cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surgical outcome analysis of paediatric thoracic and cervical neuroblastoma

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors determining the surgical outcome of primary cervical and thoracic neuroblastoma. METHODS: Twenty-six children with primary thoracic neuroblastoma presented over the last 14 years were analysed for age, mode of presentation, tumour histopathology, biology and outcome. RESULTS: Primary thoracic neuroblastoma was presented in 16 boys and 10 girls at a median age of 2 years (range 6 weeks–15 years). The International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS) classified these as Stage 1 (8), Stage 2 (5), Stage 3 (6) and Stage 4 (7). Computed tomography defined the tumour location at the thoracic inlet (11), cervical (2), cervico-thoracic (3), mid-thorax (9) and thoraco-abdominal (1). Twenty-two children underwent surgery that allowed an adequate exposure and resection. Surgical resection was achieved after initial biopsy and preoperative chemotherapy in 15 children, whereas primary resection was performed in 7 children. Four patients with Stage 4 disease underwent chemotherapy alone after initial biopsy; of which, two died despite chemotherapy. Favourable outcome after surgical resection and long-term survival was seen in 19 (86.4%) of the 22 children. Three had local recurrence (14 to 21 months postoperatively), all with unfavourable histology on initial biopsy. The prognostic factors that determined the outcome were age and INSS stage at presentation. In this series, all patients under 2 years of age are still alive, while mortality was seen in five older children. CONCLUSION: Thoracic neuroblastoma in children under 2 years of age irrespective of stage and histology of the tumour results in long-term survival.
Quasi-hysteretic floating buck LED driver with adaptive off-time for accurate average current control in high brightness lighting

Current accuracy of an LED is vital to its brightness control. Existing hysteretic current control method provides accurate average current, but requires high power dissipation. Peak current control (PCC) method mitigates the power issue, but does not supply accurate average current. A quasi-hysteretic control with adaptive off-time technique is thus proposed in this paper to solve both problems, where low power loss is obtained with discontinuous low-side current sensing, and accurate average current is achieved, regardless of input, output, temperature, and process variations. The design was implemented with 0.35-µm CMOS process. Its average current achieves less than 1% variation, whereas the traditional PCC method with constant off-time control suffers 33.6% current variation with equivalent load conditions.
Diazene, 1,2‐Diphenyl‐

[103-33-3] C12H10N2 (MW 182.22) InChI = 1S/C12H10N2/c1-3-7-11(8-4-1)13-14-12-9-5-2-6-10-12/h1-10H/b14-13+ InChIKey = DMLAVOWQYNRWNQ-BUHFOSPRSA-N (reagent used as photoisomerization compound in various research fields) Physical Data: mp 68 °C; bp 293 °C; d 1.20 g cm−3. Solubility: soluble in ether, alcohol, acetic acid, and most organic solvents; insoluble in water. From Supplied in: solid (red crystal); widely available. Purification: trans-azobenzene can either be purified by chromatography on alumina using 1:4 benzene/hexane or recrystallized from EtOH (refluxing for several hours). All operations need to be carried out either in the dark or in diffuse red light. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: environmental hazard, harmful, carcinogen, store under inert gas. Keep away from heat. Mechanical exhaust required. When not in use, tightly seal the container and store in a dry, cool place. Avoid excessive heat and light. Always store away from incompatible compounds such as oxidizing agents. Toxicity rat LD50 (oral) 1000 mg kg−1, Mouse LD50 (intraperitoneal) 500 mg kg−1.
The zinc finger transcription factor Klf7 is required for TrkA gene expression and development of nociceptive sensory neurons

TrkA, the high affinity receptor for nerve growth factor (NGF), is essential for the development of nociceptive sensory and sympathetic neurons. The zinc finger transcription factor Klf7 interacts with an important cis element of the TrkA minimal enhancer and is coexpressed with TrkA in these neurons. We show that Klf7 binds to the endogenous TrkA minimal enhancer and can activate transcription from the TrkA minimal enhancer in a sequence-dependent manner. In Klf7-/- newborn mice, we find a significant reduction in sensory neurons due to increased apoptosis. The neuronal loss is restricted to nociceptive neurons that normally depend on TrkA for neurotrophic support, while other populations of somatosensory neurons appear normal. The reduction of TrkA expression in sensory neurons is a direct effect of Klf7 gene ablation, rather than a secondary effect of cell death. As a result, Klf7-/- mice have deficient response to noxious stimuli. Finally, removal of one TrkA allele exacerbates the loss of TrkA(+) neurons in Klf7-/- mice. Thus, Klf7 specifically regulates TrkA gene expression and is required for the development of a subset of nociceptive sensory neurons.
Influence of coronary artery pressure upon myocardial elasticity.

The marked intensification of experimental left ventricular failure by veno-arterial pumping which was seen in earlier experiments suggested changes of myocardial elasticity as a mechanism. Two experimental procedures were therefore applied here, in which the pressure in the coronary arteries and veins could be varied at will, where the left ventricle was distended by an air-filled balloon, and where the coronary tree did not communicate with the left ventricle. Changes of the coronary arterial or venous pressures were accompanied by homodirectional changes of the left ventricular diastolic pressure which were of large magnitude and which could not be explained by unobserved blood flow into the left ventricle or by other factors. The inverse relationship between coronary vascular pressures and myocardial distensibility was probably caused by the increasing volume of blood which was retained in the coronary arteries and veins when the coronary arterial or venous pressures were increased. This passive incre...
Considerations in the evaluation of haemophilia patients for short‐term prophylactic therapy: a paediatric and adult case study

The long-term prophylactic administration of clotting factor concentrate in patients with haemophilia reduces bleeding events, slows joint deterioration, and improves quality of life. Prophylaxis can also be effective when used short-term to prevent or reduce bleeding associated with trauma, surgery, and athletic activities. While clinical trials are needed to establish the optimal length of prophylaxis following injury, several weeks and possibly months of treatment may be needed. Discontinuing therapy prematurely can result in rebleeding in the injured area.
Analysis of phosphorescence decay in heterogeneous systems: consequences of finite excitation flash duration.

— Analysis of phosphorescence lifetimes using the Stern-Volmer equation is a reliable means of determining quencher concentration for a uniform sample. Methods of analysis for heterogeneous systems are based on the assumption that the excitation is produced by a momentary flash. This condition is an idealization because a real flash has a finite duration and a complex time profile. In the case of a heterogeneous quencher concentration, an excitation flash produces different initial intensities and different times of peak intensity from compartments having different concentrations of quencher. We formulated a model to explore the effects of flash duration on the shape of the emission curve obtained from systems in which the heterogeneity is continuous. We developed mathematical models that can be used to recover fitting parameters of continuous distributions of reciprocal lifetimes approximated as rectangular or Gaussian distributions, or an arbitrary histogram. We also formulated a procedure to convert the distribution of reciprocal lifetimes into a volume distribution of quencher concentration. We found that (1) the Stern-Volmer ratio of phosphorescence intensities cannot be employed for interpretation of pulse phosphorometric data in terms of a volume distribution of quencher; (2) shortening the flash duration decreases the difference of initial intensities between compartments having high and low quencher concentration; (3) the parameters of the volume distribution of quencher concentration can be recovered correctly only after taking account of the difference in initial intensities; and (4) calibration of the initial intensities for a given fitting delay and flash function is necessary.
French Verb Forms Simplified

Why bother trying to simplify French verb forms for our students? I have two responses to this question, psychological and statistical. Let us glance at the psychological aspect of the problem first. A typical French beginning textbook presents the student with a frightening and bewildering list of regular and irregular verbs. By the end of the first two levels (two high school years or two college semesters) a student is expected to know 40 or 50 irregular verbs in at least ten tenses, along with a host of verbs classified in three major regular conjugations. In addition, three or four types of first-conjugation orthographical-changing verbs are usually presented as irregular, so that the appendix contains a list extending for a dozen pages, charting countless forms of scores of verbs.
Moving Beyond Consultation And Into Action With A Client Project

Attempting to implement client-based projects within a single semester often overwhelms students and underwhelms the client and grading professor. In this paper, we share results from a two-year pilot project in which the components of a client project were split between several classes. We discuss the client project model as a valuable teaching method that allows students to implement and reflect on marketing strategies. We show that by dividing the project across several teams, the project becomes more manageable and valuable for students and professors. In comparison to other common projects, the client project presented here produced substantial and valuable outcomes for the non-profit client while providing students the unique experience of working in a multiple team structure. We indicate that this approach may be useful for select marketing classes.
Acquiring Topic Features to improve Event Extraction: in Pre-selected and Balanced Collections

Event extraction is a particularly challenging type of information extraction (IE) that may require inferences from the whole article. However, most current event extraction systems rely on local information at the phrase or sentence level, and do not consider the article as a whole, thus limiting extraction performance. Moreover, most annotated corpora are artificially enriched to include enough positive samples of the events of interest; event identification on a more balanced collection, such as unfiltered newswire, may perform much worse. In this paper, we investigate the use of unsupervised topic models to extract topic features to improve event extraction both on test data similar to training data, and on more balanced collections. We compare this unsupervised approach to a supervised multi-label text classifier, and show that unsupervised topic modeling can get better results for both collections, and especially for a more balanced collection. We show that the unsupervised topic model can improve trigger, argument and role labeling by 3.5%, 6.9% and 6% respectively on a pre-selected corpus, and by 16.8%, 12.5% and 12.7% on a balanced corpus.
The case for flight simulation in general aviation

This paper sets out the case to extend the role of flight simulation in general aviation. It outlines the benefits that flight simulation has brought to airline safety but observes that the majority of pilots worldwide receive no simulator-based training or checking. The paper reviews the potential benefits of synthetic training and provides an analysis of accidents in general aviation to show that a significant reduction in fatal accidents is achievable by instituting recurrent pilot checks in a flight simulator, similar to the simulator checks undertaken by airline pilots. The paper summarises the advances in simulator technology which have occurred in recent years and outlines a scheme to fund the introduction of flight training devices in general aviation, based on compulsory recurrent checks for PPL and CPL pilots. The paper surmises that flight simulation offers a practical means to reduce the accident rate in general aviation and concludes by outlining a financial case to fund the introduction of mandatory simulation-based recurrent checks in general aviation. Language: en
Religion, civic status and slavery from Dordt to the Trek

Several contradictory images animate this article.1 The first is a painting entitled the 'Baptism of the Monomotapa' which hangs in the Dominican house in Rome. The painting depicts the baptism of an African king in Portuguese Mozambique on the fourth of August, 1652. In celebration the Dominican convent in Lisbon hosted a thanksgiving feast. King John IV and his court attended. The assembly regarded the African baptism as a significant triumph for Christianity. A second, entirely congruent image is a late seventeenth century picture of Jesuit priests baptizing Angolan slaves as they boarded the slave ships from Luanda on their way to Brazil. These have been termed gangplank baptisms. As evidence of their baptism such slaves carried about their necks a mark of the royal crown.2 Taken together, these images suggest that the Catholic church in Africa baptized everyone. Baptism was offered to royalty and to the humblest slave. In theory, if not in practice, kings, masters and slaves were all brothers in Christ. In all Catholic slave societies, baptism was in the public, not domestic sphere. Another compelling, but entirely discrepant event occurred three thousand miles away in Dutch South Africa in the 'Great Hall' in the old fort at Cape Town on the Sunday morning of 21 March, 1666. Fourteen years after the foundation of that colony and the baptism of the M( nomotapa a sad event unfolded. Following the usual sermon a European child was presented for baptism. Then, a slave woman went up to the baptismal font to present her infant-in-arms. Before the presiding minister, the Reverend Johannes De Voocht, could dip his fingers in the baptismal water, up rose the Reverend Phillipus Baldeus, a visiting Reformed3 minister and well-known intellectual on the Dutch East Indies run. He
University Real Estate Programs and Local Real Estate Economies

There is considerable evidence that educational institutions provide value to the surrounding community directly and indirectly. With a potential reinvigoration of the real estate market after the ...
A Majority Vote Based Classifier Ensemble for Web Service Classification

Service oriented architecture is a glue that allows web applications to work in collaboration. It has become a driving force for the service-oriented computing (SOC) paradigm. In heterogeneous environments the SOC paradigm uses web services as the basic building block to support low costs as well as easy and rapid composition of distributed applications. A web service exposes its interfaces using the Web Service Description Language (WSDL). A central repository called universal description, discovery and integration (UDDI) is used by service providers to publish and register their web services. UDDI registries are used by web service consumers to locate the web services they require and metadata associated with them. Manually analyzing WSDL documents is the best approach, but also most expensive. Work has been done on employing various approaches to automate the classification of web services. However, previous research has focused on using a single technique for classification. This research paper focuses on the classification of web services using a majority vote based classifier ensemble technique. The ensemble model overcomes the limitations of conventional techniques by employing the ensemble of three heterogeneous classifiers: Naive Bayes, decision tree (J48), and Support Vector Machines. We applied tenfold cross-validation to test the efficiency of the model on a publicly available dataset consisting of 3738 real world web services categorized into 5 fields, which yielded an average accuracy of 92 %. The high accuracy is owed to two main factors, i.e., enhanced pre-processing with focused feature selection, and majority based ensemble classification.
Increased Jet Thrust from Pressure Forces

For ram-jets and turbojets, which operate with low overall jet expansion ratios, it is possible to obtain more thrust with incomplete expansion in the jet nozzle utilizing both pressure and momentum forces than with complete expansion utilizing momentum forces alone. Proof of this phenomenon is developed, and charts are introduced showing the range of pressure ratios and velocity coefficients for which incomplete expansion will produce greater thrust than complete expansion.
Optical interconnects

Optics dominates long distance telecommunications and networks and is progressing to shorter distances
Relation of survival time to implantation time of second set skin homografts in the rat.

Summary and Conclusion1. Relation of survival time to implantation time of second set skin homografts in the rat was studied. 2. Second set homografts implanted simultaneously with, or 5 days after the first set graft, develop an active hemal circulation and are rejected simultaneously with first set graft. 3. Second set homografts implanted 6 or 7 days after first set graft never become re-vascularized and are considered to survive for zero days. 4. Second set homografts implanted 8-30 days after first set graft develop an active hemal circulation and survive for a mean time of 5.1 days. 5. Second set homo-grafts implanted 60 days after first set graft show a normal first set survival time of 8 days. 6. There is no significant difference in survival time of second and third set grafts when third set is implanted 7 days after the second set graft. 7. It is concluded that temporal sequence in accelerated breakdown of second set skin homografts is suggestive of an immunological mechanism triggered by the ho...
Cytokine loops involving interferon-γ and IP-10, a cytokine chemotactic for CD4+ lymphocytes: An explanation for the epidermotropism of cutaneous T- cell lymphoma?

Human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), a C-X-C chemokine, is secreted by IFN-gamma-stimulated keratinocytes and is chemotactic for CD4+ lymphocytes. We therefore investigated its role in the epidermotropism of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) that is known to express IFN-gamma mRNA in the epidermis and is characterized by an indolent course with multiple relapses that remain confined to the skin for many years. By injecting purified recombinant (r) IP-10 we generated a polyclonal rabbit antiserum that specifically recognized and neutralized rIP-10. With immunoperoxidase staining, IP-10 expression was limited to the basal epidermal keratinocytes of normal skin. In biopsies of CTCL lesions the expression of IP-10 was markedly increased and it extended to the suprabasal keratinocytes in 17 of 18 patients, but it was detectable only faintly in the dermal or epidermal lymphoid infiltrates in 2 of these 18 patients. In 1 patient who had matching biopsies performed before and after treatment, IP-10 was overexpressed before treatment, but was normally expressed in the posttreatment biopsy that showed resolution of the CTCL. Increased IP-10 expression was not detected in any of 4 patients with B-cell lymphoma involving the dermis. On the basis of these findings and a review of the literature, we propose that secretion of IFN-gamma by the lymphoid infiltrate in CTCL induces the epidermal keratinocytes to secrete IP-10 that, in turn, is chemotactic for CTCL, accounting for its epidermotropism. This model may be used as a basis for future investigations of the pathogenesis of CTCL.
The activation of the arginine-citrulline cycle in macrophages from the spontaneously diabetic BB rat

Abstract The activity of the arginine-citrulline cycle was investigated in macrophages from the spontaneous immunologically mediated diabetic BB rat. Peritoneal macrophages were prepared from male diabetes-prone (BBdp), diabetic (BBd) and age-matched non-diabetes-prone (BBn) rats. Cells were incubated at 37 degrees C for 2 h in Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer containing 0.5 mM L-arginine, 0.1 mM L-[ureido-14C]citrulline and 5 mM D-glucose to measure the activity of the arginine-citrulline cycle. The uptakes of citrulline and arginine by macrophages were measured during a 5 min incubation period with L-[ureido-14C]citrulline and L-[2,3-3H] arginine respectively. The production of NO3- (the major stable oxidation product of NO) increased (P < 0.01) by 112% and 151% in 75-day-old BBdp and 115-day-old BBd macrophages respectively, compared with age-matched BBn cells. The conversion of [14C]citrulline into [14C]arginine increased (P < 0.01) by 704%, 892% and 904% in 50- and 75-day-old BBdp and 115-day-old BBd macrophages respectively, compared with age-matched BBn cells. The enhanced NO synthesis in BBdp and BBd macrophages was associated with a 25-35% increase in the uptake of L-arginine. However, there were no differences in the uptake of citrulline between BBdp or BBd macrophages and age-matched BBn cells. Our results demonstrate for the first time the activation of the arginine-citrulline cycle in macrophages in an autoimmune condition. The inherent increase in the recycling of L-citrulline to L-arginine in BBdp and BBd macrophages may reflect an innate metabolic disorder in these cells. This increased L-arginine synthesis from L-citrulline may play a role in sustaining a sufficient intracellular L-arginine concentration for prolonged generation of NO in BBdp and BBd macrophages. A role for NO in the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta-cells in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus warrants further investigation.
Numerical design of compressive antennas for high-sensing-capacity applications

This paper presents a numerical compressive antenna design method for high sensing capacity imaging applications. Given a set of design constraints, the method optimizes the constitutive properties of scatterers distributed along the antenna in order to maximize the antenna's sensing capacity. Preliminary 2D design results demonstrate the new method's ability to produce antenna configurations with enhanced sensing capabilities.
Solitary vaginal metastasis from unsuspected renal cell carcinoma.

Abstract Four cases of solitary vaginal metastasis from previously unsuspected renal cell carcinoma are presented. Vaginal bleeding, the presenting symptom in each patient, led to the finding of the metastatic vaginal lesion and to the urological evaluation, which revealed the occult primary renal cell carcinoma. With surgical treatment 2 of the 4 patients have remained well for more than 5 years.
Sparse Representation with Nonlinear Fourier Atoms

In this paper, we study the sparse representation of a finite energy signal with intrinsic mode functions in a dictionary consisting of nonlinear Fourier atoms. Each nonlinear Fourier atom is a mono-component with a physically meaningful nonnegative instantaneous frequency. The sparse representation is obtained adaptively by an orthogonal matching pursuit using a two-level greedy search. It is demonstrated that the representation has efficient energy decay in error compared to the Fourier expansion and wavelet expansion.
Clinical Risk Score for Prediction of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Bloodstream Isolates.

OBJECTIVE To develop a risk score to predict probability of bloodstream infections (BSIs) due to extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBLE). DESIGN Retrospective case-control study. SETTING Two large community hospitals. PATIENTS Hospitalized adults with Enterobacteriaceae BSI between January 1, 2010, and June 30, 2015. METHODS Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors for ESBLE BSI. Point allocation in extended-spectrum β-lactamase prediction score (ESBL-PS) was based on regression coefficients. RESULTS Among 910 patients with Enterobacteriaceae BSI, 42 (4.6%) had ESBLE bloodstream isolates. Most ESBLE BSIs were community onset (33 of 42; 79%), and 25 (60%) were due to Escherichia coli. Independent risk factors for ESBLE BSI and point allocation in ESBL-PS included outpatient procedures within 1 month (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 8.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.1–22.9; 1 point), prior infections or colonization with ESBLE within 12 months (aOR, 26.8; 95% CI, 7.0–108.2; 4 points), and number of prior courses of β-lactams and/or fluoroquinolones used within 3 months of BSI: 1 course (aOR, 6.3; 95% CI, 2.7–14.7; 1 point), ≥2 courses (aOR, 22.0; 95% CI, 8.6–57.1; 3 points). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the ESBL-PS model was 0.86. Patients with ESBL-PSs of 0, 1, 3, and 4 had estimated probabilities of ESBLE BSI of 0.7%, 5%, 24%, and 44%, respectively. Using ESBL-PS ≥3 to indicate high risk provided a negative predictive value of 97%. CONCLUSIONS ESBL-PS estimated patient-specific risk of ESBLE BSI with high discrimination. Incorporation of ESBL-PS with acute severity of illness may improve adequacy of empirical antimicrobial therapy and reduce carbapenem utilization. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:266–272
Mental Health Help-Seeking Profiles Among African Americans: Exploring the Influence of Religion

African Americans with mental health problems consult a variety of sources for assistance. Most studies report a preference for informal sources rather than professional sources of help with mental health concerns. While it is clear that African Americans seek help from both informal and professional sources, less known is whether there are unique subpopulations of African Americans that can be defined by their support and services use. Given the importance of religion in the lives of African Americans, it also important to understand the role of religious involvement in determining help-seeking behaviors. This study used latent class analysis and data from the National Survey of American Life (n = 1315) to identify distinct profiles of help-seeking behavior among African Americans with mental health disorders defined by informal (e.g., clergy, family, and friends) and professional sources (e.g., health and mental healthcare providers) of support and services. Findings revealed two help-seeking classes: Low Use/Informal Support (95%) and High Use/All Support (5%). Low subjective religious involvement was associated with membership in the Low Use/Informal Support class. High non-organizational religious involvement was associated with membership in the High Use/All Support class. No associations between demographic characteristics were found between the two classes. Findings highlight heterogeneity in help-seeking behavior among African Americans and the importance of considering multiple domains of religious involvement in influencing these behaviors. Findings highlight the importance of collaborative efforts between religious institutions, health and mental healthcare providers, family and friendship networks in the delivery of mental health care to African Americans.
Patrolling Murine Monocytes Are Defined by Their Expression of the Orphan Nuclear Receptor, Nur77 (nr4a1)

Abstract 4723 ‘Resident’ or ‘patrolling’ monocytes have recently been described as a unique subset of myeloid cells that differ in phenotype and function from classic inflammatory monocytes. Resident monocytes are distinguished by their ‘crawling’ migration on endothelial surfaces, their immunosuppressive activity, and their unique pattern of surface protein expression: Ly6C lo , CX3CR1 hi , CCR2 - , LFA-1+, and PDL-1 + . Using a Nur77-eGFP reporter mouse, we show that all murine patrolling monocytes, but not conventional monocytes express Nur77 + (also known as NR4A1), a member of the Nur orphan nuclear receptor family that regulates cell fate decisions several cell types and inhibits leukemogenesis. Nur77 is an immediate early response gene, and we have recently determined that it is a sensitive indicator of antigen receptor signaling among T cells. We therefore propose that its expression among patrolling monocytes is an indication that these cells are actively receiving signals, perhaps via interactions with the endothelium. We are currently working to identify these signals and our preliminary data suggest that adhesion molecules play an influential role. We thank the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation (HH), and NSF (MCB-0744570 (JP and NC)) for their support for this work. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Dimensional Synthesis of Robots using a Double Quaternion Formulation of the Workspace

This paper presents a synthesis procedure for a robot that guides an end-effector as close as possible to a user-specified trajectory. The technique maps the goal workspace from the group of spatial displacements, SE(3), to the group of 4 × 4 rotations, SO(4), in order to obtain a bi-invariant metric for the design procedure. Double quaternions are used to provide a convenient parameterization for SO(4). An example is presented that compares designs obtained using dual quaternions to those for double quaternions, for varying locations of the fixed frame, in order to demonstrate the technique.
Anemia prevalence and hemoglobin levels are associated with long-term exposure to air pollution in an older population.

Background Anemia, a highly prevalent disorder in elderly populations, is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, including increased mortality, impaired functional status and cognitive disorders. Approximately two-thirds of anemia in American elderly is caused by chronic inflammation or is unexplained. A potential contributing factor may include air pollution exposures, which have been shown to increase systemic inflammation and affect erythropoiesis. Few studies, however, have investigated the associations of air pollution on hemoglobin levels and anemia. Methods We used linear regression models and modified Poisson regression with robust error variance to examine the associations of particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on hemoglobin concentrations and prevalence of anemia, respectively, among 4121 older Americans enrolled in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. We estimated participant-specific exposures to PM2.5 using spatio-temporal models, and to NO2 using nearest measurements from Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System. Hemoglobin levels were measured for participants in each of two data collection waves from dried blood spots. Anemia was defined using World Health Organization hemoglobin-based criteria of < 13 and < 12 g/dL for men and women, respectively. Models were adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, race, income, education, neighborhood socioeconomic status, region, urbanicity and medication use. Mediation by C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, was also investigated. Results An inter-quartile range (IQR, 3.9 μg/m3) increase in the one-year moving average PM2.5 was positively associated with anemia prevalence (prevalence ratio, or PR 1.33, 95% CI: 1.23, 1.45) and decreases in average hemoglobin of 0.81 g/dL (p < 0.001). Similarly, an IQR (9.6 ppb) increase in NO2 was associated with anemia prevalence (PR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.63) and a decrease in average hemoglobin of 0.81 g/dL (p < 0.001). Strong dose-response relationships were identified for both pollutants. Mediation of the effect of PM2.5 by CRP was also identified (p = 0.007). Conclusions/interpretations Air pollution exposures were significantly associated with increased prevalence of anemia and decreased hemoglobin levels in a cohort of older Americans. If causal, these associations could indicate that chronic air pollution exposure is an important risk factor for anemia in older adults.
Public attitudes toward disclosing mental health conditions

ABSTRACTThis study examined public perceptions about mental illness, specifically investigating individuals’ concerns about disclosing a mental condition and the potential outcomes of doing so. This survey asked 570 adults whether they would disclose a mental condition in four different scenarios: seeking health care, employment, academic or vocational counseling, and for background checks. Respondents were then asked to identify the reasons they would agree or refuse to disclose. Only in a health care situation were respondents very favorably inclined to disclose. A significant percentage of people in all scenarios were unwilling to disclose, citing privacy as a primary concern.
Patterns of fish movement at a desert river confluence

Quantifying fish movements in river networks helps identify critical habitat needs and how they change with environmental conditions. Some of the challenges in tracking fish movements can be overcome with the use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and antennas. We used PIT technology to test predictions of movement behaviour for four fish species at a mainstem–tributary confluence zone in an arid-land river system. Specifically, we focused on the McElmo Creek tributary confluence with the San Juan River in south-western Utah, USA. We quantified variation in species occurrences at this confluence zone from May 2012 to December 2015 relative to temporal and environmental conditions. We considered occurrences among species relative to tagging origins (tributary versus mainstem), season and time of day. Generally, fishes tagged in the focal tributary were more likely to be detected compared to fish tagged in the mainstem river or other tributaries. Additionally, adults were most likely to be detected across multiple years compared to subadults. Based on a Random Forests model, the best performing environmental variables for predicting seasonal detections included mainstem discharge during run-off season (razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus), tributary discharge during monsoon season (Colorado pikeminnow Ptychocheilus lucius) and mainstem water temperature (flannelmouth sucker Catostomus latipinnis and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus). The variable responses by endemic and introduced fishes indicate tributary habitats provide several key functions within a fish community including spawning, rearing, foraging and refuge.
Patient Satisfaction With an Early Smartphone-Based Cosmetic Surgery Postoperative Follow-Up

Background While prevalent in everyday life, smartphones are also finding increasing use as a medical care adjunct. The use of smartphone technology as a postoperative cosmetic surgery adjunct for care has received little attention in the literature. Objectives The purpose of this effort was to assess the potential efficacy of a smartphone-based cosmetic surgery early postoperative follow-up program. Specifically, could smartphone photography provided by the patient to the plastic surgeon in the first few days after surgery allay patient's concerns, improve the postoperative experience and, possibly, detect early complications? Methods From August 2015 to March 2016 a smartphone-based postoperative protocol was established for patients undergoing cosmetic procedures. At the time of discharge, the plastic surgeon sent a text to the patient with instructions for the patient to forward a postoperative photograph of the operated area within 48 to 72 hours. The plastic surgeon then made a return call/text that same day to review the patient's progress. A postoperative questionnaire evaluated the patients' postoperative experience and satisfaction with the program. Results A total of 57 patients were included in the study. Fifty-two patients responded to the survey. A total of 50 (96.2%) patients reported that the process improved the quality of their postoperative experience. The protocol allowed to detect early complications in 3 cases. The physician was able to address and treat the complications the following day prior to the scheduled clinic follow up. Conclusions The smartphone can be effectively utilized by the surgeon to both enhance the patient's postoperative experience and alert the surgeon to early postoperative problems. Level of evidence 4.
Mesh-based switching control for robust and agile dynamic gaits

In this paper, we describe and analyze mesh-based tools to control bounding motions of an 8 degree-of-freedom planar quadruped model with limited footholds on terrain. There are two complementary goals in our presentation. First, we aim to clarify potential advantages and disadvantages of our mesh-based approach in planning agile motions for a legged system. A key advantage is the ability to map the reachable states and their feasible transitions, given a relatively high-dimensional nonlinear dynamic system for which traditional meshing techniques would be impractical. A suspected disadvantage is that meshing has finite resolution, and robustness of mesh-based results should correspondingly be considered. Our second goal is to discuss appropriate frameworks for optimizing agility. Unlike typical locomotion optimization studies, in which control is designed for a limit cycle behavior that minimizes energy use or improves robustness to perturbations, here we focus on quantifying the performance of sets of controllers that together enhance reachability of the controlled system. In planning agile motions for our legged system model, we find that our mesh-based policies predict future dynamics robustly for plans up to about a 5-step horizon, and in quantifying controller sets, we emphasize that both the number of and parameterizations for such controllers should be considered in tandem during optimization.
Sex that moves mountains: The influence of spawning fish on river profiles over geologic timescales

Abstract A key component of resilience is to understand feedbacks among components of biophysical systems, such as physical drivers, ecological responses and the subsequent feedbacks onto physical process. While physically based explanations of biological speciation are common (e.g., mountains separating a species can lead to speciation), less common is the inverse process examined: can a speciation event have significant influence on physical processes and patterns in a landscape? When such processes are considered, such as with ‘ecosystem engineers’, many studies have focused on the short-term physical and biological effects rather than the long-term impacts. Here, we formalized the physical influence of salmon spawning on stream beds into a model of channel profile evolution by altering the critical shear stress required to move stream bed particles. We then asked if spawning and an adaptive radiation event (similar to the one that occurred in Pacific salmon species) could have an effect on channel erosion processes and stream profiles over geological timescales. We found that spawning can profoundly influence the longitudinal profiles of stream beds and thereby the evolution of entire watersheds. The radiation of five Pacific salmon from a common ancestor, additionally, could also cause significant geomorphic change by altering a wider section of the profile for a given distribution of grain sizes. This modeling study suggests that biological evolution can impact landscape evolution by increasing the sediment transport and erosion efficiency of mountain streams. Moreover, the physical effects of a species on its environment might be a complementary explanation for rapid radiation events in species through the creation of new habitat types. This example provides an illustrative case for thinking about the long- and short-term coupling of biotic and abiotic systems.
Targeting the Lysosome for Cancer Therapy.

Lysosomes are the recycling centers of the cell where organelles and proteins are degraded during autophagy and macropinocytosis; they also serve as signaling hubs that control the activity of mTORC1. In this issue, Rebecca and colleagues report the development of a new type of lysosomal inhibitor for cancer therapy that can inhibit multiple lysosomal activities that are needed for tumor cell survival and growth. Cancer Discov; 7(11); 1218-20. ©2017 AACRSee related article by Rebecca et al., p. 1266.
Predetermined time-step solver for rapid quasi-static time series (QSTS) of distribution systems

Distribution system analysis with high penetrations of distributed energy resources (DER) requires quasi-static time-series (QSTS) analysis to capture the time-varying and time-dependent aspects of the system, but current QSTS algorithms are prohibitively burdensome and computationally intensive. This paper proposes a novel deviation-based algorithm to calculate the critical time periods when QSTS simulations should be solved at higher or lower time-resolution. This predetermined time-step (PT) solver is a new method of performing variable time-step simulations based solely on the input data. The PT solver demonstrates high accuracy while performing the simulation up to 20 times faster.
Microscopic Theory of Coupled Slow Activated Dynamics in Glass-Forming Binary Mixtures

The Elastically Collective Nonlinear Langevin Equation theory for one-component viscous liquids and suspensions is generalized to treat coupled slow activated relaxation and diffusion in glass-forming binary sphere mixtures of any composition, size ratio, and interparticle interactions. A trajectory-level dynamical coupling parameter concept is introduced to construct two coupled dynamic free energy functions for the smaller penetrant and larger matrix particle. A two-step dynamical picture is proposed where the first-step process involves matrix-facilitated penetrant hopping quantified in a self-consistent manner based on a temporal coincidence condition. After penetrants dynamically equilibrate, the effectively one-component matrix particle dynamics is controlled by a new dynamic free energy (second-step process). Depending on the time scales associated with the first- and second-step processes, as well as the extent of matrix-correlated facilitation, distinct physical scenarios are predicted. The theor...
Social influences on microglial reactivity and neuronal damage after cardiac arrest/cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Abstract Social isolation presents a risk factor and worsens outcome to cerebrovascular diseases; however, the underlying mechanisms remain underspecified. This study examines the effect of social environment on microglial reactivity after global cerebral ischemia, to test the hypothesis that social isolation leads to greater microglial responses. Adult female and male mice were pair-housed or socially isolated for one week prior to cardiac arrest/cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CA/CPR) or the sham procedure, and following either 2 or 24 h of reperfusion, microglia samples were enriched and analyzed for gene expression. At the 2-hour time point, microglia from both females and males exhibited ischemia-induced inflammation, characterized by the gene expression increase of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), regardless of the housing conditions. However, at 24 h post-ischemia, social housing attenuated microglial pro-inflammatory gene expression in a sex-specific manner. At this time point, the ischemia-induced increased expression of IL-1β and IL-6 was attenuated by social interaction in microglia from male mice, while among female mice social attenuation of the inflammatory response was observed in the microglial expression of cell surface protein major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II). A second study examined behavioral and physiological measures 96 h after ischemic injury. At this time point, female and male mice displayed increased locomotion and exploratory behavior following CA/CPR relative to controls. Regardless of sex, ischemia also elicited neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, both of which were modulated by the social environment. Hippocampal nitric oxide (iNOS), cortical TNF-α, and counts of Fluoro-Jade C positive stained cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, were increased in the isolated CA/CPR group relative to sham controls and the pair-housed CA/CPR groups. Together, these data indicate that female and male mice exhibit similar outcome measures and social modulation at 96 h post-ischemic injury, nonetheless, that social environment influences microglial reactivity to global cerebral ischemia in a sex-specific manner.
Binding of NF-KB-like factors to regulatory sequences of the c-myc gene.

Changes in expression of the c-myc proto-oncogene during the response of cells to growth or differentiation are often mediated at the transcriptional level, including control of the rates of initiation and elongation. Regulation of the level of initiation and elongation of c-myc gene transcription is likely to be mediated by the interaction of specific proteins with regulatory elements near or within the gene. Both positive and negative regulatory elements have been identified for the murine c-myc gene (Remmers et.al. 1986; Bentley and Groudine, 1988). To elucidate the mechanisms involved in negative control of c-myc transcription, we have employed the WEM 231 early B lymphoma cell line as a model system, since a major component of regulation of c-myc gene expression in these murine cells occurs at the level of transcription. Proliferation of WEHI 231 cells can be arrested within 24–48 hours following incubation with an antiserum against the expressed surface Ig, such as a goat anti-mouse Ig preparation (GaMIg) (McCormack et. al. 1984) or by treatment with phorbol ester (Levine et.al. 1986). Previously we demonstrated that a selective 5- to 10- fold decrease in c-myc mRNA expression occurs within 24 hours of treatment; this drop correlated with a decrease in the transcription of the c-myc gene (Levine et. al. 1986). We reasoned that control of this decreased rate of transcription could relate either to increased factor binding to a negative element or decreased binding to a positive element. In either case, a change in binding might be apparent. Here we report on the mapping of changes in the complex interaction of proteins at two sites within the c-myc locus during the down modulation of c-myc gene transcription in growth arrested WEHI 231 cells. The sequences mediating this binding are interacting with proteins within the NF-KB family of factors, implicating these factors in the regulation of c-myc gene transcription.
Tumors of Fat, Nerve, and Smooth Muscle

Adipocytic tumors (Table 5.1). Lipoma. Clinical. Most common on trunk and upper extremities. Usually in middle-aged to elderly patients. 1–4 cm asymptomatic nodules.