerous system components are in various phases of fabrication and site preparation is fully underway, with system shakedown beginning in the second quarter of 1999. Successful demonstration of caster system operation is anticipated to occur during the third quarter and production of a high quality product during the fourth quarter. Although the process is targeted toward reducing the cost of lightweight trucks, buses and autos, consideration is being given to application in the aircraft industry.
Tutorial I: Syntax-guided synthesis

These tutorials discusses the following: Syntax-Guided Synthesis; Firmware Validation Challenges and Opportunities; Secure Programs via Game-based Synthesis; and Network Programming in Frenetic.
Analysis of the atropine test for placental transfer in gravidas with toxemia and diabetes

Abstract The atropine test for placental function was applied to 29 gravidas as controls, and to 24 pre-eclamptic, 3 eclamptic, 11 chronically hypertensive, and 16 diabetic patients. While the percentage of pre-eclamptic and diabetic gravidas showing transfer of atropine to the fetus was less than the controls, the test was not sufficiently precise to serve as an indicator of placental function in any one individual.
Television violence and aggressive behavior.

There can no longer be any doubt that television influences behavior, especially the behavior of children. Any mother who goes marketing in the supermarket with a young child sitting in the shopping cart or tagging along beside her can attest to that fact, especially when she gets to the checkout counter and sees all the sugar-coated cereals, boxes of cookies, and candy bars which in some mysterious fashion had found their way into the cart. The television networks are proud of the way in which they can influence behavior with commercials. It is ludicrous, therefore, for the networks to insist that watching violent displays on television has no relation to subsequent violent behavior of viewers. If they did not expect television to influence behavior, why would they be broadcasting commercials showing people using products they want the viewer to use? It is unlikely that one would ever hear a sales representative tell a prospective customer for television time that television does not influence behavior. That is, after all, what commercials are about and how the networks stay alive and prosper.
Globalization and Forces for Change in Higher Education

What is globalization and how does it affect higher education policy and academic institutions? The answer is deceivingly simple and the implications are surprisingly complex. For higher education, globalization implies the broad social, economic, and technological forces that shape the realities of the 21st century.
Military buildups, economic development and corruption

Using cross-national data for more than two recent decades, this paper examines the effect of military buildups on corruption. Measuring military buildups via military spending and armed forces, and controlling for simultaneity, results consistently find greater military buildups to increase corruption across specifications. However, the level of economic development plays a crucial role, especially with regard to the effect of military forces. Greater state fragility is, ceteris paribus, associated with greater corruption. The influences of other factors are in accord with the literature.
Effect on Non‐steroidal Anti‐inflammatory Drugs on Arachidonic Acid Metabolism

SYNOPSIS The enzymes of arachidonic acid metabolism via the lipoxygenase pathway in human platelets have been characterized and partially purified. Two separable lipoxygenase activities can be detected by chromatography on Sephadex G-150 and DEAE-Sephadex. One of these has an apparent molecular weight (Mr ) of 100,000. A second enzyme species behaves as an Mr 160,000 entity containing, in addition to lipoxygenase, a peroxidase activity that catalyzes the conversion of 12L-hydro-peroxy-5,8,10,14-icosatetraenoic acid (HPETE) to 12L-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-icosatetraenoic acid (HETE). Aspirin, indomethacin, sodium salicylate, phenylbutazone, ibuprofen, naproxen, and sulindac, but not acetaminophen or phenacetin, give rise to increased levels of HPETE in the lipoxygenase pathway. This increase in HPETE levels is the result of the ability of these drugs to directly inhibit the enzymatic conversion of HPETE to HETE. The labile lipoxygenase produced HPETE stimulates its own production by increasing lipoxygenase activity; HETE does not share this activity. In addition, HPETE strongly suppresses prostaglandin and thromboxane production by inhibiting cyclo-oxygenase (prostaglandin synthetase). The ability of sodium salicylate, which does not inhibit cyclo-oxygenase in vitro, to elevate levels of HPETE may account for its ability to inhibit prostaglandin production in vivo. Moreover, since HPETE's are precursors of slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis, the acute responses to aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs observed in certain sensitive individuals may be the result of these patients' extreme sensitivity to HPETE peroxidase inhibition or the resultant rise in HPETE concentration.
Single particle cryoelectron tomography characterization of the structure and structural variability of poliovirus-receptor-membrane complex at 30 Å resolution

As a long-term goal we want to use cryoelectron tomography to understand how non-enveloped viruses, such as picornaviruses, enter cells and translocate their genomes across membranes. To this end, we developed new image-processing tools using an in vitro system to model viral interactions with membranes. The complex of poliovirus with its membrane-bound receptors was reconstructed by averaging multiple sub-tomograms, thereby producing three-dimensional maps of surprisingly high-resolution (30 A). Recognizable images of the complex could be produced by averaging as few as 20 copies. Additionally, model-free reconstructions of free poliovirus particles, clearly showing the major surface features, could be calculated from 60 virions. All calculations were designed to avoid artifacts caused by missing information typical for tomographic data ("missing wedge"). To investigate structural and conformational variability we applied a principal component analysis classification to specific regions. We show that the missing wedge causes a bias in classification, and that this bias can be minimized by supplementation with data from the Fourier transform of the averaged structure. After classifying images of the receptor into groups with high similarity, we were able to see differences in receptor density consistent with the known variability in receptor glycosylation.
Product binding enforces the genomic specificity of a yeast polycomb repressive complex

Summary We characterize the Polycomb system that assembles repressive subtelomeric domains of H3K27 methylation (H3K27me) in the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans . Purification of this PRC2-like protein complex reveals orthologs of animal PRC2 components as well as a chromodomain-containing subunit, Ccc1, which recognizes H3K27me. Whereas removal of either the EZH or EED ortholog eliminates H3K27me, disruption of mark recognition by Ccc1 causes H3K27me to redistribute. Strikingly, the resulting pattern of H3K27me coincides with domains of heterochromatin marked by H3K9me. Indeed, additional removal of the C. neoformans H3K9 methyltransferase Clr4 results in loss of both H3K9me and the redistributed H3K27me marks. These findings indicate that the anchoring of a chromatin-modifying complex to its product suppresses its attraction to a different chromatin type, explaining how enzymes that act on histones, which often harbor product recognition modules, may deposit distinct chromatin domains despite sharing a highly abundant and largely identical substrate—the nucleosome.
4-8 micron spectrophotometry of OH 0739-14

Spectrophotometry of the dust-embedded late-type star OH 0739-14 shows an absorption feature at 6.0 microns characteristic of H2O ice at temperatures significantly lower than 150 K, confirming the identification of H2O ice in the circumstellar shell in this source. The differences in the infrared spectra of HO 0739-14 and embedded molecular cloud sources are attributed to the different cloud lifetimes and temperature regimes in which the molecules are formed. A lower limit to the mass loss rate of 0.0001 solar mass per year is derived, based on the column density of ice and the size and the expansion velocity of the circumstellar cloud.
Superplastic behavior of spray-deposited 5083 Al

A 5083 Al alloy was synthesized using spray deposition processing with N2 as the atomization gas. It was noted that the grains that were present in as-spray-deposited 5083 Al were equiaxed with an average size of 15.2 µm. The matrix of the material was supersaturated with Mg and Mn. The asspray-deposited microstructure contained irregular pores with porosity in the range of 0.1 to 5.4 vol pct, depending on spatial location in the preform. The spray-deposited alloy was thermomechanically processed using extrusion and multiple-pass warm rolling to reduce grain size and close porosity. It was observed that spray-deposited 5083 Al exhibited superplasticity following thermomechanical processing by extrusion followed by rolling. Superplasticity was observed in the 500 °C to 550 °C temperature range and 3 × 10−5 to 3 × 10−3 s−1 strain rate range. The corresponding strain-rate-sensitivity factors were in the 0.25 to 0.5 range and increased with decreasing strain rate. A maximum elongation of 465 pct was noted at 550 °C and 3 × 10−5 s−1. The spray-deposited 5083 Al, thermomechanically processed by direct rolling, exhibited superplasticity in the same temperature and strain rate ranges as those for the extruded and rolled materials. The superplastic elongation of the spray-formed and rolled material was relatively low, being in the range of 250 to 300 pct. The deformation behavior is discussed in light of the presence of porosity in the microstructure.
Shear-strain-induced structural and electronic modifications of the molecular crystal 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene: Slip-plane flow and band gap relaxation

First-principles calculations of the structural and electronic properties of the deformed molecular crystal 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) under shear-strain loading are presented. The reaction of the crystal to applied shear-strain loading is found to be highly anisotropic. When the external loading is removed, the relaxation of the system is mainly defined by stretching, bending, and rotations of the $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ groups of neighboring molecules from the two adjacent zigzag-shaped crystalline planes that were initially shifted. In general, the deformed molecular crystal relaxes to its initial, ideal crystalline FOX-7 structure. However, different planes remain shifted relatively to each other on vectors, which are typically incommensurated with any translational vector of the ideal crystal. This fact makes an existence of ideal crystals of this material quite problematic. We also found that no metallization occurs under shear-strain loading. We suggest that the considered mechanisms of the shear-strain relaxation of the structural and electronic degrees of freedom are typical for layered anisotropic molecular crystals, and that they should significantly affect their chemical reactivity, conductivity, optical properties, and initiation of detonation in energetic materials.
Stochastic modeling and simulation of multiple-input multiple-output channels: a unified approach

We present a unified framework for the characterization and simulation of random multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) fading channels. Depending on the presence of local scatterers around the base station and mobile station, we consider several geometrical configurations, which result in parametric expressions for key channel features, such as space-time-frequency correlations, average stay duration, etc. This approach allows one to describe and simulate the complicated random MIMO channel via several parameters, which in turn facilitates the analysis and design of multi-antenna systems.
Recovery from amnesia following transcorneal electroconvulsive shock

Rats that received one-trial passive avoidance training, followed 8 sec later by transcorneal electroconvulsive shock (ECS), displayed extensive memory deficits on a 24-h retention test. However, a noncontingent footshock delivered outside of the training situation during the retention interval caused a partial recovery of memory. Control Ss receiving similar stimulation entirely outside of the training situation did not display equivalent avoidance behavior, suggesting that the avoidance behavior of the former group was specific to the training situation rather than a systemic effect of the combined treatments. These data indicate that transcorneal ECS is similar to transpinnate ECS in that both interfere with retrieval processes that normally occur soon after acquisition.