cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Integrating multiple forms of multithreaded execution on multi-SMT systems: a study with scientific applications

Most scientific applications have high degrees of parallelism and thread-level parallel execution appears to be a natural choice for executing these applications on systems composed of SMT processors. Unfortunately, contention for shared resources limits the performance advantages of multithreading on current SMT processors, thus leading to marginal utilization of multiple hardware threads and even slowdown due to multithreading. We show, through a rigorous evaluation with hardware monitoring counters on a real multi-SMT system, that in traditionally scalable parallel applications conflicting resource requirements are - due to the high degree of resource sharing - accountable for deeply sub-optimal performance. Motivated by this observation, we investigate the use of alternative forms of multithreaded execution, including adaptive thread throttling and speculative runahead execution, to make better use of the resources of SMT processors. Alongside the evaluation, we propose new methods to integrate these techniques into the same binary to maximize performance on multi-SMTsystems. Our study shows that combining adaptive throttling and speculative precomputation with regular thread-level parallelization leads to significant performance improvements in parallel codes which suffer from inter-thread interference and contention on SMTs.
VICTORIANS LIVE: WILLIAM MORRIS: “THE BEAUTY OF LIFE”

“THE BEAUTY OF LIFE” : William Morris & the Art of Design was a visual delight. Curated by Dianne Waggoner, the exhibition originated at the Huntington Library and was first shown at the Yale Center for British Art, enriched by additions from the Yale Center for British Art, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Yale University Library. For those who missed this Victorianists' treat at New Haven and San Marino, the fine catalog edited by Waggoner provides illustrations and detailed accounts of the items as well as perceptive critical essays.
Optics in adverse environments

An adverse environment is defined and several examples of optics in these environments are presented. An adverse environment implies external surroundings and differences that are sources of potential disturbance of the optical system. There are three principle stages of increasing perturbation for any optical system subjected to an adverse environment which include satisfactory operation, unsatisfactory operation which returns to satisfactory when the disturbance is removed, and permanently degraded performance. Mechanical and thermal disturbances will exhibit all three stages, and chemical disturbances will frequently not exhibit any appreciable reversability, but an increasing degradation that moves eventually from satisfactory operation directly to permanently impaired.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Effect of Kinetin on Ribosomes of Excised Barley Leaves

The changes in the amount and the composition of ribosomes in excised barley leaves floated on water or on 10 mg/l kinetin solution in the dark were examined. The rapid loss of polyribosomes and ribosomes in leaves floated on water was greatly retarded by kinetin. The ribosomes-polyribosomes which originally contained 49 per cent protein showed substantial decline in protein content in leaves floated on water but only slight decline in leaves floated on kinetin solution. It is suggested that kinetin by stimulating RNA synthesis and by suppressing the activities of rihonuclease and peplidase may preserve the ribosomes in excised leaves.
Motor Axon Regeneration and Muscle Reinnervation in Young Adult and Aged Animals

Injuries to peripheral nerves can cause paralysis and sensory disturbances, but such functional impairments are often short lived because of efficient regeneration of damaged axons. The time required for functional recovery, however, increases with advancing age (Verdu et al., 2000; Kawabuchi et al., 2011). Incomplete or delayed recovery after peripheral nerve damage is a major health concern in the aging population because it can severely restrict a person9s mobility and independence. A variety of possible causes have been suggested to explain why nervous systems in aged individuals recover more slowly from nerve damage. Potential causes include age-related declines in the regenerative potential of peripheral axons and decreases in the supply or responsivity to trophic and/or tropic factors. However, there have been few direct analyses of age-related axon regeneration. Our aim here was to observe axons directly in young and old mice as they regenerate and ultimately reoccupy denervated neuromuscular synaptic sites to learn what changes in this process are age related. We find that damaged nerves in aged animals clear debris more slowly than nerves in young animals and that the greater number of obstructions regenerating axons encounter in the endoneurial tubes of old animals give rise to slower regeneration. Surprisingly, however, axons from aged animals regenerate quickly when not confronted by debris and reoccupy neuromuscular junction sites efficiently. These results imply that facilitating clearance of axon debris might be a good target for the treatment of nerve injury in the aged.
Intravesical Ureterocele With Concurrent Renal Dysfunction in a Dog: A Case Report and Proposed Classification System

A unilateral intravesical ureterocele was diagnosed by ultrasonography in a 5-year-old female Pekingese that was referred for evaluation of increased hepatic enzymes. Ureteroceles are cystic dilatations of the submucosal portion of the distal ureter. They are frequently reported in humans but are uncommonly reported in dogs. This report describes surgical resection of the ureterocele and reduction of ipsilateral hydroureter in a dog that also had bilateral renal dysfunction and suffered progressive mild azotemia postoperatively. This report demonstrates that canine ureteroceles can occur concurrently with bilateral renal dysfunction and offers a classification system designed to encourage thorough urinary tract evaluation for determining prognosis.
The miR-199–dynamin regulatory axis controls receptor-mediated endocytosis

Small non-coding RNAs (microRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression that modulate many physiological processes; however, their role in regulating intracellular transport remains largely unknown. Intriguingly, we found that the dynamin (DNM) genes, a GTPase family of proteins responsible for endocytosis in eukaryotic cells, encode the conserved miR-199a and miR-199b family of miRNAs within their intronic sequences. Here, we demonstrate that miR-199a and miR-199b regulate endocytic transport by controlling the expression of important mediators of endocytosis such as clathrin heavy chain (CLTC), Rab5A, low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and caveolin-1 (Cav-1). Importantly, miR-199a-5p and miR-199b-5p overexpression markedly inhibits CLTC, Rab5A, LDLR and Cav-1 expression, thus preventing receptor-mediated endocytosis in human cell lines (Huh7 and HeLa). Of note, miR-199a-5p inhibition increases target gene expression and receptor-mediated endocytosis. Taken together, our work identifies a new mechanism by which microRNAs regulate intracellular trafficking. In particular, we demonstrate that the DNM, miR-199a-5p and miR-199b-5p genes act as a bifunctional locus that regulates endocytosis, thus adding an unexpected layer of complexity in the regulation of intracellular trafficking.
Pediatric Considerations in Computed Tomographic Angiography

Cardiovascular disease in children comprises a diverse collection of diseases involving multiple organ systems. Abnormality in children is predominately congenital but also may be acquired. Although noninvasive vascular imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance angiography and ultrasound lack ionizing radiation, with improving technology and an increased focus on radiation dose reduction, computed tomographic angiography (CTA) continues to have a role in evaluating cardiovascular disease in pediatric patients. This review focuses on specific considerations of CTA that the radiologist or ordering provider should consider when imaging the pediatric cardiovascular system.
Thomas Hooker, Martin Luther, and the Terror at the Edge of Protestant Faith

Toward the end of his nine-year tenure as Fellow, Thomas Hooker awoke in his sleeping quarters at Emmanuel College terrified by a sense of “the Just Wrath of Heaven.” His God, the same God in whom he had always put his trust, had turned against him and was furious at his sinfulness. Dreading divine punishment, Hooker found himself “fill'd. . . with most unusual Degrees of Horror and Anguish.” Alone in the night, Hooker was haunted by the anger of a terrifying God.
A study of accuracy on numerical methods for nonuniform meshes (Invited)

It is well-known that errors in modified wave number and modified temporal amplification factor, or modified frequency, lead to numerical dispersion and dissipation errors. In this paper, we try to answer the question, that given a numerical solution of the convective wave equation, how well can we recover the modified wave number and modified frequency of the spatial and temporal schemes? While a regular Fourier analysis in space or time assumes a uniform mesh, the computationally inferred modified wave number and modified frequency can be applied to nonuniform meshes. The essential formulas for finding computationally inferred modified wave number and frequency are given. Validation examples with known analytical results are presented and discussed. Applications to wave propagation on nonuniform meshes, where analytical expressions for modified wave number and modified frequency are difficult to find, are also presented. As computational meshes in practical applications become increasingly nonuniform and unstructured, and the numerical algorithms increasing adaptive, methods such as the one presented in this paper that can provide quantitative assessment of numerical dispersion and dissipation errors for these schemes are increasingly needed.
Requirement of Certain Plasma Factors for Production of Red Band By Staphylococcus aureus

Summary1. The Guy and Oxford strains of S. aureus regularly cause development of the red band phenomena when inoculated on agar containing washed red cells and alpha globulin IV1 lot 6 (Pentex). 2. Fraction IV1, lot 6, is not able to replace plasma in the development of lipid plaques noted in whole blood containing plates inoculated with the Guy strain. 3. Human alpha globulin fractions IV, IV4 or bovine fraction IV1 could also be substituted for whole plasma to produce the red band phenomenon. 4. Further studies are being conducted in efforts to discover what substance in fractions IV, IV1and IV4 serves as a specific substrate for the red band production.
The development of feedstuff retainable phosphorus values for broilers

Presently, phosphorus requirements are based on consumption of nonphytate phosphorus (NPP), which does not account for the fact that NPP may not be completely available and that phytate phosphorus can be partially utilized to fulfill phosphorus requirements. Phosphorus retention values for feed ingredients, accounting for NPP and phytate phosphorus, and total retainable phosphorus requirements are needed to formulate diets that meet the phosphorus requirements of poultry but that do not result in excessive amounts of phosphorus in poultry excreta. A bioassay was conducted to determine retention of phosphorus from calcium phosphates. Eight levels of a reagent-grade monocalcium phosphate, monohydrate, (MCP) were added to a cornsoy, semi-synthetic basal diet containing an acid-insoluble ash marker and offered to individually caged 10-d-old male broilers. After acclimation to the diets for 3 d, excreta were collected for 48 h. Diet and excreta samples were analyzed for total phosphorus, phytate phosphorus, and acid insoluble ash. Retentions of the basal total, NPP, and phytate phosphorus were determined to be 43.2, 65.5, and 32.3%, respectively. Retention of the phosphorus from different phosphorus sources was determined to be dependent on the amount of source included in the diet. The maximum retentions of total phosphorus, NPP, and phosphorus from MCP for the basal-MCP test diets were 67.6, 80.2, and 98%, respectively. The maximum retention of dietary retainable phosphorus occurred with a 2:1 ratio of 0.48% calcium and 0.24% retainable phosphorus. The retainable phosphorus intakes for 10-to-15-d-old broilers required to provide a steady physiological state was 108 mg/d, as determined by two-line regression analysis. Retainable phosphorus requirements based on segmented line regression analysis using bone strength measurements for 0-to-3-wk-old chicks and 3-to-6-wk-old broilers were 0.39 and 0.30%, respectively.
Association between circulating vitamin D metabolites and fecal bile acid concentrations

Although hydrophobic bile acids have been demonstrated to exhibit cytotoxic and carcinogenic effects in the colorectum, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been investigated as a potential chemopreventive agent. Vitamin D has been shown to play a role in both bile acid metabolism and in the development of colorectal neoplasia. Using a cross-sectional design, we sought to determine whether baseline circulating concentrations of the vitamin D metabolites 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D were associated with baseline fecal bile acid concentrations in a trial of UDCA for the prevention of colorectal adenoma recurrence. We also prospectively evaluated whether vitamin D metabolite concentrations modified the effect of UDCA on adenoma recurrence. After adjustment for age, sex, BMI, physical activity, and calcium intake, adequate concentrations of 25(OH)D (≥30 ng/mL) were statistically significantly associated with reduced odds for high levels of total [OR, 0.61; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.38-0.97], and primary (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.38-0.96) bile acids, as well as individually with chenodeoxycholic acid (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.24-0.63) and cholic acid (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36-0.90). No significant associations were observed for 1,25(OH)2D and high versus low fecal bile acid concentrations. In addition, neither 25(OH)D nor 1,25(OH)2D modified the effect of UDCA on colorectal adenoma recurrence. In conclusion, this is the first study to demonstrate an inverse relationship between circulating levels of 25(OH)D and primary fecal bile acid concentrations. These results support prior data demonstrating that vitamin D plays a key role in bile acid metabolism, and suggest a potential mechanism of action for 25(OH)D in colorectal cancer prevention. Cancer Prev Res; 9(7); 589-97. ©2016 AACR.
The mannose binding lectin (MBL) serum levels of peple in Chongqing

Objective To establish the reference range of Mannose binding lectin (MBL) serum levels of people in Chongqing.Methods Serum levels of MBL were determinded in 91 newborns, 283 children and 87 adults, then compared with the levels of people in Hongkong, and to find the difference between groups.Results The evaluation for newborns and adults were (1.71±1.60) μg/ml and (3.09±1.58) μg/ml, which was significant different (P0.005);the corresponding values for five groups of children were (3.16±2.00)μg/ml, (3.19±1.88)μg/ml, (3.30±2.05)μg/ml, (3.69±2.22)μg/ml and (3.02±1.38)μg/ml, respectively. There was a significant difference between newborns and these five groups ( P0.005), but there were not among these five groups( P0.05). The values for adults in two cities showed significant difference (P0.005).Conclusion The values for newborns are obviously lower than other groups, while there is not significant difference in children. The levels of adults in Chongqing were higher than those in Hongkong.
Edge Effects and Avian Community Structure in a Restored Tallgrass Prairie

ABSTRACT As a consequence of extensive habitat loss and fragmentation, grassland bird populations have declined substantially across much of North America. To assess management strategies for restoring and maintaining suitable habitat for grassland birds, we conducted a four-year survey of grassland-breeding passerines in the restored tallgrass prairies of the Carleton College Cowling Arboretum in Northfield, Minnesota. Between 2010 and 2013, we sampled bird populations weekly during the breeding season in ten adjacent management units that differed in size and spatial configuration. We used principal components analysis (PCA) to compare avian community composition among the units and to examine the association between habitat properties and makeup of the community. The size of a management unit had no effect on the bird community, but there was a strong impact of forest edge on community composition. Management units with less exposure to forest edge had greater abundance of grassland-obligate but not gr...
Species Inquirendae in Marsupials

This chapter lists 68+ apicomplexans that have been mentioned in the literature to date, placed into nine different genera, but that either have not been described sufficiently, or there was so little information provided by the author(s), that their validity is in question. These include: 2 Besnoitia , 2 Coccidium , 10 Cryptosporidium , 19+ Eimeria , 3 Isospora , 4 Klossiella , 25 Sarcocystis , 2+ Toxoplasma , and 1 Tyzzeria “species.” All are considered species inquirendae .
The Role of Harm, Detectability, and Knowledge of HIV Non-Disclosure Laws in Affecting Punishment Recommendations for HIV Law Violators

Many U.S. states have passed HIV non-disclosure laws that criminalize sexual behavior on the part of HIV-positive persons who do not disclose their HIV status to sexual partners. This study broadly focused on the impact of two major philosophical approaches for meting out punishment to law violators: the just deserts and the deterrence perspectives. The study examined how these two approaches may influence laypersons’ motivations for punishing someone with HIV who violates an HIV non-disclosure law. In addition, the study examined how knowledge or no knowledge of an HIV non-disclosure law by the law violator influenced punishment recommendations. A 2 (Harm) X 2 (Detectability) X 2 (HIV Law Knowledge) ANOVA design was utilized, with punishment recommendations (i.e., prison sentence and fine) as the dependent measures (N = 224). Research questions pertaining to potential explanations (e.g., moral outrage, specific incapacitation, specific deterrence) for participants’ punishment assignments were also examined. Results indicated that the most important motivation for meting out punishment was the harm caused by the HIV non-disclosure law violator. The detectability of the law violation and knowledge of the HIV non-disclosure law did not influence punishment recommendations. The findings are consistent with the just deserts perspective that retribution for the harm done by the HIV non-disclosure is a major motivator for punishing violations of the law.
Predicting the pathogenicity of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutations

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are ubiquitously expressed, essential enzymes responsible for charging tRNA with cognate amino acids-the first step in protein synthesis. ARSs are required for protein translation in the cytoplasm and mitochondria of all cells. Surprisingly, mutations in 28 of the 37 nuclear-encoded human ARS genes have been linked to a variety of recessive and dominant tissue-specific disorders. Current data indicate that impaired enzyme function is a robust predictor of the pathogenicity of ARS mutations. However, experimental model systems that distinguish between pathogenic and non-pathogenic ARS variants are required for implicating newly identified ARS mutations in disease. Here, we outline strategies to assist in predicting the pathogenicity of ARS variants and urge cautious evaluation of genetic and functional data prior to linking an ARS mutation to a human disease phenotype.
Theme-Relevant Truth Discovery on Twitter: An Estimation Theoretic Approach

Twitter has emerged as a new application paradigm of sensing the physical environment by using human as sensors. These human sensed observations are often viewed as binary claims (either true or false). A fundamental challenge on Twitter is how to ascertain the credibility of claims and the reliability of sources without the prior knowledge on either of them beforehand. This challenge is referred to as truth discovery. An important limitation exists in the current Twitter-based truth discovery solutions: they did not explore the theme relevance aspect of claims and the correct claims identified by their solutions can be completely irrelevant to the theme of interests. In this paper, we present a new analytical model that explicitly considers the theme relevance feature of claims in the solutions of truth discovery problem on Twitter. The new model solves a bi-dimensional estimation problem to jointly estimate the correctness and theme relevance of claims as well as the reliability and theme awareness of sources. The new model is compared with the discovery solutions in current literature using three real world datasets collected from Twitter during recent disastrous and emergent events: Paris attack, Oregon shooting, and Baltimore riots, all in 2015. The new model was shown to be effective in terms of finding both correct and relevant claims.
Changing Lives in EPICS Fashion

Founded at Purdue University in 1995, Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) in IEEE empowers teams of university and high school students to collaborate on socially innovative projects that will have a lasting impact on local humanitarian organizations and community members. Not only does this program give students a unique platform to experience a career in the engineering field, which many of them are already pursuing, but it also enables them to develop and broaden their technical skills to address critical community issues while transforming lives.
Phase stability, physical properties and strengthening mechanisms of concentrated solid solution alloys

Abstract We review recent research developments in a special class of multicomponent concentrated solid solution alloys (CSAs) – of which the recently discovered high entropy alloys (HEAs) are exemplars – that offer a new paradigm for the development of next generation structural materials. This review focuses on the role of inherent extreme chemical complexity on the phase stability, electronic, transport, and mechanical properties of this remarkable class of disordered solid solution alloys. Both experimental observations and theoretical models indicate that the phase stability of HEAs goes beyond the original conjecture that these alloys are stabilized by configurational/mixing entropy; rather, it results from competition between the homogeneously disordered phase and phase separation/intermetallic compound formation. Although the number of single-phase HEAs with equiatomic composition is limited, those that do exist often exhibit remarkable electronic, magnetic, transport, and mechanical properties. For the mechanical response, we discuss the solution strengthening mechanism which governs the strength and deformation behaviors of the CSAs, as well as the increasing evidence that low stacking fault energies (deformation twinning) plays an important role in the low temperature strength and ductility of CrMnFeCoNi related alloys. We also review the current understanding of the role of the number and type of alloy elements in determining the electronic, magnetic, and transport properties, in particular the dominant role of magnetic interactions in the properties of 3d-transition metal based alloys. Finally, we emphasize that, despite rapid progress in characterization and understanding of the phase stability and physical/mechanical responses of CSAs, there remain significant challenges to fully exploring the new paradigm that these alloys represent.
Organizational Configurations and Configurational Change

This chapter explores the area of organizational configurations and links it with the evolutionary and revolutionary changes that we may observe in those configurations. We start by assessing the model laid out by Mintzberg (1979), significantly expanding on it by developing a comprehensive protocol to align any given organization with Mintzberg’s theoretical archetypes. This is then connected, on both a conceptual level and a measurement level, with the evolutionary and revolutionary changes that we may observe in those configurations, thereby yielding a new approach for researchers to directly observe and comprehend the development of organizational configurations over time. This is a vital piece of our larger theoretical model that specifies the mechanisms through which social structuration occurs in online collaborative groups.
Bush, the Media & the New American Way

The run-up to a full-scale U.S. military attack on Iraq – “shock and awe” -provided an unusual and ideal test the effectiveness of a parsimonious content analysis methodology designed to determine when a national leader made or would make a decision to go to war. As W. Ben Hunt’s work that is the model for this study anticipated, editorials in The Wall Street Journal clearly ramped up war fever with not only the number of “get to it, George” editorials but also with the language. Critical editorials advised/urged/demanded Bush to get on with the second phase of the long-planned remaking of the Middle East -taking out Saddam Hussein. The paper links several aspects of post-Cold War, postmodern American life -low levels of knowledge, use of poll data throughout society, declining news consumption and others -to paint a picture of a newly vulnerable society, one willing – polls would indicate – to listen to and follow clear, perhaps simplistic, policies even to the point of a pre-emptive strike on a small nation that many could not locate on a map.
Frontiers in internal medicine

Clinical research in Internal Medicine has provided many scientific advances during the past few years. However, the newly generated information overrides the time available to read all of the medical literature regarding advances in Internal Medicine. The goal of this review is to summarize some of the most relevant improvements in clinical practice published over the last few years. From Cardiology to Pulmonology, the authors of this review expose in a succinct way what they and many of their peers consider to be the most transcendental information gathered from thousands of publications. The authors of this review article have attempted to avoid sensationalism by including facts instead of just simply optimistic preliminary findings that can mislead clinicians' decision making. The review is focused on information obtained through well-designed, prospective clinical trials and cohorts where the effectiveness of medical interventions and diagnostic procedures were tested.
Structured light system calibration with unidirectional fringe patterns

Abstract For the calibration of a structured light system, one type of highly accurate calibration method was developed by treating the projector as an inverse camera. This type of method typically creates pixel-to-pixel mapping between a camera point and a projector point using fringe patterns and resultant phase maps in orthogonal directions. However, requiring orthogonal patterns limits its feasibility of implementation on systems where the illumination device (e.g. grating projectors, interferometers, etc.) only supports fringe projection in one direction. This paper introduces a novel calibration method that only uses patterns in a single direction. We have theoretically proved that there exists one degree-of-freedom of redundancy in conventional calibration methods, making it possible to reduce the requirement of using orthogonal fringe patterns. Experiments show that under a measurement range of 200 mm(X) × 150 mm (Y) × 120 mm (Z), our measurement results are comparable to the results obtained using conventional calibration method. Evaluated by repeatedly measuring a sphere with 147.726 mm diameter, our measurement accuracy on average can be as high as 0.20 mm with a standard deviation of 0.12 mm.
Development and preliminary validation of a patient-reported measure of patient–provider communication about medication prescriptions for adolescents and young adults

ABSTRACTThis investigation examined psychometric properties of a patient–provider communication measure developed for adolescents/young adults receiving medication prescriptions. Two independent sa...
WaC: SpaceTEE - Secure and Tamper-Proof Computing in Space using CubeSats

Sensitive computation often has to be performed in a trusted execution environment (TEE), which, in turn, requires tamper-proof hardware. If the computational fabric can be tampered with, we may no longer be able to trust the correctness of the computation. We study the (wild and crazy) idea of using computational platforms in space as a means to protect data from adversarial physical access. In this paper, we propose SpaceTEE - a practical implementation of this approach using low-cost nano-satellites called CubeSats. We study the constraints of such a platform, the cost of deployment, and discuss possible applications under those constraints. As a case study, we design a hardware security module solution (called SpaceHSM) and describe how it can be used to implement a root-of-trust for a certificate authority (CA).
Book Review: Drew Dalton, The Ethics of Resistance: Tyranny of the Absolute (London, U.K.: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018), pp. 154.

A review of Drew Dalton, The Ethics of Resistance: Tyranny of the Absolute (London, U.K.: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018), pp. 154.
A case study of state-level leadership in the American West

The authors report on the findings of case study research, using phenomenological analysis, of eight counseling professionals interviewed in a Western state about the experiences of counseling lead...
Conditioning with Busulfan Plus Melphalan (Bu-Mel) Results in More Prolonged Progression-Free Survival (PFS) Versus Melphalan (Mel) Alone before Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (auto-HCT) in Patients with High-Risk Multiple Myeloma (MM): Long-Term Results of a Randomized, Phase 3 Trial

Background We previously reported that conditioning with Bu-Mel results in significantly longer PFS compared to Mel alone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma ([NDMM] Lancet Haematol 2019). Here we report the outcomes of the high-risk patients (based on chromosomal abnormalities as defined by IMWG) enrolled in this trial. Methods The primary objective was to compare PFS in NDMM patients who undergo auto-HCT with Bu-Mel versus Mel conditioning. Transplant eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to treatment. Patients in Bu-Mel arm received test dose Bu 32 mg/m2 followed by PK adjusted Bu to achieve a target AUC of 5000 microMol-minute (days -7 to -4) and Mel 70 mg/m2 on days -2 and -1. Patients in Mel arm received Mel 200 mg/m2 on day -2. Results Sixty-two patients (Bu-Mel, n=32; Mel, n=30) were identified. Median age at transplant was 61 yrs in the Bu-Mel and 60 yrs in the Mel arm. Sixteen (50%) and 18 (60%) patients were male in the Bu-Mel and the Mel arm, respectively. The R-ISS stage was I in 6 (22%), II in 17 (63%), and III in 4 (15%) of 27 patients in the Bu-Mel arm versus I in 8 (38%), II in 9 (43%), and III in 4 (19%) of 21 patients in the Mel arm, p=0.39. There was no significant difference in the HCT-CI score, induction therapy, response to induction, number of patients receiving maintenance therapy, and other patients, disease, or treatment characteristics between the two treatment groups. The median time to neutrophil engraftment (ANC ≥500) was 11 days and 12 days in the Bu-Mel and Mel arms, respectively, p=0.002. The median time to platelet engraftment (platelet count ≥20K without transfusion support) was 10 days and 12.5 days in the Bu-Mel and Mel arms, respectively, p Conclusion Conditioning therapy with Bu-Mel before auto-HCT yields significantly longer PFS in high-risk myeloma patients compared with Mel alone. Longer follow-up is needed to characterize any OS benefit.
Quadrupole coupling at 193 Ir nuclei in iron

M\"ossbauer-source experiments on Fe($^{193}\mathrm{Os}$) alloys with less than 0.1-at.% osmium show that quadrupole coupling persists in domains at high dilution, thereby confirming and extending the earlier NMR results of Aiga and Itoh on wall resonances and the M\"ossbauer results of Wagner and Potzel on a more concentrated alloy. Arguments are presented to show that a M\"ossbauer spectrum on a more concentrated alloy can yield a reasonably accurate value of ${e}^{2}qQ$, including its sign, even in the presence of substantial solute-solute-induced magnetic and quadrupole perturbations. For the ground state of $^{193}\mathrm{Ir}$ in iron, this work yielded $\frac{{e}^{2}qQ}{2h}=\ensuremath{-}2.05(25)$ ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{0}=119.6(3)$ MHz, and ${H}_{\mathrm{hf}}=1481(4)$ kOe.
Sexual and natural selection on pollen morphology in Taraxacum.

Premise Spiny pollen has evolved independently in multiple entomophilous lineages. Sexual selection may act on exine traits that facilitate male mating success by influencing the transfer of pollen from the anther to the body of the pollinator, while natural selection acts to increase pollen survival. We postulated that relative to sexual congeners, apomictic dandelions undergo relaxed selection on traits associated with male mating success. Methods We explored sexual selection on exine traits by measuring the propensity for Taraxacum spp. pollen to attach to hairs of flower-visiting bumblebees (Bombus spp.) or flies (Diptera: Syrphidae and Muscoidea) and assessed natural selection by testing whether pollen traits defend against consumption. Results Pollen picked up by bumblebees exhibited a narrower subset of spine-spacing phenotypes, consistent with stabilizing selection. Flies picked up larger pollen from flowers than expected at random. Surveys of corbiculae (pollen basket) contents from foraging bumblebees and feces of flies showed that pollen grains consumed by both kinds of visitors are similar in spine characteristics and size to those produced by the donor. When bees visit inflorescences of apomictic T. officinale, they pick up pollen with spine-spacing phenotypes above the mean and shifted toward those of sexual T. ceratophorum. Conclusions We demonstrate that traits under sexual selection during pollen pickup vary among pollinators, while natural selection for pollen defense is nil in T. ceratophorum. In hybrid zones between apomictic and sexual dandelions, pollen traits place apomictic donors at a dispersal disadvantage, potentially reinforcing reproductive isolation.
Das Prinzip Amazon

Die Verkaufsplattform Amazon ist seit 2000 auch fur Dritte geoffnet und erlaubt es Herstellern und Handlern, ihre Waren auf dem Marktplatz zu verkaufen. Amazon ist auf seiner eigenen Verkaufsplattform selbst der groste Handler, der zum einen Fremdmarken verkauft aber auch Hersteller von verschiedenen Eigenmarken ist. Dass jedoch die Halfte der Produkte, die auf der Plattform erhaltlich sind, von Dritten verkauft wird, ist vielen Kunden nicht bekannt oder bewusst. Mit dem Wettbewerb zwischen Drittanbietern und Amazon selbst wuchs im Laufe der Zeit auch im gleichen Mase die Relevanz als Plattform fur die Bewerbung von Produkten. Heute gehort Amazon mit Google und Facebook zu den grosten Werbeplattform weltweit. Dementsprechend ist die Plattform uber den Status einer reinen Verkaufsplattform bereits lange hinaus. So gilt Amazon auch als umfangreiche Produktdatenbank, was sich dadurch ausert, dass Kunden immer seltener den Umweg uber eine Suchmaschine wahlen, sondern Produkte unabhangig von einer Kaufabsicht direkt uber die E-Commerce Plattform ausfindig machen. Damit die Besucherzahlen wachsen, lockt Amazon seine Kunden mit verschiedenen Verkaufsaktionen und arbeitet ganz nebenbei auch am Aufbau einer physischen Ladenkette, um eine Omni-Channel-Infrastruktur zu etablieren.
Perceptions of Clinical Trial Participation Among Women of Varying Health Literacy Levels.

Purpose To understand the perceptions of risk, benefit, and the informed consent process after enrolling in and completing a phase 2 clinical trial using intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) for early-stage breast cancer, and to determine how perceptions varied based on women's health literacy levels. Participants & setting 20 participants who had already completed a phase 2 IORT clinical trial for early-stage breast cancer at an academic medical center. Methodologic approach A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using structured interviews consisting of questions aimed to elicit responses from participants regarding experiences of informed consent and the research process. A validated brief health literacy questionnaire was used to determine health literacy levels of participants. The authors analyzed themes using inductive thematic analysis. Findings Women with lower levels of health literacy reported feeling confident enough in the provider to make the decision to enroll in the clinical trial during the initial consultation, and, in general, women reported relying heavily on provider recommendation for enrolling in the clinical trial. Implications for nursing Tailored approaches for patients with limited health literacy are needed during the clinical trial consent process. Additional longitudinal research with a larger sample size can extend study results and provide insight into the most effective way to modify the informed consent process for patients with limited health literacy.
Playing with Light

Among the many well-known decrees we have in physics, the speed of light is one of the most fundamental ideas. Why do we have to accept the dictate that proclaims “Thou shall not exceed the speed of light?” This is a tricky situation, and it makes the speed of light an unusually controversial subject, with claims often surfacing that challenge the supremacy of the cosmic speed limit. Is the prohibition on faster than light travel is a simple technological challenge or something that is fundamental to nature? These issues are still being debated in scientific community and will continue to be for a long time to come. Light is not just a wave or particle, at least for physicists and astronomers, but a powerful messenger, a messenger that helps us to decode the past and that can lead us into the future.
The prediction of size and charge of particles formed from evaporation of charged droplets generated in an electrospray system

Abstract Electrospray systems are an effective methodology for generating uniform submicrometer sized charged droplets, initially containing a dissolved solute or nanoparticle inclusions, producing particles from the droplets. In this work, we develop a model for charged droplet drying to predict the final size and resultant charge of the particles. The model accounts for solvent evaporation, solute/nanoparticle diffusion, the collision and aggregation of nanoparticles, coulombic fission and ion evaporation processes. The competition among these subprocesses determines the final size and charge. The model equations are cast into nondimensional forms for generalization. The governing dimensionless parameters are derived and their influences on the final particle size and charge are investigated numerically. The most important parameters are the non-dimensional characteristic diffusion time, non-dimensional characteristic coagulation time, non-dimensional flow rate and coulombic fission related loss. An analytical solution is obtained in the case of slow drying.
Change in Age at Diagnosis of Oropharyngeal Cancer in the United States, 1975-2016.

The emergence of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as the primary etiology of oropharyngeal cancer has changed head and neck cancer (HNC) epidemiology. This study described change in the age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal HNC in the United States in the last four decades. Using a retrospective cohort analysis, the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results dataset from 1975 to 2016 was queried for eligible adult cases of HNC, grouped as oropharyngeal (n = 31,702) versus non-oropharyngeal (n = 87,108). Age at diagnosis was compared by gender (female, male) using independent t-test, and by race/ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic other) using analysis of variance. Joinpoint regression estimated yearly increases/decreases in age of diagnosis by sex and race/ethnicity through annual percent changes (APC), which were summarized with average annual percent changes (AAPC). Mean age at diagnosis for oropharyngeal cancer was 60.3 years. While there was initially a decrease in age at diagnosis, a 0.37% annual increase occurred from 2002 to 2016 (APC = 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28, 0.45). For non-oropharyngeal cancer, mean age at diagnosis was 63.2 years, with a continuous increase in age at diagnosis throughout the study period (1975–2016 AAPC = 0.08, 95% CI 0.04, 0.12). Females had higher average age at diagnosis than males for both sites, while blacks (57.4 years for oropharyngeal cancer; 59.0 years for non-oropharyngeal) had the lowest age at diagnosis of all races/ethnicity. Age at diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer has increased significantly since 2002, while non-oropharyngeal HNC has increased significantly in the last four decades.
Electric field of a charge in the vicinity of a higher dimensional black hole

We find the electric field of a point charge in the presence of a higher-dimensional black hole. As the charge is lowered to the horizon, all higher multipole moments go to zero, and only the Coulomb field remains.
Developing Breastfeeding Champions: A Quality Improvement Project to Increase Provider Knowledge, Skills and Comfort with Supporting Exclusive Breastfeeding in the Pediatric Office

Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life. This practice is associated with lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome, lower respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infections, necrotizing enterocolitis, asthma, eczema, obesity, diabetes, celiac disease and childhood leukemia and lymphoma. While pediatric providers currently have more exposure to breastfeeding medicine and are more knowledgeable than in prior years, training in hands-on skills to support breastfeeding remains variable and many pediatric providers still lack the comfort and skills to …
Synthetic, spectroscopic, structural, and electrochemical investigations of ferricenium derivatives with weakly coordinating anions: ion pairing, substituent, and solvent effects.

A facile and effective strategy for the preparation of a series of ferricenium complexes bearing either electron-donating or electron-withdrawing substituents with weakly coordinating anions such as [B(C6F5)4]− or SbF6− is reported. These systems were thoroughly investigated for their ground state electronic structures in both solution and solid states using infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies as well as single crystal X-ray crystallography and electrochemical measurements. The X-ray structures of the six electron-deficient ferricenium derivatives are of particular interest as only a handful (∼5) of such derivatives have been structurally characterized to date. Comparison of the structural data for both neutral and oxidized derivatives reveals that the nature of the substituents on the cyclopentadienyl (Cp) ligands displays a more significant impact on the metal–ligand separations (Fe⋯Ct) in the oxidized species than in their neutral analogs. Our 1H-NMR measurements corroborate that in the neutral ferrocene derivatives, electron-donating ring substitutions lead to a greater shielding of the ring protons while electron-withdrawing groups via induction deshield the nearby ring protons. However, the data for the paramagnetic ferricenium derivatives reveals that this substitutional behavior is more complex and fundamentally reversed, which is further supported by our structural studies. We ascribe this reversal of behavior in the ferricenium derivatives to the δ back-donation from the iron atom into the Cp rings which can lead to the overall shielding of the ring protons. Interestingly, our NMR results for the electron-deficient ferricenium derivatives in solution also indicate a direct correlation between the solvent dielectric constant and the energy barrier for rotation around the metal–ligand bond in these systems, whereas such a correlation is absent or not significant in the case of the electron-rich ferricenium species or the corresponding neutral ferrocene analogs. In this work, we also present the electrochemical behavior of the corresponding ferricenium/ferrocene redox couples including potential values (E1/2), peak-to-peak separation (ΔE1/2), and diffusion coefficients (D) of the redox active species in order to provide a concise outline of these data in one place. Our electrochemical studies involved three different solvents and two supporting electrolytes. Notably, our findings point to the significant effect of ion-pairing in lowering the energy necessary for reduction of the ferricenium ion and E1/2 in lower-polarity media. This has significant implications in applications of the ferrocene or ferricenium derivatives as redox agents in low-polarity solvents where an accurate determination of redox potential is critical.
Perspective on diffuse light in tissue: subsampling photon populations.

Significance: Diffuse light is ubiquitous in biomedical optics and imaging. Understanding the process of migration of an initial photon population entering tissue to a completely randomized, diffusely scattered population provides valuable insight to the interpretation and design of optical measurements. Aim: The goal of this perspective is to present a brief, unifying analytical framework to describe how properties of light transition from an initial state to a distributed state as light diffusion occurs. Approach: First, measurement parameters of light are introduced, and Monte Carlo simulations along with a simple analytical expression are used to explore how these individual parameters might exhibit diffusive behavior. Second, techniques to perform optical measurements are considered, highlighting how various measurement parameters can be leveraged to subsample photon populations. Results: Simulation results reinforce the fact that light undergoes a transition from a non-diffuse population to one that is first subdiffuse and then fully diffuse. Myriad experimental methods exist to isolate subpopulations of photons, which can be broadly categorized as source- and/or detector-encoded techniques, as well as methods of tagging the tissue of interest. Conclusions: Characteristic properties of light progressing to diffusion can be described by some form of Gaussian distribution that grows in space, time, angle, wavelength, polarization, and coherence. In some cases, these features can be approximated by simpler exponential behavior. Experimental methods to subsample features of the photon distribution can be achieved or theoretical methods can be used to better interpret the data with this framework.