cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endocrine Regulation of Rat Organic Anion Transporters

Messenger RNA levels of rat organic anion transporter 1 (Oat1; Slc22a6 ) and Oat2 ( Slc22a7 ) in kidney and Oat3 ( Slc22a8 ) in liver are gender-predominant. Oat1 and Oat3 are male-predominant, whereas Oat2 is female-predominant. Gonadectomized and hypophysectomized (HX) rats were studied to determine whether sex steroids and/or growth hormone (GH) are responsible for these gender-divergent patterns. GH was administered to HX rats by two daily injections (simulating male secretion) or continuous infusion (simulating female secretion). Oat1 mRNA levels, normally higher in male than female kidney, were lowered by gonadectomy and HX in male rats, but not in females. Additionally, GH injections or infusion did not alter Oat1 levels in HX rats. Oat2 mRNA levels, typically much higher in female than in male kidney, were unaffected by gonadectomy. However, HX dramatically decreased Oat2 in female kidney without altering male levels. GH administered by continuous infusion increased Oat2 in kidneys of both HX male and female rats, whereas injections had no affect. Gonadectomy reduced Oat3 mRNA levels in male livers without affecting levels in female livers. In contrast, HX decreased male and elevated female Oat3 mRNA. GH injections did not significantly change Oat3 mRNA levels in HX rats, but infusion decreased Oat3 mRNA in liver. In conclusion, androgens, but not GH, are responsible for the Oat1 mRNA gender difference in kidney; the female GH secretion pattern is responsible for the Oat2 mRNA gender difference in kidney; and both androgens and the female GH secretion pattern are responsible for the Oat3 mRNA gender difference in liver.
The Effect of Disease Severity on 24-Hour Urine Parameters in Kidney Stone Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Objective To characterize the changes in urine composition associated with increasing severity of diabetes, we analyzed urine composition relative to glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and treatment strategy in a largely minority population. Methods Patients treated for kidney stones between 2001 and 2013 at a single tertiary institution and had 24-hour urine collections were included in the study. Patients with type 1 diabetes or taking either thiazide diuretics or alkalinizing agents were excluded. Analysis was performed in IBM SPSS Statistics version 20 using multivariate regression, and Kruskal-Wallis testing was used. Results Nine hundred fifty-five patients were included in this study—268 (28%) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, of whom 53 (19.8%) used insulin. Patients with diabetes had lower urine pH, calcium, and phosphate when compared with the control group, but no significant differences were found between the diabetes groups. Multivariate analysis found that HbA1c had a positive correlation with citrate ( P = .008), creatinine ( P = .037), urine volume ( P = .044), and a trend toward a positive association with urinary calcium calcium ( P = .064). Insulin use did not have a significant relationship with urinary parameters but trended toward an inverse relationship with calcium ( P = .051). pH was not a significant predictor of any urine constituent. Conclusion In an ethnically diverse inner city patient population, patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 who use insulin have no significant differences in urine parameters when compared with those on oral hypoglycemics. Worsening glucose control as measured by HbA1c levels predicts increased urine citrate and volume.
A comparative study of three vision systems for metal surface defect detection

In this paper we present a comparative analysis of three vision systems to nondestructively predict defects on the surfaces of aluminum castings. A hyperspectral imaging system, a thermal imager, and a digital color camera have been used to inspect aluminum metal cast surfaces. Hyperspectral imaging provides both spectral and spatial information, as each material produces specific spectral signatures which are also affected by surface texture. Thermal imager detects infrared radiation whereby hotspots can be investigated to identify possible trapped inclusions close to the surface, or other superficial defects. Finally, digital color images show apparent surface defects that can also be viewed with the naked eye but can be automated for fast and efficient data analysis. The surface defect locations predicted using the three systems are then verified by breaking the casings using a tensile tester. Of the three nondestructive methods, the thermal imaging camera was found to produce the most accurate predictions for defect location that caused breakage.
Economic Analysis of Technological Protection Measures

This article analyzes the impact of market forces on a publisher's decision whether to implement technological protection measures (TPMs) as a means of preventing unauthorized use of software, music, movies, and other information products in digital formats. TPMs are encryption-based techniques that control the uses that may be made of a digital information good, such as by preventing the copying of a music CD or making it impossible to use a particular copy of a computer program on more than one computer. The article develops an economic model that explains how the use of TPMs affects consumer demand, and considers the conditions that will influence a publisher's decision whether to implement TPMs. This model is the first to take account of the two offsetting effects on consumer demand that implementation of TPMs brings about, namely (1) an increase in demand from users who had previously been making unauthorized use of copies owned by others, but who can no longer do so because of the implementation of a TPM, and (2) a decrease in demand through alienation of existing customers who switch to a competing good that is unencumbered by TPMs. The model is also the first to disaggregate the various empirical conditions that determine whether a publisher will benefit from implementing TPMs. An understanding of the incentives that confront publishers deciding whether to implement TPMs is of crucial importance in evaluating the policy choice that Congress made when it enacted the prohibitions against circumvention of TPMs that are contained in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The model presented cautions against any hasty assumption either that publishers will inevitably lock up all of their products behind TPMs, thereby dramatically contracting the scope of the public domain, or that market forces will naturally effectuate the preference of consumers for digital goods that are not encumbered by TPMs.
Quantum Dynamics with Gaussian Bases Defined by the Quantum Trajectories

Development of a general approach to construction of efficient high-dimensional bases is an outstanding challenge in quantum dynamics describing large amplitude motion of molecules and fragments. A number of approaches, proposed over the years, utilize Gaussian bases whose parameters are somehow—usually by propagating classical trajectories or by solving coupled variational equations—tailored to the shape of a wave function evolving in time. In this paper we define the time-dependent Gaussian bases through an ensemble of quantum or Bohmian trajectories, known to provide a very compact representation of a wave function due to conservation of the probability density associated with each trajectory. Though the exact numerical implementation of the quantum trajectory dynamics itself is, generally, impractical, the quantum trajectories can be obtained from the wave function expanded in a basis. The resulting trajectories are used to guide compact Gaussian bases, as illustrated on several model problems.
INDIVIDUAL DISCOUNT RATES AND CLIMATE CHANGE: IS DISCOUNT RATE ASSOCIATED WITH SUPPORT FOR A CARBON TAX?

The issue of climate change is often framed as one in which contemporary actions, often with affixed costs, are necessary in order to prevent even greater costs being paid during a period in the future. Under such a framework it is thus necessary to calculate the rate in which future benefits are discounted to reflect current values. In this paper we examine how individual level discount rates affect their support for a policy tool that incurs contemporary costs in an effort to prevent future environmental damages. We find that individuals with higher discount rates are significantly less likely to support the imposition of a carbon tax in comparison with individuals that have lower discount rates. Even when controlling for other individual level attributes such as party affiliation a person’s rate for discounting the future is shown to be a strong predictor of their support for a carbon tax.
25-Hydroxyvitamin D and glycemic control: A cross-sectional study of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Abstract Aim The objective of this study was to describe the vitamin D status of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and to evaluate whether levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D are significantly associated with HbA1c in this population. Methods 197 children and adolescents from a diabetes center in a children's hospital were recruited during regular follow up visit. Non-fasting blood samples were collected to measure 25-hydroxyvitamin D and blood glucose levels. HbA1c and other key variables were abstracted from patients’ medical records. Results Of the 197 children and adolescents, more than half were adolescents, males, and Caucasian. 23% were overweight, while 13% were obese. Mean HbA1c was 8.6 ± 1.4% (70 ± 15.3 mmol/mol). 40.6% of patients had 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels ≤50 nmol/L; 49.2% had 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels between 51 and 75 nmol/L and 10.2% had 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels >75 nmol/L. The bivariate relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and HbA1c almost reached statistical significance (P = 0.057), while no significance was established in the multivariate model. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that has been adequately-powered to examine the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and HbA1c in children and adolescents with T1DM. This study demonstrated the high prevalence of patients with low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D specifically in healthy weight and Caucasian children and adolescents with T1DM. These data suggest the need for monitoring of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in all youth with T1DM.
Radiometric Correction of Airborne Radar Images Over Forested Terrain With Topography

Radiometric correction of radar images is essential to produce accurate estimates of biophysical parameters related to forest structure and biomass. We present a new algorithm to correct radiometry for 1) terrain topography and 2) variations of canopy reflectivity with viewing and tree-terrain geometry. This algorithm is applicable to radar images spanning a wide range of incidence angles over terrain with significant topography and can also take into account aircraft attitude, antenna steering angle, and target geometry. The approach includes elements of both homomorphic and heteromorphic terrain corrections to correct for topographic effects and is followed by an additional radiometric correction to compensate for variations of canopy reflectivity with viewing and tree-terrain geometry. The latter correction is based on lookup tables and enables derivation of biophysical parameters irrespective of viewing geometry and terrain topography. We evaluate the performance of the new algorithm with airborne radar data and show that it performs better than classical homomorphic methods followed by cosine-based corrections.
On the distribution of carriers in a semiconductor

The distribution of carriers and change of potential has been investigated in the interior of a semiconductor considered semi-infinite, when on the surface minority carriers of arbitrary distribution have been generated. The results have been obtained for the case of not too strong generation in the form of exact integrals. As a special case the light-spot diameter dependence of the photovoltage for the generation by circular light spot has been calculated. According to measurements it is possible to determine the inner recombination and the surface recombination velocity.
Isolation of L type colonies from typhoid bacilli with the aid of penicillin.

SummaryOn soft horse serum agar containing high concentrations of penicillin, colonies corresponding to the L1 of Strepto-bacillus moniliformis were isolated from typhoid bacilli. Cultures obtained from these colonies could be propagated indefinitely on similar media either with or without the addition of penicillin.
Abstract 2721: Real-time and label-free aptasensor of VEGF for cancer diagnostics

Early detection of cancer markers is a critical demand for clinical research, particularly in preventing cancer cells from establishing themselves in a metastatic stage. We have developed a stable, sensitive, and selective detection method utilizing a nanoplasmonic ‘aptasensor’ (aptamer-based sensor) of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for breast cancer diagnostics. Nanoplasmonic aptasensors are prepared by fixing gold nanoplasmonic particles (GNPs) on an amino-silane coated glass slide and coating poly-L-lysine (PLL) on top of GNPs, which provides the GNP with a strong positive-charged surface and a spacing layer avoiding quenching. To accomplish high selectivity, VEGF-specific aptamers are immobilized on the PLL-GNP surface by an electrostatic force. To monitor the event of target binding, the aptamer is conjugated with a fluorescent molecule, Cy-3, which has an absorption peak wavelength (λ = 552 nm) that matches with a localized surface plasmon resonance wavelength of the 80 nm in diameter GNP (λ ≈ 550 nm). In the absence of target VEGF molecules, Cy-3 is spaced in a relevant coupling distance from the GNP surface for the surface plasmon resonance to amplify an incident light and enhance the fluorescent signal of Cy-3. However, once VEGF molecules bind to the aptamer-Cy-3, the conformational change of aptamer occurs, leading to its subsequent detachment from the GNP surface, which results in no signal enhancement and, thus, a loss in the fluorescence intensity. Therefore, the concentration of VEGF molecules can be estimated by measuring the amount of signal decrease in the fluorescence intensity. With high affinity and specificity, the aptasensor of VEGF requires a small amount of sample (10 μL) for a single detection and incubation time of 1 hour at a room temperature. Also, the aptasensor achieves VEGF detection from 100 nM (2 μg/mL) to 100 pM (2 ng/mL) with a signal decrease up to 50%. In contrast, there is no discernible signal change in a non-specific binding protein solution (100 nM bovine serum albumin) or a strong ionic solution (1.4 M NaCl). Furthermore, the aptasensor is applicable to VEGF detection in human fluids, owing to the biological stability of a fully 2′-O-methyl nucleotide-based aptamer. We can detect VEGF molecules present in saliva and serum of breast cancer patients by observing signal decrease corresponding to the concentration of 100 nM (2 μg/mL) VEGF and a consistent decrease with concentration variation from 1 to 100 % in saline. The aptamer-based nanoplasmonic sensor may be useful for not only basic studies on angiogenesis but also clinical research in evaluating the effectiveness of drug candidates that inhibit VEGF secretion. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2721.
Compliance Effects in Dynamically Pitching Wind Turbine Airfoils

The effects of elastic compliance in dynamically pitching wind turbine blades have been experimentally investigated via unsteady surface pressure measurements and phase-locked Particle Imaging Velocimetry. Using a torsionally compliant member, aeroelastic effects on the unsteady aerodynamics were compared against the results from a corresponding noncompliant case to isolate the effects of compliance. The presence of compliance has been found i) to change the details of dynamic stall, ii) to alter the dynamic loading as measured by the sectional lift and moment coefficients, and iii) to be highly sensitive to small changes in the aeroelastic system. These results demonstrate the potential for aerodynamic control as a means to mitigate adverse loading effects and improve wind turbine efficiency.
Ligand-Receptor Contact Interactions Using Self-Assembled Bilayer Lipid Membranes

Biological membranes play a crucial role in signal transduction and information processing as well as in energy conversion. This is owing to the fact that most physiological activities involve some kind of lipid bilayer-based receptor-ligand contact interactions. There are many outstanding examples such as ion sensing, antigen-antibody binding, and ligand/voltage—gated channels, to name a few. One approach to study these interactions in vitro is facilitated by employing artificial bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs). We have focused the efforts on ion and/or molecular selectivity and specificity using newly available self-assembled BLMs on solid support (i.e., s-BLMs), whose enhanced stability greatly aids in research areas of membrane biochemistry, biophysics and cell biology as well as in biosensor designs and molecular devices development. In this paper, our current work along with the experiments carried out in close collaboration with others on s-BLMs will be presented.
Summability of Power Series

(1946). Summability of Power Series. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 53, No. 5, pp. 251-259.
Effect of Dipyridamole Therapy on Kawasaki Disease with Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency in Children

Objective To evaluate the therapy and turnover of Kawasaki disease(KD)with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase(G-6-PD)deficiency.Methods Six hundred and twenty-four patients with KD were selected including 32 patients who had G-6-PD defected.The same dose intravenous immunoglobulin(IVIG)was used in all 624 patients(2 g/kg),but used Dipyridamole in 32 patients had G-6-PD deficiency which replaced the role of acetylsalicylic acid(ASA)after acute period.The coronary artery of these patients were checked and followed-up through echocardiograph.The turnover of 32 patients with G-6-PD deficiency and 356 case selected randomly from all the KD patients were compared.SPSS 10.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results In 32 cases of KD with G-6-PD deficiency,4 children had coronary aneurysm(12.5%).After 6-12 months follow-up,the coronary lesions were recovered in 62.5% children,improved in 21.9% children and not improved in 15.6% childern,which were not significantly different from all the KD patients(Z=-1.604 P=1.09).Conclusions IVIG and Dipyridamole are feasible in treating KD with G-6-PD deficiency.J Appl Clin Pediatr,2009,24(1):26-27
New Method for Steam Turbine Valve Leak Test

This paper makes discussion on the steam turbine valve leak test methods,and recommend a new formula of calculation and test methods,according to the newly recommended calculation formula and test methods in No.2 steam turbine generator unit test for Datang Jinzhou Thermal Power Co.,Ltd.The experiment shows the method is feasible,and improves the safety of the test and can be extended to other units.
An Exploratory Investigation into the Role of Formalized Political Activity in International Marketing Strategy

The international market environment is one in which politics plays a fundamental role. Individual firm success is, in large part, dictated by the willingness and ability of the firm to engage in non-market, political activities. While U.S. firms are generally acknowledged to incorporate political behavior into their strategic approaches to the domestic market, they have been criticized for not undertaking the same activities in the global market. This study explores the importance firms place on politics and different political activities for gaining access to foreign markets. The results show that U.S. firms who have formalized political structures do place a high level of importance on political activities in their international operations.
The use of temporally aggregated data on detecting a structural change of a time series process

ABSTRACTIn this article we investigate the effects of temporal aggregation on testing for a mean change of time series through a likelihood ratio (LR) test. We derive the functional relationship between non aggregate-model parameters and aggregate-model parameters. Using the relationship, we propose a modified LR test when aggregate data are used. Through the theory, Monte Carlo simulations, and empirical examples, we show that aggregation leads the null distribution of the LR test statistic being shifted to the left. Hence, the test power increases as the order of aggregation increases.
Development of Fluid Transport Pulmonary Epithelia

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the development of fluid transport across the pulmonary epithelia. In the fetus, active secretion of Cl across both airway and alveolar epithelia drives water into the lung, and the resulting elevation of intraluminal hydrostatic pressure is essential important for normal lung development. However, at the time of birth, the primary type of active solute transport across pulmonary epithelia switches, within minutes, from active secretion of Cl – to active absorption of Na + . The transepithelial osmotic gradients are reversed and luminal liquid is absorbed as the lungs fill with air. This switch is affected by the interplay of a number of hormones of which the ultimate is usually epinephrine. Changes in arterial O 2 tension and in the extracellular matrix help maintain liquid absorption. The perinatal increase in Na absorption is initially due to insertion of ENaC into the apical membrane, followed later by an increase in the numbers of Na-K-ATPase on the basolateral membrane. The perinatal decrease in active Cl secretion is probably mainly due to a change in apical membrane potential difference consequent on increased Na conductance.
Evaluation of Left Ventricular Apical Aneurysms by Cross Sectional Echocardiography

Shape and contraction pattern of the left ventricular apex were examined in 25 consecutive patients with angiographically demonstrated apical aneurysms and 15 normal subjects using a real-time high resolution mechanical sector scanner. Examinations were conducted with the probe placed directly over the left ventricular apex with the sweep of the scan parallel to the long axis of the left ventricle. In normal patients the anterior and posterior walls of the left ventricle tapered to a rounded tip. At the onset of systole the apical segment showed initial motion toward the base of the heart followed by an inward motion of the anterior and posterior wall. When endocardium and epicardium were recorded, systolic thickening of the walls of the apical segment was also observed. In patients with apical aneurysms the normal tapering of the ventricular apex was lost and the apex became rounded and dilated. In addition normal contraction toward the base of the heart was either absent or motion of the apical segment was in a direction opposite to the base of the heart. Recognition of apical aneurysms was facilitated by the observation of a hinge point seperating normal muscular contraction from the akinetic or dyskinetic segment. This hinge point was most frequently observed along the inferior surface of the heart. In addition to changes in contraction pattern, no endocardium could be recorded in the area of the ventricular aneurysm.
Mechanism of oxidation protection of the Si(001) surface by sub-monolayer Sr template

We investigate theoretically the oxidation stability of the Si(001) (2 × 1) reconstructed surface passivated by Sr. Using density functional theory, we find that the Sr surface with ½ monolayer of Sr is protected against oxidation. The presence of Sr delays the oxidation of the surface dimer, and even when the dimer is oxidized, O does not react with the back-bond, preventing the unwanted vertical growth of SiO2. We also show that ¼ monolayer of Sr protects the Si surface in a different way. In the presence of ¼ monolayer of Sr, O atoms are attracted to the Sr-Si dimer complexes, thus preventing the formation of SiO2.
Cardiovascular Adaptations and Complications

Changes in right ventricular anatomy and function can occur at several stages of lung resection, starting after induction of general anesthesia and positioning, followed by one lung ventilation and surgical dissection. Compensatory mechanisms may not occur in patients with advanced COPD who are at risk of developing long-term complications. Several tests are available during the intraoperative period to evaluate right heart function and their merits are reviewed. Supraventricular arrhythmias are a common complication after thoracic surgery, depending on the side and the extent of the dissection. Atrial fibrillation is the most common postoperative rhythm disturbance after lung resection. Several pathophysiologic mechanisms as well as prophylactic and/or therapeutic maneuvers have been proposed. Older age and intrapericardial pneumonectomy are among the risk factors that strongly correlate with this condition. Acute coronary syndrome after thoracic surgery is rare but is associated with a high risk of death. Patients at risk are the ones with preoperative coronary artery disease and abnormal exercise testing. There are no clear recommendations on the role of preoperative cardiac catheterization and coronary revascularization. Cardiac failure can result from either right or left heart dysfunction, and can be transient or long standing. Symptoms may be subtle at rest and become evident during exertion. Cardiac herniation is a rare complication that may occur after intrapericardial pneumonectomy and is associated with a high mortality rate. Clinical and electrocardiographic signs are very nonspecific, and treatment is surgical. Mediastinal shift is the result of changes in the postpneumonectomy space. A high index of suspicion is needed for the diagnosis, which can present with severe hemodynamic compromise or respiratory symptoms. Postpneumonectomy syndrome may occur in the late postoperative period. It is characterized by an extreme mediastinal shift which causes dynamic compression of the distal airway and respiratory insufficiency. Treatment is surgical.
Discovery of new substrates of the elongation factor-2 kinase suggests a broader role in the cellular nutrient response.

Abstract Elongation Factor-2 Kinase (eEF2K) in an unusual mammalian enzyme that has one known substrate, elongation factor-2. It belongs to a class of kinases, called alpha kinases, that has little sequence identity to the > 500 conventional protein kinases, but performs the same reaction and has similar catalytic residues. The phosphorylation of eEF2 blocks translation elongation, which is thought to be critical to regulating cellular energy usage. Here we report a system for discovering new substrates of alpha kinases and identify the first new substrates of eEF2K including AMPK and alpha4, and determine a sequence motif for the kinase that shows a requirement for threonine residues as the target of phosphorylation. These new substrates suggest that eEF2K has a more diverse role in regulating cellular energy usage that involves multiple pathways and regulatory feedback.
Accurate prediction of human miRNA targets via graph modeling of miRNA-target duplex

miRNAs are short sequences involved in regulating many critical cell activities such as proliferation, differentiation, cell death, growth control and developmental timing. To function, miRNAs bind to certain target locations in mRNAs that they regulate. There is a lack of experimental data about the tertiary structure of miRNAtarget binding duplexes. Correlations of nucleotides in the binding duplexes, not limited to canonical Watson Crick and the wobble base pairs, may carry information about how the bindings occur, especially where the targets are in the mRNAs. In this work, we modeled miRNA binding duplexes with a weighted bipartite graph, called a Correlation Graph, to capture the correlation between pairs of nucleotides appearing on a miRNA and its target sequences.
Vector Casimir effect for a D -dimensional sphere

The Casimir energy or stress due to modes in a $D$-dimensional volume subject to TM (mixed) boundary conditions on a bounding spherical surface is calculated. Both interior and exterior modes are included. Together with earlier results found for scalar modes (TE modes), this gives the Casimir effect for fluctuating ``electromagnetic'' (vector) fields inside and outside a spherical shell. Known results for three dimensions, first found by Boyer, are reproduced. Qualitatively, the results for TM modes are similar to those for scalar modes: Poles occur in the stress at positive even dimensions, and cusps (logarithmic singularities) occur for integer dimensions $Dl~1$. Particular attention is given the interesting case of $D=2$.
Improving risk stratification for hospital mortality using troponin: is it time for a change of heart?

In a recent issue of the journal Critical Care, Docherty et al. described their analysis of a strategy of routine cardiac troponin I (cTnI) testing at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (1). In their study, they analyzed an observational cohort over 4 years at two busy ICUs, with independent derivation and validation cohorts, to determine whether cTnI testing added value to routine clinical evaluation of critically ill patients. What they found should cause some discomfort to all clinicians who take care of critically ill patients.
The Lifestyle Medicine Outpatient Clinic at Loma Linda University Health

Medical management of chronic health concerns relies heavily on behavioral change, most specifically medication adherence. Yet approximately 50% of patients with chronic illnesses are not thought t...
Polymorphic Expression of UGT1A9 is Associated with Variable Acetaminophen Glucuronidation in Neonates: A Population Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacogenetic Study

Acetaminophen (paracetamol, APAP) is widely used as an analgesic and antipyretic drug in children and neonates. A number of enzymes contribute to the metabolism of acetaminophen, and genetic factors might be important to explain variability in acetaminophen metabolism among individuals. The current investigation utilized a previously published parent–metabolite population pharmacokinetic model describing acetaminophen glucuronidation, sulfation, and oxidation to examine the potential role of genetic variability on the relevant metabolic pathways. Neonates were administered 30-min intravenous infusions of acetaminophen 15 mg/kg every 12 h ( insT, T9 > T10) significantly improved model fit (likelihood ratio test, p < 0.001) and reduced between-subject variability in glucuronide formation clearance. Individuals with the UGT1A9 T10 polymorphism, indicating insertion of an additional thymidine nucleotide, had a 42% reduction in clearance to APAP-glucuronide as compared to their wild-type counterparts. This study shows a pharmacogenetic effect of an SV in the UGT1A9 promoter region on the metabolism of acetaminophen in neonates.
The Influence of Fat Grafting on Skin Quality in Cosmetic Foot Grafting: A Randomized, Cross-Over Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND Pedal fat grafting is a cosmetic procedure to treat the functional and aesthetic sequelae of pedal fat pad atrophy. Fat grafting has been found to mitigate these symptoms, but the exact mechanism is unknown. OBJECTIVES The authors hypothesized that pedal fat grafting may improve skin quality, accounting for prolonged symptomatic improvement despite loss of grafted fat. METHODS Patients with pedal atrophy were enrolled in a randomized crossover clinical trial. Group 1 underwent fat grafting upon enrollment with 2-year follow-up. Group 2 was managed conservatively for 1 year then placed into the fat grafting group with 1-year follow-up. Patients underwent pedal ultrasounds to determine thicknesses of the fat pad and dermis, and photographs were taken to assess skin quality. RESULTS Three men and 20 women with an average age of 63 ± 6 years and an average BMI of 26.0 ± 4.6 kg/m2 were enrolled in the study. Twenty-six feet were injected in Group 1 and 17 were injected in Group 2. Group 1 dermal thickness increased at 6 months post-injection (P < 0.05). This increase persisted through 24 months. Group 2 dermal thickness decreased prior to injection (P < 0.05) but returned to baseline after injection and through 12-month follow-up (P < 0.05). Fat pad thickness returned to baseline by study completion in both groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Pedal fat grafting yielded a significant, sustained increase in dermal thickness, though grafted fat was not retained. Fat grafting may improve skin quality, which could contribute to improved clinical outcomes despite loss of grafted fat. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2
An Introduction to Inverse Problems in Partial Differential Equations for Physicists, Scientists and Engineers

In an inverse problem where properties of a physical system are to be found indirectly from measured outputs, one seeks to define and then somehow invert an input/output mapping. When the unknown physical properties are characterized by a small number of constant parameters, the problem is referred to as a parameter identification problem and in such cases the input/output mapping is often simple enough that important properties of the map become transparent. In this first part of the tutorial, examples of such problems are presented to show that the input/output mapping is often a monotone map and to show how monotonicity can be exploited to invert the input/output mapping. Other examples illustrate how a parameterization that fails to exploit monotonicity can lead t incorrect or inferior results. These observations provide a basis for understanding more complex inverse prolems.
Silicate Analysis—a Glance Backward and a Look Forward

Silicate rock analysis is in a state of flux. Methods are changing rapidly in response to shifting requirements of geologists and geochemists. V. M. Goldschmidt’s geochemical investigations in the 1930’s established the utility of spectrography for quantitatively determining trace elements in rocks. This technique remains the best instrumental method for yielding the maximum qualitative and quantitative information with the minimum effort. This success was followed by an ever increasing array of instrumental methods. The more significant include spectrophotometry, flame photometry, polarography, x-ray fluorescence, chromatography, atomic absorption, and neutron activation. Since World War II emphasis has been on the development of rapid methods, especially for the major and minor elements and on evermore sensitive methods for the trace elements. New field methods for geochemical prospecting and remote methods for extraterrestrial studies have been developed. Computer techniques for analyzing and recording experimental data are being developed, as many instruments produce much more information than can be assimilated by older calculating and recording methods.
Analysis of Tn5 inversion events in Escherichia coli plasmids.

The ability of the bacterial transposon Tn5 to undergo sequence inversion in Rec+ Escherichia coli cells as a result of recombination between its duplicated IS50 elements was examined using specially designed plasmid constructs. Surprisingly, recombination events in the IS50 elements that led to crossover and therefore Tn5 inversion could be detected at a frequency of only 10−5. This was approximately an order of magnitude lower than the frequency of IS50 recombination that led to conversion events (i.e. non-reciprocal recombination) without crossover, and at least two orders of magnitude lower than the frequency of intermolecular recombination between IS50 elements on two different plasmids. These rare conversion and inversion events in Tn5 appeared to be due to intramolecular recombination and not simply to multiple rounds of reciprocal crossing over, since the heterodimeric intermediates that would be generated during the latter process could be readily isolated but were shown to yield a completely different set of plasmid products upon resolution.
Total intravenous versus inhaled anesthesia in transsphenoidal tumor surgery

Abstract Purpose Visualization of the surgical field is essential for patient safety during endoscopic transsphenoidal tumor surgery. In this retrospective chart review and data analysis of patients undergoing endoscopic transsphenoidal resection of pituitary tumors under general anesthesia we sought to determine if total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil leads to decreased bleeding, surgical duration, time to extubation and/or length of stay in the recovery room compared to inhaled anesthesia with sevoflurane or desflurane. Methods After IRB approval, chart reviews of 193 American Society of Anesthesiologists class 1 to 3 patients were conducted who had undergone transsphenoidal, endonasal resections of pituitary tumors under total intravenous or inhaled anesthesia at an academic teaching hospital in the United States over a seven-year time period. One hundred four patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were further reviewed. Primary outcome was intraoperative blood loss; secondary outcomes were surgical duration, time to extubation and length of stay in the recovery room. Results Gender, age, and Lund-Mackay-Scores were equally distributed between the two anesthetic groups. We found no significant effect of the anesthetic technique, age, gender, or Lund Mackay score on any of the primary or secondary outcomes. The only significant predictor for recovery room length of stay was intraoperative blood loss. Conclusion Our study shows no evidence that total intravenous anesthesia is superior to inhaled anesthesia or vice versa during endoscopic transsphenoidal sinus surgery with regard to relevant clinical outcome parameters.
National Science Foundation funding for computer science projects

This panel will highlight National Science Foundation programs of interest to college faculty, focusing on the Division of Undergraduate Education but including pointers to other NSF programs. The panel will include an NSF Program Director and two PIs of recent NSF-funded education projects.
MONITORED ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF NEW AND RETROFITTED BUILDINGS

ABSTRACT We present results of several compilations of monitored energy performance of buildings and equipment. We compare the performance of over one hundred monitored low-energy homes. Measured results from residential and commercial building retrofits are summarized.
Dermatology Clinics: What's New in Dermatopathology: News in Nonmelanocytic Neoplasia

This article reviews the recent dermatopathology literature involving nonmelanocytic neoplasia, with a focus on important work done over the last 5 years. The discussion includes advances in the understanding of Merkel cell carcinoma pathogenesis and prognosis; changes in the seventh edition of the American Joint Committee of Cancer staging manual in reference to staging of squamous cell carcinoma and Merkel cell carcinoma; newly described or rare histopathologic patterns and entities including squamoid eccrine ductal carcinoma, rippled-pattern adnexal neoplasms, onychomatricoma, spindle cell predominant trichodiscoma/neurofollicular hamartoma, and myoepithelioma; and microsatellite instability in sebaceous neoplasms of Muir-Torre syndrome and other tumors.
Large Scale Predictive Analytics for Hard Disk Remaining Useful Life Estimation

Hard disk failure prediction plays an important role in reducing data center downtime and improving service reliability. In contrast to existing work of modeling the prediction problem as classification tasks, we aim to directly predict the remaining useful life (RUL) of hard disk drives. We experiment with two different types of machine learning methods: random forest and long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks. The developed machine learning models are applied to predict RUL for a large number of hard disk drives. Preliminary experimental results indicate that random forest method using only the current snapshot of SMART attributes is comparable to or outperforms LSTM, which models historical temporal patterns of SMART sequences using a more sophisticated architecture.
Predictive modeling of material removal rate in chemical mechanical planarization with physics-informed machine learning

Abstract Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is a high-precision and complex manufacturing process that removes material with chemical and mechanical forces in order to achieve highly planar surfaces. Significant research efforts have been devoted to developing physics-based and data-driven approaches to predicting the material removal rate (MRR) in the CMP process. Both physics-based and data-driven methods have advantages and disadvantages. A novel physics-informed machine learning approach is introduced to combine a physics-based model of MRR in CMP with a data-driven model of MRR in CMP. The physics-based model takes into account the contact between a polishing pad and abrasives and the contact between abrasives and a wafer. The data-driven model trained by a machine learning algorithm predicts the asperity radius and asperity density of the polishing pad using the polishing pad wear and conditioner wear estimated by the physics-based model. The predicted asperity radius and asperity density of the polishing pad are then used to estimate MRR in CMP. Experimental data collected from a CMP tool under varying operating conditions are used to train and validate the predictive model. Experimental results have shown that the physics-informed machine learning method is capable of predicting MRR in CMP with high accuracy.
The Cluster Affinity Distance for Phylogenies

Studying phylogenetic trees is fundamental to biology and benefitting a vast variety of other research areas. Comparing such trees is essential to such studies for which a growing and diverse collection of tree distances are available. In practice, tree distances suffer from problems that can severely limit their applicability. Notably, these distances include the cluster matching distance that is adapted from the Robinson-Foulds distance to overcome many of the drawbacks of this traditional measure. However, at the same time, the cluster matching distance is much more confined in its application than the Robinson-Foulds distance and makes sacrifices for satisfying the properties of a metric. Here, we propose the cluster affinity distance, a new tree distance that is adapted from the cluster matching distance but has not its drawbacks. Nevertheless, as we show, the cluster affinity distance preserves all of the properties that make the matching distance appealing.
Induced technology hypothesis. Acemoglu and Marx on deskilling (skill replacing) innovations

The paper hypothesizes that the worldwide market-friendly political/institutional transformations of the early 1980s had an impact on the direction of technological change. Their crucial effect was...
Principal variable selection to explain grain yield variation in winter wheat from features extracted from UAV imagery

Automated phenotyping technologies are continually advancing the breeding process. However, collecting various secondary traits throughout the growing season and processing massive amounts of data still take great efforts and time. Selecting a minimum number of secondary traits that have the maximum predictive power has the potential to reduce phenotyping efforts. The objective of this study was to select principal features extracted from UAV imagery and critical growth stages that contributed the most in explaining winter wheat grain yield. Five dates of multispectral images and seven dates of RGB images were collected by a UAV system during the spring growing season in 2018. Two classes of features (variables), totaling to 172 variables, were extracted for each plot from the vegetation index and plant height maps, including pixel statistics and dynamic growth rates. A parametric algorithm, LASSO regression (the least angle and shrinkage selection operator), and a non-parametric algorithm, random forest, were applied for variable selection. The regression coefficients estimated by LASSO and the permutation importance scores provided by random forest were used to determine the ten most important variables influencing grain yield from each algorithm. Both selection algorithms assigned the highest importance score to the variables related with plant height around the grain filling stage. Some vegetation indices related variables were also selected by the algorithms mainly at earlier to mid growth stages and during the senescence. Compared with the yield prediction using all 172 variables derived from measured phenotypes, using the selected variables performed comparable or even better. We also noticed that the prediction accuracy on the adapted NE lines (r = 0.58–0.81) was higher than the other lines (r = 0.21–0.59) included in this study with different genetic backgrounds. With the ultra-high resolution plot imagery obtained by the UAS-based phenotyping we are now able to derive more features, such as the variation of plant height or vegetation indices within a plot other than just an averaged number, that are potentially very useful for the breeding purpose. However, too many features or variables can be derived in this way. The promising results from this study suggests that the selected set from those variables can have comparable prediction accuracies on the grain yield prediction than the full set of them but possibly resulting in a better allocation of efforts and resources on phenotypic data collection and processing.
Responses to bullying among high-school students through the lens of general strain theory

In General Strain Theory (GST), Agnew asserts that negative emotions in response to strains are associated with antisocial behavior. Researchers found GST to explain criminal and self-harm response...
The Treatment of Rib Fractures : A Single-Center Comparison

BackgroundRib fractures are a major problem characterized by pain, increased length of stay, and respiratory complications. Treatments include fixation, management with opiates, paraspinous local a...
Are Null Results Becoming an Endangered Species in Marketing

Editorial procedures in the social and biomedical sciences are said to promote studies that falsely reject the null hypothesis. This problem may also exist in major marketing journals. Of 692 papers using statistical significance tests sampled from theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, andJournal of Consumer Research between 1974 and 1989, only 7.8% failed to reject the null hypothesis. The percentage of null results declined by one-half from the 1970s to the 1980s. TheJM and theJMR registered marked decreases. The small percentage of insignificant results could not be explained as being due to inadequate statistical power.
Toward Deep Generalization of Peripheral EMG-Based Human-Robot Interfacing: A Hybrid Explainable Solution for NeuroRobotic Systems

This letter investigates the feasibility of a generalizable solution for human-robot interfaces through peripheral multichannel Electromyography (EMG) recording. We propose a tangential approach in comparison to the literature to minimize the need for (re)calibration of the system for new users. The proposed algorithm decodes the signal space and detects the common underlying global neurophysiological components, which can be detected robustly across various users, minimizing the need for retraining and (re)calibration. The research question is how to go beyond techniques that detect a high number of gestures for a given individual (which requires extensive calibration) and achieve an algorithm that can detect a lower number of classes but without the need for (re)calibration. The outcomes of this letter address a challenge affecting the usability and acceptance of advanced myoelectric prostheses. For this, the paper proposes an explainable generalizable hybrid deep learning architecture that incorporates CNN and LSTM. We also utilize the GradCAM analysis to explain and optimize the structure of the generalized model, securing higher computational performance whiles proposing a shallower design.