cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A new species of Broad-Headed Eleutherodactylus from the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia (Amphibia, Leptodactylidae)

The broad-headed eleutherodactyline frogs have been studied by Lynch(1975, 1981). Although frogs of this assembly are easily identified (Lynch,1975, 1976, 1981), the assembly is not a natural group (Lynch, 1986).Recently, Rivero (1984) described a new species, E. sernai, from westernAntioquia, Colombia. Although Rivero associated E. sernai with thebiporcatus group, the species appears to be a member of the sulcatus group(because it possesses the plesiornorphic condition of the mandibular musclesadductors and the trigeminal nerve mandibular ramus. However, this characteristicis not sufficient to place E. sernai within the sulcatus group; theassignment will be defended in a future paper on the osteology of the variousspecies of the group. For the moment, the sulcatus group contains thefollowing species: E. cerasies Lynch, E. cornutus (Jimenez de la Espada),E. helonotus (Lynch), E. ingeri (Cochran and Gain), E. ruizi Lynch, E.sernai Rivero, and E. sulcatus
Feature-Based Segmentation of Narrative Documents

In this paper we examine topic segmentation of narrative documents, which are characterized by long passages of text with few headings. We first present results suggesting that previous topic segmentation approaches are not appropriate for narrative text. We then present a feature-based method that combines features from diverse sources as well as learned features. Applied to narrative books and encyclopedia articles, our method shows results that are significantly better than previous segmentation approaches. An analysis of individual features is also provided and the benefit of generalization using outside resources is shown.
The triumph of American psychiatry: How it created the modern therapeutic state

Over the past 170 years, American psychiatry has progressively asserted its authority over a larger segment of the American population. From the mid-1800s to the end of World War II, psychiatry had authority over the asylum population, which markedly increased in the first half of the twentieth century due to the influence of eugenics, an ideology that argued the ‘mentally ill’ had to be segregated from society. After the war, American psychiatry adopted Freudian conceptions of mental disorders, which enabled it to begin treating people in the community who were ‘neurotic’ in some way, which dramatically expanded its influence in society. Then, in the 1970s, when many in American society were questioning psychiatry’s legitimacy as a branch of medicine, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) responded by adopting a disease model for diagnosing mental disorders, which it set forth in the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. There were no scientific discoveries that led to this new mod...
Phase I Clinical and Pharmacogenetic Study of Weekly TAS-103 in Patients With Advanced Cancer

PURPOSE: TAS-103 is an inhibitor of both topoiso-merase I and II enzymes with broad antitumor activity. It is metabolized to TAS-103-glucuronide (TAS-103-G) predominantly by uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase isoform 1A1 (UGT1A1). We conducted a phase I study to determine the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) of TAS-103 when administered on a weekly schedule to patients with advanced cancer. In addition, we evaluated the influence of UGT1A1 genotype on the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of TAS-103. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients were treated with escalating doses (50 to 200 mg/m2) of TAS-103, administered intravenously over 1 hour each week for 3 weeks. Pharmacokinetic analysis was performed at the 130-, 160-, and 200-mg/m2 dose levels. UGT1A1 genotypes were determined using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction techniques. RESULTS: DLT (grade 3 neutropenia) was observed in 5 of 12 patients at 160 mg/m2 and in 3 of 6 patients at 200 mg/m2. At 160 mg...
Un-American: Latina high school students’ testimonios of American and white conflation in the middle of nowhere

AbstractUsing a combination of counter-storytelling, testimonios, and Chicana feminist epistemology, I report on the findings of an ethnographic study that explores and analyzes the educational experiences of geographically isolated Latina high school students in a rural city in Wyoming. I demonstrate the labeling of these students by peers and teachers as ‘Un-American’ and the ways in which such a label is embedded in intersecting hegemonic discourses of whiteness, rurality and nationhood. It is through such labeling that white privilege is established and maintained and the immediate and future educational biographies of Latina/o students highly circumscribed.
Hysteresis in the Crystallization of Stretched Vulcanized Rubber. II. X-Ray Studies of the Effects of Sulfur Content and Method of Curing

Abstract 1. Improvements in technique make possible complete rubber patterns in only five minutes' exposure. 2. The extreme sensitivity of hysteresis in crystallization to changes in temperature at which the stock is investigated is demonstrated. 3. Hysteresis decreases with the time of cure for a given compound. 4. Crystallinity at a given elongation seems to decrease with increasing temperature of curing for equivalent cures over the range of 239–307° F. 5. For the stock studied, at a given time and temperature of cure, the proportion of sulfur giving the greatest crystallinity at 550 per cent is between one and three per cent. 6. Inhomogeneities in the disappearance of crystallinity have been clearly demonstrated, and shown to be an exaggerated localized hysteresis effect.
Endothelin-1-induced interleukin-8 production in human brain-derived endothelial cells is mediated by the protein kinase C and protein tyrosine kinase pathways.

We have previously demonstrated that endothelin-1 (Et-1) induces human central nervous system-derived endothelial cells (CNS-EC) to produce and secrete the chemokine interleukin 8 (IL-8). In the present study, we use specific inhibitors and activators to elucidate the signal transduction pathways involved in this process. Et-1–induced IL-8 production was blocked by ETA receptor antagonist BQ610, but not by ETB receptor antagonist BQ788, demonstrating that CNS-EC activation is initiated by Et-1 binding to the ETA receptor. IL-8 mRNA expression is blocked by the protein kinase C inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide or protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors, genestein and geldanamycin, establishing the involvement of the protein kinase C and protein tyrosine kinase pathways in the activation process. The transcription factor, NF-κB, is involved in Et-1 activation as determined by specific inhibitors of translocation and direct analysis of DNA-binding proteins. Neither inhibition nor activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase affected IL-8 production in the absence or presence of Et-1. Similarly, no effect was observed upon inhibition of protein phosphatases by okadaic acid. Thus, the signal transduction process induced by Et-1 in CNS-EC, leading to increased mRNA IL-8 expression, is initiated by Et-1 binding to ETA receptor followed by subsequent activation of protein kinase C, protein tyrosine kinase, and NF-κB. Because increased expression of Et-1 is associated with hypertension and stroke and IL-8 is likely to be involved in the accumulation of neutrophils causing tissue damage in ischemic/reperfusion injury, identification of the mechanism involved in the Et-1–induced increase in IL-8 production may have significant therapeutic value.
Temporal filtering of longitudinal brain magnetic resonance images for consistent segmentation.

Longitudinal analysis of magnetic resonance images of the human brain provides knowledge of brain changes during both normal aging as well as the progression of many diseases. Previous longitudinal segmentation methods have either ignored temporal information or have incorporated temporal consistency constraints within the algorithm. In this work, we assume that some anatomical brain changes can be explained by temporal transitions in image intensities. Once the images are aligned in the same space, the intensities of each scan at the same voxel constitute a temporal (or 4D) intensity trend at that voxel. Temporal intensity variations due to noise or other artifacts are corrected by a 4D intensity-based filter that smooths the intensity values where appropriate, while preserving real anatomical changes such as atrophy. Here smoothing refers to removal of sudden changes or discontinuities in intensities. Images processed with the 4D filter can be used as a pre-processing step to any segmentation method. We show that such a longitudinal pre-processing step produces robust and consistent longitudinal segmentation results, even when applying 3D segmentation algorithms. We compare with state-of-the-art 4D segmentation algorithms. Specifically, we experimented on three longitudinal datasets containing 4–12 time-points, and showed that the 4D temporal filter is more robust and has more power in distinguishing between healthy subjects and those with dementia, mild cognitive impairment, as well as different phenotypes of multiple sclerosis.
Quantitative outcome of registration methods for correcting cardiac drift in cardiac PET/CT imaging

Myocardial perfusion studies suffer from artifacts caused by misalignment of the transmission and emission data due to the influences of voluntary and involuntary patient motion. Regardless of 68Ge or respiratory-averaged CT based attenuation correction and good patient cooperation, approximately 21% of perfusion studies exhibit artifacts arising from misalignment that cannot be corrected by manipulating the attenuation acquisition protocol. This misalignment, termed cardiac drift, is caused by slow-moving abdominal cavity contents that reposition the heart in the thorax and appear as myocardial uptake overlying the left CT lung in fused PET/CT images. This study evaluates three postimaging registration techniques to correct PET/CT misalignment by altering the transmission map to match myo-cardial uptake. Simulated misalignment studies were performed with a cardiac torso phantom filled with [18F]FDG at 10:1 myocardium/background. An air-filled saline bag affixed to the medial left lung surface served as a distensible lung. An initial CT acquisition was followed by successive PET acquisitions consisting of small displacements of the cardiac insert into the left lung. Phantom transmission scans were aligned to the myocardial uptake in the emission scans by applying 1) full rigid-body translations and rotations, 2) rigid-body restricted to medial / lateral and superior / inferior translation, or 3) an emission-driven method that adds myocardial tissue to the transmission scan. These methods were also applied to 10 low-likelihood coronary artery disease (CAD) patients showing signs of cardiac drift. Full rigid-body registration showed significant over-correction (p < 0.004) of activity concentrations in the artifact areas of the phantom data due the relocation of highly attenuating structures (i.e., spine). Inaccurate regional activity distributions were also observed as streaks extending from the spine and these results were replicated in the patient population. There was no significant difference between the true phantom activity concentration after correction with the emission-driven method. Misalignment corrected with the rigid-body registration results in an increase in activity concentration but fails to accurately recover the true concentration. These data suggest that a nonlinear image registration approach such as an emission-driven method results in a more uniform activity distribution throughout the myocardium, and is more appropriate for addressing the cardiac drift misalignment problem.
Properties of Sputtered Bilayer WNx/W Diffusion Barriers between Si and Cu

Copper interconnect metallizations in next generation integrated circuits will require thin diffusion barrier layers (<20 nm) between the Cu and low-k dielectric which may also function as seed layers for subsequent material depositions. One possible structure entails a multicomponent diffusion barrier with a lower resistivity component, such as W on WNx. In this study, sputtered WNx/W bilayer thin films were investigated as diffusion barriers between Si and Cu. The total thickness of the WNx/W bilayer was fixed at 20 nm while the WNx thickness was varied from 0 to 20 nm. After deposition of the barrier films, a 100 nm thick Cu film was sputtered over the top of the a-W and amorphous WNx bilayer. The as-deposited WNx/W film stress was found to be strongly dependent on the relative amount of WNx and W present and the addition of a Cu overlayer was found to mitigate the stress levels. The WNx/W barriers remained stable after 650°C anneals and exhibited phase transformations to W2N. Microstructural characterization using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction and chemical analysis by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the films were used to identify the as-deposited and transformed phases.
Bladder Compliance in Meningomyelocele Children

AbstractThe 2 components of detrusor compliance were analyzed in 32 children with myelomeningocele and compared to compliance in 15 age-matched controls with nonneuropathic enuresis. In myelomeningocele initial compliance was variable, whereas terminal compliance was relatively constant. Low terminal compliance corresponded with vesicoureteral reflux, deterioration of upper tract morphology and diminished renal function.
Making ‘Slavery’ Work

The term ‘slavery’ is proclaimed and heard everywhere: ‘modern slavery,’ ‘modern day slavery’, ‘modern forms of slavery’, and ‘contemporary forms of slavery.’ Uses of the term no longer arise from celebratory invocations of the 19th century legal prohibition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in Africans and of chattel slavery by the United Kingdom, the United States, and other Western powers. Instead, the popular contemporary use of the term is said to reflect the emergence of a ‘new’ form of exploitation that is similar to, yet different from, the slavery of the past. This paper will explore how ‘slavery’ works. The issues addressed include: (1) What are the origins of and reasons for the contemporary resurgence in the use of the term? (2) What goals are sought or achieved by ‘slavery’s’ use in the public sphere? (3) Identification of some contexts and mechanisms of the use. (4) Who benefits, and who loses, from the contemporary use. In exploring those issues, the paper addresses ‘slavery’ as a legal definition which is in the process of being re-worked into a concept which captures shock-inducing exploitation; and ‘slavery’ as tool of anti-trafficking and anti-exploitation activists.
Lipid membrane-assisted condensation and assembly of amphiphilic Janus particles

Amphiphilic Janus particles self-assemble into complex metastructures, but little is known about how their assembly might be modified by weak interactions with a nearby biological membrane surface. Here, we report an integrated experimental and molecular dynamics simulation study to investigate the self-assembly of amphiphilic Janus particles on a lipid membrane. We created an experimental system in which Janus particles are allowed to self-assemble in the same medium where zwitterionic lipids form giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). Janus particles spontaneously concentrated on the inner leaflet of the GUVs. They exhibited biased orientation and heterogeneous rotational dynamics as revealed by single particle rotational tracking. The combined experimental and simulation results show that Janus particles concentrate on the lipid membranes due to weak particle–lipid attraction, whereas the biased orientation of particles is driven predominantly by inter-particle interactions. This study demonstrates the potential of using lipid membranes to influence the self-assembly of Janus particles.
Partial discharges in polymer insulation

Evolving power conditioning system requirements in many technological areas will place severe demands upon long-lived, repetitive, pulse-power components. A major pacing system component in this high reliability, repetitive pulse-power technology is the energy storage capacitor [1]. Recently, increasing availabilities of quality plastic films, especially polypropylene, and the discovery of the excellent properties of perfluorocarbon liquids for impregnation fluids, make spirally-wound, plastic film/liquid impregnated capacitors a leading candidate for high energy density, repetitively operated, pulse discharge energy storage devices. The dominant lifetime-limiting mechanism in this type of high energy density capacitor is a direct result of partial discharge activity at the buried foil edges, where the electric field is maximum. Objectives of ongoing research programs include the characterization and understanding of the mechanisms of this and related partial discharge phenomena.
Tumorcidal Activation and Kinetics of Ectoenzyme Production Elicited by Synthetic Polyanions

Polyanionic compounds have been shown to exert a profound influence on the immune response (1,2). These compounds are capable of modulating responses of T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and macro-phages when administered via the appropriate route and at the appropriate time. They have been shown to enhance and suppress specific and non-specific immune responsiveness (3). Pyran, a polyanionic compound composed of maleic anhydride and divinyl ether, exerts its effect on T cells, B cells, and macrophages (1). The fact that pyran can “activate” macrophages to nonspecifically kill tumor cells has been the subject of a great deal of investigation. The role of activated macrophages as a mechanism of immunopotentiator-mediated anti-tumor activity has been established. However, little information exists with respect to the factors which control macrophage differentiation to the activated state. Certainly, significant differences in the properties of normal, elicited and activated macrophage have been demonstrated. However, the signals that trigger the events which lead to these states are unknown.
The Expressionist: A Gestural Mapping Instrument for Voice and Multimedia Enrichment

This paper presents the Expressionist, a three-dimensional human interface designed to enhance human vocal expression through interactive electronic voice filtering. The system is composed of a two-handed magnetic motion sensing controller and a computer program that processes the recorded voice of the operator based on the performer's body motion. This system is designed for electroacoustic vocal performers who are interested in multimedia live performances and wish to explore the possibilities of using body movement to enrich musical expression.
Are You Latex Safe?: How One Nurse Expanded Allergy Awareness

“Remember, I have a latex allergy and my allergist suggested that I look at the supplies on the unit”, said Hillary during her interview for a full-time position on my obstetric (OB) unit.
Phenformin inhibits growth and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancer cells through targeting the IGF1R pathway

// Zhiying Guo 1 , Ming Zhao 1 , Erin W. Howard 1 , Qingxia Zhao 1 , Amanda B. Parris 1 , Zhikun Ma 1 and Xiaohe Yang 1 1 Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina Central University, Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA Correspondence to: Xiaohe Yang, email: xyang@nccu.edu Keywords: phenformin, breast cancer, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, MMTV-ErbB2 transgenic mice Received: November 04, 2016 Accepted: June 19, 2017 Published: July 22, 2017 ABSTRACT Reports suggest that metformin, a popular anti-diabetes drug, prevents breast cancer through various systemic effects, including insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGFR) regulation. Although the anti-cancer properties of metformin have been well-studied, reports on a more bioavailable/potent biguanide, phenformin, remain sparse. Phenformin exerts similar functional activity to metformin and has been reported to impede mammary carcinogenesis in rats. Since the effects of phenformin on specific breast cancer subtypes have not been fully explored, we used ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancer cell and animal models to test the anti-cancer potential of phenformin. We report that phenformin (25–75 μM) decreased cell proliferation and impaired cell cycle progression in SKBR3 and 78617 breast cancer cells. Reduced tumor size after phenformin treatment (30 mg/kg/day) was demonstrated in an MMTV-ErbB2 transgenic mouse syngeneic tumor model. Phenformin also blocked epithelial-mesenchymal transition, decreased the invasive phenotype, and suppressed receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, including insulin receptor substrate 1 and IGF1R, in ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancer cells and mouse mammary tumor-derived tissues. Moreover, phenformin suppressed IGF1-stimulated proliferation, receptor tyrosine kinase signaling, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers in vitro . Together, our study implicates phenformin-mediated IGF1/IGF1R regulation as a potential anti-cancer mechanism and supports the development of phenformin and other biguanides as breast cancer therapeutics.
Obesity, Fertility Preservation and Gynecologic Cancers

A small but significant number of gynecologic cancers are diagnosed in women less than 40 years old. Many of these women will have not started or fulfilled their plans to have children and will desire to preserve their fertility, in spite of their cancer diagnosis. The field of Oncofertility utilizes multidisciplinary collaboration between reproductive medicine specialists and oncology providers to inform patients of the potential for cancer-related infertility and present options for fertility preservation (FP) while balancing disease treatment and fertility goals.
Phylogenetic analysis of the core histone doublet and DNA topo II genes of Marseilleviridae: evidence of proto-eukaryotic provenance.

While the genomes of eukaryotes and Archaea both encode the histone-fold domain, only eukaryotes encode the core histone paralogs H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. With DNA, these core histones assemble into the nucleosomal octamer underlying eukaryotic chromatin. Importantly, core histones for H2A and H3 are maintained as neofunctionalized paralogs adapted for general bulk chromatin (canonical H2 and H3) or specialized chromatin (H2A.Z enriched at gene promoters and cenH3s enriched at centromeres). In this context, the identification of core histone-like “doublets” in the cytoplasmic replication factories of the Marseilleviridae (MV) is a novel finding with possible relevance to understanding the origin of eukaryotic chromatin. Here, we analyze and compare the core histone doublet genes from all known MV genomes as well as other MV genes relevant to the origin of the eukaryotic replisome. Using different phylogenetic approaches, we show that MV histone domains encode obligate H2B-H2A and H4-H3 dimers of possible proto-eukaryotic origin. MV core histone moieties form sister clades to each of the four eukaryotic clades of canonical and variant core histones. This suggests that MV core histone moieties diverged prior to eukaryotic neofunctionalizations associated with paired linear chromosomes and variant histone octamer assembly. We also show that MV genomes encode a proto-eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase II enzyme that forms a sister clade to eukaryotes. This is a relevant finding given that DNA topo II influences histone deposition and chromatin compaction and is the second most abundant nuclear protein after histones. The combined domain architecture and phylogenomic analyses presented here suggest that a primitive origin for MV histone genes is a more parsimonious explanation than horizontal gene transfers + gene fusions + sufficient divergence to eliminate relatedness to eukaryotic neofunctionalizations within the H2A and H3 clades without loss of relatedness to each of the four core histone clades. We thus suggest MV histone doublet genes and their DNA topo II gene possibly were acquired from an organism with a chromatinized replisome that diverged prior to the origin of eukaryotic core histone variants for H2/H2A.Z and H3/cenH3. These results also imply that core histones were utilized ancestrally in viral DNA compaction and/or protection from host endonucleases.
Pretreatment and Anaerobic Co-digestion of Selected PHB and PLA Bioplastics

Conventional petroleum-derived plastics are recalcitrant to biodegradation and can be problematic as they accumulate in the environment. In contrast, it may be possible to add novel, biodegradable bioplastics to anaerobic digesters at municipal water resource recovery facilities along with primary sludge to produce more biomethane. In this study, thermal and chemical bioplastic pretreatments were first investigated to increase the rate and extent of anaerobic digestion. Subsequently, replicate, bench-scale anaerobic co-digesters fed synthetic primary sludge with and without PHB bioplastic were maintained for over 170 days. Two polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), one poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) and one polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastic were investigated. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) assays were performed using both untreated bioplastic as well as bioplastic pretreated at elevated temperature (35 to 90°C) under alkaline conditions (8<pH<12) for 3 to 48 h. PHB and PLA pretreatment increased average BMP values up to over 100 %. Average PHB lag time before methane production started decreased when pretreatment was performed. Bench-scale anaerobic co-digesters fed synthetic primary sludge with PHB bioplastic resulted in 80 to 98% conversion of two PHB bioplastics to biomethane and a 5% biomethane production increase at the organic loadings employed (sludge OLR=3.6 g COD per L of reactor volume per day [g COD/ LR-d]; bioplastic OLR = 0.75 g theoretical oxygen demand per L of reactor volume per day [ThOD/LR-d]) compared to digesters not fed bioplastics. Anaerobic digestion or co-digestion is a feasible management option for biodegradable plastics.
Generalized linear-systems framework for performance assessment of energy-resolving photon-counting detectors

The development of energy-resolving photon-counting detectors for medical x-ray imaging is attracting considerable attention. Since the image quality can be degraded by different nonidealities such as charge sharing, Compton scatter and fluorescence, there is a need for developing performance metrics in order to compare and optimize detector designs. For conventional, non-energy-resolving detectors, this is commonly done using the linear-systems-theory framework, in which the detector performance is described by noise-equivalent quanta (NEQ) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) as functions of spatial frequency. However, these metrics do not take the energy-resolving capabilities of multibin photon-counting detectors into account. In this work, we present a unified mathematical framework for quantifying the performance of energy-resolving detectors. We show that the NEQ and DQE can be generalized into matrix-valued quantities, which describe the detector performance for detection tasks with both spatial and energy dependence. With this framework, a small number of simple measurements or simulations are sufficient to compute the dose efficiency of a detector design for any imaging task, taking the effects of detector nonidealities on spatial and energy resolution into account. We further demonstrate that the same framework also can be used for assessing material quantification performance, thereby extending the commonly used performance metrics based on the Cramer-Rao lower bound to spatial-frequency-dependent tasks. The usefulness of the proposed framework is demonstrated using simulations of charge sharing and fluorescence in a CdTe detector.
Cause of Caregiver Death and Surviving Caregiver Coping Style Predict Thwarted Belongingness in Bereaved Youth.

Both bereavement and thwarted belongingness serve as risk markers for youth suicide-related behaviors. This study examined candidate predictors of thwarted belongingness among bereaved youth, inclu...
The Risk of Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Concomitant Vancomycin With Piperacillin–Tazobactam or Cefepime:

Purpose:The objective of this study was to compare the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) among critically ill patients receiving combination therapy with vancomycin plus piperacillin–tazobacta...
A study of contact lens compliance in a non-clinical setting.

Abstract Purpose To evaluate soft contact lens replacement, overnight (ON) wear, and contact lens case compliance in a non-clinical sample. Methods Subjects (n = 297) were recruited at the Center for Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio. Adult (≥ 18 years) soft contact lens wearers completed a survey about contact lens replacement, ON contact lens wear, and contact lens case replacement habits. Results Two-week replacement lenses (according to the manufacturer’s replacement schedule [MRS]) were most common (45.5%), followed by monthly (34.3%) and daily replacement (20.2%). Non-compliance with replacement schedule was reported in 38.7% of subjects. Age (p = 0.02), years of lens wear (p = 0.02), and MRS (p Conclusions Daily replacement wearers were most likely to be compliant with contact lens replacement, but all subjects, including daily replacement wearers, had similar ON wear non-compliance. Non-compliant lens replacement was associated with non-compliant ON wear, but contact lens case replacement was not related to either compliance category. The majority of subjects had no knowledge of proper contact lens case replacement, despite compliance in other categories.
Confining strings, infinite statistics, and integrability

We study confining strings in massive adjoint two-dimensional chromodynamics. Off-shell, as a consequence of zigzag formation, the resulting worldsheet theory provides a non-trivial dynamical realization of infinite quon statistics. Taking the high energy limit we identify a remarkably simple and novel integrable relativistic $N$-body system. Its symmetry algebra contains an additional "shadow" Poincare subalgebra. This model describes the $N$-particle subsector of a $T\bar T$-deformed massless fermion.
Treatment of urticaria: a clinical and mechanistic approach.

Purpose of review This manuscript describes the recommended therapy of chronic spontaneous urticaria based on our understanding of the pathogenesis of hive formation. Thus, the mechanism of action of each medication is elaborated in addition to a discussion of clinical utility. Recent findings The main drugs are antihistamines, omalizumab, and cyclosporine with a success rate of 40-55, 65-80, and 70-80%, respectively. Used in sequence, over 90% of patients can be successfully treated. The addition of omalizumab represents a major advance because of its efficacy, easy utility, and favorable side-effect profile. The interaction with IgE eliminates any reaction with antigens to which it might be directed, down regulates IgE receptors on mast cells and basophils, and leads to down-regulation of mast cell functions with amelioration of hives. Summary The use of antihistamines in high dosage (at least four times a day) is effective in close to half the patients with CSU. For antihistamine resistance, the use of omalizumab has revolutionized therapy of antihistamine-resistant cases because of its efficacy and excellent side-effect profile. If the response is insufficient, cyclosporine is the next choice. Patients should be monitored regarding any adverse effects on blood pressure or renal function. All these are far safer than extended use of corticosteroid.
Polynomial Finite-Size Shape Functions for Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell Algorithms Based on Unstructured Meshes

In this article, we describe a novel implementation of finite-size (super) particles described by polynomial-based spatial shape factors in electromagnetic particle-in-cell (EM-PIC) algorithms for kinetic plasma simulations based on unstructured meshes. The proposed implementation is aimed at mitigating (spurious) numerical Cherenkov radiation effects while preserving exact charge conservation. This is achieved by employing a representation of Maxwell's equations based on the exterior calculus of differential forms and a discretization of twisted differential forms associated with the primal mesh by Whitney forms, while ordinary differential forms are associated with the dual mesh. The set of full-discrete Maxwell's equations is then obtained by using a finite-element Galerkin method and a leap-frog time integration, leading to a mixed D-H finite-element time-domain Maxwell field solver. In the proposed EM-PIC implementation, the gather and scatter steps of the algorithm yield integrals of polynomials over polyhedral domains in 3-D space (or polygonal domains in 2-D space) that can be evaluated analytically. We provide numerical examples confirming charge conservation down to machine precision on an unstructured mesh.
The Experiences of Pediatric Residents Returning to Training After An Operational Medicine Tour

Introduction: Navy Medical Corps officers frequently experience discontinuous residency training due to the Navy’s operational medicine structure. Many naval physicians serve in the fleet as General Medical Officers (GMOs) following internship and return to residency after a gap in training. This gap can span several years. Most GMOs have not practiced their chosen specialty during their operational medicine tour. This is especially true of pediatric residents. There is no formal evaluation process or curriculum to guide resumption …
eHealth Education: Methods to Enhance Oncology Nurse, Patient, and Caregiver Teaching.

Background eHealth can enhance the delivery of clinical cancer care by offering unique education opportunities for oncology nurses, patients, and family caregivers throughout the cancer trajectory. Objectives This article reviews eHealth technology that can be applied to oncology education, such as mobile health applications, text messaging, web-based education, and audio- and videoconferencing. Methods Case studies provide exemplars of eHealth technologies used for delivering oncology education to nurses, patients, and caregivers. Findings By using eHealth technologies to obtain and provide education, oncology nurses are well positioned to improve the lives of patients and caregivers.
High-Flow Nasal Cannula for Bronchiolitis Management: A Quality Improvement Project for Acute Care Transition

Background: Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospital admission for infants in the US and is commonly treated with HFNC. HFNC was not previously utilized in non-ICU wards at UC Davis Children’s Hospital. As part of an ongoing quality improvement (QI) effort, we identified the need to transition infants requiring HFNC for bronchiolitis out of the PICU. Methods: In our single center QI project, we extended protocolized HFNC use to the acute care wards. A multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and QI experts developed a HFNC protocol with an assessment tool; the Respiratory Assessment Classification (RAC). Preparing for safe deployment of protocolized HFNC in the non-ICU setting, we provided education for nurses, respiratory therapists, and physicians. QI meetings were held monthly and QI rounds daily to monitor adherence, implementation, outcomes, and adverse events. The pre-implementation period was December 2017 to March 2019, excluding December 2018 due to a short pilot program. The post-implementation period was March 2019 to February 2020. Analysis: Comparing pre and post groups, continuous variables (means or medians) were compared with t-test or STATA median test and categorical data (frequencies) were compared with X2 or Fisher’s exact test. IRB exemption was obtained through UC Davis. Results: Patients were similar in both groups, however post implementation patients were older (10 vs 12 months mean, P=0.01). Following implementation, 73% of patients meeting out of ICU criteria were discharged home or transferred to the ward within 2 hours of meeting the criteria. Transferring to the ward while still receiving HFNC increased from 12% to 33% (P Conclusions: HFNC can be safely utilized outside of the ICU setting for the management of bronchiolitis. Standardization in care, education, and daily rounding leads to an increased focus in HFNC management in moderate to severe bronchiolitis. This may explain the increase in direct discharge from the ICU, as well as decreased hospital and ICU LOS. Our findings are encouraging and warrant future exploration in use of HFNC outside of the ICU setting.
The Vita of Marie d’Oignies and Late Medieval England

Two late medieval Latin manuscripts and one fifteenth-century Middle English manuscript testify to English interest in Jacques de Vitry’s thirteenth-century Vita of Marie d’Oignies, a mulier religiosa of the diocese of Liege. Both the Latin fifteenth-century Oxford codex, St. John’s College, MS 182 and the Middle English fifteenth-century Oxford Bodleian MS Douce 114 were owned by Carthusian charterhouses. The contemplative English Carthusians helped supply secular readers with texts as can be seen in MS Douce 114 which contains the Middle English translation of De Vitry’s Latin Vita. Readers of the Book of Margery Kempe recall that Margery writes that her priest-amanuensis comes to understand her tears after reading about Marie’s weeping in De Vitry’s Vita. De Vitry saw Marie d’Oignies as the icon of a new type of lay piety; Margery Kempe takes her as a model.
AdaDGS: An adaptive black-box optimization method with a nonlocal directional Gaussian smoothing gradient

The local gradient points to the direction of the steepest slope in an infinitesimal neighborhood. An optimizer guided by the local gradient is often trapped in local optima when the loss landscape is multi-modal. A directional Gaussian smoothing (DGS) approach was recently proposed in (Zhang et al., 2020) and used to define a truly nonlocal gradient, referred to as the DGS gradient, for high-dimensional black-box optimization. Promising results show that replacing the traditional local gradient with the DGS gradient can significantly improve the performance of gradient-based methods in optimizing highly multi-modal loss functions. However, the optimal performance of the DGS gradient may rely on fine tuning of two important hyper-parameters, i.e., the smoothing radius and the learning rate. In this paper, we present a simple, yet ingenious and efficient adaptive approach for optimization with the DGS gradient, which removes the need of hyper-parameter fine tuning. Since the DGS gradient generally points to a good search direction, we perform a line search along the DGS direction to determine the step size at each iteration. The learned step size in turn will inform us of the scale of function landscape in the surrounding area, based on which we adjust the smoothing radius accordingly for the next iteration. We present experimental results on high-dimensional benchmark functions, an airfoil design problem and a game content generation problem. The AdaDGS method has shown superior performance over several the state-of-the-art black-box optimization methods.
Tissue architectural cues drive organ targeting of human tumor cells in zebrafish

ABSTRACT Sites of metastasis are non-random, with certain types of cancers showing organ preference during distal colonization. Using multiple brain- and bone marrow-seeking human and murine breast cancer subclones, we determined that tumor cells that home to specific murine organs (brain and bone marrow) ultimately colonized analogous tissues (brain and caudal vein plexus [CVP]) in larval zebrafish. We then exploited the zebrafish model to delineate factors leading to differential cell homing and extravasation. Bone marrow-tropic clones showed higher expression of integrins and focal adhesions associated with mechanosensing machinery than brain-tropic clones and were more sensitive to vessel topography during extravasation. Knockdown of β1 integrin reduced extravasation and redistributed organ targeting from disordered vessels in the CVP to the brain. Our results show that organ selectivity is driven by topography- and cell type-dependent extravasation at the tumor-endothelial interface in the larval zebrafish and provide important insights into the early stages of metastasis.
Galapagos tortoises in a changing climate

Abstract Over the coming century, climate change is positioned to cause substantial global impacts likely cascading down to every ecosystem. For the Galapagos Archipelago, a warmer and wetter future is expected. What are the ramifications for Galapagos tortoises? Warmer and wetter conditions will likely bring higher growth rates of plants in all ecosystems. This, in turn, may increase food availability and increase the extent of habitat suitable for foraging Galapagos tortoises. Projections based solely on changes in habitat suitability suggest the possibility for tortoise populations to increase by 13%. Increased foraging will likely increase tortoise growth rates, reducing the age at maturity and thereby increasing population growth rates and standing densities. However, these positive influences may be undercut by declines in recruitment due to increased rainfall that could threaten the viability of tortoise eggs. The saddleback form, unique to Galapagos tortoises among living turtles, may devolve under the wetter, greener future conditions predicted archipelago-wide for the Galapagos.
BIOLOGIC BASIS FOR ORAL SOFT-TISSUE GRAFTING

SUMMARY An overview of the biologic principles related to the tissues involved in oral soft-tissue grafting has been presented here. In light of this biologic basis, the following fundamentals must be considered in the selection, design, and execution of appropriate surgical procedures: The information that dictates the type of epithelium that eventually covers the surface of the recipient site is found in the underlying connective tissue. Reestablishment and maintenance of adequate blood supply to the graft are the main determinants of graft survival. Pedicle grafts maintain a blood supply from the base of the flap. Free grafts retain none of their original blood supply and must reestablish a blood supply. Interpo- sitional connective tissue grafts receive their blood supply from two surfaces (recipient bed and flap). Graft survival is less predictable with thicker grafts than with thin grafts, but thicker grafts are more likely to achieve coverage of avascular surfaces. Color and surface texture blend is better with pedicle flaps and interpositional connective tissue grafts than with autogenous free onlay grafts.
Proportionality, Constraint, and Culpability

Philosophers of criminal punishment widely agree that criminal punishment should be “proportional” to the “seriousness” of the offense. But this apparent consensus is only superficial, masking significant dissensus below the surface. Proposed proportionality principles differ on several distinct dimensions, including: (1) regarding which offense or offender properties determine offense “seriousness” and thus constitute a proportionality relatum; (2) regarding whether punishment is objectionably disproportionate only when excessively severe, or also when excessively lenient; and (3) regarding whether the principle can deliver absolute (“cardinal”) judgments, or only comparative (“ordinal”) ones. This essay proposes that these differences cannot be successfully adjudicated, and one candidate proportionality principle preferred over its rivals, in the abstract; a proportionality principle only makes sense as an integrated part of a more complete justificatory theory of criminal punishment. It then sketches a proportionality principle that best fits the responsibility-constrained pluralist theories of criminal punishment that currently predominate. The proportionality principle it favors provides that punishments should not be disproportionately severe, in noncomparative terms, relative to an agent’s culpability in relation to their wrongdoing.
HTPD: Secure and Flexible Message-Based Communication for Mobile Apps

In modern mobile message-based communication, malicious apps can illicitly access transferred messages via data leakage attacks. Existing defenses are overly restrictive, as they block all suspicious apps, malicious or not, from receiving messages. As a solution, we present a communication model that allows untrusted-but-not-malicious apps to receive messages. Our model—hidden transmission and polymorphic delivery (HTPD)—transmits sensitive messages in an encrypted envelope and delivers them polymorphically. Depending on the destination’s trustworthiness, HTPD delivers either no data, raw data, or encrypted data. Homomorphic and convergent encryption allows untrusted destinations to securely operate on encrypted data deliveries. We realize HTPD as PoliCC, a plug-in replacement of Android Inter-Component Communication middleware. PoliCC mitigates three classic Android data leakage attacks, and allows untrusted apps to operate on delivered messages. Our evaluation shows that PoliCC enables mobile apps to securely and flexibly exchange communication messages, with low performance and programming effort overheads.
Multiple Jets in Shallow Flowing Receiving Waters

An experimental study of multiple submerged heated jets discharging into confined, shallow, flowing receiving waters was conducted. Empirical relationships describing jet spreading and center line reduction of excess temperature and excess velocity near the source were developed. Comparisons between laboratory and field measurements were made for some of these relationships. A definition based on the experimental results was developed to predict the location where a row of submerged jets merge to form a two-dimensional slot jet. The results of the study should be of particular value in predicting the extent of cross-sectional mixing zones for submerged multiport diffusers in rivers.
Quantitative Detection of Chlamydia spp. by Fluorescent PCR in the LightCycler

Quantitative detection of intracellular bacteria of the genus Chlamydia by the standard cell culture method is cumbersome and operator dependent. As an alternative, we adapted hot-start PCR to the glass capillary quantitative PCR format of the LightCycler. The optimized PCR was consistently more efficient than commercially available pre-assembled PCRs. Detection by quantitative PCR of as few as single copies of DNA of Chlamydia spp. was accomplished by SYBR Green fluorescence of the dsDNA product and by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) hybridization probes. The PCRs were 15-fold more sensitive than the cell culture quantitative assay of C. psittaci B577 infectious stock. The number of chlamydial genomes detected by C. psittaci B577 FRET PCR correlated well with cell culture determination of inclusion forming units (IFUs) (r = 0.96, P < 0.0008). When infected tissue samples were analyzed by cell culture and PCR, the correlation coefficient between IFUs and chlamydial genomes was higher with C. psittaci B577 FRET PCR (r = 0.90, P < 0.0004) than with Chlamydia omp1 SYBR Green PCR (r = 0.85, P < 0.002).