cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
IRF7-Dependent IFN-β Production in Response to RANKL Promotes Medullary Thymic Epithelial Cell Development

The contributions of IFN regulatory factor (IRF) 3/7 and the type I IFNs IFN-α/β to the innate host defense have been extensively investigated; however, their role in thymic development is less clear. In this study, we show that mice lacking the type I IFN receptor IFN-α/β receptor (IFNAR) or the downstream transcription factor STAT1 harbor a significant reduction in self-Ag-presenting, autoimmune regulator (AIRE)(+) medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs). Constitutive IFNAR signaling occurs in the thymic medulla in the absence of infection or inflammation. Receptor activator for NF-κB (RANK) ligand stimulation results in IFN-β upregulation, which in turn inhibits RANK signaling and facilitates AIRE expression in mTECs. Finally, we find that IRF7 is required for thymic IFN-β induction, maintenance of thymic architecture, and mTEC differentiation. We conclude that spatially and temporally coordinated cross talks between the RANK ligand/RANK and IRF7/IFN-β/IFNAR/STAT1 pathways are essential for differentiation of AIRE(+) mTECs.
A magnetic Gram stain for bacterial detection.

Magnetic stain. Bacteria are often classified into Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains by their visual staining properties using crystal violet (CV), a triarylmethane dye. Here we show, that bioorthogonal modification of crystal violet with transcyclooctene (TCO) can be used to render Gram-positive bacteria magnetic with magneto-nanoparticles-Tetrazine (MNP-Tz). This allows for class specific automated magnetic detection, magnetic separation or other magnetic manipulations.
Subjective Well-Being and Culture Across Time and Space:

The authors compare the subjective well-being of citizens in 20 nations with the subjective well-being of Americans who claim to have ancestors from those nations. The results show that the rank order of the well-being scores for the citizens of the 20 nations is similar to the rank order of the well-being scores for the Americans with ancestors from those nations. This finding suggests that the aspects of culture that influence subjective well-being have been passed from people who lived centuries ago to their contemporary descendants at home and in America. Additional analysis suggests that religion may be an important agent in the transmission process.
A fully integrated pulsed-LASER time-of-flight measurement system with 12ps single-shot precision

A monolithic pulsed time-of-flight measurement system is presented in this paper. The circuit consists of an optical receiver front-end and time-to-digital converter. Received pulse amplitude detectors are also included to correct measurement for walk error. The IC is fabricated in a 0.18-mum BiCMOS process. The receiver front-end achieves a 2.3 GHz bandwidth and NF lower than 5 dB. The system shows a single-shot precision of 12 ps and a measurement range of 188 mus. The measurement rate can be as high as 700 kHz. The power consumption is 148 mA from a 3.5 V supply for analog and E2CL circuitry, and a 1.8 V supply for CMOS circuitry.
Involvement of BmoR and BmoG in n-alkane metabolism in ‘Pseudomonas butanovora’

‘Pseudomonas butanovora’ uses an alcohol-inducible alkane monooxygenase (BMO) to grow on C2–C9 n-alkanes. Five ORFs were identified flanking the BMO structural genes. Two of the ORFs, bmoR, encoding a putative σ 54-transcriptional regulator BmoR, and bmoG, encoding a putative GroEL chaperonin BmoG, were analysed by gene-inactivation experiments. The BmoR-deficient mutant grew at slower growth rates than the wild-type on C2–C5 n-alkanes and showed little to no growth on C6–C8 n-alkanes within 7 days. A BmoR-deficient mutant was constructed in the ‘P. butanovora’ bmoX : : lacZ reporter strain and used to test whether bmoR was involved in bmoX induction after growth on C2–C8 carbon sources. In acetate- or lactate-grown cells, C2–C8 n-alcohols failed to induce β-galactosidase activity. In contrast, in propionate-, butyrate- or pentanoate-grown cells, n-butanol induced ∼45 % of the β-galactosidase activity observed in the control bmoX : : lacZ strain. In propionate-grown cells, C2–C5 n-alcohols induced β-galactosidase activity, whereas C7 and C8 n-alcohols did not. BmoR may act as a σ 54-transcriptional regulator of bmo that is controlled by the n-alcohol produced in the alkane oxidation. During growth on short-chain-length fatty acids, however, another BMO regulatory system seems to be activated to promote transcription of bmo by short-chain-length alcohols (i.e. ≤C6). The bmoG-deficient mutant did not grow on C2–C8 n-alkanes; however, it was capable of transcribing bmoX and bmoC of the BMO operon. BmoG may act as a chaperonin to assemble competent BMO.
Design and Fabrication of a PDMS Micropump with Moving Membranes

A novel design of a PDMS micropump with multiple vibrating membranes is being developed for application s in drug delivery and molecule sorting. The PDMS micropump consists of three nozzle/diffuser elements with vibrating membranes, which are used to create pressure difference in the pump chamber. Preliminary analysis of the fluidic characteristics of this micropump was performed using FLUENT. The transient responses of fluid velocity, pressure distributions, and flow rate during the operating cycle of the micropump were obtained. The design simulation results showed that the movement of wall membranes combined with the rectification behavior of three nozzle/diffuser elements can minimize back flow and improve net flow in one direction. Currently, the fabrication process of the micropump is being carried out. This paper will discuss in detail some of the fabrication processes that are involved in making and developing PDMS Microfluidic device.
The ERG and its Correlation with Damage Caused by Chronic Exposure to Light

Light damage to the retina can occur under at least two conditions. The first, and possibly better known to the clinical ophthalmologist might be called short pulse small spot damage. This type is produced in photocoagulation. It is also the type caused by Q-switched lasers, and in most cases of solar burns. The second type of damage is that caused by long term (hours or days) exposure to moderate or high illumination over a wide field. Interest in the mechanisms and parameters of this second type was initiated by Noell’s discovery in the rat (Noell et al., 1966). It is becoming apparent that the mechanism of damage under these two conditions is totally different and that the response in the second type is in some manner different in animals which are not nocturnal.
Etiology of Biliary Tract Disease in Southwestern American Indians: Analysis of 105 Consecutive Cholecystectomies

Summary The possible etiologic factors accounting for the increased incidence of biliary tract disease in southwestern American Indians were studied in 105 patients who had recent cholecystectomies. Obesity, multiparity, diabetes mellitus, increased alcohol consumption, a possible genetic predisposition, and infected bile seemed to be significant factors in this group. No correlation with serum cholesterol levels or cardiac disease. Based upon electrocardiographic findings, was noted. Certain tribal differences were present. the average patient age of 41.4 years is younger than in previously reported studies. A need for further investigation of this problem is stressed.
Endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms does not reduce later mortality compared with open repair

Objective Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAAs) reduces in-hospital mortality compared with open repair (OR), but it is unknown whether EVAR reduces long-term mortality. We hypothesized that EVAR of RAAA would independently reduce long-term mortality compared with OR. Methods The Vascular Quality Initiative database (2003-2013) was used to determine Kaplan-Meier 1-year and 5-year mortality after EVAR and OR of RAAA. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify patient and operative characteristics associated with mortality at 1 year and 5 years after RAAA repair. Results Among 590 patients who underwent EVAR and 692 patients who underwent OR of RAAA, the lower mortality seen in the hospital after EVAR (EVAR 23% vs OR 35%; P P = .001) and 5 years (EVAR 50% vs OR 58%; P = .003) after repair. After adjusting for patient and operative characteristics, EVAR did not independently reduce mortality at 1 year (hazard ratio [HR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.7-1.1) or 5 years (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.77-1.2) compared with OR. Dialysis dependence (HR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.8-8.6), home oxygen use (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3-2.7), cardiac ejection fraction Conclusions EVAR does not independently reduce long-term mortality compared with OR. Patient comorbidities and indices of shock on admission are the primary independent determinants of long-term mortality. However, the lower early mortality observed in the Vascular Quality Initiative for patients selected to undergo EVAR of RAAA compared with patients selected for OR is sustained over time, suggesting that EVAR for RAAA is beneficial in appropriate candidates. Better elucidation of the key selection factors, including aneurysm anatomy, is needed to best select patients for EVAR and OR to reduce long-term mortality.
Religion and Violence: Philosophical Perspectives from Kant to Derrida

(2003). Religion and Violence: Philosophical Perspectives from Kant to Derrida. Ars Disputandi: Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 206-209.
Turks across the empires: marketing Muslim identity in the Russian–Ottoman borderlands, 1856–1914

The Russian Revolution of 1905 sparked an unprecedented upsurge of activity among Russia’s Muslim population, especially Turks and Tatars, which resulted in a call for unity and greater participati...
Special Feature Analysis of Myocardial Infarction in Patients Younger Than 30 Years of Age

Objective: To explore the risk factors and characteristics of coronary artery angiography(CAG) for myocardial infarction(MI) patients younger than 30 years old. Methods: We retrospectively studied the clinical features and CAG findings in 85 MI patients younger than 30 years, and analyzed coronary lesions with the family history of coronary heart disease(CAD), hypertension, diabetes, and the history of smoking and drinking in all those patients. Results: There were 3/85 of female patients at 15 to 30 years of age, 76.5% were overweight and 36.5% with obesity, 75.3% of patients were smokers and 28.2% drinking alcohol. The Percentage of patients combining with hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes were 11.8%, 10.6% and 4.7% respectively. There were 21.2% of patients with normal CAG, 56.5% with single vessel-disease. There 35.3% of patients took medication, 60.0% received interventional treatment and 4.7% had surgical bypass grafting. Conclusion: The coronary lesions were more as single-vessel disease in patients younger than 30 years, obesity and smoking might be the important risk factors for CAD in such age range.
Tales of dracula ants: the evolutionary history of the ant subfamily Amblyoponinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The ants in the subfamily Amblyoponinae are an old, relictual group with an unusual suite of morphological and behavioural features. Adult workers pierce the integument of their larvae to imbibe haemolymph, earning them the vernacular name ‘dracula ants’. We investigate the phylogeny of this group with a data set based on 54 ingroup taxa, 23 outgroups and 11 nuclear gene fragments (7.4 kb). We find that the genus Opamyrma has been misplaced in this subfamily: it is a member of the leptanilline clade and sister to all other extant Leptanillinae. Transfer of Opamyrma to Leptanillinae renders the Amblyoponinae monophyletic. The enigmatic Afrotropical genus Apomyrma is sister to all other amblyoponines, and the latter cleave into two distinct and well-supported clades, here termed POA and XMMAS. The POA clade, containing Prionopelta, Onychomyrmex and Amblyopone, is well resolved internally, and its structure supports synonymy of the genus Concoctio under Prionopelta (syn.n.). The XMMAS clade comprises two well-supported groups: (i) a predominantly Neotropical clade, for which we resurrect the genus name Fulakora (stat.r., stat.n.), with junior synonyms Paraprionopelta (syn.n.) and Ericapelta (syn.n.); and (ii) the remaining taxa, or ‘core XMMAS’, which are manifested in our study as a poorly resolved bush of about a dozen lineages, suggesting rapid radiation at the time of their origin. Most of these XMMAS lineages have been assigned to the catch-all genus Stigmatomma, but the more distinctive elements have been treated as separate genera (Xymmer, Mystrium, Myopopone and Adetomyrma). Resolution of basal relationships in the core XMMAS clade and reconfiguration of ‘Stigmatomma’ to restore monophyly of all named genera will require more extensive genetic data and additional morphological analysis. However, the genus Bannapone can be synonymized under Stigmatomma (syn.n.) because it is embedded within a clade that contains S. denticulatum, the type species of Stigmatomma. Divergence dating analysis indicates that crown Amblyoponinae arose in the mid-Cretaceous, about 107 Ma (95% highest probability density: 93–121 Ma). The POA and XMMAS clades have estimated crown ages of 47 and 73 Ma, respectively. The initial burst of diversification in the core XMMAS clade occurred in the Late Paleocene/Early Eocene (50–60 Ma). Ancestral range reconstruction suggests that amblyoponines originated in the Afrotropics, and dispersed to the Indo-Malayan region and to the New World. During none of these dispersal events did the ants break out of their cryptobiotic lifestyle.
Stress Reduction Through a Brief Writing Intervention With Women in Jail.

Objective:To assess the feasibility/acceptability of writing as a stress reduction strategy with incarcerated women. Methods:The authors implemented a writing intervention in which six women wrote ...
A Reluctant Leavisite: Martin Amis’s “Higher Journalism”

“Literature is, among other things,” Martin Amis declares, “a talent contest, and every reader must his find his personal great tradition” (War, 78). One glimpse of Amis’s own tradition begins to emerge from his first publication, a “Weekend Competition” entry in the New Statesman. An inauspicious way of breaking into print, this entry, edited to only sixteen words, is attributed to “M.L. Amis,” a conscious echo of precursors such as T.S. Eliot, I.A. Richards, C.P. Snow and, aptly, F.R. Leavis. In fact, Leavis seems central to Amis’s self-fashioning as a literary reviewer and critic — a position he held before attaining fame as a novelist. Leavis constitutes a strong presence in Amis’s criticism, hovering implicitly and explicitly over much of Amis’s literary journalism. He wavers between admiration for the elder critic’s vigorous stance and repeated condemnations of Leavis’s humorlessness, endorsement of D.H. Lawrence, and elitist posturing. In his two articles under the pseudonym of “Bruno Holbrook,” for instance, Amis presents a tongue-in-cheek alternative to Leavis’s dour rhetorical stance and intellectual snobbery. Moreover, Leavis at times appears in Amis’s nonfiction as a kind of synecdoche, the totemic figurehead embodying all the judgmental errors Amis ascribes to Leavis and his followers — a figurative compaction that has led Amis to denounce Leavis ad hominem.
Neuroligins Are Selectively Essential for NMDAR Signaling in Cerebellar Stellate Interneurons

Neuroligins are postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecules that contribute to synapse specification. However, many other postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecules are known and the relative contributions of neuroligins versus other such molecules in different types of synapses and neurons remains largely unknown. Here, we have studied the role of neuroligins in cerebellar stellate interneurons that participate in a well defined circuit that converges on Purkinje cells as the major output neurons of cerebellar cortex. By crossing triple conditional knock-out (cKO) mice targeting all three major neuroligins [neuroligin-1 to neuroligin-3 (NL123)] with parvalbumin-Cre (PV-Cre) transgenic mice, we deleted neuroligins from inhibitory cerebellar interneurons and Purkinje cells, allowing us to study the effects of neuroligin deletions on cerebellar stellate cell synapses by electrophysiology in acute slices. PV-Cre/NL123 cKO mice did not exhibit gross alterations of cerebellar structure or cerebellar interneuron morphology. Strikingly, electrophysiological recordings in stellate cells from these PV-Cre/NL123 cKO mice revealed a large decrease in NMDAR-mediated excitatory synaptic responses, which, in stellate cells, are largely extrasynaptic, without a change in AMPA-receptor-mediated responses. Parallel analyses in PV-Cre/NL1 mice that are single NL1 cKO mice uncovered the same phenotype, demonstrating that NL1 is responsible for recruiting extrasynaptic NMDARs. Moreover, we observed only a modest impairment in inhibitory synaptic responses in stellate cells lacking NL123 despite a nearly complete suppression of inhibitory synaptic transmission in Purkinje cells by the same genetic manipulation. Our results suggest that, unlike other types of neurons investigated, neuroligins are selectively essential in cerebellar stellate interneurons for enabling the function of extrasynaptic NMDARs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neuroligins are postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecules genetically linked to autism. However, the contributions of neuroligins to interneuron functions remain largely unknown. Here, we analyzed the role of neuroligins in cerebellar stellate interneurons. We deleted neuroligin-1, neuroligin-2, and neuroligin-3, the major cerebellar neuroligin isoforms, from stellate cells in triple NL123 conditional knock-out mice and analyzed synaptic responses by acute slice electrophysiology. We find that neuroligins are selectively essential for extrasynaptic NMDAR-mediated signaling, but dispensable for both AMPAR-mediated and inhibitory synaptic transmission. Our results reveal a critical and selective role for neuroligins in the regulation of NMDAR responses in cerebellar stellate interneurons.
Alcoa Global Primary Products' reliability excellence evolution

Alcoa Aluminum Global Primary Products Division has been implementing a formal asset reliability strategy since 2004. This program, known as REX, includes best practices adopted from different experts, consultants and model companies. REX has expanded, evolved and matured into a division wide mandatory process due to its demonstrated success in improving stability and reducing costs in our plants. This paper describes the program and relates its history from inception in U.S. smelters through the deployment in all Primary Products plants around the world, including new facilities in Iceland, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. (6 pages)
Design and analysis of linear cascade DNA hybridization chain reactions using DNA hairpins

DNA self-assembly has been employed non-conventionally to construct nanoscale structures and dynamic nanoscale machines. The technique of hybridization chain reactions by triggered self-assembly has been shown to form various interesting nanoscale structures ranging from simple linear DNA oligomers to dendritic DNA structures. Inspired by earlier triggered self-assembly works, we present a system for controlled self-assembly of linear cascade DNA hybridization chain reactions using nine distinct DNA hairpins. NUPACK is employed to assist in designing DNA sequences and Matlab has been used to simulate DNA hairpin interactions. Gel electrophoresis and ensemble fluorescence reaction kinetics data indicate strong evidence of linear cascade DNA hybridization chain reactions. The half-time completion of the proposed linear cascade reactions indicates a linear dependency on the number of hairpins.
Discovering the Efficiency of Urban Sprawl

chapter 6 DISCOVERING THE EFFICIENCY OF URBAN SPRAWL a lex a nas The hypotheses of individuals are tested, the commitments shared by his group being presupposed; group commitments, on the other hand, are not tested, and the process by which they are displaced differs drastically from that involved in the evaluation of hypotheses . — Thomas S. Kuhn ( 1977 , xxi) Sprawl for Planners and Economists 1 Planners see U.S. urban areas as too spread out and land use densities as too low. Cars and highways are blamed for locking in this pattern of land use. Remedies aim to contain suburban expansion, or transit-oriented developments are proposed to 1 . The author would like to thank Dennis Epple for a suggestion that led to table 6.4 , Anne Augustine for her excellent assistance with literature search and the empirical work of table 6.4 ; Nancy Brooks, and Robin Lindsey and Kenneth Small for their careful reading and useful comments. The work was partially supported by the author’s research award RD-83184101–0 from the United States Environmental 0001312789.INDD 123 8/25/2011 11:38:17 AM
Evaluation of nematicides for southern root-knot nematode management in lima bean

Abstract Southern root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita; RKN) significantly reduce lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) yields. Chemical control options for RKN are limited. We evaluated the efficacy of new nematicidal products on RKN in lima bean experiments conducted in greenhouse (GH) and microplot (MP) settings. Treatments included fluensulfone at low and high labeled rates, fluopyram, spirotetramat, fluopyram + spirotetramat, oxamyl, ethoprophos, and an untreated, RKN-infested control. GH treatments were arranged in a factorial design, with application of nematode eggs (0, 6,000, or 30,000 eggs pot−1) crossed with nematicide treatment. MP treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design and all plots were infested with RKN-infested tomato root tissue and soil grown in the greenhouse. Root galling, RKN egg and juvenile densities, and aboveground plant dry masses were determined and analyzed using Mixed Model ANOVA. In the GH trials, fluensulfone at both rates provided the greatest reduction in RKN galling compared to the untreated control, whereas spirotetramat treatments were not significantly different from the untreated control. In the MP 2 trial, all treatments except spirotetramat significantly reduced RKN populations and had significantly greater yields relative to the untreated control. Oxamyl, ethoprophos, and fluensulfone (1.64 L ai/ha and 2.34 L ai/ha) treatments had the highest yields in the microplot study. Based on these results, the two new nematicides, fluensulfone and fluopyram, show good potential for managing RKN in lima beans.
American Demographic Directions

For the demographer these are eventful days. All-time records are being established on the basic population variables. For 10 years the American birth rate has been about 15 per 1,000, lower than it had ever been before; the expectation of life, after some hesitation, is rising again, and that of women could well reach 80 years in the near future; legal abortions are near the 1.5-million mark; one-sixth of all births are to unmarried women. In addition to these facts affecting the biological variables of birth and death are changes in social aspects of population: the divorce rate sets a new record each year; women have entered the labor force in unheard-of proportions, and even mothers of young children now take jobs; unconventional living arrangements are widespread.
A Configurational Model of Academic Entrepreneurship in Research Teams

Academic entrepreneurship is frequently undertaken by teams, yet scholarship on how these teams decide to exploit opportunities is limited. We develop a configurational model of academic entreprene...
Troubling Technology: The Deobandī Debate on the Loudspeaker and Ritual Prayer

This article contributes to Islamicist scholarship on the relationship between modern technology and Muslim thought and practice by closely reading and historicizing a twentieth-century South Asian Ḥanafī treatise on the use of the loudspeaker in ritual prayers. In this treatise, the Ḥanafī jurist Muḥammad Shafīʿ discusses the reasons for changing his legal opinion. The jurist first argued that the use of the loudspeaker invalidates the ritual prayer of the congregant (muqtadī). In his revised position, however, he held that the loudspeaker should be avoided in ritual prayers, but that its use does not invalidate the prayer. While Muḥammad Shafīʿ appears to have revised his position in response to newfound scientific knowledge about the ontological status of the loudspeaker’s sound or for the sake of public benefit (maṣlaḥah), I suggest that his revised fatwā was based on distinctive Ḥanafī modes of legal reasoning. By grounding his revised position in casuistry, the muftī renewed his commitment to his law school’s methodologies in a social context in which scientific knowledge and legal pluralism were weakening Ḥanafī modes of reasoning.
Defining Down Sovereignty

In a globalizing world where transnational terrorism poses a serious threat to the security of many people, the Westphalian system of state sovereignty based on the sanctity of borders is increasingly obsolete. Today’s counterterrorism efforts have yielded to sovereignty rhetorically while routinely violating it in practice—this is unsustainable, and a new definition of sovereignty is called for. This chapter proposes building on the precedent of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) paradigm, which redefined sovereignty as a form of citizenship that entails responsibilities as well as rights, and asserts that the international community should recognize a further responsibility of states to curb any transnational terrorism that emanates from within their borders. The chapter concludes by stipulating that coercive regime change should not factor into upholding the rehashed sovereignty norm, but that a failure to prevent transnational terrorism could result in partial loss of sovereignty as nations respond to the threats against them.
Transition zone theory of the glass transition

Abstract An energy-based theory of the glass transition is described and validated by evaluation of crystallization and viscosity data of sixteen diverse systems, ranging from the fragile o-terphenyl to the strong SiO2 glass formers, including glass formation in non-crystallizing polymers. Transition zone theory demonstrates an inverse temperature dependence of the entropy of activation for crystallization and viscous relaxation which results in a temperature at which their free energies of activation are equivalent. Below this temperature there is a greater probability of crystallization than of relaxation. Under such conditions, crystal-like organization can propagate only over the internal length scales for which the system has relaxed, i.e. a few nanometers. However, that structural organization makes the barrier to bulk liquid relaxation insurmountable, resulting in glass formation. The temperature of the crystallization-relaxation free energy of activation equivalence point, defines the glass transition temperature. The temperature dependent slope of the free energy of activation for relaxation at the equivalence point reflects the fragility of the system. The time-temperature dependence of viscous relaxation shifts the crystallization-relaxation free energy of activation equivalence point, consistent with the sample history dependence of Tg. Crystal-like formation over nanometer-length scales, which can still occur below Tg, is shown to account for glass aging.
Religious Values and Child Welfare

Some observations on the socialization of children that affirm the crucial value of religion and the role it has in the process of developing maturity
"I'm just trying to cope for both of us": Challenges and supports of family caregivers in participant-directed programs.

Recently, national attention has focused on the needs of family caregivers providing complex chronic care, noting the necessity to better understand the scope of challenges they encounter. Although a robust body of literature exists about the scope of family caregiving, little is known specifically about the experiences and perspectives of family caregivers who support participant directed (PD) participants, particularly across the caregiving trajectory. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe what family caregivers of individuals with developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, aging, or chronic health conditions identify as the challenges they experience as complex, and their perceptions of the effectiveness and gaps in family support resources in PD. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded with a purposive sample of caregivers. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Fifty-four caregivers of individuals with a range of disabilities participated (age 34-78, M 59.9 ± 8.8; male 19%; spouse 17%, parent 61%). Six categories emerged from the analysis: contextualizing complexity, complexity in transitions, coping with complexity: advocacy & isolation, supportive support, unsupportive support, and systems challenges. Caregivers emphasized the interplay between unpredictability, transitions, and complexity and the interaction between the person receiving support, the caregiver's own situation, and the environment. Findings highlight the need, and provide a guide, for family assessment and for tailoring interventions matched to the profiles and self-identified challenges of families living with disability. Social workers can learn what families see as complex and what support broker behaviors families find helpful, and which not.
Advanced Cardiac Life Support

American Heart Association (AHA), European Resuscitation Council (ERC), and International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) 2005 Guidelines.
Drawing inferences about students' mental models of dynamic processes depicted in scientific drawings: the role of gestures and speech

Drawings are commonly used in the assessment (e.g., Magnusson, Krajcik & Borko, 1999) or spontaneous articulation of scientific knowledge (e.g., Kinfield, 1993). As an activity, drawing has been shown to enhance some forms of learning and comprehension (Ainsworth et al., 2007; Gobert & Clement, 1999; Van Meter & Garner, 2005; Zhang & Linn, 2008). Yet learners regularly bump up against inherent constraints of the static, two-dimensional medium for conveying three-dimensional information and time-varying, dynamic processes, and of the producer's performance level for veridically depicting one's ideas. For example, in order to establish common ground, interlocutors may insist on modifications and standardizations to drawings used during collaborative problem solving (e.g., rules of linear perspective; Nathan, Eilam & Kim, 2007).
Immunity and Vaccination in Influenza

For years efforts were made to settle the question of immunity to influenza by enumeration during an epidemic of the frequency of illness in members of a population who had suffered from influenza in earlier epidemics. The accumulated data were in most instances not susceptible to accurate analysis and highly contradictory opinions were derived. Difficulties have been constantly exaggerated by the lack of uniformity in clinical criteria for diagnosis of influenza and by the lack of diagnostic tests for confirmation or denial of the clinical impression. One conclusion was that influenza gave rise to no subsequent immunity but rather, rendered the subject more prone to attack. The frequent relapses were considered to be reinfections; the supposed second attacks in the same epidemic, infection of the same persons during different waves of the same pandemic, or the actual recurrence of epidemic waves were indicative of a lack of resistance. On the other hand, evidence of resistance is observed in the fact that during an epidemic, even with intimate exposure, a high proportion of the population escapes disease; in the observation made in stable populations, especially military units in 1918, indicating that persons affected during the mild spring wave escaped illness during the severe autumnal epidemic, or that those who took sick in the second wave were men who had joined the unit after the first wave; in the fact that the incidence of influenza is highest in children and lowest in the older ages. The lower incidence at older ages in 1918 was in reality considered by some to indicate a resistance carried over from influenza in 1889–90.
The Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

The diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease has traditionally been a diagnosis of exclusion. Although there is some modestly promising research on diagnostic testing in Alzheimer’s, this remains the standard currently, although clinical patterning can be useful additional evidence. This discussion will focus on this traditional diagnosis of exclusion in the following four-step approach. The first step is to ensure that the patient does, indeed, have dementia. The second step is to review the differential diagnosis of dementia and examine for all of the causes other than Alzheimer’s. The third step is to decide if the clinical presentation of the patient under consideration is consistent with one of the several clinical patterns of Alzheimer’s. The fourth step is to avoid certain pitfalls of diagnosis. These steps shall be discussed in detail in the order noted above.
On application of three-dimensional linearized potential-flow model for shallow-water planing

Abstract Hydrodynamics of planing hulls is affected by proximity to the seabed floor in shallow waters. In this study, a three-dimensional steady linearized model based on the potential theory is applied to model flat planing surfaces at finite water depth and finite Froude numbers. Modeling results for shallow waters agree with experimental data in the subcritical and supercritical regimes sufficiently far from the critical speed that corresponds to the depth Froude number of unity. At the critical speed, nonlinear and unsteady effects become important, and a different modeling approach is required.
Dissolved Organic Phosphorus Utilization by Phytoplankton Reveals Preferential Degradation of Polyphosphates Over Phosphomonoesters

The nutritionally available pool of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) supports marine primary productivity in a range of ocean ecosystems but remains poorly resolved. Here, the relative lability of model phosphorous (P) compounds representing the major P(V) bond classes of marine DOP – phosphomonoesters (P-O-C) and phosphoanhydrides (P-O-P) – was assessed in diatom cultures of the genus Thalassiosira, as well as coastal field sites of the western North Atlantic. In diatom samples, maximum enzymatic hydrolysis rates revealed that the P-anhydride bonds of inorganic tripolyphosphate (3poly-P), followed by the P-anhydride bonds of adenosine 5’-triphosphate (ATP), were preferentially degraded relative to the P-monoesters adenosine 5’-monophosphate (AMP) and 4-methylumbelliferone phosphate (MUF-P). Consistent with these rate measurements, targeted proteomics analysis demonstrated that the underlying phosphatase diversity present in diatom samples was dominated by P-anhydride degrading enzymes (inorganic pyrophosphatases and nucleoside triphosphatases). Furthermore, biomass-normalized rates of ATP degradation were always suppressed under P-replete conditions in diatom cultures, but the effect of overall P availability on 3poly-P degradation was inconsistent among diatom strains, suggesting that inorganic polyphosphate (poly-P) degradation may persist irrespective of prevailing P levels in the marine environment. Indeed, the majority of field sites examined in the P-replete coastal western North Atlantic exhibited significantly higher maximum rates of inorganic poly-P hydrolysis relative to P-monoester hydrolysis, which was largely driven by phytoplankton dynamics. Based on these results, the possibility that P-anhydride utilization may contribute comparably or even more substantially than P-esters to community-level P demand, phytoplankton growth, and primary productivity should be considered.
AI Risk Mitigation Through Democratic Governance: Introducing the 7-Dimensional AI Risk Horizon

My dissertation asks two fundamental questions: What are the risks of AI? And what should be done about them? My research goes beyond existential threats to humanity to consider seven dimensions of AI risk: military, political, economic, social, environmental, psychophysiological, and spiritual. I examine extant AI risk mitigation strategies and, finding them insufficient, use a democratic governance framework to propose alternatives. This paper outlines the project and introduces the risk dimensions.
Assessment of Explicitly Stated Interval Change on Noncontrast Head CT Radiology Reports.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Consistent and standardized reporting of interval change for certain diagnoses may improve the clinical utility of radiology reports. The purpose of this study was to assess explicitly stated interval change of various findings in noncontrast head CT reports. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on successive noncontrast head CT radiology reports from the first 2 weeks of January 2014. Reports with at least 1 prior comparison CT scan were included. Reports with normal examination findings and those that made comparison with only other types of examinations (eg, MR imaging) were excluded. Descriptive and subgroup statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: In total, 200 patients with 230 reports and 979 radiographic findings were identified. The average interval between reports was 344.9 ± 695.9 days (range, 0–3556 days). Interval change was mentioned 67.3% (n = 659) of the time for all findings (n = 979). Explicitly stated interval change was significantly associated with nonremote findings (P CONCLUSIONS: Interval change reporting was variable, mentioned for 67.3% of noncontrast head CT report findings with a prior comparison CT scan. Structured radiology reports may improve the consistent and clear reporting of interval change for certain findings.
Combination therapy versus monotherapy for EUS-guided management of gastric varices: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cyanoacrylate (CYA), coil embolization, and/or combination thereof are available EUS-guided therapies for the treatment of†S gastric varices (GV). The primary aim of this study was to perform a structured systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of EUS-guided interventions for the treatment of GV. Individualized search strategies were developed for PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases, from inception through November 2018 in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. This cumulative meta-analysis was performed using calculating pooled proportions. Measured outcomes included technical success, clinical success, adverse events, and rate of rebleeding or reintervention. Comparative subgroup analyses were performed for three treatment cohorts (EUS-guided CYA injection, EUS-guided coil embolization + CYA injection, and EUS-guided coil injection alone). Heterogeneity was assessed with I2 statistics. Eleven studies (n = 536 patients; 62.20% of males) were included. The mean age was 58.21 ± 4.15 years with an average follow-up of 12.93 ± 7.69 months. Overall technical success, clinical success, and adverse events for EUS treatments was 100% ([95% confidence interval [CI] 98-100]; I2 = 30.54%), 97% ([95% CI 92-100]; I2 = 59.99%), and 14% ([95% CI 6-23]; I2 = 82.23%), respectively. On subgroup analysis, EUS-guided CYA + coil embolization resulted in a better technical and clinical success compared to CYA alone (100% vs. 97%; P < 0.001 and 98% vs. 96%; P < 0.001) and coil embolization alone (99% vs. 97%; P < 0.001 and 96% vs. 90%; P < 0.001). CYA + coil embolization also resulted in lower adverse event rates compared to CYA alone (10% vs. 21%; P < 0.001), and comparable rates to coil embolization alone (10% vs. 3%; P = 0.057). EUS-guided treatment overall appears to be an effective and safe modality for GV. Among a variety of EUS-therapies available, EUS combination therapy with coil embolization + CYA injection appears to be a preferred strategy for the treatment of GV over EUS-based monotherapy.
Energy Justice: US and International Perspectives - Introduction

Energy Justice: US and International Perspectives is a pioneering analysis of energy law and policy through the framework of energy justice. While climate change has triggered unprecedented investment in renewable energy, the concept of energy justice and its practical application to energy law and policy remain under-theorized. This volume breaks new ground by examining a range of energy justice regulatory challenges from the perspective of international law, US law, and foreign domestic law. The book illuminates the theory of energy justice while emphasizing practical solutions that hasten the transition from fossil fuels and address the inequities that plague energy systems. Among the first edited volumes to focus wholly on the emerging field of energy justice, this book takes a multidisciplinary approach that examines energy law and policy through the lens of environmental justice, climate justice, indigenous rights, human rights, and energy democracy. Contributions from prominent scholars and practitioners demonstrate how energy justice frameworks can be applied in theory and practice. With a foreword by Dr. Robert Bullard, Energy Justice is a critical resource for: law students and professors; researchers, students and faculty of graduate and undergraduate courses in the area of energy and the environment; and advocates and policymakers in the area of energy and the environment. The downloadable documents include the title page, table of contents, and introductory chapter.
What Echocardiography Can Reliably Tell Us About Our Pulmonary Hypertension Patients

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a complex, multi-organ system disease that is broadly defined by an elevation in pulmonary artery pressures. There are key biologic differences in the pathophysiology...
Quality of Quality Measures

Over the past decade, there have been substantial efforts to reduce the rate of medical errors and improve the overall quality of healthcare. Nonetheless, despite improvements in access to healthcare, higher utilization of healthcare services, and rising costs, there has been a limited association between quality metrics and consistent improvement in the quality of care. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) developed a novel pay-for-performance (P4P) program that was designed to link financial incentives or penalty to provider performance. Simultaneously, government and nongovernment public reporting models have been developed to provide information regarding the performance of providers and payers and degree of patient satisfaction. These quality metrics that link payment to quality of outcomes were hypothesized to be an appealing strategy to address the limitations of the traditional fee-for-service approach that reimbursed healthcare providers solely based on the volume of services. Despite the importance of these metrics and their increasing implementation in quantifying quality of care, optimizing their efficacy and success remains an unmet need. This excessive “noise” surrounding quality metrics to select for important health outcomes has dramatically affected their use over time, raising arguments questioning the quality of these quality metrics.
REM Universality for Random Hamiltonians

We survey in this paper a universality phenomenon which shows that some characteristics of complex random energy landscapes are model-independent, or universal. This universality, called REM-universality, was discovered by S. Mertens and H. Bauke in the context of combinatorial optimization. We survey recent advances on the extent of this REM-universality for equilibrium as well as dynamical properties of spin glasses. We also focus on the limits of REM-universality, i.e., when it ceases to be valid.
Thermal Management Enables Bright and Stable Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes.

The performance of lead-halide perovskite light-emitting diodes (LEDs) has increased rapidly in recent years. However, most reports feature devices operated at relatively small current densities ( 10% to current densities as high as 2000 mA cm-2 ), and tenfold increase in operational lifetime (when driven at 100 mA cm-2 ). Furthermore, with proper thermal management, a maximum current density of 2.5 kA cm-2 and an EQE of ≈1% at 1 kA cm-2 are shown using electrical pulses, which represents an important milestone toward electrically driven perovskite lasers.
Proarrhythmic effects from competitive atrial pacing and potential programming solutions.

Background Programmed long AV delays and intrinsic long first degree AV block may increase risk for competitive atrial pacing (CAP) in devices without CAP avoidance algorithms. Methods Patients identified with CAP-induced mode switch episodes were followed clinically from September 2013 to August 2019. Attempts to avoid CAP included shortening of postventricular atrial refractory period (PVARP) or postventricular atrial blanking period (PVAB), or change to AAI or DDI modes. After observing associations with sensor-driven pacing, rate response was inactivated in a subset. Results Among 23 patients identified with CAP (22 St Jude Medical [Abbott]; one Boston Scientific Corporation devices), atrial fibrillation (AF) was induced in 12 (52%), lasting 10 seconds to 28 hours and 32 minutes. In one patient with an ICD CAP-induced AF with rapid ventricular rates that triggered a shock, inducing ventricular fibrillation, syncope, and another shock. Changing AV delays and shortening of PVARP failed to resolve CAP. After noting that all had CAP during sensor-driven pacing, rate response was inactivated in seven, resolving further device-induced AF in the three of seven that had prior CAP-induced AF. In two patients with intact AV conduction, AAI(R) pacing resolved further documentation of CAP. Conclusions CAP predominantly occurs during sensor-driven atrial pacing that competes with intrinsic atrial events falling in PVARP. Inactivation of the activity sensor or change to atrial-based pacing modes (AAI/R) appears to effectively prevent induction of device-induced atrial proarrhythmia. Ultimately, a corrective algorithm is needed to avoid CAP-induced proarrhythmia.
Cooperative Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning with Partial Observations

In this paper, we propose a distributed zeroth-order policy optimization method for Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL). Existing MARL algorithms often assume that every agent can observe the states and actions of all the other agents in the network. This can be impractical in large-scale problems, where sharing the state and action information with multi-hop neighbors may incur significant communication overhead. The advantage of the proposed zeroth-order policy optimization method is that it allows the agents to compute the local policy gradients needed to update their local policy functions using local estimates of the global accumulated rewards that depend on partial state and action information only and can be obtained using consensus. Specifically, to calculate the local policy gradients, we develop a new distributed zeroth-order policy gradient estimator that relies on one-point residual-feedback which, compared to existing zeroth-order estimators that also rely on one-point feedback, significantly reduces the variance of the policy gradient estimates improving, in this way, the learning performance. We show that the proposed distributed zeroth-order policy optimization method with constant stepsize converges to a neighborhood of the global optimal policy that depends on the number of consensus steps used to calculate the local estimates of the global accumulated rewards. Moreover, we provide numerical experiments that demonstrate that our new zeroth-order policy gradient estimator is more sample-efficient compared to other existing one-point estimators.