cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
First Eurasia Emerging Markets Forum: 'Connecting Central Asia with the World'

Eurasia, along with Africa, is the last big frontier of global integration. While the last two centuries were marked by rapid economic integration across the Atlantic and Pacifi c oceans, there is still need for a catch-up across the vast continental space encompassing Europe and Asia (Eurasia). Central Asia is centrally located in this supercontinent. Its development will be one of the critical factors for the effective integration of Eurasia. At the same time, Eurasian economic integration represents a major opportunity for Central Asia, as it moves from being a land-locked region far from markets to one positioned at the core of a dynamic and rapidly connecting economic space with access to the major new markets and sources of fiknowledge and power in the world. The article explores six issues: (i) How severe is the current global fi nancial and economic crisis and its impact on Central Asia? (ii) What are the implications of the Eurasian economic integration process? (iii) What are
STAT1 Is Required for Redifferentiation during Madin-Darby Canine Kidney Tubulogenesis

Tubule formation in vitro using Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells consists mainly of two processes. First, the cells undergo a partial epithelial–mesenchymal transition (pEMT), losing polarity and migrating. Second, the cells redifferentiate, forming cords and then tubules with continuous lumens. We have shown previously that extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation is required for pEMT. However, the mechanism of how the pEMT phase is turned off and the redifferentiation phase is initiated is largely unknown. To address the central question of the sequential control of these two phases, we used MDCK cells grown as cysts and treated with hepatocyte growth factor to model tubulogenesis. We show that signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1 controls the sequential progression from the pEMT phase to the redifferentiation phase. Loss of STAT1 prevents redifferentiation. Constitutively active STAT1 allows redifferentiation to occur even when cells are otherwise prevented from progressing beyond the pEMT phase by exogenous activation of Raf. Moreover, tyrosine phosphorylation defective STAT1 partially restored cord formation in such cells, suggesting that STAT1 functions in part as nonnuclear protein mediating signal transduction in this process. Constitutively active or inactive forms of STAT1 did not promote lumen maturation, suggesting this requires a distinct signal.
Fire ants, cattle grazing, and the endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow.

Abstract We measured densities of Solenopsis invicta (Red Imported Fire Ant) mounds at sites occupied by Ammodramus savannarum floridanus (Florida Grasshopper Sparrow), a federally endangered subspecies, at Avon Park Air Force Range (APAFR), Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (KPPSP), and Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area (TLWMA). Our objective was to compare densities of fire ant mounds among areas with active cattle grazing programs (two areas of native dry prairie habitat at APAFR and a tamed pasture at KPPSP) and areas without active grazing programs (native dry prairie habitat at KPPSP and TLWMA). Densities of fire ant mounds differed among the five areas examined and were greater in areas with active grazing programs than in areas without active grazing programs. We measured densities of fire ant mounds inside and outside of a cattle exclosure, but the total numbers detected were insufficient for analysis. We also placed bait stations inside and outside the exclosure. Fire ants were detected a...
All-Digital Quadrature Detection With TAD for Radio-Controlled Clocks/Watches

Time analog-to-digital converters (TADs) based on the power-supply voltage dependence of CMOS gate propagation delay time can be constructed solely of CMOS digital circuits and are characterized by output of the time integral of input voltage, with no dead time. This paper describes digital quadrature detection (DQD) by TAD (TAD-DQD). With TAD-DQD, the in-phase and quadrature components of the input signal, including amplitude and phase information, can be obtained simply by adding and subtracting AD-converted TAD output using a sampling frequency that is four times the carrier frequency of the target signal. As an example of the application of TAD-DQD, the standard-time and frequency-signal receiver circuits of a radio-controlled clock/watch are shown, and the experimental results demonstrate that the time code can in fact be received.
Detection of bleeding in injured femoral arteries with contrast-enhanced sonography.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of detecting acute arterial bleeding by means of contrast-enhanced sonography. Methods. Puncture injury was produced transcutaneously with an 18-gauge needle in 26 femoral arteries (13 in the control group and 13 in the contrast-enhanced group) of rabbits. A sonographic contrast agent (Optison; Mallinckrodt Inc, St Louis, MO) was administered intravenously at a dose of 0.06 to 0.07 mL/kg. Sonography of the femoral arteries was performed before and after injury, both before and after injection of Optison, with B-mode imaging, color Doppler imaging, and pulse inversion harmonic imaging (PIHI). Results. The specific location of active bleeding could not be visualized in B-mode and PIHI scans in the control group (no Optison injection). After administration of Optison, the bleeding site was visualized because of the increased echogenicity of the extravasated blood at the puncture site in both B-mode imaging and PIHI. In color Doppler images, bleeding sites were localized successfully in 84.6% of the cases in the presence of Optison and in 30.8% of the cases without Optison. Histologic examination (light microscopy) of the hematoma confirmed the presence of contrast agent microbubbles in the extravascular space surrounding the artery. Conclusions. Contrast-enhanced sonography may provide an effective method for detecting arterial bleeding. Key words: bleeding detection; Optison; pulse inversion harmonic imaging; sonography.
Management of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy

Psychiatric conditions (including substance misuse disorders) are serious, potentially life threatening illnesses that can be successfully treated by psychotropic drugs, even during pregnancy. Because few rigorously designed prospective studies have examined the safety of these drugs during pregnancy, the default clinical recommendation has been to discontinue them, especially during the first trimester. However, in the past decade, as more evidence has accumulated, it seems that most psychotropic drugs are relatively safe to use in pregnancy and that not using them when indicated for serious psychiatric illness poses a greater risk to both mother and child, including tragic outcomes like suicide and infanticide. This review presents an up to date and careful examination of the most rigorous scientific studies on the effects of psychotropic drugs in pregnancy. The lack of evidence in several areas means that definite conclusions cannot be made about the risks and benefits of all psychotropic drug use in pregnancy.
Communities of Journalism: A History of American Newspapers and Their Readers by David Paul Nord. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001. 293 pp

(2003). Communities of Journalism: A History of American Newspapers and Their Readers by David Paul Nord. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001. 293 pp. American Journalism: Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 122-123.
Automatic identification of topic tags from texts based on expansion-extraction approach

Identifying topics of a textual document is useful for many purposes. We can organize the documents by topics in digital libraries. Then, we could browse and search for the documents with specific topics. By examining the topics of a document, we can quickly understand what the document is about. To augment the traditional manual way of topic tagging tasks, which is labor-intensive, solutions using computers have been developed. This dissertation describes the design and development of a topic identification approach, in this case applied to disaster events. In a sense, this study represents the marriage of research analysis with an engineering effort in that it combines inspiration from Cognitive Informatics with a practical model from Information Retrieval. One of the design constraints, however, is that the Web was used as a universal knowledge source, which was essential in accessing the required information for inferring topics from texts. Retrieving specific information of interest from such a vast information source was achieved by querying a search engine’s application programming interface. Specifically, the information gathered was processed mainly by incorporating the Vector Space Model from the Information Retrieval field. As a proof of concept, we subsequently developed and evaluated a prototype tool, Xpantrac, which is able to run in a batch mode to automatically process text documents. A user interface of Xpantrac also was constructed to support an interactive semi-automatic topic tagging application, which was subsequently assessed via a usability study. Throughout the design, development, and evaluation of these various study components, we detail how the hypotheses and research questions of this dissertation have been supported and answered. We also present that our overarching goal, which was the identification of topics in a human-comparable way without depending on a large training set or a corpus, has been achieved.
Earth mover's distance for differential analysis of heterogeneous genomics data

The identification of mRNA transcripts with expression levels associated with clinical and/or biological entities is a major goal of biomedical research. Several methods have been developed to identify genes expressed differentially between biological or clinical classes of interest. These methods use statistical approaches and are based on the assumption that between classes variations are high and within class variation is low. However, many problems in biology and biomedicine contain samples that show high levels of within class heterogeneity. This makes the identification of differentially expressed genes very challenging. To address this challenge we developed a differential expression analysis method based on a signal processing approach that uses the Earth Mover's Distance to measure the overall difference between the distributions of a gene's expression in two classes of samples and uses permutations to estimate the false discovery rate for each gene. Applying this method to simulated and real biological data, we show that this method outperforms the conventional differential expression analysis methods.
Improved photovoltaic response of a near-infrared sensitive solar cell by a morphology-controlling seed layer

We demonstrate that a thin seed layer of indium phthalocyanine chloride (ClInPc) annealed under mild conditions effectively controls the morphology of both post-annealing deposited ClInPc films and ClInPc:C60 mixed films, introducing the triclinic phase into the commonly monoclinic phase dominating film. ClInPc/C60 planar solar cells and ClInPc:C60 (1:1) planar-mixed solar cells with and without the triclinic phase were studied. Increased short circuit current (Jsc), fill factor (FF), external quantum efficiency (EQE) and internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the devices containing triclinic phase is attributed to the enhanced absorption in the near infrared (NIR) region and decreased series resistance. The correlation between open circuit voltage (Voc) and dark saturation pre-exponential factor (Jso) was analyzed to investigate Voc loss upon annealing. The overall performance of device is considerably improved by introducing the triclinic phase of ClInPc.
"Do you expect me to receive PTSD care in a setting where most of the other patients remind me of the perpetrator?": Home-based telemedicine to address barriers to care unique to military sexual trauma and veterans affairs hospitals

Home-based telemedicine (HBT) is a validated method of evidence-based treatment delivery for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and justification for its use has centered on closing gaps related to provider availability and distance to treatment centers. However, another potential use of HBT may be to overcome barriers to care that are inherent to the treatment environment, such as with female veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST) and who must present to VA Medical Centers where the majority of patients share features with perpetrator (e.g. gender, clothing) and may function as reminders of the trauma. Delivering evidence-based therapies to female veterans with MST-related PTSD via HBT can provide needed treatment to this population. This manuscript describes an ongoing federally funded randomized controlled trial comparing Prolonged Exposure (PE) delivered in-person to PE delivered via HBT. Outcomes include session attendance, satisfaction with services, and clinical and quality of life indices. It is hypothesized that based on intent-to-treat analyses, HBT delivery of PE will be more effective than SD at improving both clinical and quality of life outcomes at post, 3-, and 6-month follow-up. This is because 'dose received', that is fewer sessions missed, and lower attrition, will be observed in the HBT group. Although the current manuscript focuses on female veterans with MST-related PTSD, implications for other populations facing systemic barriers are discussed.
Film Deposition in Non-Wetting Tubes: An Experimental Film Thickness Law

Deposition of a liquid film on non-wetting tubular surfaces gives rise to the unexpected behavior of simultaneously coexisting thick and thin films. Experiments show that a discontinuity in the film thickness, a jump between the thick and thin films being laid from the meniscus towards the bounding moving contact line, occurs after a considerably thicker than the expected Bretherton film is deposited. Bretherton assumed the film to be uniform and, unlike the case of a non-wetting surface, the visco-capillary deposition process was not affected by the presence of a contact line. In reality this phenomenon lies at the confluence between a dewetting process and the deposition itself, being the result of the influence claimed by the dynamics of the zone adjacent to the moving contact line. The film thickness is calculated directly from the experimental data and a correlation is obtained by matching the measured and the theoretical shock velocities associated with the hydraulic jump. The non-wetting film is significantly thicker than Bretherton’s prediction and follows in turn a different law which is determined experimentally. The non-wetting film thickness is found to vary as Display FormulahR4/3, Display FormulahR being the Ca-dependent non-dimensional Bretherton film thickness.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Biomimetic Synthesis of Water Soluble Conductive Polypyrrole and Poly (3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene)

A novel biomimetic method for the synthesis of a conducting molecular complex of polypyrrole and of Poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) in the presence of a polyelectrolyte, such as polystyrene sulfonate (SPS) is presented. A poly(ethylene glycol) modified hematin (PEG-Hematin) was used to catalyze the polymerization of pyrrole and of 3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene in the presence of SPS to form a Polypyrrole/SPS and PEDOT/SPS complex. UV-vis, FTIR, electrical conductivity and TGA studies for all complexes indicate the presence of a thermally stable and electrically conductive form of these polymers. Furthermore the presence of SPS in this complex provides a unique combination of properties such as processability and water-solubility. Water-soluble polypyrrole opens new avenues for the fabrication of novel biosensors.
Chemical Modification of the Porous Silicon Surface

The porous silicon (PS) surface is derivatized with ethanol, triethylsilanol and formic acid as well as oxidized with water. The two reactions used to prepare these surfaces are discussed, and FTIR spectra of the products are presented. Surface-modified PS retains 10-40% of its original photoluminescence. PS-derivatives display reversible luminescence quenching by gas phase water, ethanol, acetonitrile and benzene. The extent of quenching varies with different PS-derivatives depending on the interaction of the chemical vapor with the modified PS surfaces.
The relationship of APOC-III promoter polymorphism C-482Tand T-455Cwith metabolic syndrome:A case-control study

Objective To explore the relationship of APOC-Ⅲ promoter polymorphism C-482Tand T-455C with metabolic syndrome(MS). Methods A case-control study was conducted on 180 MS cases and 191 healthy controls to evaluate the prevalence of common polymorphism of C-482Tand T-455Cof promoter APOC-Ⅲ gene.Chi-square test was used to compare the frequencies of genotypes and alleles. Results Compared to controls,MS cases exhibited a greater prevalence of promoter APOC-Ⅲpolymorphism,in which the frequencies of variant C-482Tand T-482Talleles were higher in MS groups than in controls(χ2=8.27,P 0.05).Compared to wildtype C/C,the OR was 1.14(95%CI:1.38-1.80)for C/T and 2.48(95%CI: 1.30-4.73)for T/T genotype.However,no significant differences were identified in frequencies of alleles or genotypes of T-455Cbetween the two groups(P0.05). Conclusion APOC-Ⅲ promoter polymorphism C-482Tis associated with MS as well as the high level of serum triglyceride,overweight and obesity of MS cases.C/T and T/T genotypes may increase the risk of MS.
Young People's More Permissive Views About Marijuana: Local Impact of State Laws or National Trend?

Objectives. To determine whether state medical marijuana laws “send the wrong message,” that is, have a local influence on the views of young people about the risks of using marijuana.Methods. We performed multilevel, serial, cross-sectional analyses on 10 annual waves of the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2004–2013) nationally and for states with marijuana laws using individual- and state-level controls.Results. Living in medical marijuana states was associated with more permissive views regarding marijuana across 5 different measures. However, these associations became non–statistically significant after we adjusted for state-level differences. By contrast, there was a consistent and significant national time trend toward more permissive attitudes, which was less pronounced among children of middle school age than it was among their older counterparts.Conclusions. Passing medical marijuana laws does not seem to directly affect the views of young people in medical marijuana states. However, t...
Degradation of thermally-cured silicone encapsulant under terrestrial UV

Abstract Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules operate in extreme conditions, including enhanced solar flux, elevated operating temperature, and frequent thermal cycling. Coupled with active environmental species such as oxygen and moisture, the operating conditions pose a unique materials challenge for guaranteeing operational lifetimes of greater than 25 years. Specifically, the encapsulants used in the optical elements are susceptible to environmental degradation during operation. For example, the interfaces must remain in contact to prevent optical attenuation and thermal runaway. We developed fracture mechanics based metrologies to characterize the adhesion of the silicone encapsulant and its adjacent surfaces, as well as the cohesion of the encapsulant. Further, we studied the effects of weathering on adhesion using an outdoor concentrator operating in excess of 1100 times the AM1.5 direct irradiance and in indoor environmental chambers with broadband ultraviolet (UV) irradiation combined with controlled temperature and humidity. We observed a sharp initial increase in adhesion energy followed by a gradual decrease in adhesion as a result of both outdoor concentrator exposure and indoor UV weathering. We characterized changes in mechanical properties and chemical structures using XPS, FTIR, and DMA to understand the fundamental connection between mechanical strength and the degradation of the silicone encapsulant. We developed physics based models to explain the change in adhesion and to predict operational lifetimes of the materials and their interfaces.
Effect of a Collagen Substrate on the Growth and Development of Normal and Tumorigenic Rat Urothelial Cells

AbstractThe growth and morphology of 4 tumorigenic rat urothelial cell lines grown on collagen-coated nylon discs was characterized and compared to normal cells. In contrast to cells cultured on a plastic substrate with or without a thin “nonporous” collagen coating, tumor cells grown on porous collagen-coated nylon discs: 1) grew to greater protein densities; 2) formed tissue structures characteristic for the type of tumor they developed upon back-transplantation; and 3) could be grown and cultured indefinitely without subculturing. Thus, similarly to normal urothelial stratification and differentiation in vitro, tumorigenic cells apparently require a “porous” collagen substrate to allow differentiation analogous to that observed in vivo.
Resolving the disconnects between lateral torsional buckling experimental tests, test simulations and design strength equations

The lateral torsional buckling (LTB) resistance equations of the current AISC and AASHTO Specifications are based on unified design provisions. These provisions are a fit to a large body of experimental test data for light to medium weight rolled and welded I-section members. The resulting nominal LTB resistances differ considerably from those of the Eurocode provisions, which tend to provide a lower-bound fit to experimental and simulation data. It is observed that finite element test simulations conducted with defacto standard practices commonly predict lower capacities than indicated by experimental tests. This disconnect is shown to be partly due to the use of simple deterministic residual stress patterns and geometric imperfections in test simulations that are conservative approximations of the true values occurring in physical tests. This paper aims to resolve this disconnect by employing an “inverse solution” approach, wherein appropriate simplified residual stresses and geometric imperfections to model in test simulations are determined based on correlation with experimental data. In addition, the paper presents the results of extensive sensitivity studies on I-section members subjected to uniform moment. These studies justify the use of as low as one-half the magnitudes of common nominal residual stresses and geometric imperfections in test simulations. In addition, these comparisons justify reductions in the “plateau length,” Lp, used in the AISC and AASHTO flexural resistance calculations, as well as in the stress limit FL in AISC and Fyr in AASHTO corresponding to the applicability of the theoretical elastic LTB equations.
Co/NHPI-mediated aerobic oxygenation of benzylic C–H bonds in pharmaceutically relevant molecules

A simple cobalt(II)/N-hydroxyphthalimide catalyst system has been identified for selective conversion of benzylic methylene groups in pharmaceutically relevant (hetero)arenes to the corresponding (hetero)aryl ketones. The radical reaction pathway tolerates electronically diverse benzylic C–H bonds, contrasting recent oxygenation reactions that are initiated by deprotonation of a benzylic C–H bond. The reactions proceed under practical reaction conditions (1 M substrate in BuOAc or EtOAc solvent, 12 h, 90–100 °C), and they tolerate common heterocycles, such as pyridines and imidazoles. A cobalt-free, electrochemical, NHPI-catalyzed oxygenation method overcomes challenges encountered with chelating substrates that inhibit the chemical reaction. The utility of the aerobic oxidation method is showcased in the multigram synthesis of a key intermediate towards a drug candidate (AMG 579) under process-relevant reaction conditions.
Vamana Couples Fat Signaling to the Hippo Pathway

Summary The protocadherins Dachsous and Fat initiate a signaling pathway that controls growth and planar cell polarity by regulating the membrane localization of the atypical myosin Dachs. How Dachs is regulated by Fat signaling has remained unclear. Here we identify the vamana gene as playing a crucial role in regulating membrane localization of Dachs and in linking Fat and Dachsous to Dachs regulation. Vamana, an SH3-domain-containing protein, physically associates with and co-localizes with Dachs and promotes its membrane localization. Vamana also associates with the Dachsous intracellular domain and with a region of the Fat intracellular domain that is essential for controlling Hippo signaling and levels of Dachs. Epistasis experiments, structure-function analysis, and physical interaction experiments argue that Fat negatively regulates Dachs in a Vamana-dependent process. Our findings establish Vamana as a crucial component of the Dachsous-Fat pathway that transmits Fat signaling by regulating Dachs.
Redox Exfoliation of Layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted considerable attention in a diverse array of applications due to the breadth of possible property suites relative to other low-dimensional nanomaterials (e.g., graphene, aluminosilicates). Here, we demonstrate an alternative methodology for the exfoliation of bulk crystallites of group V–VII layered TMDs under quiescent, benchtop conditions using mild redox chemistry. Anionic polyoxometalate species generated from edge sites adsorb to the TMD surface and create Coulombic repulsion that drives layer separation without the use of shear forces. This method is generalizable (MS2, MSe2, and MTe2) and effective in preparing high-concentration (>1 mg/mL) dispersions with narrow layer thickness distributions more rapidly and with safer reagents than alternative solution-based approaches. Finally, exfoliation of these TMDs is demonstrated in a range of solvent systems that were previously inaccessible due to large surface energy differences. These characterist...
Emergence of Epidemic Zika Virus Transmission and Congenital Zika Syndrome: Are Recently Evolved Traits to Blame?

The mechanisms responsible for the dramatic emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV), accompanied by congenital Zika syndrome and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), remain unclear. However, two hypotheses are prominent: (i) evolution for enhanced urban transmission via adaptation to mosquito vectors, or for enhanced human infection to increase amplification, or (ii) the stochastic introduction of ZIKV into large, naive human populations in regions with abundant Aedes aegypti populations, leading to enough rare, severe infection outcomes for their first recognition. Advances in animal models for human infection combined with improvements in serodiagnostics, better surveillance, and reverse genetic approaches should provide more conclusive evidence of whether mosquito transmission or human pathogenesis changed coincidentally with emergence in the South Pacific and the Americas. Ultimately, understanding the mechanisms of epidemic ZIKV emergence, and its associated syndromes, is critical to predict future risks as well as to target surveillance and control measures in key locations.
Team-teaching art appreciation online without a traditional textbook

ABSTRACTAt Florida Gulf Coast University, Art Appreciation is a high-enrollment, general education course taught through Canvas, the learning management system. Instead of a traditional print textbook, the course is taught with a text developed by the Art faculty using open-access resources, self-generated images and media, and library resources. This article explores national trends in online course design, as impacted by evolving fair-use standards and increased availability of open-access resources, and provides a case study of the course. It also includes recommendations for librarians, professors, and course designers using open-access resources and subscription-based resources.
Cathodic Protection System by Imposed Current for a Vedette

This article deals with the method of cathodic protection by imposed current. This technique reduces the rate of corrosion of a metallic material in the presence of an aqueous medium. Corrosion, its causes, its effects as well as the solution to combat this phenomenon, has been established in this paper. Indeed, the technique of protection by imposed current has been studied extensively in this work. The study and installation of a cathodic protection system imposed on-board the vedette, it is possible to determine the need for a DC current. This study ensures a good protection of the hull and a better location of the anodes. An imposed current regulation system has been studied. This system consists of measuring the potential of the boat’s hull by the reference electrode. With reference to this voltage value, the controller imposes the necessary current injected at the anode to maintain a fixed protection potential. In order to validate this study, simulations results under PSIM software dealing with protection of the hull of the vedette is finally presented.
Modeling the Next-Generation High Performance Schedulers

High performance computing (HPC) resources and workloads are undergoing tumultuous changes. HPC resources are growing more diverse with the adoption of accelerators; HPC workloads have increased in size by orders of magnitude. Despite these changes, when assigning workload jobs to resources, HPC schedulers still rely on users to accurately anticipate their applications' resource usage and remain stuck with the decades-old centralized scheduling model. In this talk we will discuss these ongoing changes and propose alternative models for HPC scheduling based on resource-awareness and fully hierarchical models. A key role in our models' evaluation is played by an emulator of a real open-source, next-generation resource management system. We will discuss the challenges of realistically mimicking the system's scheduling behavior. Our evaluation shows how our models improve scheduling scalability on a diverse set of synthetic and real-world workloads. This is joint work with Stephen Herbein and Michael Wyatt at the University of Delaware, and Tapasya Patki, Dong H. Ahn, Don Lipari, Thomas R.W. Scogland, Marc Stearman, Mark Grondona, Jim Garlick, Tamara Dahlgren, David Domyancic, and Becky Springmeyer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Abstract 13809: Serial Paraoxonase-1-associated Serum Arylesterase Activity and Outcomes in Ambulatory Patients With Heart Failure

Introduction: Decreased arylesterase (ArylE) activity of paraoxonase-1, a HDL-associated protein with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, has been associated with increased risk of cardiac events in ischemic heart failure (HF) patients. However, the change of ArylE activity over time and its association with HF adverse outcomes has not been reported. Methods: We examined the association between baseline and follow up serum ArylE activity and HF outcomes (death, cardiac transplantation or ventricular assist device implantation) in 304 patients with HF enrolled in the Atlanta Cardiomyopathy Consortium, a prospective cohort study in the metropolitan Atlanta GA area from 1/2008 to 7/2009. ArylE activity was assessed on enrollment for all patients, and for 152 patients after 1 year of follow up. Significant drop in ArylE activity on follow up was defined as a drop of ≥25% vs. baseline levels. Results: In our population (age 56.5±12 years, male 63.9%, CAD 39.1%, EF 30±15 %), mean baseline and follow up ArylE activity levels were 110.5 ± 29.8 μmol/min/ml and 105.2±27.7 μmol/min/ml, respectively. Mean ArylE activity change between follow up and baseline levels was -5.9 ± 28.6 μmol/min/ml, p = 0.015. After mean follow up of 2.8 ± 1.1 years, 53 events were reported. Low baseline ArylE activity was associated with increased risk of adverse HF outcomes [HR (95CI%) for lowest tertile vs highest tertile of 2.6 (1.3-5.5), p=0.01] (Figure A). This association remained significant after adjustment for age, gender, diabetes, creatinine clearance and CAD. Patients who had significant drop in ArylE activity (≥25% of baseline levels, n=18), had significantly increased risk of HF events [HR(95%CI) of 4.9 (1.6-14.6), p=0.005], even after adjustment for baseline levels of ArylE activity (Figure B). Conclusions: Reduced baseline ArylE activity and decreased levels on follow up are associated with adverse outcomes in stable outpatients with HF.
Practical partition-based theorem proving for large knowledge bases

Query answering over commonsense knowledge bases typically employs a first-order logic theorem prover. While first-order inference is intractable in general, provers can often be hand-tuned to answer queries with reasonable performance in practice. Appealing to previous theoretical work on partition-based reasoning, we propose resolution-based theorem proving strategies that exploit the structure of a KB to improve the efficiency of reasoning. We analyze and experimentally evaluate these strategies with a testbed based on the SNARK theorem prover. Exploiting graph-based partitioning algorithms, we show how to compute a partition-derived ordering for ordered resolution, with good experimental results, offering an automatic alternative to hand-crafted orderings. We further propose a new resolution strategy, MFS resolution, that combines partition-based message passing with focused sublanguage resolution. Our experiments show a significant reduction in the number of resolution steps when this strategy is used. Finally, we augment partition-based message passing, partition-derived ordering, and MFS by combining them with the set-of-support restriction. While these combinations are incomplete, they often produce dramatic improvements in practice. This work presents promising practical techniques for query answering with large and potentially distributed commonsense KBs.
The Neotropical Primate Adaptation to Nocturnality

The only primate with a nocturnal lifestyle in the neotropics is Aotus, the owl monkey. The genus is found from Panama to northern Argentina, and is very diverse. Twelve karyotypically distinct forms have diploid chromosome counts ranging from 46-58 (Hershkovitz, 1983; Ma et al., 1985; Pieczarka et al., 1993) and recent morphological and molecular analyses support the taxonomic division into multiple species (Ford, 1994; Ashley and Vaughn, in press). The fossil record suggests that Aotus is an ancient taxon with a long period of adaptation to nocturnality (Setoguchi and Rosenberger, 1987). Morphologists have placed Aotus together with Callicebus (Ford, 1994; Hartwig, 1995), but some recent molecular and morphological analyses place Aotus within the pitheciine group (Rosenberger, 1995; Schneider and Rosenberger, this volume), with Saimiri and Callicebus (Kay, 1994), or with the callithrichid group. The difficulties of classifying Aotus within the Neotropical primates may be a result of its many primitive traits.
NDE Applications of an Optical Technique for Noncontact Measurements of In-Plane Strains

Measuring whole field strain over two-dimensional fields is important in NDE, especially if such measurements permit the qualitative representation of data, allowing for the imaging and detection of defects. A number of techniques have been used to achieve this, including moire interferometry, holographic interferometry and speckle interferometry. Although all of these methods can provide qualitative images representative of the deformation field, they share the disadvantage of being difficult to analyze quantitatively. This is due to the need for the interpretation of the fringes generated by these techniques, which is time consuming and requires highly skilled practitioners. Additionally, even though these experimental techniques provide a whole-field qualitative appraisal of a two-dimensional field, quantitative data are obtained only at discrete points over the areas of interest.
Chemical Potentials in Solution

The vapor pressure for a liquid component changes when it is mixed with other liquids. An ideal mixture obeys Raoult’s law.
The Misinterpretation of African Thought and an Illegitimate Appeal to "African Culture"

Gani Fawehinmi, a respected Nigerian activist-lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, used the death of Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, the wife of the Nigerian head of state, as an occasion to evaluate the political health of Nigeria. He drew an important connection between the circumstances of the death of Mrs, Obasanjo and the immorality and irresponsibility of the Nigerian ruling elite and the middle class. My understanding of Fawehinmi’s position is that it is morally unacceptable for the wife of a head of state to die in a foreign hospital after 46 years of independence. In his view, such a death is not only a damning judgment on the country's medical infrastructure, the sad state of its hospitals, and the pathetic state of the country's medical policies, it is also an indictment on the Nigerian ruling class.
Uveitis induced by lymphocytes sensitized against a transgenically expressed lens protein.

METHODS. Conventional technologies were used to generate three lines of transgenic (Tg) mice, expressing hen egg lysozyme (HEL) under the control of the aA-crystallin promoter. To induce intraocular inflammation, these Tg mice were injected with lymphocytes from syngeneic wild-type donors sensitized against HEL. Before their injection, the cells were stimulated in culture with HEL. To release lenticular material, some eyes were capsulotomized. Ocular histopathologic changes were examined by routine methods. Levels of HEL antibody were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, whereas cellular immunity was determined by the lymphocyte proliferation assay. RESULTS. Intraocular inflammation developed in HEL‐Tg mice injected with syngeneic lymphocytes sensitized against HEL. The severity of inflammation was directly related to the number of injected cells, as well as to the accessibility of HEL. The most intense inflammation was seen in Tg mice in which the lens was disintegrated due to high production of HEL. In mice with no apparent lenticular changes the inflammation was enhanced by capsulotomy. The inflammation affected all segments of the eye and persisted for at least 39 days after adoptive transfer of cells. Four days after cell injection, the inflammation consisted of subacute infiltration, with both mononuclear and polymorphonuclear leukocytes, whereas more chronic infiltration was seen at later times. Vigorous cellular immunity but no antibody to HEL was found in recipient mice, thus demonstrating the exclusive participation of cellular
Three-zone furnace: Apparatus to grow doped crystals from two materials which have wide difference in sublimation temperatures

It is a difficult process to dope a material using sublimation method when the substances chosen for study have different sublimation temperatures. The two substances used for making the doped crystal are to be maintained at their respective sublimation temperatures before they are allowed to interact at a common temperature gradient zone for the desired crystal growth. Therefore it was decided to construct a furnace which will maintain the two substances in their sublimation temperature simultaneously. The apparatus was constructed to grow metal free phthalocyanine (H2Pc) doped anthracene crystal as they are expected to be active in the entire region (UV-VIS-IR) of the electromagnetic spectrum, for a possible application as a solar cell material. Phthalocyanine (sublimation at 460°C) doped Anthracene (sublimation at 167°C) crystal was successfully grown using this three-zone furnace and was analysed using XRD, IR, TGA and conductivity studies. In general, the furnace will be especially useful for the combined growth of certain substances which do not have a melting point.
Gamification Misunderstood: How Badly Executed and Rhetorical Gamification Obscures Its Transformative Potential:

Although management gamification has immense potential to broadly benefit both management and employees, its impact to date has been lackluster and its value unclear. I credit this to a market prol...
Single-Neuron Comparison of the Olfactory Receptor Response to Deuterated and Nondeuterated Odorants.

The mammalian olfactory receptors (ORs) constitute a large subfamily of the Class A G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). The molecular details of how these receptors convert odorant chemical information into neural signal are unknown, but are predicted by analogy to other GPCRs to involve stabilization of the activated form of the OR by the odorant. An alternative hypothesis maintains that the vibrational modes of an odorant’s bonds constitute the main determinant for OR activation, and that odorants containing deuterium in place of hydrogen should activate different sets of OR family members. Experiments using heterologously expressed ORs have failed to show different responses for deuterated odorants, but experiments in the sensory neuron environment have been lacking. We tested the response to deuterated and nondeuterated versions of p-cymene, 1-octanol, 1-undecanol, and octanal in dissociated mouse olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) by calcium imaging. In all, we tested 23 812 cells, including a subset...
Using an mHealth App to Transition Care of Type 1 Diabetes from Parents to Teens: Protocol for a Pilot Study

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) afflicts approximately 154,000 people under the age of 20 in the United States. Most people with T1DM are diagnosed at a young age, and parents have to take on the responsibility of T1DM management. Eventually, the child must begin to transition to self-management. Adolescents often struggle to take on responsibility for all the necessary tasks to successfully self-manage their T1DM. In fact, approximately three-quarters of adolescents are not achieving American Diabetes Association–recommended glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) targets. This lack of adherence can lead to negative health outcomes. Objective: The goals of this interdisciplinary proposal are as follows: (1) to develop a unique and theory-driven technology using a mobile phone app to promote self-management behaviors for adolescents aged 10-15 years with T1DM and their parents and (2) to explore the feasibility and impact of the self-management mobile app. Methods: This study has two phases: app development and pilot testing. In the app development phase, the app will be conceptualized and a prototype will be tested. In Phase 2, the mobile app will undergo pilot testing to determine its feasibility and impact on diabetes self-management. Results: The pilot test was launched in September 2017. Data collection for the final pilot test is underway, and results are forthcoming. Conclusions: Adolescents with T1DM and their parents can have a difficult time managing the transition of diabetes care. It is hoped that this app can help. The focus groups and prototype testing have indicated promising outcomes of app use. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03436628; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03436628 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/72tHXTE2Z) International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/10803
Accuracy of fetal anatomy survey in the diagnosis of velamentous cord insertion: a case-control study

Objective Our objective was to determine the accuracy of ultrasound at the time of the fetal anatomy survey in the diagnosis of velamentous cord insertion (VCI). Study design This retrospective case-control study identified placentas with VCI (cases) and randomly selected placentas with normal placental cord insertion (PCI) (controls) as documented by placental pathology for mothers delivered from 2002 through 2015. Archived ultrasound images for PCI at the time of the fetal anatomy survey were reviewed. Data analysis was by calculation of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy and their 95% CI for the ultrasound diagnosis of VCI. Results The prevalence of VCI was 1.6% of placentas submitted for pathologic examination. There were 122 cases of VCI and 347 controls with normal PCI. The performance criteria calculated for the diagnosis of VCI at the time of fetal anatomy survey were as follows: sensitivity 33.6%; 95% CI: 25.3, 42.7; specificity 99.7%; 95% CI: 98.4, 99.9 and accuracy 82.5; 95% CI: 80.5, 82.9. Conclusion The identification of a VCI at the time of fetal anatomy survey is highly specific for the presence of a VCI as documented by placental pathology. The sensitivity in this study was less than expected. Sensitivity could be improved by reducing the number of nonvisualized PCIs, creating an awareness of risk factors for VCI, and obtaining more detailed images in the case of an apparent marginal PCI.
Watch What You (Self-) Eat: Autophagic Mechanisms that Modulate Metabolism.

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosome- or vacuole-dependent catabolic pathway in eukaryotes. Autophagy functions basally for cellular quality control and is induced to act as an alternative source of basic metabolites during nutrient deprivation. These functions of autophagy are intimately connected to the regulation of metabolism, and the metabolic status of the cell in turn controls the nature and extent of autophagic induction. Here, we highlight the co-regulation of autophagy and metabolism with a special focus on selective autophagy that, along with bulk autophagy, plays a central role in regulating and rewiring metabolic circuits. We outline the metabolic signals that activate these pathways, the mechanisms involved, and the downstream effects and implications while recognizing yet unanswered questions. We also discuss the role of autophagy in the development and maintenance of adipose tissue, an emerging player in systemic metabolic homeostasis, and describe what is currently known about the complex relationship between autophagy and cancer.
Book Review: Tropical Riffs: Latin America and the Politics of Jazz by Jason Borge

Jason Borge. Tropical Riffs: Latin America and the Politics of Jazz . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018. 280 pages. Taking on a sprawling and elusive notion like jazz is an ambitious enterprise. Jason Borge limits his perspective in this book mostly to representations of jazz by Latin
Hospital-level Antibiotic Use and Complexity of Care Among Neonates.

BACKGROUND Despite increasing neonatal antibiotic stewardship efforts, understanding of interhospital variation in neonatal antibiotic use is limited. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was conducted among primarily academically affiliated hospitals participating in the Vizient Clinical Database/Resource Manager. Neonatal discharges were identified by admission age <1 month, excluding nonviable neonates and normal newborns. Hospitals with ≥100 neonatal discharges and complete data for January-December 2016 were included. Antibiotic use was measured in days of therapy per 1000 patient-days (DOT/1000 pd). A composite measure of neonatal care complexity (NCC; low, medium, high) was based on the volume of very low-birth-weight neonates and neonates undergoing surgical procedures, cardiac surgery, or extracorporeal membranous oxygenation. RESULTS The 118 included hospitals represented 184 716 neonatal discharges; 22 hospitals with low NCC, 56 with medium NCC, and 40 with high NCC. Mean antibiotic DOT/1000 pd was 363 (standard deviation [SD], 94) in high NCC hospitals, 243 (SD, 88) in medium NCC hospitals, and 184 (SD, 122) in low NCC hospitals. Increasing NCC was associated with higher antibiotic use, with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 1.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.55 to 2.47) for high vs low NCC and IRR 1.31 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.64) for medium vs low NCC. Increasing case mix index was associated with higher antibiotic use (IRR 1.86 per unit increase; 95% CI, 1.50 to 2.31). CONCLUSIONS Aggregate antibiotic use among hospitalized neonates varies based on care complexity. Substantial variation despite stratification by complexity suggests incomplete risk adjustment and/or avoidable variation in care.