cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Purification and characterization of heterogeneous pluripotent hematopoietic stem cell populations expressing high levels of c-kit receptor

Mouse pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells (PHSC) were fractionated based on size and density using counterflow centrifugal elutriation (CCE). These heterogeneous PHSC populations were further enriched by subtraction of cells with lineage-specific markers (Lin-) followed by positive sorting for c-kit expression. The cells were characterized for their functional and biochemical properties. We defined a subpopulation of c-kit-positive cells that expressed high numbers of c-kit receptors (c-kitBR). One hundred c-kitBR cells from either low- or higher-density fractions were sufficient to repopulate the lymphohematopoietic system in WBB6F1-W/Wv (W/Wv) recipients, whereas no PHSC were found in cells with low (c-kitDULL) or no (c-kitNEG) c-kit expression. Lin- c-kitBR cells were separated into RhoDULL and RhoBR subsets based on their ability to efflux rhodamine 123 (Rho). The PHSC were concentrated in Lin- c-kitBR RhoDULL cells and the number of Lin- c-kitBR RhoBR cells correlated directly with the number of day 12 colony-forming unit-spleen (CFU-S12) in each fraction. We were not able to enrich further for PHSC using monoclonal antibodies to the cell-surface markers AA4.1 or CD4, which have been used by others to isolate PHSC. The small, low-density Lin- c-kitBR subset contained PHSC and few CFU-S12. This enabled us to assay PHSC for expression of the flk-2 gene, which encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor present on fetal liver PHSC. Purified RNA from the low-density Lin- c-kitBR subset did not contain flk-2 mRNA. We suggest that AA4.1, CD4 and flk-2 are expressed as stage-specific markers on PHSC in cell cycle.
Applying in the Classroom What We Know about Groups and Teams

Human factors and ergonomics specialists need to work in teams. This article highlights various benefits and potential problems of groups and teams. The main focus is on ways to successfully implem...
Reliability of Copper Interconnects: Stress-Induced Voids

Stress-induced voids can form in Cu interconnects, due to either thermal expansion mismatch between the metal and the dielectric or due to confined grain growth in the Cu. The fail rate due to stress-induced voids increases as device dimensions decrease, because the critical void size to cause a fail decreases. Good process control is required for trench and via profiles, barrier and seed layer coverage, Cu fill, and cap layer adhesion, to prevent fails from stress-induced voids.
Volatile organic compounds in small- and medium-sized commercial buildings in California.

While small- and medium-sized commercial buildings (SMCBs) make up 96% of the commercial buildings in the U.S., serving a large variety of uses, little information is available on indoor air quality (IAQ) in SMCBs. This study investigated 37 SMCBs distributed across different sizes, ages, uses, and regions of California. We report indoor concentrations and whole building emission rates of a suite of 30 VOCs and aldehydes in these buildings. There was a considerable range in the concentrations for each of the contaminants, especially for formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, d-limonene, 2-butoxyethanol, toluene, 2,2,4-trimethylpentanediol diisobutyrate, and diethylphthalate. The cause of higher concentrations in some building categories generally corresponded to expected sources, for example, chloroform was higher in restaurants and grocery stores, and formaldehyde was higher in retail stores and offices. Factor analysis suggests sources in SMCBs include automobile/traffic, cleaning pro...
Autism traits may be more prevalent in ADHD than previously reported

Previous research has indicated that there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the behavioural phenotypes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).1 The presence of ASD traits in children with ADHD, however, generally portends a more severe profile of symptoms and impairments. Cooper and colleagues’ study is novel due to the very large sample size of children with ADHD, and because it assesses ASD traits on a continuous scale.
Development and Application of Weighing Type Well Automatic Control Metering

Single well metering is the important work in the well production and is the important influence factor in the oil field production.Traditional stand metering separator covers huge area,high cost,low meter precision,high difficulty in artificial metering,high work strength,but safety potential exists.Weighing type well metering is one kind of equipment combined the metering with the separator,cover small area,low investment,high meter precision,operation simple,low energy consumption,low work strength.The test and application in Jinma Oil Field imply the weighing type metering can replace the traditional stand well metering separator,fitting to the Jinma Oil Field measuring station.
Oral antibiotics in the nineties: new drugs and new challenges in primary care.

8. Acknowledgments 9. References 1. ABSTRACT The primary care physician is faced with a bewildering array of new oral antimicrobials to treat common infections. These agents promise to be extremely effective as replacements for time-honored drugs, as prophylaxis, and for the treatment of infections previously requiring prolonged intravenous therapy. The overuse of the newer macrolides, quinolones, and beta-lactam betalactamase inhibitors may prove to be ecologically and economically costly. It is feared that the selective pressure from these broad spectrum agents may burden society with an even greater problem of multiply resistant communityacquired pathogens. The specific therapeutic and economic advantages and disadvantages of each class should be considered and the decision to employ these agents should be highly individualized.
Initial Examination of the BRIEF2 in Clinically Referred Children With and Without ADHD Symptoms

Objective: Clinical utility of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF2) was examined in 1,381 clinically referred youth (62.5% male, 5 to 18 years) with and without ADHD symptoms. Method: Participants included children with restricted inattentive symptoms (IA only), restricted hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms (HI only), symptoms in both domains (Combined), and non-ADHD clinical comparison. Results: Greater hyperactivity (Combined, HI only) was associated with higher Behavior Regulation (BRI) and Emotion Regulation (ERI) scores, whereas greater inattentiveness (IA only, Combined) was associated with higher Cognitive Regulation scores. Effect sizes were largest for Inhibit, Working Memory, and Organization of Materials scales; these scales discriminated children with and without ADHD symptoms and restricted inattentive and hyperactive presentations. Conclusion: The BRIEF2 distinguishes associated features of ADHD and the day-to-day executive impact. Sensitivity was consistently poorer than specificity. The referred nature of the sample and examination of restricted presentations suggest additional work is needed to examine whether ERI and BRI are dissociable.
Consumption of a high-fat meal was associated with an increase in monocyte adhesion molecules, scavenger receptors, and Propensity to Form Foam Cells.

Background: Macrophage-derived foam cells are the predominant component of arterial plaques in the early stages of atherosclerosis. One factor that poses a major risk for plaque development is high levels of plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) as a result of a high-fat meal. In order to better understand how an individuals' diet affects arterial plaque deposition via the process of foam cell formation, we measured the acute circulating monocyte activity response after consuming a high-fat meal (85% of daily fat allowance). Materials and Methods: Venous blood samples from 17 participants were acquired on a FlowSight. Samples were analyzed to identify non-classical (CD14+/16+) and classical (CD14+/16-) monocytes. We measured monocyte concentration, adhesion molecule expression, CD36 expression, and oxidized LDL (oxLDL) endocytosis for pre-prandial, 1, 3, and 5 h postprandial. Results: Consuming a high-fat meal caused increases in oxLDL uptake, adhesion molecule expression, and CD36 expression in both classical and non-classical monocytes, with the non-classical monocytes responding with larger increases than the classical monocytes. Conclusion: These results suggest that consumption of a high-fat meal increased the potential of monocytes to become foam cells, and implicates non-classical monocytes as having greater potential than classical monocytes to become foam cells. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Refractory IgD Multiple Myeloma Treated with Daratumumab: A Case Report and Literature Review

Patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma have poor prognosis. A recent analysis of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who were refractory to both proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs showed the median overall survival of 9 months only. Daratumumab is the first-in-class human monoclonal antibody against CD38 cells which was studied in phase I/II trials for treatment of these patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma. It showed an overall response rate of 36% and a median overall survival (OS) of 17 months in these patients. We report a case of 40-year-old man with immunoglobulin D (IgD) multiple myeloma whose disease was refractory to at least 5 different chemotherapy regimens including proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs. The clinical studies assessing daratumumab did not include any patients with IgD myeloma which is a rare form of multiple myeloma and to our knowledge is the first study reporting use of daratumumab in IgD myeloma.
Trade‐off between early emergence and herbivore susceptibility mediates exotic success in an experimental California plant community

Ecological trade-offs are fundamental to theory in community ecology; critical for understanding species coexistence in diverse plant communities, as well as the evolution of diverse life-history strategies. Invasions by exotic species can provide insights into the importance of trade-offs in community assembly, because the ecological strategies of invading species often differ from those present in the native species pool. Exotic annual species have invaded many Mediterranean-climate areas around the globe, and often germinate and emerge earlier in the growing season than native species. Early-season growth can enable exotic annual species to preempt space and resources, competitively suppressing later-emerging native species; however, early-emerging individuals may also be more apparent to herbivores. This suggests a potential trade-off between seasonal phenology and susceptibility to herbivory. To evaluate this hypothesis, we monitored the emergence and growth of 12 focal species (six each native and exotic) in monoculture and polyculture, while experimentally excluding generalist herbivores both early and later in the growing season. Consistent with past studies, the exotic species emerged earlier than native species. Regardless of species origin, earlier-emerging species achieved greater biomass by the end of the experiment, but were more negatively impacted by herbivory, particularly in the early part of the growing season. This greater impact of early-season herbivory on early-active species led to a reduction in the competitive advantage of exotic species growing in polyculture, and improved the performance of later-emerging natives. Such a trade-off between early growth and susceptibility to herbivores could be an important force in community assembly in seasonal herbaceous-dominated ecosystems. These results also show how herbivore exclusion favors early-active exotic species in this system, with important implications for management in many areas invaded by early-active exotic species.
On the performance of directional communications in ultra-dense networks

Extreme densification of base stations is imminent in the next generation of cellular networks to meet the exponentially increasing demand for mobile data traffic. In such ultra-dense networks (UDNs), the remarkably high inter-cell interference can reduce or even negate the densification gain. On the other hand, directional communications can significantly bring down the interference levels in UDNs. Hence, it is of importance to evaluate the network performance of UDNs with directional communications. Through Monte Carlo simulations, this paper analyzes the characteristics of coverage probability, area spectral efficiency (ASE), and per-user throughput with respect to extreme network densification. Our simulation results show that directional communications can deliver significantly higher network performance with tens of times higher ASE when compared to non-directional communications in UDNs.
Whole Blood-Based Multiplex Immunoassays for the Evaluation of Human Biomarker Responses to Emerging Viruses in Resource-Limited Regions

Abstract Many emerging viruses such as Ebola and Lassa occur in resource-limited areas of the world. The advent of multiplex immunoassays has facilitated the study of biomarkers of disease since only small amounts of clinical material are required; however, such assays are designed and validated for only plasma or serum. This is a significant impediment when studying infectious diseases in the context of an outbreak in a developing nation. Plasma or serum can be difficult to obtain in the field due to the need for additional processing of infectious materials. Evaluation of multiplex immunoassays using frozen and thawed human whole blood (WB) would permit additional analysis using a more readily available human clinical sample. In this study, frozen and thawed human WB was directly compared with frozen and thawed plasma from normal healthy donors in a series of multiplexed immunoassays for 59 different biomarkers. We demonstrate that most important biomarkers can be evaluated using thawed WB, which will f...
U.S. Retirement Policy Considerations for the 21st Century

Despite a lively debate over whether U.S. workers face a retirement crisis, no one denies that facets of our retirement system could be improved. A constructive discussion should focus on who is at risk and what policies might ameliorate the problems they face. To the extent that older workers have inadequate saving to meet their retirement needs, proposals to increase savings rates would likely offer little relief. For low earners, who are particularly at risk, higher savings rates may impose real hardship and may be ineffective in ameliorating retiree poverty. Home health care and long-term care expenses pose a special risk to people who live to advanced ages, but this is largely a problem of insurance rather than retirement saving inadequacy. Bolstering Social Security for low earners is the surest way to provide them retirement income security. Widening retirement savings opportunities for workers through broader employer sponsorship of plans with modern behavioral features that encourage participation, reasonable savings levels, and efficient investment opportunities will improve the retirement security of other segments of the workforce.
Structure Determination of Antenna Complexes Using Two-Dimensional Femtosecond Electronic Spectroscopies

Multidimensional NMR techniques provide important structural and dynamical information on complex biomolecules, such as proteins, by spreading the congested one dimensional (1D) spectra along additional dimensions [1]. These ideas have been extended recently to the study of molecular vibrations using Raman techniques [2,3]. In this article we propose new two-dimensional electronic spectroscopies of molecular aggregates, such as photosynthetic antenna complexes, based on the application of sequences of carefully timed femtosecond optical pulses [4]. The optical response of molecular aggregates provides information regarding transition frequencies, intermllecular coupling constants, vibronic coupling and the timescales of the nuclear motions [5]. Linear optical spectroscopy is a one-dimensional (1D) technique which provides a highly averaged information on these microscopic parameters. The positions of the absorption lines give the transition frequencies whereas the line widths are determined by the combination of homogeneous and inhomogeneous dephasing rates originating from coupling to fast and slow motions of the environment, respectively.
Practicing Behavioral Strengthening: Effective Problem-Solving (Session 4 of the Treatment Manual)

Session 4 of the treatment manual focuses on effective decision-making and problem-solving. Because of the goal-oriented nature of Asian heritage populations, the manual’s initial emphasis on problem-solving was a purposeful cultural adaptation. Moreover, because many Asian heritage populations delay treatment and are very severe when they first seek help, they often come into treatment looking for the therapist to give them direct advice and help them immediately resolve their problems. By focusing on problem-solving, the therapist can align with client treatment goals, thereby facilitating the development of a more positive working alliance early in therapy. This chapter helps facilitate treatment progress by introducing the principle of “wise action,” which is deeply ingrained in Asian culture and stems from traditions such as Confucianism and Buddhism.
Dropout from individual psychotherapy for major depression: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Dropout from mental health treatment poses a substantial problem, but rates vary substantially across studies and diagnoses. Focused reviews are needed to provide more detailed estimates for specific areas of research. Randomized clinical trials involving individual psychotherapy for unipolar depression are ubiquitous and important, but empirical data on average dropout rates from these studies is lacking. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of 54 such studies (N=5852) including 80 psychotherapy conditions, and evaluated a number of predictors of treatment- and study-level dropout rates. Our overall weighted dropout estimates were 19.9% at the study level, and 17.5% for psychotherapy conditions specifically. Therapy orientation did not significantly account for variance in dropout estimates, but estimates were significantly higher in psychotherapy conditions with more patients of minority racial status or with comorbid personality disorders. Treatment duration was also positively associated with dropout rates at trend level. Studies with an inactive control comparison had higher dropout rates than those without such a condition. Limitations include the inability to test certain potential predictors (e.g., socioeconomic status) due to infrequent reporting. Overall, our findings suggest the need to consider how specific patient and study characteristics may influence dropout rates in clinical research on individual therapy for depression.
Multi-Omics Profiling for NF1 Target Discovery in Neurofibromin (NF1) Deficient Cells.

Loss of NF1 is an oncogenic driver. In efforts to define pathways responsible for the development of neurofibromas and other cancers, transcriptomic and proteomic changes are evaluated in a non-malignant NF1 null cell line. NF1 null HEK293 cells were created using CRISPR/Cas9 technology and they are compared to parental cells that express neurofibromin. A total of 1222 genes and 132 proteins are found to be differentially expressed. The analysis is integrated to identify eight transcripts/proteins that are differentially regulated in both analyses. Metacore Pathway analysis identifies Neurogenesis NGF/TrkA MAPK-mediated signaling alterations. Next, the data set is compared with other published studies that involve analysis of cells or tumors deficient for NF1 and it is found that 141 genes recur in the sample and others; only thirteen of these genes recur in two or more studies. Genes/proteins of interest are validated via q-RT-PCR or Western blot. It is shown that KRT8 and 14-3-3σ protein levels respond to exogenously introduced mNf1 cDNA. Hence, transcripts/proteins that respond to neurofibromin levels are identified and they can potentially be used as biomarkers.
Exploring the Handler-Dog Connection within a University-Based Animal-Assisted Activity.

There has been an increase in research concerning the quality of dyadic interactions between humans and dogs in university-based animal assisted activities (AAAs). While interactions between students and dogs are commonly an area of focus, studies examining interactions between handlers and their dogs are needed. We coded 10-min long video-recorded observations (N = 151) using a mixed methods approach to capture the duration and frequency of dog-directed handler behavior (i.e., postural state, verbal and physical contact) before and during interactions with student participants in an AAA. Analyses showed a significant decrease in the proportion of time handlers spent petting their dog, and a significant increase in the proportion of time handlers spent sitting on the floor and restraining their dog by the leash in response to student introduction. Two dimensions of handlers’ dog-directed behavior emerged (e.g., warmth, control) revealing distinct handler interaction styles: Hands-off (L Warmth, L Control), permissive (H warmth, L control), authoritative (H Warmth, H Control), and authoritarian (L Warmth, H Control). Handlers’ interaction styles were influenced by student presence, leading some handlers to increase warmth behaviors directed to their dogs, while others decreased such behaviors. Implications for the facilitation of university-based AAAs are discussed.
Filter selection for a harmonic radar

In a harmonic radar system design, one of the most important components is the filter used to remove the self-generated harmonics by the high-power transmitter power amplifier, which is usually driven close to its 1-dB compression point. The obvious choice for this filter is a low-pass filter. The low-pass filter will be required to attenuate stop band frequencies with 100 dB attenuation or more. Due to the high degree of attenuation required, multiple low-pass filter will likely be required. Most commercially available low-pass filters are reflective devices, which operate by reflecting the unwanted high frequencies. Cascading these reflective filter causes issues in attenuating stop band frequencies. We show that frequency diplexers are more attractive in place of reflective low-pass filters as they are able to terminate the stop band frequencies as opposed to reflecting them.
Gastric emptying scintigraphy results may influence the selection of the type of bariatric surgery: A cohort study

Bariatric surgery (BAS) may result in adverse outcomes that include appearance of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and/or failure to reach the weight reduction goal. This retrospective study tested the hypothesis that pre-operative gastric emptying (GE) abnormality is responsible for adverse post-surgical outcomes. Pre-operative GE was performed using the standard solid-meal GE scintigraphy (GES) in 111 consecutive patients (105 females and 6 males, mean age 46.2 years, range 20–70 years) who were evaluated for BAS. All underwent BAS – 93 had laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and 18 had Roux-en-Y (ReY) gastric bypass. All had short-term (3-6 months) and long-term (up to 54 months) follow-up with review of symptoms, physical, and laboratory examinations. Chi-square analysis was performed. P-value < .05 was considered significant. Of the 111 patients, 83 had normal and 28 had abnormal pre-op GES. Sixty-eight were asymptomatic and 43 were symptomatic prior to surgery. Following surgery, 81 patients were asymptomatic and 30 were symptomatic at long-term follow-up. There was no significant difference between pre-op GE results and post-surgical adverse clinical outcome (p = ns). However, GES results seem to have guided the selection of surgical procedure significantly (P = .008). Pre-operative GE study was not a strong predictor of clinical outcome in BAS. Although, it influenced the type of surgery, as when the GES was abnormal, the patient was more likely to undergo ReY and when GES was normal, they favored LSG. Interestingly, many of our symptomatic patients at 6 months post-op were asymptomatic after long-term follow-up.
Epigallocatechin-3-gallate Inhibits Cu(II)-induced β-2-microglobulin Amyloid Formation by Binding to the Edge of its β-sheets

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a catechin found in green tea that can inhibit the amyloid formation of a wide variety of proteins. EGCG's ability to prevent or redirect the amyloid formation of so many proteins may reflect a common mechanism of action, and thus, greater molecular-level insight into how it exerts its effect could have broad implications. Here, we investigate the molecular details of EGCG's inhibition of the protein β-2-microglobulin (β2m), which forms amyloids in patients undergoing long-term dialysis treatment. Using size-exclusion chromatography and a collection of mass spectrometry-based techniques, we find that EGCG prevents Cu(II)-induced β2m amyloid formation by diverting the normal progression of preamyloid oligomers toward the formation of spherical, redissolvable aggregates. EGCG exerts its effect by binding with a micromolar affinity (Kd ≈ 5 μM) to the β2m monomer on the edge of two β-sheets near the N-terminus. This interaction destabilizes the preamyloid dimer and prevents the formation of a tetramer species previously shown to be essential for Cu(II)-induced β2m amyloid formation. EGCG's binding at the edge of the β-sheets in β2m is consistent with a previous hypothesis that EGCG generally prevents amyloid formation by binding cross-β-sheet aggregation intermediates.
Evaluating Uncertainty of Microwave Calibration Models With Regression Residuals

We present the sensitivity-analysis and Monte Carlo algorithms for evaluating the uncertainty of multivariate microwave calibration models with regression residuals. We then use synthetic data to verify the performance of the algorithms and explore their limitations in the presence of correlated errors. The uncertainties that we evaluate can be used to estimate the total uncertainty of a calibrated measurement when combined with the prediction intervals for that measurement.
Distributions of MOE and MOR in eight mill-run lumber populations (four mills at two times)

To evaluate the reliability of lumber structures, good models for the strength and stiffness distributions of visual and machine stress-rated (MSR) grades of lumber are necessary. Verrill and coworkers established theoretically and empirically that the strength properties of visual and MSR grades of lumber are not distributed as 2-parameter Weibulls. Instead, strength properties of grades of lumber must have “pseudo-truncated” distributions. To properly implement the pseudo-truncation theory (to correctly estimate the MOR and MOE distributions of graded subpopulations), one must know the MOE and MOR distributions of full (“mill-run”) lumber populations. Owens and coworkers investigated the mill-run distributions of MOE and MOR at each of four mills. They found that univariate mill-run MOE and MOR distributions are well-modeled by skew normal distributions or mixtures of normal distributions but not so well modeled by normal, lognormal, 2-parameter Weibull, or 3-parameter Weibull distributions. They noted that it was important to investigate whether these results were stable over time. In this article, to investigate stability over time, the authors extend the analyses of “summer” data sets performed by Owens et al to new mill-run “winter” data sets. The results show that normal, lognormal, 2-parameter Weibull and 3-parameter Weibull distributions continue to perform relatively poorly, and that skew normal distributions and mixtures of normal distributions continue to perform relatively well.
Academic Factors in IT Student Graduation Rates

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between academic features and attrition rates. Using registrar information from a set of IT students, we investigate how student performance in specific classes impacts their likelihood of graduating and length of time to graduation. Our results show that significant relationships exist between courses that are classified as required, difficult, or more advanced. This work-in-progress is building towards a model using student academic features and demographic information to predict students at risk for attrition.
Price transparency implementation: Accessibility of hospital chargemasters and variation in hospital pricing after CMS mandate.

Abstract Background National regulations have increasingly focused on transparency in hospital billing and pricing practices. A January 2019 federal mandate required hospitals to publicize lists of billable procedures and items known as chargemasters. Methods We identified the 500 top self-pay/uninsured revenue grossing hospitals nationally and searched each hospital's website for a chargemaster. Corresponding items were matched across chargemasters. Intrahospital and interhospital price variation were calculated. To investigate variation in item naming, a name variant and fuzzy matching search was conducted for fifteen common chargemaster items. Results Of 500 hospitals in this study, 69 (13.8%) had chargemasters that were inaccessible and 30 (6.0%) had chargemasters that did not meet mandated requirements. Among the remaining 431 hospitals, the mean interhospital and intrahospital variation in pricing for identical items was 18% (SD 28%) and 28% (SD 29%), respectively. 388 hospitals listed multiple prices for the same item, with a mean of 687.3 duplicated items (SD 1157.7). Among fifteen common chargemaster items, each item was associated with an average of 275 (SD 213) unique name variants. Interhospital price variation of these items ranged from 53% (transthoracic echocardiogram) to 243% (furosemide 40 mg). Conclusions Many chargemasters have barriers to access, and item naming is inconsistent across chargemasters. There is significant interhospital price variation for similar items. Implications Chargemasters are uninterpretable for the purpose of patient price comparison in their current form. Further regulatory efforts are necessary to increase price transparency and enhance the ability of patients to compare hospital prices.
African-American Mothers’ Socialization Strategies to Address Adolescent-related Academic Expectations and Risk Concerns

Parental socialization entails purposeful and goal-driven strategies that promote positive youth development and prevent youth-related risks and challenges. Guided by a family management perspective, we examined the variety in African-American mothers’ academic expectations and risk concerns for adolescents, and the parenting strategies they employ to address each of these beliefs. We also examined the associations between mothers’ beliefs and strategies, as well as variations across adolescent gender and socioeconomic status (SES). We used open-response data collected from 619 African-American mothers of eighth-graders from Prince George’s County, Maryland, varying in adolescent gender, maternal education, family income, and family structure. We systematically coded interview data and tabulated main categories, subcategories, and first-round codes. Then, we conducted multivariate regression analyses to examine the relations between academic expectations, risk concerns, socialization strategies, and socio-demographic characteristics. Overall, mothers held high academic expectations, perceived contextual and behavioral problems for adolescents, and reported strategies that positioned them as direct and positive socializers. When mothers reported concerns for underachievement, they had increased odds of providing necessary materials and services, holding discussions, and expressing negative reactions. Finally, adolescent gender and family SES predicted academic expectations and risk concerns, as well as parenting strategies. Our study highlights the importance for studies to consider the purposeful nature of parenting, as socialization strategies were linked to specific developmental goals. Our findings call for the development of measures that capture a wider range of parenting strategies and contextualize these strategies to parents’ aims.
Artifact Description/Artifact Evaluation: A Reproducibility Bane or a Boon

Several systems research conferences now incorporate an artifact description and artifact evaluation (AD/AE) process as part of the paper submission. Authors of accepted papers optionally submit a plethora of artifacts: documentation, links, tools, code, data, and scripts for independent validation of the claims in their paper. An artifact evaluation committee (AEC) evaluates the artifacts and stamps papers with accepted artifacts, which then receive publisher badges. Does this AD/AE process serve authors and reviewers? Is it scalable for large conferences such as SCxy? Using the last three SCxy Reproducibility Initiatives as the basis, this talk will analyze the benefits and the miseries of the AD/AE process. Several systems research conferences now incorporate an artifact description and artifact evaluation (AD/AE) process as part of the paper submission. Authors of accepted papers optionally submit a plethora of artifacts: documentation, links, tools, code, data, and scripts for independent validation of the claims in their paper. An artifact evaluation committee (AEC) evaluates the artifacts and stamps papers with accepted artifacts, which then receive publisher badges. Does this AD/AE process serve authors and reviewers? Is it scalable for large conferences such as SCxy? Using the last three SCxy Reproducibility Initiatives as the basis, this talk will analyze the benefits and the miseries of the AD/AE process. We will present a data-driven approach, using survey results to analyze technical and human challenges in conducting the AD/AE process. Our method will distinguish studies that benefit from AD, i.e., increased transparency versus areas that benefit from AE. The AD/AE research objects [1] present an interesting set of data management and systems challenges [2,3]. We will look under the hood of the research objects, describe prominent characteristics, and how cloud infrastructures, documented workflows, and reproducible containers [4] ease some of the AD/AE process hand-shakes. Finally, we will present a vision for the resulting curated, reusable research objects---how such research objects are a treasure in themselves for advancing computational reproducibility and making reproducible evaluation practical in the coming years.
Comparing definitions of a pediatric emergency department.

Objective Health services research on the differences in care between pediatric and general emergency departments (EDs) is limited by ambiguity regarding the definition of a pediatric ED. Our goal was to determine the proportion of EDs captured by commonly used definitions of pediatric ED. Methods We linked data for 2016 from two databases from New York State - the State Emergency Department Database and State Inpatient Database (SEDD/SID) and the National Emergency Department Inventory-USA (NEDI-USA). We examined the following 4 common definitions of pediatric ED: (1) admission capability, (2) physically distinct pediatric area in the ED, (3) membership in the Children's Hospital Association, and (4) volume of pediatric ED visits (patients <18 years ). We calculated the proportion of EDs that would be defined as pediatric for each criterion. We also examined the differences in patient demographics among pediatric EDs based on each criterion. Results A total of 160 New York EDs were included in the linked databases. Across the 4 criteria, the proportion of EDs meeting the definition of pediatric ranged from 0% to 86%. Of the EDs, 86% had pediatric admission capability, 27%-38% had a physically distinct pediatric ED, and 8% were members of the Children's Hospital Association. No hospitals met the SEDD/SID criterion of ≥70% visits for patients <18 years. Discussion The number of EDs and characteristics of patients seen varied widely based on the criterion used to define pediatric ED. Database linkage may make it challenging to identify pediatric hospitals in administrative data sets. A valid, standard definition of pediatric ED is critically needed to advance health services research.
Structural basis for activation and gating of IP3 receptors

Calcium (Ca2+) is a universal and versatile cellular messenger used to regulate numerous cellular processes in response to external or internal stimuli. A pivotal component of the Ca2+ signaling toolbox in cells is the inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) receptors (IP3Rs), which mediate Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), controlling cytoplasmic and organellar Ca2+ concentrations1-3. IP3Rs are activated by IP3 and Ca2+, inhibited by Ca2+ at high concentrations, and potentiated by ATP1-3. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear due to the lack of structures in the active conformation. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of human type-3 IP3R in multiple gating conformations; IP3-ATP bound pre-active states with closed channels, IP3-ATP-Ca2+ bound active state with an open channel, and IP3-ATP-Ca2+ bound inactive state with a closed channel. The structures demonstrate how IP3-induced conformational changes prime the receptor for activation by Ca2+, how Ca2+ binding leads to channel opening, and how ATP modulates the activity, providing insights into the long-sought questions regarding the molecular mechanism of the receptor activation and gating.
Study of left-handed materials

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv CHAPTER 1. LEFT-HANDED MATERIALS: THE CONCEPT AND THE HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 The Concept of Left-Handed Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1.1 Theoretical prediction of left-handed materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1.2 Dispersive and dissipative natures of LHMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.1.3 Negative refraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.1.4 Phase velocity, group velocity, and energy velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.2 Realization of LHMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.2.1 Negative permittivity medium and negative permeability medium . . . 7 1.2.2 Effective medium theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.2.3 Experimental realization of LHM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.3 Characterization of Left-Handed Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1.4 The Development of LHM from Microwave Frequency to the Optical Regime . 14 1.5 Losses of LHM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 1.6 Chiral Metamaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 1.7 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 CHAPTER 2. ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF SPLIT-RING RESONATORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Transient Selection During Vaccinia Virus Recombination with Insertion Vectors Without Selectable Markers

Isolation of recombinant viruses after DNA transfection remains the most timeconsuming and labor-intensive feature in the production of vaccinia virus (VV) recombinants. This procedure has been aided by the design and incorporation of both positive and negative selectable markers into the insertion vectors. Use of these selectable markers is not always feasible or desirable. In the absence of selectable markers, individual plaque characterization is required. A method of transient selection during transfection and recombination is described that does not require that any selectable marker be present in the insertion vector sequence. This method relies on the co-transfection of a guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (gpt) selectable marker on an unlinked plasmid into VV-infected cells pretreated for gpt selection. Following recombination, the output virus can be plated on cells without any further selection and screened for recombinant virus. While the total recombinant virus population is slightly reduced, ...
On relaxational granular compaction

Granular materials differ from ordinary solids and fluids in many respects. One particularly fascinating aspect of granular systems is their ability to reduce their packing fraction under tapping. In this contribution, we review and partly extend recent progress in this area with special emphasis on the nonlinear dynamical modeling of the compaction process. In particular, we also present and discuss a novel minimal model for relaxational granular compaction.
The medication monitor for studying the self-administration of oral contraceptives

The author notes that failure of the commonly used oral contraceptives is often related to failure of the woman to take the medication as prescribed. A medication monitor has been devised. Each tablet is packaged in a plastic holder and marked with the day of the week it is to be taken. The holders are stacked in sequence and markings are visible. A small uranium source and a paper-wrapped strip of photographic film are included. As each tablet is removed a spring moves the radioactive source down creating a record of dots on the film. Irregular removal of tablets is thus recorded. This method is considered a practical means of studying oral contraceptive use. The association of pregnancy or breakthrough bleeding with different degrees of omission can be determined and at what point in the treatment the lapse most frequently leads to these events. Also the effectiveness of attempts to improve the regularity with which women take medication could be determined and other contraceptive programs recommended for individual patients with poor film records.
Scaling Flows and Dissipation in the Dilute Fermi Gas at Unitarity

We describe recent attempts to extract the shear viscosity of the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity from experiments involving scaling flows. A scaling flow is a solution of the hydrodynamic equations that preserves the shape of the density distribution. The scaling flows that have been explored in the laboratory are the transverse expansion from a deformed trap ("elliptic flow"), the expansion from a rotating trap, and collective oscillations. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different experiments, and point to improvements of the theoretical analysis that are needed in order to achieve definitive results. A conservative bound based on the current data is that the minimum of the shear viscosity to entropy density ration is that eta/s is less or equal to 0.5 hbar/k_B.
Comparable engraftment kinetics following peripheral-blood stem-cell infusion mobilized with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor with or without cyclophosphamide in multiple myeloma.

PURPOSETo compare, in the setting of tandem autotransplantations for multiple myeloma (MM), two established methods of peripheral-blood stem-cell (PBSC) procurement with chemotherapy or hematopoietic growth factor alone.PATIENTS AND METHODSBetween June 1994 and July 1995, 44 patients with MM were randomized to PBSC mobilization with either granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) 16 microg/kg (group 1; n = 22) or high-dose cyclophosphamide (HDCTX) 6 g/m2 plus G-CSF 5 microg/kg (group 2; n = 22). All 44 patients received melphalan 200 mg/m2 with their first autograft and 32 patients proceeded to a second transplantation.RESULTSGroup 2 required a significantly longer time interval for completion of PBSC collection than group 1 (median, 22 v 8 days; P = .0001), greater frequency of hospitalization (100% v 32%; P = .0001), and increased transfusion of platelets (86% v 18%; P = .0001) and packed RBCs (86% v 55%; P = .02). Likewise, the incidence of fever and pneumonia/sepsis were higher in group 2 (P = .0...
Epigenetic history of an Arabidopsis trans-silencer locus and a test for relay of trans-silencing activity

Meiotically heritable epimutations affecting transgene expression are not well understood, even and in particular in the plant model species, Arabidopsis thaliana. The Arabidopsis trans-silencer locus, C73, which encodes a fusion protein between the repressor of photomorphogenesis, COP1, and green fluorescent protein (GFP-COP1), heritably modifies the expression pattern and cop1-like cosuppression phenotypes of multiple GFP-COP1 target loci by transcriptional gene silencing. Here we describe three additional features of trans-silencing by the C73 locus. First, the silencing phenotype of C73 and of similar complex loci was acquired epigenetically over the course of no more than two plant generations via a stage resembling posttranscriptional silencing. Second, imprints imposed by the C73 locus were maintained heritably for at least five generations in the absence of the silencer with only sporadic spontaneous reversion. Third, the pairing of two other GFP-COP1 transgene loci, L91 and E82, showed an increased tendency for epigenetic modification when L91 carried an epigenetic imprint from C73, but not when E82 bore the imprint. The latter data suggest a transfer of trans-silencing activity from one transgene locus, C73, to another, namely L91. These results extend our operational understanding of interactions among transgenes in Arabidopsis.
Survivor typologies predict medical surveillance participation: the childhood cancer survivor study.

Background Adult survivors of childhood cancer adhere poorly to recommended medical surveillance. We sought to identify modifiable factors that contribute to non-adherence. Methods Latent class analysis categorized survivors (ages 18–52 years) at risk of cardiac, breast, or bone late sequelae on the basis of their health-related concerns, fears, and motivation. These classifications were compared at two time points for self-reported adherence to recommended echocardiography, mammography, and bone densitometry screening. Results Three classes (worried, collaborative, and self-controlling) characterized survivors in each of the three risk groups: cardiac (N = 564; Bayesian information criterion [BIC] = 10,824.66; Lo–Mendell–Rubin parametric likelihood ratio test [LRMLRT] P = .002), breast (N = 584; BIC = 11,779.97; LRMLRT P < .001), and bone (N = 613; BIC = 11,773.56; LMRLRT P = .028). Only 9% of at-risk survivors in the self-controlling class reported undergoing bone density screening in 2005, compared with 17.2% in the collaborative class (P = .034). Thirteen percent of the self-controlling, 24% of collaborative (P = .025), and 34% of worried (P = .010) classes reported undergoing bone densitometry in 2009. Whereas 73% of at-risk survivors in the worried class reported having had an echocardiogram in 2009, only 57% of the collaborative (P = .040) and 43% of self-controlling (P < .001) classes did. In 2005 and 2009, respectively, fewer survivors in the self-controlling class (37% and 53%) than in the collaborative (51%, P = .038 and 70%, P = .01) and worried (58%, P = .002 and 69%, P = .025) classes reported undergoing mammograms. Conclusions Modifiable intrapersonal characteristics associated with these three classes predict self-reported participation in medical surveillance. Continued observation and validation of these survivor profiles may inform tailored interventions to enhance survivors' screening participation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.