cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Parameter Estimation of Atmospheric Release Incidents Using Maximal Information Collection

The effects of data measurement on source parameter estimation are studied. The concept of mutual information is applied to find the optimal location for each sensor to improve accuracy of the overall estimation process. For validation purposes, an advection - diffusion simulation code, called SCIPUFF, is used as a modeling testbed to study the effects of using dynamic data measurement. Bayesian inference framework is utilized for model-data fusion using stationary and mobile sensor networks, where in mobile sensors, the proposed approach is used to locate data observation sensors. As our numerical simulations show, using the proposed approach leads to a considerably better estimate of parameters comparing with stationary sensors.
Philosophical Foundations for the Construction of Critical Knowledge

(1986). Philosophical Foundations for the Construction of Critical Knowledge. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 9, Communication Yearbook 9, pp. 756-774.
A History of Tobacco Trading Cards: From 1880s Bathing Beauties to 1990s Satire

In the mid-nineteenth century, colorful paper trading cards were given away for the first time by French tradesmen to customers or potential clients as a means of advertising. Aristide Boucicault, founder of the Parisian department store Au Bon Marche, is credited with having introduced the first collectible set of picture cards in 1853. Manufacturers of chocolate, coffee, soap, and patent medicines began issuing trading cards, and by 1880 several American tobacco companies were including cards in cigarette packs, the most popular of which depicted buxom women in bathing attire. It was hoped that such sensuous images would build brand loyalty as smokers collected the entire series. (An additional purpose of the cards was to keep the cigarettes from being mashed.)
The Women of Colonial Latin America: Women and Work

The poor females perform all the drudgery, waiting upon [the men] with the greatest humility. Colonial women were not only wives, concubines, spinsters, mothers, and nuns; they were also participants in the local colonial economy. Unfortunately the place of women in the economy – as investors, consumers, and above all as a work force – has tended to be ignored by historians. We are just beginning to understand the role played by women. This chapter will look at female participation in various sectors of the colonial economy paying special attention to the importance of social class, ethnicity, and physical location in women's economic pursuits. Because of their number in colonial Latin America, an active economic role for women is not surprising. By the eighteenth century and possibly before, women were in the majority in virtually all the cities of colonial Latin America. For example, by 1778 in Cordoba, Argentina, 54-8 percent of the population was female; in late eighteenth-century Sao Paulo (1798), women accounted for 53.3 percent of the total; Quito also became increasingly female and by 1797 had only 53 men per 100 women. The ratio of women to men differed by place and social or racial category, but from the seventeenth century on, women were in the majority in virtually every urban nonwhite group.
Concrete mixture proportioning for desired strength and reduced global warming potential

Abstract In this research, formulae for predicting compressive strength and global warming potential (GWP) per cubic meter of concrete are proposed. These equations allow for prediction of properties based on the water-to-binder ratio for concrete mixtures containing cement as the only binder, as well as for concretes containing Class F fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) as partial cement replacement. To meet multi-criteria demands of mechanical properties and lower GWP, a method for obtaining the optimal water-to-binder ratio, for given replacement level, is presented. In this research, optimization is based on a direct ratio of GWP to compressive strength, but the methodology has the potential to be extended to other environmental impact categories and material property relationships. For the classes of concrete examined, the analyses showed that high levels of cement replacement with GGBS may provide the best, hence resulting in the lowest, ratio of GWP to compressive strength for the mixtures examined. Additionally for the classes of concrete examined, the results showed that optimal water-to-binder ratios for the best ratio of GWP to compressive strength occurred at relatively high strengths (∼50–70 MPa). Yet, the majority of concrete used in countries such as the U.S. is lower strength concrete (
API Design and Modeling

This chapter starts with API design strategies and then goes into API creation process and modeling. Best practices for REST API design are discussed, followed by API solution architecture. In the excercises, a simple API is designed for podcasts suscription and then modeling using RAML.
Pancreatic cancer cost-of-care in inpatient setting.

28Background: Pancreatic cancer continues to carry bad prognosis with modest improvement in survival in the last decade. SEER analysis from 2006-2012 shows a 5-year survival of 7.7% for pancreatic cancer and number of new diagnoses were 11.3 per 100,000 U.S. population in 2003 and 12.7 in 2013. The mortality rate was 10.5 and 10.8 per 100,000 during the same time period. In spite of modest improvement in survival, the cancer care costs including pancreatic cancer continue to rise and inpatient costs contribute a major chunk to cancer care which is often ignored. Methods: We used National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to extract data for patients hospitalized with primary diagnosis of pancreatic cancer using clinical classification software code 17, and corresponding ICD9 codes for the years 2004-2013. NIS is a nationally representative survey of hospitalizations conducted by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. It represents 20% of all hospital data in the US. Trend of rate of hospitalization, mean lengt...
Aortic Cross-Sectional Area/Height Ratio and Outcomes in Patients With Bicuspid Aortic Valve and a Dilated Ascending Aorta

Background— In patients with bicuspid aortic valve and dilated proximal ascending aorta, we sought to assess (1) factors associated with increased longer-term cardiovascular mortality and (2) incremental prognostic use of indexing aortic root to patient height. Methods and Results— We studied 969 consecutive bicuspid aortic valve patients (50±13 years; 87% men) with proximal aorta ≥4 cm, who also had a gated contrast-enhanced thoracic computed tomography or magnetic resonance angiography. A ratio of ascending aortic area/height was calculated on tomography, and ≥10 cm 2 /m was considered abnormal, as previously reported. Society of Thoracic Surgeons score and cardiovascular death were recorded. Greater than or equal to III+ aortic regurgitation and severe aortic stenosis were seen in 37% and 10%, respectively. Society of Thoracic Surgeons score and right ventricular systolic pressure were 2±3 and 15±16 mm Hg, respectively. Abnormal ascending aortic area/height ratio was noted in 33%; 44% underwent ascending aortic surgery at 34 days. At 10.8 years (interquartile range, 9.6–12.3), 82 (9%) died (0.4% in-hospital postoperative mortality). On multivariable Cox survival analysis, ascending aortic area/height ratio (hazard ratio, 2; 95% confidence interval, 1.20–3.35) was associated with cardiovascular death, whereas aortic surgery (hazard ratio, 0.46; confidence interval, 0.26–0.80) was associated with improved survival (both P Conclusions— In bicuspid aortic valve patients with dilated proximal ascending aorta, ascending aortic area/height ratio was independently associated with cardiovascular death.
Sherlock, A MS Windows Prototype System for General Purpose Image-Based Industrial Inspection

Industrial inspection is the process of verifying that a given product meets the design specifications. In many industries such inspection is done manually which is both expensive and slow. Manual inspection also has the disadvantage that diagnoses may not be consistent from one inspector to another and for one inspector over time.
Post-Injury Treatment with NIM811 Promotes Recovery of Function in Adult Female Rats after Spinal Cord Contusion: A Dose-Response Study

Abstract Mitochondrial homeostasis is essential for maintaining cellular function and survival in the central nervous system (CNS). Mitochondrial function is significantly compromised after spinal cord injury (SCI) and is associated with accumulation of high levels of calcium, increased production of free radicals, oxidative damage, and eventually mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT). The formation of the mPT pore (mPTP) and subsequent mPT state are considered to be end stage events in the decline of mitochondrial integrity, and strategies that inhibit mPT can limit mitochondrial demise. Cyclosporine A (CsA) is thought to inhibit mPT by binding to cyclophilin D and has been shown to be effective in models of CNS injury. CsA, however, also inhibits calcineurin, which is responsible for its immunosuppressive properties. In the present study, we conducted a dose-response examination of NIM811, a nonimmunosuppressive CsA analog, on recovery of function and tissue sparing in a rat model of moderate to s...
Efficient simulation of light-tailed sums: An old-folk song sung to a faster new tune

We revisit a classical problem in rare-event simulation, namely, efficient estimation of the probability that the sample mean of n independent identically distributed light tailed (i.e. with finite moment generating function in a neighborhood of the origin) random variables lies in a sufficiently regular closed convex set that does not contain their mean. It is well known that the optimal exponential tilting (OET), although logarithmically efficient, is not strongly efficient (typically, the squared coefficient of variation of the estimator grows at rate n 1/2). After discussing some important differences between the optimal change of measure and OET (for instance, in the one dimensional case the size of the overshoot is bounded for the optimal importance sampler and of order O(n 1/2) for OET) that indicate why OET is not strongly efficient, we provide a state-dependent importance sampling that can be proved to be strongly efficient. Our procedure is obtained based on computing the optimal tilting at each step, which corresponds to the solution of the Isaacs equation studied recently by Dupuis and Wang 8.
Waveform diversity in ground penetrating radar (GPR) applications

In this paper, trade-offs associated with critical issues involved with ground penetrating radar (GPR) techniques are addressed. The proliferation of subsurface sanctuaries has increased the need for remote sensing techniques providing for the accurate detection and identification of deeply buried objects. A new concept is proposed to use subsurface radiators, delivered as earth penetrating non-explosive, electronic “e-bombs”, as the source of waveform diverse transmissions for GPR experiments using ground contact or airborne receivers. The goal is to achieve improved subsurface surveillance characteristics of buried objects. Three-dimensional imaging techniques for deeply buried targets are developed based on two-dimensional synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data collection techniques.
October 31, 1517: Martin Luther and the day that changed the world

The short book format is a useful exercise insofar as it enables the writer to sum up extended analysis through coherent, concise argument and reflection on weightier issues. Martin Marty, one of t...
A methodology for programming abstract data types in Ada

We develop conventions to be followed when creating abstract data types in Ada. These conventions define a discipline for the use of initialization, finalization, assignment, private types, and generic packages in writing transportable and interchangeable abstract data types. We illustrate the conventions by presenting several implementations of an Ada package for a typical abstract data type, Set. The implications of these conventions for compiler implementation are discussed.
Biorhythms and Law School Performance.

The biorhythm theory is based on the premise that three powerful rhythms begin in every newborn at the moment of birth. Each pulsates at a continuous rhythm throughout life. These rhythms affect each and every one of us physically, emotionally and intellectually.1 The basic biorhythm principles were first developed in Europe (Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium) late in the nineteenth century. Supporters of the theory have used accident and death statistics as well as the results of athletic events to confirm the theory. A Swiss surgeon has used biorhythm mathematics in his hospital for over 15 years, mostly to ascertain the best days for elective surgery. He performed over 10,000 operations without a single complication a remarkable feat since statistically complications occur in 30-60% of these cases. A number of Japanese companies are using biorhythms. One transportation company reported a 35-40% accident claim reduction when their employees were informed that their biorhythms indicated extra caution should be observed. Another company reduced errors 35% by assigning computer punch card operators to different jobs on critical biorhythmic days. While some early biorhythm research was conducted in the United States, acceptance of the theory has been slow. Although some scientists are skeptical of the validity of the theory, it is gaining adherents in industry, the military and academia.
Optimal Investment Conditions

Hourly spot prices and spot price based rates were derived in Chapters 6 through 9 by considering short-term issues, i.e., capital stock was treated as fixed. This chapter examines investment decisions in the spot price based marketplace and their relationship to the statistical behavior of spot prices. Optimal investment conditions from the point of view of society’s cost minimization are derived and compared to optimal investment conditions from the point of view of individual marketplace participants. The use of spot price notation leads to very straightforward mathematical results, and permits us to treat generation, transmission, and end use technology in a single framework.
An Evaluation of Behavioral Interrelationships in Child Behavior Therapy

Although William James’s evocative metaphor for describing consciousness as a stream is still often quoted, the continuities of behavior that characterize everyday life seem equally noteworthy. In the early development of behavior therapy, or behavior modification, it was convenient to de-emphasize the descriptive complexity of the intermingling flow of individual repertoires, and concentrate instead on the identification of discrete behavioral events. This selective focus clearly served the field well, judging from the scientific and professional success of behavior modification. However, it imposed three conceptual restrictions on the field, all of which have become recognized in recent years.
Ecodesign Strategies in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the Electronic Sector: a Brazilian Standpoint

Ecodesign is a proactive management approach that guides product development processes towards the reduction of environmental impacts throughout a product’s life cycle, without compromising other essential criteria. However, the ecodesign concept is not equally disseminated between MSMEs and large companies, especially in Brazil, where MSMEs play an important role in the economic scenario. Thus, this paper aims to present preliminary results of a survey conducted in Brazilian MSMEs of the electronic sector, focused on the adoption of Ecodesign strategies. The major part of the surveyed companies already know the ecodesign concept, but do not take into account when developing a product. Although some of them have claimed to be interest in developing ecodesign projects over the next two years, it would be necessary the establishment of top-down regulations/requirements in order to suit the proactivity of the national electronics industry.
Patterns of Communication and Miscommunication between Research and Policy

Surprisingly little systematic attention has been given to the question of how to improve the relationship between research, policy, and practice. Attention to this issue may be increasing, however, linked to the growing salience of higher education in many countries and to the growingsense of resource constraints facing systems of higher education. The Tokyo Roundtable, the International Symposium in Kassel, and the recent UNESCO World Conference all offer signs that serious attention is being directed to the possibilities of improved communication.
Abstract 4660: Tumor multicomponent targeting nanoparticle library for personalized cancer therapy & imaging

The fundamental limitations of conventional cancer treatment have promoted the development and application of nanoengineering platforms for achieving effective patient outcomes. Over a time, considerable clinical success has been accomplished in nanotechnology field but there are many challenges limiting the progress of nanomedicine from bench to the beside. The highly heterogeneous tumor environment, an inadequate understanding of interactions between tumor biomarkers and nanomedicine, and reproducibility in synthesis required for clinical translation are some of the major challenges. Thus, there is an urgent need to redirect our focus of nano-drug carrier that can target multiple components of tumor including, tumor epithelial cells, tumor angiogenic vessels, tumor hypoxia and stromal cells. To achieve this, we developed a library of various tumor biomarker targeting ligands, and drug and imaging agents encapsulated in nanoparticles (NPs). Finally, the library of targeting ligands was conjugated with NPs using reagent free ‘click9 chemistry. This strategy will serve as an “off-the-shelf ready to configure drug formulation" that can be engineered based on a mix-and-match strategy for individual patient needs. It is envisaged that the patient can walk in the clinic and be given the targeted drug that is personalized to their need. For the proof-of-concept, we evaluated tumor selectivity of multiple cancer biomarker targeting oligo-micelles (OMs), iron oxide and lipid NPs in various patient derived tumor xenograft (PDx) models, such as non-small cell lung and triple negative breast cancer. We observed that the dual tumor hypoxia and cancer stem cell (CSC) targeting rod shaped OM has 8-fold higher tumor core penetration compared to non-targeted OM in these PDx tumors, as obtained from NIR-fluorescence imaging. This OM has significantly higher tumor vs. liver ratio and they follow tumor specific receptor competition. The tumor growth inhibition of drug loaded OM is superior compared to free drug. This approach demonstrated significant improvement of tumor stroma penetration with low healthy organ uptake of NPs portending more promising potentials for selective cancer treatment. Citation Format: Samaresh Sau, Hashem Alsaab, Katyayani Tatiparti, Ketki Bhise, Arun Rishi, Arun K. Iyer. Tumor multicomponent targeting nanoparticle library for personalized cancer therapy & imaging [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4660.
The En-Genrement of the Nation: The Spanish Civil War Film and Guillermo del Toro’s Fantasies

In this chapter, Egea uses Spanish film as a case study to test Rick Altman’s (1999) hypothesis on the usefulness of genre theory “to help us think about nations.” To do so, he analyses several films that return to the Spanish civil war and its historical trauma. Egea discusses how Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Devil’s Backbone (2001) revisit that historical event and subject it to what he calls a process of “en-gerement” by which the Spanish civil war film enters a new framework but also new markets. Ultimately, Egea proposes reversing the terms of Altman’s hypothesis and asks how, in a time of globalized cultural industries, the nation itself can help us think about genre theory.
A Continuously Updated, Computationally Efficient Stress Recognition Framework Using Electroencephalogram (EEG) by Applying Online Multitask Learning Algorithms (OMTL)

Recognizing the factors that cause stress is a crucial step toward early detection of stressors. In this regard, several studies make an effort to recognize individuals’ stress using an Electroencephalogram (EEG). However, current EEG-based stress recognition frameworks have several drawbacks. First, they are mostly designed to recognize individuals’ stress only in a controlled laboratory environment. Second, they do not take into account the changes in the EEG signals of different subjects under the same stressors. Third, most of the current stress recognition algorithms occur in an offline setting. To address these issues, this study proposes an EEG-based stress recognition framework that takes into account each subject's brainwave patterns to train the stress recognition classifier and continuously update its classifier based on new input signals in near real-time. The proposed framework first removes EEG signal artifacts, then extracts a broad range of EEG signal features, and finally applies different online multitask learning (OMTL) algorithms to recognize individuals’ stress in near real time. The proposed framework was applied on the EEG collected in two environments—first on the EEG collected in a controlled lab environment using a wired-EEG and second on the EEG collected at in the field using a wearable EEG device. The OMTL-VonNeuman method resulted in the best prediction accuracy on both datasets (71.14% on the first dataset and 77.61% on second) among all tested algorithms. The proposed stress recognition framework continuously updates its classifier and therefore contributes to stress recognition for new stressful situations that are beyond the range of predefined stressful conditions in near real time both in a controlled lab environment and at real job sites.
Combining near-infrared fluorescence with Brainbow to visualize expression of specific genes within a multicolor context

A new method for combining Brainbow with expression of a far-red fluorescent protein is highlighted. A useful strategy is identified for manipulating or tracking specific genes within a population ...
Conscientiousness, Honesty-Humility, and Analogical/Creative Reasoning: Implications for Instructional Designs in Intelligent Tutoring Systems

This paper shares initial results of a current study to understand what factors, tools, and methods help individual military and civilian medical personnel accelerate their medical problem-solving expertise. Based on the initial data analysis, there is evidence of statistically significant positive correlations between measurements of analogical/creative reasoning with the Conscientiousness and Honesty-Humility traits as measured by the HEXACO. These results will be employed in the US Army’s Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring system (GIFT) to develop a pedagogical template that adapts on relevant traits for instruction, interventions, and feedback to support accelerated learning.
The Information Revolution Meets Health: The Transformative Power and Implementation Challenges of Health Analytics

Harnessing millions of data points to gain new insights is the central promise of data analytics. In health analytics, outlines of its potential are only beginning to take shape. The breadth of possibilities spans from supporting evidence-based medicine, maximizing research potential, and improving patient information, to linking data already collected, managing population health, engaging patients as health partners, and introducing valuable efficiencies. Several companies and health systems are already exploiting the power of health information, and more innovation is on the horizon. Nonetheless, obstacles remain to make the crucial leap from a system with a reputation of resisting information technology to a system that masters it to realize better care, improved population health, and reduced costs.A January 15th 2015 roundtable discussion organized by the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship explored the potential of health analytics for both health care and population health generally. Capturing the discussion of a diverse group of physicians, lawyers, academics, and entrepreneurs, this paper discusses both the promise of health analytics and the barriers to its effective implementation.
Engaging children to voice their sense of place through location-based story making with photo-story maps

Sense of place is neither linear nor rooted in time. One way for children to voice their sense of place is through location-based stories with plots structured in space, rather than time. Since mob...
Associations between historical residential redlining and current age-adjusted rates of emergency department visits due to asthma across eight cities in California: an ecological study.

Summary Background Asthma disproportionately affects communities of colour in the USA, but the underlying factors for this remain poorly understood. In this study, we assess the role of historical redlining as outlined in security maps created by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), the discriminatory practice of categorising neighbourhoods on the basis of perceived mortgage investment risk, on the burden of asthma in these neighbourhoods. Methods We did an ecological study of HOLC risk grades and asthma exacerbations in California using the security maps available for the following eight cities: Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Stockton. Each census tract was categorised into one of four risk levels (A, B, C, or D) on the basis of the location of population-weighted centroids on security maps, with the worst risk level (D) indicating historical redlining. We obtained census tract-level rates of emergency department visits due to asthma from CalEnviroScreen 3.0. We assessed the relationship between risk grade and log-transformed asthma visit rates between 2011 and 2013 using ordinary least squares regression. We included potential confounding variables from the 2010 Census and CalEnviroScreen 3.0: diesel exhaust particle emissions, PM2·5, and percent of the population living below 2 times the federal poverty level. We also built random intercept and slope models to assess city-level variation in the relationship between redlining and asthma. Findings In the 1431 census tracts assessed (64 [4·5%] grade A, 241 [16·8%] grade B, 719 [50·2%] grade C, and 407 [28·4%] grade D), the proportion of the population that was non-Hispanic black and Hispanic, the percentage of the population living in poverty, and diesel exhaust particle emissions all significantly increased as security map risk grade worsened (p Interpretation Historically redlined census tracts have significantly higher rates of emergency department visits due to asthma, suggesting that this discriminatory practice might be contributing to racial and ethnic asthma health disparities. Funding National Heart Lung Blood Institute.
Longitudinal Development of Ocular Misalignment in Nonhuman Primate Models for Strabismus.

Purpose To investigate the longitudinal change in horizontal and vertical ocular alignment in normal and prism-reared infant monkeys during the critical developmental period. Methods Ocular alignment was measured using Hirschberg photographic methods in 6 infant monkeys reared under prism-viewing from day 1 after birth to 4 months, and 2 monkeys reared with normal visual experience. Photographs were acquired twice a week for the first 6 months of life and analyzed to identify pupil center and the first Purkinje image from which eye positions and strabismus angle were calculated. Results At 3 weeks after birth, prism monkeys presented with significant horizontal ocular misalignment. A gradual change in alignment was seen in all prism-reared monkeys stabilizing at approximately 11 weeks, at which time 5 monkeys were exotropic (mean, 16° XT; range, 13°-24°) and 1 monkey was esotropic (5° ET). A reduction in ocular misalignment was observed after exposure to normal visual environment at 16 weeks, but at 34 weeks of age, that is, 18 weeks after removal of prisms, prism-reared monkeys displayed a mean horizontal strabismus of 7° XT (range, 2° ET to 20° XT), which was still significantly different from normal monkeys. Conclusions Prism-rearing disrupts binocular fusion mechanisms, and horizontal and vertical strabismus is seen to develop as early as 3 weeks of age in monkey models, equivalent to approximately 3 months in humans. The time course of change in alignment overlaps with disruption in various visual sensory functions, suggesting a causal temporal link between sensory and motor mechanisms for alignment.
C.S. Lewis: Reason, Imagination, and the Abolition of Man

C.S. Lewis is considered one of the most prominent Christian apologists of the twentieth century. But he held a deep distrust of the work of the rational faculty that was not properly oriented by the imagination, which explains in large part his turn to writing imaginative fiction later in his life. Through his fiction Lewis was trying to demonstrate, rather than rationally explain, what the world would look like if Christianity and a broader moral worldview were true. Lewis explains this understanding of the imagination and its importance for right thinking in a variety of essays and in his two most profound books, The Abolition of Man and The Discarded Image. This chapter examines the arguments Lewis makes and the metaphors he uses in these works to demonstrate how the foremost Christian apologist of the twentieth century prioritized the imaginative faculty over the rational.
Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis as the Presenting Symptom of Crohn’s Disease in an Adolescent:

Leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LCV) is a rare vascular inflammatory condition that affects post-capillary venules. Its incidence in the pediatric population is unknown. However, its incidence has been shown to increase with age. The causes of LCV can be varied, ranging from drugs to infections to systemic disease. LCV as a presenting symptom of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is rare, especially in the pediatric population. A 15-year-old female with a family history of systemic lupus erythematosus was transferred to our hospital with a month-long history of rash, joint swelling and tenderness, periorbital edema, weight loss, and diarrhea. She presented with the objective findings of a biopsy showing LCV and a computed tomography scan read that was concerning for IBD versus infectious colitis. She had a thorough workup, involving both the rheumatology and gastroenterology services, and was ultimately found to have Crohn's disease. This case reveals the importance of recognition of a constellation of symptoms in IBD even when they are not classical in nature at initial presentation.
Understanding the Adaptive Evolutionary Histories of South American Ancient and Present-Day Populations via Genomics

The South American continent is remarkably diverse in its ecological zones, spanning the Amazon rainforest, the high-altitude Andes, and Tierra del Fuego. Yet the original human populations of the continent successfully inhabited all these zones, well before the buffering effects of modern technology. Therefore, it is likely that the various cultures were successful, in part, due to positive natural selection that allowed them to successfully establish populations for thousands of years. Detecting positive selection in these populations is still in its infancy, as the ongoing effects of European contact have decimated many of these populations and introduced gene flow from outside of the continent. In this review, we explore hypotheses of possible human biological adaptation, methods to identify positive selection, the utilization of ancient DNA, and the integration of modern genomes through the identification of genomic tracts that reflect the ancestry of the first populations of the Americas.
Plessy’s Tracks: African American students confronting academic placement in a racially diverse school and African American community

Why are most African American students in lower-track classes in racially diverse schools? How does the nexus of home, school, and community impact African Americans’ academic placement in a racial...
Assays for Determination of Cellular and Mitochondrial NAD + and NADH Content

NAD+ is a redox cofactor essential to the proper functioning of a variety of important metabolic pathways, including key steps in mitochondrial energy metabolism. In addition, it serves as a signaling substrate for enzymes such as sirtuins and the poly-ADP ribosyl-polymerase family of enzymes. Sirtuins, which are NAD+-dependent protein deacylases, harness changes in cellular NAD+ concentrations to produce changes in protein acylation status, thereby affecting downstream functions including energy metabolism, stress resistance, and cell survival. Thus, the availability of NAD+ in cells, or in specific organelles such as the mitochondrion, regulates downstream signaling and key biological processes. This concept has driven a need for researchers to easily and precisely measure NAD+ concentrations in biological samples. We herein describe several protocols for the measurement of NAD+ and NADH concentrations in tissues, cells, or subcellular compartments such as mitochondria. These protocols include a cycling assay that can quickly measure NAD+ or NADH levels using a plate reader equipped with fluorescence measurement capabilities. This plate assay relies only upon commercially available materials in addition to the biological samples of interest. In addition, we describe a protocol employing stable isotope-labeled NAD+ as an internal standard to determine biological NAD+ content by isotope-dilution methods. This method requires mass spectrometry to ratio endogenous NAD+ with exogenous isotope-labeled NAD+ to obtain quantification using HPLC and mass spectrometry.
Mini-Review: Mitochondrial dysfunction and chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain.

Abstract Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a somatosensory axonopathy in cancer patients receiving any of a variety of widely-use antitumor agents. CIPN can lead to long-lasting neuropathic pain that limits the dose or length of otherwise life-saving cancer therapy. Accumulating evidence over the last two decades indicates that many chemotherapeutic agents cause mitochondrial injury in the peripheral sensory nerves by disrupting mitochondrial structure and bioenergetics, increasing nitro-oxidative stress and altering mitochondrial transport, fission, fusion and mitophagy. The accumulation of abnormal and dysfunctional mitochondria in sensory neurons are linked to axonal growth defects resulting in the loss of intraepidermal nerve fibers in the hands and feet, increased spontaneous discharge and the sensitization of peripheral sensory neurons that provoke and promote changes in the central nervous system that establish a chronic neuropathic pain state. This has led to the propose mitotoxicity theory of CIPN. Strategies that improve mitochondrial function have shown success in preventing and reversing CIPN in pre-clinical animal models and have begun to show some progress toward translation to the clinic. In this review, we will review the evidence for, the causes and effects of and current strategies to target mitochondrial dysfunction in CIPN.
Apical pollen tube wall curvature correlates with growth and indicates localized changes in the yielding of the cell wall

The shape of the apical region of lily pollen tube changes rhythmically as the growth rate of the tube oscillates becoming alternately more prolate then back to oblate. We quantified shape change by calculating the curvature of the cross-sectional edge of the pollen tube tip and cross-correlating curvature changes with growth rate. The apical region takes the form of a partial elliptical spheroid, with variation in the length and location of the minor axis. During oscillation curvature profiles show a sharp increase in curvature at the “shoulders” of the apex when oblate, 4–7 μm from the flatter central zone. As the tip becomes more prolate, the “shoulders” decrease rapidly in curvature and move towards the growth axis as curvature at the tip increases. We understand curvature changes to represent differential changes in local wall expansion rates, driven by uniform turgor pressure and mediated by changes in wall polysaccharides. To become more oblate, the tip region must become less extensible than the “shoulder” region. And, as the tip becomes more prolate, the increased curvature must be due to increased local expansion. We found that changes in the growth velocity of the “shoulders” of the cell measured as the progress of the cell edge along the growth axis are cyclically out of phase with growth velocity at the tip such that the shoulder regions lag for part of the oscillation cycle, then “catch up” as the growth rate at the tip reaches a maximum and begins to decline. In this way the cell becomes oblate. Cell shape and growth rate oscillate in concert and are functionally related. Spatial change in edge growth rate points to important cellular locations for further investigation of vesicle movement and exocytosis, calcium gradients, and actin dynamics in lily pollen tubes.
Viscoelastic biomechanical models to predict inward brain-shift using public benchmark data.

Brain-shift during neurosurgery compromises the accuracy of tracking the boundaries of the tumor to be resected. Although several studies have used various finite element models (FEMs) to predict inward brain-shift, evaluation of their accuracy and efficiency based on public benchmark data has been limited. This study evaluates several FEMs proposed in the literature (various boundary conditions, mesh sizes, and material properties) by using intraoperative imaging data (the public REtroSpective Evaluation of Cerebral Tumors [RESECT] database). Four patients with low-grade gliomas were identified as having inward brain-shifts. We computed the accuracy (using target registration error) of several FEM-based brain-shift predictions and compared our findings. Since information on head orientation during craniotomy is not included in this database, we tested various plausible angles of head rotation. We analyzed the effects of brain tissue viscoelastic properties, mesh size, craniotomy position, CSF drainage level, and rigidity of meninges and then quantitatively evaluated the trade-off between accuracy and central processing unit time in predicting inward brain-shift across all models with second-order tetrahedral FEMs. The mean initial target registration error (TRE) was 5.78 ± 3.78 mm with rigid registration. FEM prediction (edge-length, 5 mm) with non-rigid meninges led to a mean TRE correction of 1.84 ± 0.83 mm assuming heterogeneous material. Results show that, for the low-grade glioma patients in the study, including non-rigid modeling of the meninges was significant statistically. In contrast including heterogeneity was not significant. To estimate the optimal head orientation and CSF drainage, an angle step of 5° and an CSF height step of 5 mm were enough leading to <0.26 mm TRE fluctuation.
Measurement of Free Versus Total Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody in Pharmacokinetic Assessment is Modulated by Affinity, Incubation Time, and Bioanalytical Platform

Decisions about efficacy and safety of therapeutic proteins (TP) designed to target soluble ligands are made in part by their ex vivo quantification. Ligand binding assays (LBAs) are critical tools in measuring serum TP levels in pharmacokinetic, toxicokinetic, and pharmacodynamic studies. This study evaluated the impact of reagent antibody affinities, assay incubation times, and analytical platform on free or total TP quantitation. An ELISA-based LBA that measures monoclonal anti-sclerostin antibody (TPx) was used as the model system. To determine whether the method measures free or total TPx, the effects of Kon, Koff, and KD were determined. An 8:1 molar ratio of sclerostin (Scl) to TPx compared to a 1:1 molar ratio produced by rabbit polyclonal antibodies to TPx was required to achieve IC50, a measure of TPx interference effectiveness, making it unclear whether the ELISA truly measured free TPx. Kinetic analysis revealed that Scl had a rapid dissociation rate (Koff) from TPx and that capture and detection antibodies had significantly higher binding affinities (KD) to TPx. These kinetic limitations along with long ELISA incubation times lead to the higher molar ratios (8:1) required for achieving 50% inhibition of TPx. However, a microfluidic platform with the same reagent pairs required shorter incubations to achieve a lower Scl IC50 molar ratio (1:1). The findings from this study provide the bioanalytical community with a deeper understanding of how reagent and platform selection for LBAs can affect what a particular method measures, either free or total TP concentrations.
The Effects of National Implementations on Dairy Farm Structures

Publisher Summary The impact of milk quotas is clearly visible on the production concentration and the shift of production zones. The presence of milk quotas is tending to slow down the move toward concentration in production. However, effects and rates of change have differed considerably depending on the national policies adopted for putting the quota system into effect. France has adopted a narrow definition with respect to the link between land and milk quota, establishing strict administrative control at departmental level. Germany has successively applied two distinct policies: strict administrative control and a more liberal approach. Considering these two countries, which, in the milk sector, are comparable in terms of size and production conditions, the differentiated effects of the practical applications of the milk quota system are distinguished. Milk production in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom is much more concentrated on large-scale farm units, such that what is considered to be a medium-sized farm in Germany or France is classified as a small-scale unit by both the Dutch and the British. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom have applied relatively similar policies and very quickly laid the foundations of a liberal market of quotas, which to all intents and purposes were released from the link with land.
Expression profiles of select genes in cumulus–oocyte complexes from young and aged mares

There is compelling evidence that oocytes from mares >18 years of age have a high incidence of inherent defects that result in early embryonic loss. In women, an age-related decrease in oocyte quality is associated with an increased incidence of aneuploidy and it has recently been determined that the gene expression profile of human oocytes is altered with advancing age. We hypothesised that similar age-related aberrations in gene expression occur in equine oocytes. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare gene expression profiles of individual oocytes and cumulus cells from young and aged mares, specifically evaluating genes that have been identified as being differentially expressed with advancing maternal age and/or aneuploidy in human oocytes. Expression of 48 genes was compared between 14 cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) from mares aged 3-12 years and 10 COCs from mares ≥18 years of age. Three genes (mitochondrial translational initiation factor 3 (IF3), heat shock transcription factor 5 (HSF5) and Y box binding protein 2 (YBX2)) were differentially expressed in oocytes, with all being more abundant in oocytes from young mares. Three genes (ADP-ribosylation factor-like 6 interacting protein 6 (ARL6IP6), BCL2-associated X protein (BAX) and hypoxia upregulated 1 (HYOU1)) were differentially expressed in cumulus cells, with all being more abundant in aged mares. The results of the present study confirm there are age-related differences in gene expression in equine COCs, which may be associated with the lower quality and decreased developmental competence of oocytes from aged mares.
An Integrated Framework for Database Privacy Protection

One of the central objectives of studying database privacy protection is to protect sensitive information held in a database from being inferred by a generic database user. In this paper, we present a framework to assist in the formal analysis of the database inference problem. The framework is based on an association network which is composed of a similarity measure and a Bayesian network model.
VISIBLE/UV SCATTERING BY INTERSTELLAR DUST

Studies of interstellar dust based on observations of scattered and dust-emitted radiation from grains are reviewed.
The Positive Foundations of Formalism: False Necessity and American Legal Realism

"The Positive Foundations of Formalism: False Necessity and American Legal Realism" explores the relationship between claims that judging is inherently political or ideological and contemporary studies of judicial behavior. These themes are developed in the context of a review of "The Behavior of Federal Judges" by Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, and Richard Posner.In this review, I begin in Part I with the book’s core, situating Behavior of Federal Judges’ empirical findings in the context of the evolution of the attitudinal model and the emergence of empirical studies of judicial behavior that emphasize the role of law as an important causal factor. Part II is about microfoundations. Behavior of Federal Judges offers a rational choice account theory of the causal mechanisms that determine judicial behavior in the form of a labor economics model — judges are viewed as agents of a diffuse principal whose preferences range over their income and the satisfactions obtained from the various ways in which they spend their time.In Part III, the review then takes a step back from the details of Behavior of Federal Judges’ empirical and theoretical account and engages the fundamental issues at stake — the questions raised by the debate between formalists and realists. Behavior presents itself as a purely positive account: “Ours is strictly a positive analysis. We do not ask how judges should decide cases but how they do decide them — more broadly, how they do their judicial work (which is not limited to casting votes in cases).” (pp. 5-6) Implicitly, Behavior assumes that the empirical findings and rational choice models show that judging is an inherently realist enterprise — not only does ideology partially determine judicial behavior, it does so necessarily. But this assumption is undermined by Behavior’s empirical findings. In fact, Epstein, Landes, and Posner provide strong evidence that that these claims (that judging must be political) involve false necessity. Putting this same point positively, Behavior provides evidence that legal formalism is possible — inside the feasible choice set and not mere “pie in the sky.”
Changes in IT sourcing arrangements: An interpretive field study of technical and institutional influences

Purpose – Companies are increasingly changing their IT sourcing arrangements. Such changes often involve significant costs. The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain IT sourcing as a dynamic organizational phenomenon and to gain a deeper understanding of the drivers and outcomes of IT sourcing changes at organizational level.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach with interpretive analysis of historical data. Data are collected from companies through interviews and review of public documents where available.Findings – The underlying tendencies of change are either primarily associated with institutional processes, or with what we term “IT‐driven” considerations. The perceived success of IT outsourcing in companies is dependent on these underlying tendencies.Research limitations/implications – This is an exploratory study and the findings on the underlying tendencies in change will be helpful in further theory development and research on IT outsourcing changes.Practical implications...