cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factorization-free decomposition algorithms in differential algebra

Abstract Insight on the structure of differential ideals defined by coherent autoreduced set allows one to uncouple the differential and algebraic computations in a decomposition algorithm. Original results as well as concise new proofs of already presented theorems are exposed. As a consequence, an effective version of Ritt’s algorithm can be simply described.
Pharmacokinetics and dose proportionality of oral moxidectin in beagle dogs.

Purpose. To study the pharmacokinetics and dose proportionality of moxidectin in beagle dogs experimentally infected with the filarial parasite Brugia pahangi, and to evaluate and compare the results obtained from population pharmacokinetic analysis and individual compartmental analysis. Method. Thirty-six infected dogs were selected and randomly allocated into six treatment groups of six dogs each. Doses of 250 or 1000μg/kg were given orally. The plasma drug concentration–time data were analyzed by population compartmental and individual compartmental methods. Results. The best pharmacokinetic model was a two-compartment model with first-order absorption. According to the results obtained from population compartmental analysis, moxidectin is a low clearance drug with a relatively high volume of distribution, resulting in a mean terminal half-life of 458 h. Absorption was rapid with a mean absorption half-life of 0.6 h and Tmax of 2.75 h. Significant weight effect was found on Vc. These results were compared with results obtained from individual compartmental approach. A statistically significant (p<0.01) gender difference in T1/2β was observed with the 250 μg/kg dose, and a trend was observed with a greater T1/2β in females at the 1000μg/kg dose. No gender effect on other pharmacokinetic parameters was found. Conclusions. A pronounced distribution phase was observed and there was a significant weight effect on Vc. Dose proportionality of moxidectin was assessed by comparing the AUC (0-last determination) values for 250 and 1000μg/kg. The pharmacokinetics are independent of dose over this dose range. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Metabolism and glioma therapy.

to provide energy and biomolecules regardless of the availability of oxygen. This shift toward increased glycolytic flux and away from the tricarboxylic acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation occurs very early in tumorigenesis, prior to hypoxia while the tumor has sufficient oxygen. Since Warburg’s discovery, metabolism has been of interest in the cancer field, but it often seemed overshadowed by discoveries of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, growth factor pathways, molecular subtypes of cancers and so on. There is a resurgence of interest in metabolism as a central theme in cancer, and we continue to find that metabolic pathways intersect and often regulate key components of tumor initiation, progression and therapy response [6,7]. Thus, it has been suggested that one promising therapeutic strategy is to exploit the metabolic dysregulation seen in virtually all tumor cells. We now know that cancer metabolism is much more complex than just a higher rate of glycolysis. Mitochondrial bio genesis is also altered, and the cancer cell’s fate becomes reliant on the balance
A generalized slender-body theory for fish-like forms

A consistent slender-body approximation is developed for the flow past a fish- like body with arbitrary combinations of body thickness and low-aspect-ratio fin appendages, but with the fins confined to the plane of symmetry of the body. Attention is focused on the interaction of the fin lifting surfaces with the body thickness, and especially on the dynamics of the vortex sheets shed from the fin trailing edges. This vorticity is convected by the (non-lifting) flow past the stretched-straight body, and departs significantly from the purely longitudinal orientation of conventional lifting-surface theory. Explicit results are given for axisymmetric bodies having fins with abrupt trailing edges, and calculations of the total lift force are presented for bodies with symmetric and asymmetric fin configurations, moving with a constant angle of attack.
The role of the liver and of extrahepatic tissues in the transport and metabolism of fatty acids and triglycerides in the dog

SUMMARY Labeled free fatty acids (FFA) and chylomicron triglycerides were injected intravenously into intact and hepatectomized dogs. Measurements were then made of the rate of their removal from the circulation, conversion to other circulating lipids, oxidation, and distribution in certain tissues. Hepatectomy reduced the rate of removal of FFA from the circulation moderately, but almost abolished the appearance of radioactivity in circulating triglycerides, indicating that the liver is the chief site of conversion of plasma FFA to plasma triglycerides. Experiments in dogs with thoracic duct fistulae showed that these triglycerides enter the circulation through the hepatic sinusoids. In hepatectomized animals a small quantity of triglycerides continues to enter the blood stream, probably from the intestinal mucosa by way of the thoracic duct, and possibly from other sites as well. Hepatectomy or temporary exclusion of the liver from the circulation reduced the rate of removal of chylomicron triglycerides variably. Hydrolysis to form circulating FFA occurred as in intact dogs. Most of the triglycerides removed from the circulation of hepatectomized dogs appeared to enter adipose tissue. Evidence was obtained that these triglycerides were hydrolyzed prior to entrance of their constituent fatty acids into adipose tissue cells. chylomicron triglycerides and FFA' bound to albumin have been shown to have rapid turnover rates in the blood (l). The liver is known to play an important role in their removal from the circulation. Bragdon and Gordon (2) injected fasting rats intravenously with albumin-bound palmitic a~id-1-C'~ and with chylomicrons obtained from the thoracic duct lymph of rats fed palmitic a~id-1-C'~. Ten minutes after the injection they found that 12% and 21%, respectively, of the radioactivity cleared from the blood was present in liver lipids. Removal of these lipid moieties from the circulation by the liver has also been demonstrated by measurement of portal-hepatic venous differences (3, 4, 5). In the present investigation we studied the metabolism of chylomicron t(rig1ycerides and FFA in intact and hepatectomized dogs. The results obtained provide further information regarding the role of the liver, and emphasize the importance of extrahepatic tissues in the transport and metabolism of these constituents.
A Database for Measuring Linguistic Information Content

Which languages convey the most information in a given amount of space? This is a question often asked of linguists, especially by engineers who often have some information theoretic measure of information in mind, but rarely define exactly how they would measure that information. The question is, in fact remarkably hard to answer, and many linguists consider it unanswerable. But it is a question that seems as if it ought to have an answer. If one had a database of close translations between a set of typologically diverse languages, with detailed marking of morphosyntactic and morphosemantic features, one could hope to quantify the differences between how these different languages convey information. Since no appropriate database exists we decided to construct one. The purpose of this paper is to present our work on the database, along with some preliminary results. We plan to release the dataset once complete.
Myometrium of the spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias: peptide and steroid regulation

The phylogenetic age of endocrine control of viviparous reproduction in vertebrates may be estimated by examination of elasmobranch models. We have shown in pregnant Squalus acanthias that Squalus relaxin (sRLX) significantly decreased the frequency of myometrial contractions in a dose-dependent reversible manner in vitro and in vivo, without altering the intensity or duration of contractions. In contrast, neurointermediate lobe extract provoked a marked and reversible enhancement of the duration and intensity of contractions but was ineffective in altering the frequency of contractions. In steroid-primed animals, untreated and estradiol-17 beta (E2)-treated animals exhibited a decrease in the frequency of activity after injection of sRLX in vivo while pretreatment with progesterone (P4) alone or in combination with E2 fully suppressed the effects of sRLX. These results suggest that homologous sRLX slows the frequency of spontaneous uterine contractions in third-trimester sharks (stage C) in which endogenous P4 is reduced and E2 levels are rising. These data demonstrate the physiological importance of these hormones and the antiquity of reproductive tract control mechanisms.
Impact of pre-operative statin use on risk of mortality and early atrial fibrillation after heart transplantation

BACKGROUND Pre-operative statin use has shown to reduce the incidence of post-operative atrial fibrillation (AF), but not mortality in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This association, however, has not been examined in a heart transplant (HT) cohort. METHODS Adults (≥18 yr) who underwent HT between 1997 and 2007 at the University of Minnesota were retrospectively identified. Primary outcome was 30-d mortality after HT. Secondary outcomes were 30-d incidence of AF and time to all-cause mortality. RESULTS Data from 259 patients (mean age 52.0 ± 11.7 yr, 81% males) were analyzed. Total of 133 (51%) patients were on statin pre-operatively at the time of HT and constituted the statin group. During a mean follow-up of 6.7 ± 3.7 yr, 82 (32%) deaths occurred, 21 (8%) of which occurred within 30 d of HT. The incidence of 30-d mortality was not significantly different between the statin and no-statin groups (9% vs. 7%, p = 0.58). Further, cumulative long-term survival after HT was not significantly different between the study groups (log-rank p = 0.49). Pre-transplant statin use did not impact the 30-d incidence of post-transplant AF (16% vs. 19%, p = 0.59). CONCLUSIONS Pre-operative statin therapy does not seem to influence the risk of mortality or early post-operative AF after HT. Future large-scale studies are required to validate these preliminary findings.
The use of frequency scanning and the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm in the system identification of flexible structures

The application of the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm to flexible structures excited with non-impulse type inputs is described. A two step procedure for determining impulse response functions from non-impulse response functions is given. In the first step, the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm is used to determine the structural frequencies and damping. The second step involves the solution of an overdetermined set of linear equations for the modal coefficients of the impulse responses. It is shown that the number of impulse response coefficients is halved if displacement and/or velocity sensors are used in conjunction with force actuators. System identification is completed after the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm is used on the impulse responses to produce a linear state space model of the structure. Numerical examples are given in which structural models are determined from simulated data corrupted with noise.
Baltimore's Mass-Transit Modification: Exploring the Relationship Between Commute Time and Local Population Density

ABSTRACTThe concentric zone model is one of the earliest models to explain how a city will grow based on its urban social structures. This model assumes an isotopic landscape, thus city expansion can grow in every direction, with some emphasis on extending social structures and the expense of commute times. This study seeks to understand if the presence of mass-transit routes in the city of Baltimore has modified the rounded shape of the concentric zone model and population distribution, as urban expansion has continued. To accomplish this, we explored a relationship between population density and travel-time-to-center (TTC). The expenditure in time a commuter must face to reach the urban center was calculated based on the availability of automobile transit routes using a geographic information system network analysis. We calculated a correlation coefficient between the variables so that the relationship could be explored. Results suggest a moderate negative relationship between TTC and population density...
Developmental variability in expression and regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase in rat intestine

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) may be a key mediator of intestinal injury, which varies with developmental age. One member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, p38, is involved in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated iNOS induction. The involvement of p38 MAPK in basal and LPS-induced iNOS expression was examined in the rat intestine at two developmental ages. Neonatal (4 days postnatal) and adolescent (15 days postnatal) rats were injected with LPS (5 microg/g ip), a selective p38 inhibitor (SB 203580), or both. Tissue was removed after 4 h and 6 h for mRNA and protein analysis. iNOS mRNA and protein were markedly upregulated in the adolescent female following LPS exposure, whereas males had an attenuated response. Neonates had a minimal response. SB 203580 suppressed LPS-induced iNOS mRNA and protein in the ileum, more so in females than in males. Adolescent ileal p38 activation was constitutively high and nonresponsive to LPS. Basal and post-LPS p38 phosphorylation was low in neonatal ileum. We conclude that ileal iNOS expression is developmentally regulated and influenced by gender and that p38 is permissive for LPS effect. The developmental regulation of p38 may contribute to age-dependent variations of intestinal injury.
Successful treatment of two cases of classical Hodgkin lymphoma-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocyosis with R-CEPP.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a syndrome characterized by an extreme inflammatory response with unrestricted macrophage activation leading to phago-cytosis of formed blood elements. H...
The Invention of “Folk Music” and “Art Music”: “Folk” and “tradition”: authenticity as musical idiom from the late eighteenth century onward

The conception of national music was from its earliest days linked closely to another idea: tradition. Tradition was not a long-standing idea waiting to be pressed into service, but was rather a construct coeval with the category of national music: “tradition” too was a component of the new quest for origins. (Thus the common substitution of the term “traditional music” for “folk music” in many contexts during the last two decades of the twentieth century did not entail a major cognitive shift.) In the course of the later eighteenth century, tradition began as a term employed – often derogatorily – to designate and investigate oral transmission itself, but it widened into a more abstract and regulative concept carrying tremendous cultural force. Many European cultural assets were passed predominantly by oral means until the printing press; and although printing itself brought about a massive social transformation, it took two or three more centuries for “oral” and “literate” culture to be acknowledged as inherently separate entities – with marked characteristics, and profound differences. As Nicholas Hudson points out, the identification of “oral tradition” in its current sense was part of this process; the modern conception of oral tradition was basically an eighteenth-century phenomenon. There was of course not a complete lack of earlier European observation on the differences between speech and writing, even long before the printing press, but until the eighteenth century the word “tradition” continued to be used almost exclusively in the specific domain of the church.
Fog of War: Psychopharmaceutical “Side Effects” and the United States Military

The unprecedented reliance today on psychiatric drugs to maintain mission readiness in war and to treat veterans at home has been the subject of ethical debate in the United States. While acknowledging these debates, I advocate for an ethnography of how US soldiers and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars themselves articulate political and ethical tensions in their experiences of psychiatric drug treatment. Detailing one army veteran's interpretations of drug effects as narrated through the lens of his current antiwar politics, I examine the radicalizing transformations of self and subjectivity that he attributes both to his witnessing drug use in Iraq and to the neurochemical effects of his own medications. Playing on the biomedical notion of "side effects," I highlight surprising political and ethical openings that can surface when psychopharmaceuticals and war intersect. Psychotropic medication use offers a critical realm for furthering the ethnographic study of the lived tensions and contradictions of military medicine and medicalization as revealed in militarized embodied experience.
Linear Systems with Non-Actuator Saturation

Throughout the previous chapters, we have closely examined linear systems with saturating actuators in a systematic manner. We will conclude this book with some results on linear systems subject to non-actuator saturation. We will establish necessary and sufficient conditions under which a planar linear system under state saturation is globally asymptotically stable. Another result that we will present in this chapter is the design of a family of linear saturated output feedback laws that would semi-globally stabilize a class of linear systems. Here, the saturated output is a result of sensor saturation. In general, the effects, and hence the treatment, of sensor saturation are very different from those of actuator saturation and are far from being systematically studied. The result presented here is only a very special situation which happens to be dual to a special case of the result presented in Chapter 4 on actuator saturation. Even in this special case, the mechanism behind the feedback laws is completely different.t
Matched Related Donor Transplants for Sickle Cell Disease: Report from the Center for International Blood and Transplant Research.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only known therapy to cure sickle cell disease though few patients receive this therapy. We report outcomes after HLA-matched sibling HCT in 68 patients with sickle cell disease, transplanted in 1989 to 2002. Of these, 33 (49%) were transplanted between 1999 and 2002. Median age at transplantation was 10 (range 2–30) years. Hemoglobin SS was the predominant genotype. Indications for HCT were predominately stroke (n=24) and recurrent vaso-occlusive crises (n=24); others included acute chest syndrome, increasing transfusion requirement, progressive iron overload and recurrent priapism. Forty-four patients (66%) received ≥ 10 red blood cell transfusions prior to HCT. Twenty patients (26%) had poor performance scores prior to transplantation. Busulfan and cyclophosphamide was the most frequently used conditioning regimen (n=63, 92%). Fifty-five patients (81%) received bone marrow allografts, 9 patients (13%) received mobilized peripheral blood, 3 patients (4%) received umbilical cord blood, and 1 patient received umbilical cord blood and bone marrow from the same donor. All patients achieved neutrophil recovery and the probability of platelet recovery ≥20,000/ul at day 100 was 93% (95% confidence interval [CI], 86–98)%. The probabilities of grades 2–4 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) at day 100 and chronic GVHD at 5 years were 10% (95% CI, 4–19%) and 22% (95% CI, 12–33%), respectively. Sixty-five of 68 patients are alive after HCT with a median follow up of 5 years. The 5-year probabilities of overall and disease-free survival were 97% (95% CI, 88–100%) and 84% (95% CI, 75–95%), respectively. We defined treatment failure (inverse of disease-free survival) as death from any cause or disease recurrence defined as having a hemoglobin S >50%. Recurrent disease was the predominant cause of treatment failure (n=10). Of these 10 patients, 8 had return of clinical symptoms and the remaining 2 were symptom-free. Among patients with recurrent disease, 5 had received >10 red blood cell transfusions pre-transplant and 1 was reported to have red blood cell alloantibodies. Four patients with recurrent disease were transplanted for stroke and 6 for vaso-occlusive crisis. Nine of 10 patients received busulfan and cyclophosphamide for their conditioning and the remaining patient, total body irradiation 200cGy (single fraction), fludarabine and anti-thymocyte globulin. Three patients died; all deaths occurred more than 100 days after HCT. Causes of death were hemorrhage (n=1), multi-organ failure (n=1) and unknown (n=1). Of the 10 patients with stroke that had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain pre- and post-transplant, 8 showed stable disease post transplant, one showed improvement and one had a worsening MRI. Overall survival after HCT for sickle cell disease is excellent, however recurrent disease and chronic GVHD remain a concern. Future studies should focus on strategies aimed at reducing disease recurrence.
Rate limits of additive manufacturing by fused filament fabrication and guidelines for high-throughput system design

Abstract As additive manufacturing (AM) advances rapidly towards new materials and applications, it is vital to understand the performance limits of AM technologies and to overcome these limits via improved machine design and process integration. Extrusion-based AM (i.e., fused filament fabrication, FFF) is compatible with a wide variety of thermoplastic polymer and composite materials, and can be deployed across a wide range of length scales. However, the build rate of both desktop and professional FFF systems is comparable (∼10’s of cm3/h at ∼0.2 mm layer thickness), suggesting that fundamental aspects of the machine design and process physics limit system performance. We determine the rate limits to FFF by analysis of machine modules: the filament extrusion mechanism, the heater and nozzle, and the motion system. We determine, by direct measurements and numerical analysis, that FFF build rate is influenced by the coincident module-level limits to traction force exerted on the filament, conduction heat transfer to the filament core, and gantry velocity for positioning the printhead. Our findings are validated by direct measurements of build rate versus part complexity using desktop FFF systems. Last, we study the scaling of the rate limits using finite element simulations of thermoplastic flow through the extruder. We map the scaling of extrusion force, polymer exit temperature, and average printhead velocity onto a unifying trade-space of build rate versus resolution. This approach validates the build rate performance of current FFF systems, and suggests that significant enhancements in FFF build rate with targeted quality specifications are possible via mutual improvements to the extrusion and heating mechanism along with high-speed motion systems.
A History of State Delegations

States can be treated for analytical purposes as relatively independent political systems with political cultures at least somewhat distinct to themselves. (Patterson 1968, 195) The cultures of states in the 1960s and earlier suggested to many political scientists, like Patterson, that states had unique interests worthy of representation. In fact, legislative behavior often reflected geographic preferences during this time period. State delegations worked together to set strategy and determine what was best for the state's constituents. Part of the reason for this was, as Patterson notes, that many states had specific cultures and interests needing representation in Congress. These interests unified the delegation on legislation and strategy. However, in today's polarized Congress and more mobile society, ideology or party, rather than geography, is often thought to be a better predictor of legislative behavior. Despite the clear role of ideology and party in Congress today, the question remains: Do states today still maintain independent political cultures and interests requiring representation in Congress? Although this book demonstrates that, yes, state delegations continue to be interesting organizational units in Congress and, under certain conditions, they can even overcome partisanship, there is less evidence for states maintaining strong, independent political cultures. Before discussing state delegations today in greater detail, this chapter first sets out to briefly review the history of state delegations in Congress. The notion that states have distinct political cultures can be traced back to before the writing of the Constitution. Under the Articles of Confederation, the original thirteen colonies were thought to be distinct enough to require equal representation, with each state receiving one vote. In writing the Constitution, the Founding Fathers continued to emphasize states as distinct in their institutional design of the Senate, the Electoral College, and the mechanism by which the president would be chosen should there be a tie in the Electoral College. Despite this clear appreciation for states as representational units, state delegations are frequently overlooked in contemporary literature on Congress. Thus, constructing a comprehensive history of state delegations is essential to developing a theory of how state delegations operate in and influence congressional behavior today. This chapter first examines the history of state delegations in Congress by discussing the relevant literature dating back to the nation's founding.
John Sutcliff and His Northamptonshire Lord’s Day Epistle

This brief article seeks to probe further than Thornton Elwyn’s Baptist Quarterly articles the content of John Sutcliff’s 1786 Northamptonshire Baptist Association circular letter on the subject of...
Will cloud computing make the Information Technology (IT) department obsolete

The rapid adoption and growth of cloud computing is creating unprecedented change in the manner in which IT services are procured, managed, and deployed. Cloud computing is forcing firms to rethink traditional IT governance practices while raising new and fundamental questions for scholars and practitioners. This paper identifies the major areas of change and highlights governance issues that arise with the adoption of cloud computing. The focus of this paper is on the organizational impact on IT governance under cloud computing. The paper posits (1) that successful IT departments under cloud computing will transform into new roles that address internal customer-facing issues and external cloud-facing issues, (2) firms that mitigate information asymmetry under cloud computing will show higher firm performance, and (3) firms that offer superior cloud-sourced IT service attributes of internal prices, quality, variety, and competition in the cloud will show higher firm performance.
Splicing together the origins of MDS-RS

In this issue of Blood , Mortera-Blanco et al provide definitive evidence of the origin of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with ring sideroblasts (RS) by tracing mutations in the splicing factor SF3B1 back to phenotypic hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) with multilineage potential. This study shows not only that SF3B1 mutations are early events in MDS and identifiable in myeloid lineage but also that SF3B1 lesions are detectable in pro-B cells. The authors also present a patient-derived mouse xenograft model that recapitulates MDS with RS phenotype from multipotent SF3B1 -mutant HSCs derived from MDS-RS patients. 1
Patient-Centered Technology Use: Best Practices and Curricular Strategies

Abstract This chapter addresses the practical dilemma clinicians’ face today to be both efficient with the EMR while engaging in meaningful patient-centered interactions. It starts by outlining best practices and strategies for patient-centered computer use with patients and details barriers encountered in implementing these techniques. We describe curricular approaches to teach these skills and evaluation tools to assess learners. In addition, we highlight an institutional model for a longitudinal curriculum. Lastly, challenges to curriculum implementation are discussed, including the need for institutional support and required training across the continuum of learners in order to ensure sustained positive behavioral change.
Does School Racial Composition Matter to Teachers: Examining Racial Differences in Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Problems:

This study investigates how teachers’ perceptions of student problems are affected by school-level student/teacher racial compositions. Utilizing the full spectrum of student/teacher racial composi...
A genome-wide RNAi screen for polypeptides that alter rpS6 phosphorylation.

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a giant protein kinase that controls cell proliferation, growth, and metabolism. mTOR is regulated by nutrient availability, by mitogens, and by stress, and operates through two independently regulated hetero-oligomeric complexes. We have attempted to identify the cellular components necessary to maintain the activity of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1), the amino acid-dependent, rapamycin-inhibitable complex, using a whole genome approach involving RNAi-induced depletion of cellular polypeptides. We have used a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell line, Mia-PaCa for this screen; as with many pancreatic cancers, these cells exhibit constitutive activation of mTORC1. PDAC is the most common form of pancreatic cancer and the 5-year survival rate remains 3–5% despite current nonspecific and targeted therapies. Although rapamycin-related mTOR inhibitors have yet to demonstrate encouraging clinical responses, it is now evident that this class of compounds is capable of only partial mTORC1 inhibition. Identifying previously unappreciated proteins needed for maintenance of mTORC1 activity may provide new targets and lead to the development of beneficial therapies for pancreatic cancer.
THREE- DIMENSIONAL IMAGING IN RADIOLOGY

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the growing need for threedimensional (3-D) imaging services, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing 3-D imaging in conjunction with a picture archive and communication system (PACS) environment. The advantages of 3-D imaging services are discussed, as well as the workflow involved in integration of 3-D imaging with PACS and radiology information systems (RIS), the staff and equipment needed for providing 3-D services, and issues with proper coding of claims and obtaining reimbursement from insurance. Radiological images were initially reviewed as transmission x-ray films, and, during the past 30 years, as cross-sectional images with the advent of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. During
The Laboratory is Nature: Investigating the Cycle of Life Under the Microscope

The tedium and torture that Vinogradskii associated with his apprenticeship in St. Petersburg did not long dissuade him from a scientific career. He spent the summer of 1885 recuperating and dabbling in scientific farming on his Kiev estate, still considering the same career alternatives that he had during his gymnasium days. The local botanical excursions he enjoyed with his mother and the experiments he conducted in his home laboratory attest to his enduring interest in botany, an interest that finally won out over a life as a gentleman farmer. That fall he departed for Strassburg and one of the foremost botanical teaching laboratories in Europe, where he would commit himself to a field of study that was itself just emerging from disciplinary chaos. During Vinogradskii’s “Strassburg period”—the years from 1885 to 1888—he intensively investigated the physiology of several “peculiar” microscopic organisms.
Role of Regularization in the Prediction of Valence from Speech

Regularization plays a key role in improving the prediction of emotions using attributes such as arousal, valence and dominance. Regularization is particularly important with deep neural networks (DNNs), which have millions of parameters. While previous studies have reported competitive performance for arousal and dominance, the prediction results for valence using acoustic features are significantly lower. We hypothesize that higher regularization can lead to better results for valence. This study focuses on exploring the role of dropout as a form of regularization for valence, suggesting the need for higher regularization. We analyze the performance of regression models for valence, arousal and dominance as a function of the dropout probability. We observe that the optimum dropout rates are consistent for arousal and dominance. However, the optimum dropout rate for valence is higher. To understand the need for higher regularization for valence, we perform an empirical analysis to explore the nature of emotional cues conveyed in speech. We compare regression models with speakerdependent and speaker-independent partitions for training and testing. The experimental evaluation suggests stronger speaker dependent traits for valence. We conclude that higher regularization is needed for valence to force the network to learn global patterns that generalize across speakers.
Race, Romantic Attraction, and Dating

Here are two widely held positions on the ethics of dating: First, people are generally morally justified in excluding people they don’t find attractive from their dating pool. Second, people are not justified in maintaining a dating pool that is racially exclusive, even on grounds like attraction. In this paper, we demonstrate how these positions are consistent. To do so we differentiate our attitudes in dating and our dating behavior. Then we show how existing criticisms of racialized attitudes in dating are incomplete as practical criticisms of our behavior. Finally, we give our account of the moral reasons whites have to change their dating preferences when they exclude people of color. In doing so, we supplement existing discussions of race-based discrimination in dating.
On Becoming a District of Choice: Implications for Equity Along the United States–Mexico Border:

Purpose: Despite the popularity of open enrollment as a school choice mechanism, there is little research on how principals behave in a district-run competitive setting. This study adds to our unde...
Direct observation of dissipative flux motion and pinning by twin boundaries in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ single crystals

We present the first direct observation of Lorentz-force-induced dissipative flux motion and the effect of twin boundaries as pinning centers in a single crystal of ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ with twin planes oriented in a single direction.
Addressing the Community‐Based Geriatric Healthcare Workforce Shortage by Leveraging the Potential of Interprofessional Teams

As Americans live longer lives, we will see an increased demand for quality healthcare for older adults. Despite the growth in the number of older adults, there will be a decrease in the supply of a primary care physician workforce to provide adequately for their care and health needs. This article reviews the literature that explores ways to address the primary care workforce shortage in a community-based geriatric healthcare setting, with special attention to elevating the role of nurses and caregivers and shifting the way we think about delivery of care and end-of-life conversations and planning. The shift is toward a more integrated and collaborative approach to care where medical and nonmedical, social services, and community providers all play a role. Several models have demonstrated promising positive benefits and outcomes to patients, families, and providers alike. The goal is to provide high quality care that addresses the unique attributes of older adults, especially those with complex conditions, and to focus more on care goals and priorities. The many barriers to scaling and spreading models of care across varied settings include payment structures, lack of education and training among all stakeholders, and, at the top of the list, leadership resistance. We address these barriers and make recommendations for a path forward where healthcare providers, policymakers, patients, families, and everyone else involved can play a role in shaping the workforce caring for older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:S400-S408, 2019.
Precision medicine for lung cancer decision-making: Evaluation of an -omics based FFT approach to personalized medicine.

e20713Background: The prevalence of next-generation sequencing and the availability of a large number of targeted therapies in the clinics, has complicated treatment decision-making in lung cancer....
Zinc supplementation improves the harvest purity of β-glucuronidase from CHO cell culture by suppressing apoptosis

The variability of trace metals in cell culture media is a potential manufacturing concern because it may significantly affect the production and quality of therapeutic proteins. Variability in trace metals in CHO cell culture has been shown to impact critical production metrics such as cell growth, viability, nutrient consumption, and production of recombinant proteins. To better understand the influence of excess supplementation, zinc and copper were initially supplemented with 50-μM concentrations to determine the impact on the production and quality of β-glucuronidase, a lysosomal enzyme, in a parallel bioreactor system. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), a metal chelator, was included as another treatment to induce a depletion of trace metal bioavailability to examine deficiency. Samples were drawn daily to monitor cell growth and viability, nutrient levels, β-glucuronidase activity, and trace zinc flux. Cell cycle analysis revealed the inhibition of sub-G0/G1 species in zinc supplemented cultures, maintaining higher viability compared to the control, EDTA-, and copper-supplemented cultures. Enzyme activity analysis in the harvests revealed higher specific activity of β-glucuronidase in reactors supplemented with zinc. A confirmation run was conducted with supplementations of zinc at concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 μM. Further cell cycle analysis and caspase-3 analysis demonstrated the role of zinc as an apoptosis suppressor responsible for the enhanced harvest purity of β-glucuronidase from zinc-supplemented bioreactors.
A 5-Fluorouracil-Induced Hyperammonemic Encephalopathy Challenged with Capecitabine.

Cancer patients presenting with altered mental status demand a broad differential with early recognition of the etiology. Failure to do so is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Causes that must be considered include organ involvement of the cancer, electrolytes abnormalities, and even chemotherapeutic agents. A 32-year-old female patient had been recently started on FOLFOX for metastatic colon cancer. Her initial treatments were uneventful, but she later developed encephalopathy during day three of cycle five. During her evaluation, she was found to have hyperammonemia (84 mcmol/L), without hepatic failure, that resolved with stopping chemotherapy and supportive care. After a trial of home infusion fluorouracil, she developed hyperammonemic encephalopathy again. During both admissions, her symptoms resolved with IV hydration and cessation of chemotherapy. She was then successfully challenged with capecitabine (1000 mg/m2 daily), and additional hydration, and continued chemotherapy without recurrence of symptoms. Hyperammonemia is associated with fluorouracil though the mechanism is unclear. Suspected etiologies include either elevated levels of the drug due to slower metabolism or accumulation of certain metabolites. Additionally, risk factors such urease-producing bacterial infections, dehydration, and increased catabolism are thought to increase the risk for hyperammonemia. This case demonstrates the need for greater awareness of fluorouracil as a cause of hyperammonemic encephalopathy. Knowledge of this may allow for earlier recognition and reduced unnecessary testing.
Managing plant pests with soaps

Home gardeners and professionals frequently discuss the use of soap products to control plant pests. Limited and conflicting information on this topic has resulted in confusion and misuse of products. It is important to recognize that all soaps are not equal in safety or efficacy in plant-pest management. This 5-page fact sheet written by Matthew A. Borden and Adam G. Dale and published by the UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Department describes some of the different types of soaps and recommendations for proper, legal, and safe use of these products to manage pests. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1248
Kinematics of highly r-process-enhanced halo stars: Evidence for origins in now-destroyed ultra-faint dwarf galaxies

The Milky Way’s stellar halo preserves a fossil record of smaller dwarf galaxies that merged with the Milky Way throughout its formation history. Currently, though, we lack reliable ways to identify which halo stars originated in which dwarf galaxies or even which stars were definitively accreted. Selecting stars with specific chemical signatures may provide a way forward. We investigate this theoretically and observationally for stars with r-process nucleosynthesis signatures. Theoretically, we combine high-resolution cosmological simulations with an empirically-motivated treatment of r-process enhancement. We find that around half of highly r-process-enhanced metal-poor halo stars may have originated in early ultra-faint dwarf galaxies that merged into the Milky Way during its formation. Observationally, we use Gaia DR2 to compare the kinematics of highly r-process-enhanced halo stars with those of normal halo stars. R-process-enhanced stars have higher galactocentric velocities than normal halo stars, suggesting an accretion origin. If r-process-enhanced stars largely originated in accreted ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, halo stars we observe today could play a key role in understanding the smallest building blocks of the Milky Way via this novel approach of chemical tagging
Revisiting and refining roles of neural guidance cues in circuit assembly

Neural guidance mechanisms ensure the precise targeting and synaptogenesis events essential for normal circuit function. Neuronal growth cones encounter numerous attractive and repulsive cues as they navigate toward their intermediate and final targets; temporal and spatial regulation of these responses are critical for circuit assembly. Recent work highlights the complexity of these events throughout neural development and the multifaceted functions of a wide range of guidance cues. Here, we discuss recent studies that leverage advances in genetics, single cell tracing, transcriptomics and proteomics to further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying neural guidance and overall circuit organization.
The Ancient City of Babylon

Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) was a great city. It had been a large city since Old Babylonian times, but Nebuchadnezzar’s expansion of the city and large-scale rebuilding of important buildings with good baked brick instead of the traditional unbaked mudbrick created something exceptional. Babylon now was larger than Nineveh had been and larger than any of the cities in the known world. The political and economic base for this development was of course that it was the centre of the Neo-Babylonian empire created by Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar (625–605 BC) and succeeding the Neo Assyrian empire as the main political entity in the Middle East. An attempt for the first time to bring together the main results of the German excavations in Babylon with the main results from the Iraqi excavations there and thereby make use of the available cuneiform documentation and a selected use of the best of the classical tradition. With the help of a GIS software (QGIS) and a BIM program (ArchiCAD) the use of satellite images and aerial photos combined with inspection on the site, the historical development of the site has been studied and a digital research model of Babylon for different periods of the city’s history has been created. Only main buildings and constructions have been considered and placed in the appropriate historical and archaeological context. Part 1 includes some information about the historical development of buildings and nature in Babylon, the rivers and groundwater in Baybylon, as well as basics about the building materials used in Babylon. Part 2 discuss the city walls and city gates, introductory matters about the history, excavation and other documentations of the walls and gates. The chapter also includes presentation of the walls and gates during Nabopolassar followed by a detailed discussion of the walls and gates during Nebuchadnezzar. The Istar gate and the area around it with the different levels and the upper level glazed decoration have been treated separately. Detailed interpretations about the palaces, development of the main traditional South Palace and the new constructed North are discussed in part 3. Reasonable suggestions for the Hanging Gardens in the North Palace have be provided. The temples are discussed in part 4 detailing the Marduk temple and the zikkurrat. The historical development of the four temples reconstructed on the site in Babylon on their old foundations, i.e. Nabu, Istar, Asratum, and Ninmaḫ temples, is discussed with indication which levels have been used for the reconstructions. The historical development of the other excavated temples, i.e. the Ninurta and Isḫara temples, are discussed in a similar way. Attention will be paid to the remains of wall decorations in the temples.
Colonoscopy Quality and Adherence to Postpolypectomy Surveillance Guidelines in an Underinsured Clinic System.

Background. Delivery of high-quality colonoscopy and adherence to evidence-based surveillance guidelines is essential to a high-quality screening program, especially in safety net systems with limited resources. We sought to assess colonoscopy quality and ensure appropriate surveillance in a network of safety net practices. Methods. We identified age-eligible patients ages 50-75 within a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) clinic system with evidence of colonoscopy in preceding 10 years. We performed chart reviews to assess key aspects of colonoscopy quality: bowel preparation quality, evidence of cecal intubation, cecal withdrawal time, and the adenoma detection rate. We then utilized established guidelines to assess and revise surveillance colonoscopy intervals, determine whether appropriate surveillance had taken place, and schedule overdue patients as appropriate. Results. Of 26,394 age-eligible patients, a total of 3,970 patients had evidence of prior colonoscopy and 1,709 charts were selected and reviewed. Mean age was 57, 54% identified as women and 51% identified as Hispanic. Of 1709 colonoscopies reviewed, 77% had data on bowel preparation, and of those, 85% had adequate preparation quality. Cecal intubation was documented in 89% of procedures. Adequate cecal withdrawal time was documented in 59% of those with documented cecal intubation. Overall adenoma detection rate was 42%. Initial surveillance interval was clearly stated in 72% ( ) of procedures. Of these, initial recommended intervals were too short in 24.5% ( ) and too long in 3.6% ( ). A total of 132 patients (10.7%) were overdue for appropriate surveillance and were referred for follow-up colonoscopy. Conclusions. Overall, the quality of screening colonoscopy was high, but reporting was incomplete. We found fair adherence to evidence-based surveillance guidelines, with significant opportunities to extend surveillance intervals and improve adherence to best practices.