cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detecting and Avoiding Problems When Using the Cre–lox System

The Cre–lox recombination approach is commonly used to generate cell-specific gene inactivation (or activation). We have noticed that the breeding and genotyping sections of papers utilizing Cre–lox techniques are frequently incomplete. While seemingly straightforward, there are important considerations that need to be implemented in the breeding and genotyping methods to prevent the introduction of experimental confounds. Germline recombination and transient expression of Cre recombinase during development are some examples of the complications that can occur, and conventional genotyping methods may fail to identify these events. In this opinion article, we highlight the importance of testing for unexpected recombination events, suggest strategies to isolate and minimize adverse recombination events, and encourage editors and reviewers to expect more definitive statements regarding the validation of genotyping.
Influence of Forest Harvest on Soil Microbial Communities

Abstract Forests soils are important globally for many reasons, including the relatively large amount of carbon stored in forest soil organic matter. As a result, disturbance and subsequent changes in nutrient cycling in forest soils can potentially have large impacts on atmospheric levels of CO2. Soil disturbance caused by logging can impact both abiotic and biotic components of the soil, which in turn may impact nutrient cycling and ecosystem function. Since soil microbes are major controllers of ecosystem nutrient cycling, understanding how disturbance impacts soil microbes may help elucidate potential disturbance effects on ecosystem function. In studies using early molecular biology techniques like biomass measurements and phospholipid fatty acids, changes in microbial communities after forest harvest were unclear. More recent studies using next generation sequencing technologies have provided greater taxonomic resolution and information about microbes that are negatively impacted by forest harvest. For example, bacteria in the phyla Actinobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes and plant symbionts such as ectomycorrhizal fungi are generally negatively affected by logging compared to other groups. Furthermore, there has also been evidence of changes in microbial enzyme activity after harvest. Decreases in activity of enzymes involved in the decomposition of organic matter and other enzymes that play a role in nitrogen and phosphorous cycling have been observed. Despite these observations, it remains unclear whether changes in community taxonomic composition alter ecosystem function via alteration of microbial activity and function, or if the microbial community is functionally redundant enough that these compositional changes do not affect ecosystem function. Future research should combine a variety of approaches in order to examine community composition, microbial activity, and soil environmental conditions to gain a full understanding of ecosystem disruptions and potential long-term impacts.
Radiolabelled Platelets in Cardiovascular Diseases

The recognition of the various factors controlling platelets vessel wall interaction in normal hemostasis and the role of platelets, clotting factors, and prostaglandins, in thromboembolic disease, atherosclerosis and post-prostheses implantation have stimulated interest in the evaluation of in vivo thrombus formation, embolization, and the evaluation of various prophylactic and therapeutic interventions. In vitro studies of platelets adhesion to deendothelialized vessel or biomaterials (catheters, synthetic vascular grafts, arterio-venous shunts, conduits, mechanical valves, ventricular assist devices and artificial heart) involve the use of light or electron microscopy and/or 51-Cr or III-In-platelets and Iodine-labelled clotting factors, mainly fibrinogen (1–6). In vivo consumption of platelets has been measured with several tracers including 51-Cr and III-In-labelled platelets (7–9) . Chromium-51 appears to be a marker of platelet activation and Ill-Indium appears to be a marker of platelet consumption. Although platelets had been labelled with Technetium-9 9m, the radionuclide washes off from the platelets with time after administration. Recently, lipid soluble 99m-Tc-complex (99m-Tc-hexamethylene propyleneamine oxine) had been used for granulocyte and platelet labelling. This tracer may be useful for repeated measurements of platelets thrombosis and surface passivation.
Journal of Astronomy & Earth Sciences Education

Responding to the discipline-based education research community’s need for a formal, archival journal to document program evaluation and educational impact of programs and innovations, the Journal of Astronomy & Earth Science Education (JAESE.org) is a scholarly, double-blind,peer-reviewed journal designed to serve the discipline-based astronomy, planetary, and geosciences education research community. JAESE’s first issue was published on December 31, 2014 and has published four volumes and seven issues since that time. By far, the median article topic has been focused on planetarium education research, while there have only been a few articles on conventional solid-Earth geosciences education research. Although there is not yet an even distribution of topics across the field, there is a relatively even distribution among author demographics. Authors include a range of both junior and senior members of the field. There have been significantly more female authors than male authors. Submissions are distributed as blind-copies to two or three peer reviewers with authors’ names and identifying information redacted from the manuscript. The average time to complete the first round of peer-review reviewers is 6.2-weeks. There have been too few manuscripts to reliably publish a “percentage acceptance rate.” Taken together, JAESE’s guiding Editorial Advisory Board judges this to be a successful first few years. In a purposeful effort to make JAESE authors’ scholarly works as widely accessible as possible, JAESE adopted an open-access business model. JAESE articles are available to read free-of-charge over the Internet, delivered as PDFs. To date, the most common way articles are downloaded by readers is through Google Scholar, although synthesizers like ResearchGate and AcademiaEDU have notable impact. In contrast to the traditional revenue model of charging readers and libraries recurring subscription fees, JAESE charges authors a nominal submission fee and a small open-access fee, to date averaging about $700 USD. These charges are far lower than the traditional page charges and gold-package open-access fees typically charged to authors or their institutions by typical scientific journals, making JAESE an attractive publishing venue for many scholars to make their work as widely read as possible. The five-fold established review criteria applied to all submitted manuscripts are that the manuscript clearly: i. makes an important contribution to the discipline; ii. has a clearly stated research question that is adequately motivated by the existing scholarly literature base; iii. has study methods and participants tightly and appropriately aligned with the research question; iv. presents evidence that clearly supports the conclusions forwarded; and v. has an accessible writing style, grammar, syntax and voice for a wide audience of scholarly readers.
1878. Expanding Kentucky’s “One and Done” Tradition: Lipoglycopeptide Administration in the Emergency Department at a Tertiary, Academic Medical Center

Background Acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection (ABSSSI) incidence continues to rise, accounting for around 3.5 million emergency department (ED) visits per year in the United States. Dalbavancin and oritavancin are lipoglycopeptides with long half-lives allowing for single dose treatment options for eligible patients presenting with ABSSSIs in the ED, avoiding an inpatient admission. The objective of this study was to investigate the financial outcomes of utilizing these agents in the ED.
GCI: A Transfer Learning Approach for Detecting Cheats of Computer Game

Cheating in massive multiple online games (MMOGs) adversely affect the game’s popularity and reputation among its users. Therefore, game developers invest large amount of efforts to detect and prevent cheats that provide an unfair advantage to cheaters over other naive users during game play. Particularly, MMOG clients share data with the server during game play. Game developers leverage this data to detect cheating. However, detecting cheats is challenging mainly due to the limited client-side information, along with unknown and complex cheating techniques. In this paper, we aim to leverage machine learning based models to predict cheats over encrypted game traffic during game play. Concretely, network game traffic during game play from each player can be used to determine whether a cheat is employed. A major challenge in developing such a prediction model is the availability of sufficient training data, which is sparingly available in practice. Game traffic obtained from a few known players can be easily labeled. However, if such players are not a good representation of the population (i.e., other players), then a supervised model trained on labeled game traffic from these set of players may not generalize well for the population. Here, we propose a scalable transfer learning approach to overcome the constraints of limited labeled data. Our empirical evaluation on a popular MMOG demonstrates significant improvement in cheat prediction compared to other competing methods.
Meta-analysis of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder.

Naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention is an emerging class of interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder. The present article is a meta-analysis of outcomes of grou...
The Tits Alternative for $Out(F_n)$ II: A Kolchin Type Theorem

The proof of the Tits alternative for $Out(F_n)$ is completed. The main tool is a Kolchin type theorem, proved in this paper. It states that a finitely generated subgroup of $Out(F_n)$ consisting of unipotent automorphisms can be conjugated into an upper-triangular subgroup (this is interpreted via train-tracks).
Hydroquinone, a benzene metabolite, produces chromosomal endoreduplication and translocations associated with catalytic inhibition of DNA topoisomerase II

594 Benzene is an established human leukemogen, but the mechanism of its leukemogenesis remains unclear. Inhibition of DNA topoisomerase II (topo II) by conversion of hydroquinone (HQ) to benzoquinone in the bone marrow is one potential mechanism underlying the carcinogenic effects of benzene. Topo II is a nuclear enzyme that catalyzes topological changes in DNA. Topo II inhibitors are generally classified into two groups, poisons and catalytic inhibitors, on the basis of their mechanisms of action. Topo II poisons, such as etoposide, induce DNA double strand breaks through the stabilization of the covalent “cleavable complex” between the enzyme and DNA and cause translocations of the MLL gene at 11q23. In contrast, topo II catalytic inhibitors affect the enzyme activity without stabilizing the cleavable complex and induce chromosomal translocations that confer a good prognosis such as t(8;21), and endoreduplication, a rare mitotic phenomenon. Endoreduplcation consists of two successive rounds of DNA replication without intervening mitosis, i.e. segregation of daughter chromatids. In order to explore the mechanism and consequences of topo II inhibition by benzene and its metabolites in intact cells, we treated TK6 cells, a human lymphoblastoid cell line, with HQ (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 μM) or etoposide (0, 0.05 and 0.1 μM) for 48 h. Metaphase spreads were arrested following colcemid addition for 2 h and examined to determine levels of endoreduplication. Translocations of chromosomes 11 and 21 were detected using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) specific probes. HQ produced a dose-dependent increase in the frequency of endoreduplication in TK6 cells (Ptrend
Diagnosis and management of traumatic cervical central spinal cord injury: A review

Background: The classical clinical presentation, neuroradiographic features, and conservative vs. surgical management of traumatic cervical central spinal cord (CSS) injury remain controversial.
UNIT 1.6 Characterization of Dopamine Receptors

Dopamine receptors are the principal targets of drugs used for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. This unit details protocols for radioligand binding assays for various subtypes of dopamine receptor. The scope is limited primarily to the most widely used, well established protocols for binding assays, which employ commercially available tritiated ligands. Protocols are given for radioligand binding assays for D1-like and D2-like receptors. A protocol for the putatively selective labeling of D3 sites is also presented. The basic protocols are used to assay dopamine receptors in membrane homogenates, and support protocols describe the preparation of these homogenates from organs and from cultured cells. The calculation of the radioligand's molar concentration is also included. Keywords: Receptor binding; dopamine; D1; D2; D3; D4; D5; radioligand binding
Differences in Epstein-Barr Virus Characteristics and Viral-Related Microenvironment Could Be Responsible for Lymphomagenesis in Children.

In Argentina, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) presence is associated with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in patients younger than 10 years, suggesting a relationship between low age of EBV infection and HL. Given that HL is derived from germinal centers (GC), our aim was to compare EBV protein expression and microenvironment markers between pediatric HL patients and EBV+GC in children. Methods: EBV presence and immune cell markers were assessed by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results: Viral latency II pattern was proved in all HL patients and in 81.8% of EBV+ tonsillar GCs. LMP1 and LMP2 co-expression were proved in 45.7% HL cases, but only in 7.7% EBV+ GC in pediatric tonsils. An increase in CD4+, IL10, and CD68+ cells was observed in EBV+ GC. In pediatric HL patients, only the mean of IL10+ cells was statistically higher in EBV+ HL. Conclusions: Our findings point us out to suggest that LMP1 expression may be sufficient to drive neoplastic transformation, that an immune regulatory milieu counteracts cytotoxic environment in EBV-associated Hodgkin lymphoma, and that CD4+ and CD68+ cells may be recruited to act in a local collaborative way to restrict, at least in part, viral-mediated lymphomagenesis in tonsillar GC.
Shorter gastrocnemius fascicle lengths in older adults associate with worse capacity to enhance push-off intensity in walking.

Abstract Background Reduced push-off intensity during walking is thought to play an important role in age-related mobility impairment. We posit that an age-related shift toward shorter plantarflexor operating lengths during walking functionally limits force generation, and thereby the ability of those muscles to respond to increased propulsive demands during walking. Research Question To determine whether gastrocnemius muscle fascicle lengths during normal walking: (1) are shorter in older than young adults, and (2) correlate with one’s capacity to increase the propulsive demands of walking to their maximum. Methods We used in vivo cine B-mode ultrasound to measure gastrocnemius fascicle lengths in 9 older and 9 young adults walking at their preferred speed, their maximum speed, and with horizontal impeding forces that increased in a ramped design at 1%BW/s to their maximum. A repeated measures ANOVA tested for effects of age and walking condition, and Pearson correlations assessed the relation between fascicle outcomes and condition performance. Results A tendency toward shorter medial gastrocnemius muscle fascicle lengths in older versus young adults was not statistically significant. However, older adults walked with reduced peak fascicle shortening during all conditions compared to young adults – an outcome not explained by reduced muscle-tendon unit shortening and exacerbated during tasks with greater than normal propulsive demand. As hypothesized, we found a strong and significant positive correlation in older subjects between gastrocnemius fascicle lengths during normal walking and performance on the ramped impeding force condition (p = 0.005, r² = 0.704), even after controlling for isometric strength (p = 0.011, r² = 0.792) and subject stature (p = 0.010, r² = 0.700). Significance Our findings provide muscle-level insight to develop more effective rehabilitation techniques to improve push-off intensity in older adults and assistive technologies designed to steer plantarflexor muscle fascicle operating behavior during functional tasks.
Peripheral mechanisms contribute to comorbid visceral hypersensitivity induced by preexisting orofacial pain and stress in female rats

Background Stress exacerbates many chronic pain syndromes including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Among these patient populations, many suffer from comorbid or chronic overlapping pain conditions and are predominantly female. Nevertheless, basic studies investigating chronic psychological stress-induced changes in pain sensitivity have been mostly carried out in male rodents. Our laboratory developed a model of comorbid pain hypersensitivity (CPH) (stress in the presence of preexisting orofacial pain inducing chronic visceral pain hypersensitivity that significantly outlasts transient stress-induced pain hypersensitivity (SIH)) facilitating the study of pain associated with IBS. Since CPH and SIH are phenotypically similar until SIH resolves and CPH persists, it is unclear if underlying mechanisms are similar. Methods In the present study, the visceromotor response (VMR) to colorectal distention was recorded in the SIH and CPH models in intact females and ovariectomized rats plus estradiol replacement (OVx + E2). Over several months, rats were determined to be susceptible or resilient to stress and the role of peripheral corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) underlying in the pain hypersensitivity was examined. Key results Stress alone induced transient (3-4 weeks) visceral hypersensitivity, though some rats were resilient. Comorbid conditions increased susceptibility to stress prolonging hypersensitivity beyond 13 weeks. Both models had robust peripheral components; hypersensitivity was attenuated by the CRF receptor antagonist astressin and the mast cell stabilizer disodium cromoglycate (DSCG). However, DSCG was less effective in the CPH model compared to the SIH model. Conclusions and inferences The data indicate many similarities but some differences in mechanisms contributing to comorbid pain conditions compared to transient stress-induced pain.
Symbolic Computation of Dynamics on Smooth Manifolds

Computing dynamical equations of motion for systems that evolve on complex nonlinear manifolds in a coordinate-free manner is challenging. Current methods of deriving these dynamical models is only through cumbersome hand computations, requiring expert knowledge of the properties of the configuration manifold. Here, we present a symbolic toolbox that captures the dynamic properties of the configuration manifold, and procedurally generates the dynamical equations of motion for a great variety of systems that evolve on manifolds. Many automation techniques exist to compute equations of motion once the configuration manifold is parametrized in terms of local coordinates, however these methods produce equations of motion that are not globally valid and contain singularities. On the other hand, coordinate-free methods that explicitly employ variations on manifolds result in compact, singularityfree, and globally-valid equations of motion. Traditional symbolic tools are incapable of automating these symbolic computations, as they are predominantly based on scalar symbolic variables. Our approach uses Scala, a functional programming language, to capture scalar, vector, and matrix symbolic variables, as well as the associated mathematical rules and identities that define them. We present our algorithm, along with its performance, for computing the symbolic equations of motion for several systems whose dynamics evolve on manifolds such as \(\mathbb {R}, \mathbb {R}^{3}, S^{2}, SO(3)\), and their product spaces.
Contemporary Outcomes of Pulmonary Valve Endocarditis: A 16-Year Single Centre Experience.

BACKGROUND Limited data exist regarding the clinical characteristics and contemporary outcomes of patients with pulmonary valve (PoV) infective endocarditis (IE). METHODS This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of IE affecting the PoV at our centre between January 2002 and October 2018. Electronic medical records were reviewed to gather the clinical and echocardiographic variables. The population was subdivided according to risk factor profiles: group 1: miscellaneous risk factors; group 2: patients with congenital heart disease (CHD); and group 3: patients who inject drugs (PWID). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. RESULTS Out of 2,124 cases of IE during the study period, 24 (1.1%) patients had PoV IE. The majority of cases of PoV IE occurred in patients with prosthetic valves (54.2%). Coagulase-negative Staphylococci species were the most common micro-organisms. Seventy-five per cent (75%) of the patients required surgical management. The median follow-up was 2.8 years (interquartile range: 0.2-5.3 years). Patients with miscellaneous risk factors were older (p<0.01), and had higher rates of hypertension (p=0.01) and hyperlipidaemia (p=0.04). There was a statistically significant difference in survival between the groups (p=0.03), mainly driven by better outcomes of patients with CHD, compared to those with miscellaneous risk factors. CONCLUSIONS In a contemporary 16-year series, a high proportion of patients with PoV IE required surgical management. Patients with PoV IE and CHD had better survival, compared to patients with miscellaneous risk factors at a median follow-up of 2.8 years.
The Evolving Trends in the Impact Factor of Plastic Surgery Journals: A 22-Year Analysis.

BACKGROUND The journal impact factor (IF) is one of the most widely adopted metrics to assess journal value. We aimed to investigate the trends in the IF and ranking of plastic surgery journals (PSJs) over a 22-year period. METHODS The Journal Citation Report 2018 was used to identify all journals within the field of plastic surgery from 1997 to 2018. We analyzed the IF of PSJs and that of the category surgery. RESULTS A total of 34 PSJs were identified. The mean IF increased from 0.584 (median, 0.533) in 1997 to 1.58 (median, 1.399) in 2018 (P < 0.0001). Over the same time, the median IF of the journals in the category surgery increased from 0.914 to 1.883. The mean journal IF percentile of PSJs within surgery remained fairly stable (P = 0.999). A strong positive correlation was identified between the IF of PSJs and both the 5-year IF (r = 0.943, P < 0.0001) and the immediacy index (r = 0.736, P < 0.0001). The percentage of self-citations across the study period was fairly stable at a mean of 19.2%. A weak positive correlation was found between the IF and the percentage of self-citations (r = 0.171, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The mean journal IF in PSJs has been trending upward over the last 22 years. Ranking of PSJs IF within the category surgery has remained unchanged. The self-citation rate has been fairly stable and correlated weakly with the IF. A strong positive correlation exists between the IF and both the immediacy index and the 5-year IF.
Cellulose before CELL: Historical themes.

Abstract In 2020 the Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division (CELL) of the American Chemical (ACS) society celebrates its 100th anniversary. The following paper is based on a chapter from the book commissioned by the Division (Patterson, 2021). CELL is one of the most successful and dynamic Divisions in the ACS. It has evolved throughout its history to remain relevant and productive. One of its strengths is its diversity, while staying true to its founding vision. This perspective was present at its founding, and the following paper surveys the world of cellulose and renewable materials from the dawn of history to 1920. CELL has both industrial and scientific roots and has always welcomed the full range of participants from these communities. Rather than operating as separate tribes, the two groups have fostered innovations in each other. Many aspects of cellulose science and technology are discussed from antiquity to the early 20th century.
Abstract 14236: Cardiovascular Risk at Presentation for Gender-Affirming Care in the Transgender Population

Introduction: Due to stigma, the transgender (TG) population experiences socioeconomic and health disparities, including decreased access to care. Use of gender affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) may...
Optimizing receiver performance using harm claim thresholds

More and more systems need to be squeezed together in frequency, space and time in order to satisfy the growth in demand for radio services. However, greater proximity increases the risk of service breakdowns caused both by poor interference tolerance in receivers and by inappropriate signals radiated by transmitters.In order to maximize the value of radio operation, a system view that facilitates trade-offs between receiver and transmitter performance is required. However, radio operation has traditionally been regulated using limits on transmitters, with few if any explicit constraints on receivers. This paper brings receivers into the regulatory picture by using harm claim thresholds, that is, interfering signal levels set by the regulator or spectrum manager that have to be exceeded before a receiving system operator can claim harmful interference; the specification of receiver performance (aka receiver standards) is left to manufacturers and operators.The paper explains how harm claim thresholds would be defined from both radio engineering and regulatory perspectives, and outlines how parameter values can be derived for television service and for a new allocation with cellular service in the adjacent band.Harm claim thresholds benefit both radio system operators and regulators by providing greater clarity about the entitlements that are entailed in assignments. They reduce business risk, and allow regulators to delegate both engineering design and boundary adjustment decisions to operators, thus allowing market forces to work more efficiently. These attributes will be particularly useful in bands with many, diverse and rapidly changing services and devices. Tighter packing of radio users requires bringing reception into spectrum management.Do this by including harm claim thresholds in operating rules.Thresholds: the interference levels to be exceeded before an operator can claim harm.This clarifies interference rights, reduces conflict, spurs better receivers.Harm thresholds are not device mandates: industry determines receiver performance.
Measuring U.S. Foreign Policy Effectiveness

This manuscript presents a methodology whereby policymakers can assess the United States’ influence in the world. This submission differs from most scholarship on the topic in that it develops a return on effort score which takes into consideration the US goals and priorities. In terms of methodology, this manuscript applies the Analytic Network Process to develop relative priorities associated with the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal framework while considering key drivers (military and economic) across combatant commands and regions. This study’s conclusions will assist US military and policy practitioners in allocating resources and capabilities across the world to maximize the US influence relative to its goals.
Development of Titanium-45 for PET imaging of PSMA+ prostate cancer

1111 Objectives: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) has become an important, non-invasive tool for diagnosis and characterization of disease. In order to synthesize effective probes for different molecular targets with varying pharmacokinetics, novel PET radionuclides with varying characteristics, such as chemistry and half-life are needed. The resulting radiopharmaceuticals can be used for imaging of various cellular targets and biological processes. Titanium-45 is a radiometal with excellent chemical and nuclear characteristics (positron branching ratio = 85%, β+avg= 0.439 MeV, and t1/2 = 3.08 h) for small-molecule based, targeted imaging agents. Herein, optimization of isotope production, separation, chelation and proof-of-concept synthesis and evaluation of 45Ti-based PET probes targeting the prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) are presented. Methods: Titanium-45 was produced on the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) TR24 cyclotron via proton bombardment of natural scandium foils. Irradiation parameters were at 10 μA current for 30 minutes with 18 MeV protons which were attenuated with a degrader to an incident energy of 13 MeV. We developed a novel separation method, based on ion chromatography in order to separate the 45Ti from the target material. The irradiated scandium foil was dissolved in 6M HCl, diluted to 2M final concentration and added to a column packed with 175 mg of hydroxamate resin. Following this, the target material was separated using 10 mL of 2M HCl and 10 mL MQ H2O. 45Ti was eluted with 3 mL of 1M citric acid. Novel PSMA targeting molecules (DFO-DUPA and DFO-KFF-DUPA) were radiolabeled with 45Ti and further investigated. In vitro studies using PSMA+ cell lines, PC3 PIP and 22Rv1, and PSMA- cell lines, PC3 FLU and AR42J were conducted to determine in vitro specificity and integrity of the 45Ti-labeled probes. Preliminary imaging studies with free 45Ti in healthy mice were carried out to determine baseline uptake of the radiotracer. Images were obtained on the UAB small animal PET/CT (GNEXT Sofie Biosciences). Results: Titanium-45 (2329 ± 111 MBq, n=12) was produced in yields suitable for preclinical studies. Our separation method resulted in a 78 ± 8% recovery yield. Radiochemical yields of up to 100% using 17 nmol of DFO-DUPA were achieved, illustrating DFO is a starting place for the development of chelators for 45Ti. In vitro studies demonstrated statistically significant, elevated uptake in PSMA+ cell lines when compared to non-expressing cell lines. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that 45Ti is a promising radioisotope that merits further development. In vivo studies are ongoing and preliminary results illustrate that 45Ti-labeled PSMA targeting molecules can be developed and warrant further exploration as imaging agents for prostate cancer. Acknowledgments: We would like to acknowledge all contributors to this work including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the UAB cyclotron facility. This work was supported in part by the 2019 ERF SNMMI Predoctoral Molecular Imaging Scholar Program.
Democracy and the Supply of Labor

The average number of hours we spend at work varies dramatically by country. Previous research focuses on tax policy, social security, and labor market regulation to explain the differences. This paper builds on previous work by focusing on politics. Specifically, it examines the relationship between democracy and the average number of hours worked per person employed. Using data on the supply of labor from the Penn World Tables 9.1, I find there is an important difference between democracies and dictatorships: as GDP/capita increases, individuals in democracies spend fewer hours at work than their counterparts in dictatorships. The results are robust to various specifications of the model that account for selection bias and data that are missing not at random (MNAR). These findings imply that the elections, civil rights, and the political liberties associated with democracy influence the amount of time people spend at work.
A perspective on intelligent systems : a framework for analysis and design

Considering practical problems which preoccupy psychologists and those working in the field of artificial intelligence, the author of this treatise offers an analysis of intelligent systems and a definition of the "intelligence" which characterizes their interaction with the environment. While stressing the diversity of the various kinds of systems, the author synthesizes ideas from the brain sciences, information technology, linguistics, medicine and psychology in order to present a central core of concepts that are common to all thinking about intelligent systems. The key issues developed are that of activity structures and protection structures, which are used to represent the adaptive behaviour of both natural and artificial systems and their relationships with the environment. The structure of the book has been organized so that readers without a knowledge of formal mathematics and logic can follow the main threads of the argument and extract those ideas that are relevant to their own concerns.
Botulinum Toxin A for Treatment of Allodynia of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Pilot Study

Objective. To investigate the efficacy and tolerability of Botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) in allodynia of patients with complex regional pain syndrome. Design. A total of 14 patients were studied. Eight patients were participants of a randomized, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled protocol. Six patients were studied prospectively in an open-label protocol. Patients were rated at baseline and at 3 weeks and 2 months after BoNT-A administration. Ratings included brief pain inventory, McGill pain questionnaire, clinical pain impact questionnaire, quantitative skin sensory test, sleep satisfaction scale, and patient global satisfaction scale. BoNT-A was injected intradermally and subcutaneously, five units/site into the allodynic area (total dose 40–200 units). Results. None of the patients with allodynia showed a significant response after treatment. The treatment was painful and poorly tolerated. Conclusion. Intrademal and subcutaneous administration of BoNT-A into the allodynic skin of the patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) failed to improve pain and was poorly tolerated.
Extracting salient image features for reliable matching using outlier detection techniques

This paper presents an efficient method for finding salient differential features in images. We argue that the problem of finding salient features among all the possible ones is equivalent to finding outliers in a high-dimensional data set. We apply outlier detection techniques used in data mining to devise a linear time algorithm to extract the salient features. This yields a definition of saliency which rests on a more principled basis and also produces more reliable feature correspondences between images than the more conventional ones.
What Drives Loss Given Default? Evidence From Commercial Real Estate Loans at Failed Banks

This paper extends what we know about loss given default (LGD) by examining a newly available dataset on commercial real estate (CRE) loan losses. These data come from 295 failed banks resolved by the FDIC using loss-share agreements between 2008 and 2013. We examine over 14,000 distressed CRE loans to study the relationship between LGD and loan size, workout period, loan seasoning, asset price changes over the life of the loan, and other factors related to losses. We also examine the relationship between LGD and certain bank characteristics. The results inform commercial lenders and regulators about the factors that influence losses on defaulted loans during periods of distress.
DeCore: Detecting Content Repurposing Attacks on Clients’ Systems

Web 2.0 platforms are ubiquitously used to share content and personal information, which makes them an inviting and vulnerable target of hackers and phishers alike. In this paper, we discuss an emerging class of attacks, namely content repurposing attacks, which specifically targets sites that host user uploaded content on Web 2.0 sites. This latent threat is poorly addressed, if at all, by current protection systems, both at the remote sites and at the client ends. We design and develop an approach that protects from content repurposing attacks at the client end. As we show through a detailed evaluation, our solution promptly detects and stops various types of attacks and adds no overhead to the user’s local machine or browser where it resides. Further, our approach is light-weight and does not invasively monitor all the user interactions with the browser, providing an effective protection against these new and powerful attacks.
Unendliche Reihen und Folgen

Auf wieviel Arten last sich ein Franken in Kleingeld umwechseln? Als Kleingeld kommen (in der Schweiz) in Betracht: 1-, 2-, 5-, 10-, 20- und 50-Rappenstucke (1 Franken = 100 Rappen).
Comparison of the Effect of Caffeine Ingestion on Time to Exhaustion between Endurance Trained and Untrained Men

Porterfield S, Linderman J, Laubach L, Daprano C. Comparison of the Effect of Caffeine Ingestion on Time to Exhaustion between Endurance Trained and Untrained Men. JEPonline 2013;16(5):90-98. This study compared the ergogenic effects of caffeine on men who were endurance trained to those who were untrained. The study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover experimental design. Ten endurance trained men (mean age 24.4 ± 2.0 yrs, weight 79.4 ± 8.5 kg, predicted VO2 max 46.3 ± 1.8 mL·kg -1 ·min -1 ) and 10 untrained men (mean age 22.8 ± 1.9 yrs, weight 88.9 ± 9.9 kg, predicted VO2 max 37.6 ± 2.7 mL·kg -1 ·min -1 ) completed two cycle ergometer trials to exhaustion at 80% of their predicted workload max 30 min after ingesting either 5 mg·kg -1 of body weight of caffeine or a placebo. Neither group displayed significant increases in time to exhaustion (Trained Group: 786.4 ± 251.5 sec for the placebo trial and 810.7 ± 209.4 sec for the caffeine trial and the Untrained Group: 514.6 ± 107.8 sec for the placebo trial and 567.3 ± 140.5 sec for the caffeine trial) after ingesting caffeine. When compared statistically between groups, the difference was not significant. When the groups were combined, the difference was caffeine and the placebo was not significant. The findings indicate that there was no ergogenic effect of caffeine on time to exhaustion in either endurance trained or untrained men.
Clinical assessment of malpractice case scenarios in an anesthesiology department.

Abstract Study Objective: To determine whether anesthesiologists agree with each other when assessing actual malpractice clinical scenarios, whether their assessments comport with the actual malpractice verdicts, and whether they can accurately guess jury verdicts. Design: Survey study requesting anesthesiologists to review 12 malpractice case scenarios, administered twice. Setting: Academic medical center department of anesthesiology. Measurements and Main Results: Mean interphysician agreement, mean Likert values assessing relative negligence, mean agreement with jury verdicts, mean success at predicting actual jury verdicts for 12 actual jury verdict case scenarios. Respondent anesthesiologists appeared homogeneous by training and years of experience. They showed high (>80%) agreement among themselves in their assessments of the malpractice case scenarios over the two administrations ( p = 0.13). In addition, mean Likert values as to relative negligence assessments by respondent anesthesiologists were not significantly different between administrations by case ( p = 0.09 to 1.00). However, of the eight cases with complete or virtually complete agreement between respondent anesthesiologists, three (37.5%) disagreed with the verdict rendered by the actual juries. In addition, anesthesiologists showed significant disagreement (>30%) among themselves in four of the case scenarios, indicating there may not be agreement regarding the standard of care in these clinical circumstances. Finally, anesthesiologists predicted jury verdicts poorly, with success rates of 50% or less in seven of the 12 case scenarios. Conclusions: For this sample of homogeneous anesthesiologists who demonstrated high clinical agreement, it appears that the malpractice system may not be able to function on its own terms in adjudicating malpractice claims. Although there was agreement among respondent anesthesiologists, these assessments were in direct opposition to actual verdicts, a significant percentage of cases resulted in disagreements as to the appropriate standard of care, and anesthesiologists could not successfully predict jury verdicts. The malpractice system appears to be operating far from its theoretical ideal if these results could be applied more generally. Thus, in practice, the legal system, which is to provide an optimal level of injury deterrence, may be a poor method to limit patient injury, improve patient safety, and provide compensation to negligently injured patients in the health delivery system.
Monophyly of class I aminoacyl tRNA synthetase, USPA, ETFP, photolyase, and PP‐ATPase nucleotide‐binding domains: implications for protein evolution in the RNA world

Protein sequence and structure comparisons show that the catalytic domains of Class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, a related family of nucleotidyltransferases involved primarily in coenzyme biosynthesis, nucleotide-binding domains related to the UspA protein (USPA domains), photolyases, electron transport flavoproteins, and PP-loop-containing ATPases together comprise a distinct class of α/β domains designated the HUP domain after HIGH-signature proteins, UspA, and PP-ATPase. Several lines of evidence are presented to support the monophyly of the HUP domains, to the exclusion of other three-layered α/β folds with the generic “Rossmann-like” topology. Cladistic analysis, with patterns of structural and sequence similarity used as discrete characters, identified three major evolutionary lineages within the HUP domain class: the PP-ATPases; the HIGH superfamily, which includes class I aaRS and related nucleotidyltransferases containing the HIGH signature in their nucleotide-binding loop; and a previously unrecognized USPA-like group, which includes USPA domains, electron transport flavoproteins, and photolyases. Examination of the patterns of phyletic distribution of distinct families within these three major lineages suggests that the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all modern life forms encoded 15–18 distinct α/β ATPases and nucleotide-binding proteins of the HUP class. This points to an extensive radiation of HUP domains before the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), during which the multiple class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases emerged only at a late stage. Thus, substantial evolutionary diversification of protein domains occurred well before the modern version of the protein-dependent translation machinery was established, i.e., still in the RNA world. Proteins 2002;48:1–14. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Assessing the Independent Effect of Dietary Counseling and Hypolipidemic Medications on Serum Lipids

Determination of changes in total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels has focused primarily on hypolipidemic drug effects. Changes resulting from dietary effect alone versus diet and drug effect have not yet been fully established. Seventy subjects were enrolled into four treatment groups to determine the impact of diet and drug effect upon TC and TG. Group 1 (n = 28) served as the control group and received no dietary counseling or drug therapy. Group 2 (n = 22) received dietary counseling. Group 3 (n = 7) underwent dietary counseling for six months and drug therapy for eighteen months. Subjects in groups 1-3 were monitored for eighteen months. Patients in group 4 (n = 13) were followed up for thirty-six months. No intervention occurred during the first eighteen months, and hypolipidemic medications were used during the second eighteen-month period. Subjects in groups 1 and 4 received no specific dietary counseling and demonstrated no significant improvement over the course of the study. Patients in groups 2 and 3 showed significant reductions in both TC and TG. The improvement in TC seen for patients in group 3 was reduced after dietary counseling ceased. Dietary intervention is necessary if patients are to statistically significantly reduce TC and TG levels. Drug therapy demonstrated the expected reductions in both TC and TG but did not statistically significantly lower lipid levels without concomitant dietary counseling. When dietary counseling and hypolipidemic medications are used together, reductions in TC and TG values are even greater than those seen with dietary effect alone. Diet control alone appears to significantly reduce TC and TG levels, resulting in reduced need for antianginal medications.
Some Swinburne Manuscripts

Lang explores the literary manuscripts of Swinburne in the Symington Collection and transcribes some previously unpublished poems in the collection.
Nonlinear dynamics of team performance and adaptability in emergency response

Objective: The impact of team size and performance feedback on adaptation levels and performance of emergency response (ER) teams was examined to introduce a metric for quantifying adaptation levels based on nonlinear dynamical systems (NDS) theory. Background: NDS principles appear in reports surrounding Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes, floods, a disease epidemic, and the Southeast Asian tsunami. They are also intrinsic to coordination within teams, adaptation levels, and performance in dynamic decision processes. Method: Performance was measured in a dynamic decision task in which ER teams of different sizes worked against an attacker who was trying to destroy a city (total N = 225 undergraduates). The complexity of teams’ and attackers’ adaptation strategies and the role of the opponents’ performance were assessed by nonlinear regression analysis. Results: An optimal group size for team performance was identified. Teams were more readily influenced by the attackers’ performance than vice versa. The adaptive capabilities of attackers and teams were impaired by their opponents in some conditions. Conclusion: ER teams should be large enough to contribute a critical mass of ideas but not so large that coordination would be compromised. ER teams used self-organized strategies that could have been more adaptive, whereas attackers used chaotic strategies. Applications: The model and results are applicable to ER processes or training maneuvers involving dynamic decisions but could be limited to nonhierarchical groups.
Broadband in India: Strategic investment opportunities

Abstract India is one of the top five mobile communications markets in the world. A wave of structural reforms in the Indian telecommunications industry during the past decade has fueled this growth. Following the introduction of competition, removal of entry barriers, and increasing foreign direct investment, the mobile sector has enjoyed unparalleled success. In contrast, broadband Internet services have not witnessed similar development, and the spread of broadband services in India is slow compared to some of the developing nations in the same region. This paper outlines the success factors (social, economic, and technological) that have contributed to the growth of the mobile communications industry. Based on its success, this paper proposes strategic investment opportunities for service providers, governments, and corporate organizations in the field of broadband services. It also touches on major areas that are outside the telecom arena but contribute to its success.