cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Escape from Democracy: The Role of Experts and the Public in Economic Policy

The orthodox view of economic policy holds that public deliberation sets the goals or ends, and then experts select the means to implement these goals. This assumes that experts are no more than trustworthy servants of the public interest. David M. Levy and Sandra J. Peart examine the historical record to consider cases in which experts were trusted with disastrous results, such as eugenics, the regulatory use of security ratings, and central economic planning. This history suggests that experts have not only the public interest but also their own interests to consider. The authors then recover and extend an alternative view of economic policy that subjects experts' proposals to further discussion, resulting in transparency and ensuring that the public obtains the best insights of experts in economics while avoiding pitfalls such as expert bias.
Change in Concussion Measures in Division 1 Men’s Lacrosse Players Who Did Not Report a Concussion

Objective The purpose of our study was to investigate if a significant change in concussion baseline measurements occur in athletes who did not reportedly sustain a concussion. Design Cohort Study Setting Division I University Participants 22 Division I Men’s Lacrosse players’ data were used for the BESS test (age=19.95, ± 0.99) and 26 Division I Men’s Lacrosse players’ data were used for the CNS Vital Signs test (age=20.15, ± 1.05) Interventions calendar year; 2015 competitive lacrosse season Outcome measures Repeated-measures ANOVAs and paired samples t-tests determined the change in concussion baseline measurement scores from pre-season 2015, post-season 2015, and pre-season 2016. BESS scores and the ten tests associated with CNS Vital Signs were analysed for changes. Main results There were increases in the number of errors committed during the foam double leg stance (p=0.017) and foam tandem stance (p=0.007) from pre-season 2015 to pre-season 2016. 60% of of the tests within the CNS Vital Signs testing battery resulted in significant improvements from pre-season 2015 to pre-season 2016: psychomotor speed (p=0.031), executive function (p=0.003), cognitive flexibility (p=0.004), reaction time (p=0.004), simple reaction time (p=0.002), and shifting attention correct reaction time (p=0.016). Conclusions Concussion baseline measurements should be repeated on an annual basis to improve accuracy when implementing a return-to-play protocol following a concussion. Competing interests None
Characterization of Big Data Stream Processing Pipeline: A Case Study using Flink and Kafka

In recent years there has been a surge in applications focusing on streaming data to generate insights in real-time. Both academia, as well as industry, have tried to address this use case by developing a variety of Stream Processing Engines (SPEs) with a diverse feature set. On the other hand, Big Data applications have started to make use of High-Performance Computing (HPC) which possess superior memory, I/O, and networking resources compared to typical Big Data clusters. Recent studies evaluating the performance of SPEs have focused on commodity clusters. However, exhaustive studies need to be performed to profile individual stages of a stream processing pipeline and how best to optimize each of these stages to best leverage the resources provided by HPC clusters. To address this issue, we profile the performance of a big data streaming pipeline using Apache Flink as the SPE and Apache Kafka as the intermediate message queue. We break the streaming pipeline into two distinct phases and evaluate percentile latencies for two different networks, namely 40GbE and InfiniBand EDR (100Gbps), to determine if a typical streaming application is network intensive enough to benefit from a faster interconnect. Moreover, we explore whether the volume of input data stream has any effect on the latency characteristics of the streaming pipeline, and if so how does it compare for different stages in the streaming pipeline and different network interconnects. Our experiments show an increase of over 10x in 98 percentile latency when input stream volume is increased from 128MB/s to 256MB/s. Moreover, we find the intermediate stages of the stream pipeline to be a significant contributor to the overall latency of the system.
Stepping Out of the Way When It Is Time to Leave—Ecclesiastes 3:1

This chapter is about understanding the seasons of leading and managing and understanding when to step out of the role of leader or manager and how to end the season well. The chapter also includes information about Founders’ Syndrome and the problems caused by it in the organization. The change in seasons of leadership should be at God’s calling.
Variation of Post-treatment H-MRSI Choline Signal Intensity in Pediatric Gliomas

Pediatric brain gliomas are not always amenable for complete surgical excision, therefore adjuvant treatment for a large tumor mass is often required. As tumor volume shrinkage may not be a reliable method for assessing response to treatment, information about the tumor growth potential is desirable for an adequate follow-up of the patients. Choline (Cho) signal intensity, determined by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (H-MRSI), has proved to be a reliable indicator of the metabolic activity and of tumor progression in various intracranial tumors. In this study we have sought to determine if H-MRSI can be of use in monitoring the response of pediatric gliomas to different forms of therapy. We performed pretreatment and post-treatment H-MRSI in 10 children with biopsed or partially excised brain gliomas. The follow-up period ranged between 6 and 40 months. A total of 38 H-MRSI were performed. All the patients had chemotherapy or radiotherapy. As an indicator of tumor activity we utilized the ratio between tumor/brain Cho signal intensity. Treatment response was evaluated as a function of tumor volume and clinical outcome. In 6 patients whose tumor volume decreased or remained stable we observed that the Cho ratio decreased (p < 0.01) after treatment and remained low during longitudinal follow-up. In the 4 patients whose tumors progressed the Cho ratio increased after treatment. These observations suggest that serial H-MRSI can provide valuable information regarding the response to therapy in pediatric gliomas and therefore be of use in the follow-up of these neoplasms of childhood.
The Chemistry of ATP in the Failing Heart The Fundamentals

There is now compelling evidence that the [ATP] in both failed human myocardium and animal models of severe heart failure is as much as 25% lower than in normal myocardium. We also know that the tissue contents of phosphocreatine and creatine and the capacity of the creatine kinase reaction (Vmax) are also lower in the dysfunctional/failing heart. These observations increase our understanding of two important aspects of cardiac energetics: the kinetics of ATP synthesis and the thermodynamics of ATP utilization, i.e., the chemical driving force for the ATP-consuming reactions, ΔG∼P. In this chapter, we will first review the fundamentals of the chemistry of ATP synthesis in the heart and then summarize what is known about the energetics of the failing heart from the viewpoints of the kinetics of ATP synthesis and the thermodynamics of ATP utilization. We present a new model of the energetics of the failing heart and suggest that the loss of creatine from the failing heart protects the heart from an even greater loss of ATP.
Abnormal venous postural control: multiple sclerosis-specific change related to gray matter pathology or age-related neurodegenerative phenomena?

Autonomic nervous system dysfunction has been previously observed in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. To assess associations between magnetic resonance imaging-detected neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative pathology and postural venous flow changes indicative of autonomic nervous system function. We used a standardized 3T magnetic resonance imaging protocol to scan 138 patients with MS and 49 healthy controls. Lesion volume and brain volumes were assessed. The cerebral venous flow (CVF) was examined by color-Doppler sonography in supine and upright positions and the difference was calculated as ΔCVF. Based on ΔCVF, subjects were split into absolute or quartile groups. Student’s t test, χ2-test, and analysis of covariance adjusted for age and sex were used accordingly. Benjamini-Hochberg procedure corrected the p-values for multiple comparisons. No differences were found between healthy controls and patients with MS in both supine and upright Doppler-derived CVF, nor in prevalence of abnormal postural venous control. Patients with absolute negative ΔCVF had higher disability scores (p = 0.013), lower gray matter (p = 0.039) and cortical (p = 0.044) volumes. The negative ΔCVF MS group also showed numerically worse bladder/bowel function when compared to the positive ΔCVF (2.3 vs. 1.5, p = 0.052). Similarly, the lowest quartile ΔCVF MS group had higher T1-lesion volumes (p = 0.033), T2-lesion volumes (p = 0.032), and lower deep gray matter (p = 0.043) and thalamus (p = 0.033) volumes when compared to those with higher ΔCVF quartiles. No difference in postural venous outflow between patients with MS and healthy controls was found. However, when the abnormal ΔCVF is present within the MS population, it may be associated with more inflammatory and neurodegenerative pathology. Further studies should explore whether the orthostatic venous changes are an aging or an MS-related phenomenon and if the etiology is due to impaired autonomic nervous system functioning.
Trust in Imperfect Automation

The types of unreliability that an automated system may express can have effects on a user’s perception of that automation’s overall operational ability. A software program which makes one type of mistake might be judged more harshly than another program which makes a different sort of error; even if both have equal success rates. Here I use a Hidden Object Game to examine people’s different responses to a program when it appears to either miss its target objects or, alternatively, to make false alarms. Playing at both high and low clutter levels, participants who believed they were working with an automated system which missed targets decreased their trust in that automation, and judged its performance more harshly, compared to participants who believed the automation was making false alarms. Participants in the combined low clutter and miss condition showed the strongest decrease in trust. When asked to guess how often the program had been correct this group also gave it the lowest mean score. These results demonstrates that in a target detection task, automation that misses targets will be judged more harshly than automation that errs on the side of false alarms.
A pre-clinical quantitative model predicts the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of an anti-BDCA2 monoclonal antibody in humans

BIIB059 is a novel humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) that is currently under development for the treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus. BIIB059 is targeted against the blood dendritic cell antigen 2 (BDCA2), a receptor exclusively expressed on the surface of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). Herein, we utilized pre-clinical pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) data to develop a non-human primate (NHP) model and to address whether the NHP model can be successfully scaled to predict the human PK/PD. In particular, PK data from 17 cynomolgus monkeys were utilized for PK model development, wherein BIIB059 was administered intravenously (1 and 10 mg/kg single-dosing and 5 mg/kg multiple-dosing) or subcutaneously (0.2 and 7.5 mg/kg single-dosing). Additionally, PD data (BDCA2 receptor density on pDCs) from 6 cynomolgus monkeys were used for the development of the PD model. The developed NHP two-compartment PK model, linked with an indirect response PD model, was subsequently scaled to humans by combining traditional allometric PK scaling with sensitivity-analysis-driven scaling of the PD. The scaled PK/PD model was then used to simulate the human PK/PD for different dose levels. When clinical data from the BIIB059 Phase I study became available, they were used to evaluate the predictability of the scaled PK/PD model and the model simulations were in agreement with the clinical data. Therefore, the presented approach is suggested to be employed in scaling pre-clinical mAb models to support the selection of safe first-in-human doses and, more broadly, the prediction of PK/PD in the clinic.
Standardizing goals of care (GoC) documentation for new patients with metastatic disease.

26Background: Executing GoC discussions is an established national standard, underpins high quality patient-centered cancer care and ensures that patients participate actively in treatment decision...
Glyphosate-containing herbicide impacts physical and behavioral changes during head regeneration in Dugesia (Girardia) tigrina

Though the ecological impacts of Roundup™ herbicide have been reported, little is known about its effects on invertebrates. The purpose of this study is to determine its toxicity to head regeneration in Dugesia (Girardia) tigrina, the brown planaria. Decapitated flatworms were chronically exposed to dilutions of commercially available Roundup™ herbicide (23°C and L: D cycle of 14: 10 h). Ten ppm of herbicide significantly impeded the head regeneration process, slowing the onset of one stage and aborting a later stage. Although 5 ppm did not adversely inhibit the stages of head regeneration, the negative phototropic behavioral response of the decapitated flatworms was delayed; 2 - 5 days after decapitation, 5 ppm caused a temporary but significant prolongation of the response. Ten ppm caused a significant and permanent slowing of the phototropic response during the entire period of head regeneration. Although aging the Roundup™ (10 ppm) over 4 months attenuated the effects on head regeneration, this herbicide still prolonged the negative phototropic response. Reports have praised the use of this herbicide for crop productivity; yet, it is important to evaluate the impact of Roundup™ on the ecosystem.
Telencephalon transcriptome analysis of chronically stressed adult zebrafish

Chronic stress leads to disruptions in learning and memory processes. The effects of chronic stress experience on the adult zebrafish brain, particularly the memory associated telencephalon brain region, is unclear. The goal of this study was to identify gene expression changes in the adult zebrafish brain triggered by chronic unpredictable stress. Transcriptome analysis of the telencephalon revealed 155 differentially expressed genes. Of these genes, some are critical genes involved in learning and memory, such as cdk5 and chrna7, indicating effects of chronic unpredictable stress on zebrafish memory. Interestingly, several genes were annotated in the Orange domain, which is an amino acid sequence present in eukaryotic DNA-binding transcription repressors. Furthermore, we identified hsd11b2, a cortisol inactivating gene, as chronic stress-responsive in the whole zebrafish brain. Collectively, these findings suggest that memory associated gene expression changes in adult zebrafish telencephalon are affected by chronic stress experience.
ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROMES IN YOUNG ADULTS: APPLICATION OF BAYESIAN NETWORK ANALYSIS FOR DYNAMIC CAUSAL MODELING

Bayesian networks can identify possible causal relationships between measured variables based on their conditional dependencies and independencies. We explored the use of Bayesian network analyses to investigate the risk factors and presentation in young adults who presented with an acute coronary
Computational Study of the Ni-Catalyzed C-H Oxidative Cycloaddition of Aromatic Amides with Alkynes.

The mechanism of Ni-catalyzed ortho C(sp2)–H oxidative cycloaddition of aromatic amides with internal alkynes containing 2-pyridinylmethylamine directing group was investigated using density functi...
Negotiating justice: Ceasefires, peace agreements, and post-conflict justice:

Post-conflict justice is an integral component in maintaining stability and building peace in the aftermath of civil conflict. Despite its instrumental function, scholars routinely find that policy...
Marriage dynamics in old Lower California: ecological constraints and reproductive value in an arid peninsular frontier.

It is commonly expected that natural selection will favor earlier reproduction, yet ecological constraints can force people to delay marriage. Furthermore, humans demonstrate sex-specific preferenc...
A Postdischarge Multimodal Pain Management Cocktail Following Total Knee Arthroplasty Reduces Opioid Consumption in the 30-Day Postoperative Period: A Group-Randomized Trial.

Abstract Background Traditional pain management after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) relies heavily on opioids. Although there is evidence that in-hospital multimodal pain management (MMPM) is more effective than opioid-only (OO) analgesia, there has been little focus on postdischarge pain management. The hypothesis of this study was that MMPM after TKA would reduce pain scores and opioid consumption in the 30-day period after hospital discharge. Methods This is a prospective, 2-group, comparative study with a provider cross-over design comparing a 30-day OO prn regimen with a MMPM regimen and opioid medications prn. The primary outcome measure was visual analog scale pain score and opioid-related side effects. Secondary outcome measures included morphine milligram equivalents consumed, failure of the protocol, and opioid refills. Results There were 216 patients included in the trial, with final data available for 143. There was no clinically meaningful difference in visual analog scale score between the 2 groups at any time. Average opioid consumption at 30 days was 582.5 and 386.4 morphine milligram equivalents for the OO and MMPM cohorts, respectively (P = .0006). Average number of opioid pills consumed at 30 days was 91.8 and 60.4 for OO and MMPM cohorts, respectively (P = .0004). Conclusion A 30-day postdischarge multimodal pain regimen reduced opioid use after TKA while maintaining a similar level of pain control as the OO regimen. OO regimens are at an increased risk of needing additional medications to control pain. Level of Evidence Level II. Registry Name www.clinicaltrials.gov . Trial Number NCT04003350.
BSAseq: an interactive and integrated web-based workflow for identification of causal mutations in bulked F2 populations

SUMMARY With the advance of next-generation sequencing technologies and reductions in the costs of these techniques, bulked segregant analysis (BSA) has become not only a powerful tool for mapping quantitative trait loci but also a useful way to identify causal gene mutations underlying phenotypes of interest. However, due to the presence of background mutations and errors in sequencing, genotyping, and reference assembly, it is often difficult to distinguish true causal mutations from background mutations. In this study, we developed the BSAseq workflow, which includes an automated bioinformatics analysis pipeline with a probabilistic model for estimating the linked region (the region linked to the causal mutation) and an interactive Shiny web application for visualizing the results. We deeply sequenced a sorghum male-sterile parental line (ms8) to capture the majority of background mutations in our bulked F2 data. We applied the workflow to 11 bulked sorghum F2 populations and 1 rice F2 population and identified the true causal mutation in each population. The workflow is intuitive and straightforward, facilitating its adoption by users without bioinformatics analysis skills. We anticipate that the BSAseq workflow will be broadly applicable to the identification of causal mutations for many phenotypes of interest. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION BSAseq is freely available on https://www.sciapps.org/page/bsa. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Revisiting Batch Normalization for Training Low-latency Deep Spiking Neural Networks from Scratch.

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) have recently emerged as an alternative to deep learning owing to sparse, asynchronous and binary event (or spike) driven processing, that can yield huge energy efficiency benefits on neuromorphic hardware. However, training high-accuracy and low-latency SNNs from scratch suffers from non-differentiable nature of a spiking neuron. To address this training issue in SNNs, we revisit batch normalization and propose a temporal Batch Normalization Through Time (BNTT) technique. Most prior SNN works till now have disregarded batch normalization deeming it ineffective for training temporal SNNs. Different from previous works, our proposed BNTT decouples the parameters in a BNTT layer along the time axis to capture the temporal dynamics of spikes. The temporally evolving learnable parameters in BNTT allow a neuron to control its spike rate through different time-steps, enabling low-latency and low-energy training from scratch. We conduct experiments on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, Tiny-ImageNet and event-driven DVS-CIFAR10 datasets. BNTT allows us to train deep SNN architectures from scratch, for the first time, on complex datasets with just few 25-30 time-steps. We also propose an early exit algorithm using the distribution of parameters in BNTT to reduce the latency at inference, that further improves the energy-efficiency.
The Effects of Staff Accountant Objectivity in the Review and Decision Process: A Tax Setting

Prior studies report that less experienced staff accountants are often susceptible to confirmation bias in the evaluation of evidence. This bias results in non-objective information evaluation by staff level accountants. This study examines how the perceived objectivity of the staff accountant and the manager's own client advocacy affect the manager's use of the staff accountant's research report when formulating client recommendations. The results suggest that objectivity judgments made by partner/manager level accountants are influenced by whether the staff accountant's research report confirms their initial opinion. Further, the confirmatory nature of the research report affects the manner in which the report is incorporated into a client recommendation. Non-confirming research reports were given more weight than confirming research reports. Preference for client favorable outcomes was found to affect the weight given to staff accountant research reports as well.
How the Confrontation Clause Defeated the Rape Shield Statute: Acquaintance Rape, the Consent Defense and the New Jersey Supreme Court's Ruling in State V. Garron

New Jersey's rape shield statute is designed to limit a judge's discretion in allowing information about a rape victim's sexual past into evidence at trial. The objective of the law is to protect the victim from dual victimization, the first occuring during the rape and the second at trial. New Jersey's statute provides rape victims with the most privacy protections of any rape shield statute in the country. At the same time it is designed to protect a defendant's right to a fair trial. Despite the enacment of the Shield Statute, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in State v. Garron, that a victim's prior flirtations with a rape defendant should not have been excluded at trial. This despite the fact that some of the flirtations occured over 6 years before the rape. This article will analyze the Court's decision and its implications for rape victims, particulary victims of acquaintance rape.
Computed Tomography-Based Measurements of the Cochlear Duct: Implications for Cochlear Implant Pitch Tuning.

OBJECTIVES To determine the sources of variability for cochlear duct length (CDL) measurements for the purposes of fine-tuning cochlear implants (CI) and to propose a set of standardized landmarks for computed tomography (CT) pitch mapping. DESIGN This was a retrospective cohort study involving 21 CI users at a tertiary referral center. The intervention involved flat-panel CT image acquisition and secondary reconstructions of CIs in vivo. The main outcome measures were CDL measurements, CI electrode localization measurements, and frequency calculations. RESULTS Direct CT-based measurements of CI and intracochlear landmarks are methodologically valid, with a percentage of error of 1.0% ± 0.9%. Round window (RW) position markers (anterior edge, center, or posterior edge) and bony canal wall localization markers (medial edge, duct center, or lateral edge) significantly impact CDL calculations [F(2, 78) = 9.9, p < 0.001 and F(2, 78) = 1806, p < 0.001, respectively]. These pitch distortions could be as large as 11 semitones. When using predefined anatomical landmarks, there was still a difference between researchers [F(2, 78) = 12.5; p < 0.001], but the average variability of electrode location was reduced to differences of 1.6 semitones (from 11 semitones. CONCLUSIONS A lack of standardization regarding RW and bony canal wall landmarks results in great CDL measurement variability and distorted pitch map calculations. We propose using the posterior edge of the RW and lateral bony wall as standardized anatomical parameters for CDL calculations in CI users to improve pitch map calculations. More accurate and precise pitch maps may improve CI-associated pitch outcomes.
CODIR: Towards an MLIR Codelet Model Dialect

Since IBM first introduced the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), there has been tremendous research conducted on novel hardware architectures and new high-level software frameworks, perhaps to a fault. With innovation came an ever growing gap between a program's description and how it is executed on hardware. Successful exploitation of these innovations calls for a unifying contract to be in place which distinguishes the program description from the low-level execution on target hardware; namely, a Program Execution Model (PXM). By decoupling the programming API from the hardware description the obstacles imposed by low-level architectures and high-level language interoperability are avoided by utilizing program manipulation, source-level optimizations, and eventual lowering into machine code across a wide variety of different heterogeneous hardware. To achieve these goals in software, compilers must adapt to the ever-changing climate of hardware and software development. They must be able to represent data at varying levels so as to provide maximum opportunities for optimizations based on information which would otherwise be lost without utilizing progressive lowering. The target hardware should also not limit the amount of possible software-based optimizations. We propose CODIR, the Codelet Model domain-specific language extension and intermediate representation built using the already existing Multi-Level Intermediate Representation (MLIR) compiler infrastructure. It aims to progressively lower a high-level language to an intermediate representation well suited for maximizing optimization opportunities available to the compiler while additionally providing a plethora of hardware support. Underlying CODIR is the Codelet Model which we believe to be a sound program execution model for mapping computation to the machine and utilizing all available hardware resources.
Abstract IA-11: Combining multiplexed assays of variant effect and modeling to drive variant interpretation

Germline genetic variation can strongly influence lifetime cancer risk and somatic variation can influence prognosis and treatment. However, variants are difficult to interpret, even when they occur in cancer-associated genes. Multiplexed assays of variant effect leverage deep sequencing to enable the experimental assessment of thousands of genetic variants simultaneously. The resulting large-scale variant functional data can be used to drive variant interpretation, empowering the use of genetic information in cancer prevention and treatment. We are developing multiplexed assays of variant effect that can be deployed widely, with the ultimate goal of measuring the effect of most variants at most disease-related genes in the human genome. Citation Format: Douglas Fowler. Combining multiplexed assays of variant effect and modeling to drive variant interpretation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Diagnosis, and Imaging; 2021 Jan 13-14. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(5_Suppl):Abstract nr IA-11.
Using Remote Cache Service for Bazel: Save time by sharing and reusing build and test output

Remote cache service is a new development that significantly saves time in running builds and tests. It is particularly useful for a large code base and any size of development team. Bazel is an actively developed open-source build and test system that aims to increase productivity in software development. It has a growing number of optimizations to improve the performance of daily development tasks.
The perinatal use of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics for the primary prevention of allergic diseases in children: A systematic review

Abstract Background Given the increasing prevalence of allergic diseases, as well as the extensive burden on society caused by these conditions, there is a need for strategies aimed at primary prevention. Probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics, when administered perinatally, have been shown to reduce the incidence of allergic diseases in children. However, there are many unanswered questions in terms of the optimal timing, duration, dosage, and composition of probiotics, prebiotics, or both (synbiotics). Objective The objective of this systematic review is to audit the current medical literature on the effects of the perinatal administration of probiotics, prebiotics or synbiotics for the primary prevention of allergic disease in childhood. Methods PubMed, Web of Science, and SCOPUS medical databases were systematically searched for relevant studies, published from the year 2000 to May 2020, assessing the effects of probiotics, prebiotics or synbiotics administered during the perinatal period on the prevention of allergy in children. Results A total of 38 studies met inclusion criteria for the systematic review. The use of probiotics, when administered during the third trimester of pregnancy and continued for the first three to six months of life, consistently reduced the incidence of atopic dermatitis, but not allergic respiratory disease or allergic sensitization. Mixtures of probiotics, in a dose of 109 to 1010 cfu/day, were most effective at reducing the incidence of atopic dermatitis. Prebiotics, administered in the postpartum period, with or without the perinatal administration of probiotics, did not consistently reduce the incidence of allergic diseases in children. Conclusion Probiotics started during the third trimester of pregnancy and continued for the first three months of life, administered as a mixture of different species in the amount of 109 to 1010 cfu/day, reduces the incidence of atopic dermatitis in children. There is no consistent protective effect on the development of allergic respiratory diseases or allergic sensitization. The addition of prebiotics, other than those obtained from breastfeeding, do not appear to provide additional protection against the development of allergic disease in children.
Aristotle’s Poetics and Aesthetic Design

Aristotle’s analysis of storytelling and literature in Poetics informs the field of instructional design with a description of aesthetic principles that have since been adapted into the creative process of many fields. Often a reference to visual design, the term aesthetics can be applied more robustly to include all elements of design - structure, narrative, rhythm, character, sequencing, to name a few - that can be designed to appeal to the sense or emotions of a user (Batiha et al., 2006). Aristotle believed the Greek Tragedy to be the highest form of storytelling and distinguishes the elements that make it so evocative. Aesthetic quality has been shown to impact learning (Anderson, 2009) and a study of Aristotle’s perspective on the Greek Tragedy in the Poetics can help designers consider the aesthetic quality of their work.
Immediate Changes, Trade-Offs, and Fade-Out in High-Quality Teacher Practices During Coaching:

Coaching is an increasingly used professional development approach involving ongoing, individualized teacher-coach exchanges hypothesized to drive immediate changes in teachers’ practices with stud...
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBT-p) Delivered in a Community Mental Health Setting: A Case Comparison of Clients Receiving CBT Informed Strategies by Case Managers Prior to Therapy

This exploratory case comparison examines the influence of case management activities on engagement and progress in psychotherapy for clients with schizophrenia. Six clients were recruited to participate in ten sessions of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for psychosis (CBT-p). Three clients who had received Cognitive Behavioral techniques for psychosis (CBt-p, a low-intensity case management intervention) prior to receiving therapy were selected from referrals. A comparison group of three clients who had received standard case management services was selected from referrals. Cases within and across groups were compared on outcome measures and observations from case review were offered to inform future research. Delivering CBT-p services on a continuum from low- to high-intensity is discussed.
Genetic background influences loss of heterozygosity patterns in radiation-induced mouse thymic lymphoma

Previous studies have revealed that p53 heterozygous (p53+/-) mice are extremely susceptible to radiation-induced tumorigenesis. To investigate whether genetic background influences radiation induced tumor susceptibility, we crossed p53+/- 129/Sv mice with genetically diverse strains to generate p53+/- F1 hybrids. The results showed that genetic background had a profound impact on tumor latency after exposure to gamma radiation, while the tumor spectrum did not change. We further characterized the thymic lymphomas that arose in the p53+/- mice by genome-wide loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analyses and found that genetic background strongly influenced the frequency of LOH and the loss of which parental allele on different chromosomes. Further research is needed to identify which genetic variations control the LOH patterns in radiation-induced thymic lymphomas and to evaluate its relevance to human cancers.
Finite element analysis of temperature-controlled laser coagulation of biological tissue

Issues of coagulation control were considered by simulating a controlled surface temperature irradiation using thermal feedback to execute an appropriate temporal profile for laser power. In order to maintain a relatively `constant' temperature at the surface of the tissue, a non- uniform pulse sequence would be required. `Constant' surface temperature irradiation avoids high temperature effects, achieves relatively slow, steady progression of damage, allowing potential real-time monitoring and control of coagulation front position. Furthermore, the difference in damage depth prediction using a constant property model as compared with a temperature dependent optical property model is much less for a `constant' surface temperature irradiation than for a free running laser irradiation.
Through-support-coupled micromechanical filter array

This paper presents a new concept for implementing high-order mechanically-coupled ultra-small bandwidth micro-mechanical filter arrays without using discrete coupling elements. Adjacent resonators are coupled by elastic deformation at the support, and filter bandwidth is defined by the spacing between resonating elements. We demonstrate a second-order through-support-coupled capacitively-transduced 1.72MHz 0.008%BW (/spl Qscr/;/sub filter//spl ap/12000) bandpass flexural-mode beam filter array implemented on SOI. The coupling concept and experimental results were verified with finite element analysis using ANSYS. This integrated coupling technique does not introduce additional fabrication requirements for a discrete mechanical coupling element and therefore has strong potential for application to high-order higher frequency filter arrays. Resonator fine tuning is shown to be essential for obtaining ultra-small coupling-limited filter bandwidths.
Minimizing the Cost of Guessing Games

A two-player “guessing game” is a game in which the first participant, the “Responder,” picks a number from a certain range. Then, the second participant, the “Questioner,” asks only yes-or-no questions in order to guess the number. We will introduce guessing games in which the Responder is allowed to lie. Guessing games with lies are closely linked to error correcting codes, which are mathematical objects that allow us to detect an error in the information that we receive and correct these errors. We will give basic definitions in coding theory and show how error correcting codes allow us to still guess the correct number even if one lie is involved. We will then introduce cost functions to guessing games. By assigning a “cost” to the games, instead of minimizing the number of questions asked, we must find a way to minimize the total cost of our game. We will discuss optimization methods for minimizing the total cost of a guessing game when the cost function is applied to the answers or when the cost function is applied to the questions.
Prometheus' predicament: How to address contemporary left ventricular assist devices in patients with liver dysfunction.

From the Division of Transplant and Assist Devices, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex. Disclosures: Authors have nothing to disclose with regard to commercial support. Received for publication Sept 3, 2015; accepted for publication Sept 5, 2015; available ahead of print Oct 15, 2015. Address for reprints: Steve K. Singh, MD, 6770 Bertner Ave, C355A, Houston, TX 77030 (E-mail: steve.singh@ bcm.edu). J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2016;151:236-7 0022-5223/$36.00 Copyright 2016 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2015.09.048 Elena Sandoval, MD, Steve K. Singh, MD, and Julius A. Carillo, MD
Fetal endocrine and metabolic adaptations to hypoxia: the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

In utero, hypoxia is a significant yet common stress that perturbs homeostasis and can occur due to preeclampsia, preterm labor, maternal smoking, heart or lung disease, obesity, and high altitude. The fetus has the extraordinary capacity to respond to stress during development. This is mediated in part by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and more recently explored changes in perirenal adipose tissue (PAT) in response to hypoxia. Obvious ethical considerations limit studies of the human fetus, and fetal studies in the rodent model are limited due to size considerations and major differences in developmental landmarks. The sheep is a common model that has been used extensively to study the effects of both acute and chronic hypoxia on fetal development. In response to high-altitude-induced, moderate long-term hypoxia (LTH), both the HPA axis and PAT adapt to preserve normal fetal growth and development while allowing for responses to acute stress. Although these adaptations appear beneficial during fetal development, they may become deleterious postnatally and into adulthood. The goal of this review is to examine the role of the HPA axis in the convergence of endocrine and metabolic adaptive responses to hypoxia in the fetus.
Relationship of Total Fluoride Intake to Beneficial Effects and Enamel Fluorosis

Recent studies indicate that the prevalence of very mild to moderate dental fluorosis, as classified by Dean, has increased relative to that found in earlier investigations. To date, fluoridated water, fluoride supplements, the diet, fluoride dentifrices, and other topical fluoride applications have been identified as sources of systemic fluoride. Recent evidence suggests that there is a strong association between mild to moderate enamel fluorosis and the use of fluoride supplements during early childhood, and that the presently recommended supplementation schedule for U.S. children above the age of 2 years may be too high. Evidence also suggests that there is a strong association between fluoride dentifrice use during early childhood and enamel fluorosis in fluoridated populations. These findings support the need for a careful review of existing supplementation schedules and early oral hygiene practices. There is a pressing need for additional analytical epidemiological studies to confirm existing findings and to determine whether other fluoride sources may be associated with enamel fluorosis. Further, since exposure to combinations of individual risk factors has been shown to carry more than merely an additive increase in the risk of fluorosis, these studies must be multifactorial in design. There is also a need for more fluorosis prevalence and severity data to be gathered, so that the development of enamel fluorosis as a public health problem can be assessed, and so that the success of measures implemented to maximize efficacy while minimizing unwanted side-effects can be monitored.
MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN GRAM-NEGATIVE BACILLI EXPOSED TO CEPHALOTHIN

Abstract Chang, Te-Wen (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.), and Louis Weinstein. Morphological changes in gram-negative bacilli exposed to cephalothin. J. Bacteriol. 88:1790–1797. 1964.—Exposure of gram-negative bacteria to cephalothin (7-[thiophene-2-acetamido]-cephalosporanic acid) revealed the formation of long filaments and large bodies, which were capable of reverting to normal cells when removed from contact with the drug. The degree of morphological change was found to be related to the concentration of antibiotic in which the organisms were suspended. The large bodies were altered by contact with solutions of varying osmolarity. Different species showed variation in the ability to develop large bodies. A relationship between antibiotic sensitivity and the capacity to resist morphological alteration was observed. Though most sensitive gram-negative bacilli were strikingly changed by exposure to cephalothin, naturally resistant ones were unaffected. Organisms made drug-resistant in vitro underwent changes in cellular form which were qualitatively the same but less intense than those which developed in parent strains originally sensitive to cephalothin.
The ClpX protein of Bacillus subtilis indirectly influences RNA polymerase holoenzyme composition and directly stimulates σH‐dependent transcription

In Bacillus subtilis, several processes associated with the onset of stationary phase, including the initiation of sporulation, require the activity of the minor sigmaH form of RNA polymerase (RNAP). The induction of sigmaH-dependent gene transcription requires the regulatory ATPase, ClpX. The ClpX-dependent post-exponential increase in sigmaH activity is not dependent on the activator of sporulation gene expression, Spo0A. By determining the level of sigmaH and sigmaA in whole-cell extracts and RNAP preparations, evidence is presented that clpX does not influence the concentration of sigma subunits, but is required for the stationary phase reduction in sigmaA-RNAP holoenzyme. This is probably an indirect consequence of ClpX activity, because the ClpX-dependent decrease in sigmaA-RNAP concentration does not occur in a spo0A abrB mutant. The addition of ClpX to in vitro transcription reactions resulted in the stimulation of RNAP holoenzyme activity, but sigmaH-RNAP was observed to be more sensitive to ClpX-dependent stimulation than sigmaA-RNAP. No difference in transcriptional activity was observed in single-cycle in vitro transcription reactions, suggesting that ClpX acted at a step in transcription initiation after closed- and open-promoter complex formation. ClpX is proposed to function indirectly in the displacement of sigmaA from core RNAP and to act directly in the stimulation of sigmaH-dependent transcription in sporulating B. subtilis cells.
Patterns of innovation: a web-based MATLAB programming contest

In this paper, we describe an innovative web-based MATLAB programming contest and point out some interesting connections between the contest and open source software development.
Devaluation, investment and growth in LDCs

Abstract This paper examines the short- and long-run effects of devaluation in a model where, following structuralist theories, investment is treated as output of a composite good produced by combining domestic and imported components in fixed proportions. Introducing investment goods of this type alters a number of results. Most notably, the Marshall-Lerner condition is neither necessary nor sufficient for an expansionary outcome and, under simple and plausible conditions, a devaluation may worsen the payments balance.
Regulator of G Signaling 16 Is a Marker for the Distinct Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress State Associated with Aggregated Mutant α1-Antitrypsin Z in the Classical Form of α1-Antitrypsin Deficiency

Abstract In the classical form of α1-antitrypsin deficiency, a mutant protein accumulates in a polymerized form in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of liver cells causing liver damage and carcinogenesis by a gain-of-toxic function mechanism. Recent studies have indicated that the accumulation of mutant α1-antitrypsin Z in the ER specifically activates the autophagic response but not the unfolded protein response and that autophagy plays a critical role in disposal of insoluble α1-antitrypsin Z. In this study, we used genomic analysis of the liver in a novel transgenic mouse model with inducible expression to screen for changes in gene expression that would potentially define how the liver responds to accumulation of this mutant protein. There was no unfolded protein response. Of several distinct gene expression profiles, marked up-regulation of regulator of G signaling (RGS16) was particularly notable. RGS16 did not increase when model systems were exposed to classical inducers of ER stress, including tunicamycin and calcium ionophore, or when a nonpolymerogenic α1-antitrypsin mutant accumulated in the ER. RGS16 was up-regulated in livers from patients with α1-antitrypsin deficiency, and the degree of up-regulation correlated with the hepatic levels of insoluble α1-antitrypsin Z protein. Taken together, these results indicate that expression of RGS16 is an excellent marker for the distinct form of “ER stress” that occurs in α1-antitrypsin deficiency, presumably determined by the aggregation-prone properties of the mutant protein that characterizes the deficiency.
Traumatic rupture of a choledochal cyst masking as a duodenal hematoma

Choledochal cysts are rare, congenital malformations of the intra and/or extrahepatic biliary tree. We describe a case in which a patient was transferred to our hospital with a reported duodenal hematoma. The patient ultimately required exploration when his condition deteriorated. Laparotomy resulted in the discovery and successful treatment of a ruptured type IV-A choledochal cyst.