cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Albuminuria according to status of autoimmunity and insulin sensitivity among youth with type 1 and type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether etiologic diabetes type is associated with the degree of albuminuria in children with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS SEARCH is an observational, longitudinal study of children with diabetes. Youth with newly diagnosed diabetes were classified according to diabetes autoantibody (DAA) status and presence of insulin resistance. We defined insulin resistance as an insulin sensitivity score <25th percentile for the United States general youth population. DAA status was based on positivity for the 65-kD isoform of glutamate decarboxylase and insulinoma-associated protein 2 antigens. The four etiologic diabetes type groups were as follows: DAA+/insulin-sensitive (IS) ( n = 1,351); DAA+/insulin-resistant (IR) ( n = 438); DAA−/IR ( n = 379); and DAA−/IS ( n = 233). Urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (UACR) was measured from a random urine specimen. Multivariable regression analyses assessed the independent relationship between the four diabetes type groups and magnitude of UACR. RESULTS Adjusted UACR means across the four groups were as follows: DAA+/IS = 154 μg/mg; DAA+/IR = 137 μg/mg; DAA−/IR = 257 μg/mg; and DAA−/IS = 131 μg/mg ( P < 0.005). Only DAA−/IR was significantly different. We performed post hoc multivariable regression analysis restricted to the two IR groups to explore the contribution of DAA status and insulin sensitivity (continuous) to the difference in UACR between the IR groups. Only insulin sensitivity was significantly associated with UACR (β = −0.54; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS In youth with diabetes, the DAA−/IR group had a greater UACR than all other groups, possibly because of the greater magnitude of insulin resistance. Further exploration of the relationships between severity of insulin resistance, autoimmunity, and albuminuria in youth with diabetes is warranted.
Table top ultraviolet lasers enable new nano-patterning schemes

We present results with different nanopatterning techniques using table top extreme ultraviolet lasers. The three approaches are interferometric lithography, Talbot self imaging and holographic projection lithography.
Insulin regulates circulating insulin-like growth factors and some of their binding proteins in lactating cows

Four lactating Holstein cows were subjected to a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp to evaluate the effects of insulin on circulating concentrations of insulin-like growth factors (IGF) and their binding proteins (IGFBP). Baseline blood samples were taken every 4 h for 2 days. For the 4-day clamp, insulin was infused (1 microgram.kg body wt-1.h-1) into the jugular vein and exogenous glucose was infused to maintain euglycemia. Circulating insulin was increased approximately fivefold, while glucose was maintained within 10% of baseline concentrations by infusion of 0.15 g.kg body wt-1.h-1 glucose. Hyperinsulinemia-euglycemia approximately doubled IGF-I (145 vs. 286 ng/ml, SE = 20) while decreasing circulating IGF-II (285 vs. 180 ng/ml, SE = 32). Densitometry of Western blots demonstrated no change in IGFBP-3 or a 30,000 relative molecular weight (M(r)) band during the clamp. However, IGFBP-2 decreased 73% and a 26,000 M(r) band decreased 58% by the end of the clamp. Therefore, insulin, directly or via secondary changes, increased circulating concentrations of IGF-I while decreasing concentrations of IGF-II, IGFBP-2, and a 26,000 M(r) IGFBP in lactating cows.
Potential for carbon dioxide to act as a non-physical barrier for invasive sea lamprey movement

Abstract Invasive sea lampreys have had substantial negative ecological and economic impacts on the Laurentian Great Lakes region. Control efforts, such as lampricide application and barriers, have resulted in a reduction in number of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes. Due to environmental and non-target impacts of existing control mechanisms, coupled with the fact that no non-physical barrier is completely effective at stopping fish movement, there is a critical need to develop novel control technologies to assist with the control and suppression of sea lamprey populations. Recent work has indicated that carbon dioxide gas (CO 2 ) applied to water will influence the movement and behavior of fishes, providing the potential for CO 2 to act as a non-physical barrier that can exclude fish from a target area. To date, the effectiveness of CO 2 at influencing the movement and behavior of sea lampreys has not been explored. The current study showed that CO 2 applied to water will result in behavioral agitation for both adult and transformer sea lampreys, and will eventually result in equilibrium loss. More importantly, both adult and transformer sea lampreys will ‘choose’ to avoid water with CO 2 concentrations of 85 and 160 mg/L (respectively). Together, results from this study suggest that CO 2 applied to water has the potential to act as a non-physical barrier to deter the movement of free-swimming lamprey in the wild. Carbon dioxide gas can be integrated with existing control technologies to act as a novel barrier technology and augment existing control strategies for sea lampreys.
Towards Identifying the Resolvability of Threads in MOOCs

One important function of the discussion forums of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is for students to post problems they are unable to resolve and receive help from their peers and instructors. There are a large proportion of threads that are not resolved to the satisfaction of the students for various reasons. In this paper, we attack this problem by firstly constructing a conceptual model validated using a Structural Equation Modeling technique, which enables us to understand the factors that influence whether a problem thread is satisfactorily resolved. We then demonstrate the robustness of these findings using a predictive model that illustrates how accurately those factors can be used to predict whether a thread is resolved or unresolved. Experiments conducted on one MOOC show that thread resolveability connects closely to our proposed five dimensions and that the predictive ensemble model gives better performance over several baselines.
Changes in Price Elasticities of Demand for Beef, Pork, and Broilers

The hypothesis that the demands for beef, pork, and broilers in the United States have become less elastic through time is examined. The slopes of the estimated demand relations (linear in arithmetic values) were flatter in period 2 (1956–1964) than in period 1 (1949–1956) for all three commodities. However, elasticities computed at the mean level of observations for each period differ not only because of changes in the slope and the level of the demand curve, but also because of changes in supply (hence movements along a demand curve). For beef and broilers, changes in demand were apparently more than offset by changes in supply in the period of analysis. Therefore, elasticities computed at the mean level of observations are less elastic in period 2. The estimated price elasticities for the most recent period are —.9 for beef and pork and —2.3 for broilers.
Characterizing optical properties and spatial heterogeneity of human ovarian tissue using spatial frequency domain imaging

A spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) system was developed for characterizing ex vivo human ovarian tissue using wide-field absorption and scattering properties and their spatial heterogeneities. Based on the observed differences between absorption and scattering images of different ovarian tissue groups, six parameters were quantitatively extracted. These are the mean absorption and scattering, spatial heterogeneities of both absorption and scattering maps measured by a standard deviation, and a fitting error of a Gaussian model fitted to normalized mean Radon transform of the absorption and scattering maps. A logistic regression model was used for classification of malignant and normal ovarian tissues. A sensitivity of 95%, specificity of 100%, and area under the curve of 0.98 were obtained using six parameters extracted from the SFDI images. The preliminary results demonstrate the diagnostic potential of the SFDI method for quantitative characterization of wide-field optical properties and the spatial distribution heterogeneity of human ovarian tissue. SFDI could be an extremely robust and valuable tool for evaluation of the ovary and detection of neoplastic changes of ovarian cancer.
When good predictions go bad: Vote context, win margins, and misclassified votes in the 75 th to 108 th Congresses

The logic of ideal point estimation requires that there be some errors in vote prediction, but not that these errors be random. In considering the distribution of misclassifications at the level of individual roll calls we draw from the literature on ideal point scores and parties to identify potential covariates at the vote and congress level and track these relationships in the House from the 83 rd to 108 th Congresses (1953-2004). At the individual vote level, we consider attributes related to salience and the conflictual nature of the vote, partisan divide, the vote type (i.e. procedural, amendment, final passage, etc…), issue area (appropriations, foreign policy, etc…). At the Congress level we include attributes such as majority size, whether the congress and/or government were under divided party control, and measures of party strength. Lastly we look for variation in these relationships across different periods during these 65 years. Ultimately we find support for the broad claim that context matters: procedural votes are subject to fewer misclassifications while amendments generally have more classification errors. Roll calls associated with either appropriations or foreign policy bills also have more misclassifications. Lastly, many of these relationships vary in magnitude (and in some cases, direction) across the pre-reform, postreform, and contemporary Congresses.
A Unified Engineering Model of the First Stroke in Downward Negative Lightning

Each stroke in a negative cloud-to-ground lightning flash is composed of downward leader and upward return stroke processes, which are usually modeled individually. The first stroke leader is stepped and starts with preliminary breakdown (PB) which is often viewed as a separate process. We present the first unified engineering model for computing the electric field produced by a sequence of PB, stepped leader, and return stroke processes, serving to transport negative charge to ground. We assume that a negatively charged channel extends downward in a stepped fashion during both the PB and leader stages. Each step involves a current wave that propagates upward along the newly formed channel section. Once the leader attaches to ground, an upward propagating return stroke neutralizes the charge deposited along the channel. Model-predicted electric fields are in reasonably good agreement with simultaneous measurements at both near (hundreds of meters, electrostatic field component is dominant) and far (tens of kilometers, radiation field component is dominant) distances from the lightning channel. Relations between the features of computed electric field waveforms and model input parameters are examined. It appears that peak currents associated with PB pulses are similar to return stroke peak currents, and the observed variation of electric radiation field peaks produced by leader steps at different heights above ground is influenced by the ground corona space charge.
Nanoparticles and the Environment,edited by J.F. Banfield and A. Navrotsky. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 44, 2001; 349 pp., 118 figures, 16 tables. [ISBN 0-939950-56-1]. Price $28

Nanoparticles and the Environment is volume 44 in the highly successful review series entitled Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry (RIM&G) co-produced by the Mineralogical Society of America and the Geochemical Society. Books in the series are typically accompanied by a 1–2 day short course given by the contributing authors, which in this case occurred on December 8–9, 2001 at the University of California at Davis. Since the inception of the book series in 1974, nearly 50 volumes have been produced. The majority of previous volumes either cover specific mineral groups or constituents (~55%), reaction processes (~19%), methodologies (~17%), or minerals under specific thermodynamic conditions (~6%). Only one volume has considered issues related to dimensionality as a central focus area ( Mineral-Water Interfacial Geochemistry , volume 23). While several of the volumes have focused on minerals that are inherently small-sized, Nanoparticles and the Environment is the first book in the series centered primarily on the effects of particle size on particle properties and reactivity. Also, in contrast to most previous volumes, which are usually inspired by the need to distill a large surplus of scientific findings in a …
Finite-Volume Solution of the P3 Equations of Radiative Transfer and Coupling to Reacting Flow Calculations

The method of spherical harmonics (or PN ) is a popular method for approximate solution of the radiative transfer equation (RTE) in participating media. A rigorous conservative finite-volume (FV) procedure is presented for discretization of the P3 equations of radiative transfer in two-dimensional geometry—a set of four coupled second-order partial differential equations. The FV procedure, presented here, is applicable to any arbitrary unstructured mesh topology. The resulting coupled set of discrete algebraic equations are solved implicitly using a coupled solver that involves decomposition of the computational domain into groups of geometrically contiguous cells using the Binary Spatial Partitioning algorithm, followed by fully implicit coupled solution within each cell group using a pre-conditioned Generalized Minimum Residual (GMRES) solver. The RTE solver is first verified by comparing predicted results with published Monte Carlo (MC) results for a benchmark problem. For completeness, results using the P1 approximation are also presented. As expected, results agree well with MC results for large/intermediate optical thicknesses, and the discrepancy between MC and P3 results increase as the optical thickness is decreased. The P3 approximation is found to be more accurate than the P1 approximation for optically thick cases. Finally, the new RTE solver is coupled to a reacting flow code and demonstrated for a laminar flame calculation using an unstructured mesh. It is found that the solution of the 4 P3 equations requires 14.5% additional CPU time, while the solution of the single P1 equation requires 9.3% additional CPU time over the 10 equations that are solved for the reacting flow calculations.© 2009 ASME
Preparation of mouse anti-recombinant SAG1 antigen monoclonal antibody of Toxoplasma gondii by intrasplenic immunization

Objective To prepare monoclonal antibody in mice so as to develop an ELISA method for diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection during the initial stage. Methods The mice were immunized by combining routine and intrasplenic immunization with recombinant SGA1 antigen. B lymphocyte hybridization technique was applied to prepare the anti-SAG1 McAbs. Positive clones were screened using ELISA and subcloned to establish cell lines. Ascites was induced to produce the McAbs. Then the McAbs were purified by protein G chromatograph column. The specificity of McAbs was identified by Western blot and sandwich-ELISA. Sensitivity of the McAbs was determined using sandwich-ELISA. Comparasion was carried out between PCR and sandwich-ELISA method. Results Two positive clones were obtained and named as 3B6, 10C4, both could identify the native and recombinant SAG1 antigens. The sensitivity of 3B6, 10C4 was 31.3 ng and 62.5 ng, respectively. There was no cross reaction between the McAbs and positive sera from patients with schistosomiasis, ancylostomiasis or malaria. By using PCR and ELISA, the positive infection rate of T. gondii was 63.2% and 47.4%, respectively. Conclusions Therefore, mouse anti-rSAG1 antigen McAbs have been prepared successfully and primarily applied to early stage diagnosis of T. gondii infection.
The effect of ozone on common environmental fungi.

OBJECTIVE To determine if gaseous ozone can effectively kill common environmental fungi. DESIGN This study was designed to test the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in viability between fungal conidia treated with ozone and fungal conidia not treated with ozone. A single control group design was utilized. SETTING Academic research laboratory. INTERVENTIONS Freshly prepared suspensions of Cladosporium spp., Stachybotrys spp., and Aspergillus niger conidia were diluted and plated onto the surface of solid agar plates. The plates were exposed to room air or to different concentrations of ozone for up to four hours, as were uninoculated plates. All plates were then incubated at 25 degrees C until quantitative colony counts could be performed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The effect of ozone on fungal conidia viability was assessed by comparing quantitative colony counts from conidia exposed to ozone to quantitative colony counts from conidia exposed only to room air. RESULTS There was a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in viable conidia of all three fungi, at ozone concentrations of 5.0-12.8 parts per million, by four hours of exposure. However, in every case, some conidia remained viable even at the highest level of exposure. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that ozone must be used in conjunction with other methods of remediation or for more prolonged exposure times in order to eliminate fungal contamination of buildings.
Effect of thiols, zinc, and redox conditions on Hg uptake in Shewanella oneidensis

Mercury uptake in bacteria represents a key first step in the production and accumulation of methylmercury in biota. Previous experiments with mercury methylating bacteria have shown that Hg uptake is enhanced by some thiols, in particular cysteine, and that it is an energy-dependent process through heavy metal transporters [Schaefer et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 3007]. In this study, we examine Hg uptake in the nonmethylating facultative aerobe, Shewanella oneidensis, under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Our results demonstrate similar characteristics of the Hg uptake system to those of the Hg methylating strains: (1) uptake is enhanced in the presence of some thiols but not others; (2) uptake is energy dependent as evidenced by inhibition by a protonophore, and (3) uptake is inhibited by high Zn(II) concentrations. Initial cellular uptake rates in S. oneidensis were remarkably similar under aerobic and fumarate-reducing conditions. These data support a similar Hg(II) uptake mechanism within the proteobacteria of accidental Hg(II) transport through heavy metal transporters with similar rates of uptake but differences in the ability to take up Hg bound to different thiols.
Pervasive promotion of breastmilk substitutes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and high usage by mothers for infant and young child feeding.

In 2005, Cambodia passed the Sub-Decree on Marketing of Products for Infant and Young Child Feeding (no. 133) to regulate promotion of commercial infant and young child food products, including breastmilk substitutes. Helen Keller International assessed mothers' exposure to commercial promotions for breastmilk substitutes and use of these products through a cross-sectional survey among 294 mothers of children less than 24 months of age. Eighty-six per cent of mothers reported observing commercial promotions for breastmilk substitutes, 19.0% reported observing infant and young child food product brands/logos on health facility equipment and 18.4% reported receiving a recommendation from a health professional to use a breastmilk substitute. Consumption of breastmilk substitutes was high, occurring among 43.1% of children 0–5 months and 29.3% of children 6–23 months of age. Findings also indicated a need to improve breastfeeding practices among Phnom Penh mothers. Only 36.1% of infants 0–5 months of age were exclusively breastfed, and 12.5% of children 20–23 months of age were still breastfed. Children that received a breastmilk substitute as a prelacteal feed were 3.9 times more likely to be currently consuming a breastmilk substitute than those who did not. Despite restriction of commercial promotions for breastmilk substitutes without government approval, occurrence of promotions is high and use is common among Phnom Penh mothers. In a country with high rates of child malnutrition and pervasive promotions in spite of restrictive national law, full implementation of Cambodia's Sub-Decree 133 is necessary, as are policies and interventions to support exclusive and continued breastfeeding. Key messages Despite prohibition without specific approval by the national government, companies are pervasively promoting breast-milk substitutes in Phnom Penh, particularly on television and at points of sale. Strengthened implementation and enforcement of Cambodia's subdecree 133 are needed to better regulate promotion in order to protect breastfeeding for the nutrition and health of infants and young children in Cambodia. Mothers who used a breast-milk substitute as a prelacteal feed were 3.9 times more likely to currently feed this same child a breast-milk substitute, as compared with mothers who did not provide breast-milk substitute as a prelacteal feed. Supporting breastfeeding among mothers after delivery is critical to establish and sustain optimal breastfeeding practices. Use of breast-milk substitutes is also very common among mothers of children under 2 years of age in Phnom Penh. We recommend promoting exclusive and continued breastfeeding as beneficial to children's health and development, and supporting policy and workplace environments that enable breastfeeding up to and beyond 24 months of age.
Amphipathic Stabilization of the 310-/α-Helix Equilibrium in Synthetic Peptides Rich in Cα, Cα-Disubstituted Glycines

The ability to design desired secondary peptide structure a priori from specific amino acid sequence is a major goal in peptide studies. In particular, influences on the 310-/α-helical equilibrium have gained considerable recent interest [1]. The ability to understand and control the 310-/α-helix equilibrium is desirable in the development of peptide design research. We have synthesized a series of closely related decameric peptides in order to determine to what extent amphipathic character plays a role in helix conformation preference in amphipathic environments (Table 1).
Securing the West: Politics, Public Lands, and the Fate of the Old Republic, 1785-1850

Review of: Securing the West: Politics, Public Lands, and the Fate of the Old Republic, 1785–1850, by John R. Van Atta.
A review of design characteristics of cognitive behavioral therapy-informed behavioral intervention technologies for youth with depression and anxiety:

ObjectiveCognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has the strongest evidence base for the prevention and treatment of depression and anxiety in youth. Behavioral intervention technologies (BITs) provide ...
History and Destiny in the Making of the Irish Catholic Spiritual Empire

The theme of Irish Catholics as having endured centuries of persecution and oppression on account of their faith and adherence to Rome, which was not new, regained currency during the 1820s in the movement for Catholic emancipation. In the later nineteenth century, enhanced by recent scholarship on the history of seventeenth-century confiscations and the penal era, this view provided the foundation for a vision of the Catholic Irish as being endowed with a providential destiny to restore the world to the ancient truths of the Catholic faith. It was especially associated with the drive to establish Irish Catholic colonies on the expanding western frontier of the United States. Bishop John Lancaster Spalding’s The religious mission of the Irish people and Catholic colonization (1880) was an especially influential tract that stressed the movement’s anti-industrial and anti-modernist character. Whelan argues that during the political turmoil of the early twentieth century in Ireland, the concept of a destiny-driven spiritual empire fused with cultural nationalism and formed a type of Irish volksgemeinschaft (‘community of the people’) that struck deep roots at a time when the identity of the new Irish Free State was being constructed.
Fractional Field Theory and Physics Beyond the Standard Model

During the last decade, a number of important developments have surfaced concerning fractional calculus and its applications in various branches of fundamental and applied science. In particular, fractional field theory (FFT) represents an active area of research in mathematical physics whose motivation stems, in part, from its ability to shed light on many of open questions surrounding Quantum Field Theory (QFT), Standard Model for particle physics (SM) and Quantum Gravity Theories (QG). We review here some recent developments of FFT that promise to recover the physics of SM in the low-energy limit and solve some of its seemingly intractable puzzles.
Clinical activity of enzalutamide pre- and post-docetaxel in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

216 Background: Enzalutamide is an androgen receptor signaling inhibitor that is FDA-approved for post-docetaxel mCRPC patients. Overlapping mechanisms of action and clinical evidence for an interaction between taxanes and androgen-targeted therapies complicates optimal sequencing of taxanes and enzalutamide. We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy of enzalutamide pre- (preD) and post-docetaxel (postD) therapy. Methods: Men with mCRPC who received enzalutamide preD or postD were identified from a single institution database. We investigated factors influencing enzalutamide activity by using univariate and multivariable Cox regression models, with particular attention to whether or not prior docetaxel had been used. Outcome measures of interest were time-to-PSA-progression (TTPP) and progression-free-survival (PFS). Results: A total of 72 patients received enzalutamide at our institution: 22 were preD and 50 were postD. Median duration of enzalutamide therapy was 5.5 mo (range, 0.7–33.6 mo). In univariat...
Effect of postoperative chemotherapy (CT) on survival in patients (pts) with resected rectal cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy.

e14535 Background: Pts with stage II/III rectal cancers are treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation and surgical resection followed by adjuvant CT per practice guidelines. It is unclear whether adj...
A Latino Patient-Centered, Evidence-Based Approach to Diabetes Prevention

Introduction: Cultural tailoring of evidence-based diabetes prevention program (DPP) interventions is needed to effectively address obesity and its related chronic diseases among Latinos in primary care. This article describes the patient-centered process used to adapt the DPP and reports cultural adaptations. Methods: We used a 2-stage formative research process to culturally adapt an evidence-based DPP intervention in the context of primary care. The first stage involved 5 focus groups of Latino patients and interviews with 5 stakeholders (3 with primary care physicians and 2 with medical directors) to inform a first round of adaptations. The second stage included pretesting the stage I-adapted intervention with a Latino patient advisory board to complete a second round of adaptations. Results: Key stakeholders involved in this 2-stage adaptation process included 34 Latino patients who participated in 5 focus groups and 5 physicians and medical directors who participated in key informant interviews during stage I and 11 patients who attended the 16 advisory board meetings and their family members who attended 1 of the meetings during stage II. Using this patient-centered stakeholder-engaged approach, we found the original intervention was largely congruent with the cultural values of the study population. To further strengthen the cultural relevance of the intervention, salient cultural values emphasized by patients and stakeholders underscored the importance of family and community support for behavior change. Accordingly, key adaptations were made to (1) invite family members to the orientation session and at 2 other key timepoints to facilitate family support, (2) provide participants support from the coach and each other via smartphone applications, and (3) provide healthy, easy, low-cost culturally appropriate meals at each group session. Conclusions: The 2-stage approach actively engaging patients, family members, providers, and health care system leaders reinforced the cultural congruence of the existing intervention while further strengthening it with adaptations promoting Latino family and community support.
Learning to predict action potentials end-to-end from calcium imaging data

Advances in two-photon calcium (Ca2+) imaging technologies are rapidly increasing the fidelity and scale of in-vivo neural recordings from behaving animals. These methodologies hold great promises for uncovering the neural computations that support behavior. One remaining challenge is the need to estimate the timing of action potentials (APs) from measured cellular Ca2+ traces revealed by genetically encoded calcium indicators. Current approaches rely on manually pre-processing Ca2+ imaging data, with routines for cell segmentation and signal normalization preceding deconvolution. Here, we show that by leveraging recent advances in recurrent neural networks it is possible to learn to detect APs end-to-end directly from raw Ca2+ recordings. Our novel model achieves state-of-the-art performance on this task. We further demonstrate that the relative success of the approach is based in part on the system's ability to learn spatio-temporal features that are typically associated with biophysical events known to contribute to the AP process.
Isolation of cottonseed extracts that affect human cancer cell growth.

Cottonseeds are classified as glanded or glandless seeds depending on the presence or absence of gossypol glands. Glanded cottonseed has anticancer property and glandless cottonseed was reported to cause cancer in one animal study. It is important to investigate the effect of bioactive components from cottonseeds. Our objectives were to isolate ethanol extracts from cottonseeds and investigate their effects on human cancer cells. A protocol was developed for isolating bioactive extracts from seed coat and kernel of glanded and glandless cottonseeds. HPLC-MS analyzed the four ethanol extracts but only quercetin was identified in the glandless seed coat extract. Residual gossypol was detected in the glanded and glandless seed kernel extracts and but only in the glanded seed coat extract. Ethanol extracts were used to treat human cancer cells derived from breast and pancreas followed by MTT assay for cell viability. Ethanol extracts from glanded and glandless cottonseed kernels and gossypol significantly decreased breast cancer cell mitochondrial activity. Ethanol extract from glanded cottonseed kernel and gossypol also significantly decreased pancreas cancer cell mitochondrial activity. These results suggest that ethanol extracts from cottonseeds, like gossypol, contain anticancer activities.
Gene flow simulations demonstrate resistance of long-lived species to genetic erosion from habitat fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation restricts the movement of individuals across a landscape. In terrestrial and aquatic systems, barriers to movement can modify population and community dynamics at local or regional scales. This study contrasted life history traits related to lifespan with habitat fragmentation to determine impacts on species population genetic structure in the Neuse River Basin, USA. For this, we simulated gene flow among evenly-spaced populations in a river network and tracked individual and population genetics for 200 years. The modeled scenarios represent a full cross between five life history strategies and four riverscapes representing varying degrees of fragmentation. The five life history strategies include species (based on freshwater mussels) with average lifespans ranging from 10 to 50 years and age at maturity from 2 to 6 years. The movement landscapes included a (1) panmictic, (2) stepping-stone landscape allowing movement to only neighboring populations during each dispersal event, (3) partially-fragmented landscape divided by dams currently in the network, and (4) fully-fragmented landscape. Results suggest species with shorter lifespans have higher population genetic structure in fragmented landscapes than species with longer lifespans. Furthermore, species with shorter lifespans in highly fragmented landscapes may be harboring genetic degradation or decline as allele fixation and loss. Although anthropogenic fragmentation of many river systems is only 100–200 years old, the simulation indicates that species can respond genetically in that period of time. Additionally, the time frame of the simulation suggests that genetic impacts of habitat fragmentation in some species present in the Neuse River Basin may not yet be manifesting and restoration activities could be successful.
Contemporary Academic Contributions From Anesthesiologists in Adult Critical Care Medicine.

Background Anesthesiology has a long relationship with critical care medicine (CCM). However, US anesthesiologists are less likely to practice CCM than non-US anesthesiologists. To date, no studies have compared academic contributions in CCM between US anesthesiologists and non-US anesthesiologists. The objective of our study was to use recent trends in critical care publications as a surrogate for academic contribution among US and non-US anesthesiologists. Methods Research articles published between 2010 and 2015 in 3 anesthesiology journals (Anesthesiology, Anesthesia & Analgesia, and British Journal of Anaesthesia) and 3 multidisciplinary CCM journals (Critical Care Medicine, Intensive Care Medicine, and Journal of Critical Care) were reviewed. Author information, including the primary department appointment and geographic location for the first and senior author(s), and article details, including topic and publication type, were collected. Odds ratios for having a first or senior author from the United States were calculated. Anesthesiologists' contributions in individual journals were summarized, as were trends in anesthesiology CCM publications during the 6-year study period. Results A total of 3831 articles were reviewed, with 1050 (27.4%) having US authors. Eighty-two and one-half percent of CCM articles in anesthesiology journals had a US anesthesiologist as first author, and 81% had a US anesthesiologist as senior author, while fewer CCM articles in multidisciplinary journals had a US anesthesiologist as first (12.1%) or senior (12.3%) author. When considering all publications, 16.3% and 16.4% of articles had a US anesthesiologist as the first or senior author compared with articles for which non-US anesthesiologists were first (23.8%) or senior (20.9%) authors. The odds of having a US anesthesiologist as first or senior author compared to a non-US anesthesiologist for all publications were 0.6 (0.5-0.7) and 0.7 (0.6-0.9). The number of publications trended downward for both US anesthesiologists and non-US anesthesiologists during the study period. Conclusions When compared to non-US anesthesiologists, US anesthesiologists had more CCM publications in anesthesiology journals and fewer publications in multidisciplinary CCM journals. The number of anesthesiology CCM publications decreased for both US and non-US anesthesiologists throughout the study period.
Public Library Engagement in Diffusing a Planned Community Health Initiative: A Dual Case Study

ABSTRACTSocial determinants of health beckon partnerships to empower citizens to make healthy choices. This dual case study explores the roles of public library engagement in a planned community health initiative known as the Blue Zones (BZ) project. Two cases were examined through interviews, facility environmental scans, and passive footprinting. Results indicate a potential library role in promotion and support for community health initiatives. Findings reveal a need to increase librarians’ awareness of social responsibilities beyond perceived professional boundaries, proactively collaborating with community agencies, and promoting community health initiatives through enhanced information access.
A novel cage for actinides: A 6W4Al43 (A = U and Pu).

We report on synthesis and characterization of the compounds A 6W4Al43 (A = U and Pu), that form in the hexagonal Ho6Mo4Al43 caged-structure family. The A ions reside within W/Al cages where the A-A nearest neighbors form dimers between adjacent W/Al cages, with U-U and Pu-Pu distances of 3.3892 [Formula: see text] and 3.4080 [Formula: see text], respectively. While the W/Al networks provide environments similar to those of other cage-like materials (e.g. filled skutterudites), the atomic displacement parameters from single crystal x-ray diffraction measurements show that the A-ions do not exhibit rattling behavior. We find that there is site interchange disorder on one of the W/Al sites. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show that U6W4Al43 displays anisotropic Curie-Weiss behavior where it fits to the data yield an effective magnetic moment near 2.0 [Formula: see text]/U. At low temperatures the magnetic susceptibility deviates from the Curie-Weiss temperature dependence and eventually saturates to a constant value. In contrast, Pu6W4Al43 displays nearly temperature independent Pauli paramagnetism for all temperatures, as would be expected if the 5f -electrons are delocalized. The electrical resistivity for U6W4Al43 increases slightly with the decreasing temperature, suggesting that it is dominated by f -electronic hybridization effects and disorder scattering that originates from the W/Al site interchange. Specific heat measurements for U6W4Al43 further reveal an enhanced electronic Sommerfeld coefficient that is consistent with a moderately enhanced charge carrier effective mass. Together these measurements expose these materials as hosts for unstable f -electron magnetism, where the novel cage-like structures control the phenomena through the spacing between the A ions. Through this combination of mild magnetism, the low cost elements of the Al-W cages, and chemical tunability that has been shown for related materials in the same structure, the A 6W4Al43 compounds emerge as promising nuclear waste-forms for transuranics, while the wider family of materials makes an appealing environment for studying f -electron physics in a novel structure.
Acceptability and feasibility of a 12-week yoga vs. educational film program for the management of restless legs syndrome (RLS): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common and burdensome sleep disorder associated with profound impairment of health, well-being, and quality of life. Unfortunately, the medications used for RLS management carry risk of serious side effects, including augmentation of symptoms. Yoga, an ancient mind-body discipline designed to promote physical, emotional, and mental well-being, may offer a viable, low-risk new treatment. The primary objectives of this pilot, parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial (RCT) are to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a 12-week yoga vs. educational film program for the management of RLS. Forty-four adults with confirmed moderate to severe RLS will be recruited and randomized to a 12-week yoga (n = 22) or standardized educational film program (N = 22). Yoga group participants will attend two 75-min Iyengar yoga classes per week for the first 4 weeks, then one 75-min class per week for the remaining 8 weeks, and will complete a 30-min homework routine on non-class days. Educational film group participants will attend one 75-min class per week for 12 weeks and complete a daily RLS treatment log; classes will include information on: RLS management, including sleep hygiene practices; other sleep disorders; and complementary therapies likely to be of interest to those participating in a yoga and sleep education study. Yoga and treatment logs will be collected weekly. Feasibility outcomes will include recruitment, enrollment, and randomization rates, retention, adherence, and program satisfaction. Program evaluation and yoga-dosing questionnaires will be collected at week 12; data on exploratory outcomes (e.g., RLS symptom severity (IRLS), sleep quality (PSQI), mood (POMS, PSS), and health-related quality of life (SF-36)) will be gathered at baseline and week 12. This study will lay the essential groundwork for a planned larger RCT to determine the efficacy of a yoga program for reducing symptoms and associated burden of RLS. If the findings of the current trial and the subsequent larger RCTs are positive, this study will also help support a new approach to clinical treatment of this challenging disorder, help foster improved understanding of RLS etiology, and ultimately contribute to reducing the individual, societal, and economic burden associated with this condition. ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03570515 . Retrospectively registered on 1 February 2017.
Two-year evolution of latent rheumatic heart disease in Malawi.

BACKGROUND In asymptomatic children, screening echocardiography has been used to attempt to diagnose rheumatic heart disease (RHD) at an early stage (latent RHD). World Heart Federation guidelines have standardized categorization of "definite," "borderline," or no RHD by echo findings. The progression of RHD diagnosed through echo screening is not known. In 2014, we screened 1450 schoolchildren in Malawi. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to evaluate 2-year RHD evolution among those diagnosed through screening. METHODS Two-year follow-up echocardiograms of those diagnosed with latent RHD were read by a primary, secondary, then third reader if there was disagreement. Progression or regression of both definite and borderline groups were tabulated. Penicillin adherence, age, gender, number in home, and household income were compared between those with definite RHD who regressed to borderline and those that stayed definite. We utilized the local system used to track HIV defaulters in order to bring participants back into care. Comparisons were made using Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. RESULTS Of the 39 with borderline RHD, 1 was lost to follow-up (2.6%), 1 progressed to definite (2.6%), 19 remained borderline (48.7%), 17 (43.6%) regressed to normal, and 1 was reclassified as mitral valve prolapse (2.6%). Of the 11 with definite RHD, 6 (54.5%) remained definite, 4 regressed to borderline (36.4%), and 1 regressed to normal (9.1%). Two of 11 with definite RHD had penicillin adherence above 80% for the 2-year follow-up period. There were no differences in adherence, gender, age, household income, or number in household between those with definite RHD that regressed to borderline and those who did not (P > .19). CONCLUSIONS Borderlines had a very low progression rate to definite RHD. A strength of our study was a high retention rate (98%). Longer follow-up is needed to determine expected disease evolution.
Anxiety Sensitivity and Distress Tolerance in Smokers: Relations With Tobacco Dependence, Withdrawal, and Quitting Success

INTRODUCTION This study examined relations of two affective vulnerabilities, high anxiety sensitivity (AS) and low distress tolerance (DT), with tobacco dependence, withdrawal, smoking cessation, and pharmacotherapy response. METHODS Smokers interested in quitting (N = 1067; 52.2% female, 28.1% African American) were randomized to 12 weeks of nicotine patch, nicotine patch plus nicotine lozenge, or varenicline. Baseline questionnaires assessed AS, DT, negative affect, anxiety, and dependence. Withdrawal was assessed the first-week post-quit via ecological momentary assessment. RESULTS DT, but not AS, predicted biochemically confirmed point-prevalence abstinence at multiple endpoints: weeks 4, 12, 26, and 52 post-quit (ps < .05); relations remained after controlling for pharmacotherapy treatment, AS, baseline negative affect, anxiety, and anxiety disorder history (ps < .05). Additional exploratory analyses examining week 4 abstinence showed DT predicted abstinence (p = .004) even after controlling for baseline dependence, post-quit withdrawal (craving and negative affect), and treatment. DT moderated treatment effects on abstinence in exploratory analyses (interaction p = .025); those with high DT were especially likely to be abstinent at week 4 with patch plus lozenge versus patch alone. CONCLUSIONS DT, but not AS, predicted abstinence over 1 year post-quit (higher DT was associated with higher quit rates), with little overlap with other affective measures. DT also predicted early abstinence independent of dependence and withdrawal symptoms. Results suggest low DT may play a meaningful role in motivation to use tobacco and constitute an additional affective risk factor for tobacco cessation failure beyond negative affect or clinical affective disorders. IMPLICATIONS People in a stop-smoking study who reported a greater ability to tolerate distress were more likely to quit smoking and remain smoke-free 1 year later. Smokers with high DT were more likely to be smoke-free 4 weeks after their target quit day if they received nicotine patch plus nicotine lozenge rather than nicotine patch alone. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT01553084.
A new synthesis of N‐substituted‐2‐alkyl(or aryl)quinazolin‐4‐amines by amide base‐mediated cyclization of carbox‐imidamides derived from 2‐(trifluoromethyl)benzenamine

A one-pot preparation of carboximidamides (amidines) 11-14 involves treatment of amides 2-5 with phosphorus pentachloride followed by the treatment of the resultant crude imidoyl chlorides 7-10 with ammonia. Amidines 11-14 are cyclized to quinazolines 20-26 in lithium alkylamide- or dialkylamide-mediated reactions
Exploiting RapidWright in the Automatic Generation of Application-Specific FPGA Overlays

Overlay architectures implemented on FPGA devices have been proposed as a means to increase FPGA adoption in general-purpose computing. They provide the benefits of software such as flexibility and programmability, thus making it easier to build dedicated compilers. However, existing overlays are generic, resource and power hungry with performance usually an order of magnitude lower than bare metal implementations. As a result, FPGA overlays have been confined to research and some niche applications. In this paper, we introduce Application-Specific FPGA Overlays (AS-Overlays), which can provide bare-metal performance to FPGA overlays, thus opening doors for broader adoption. Our approach is based on the automatic extraction of hardware kernels from data flow applications. Extracted kernels are then leveraged for application-specific generation of hardware accelerators. Reconfiguration of the overlay is done with RapidWright which allows to bypass the HDL design flow. Through prototyping, we demonstrated the viability and relevance of our approach. Experiments show a productivity improvement up to 20x compared to the state of the art FPGA overlays, while achieving over 1.33x higher Fmax than direct FPGA implementation and the possibility of lower resource and power consumption compared to bare metal.