cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Emergency physician recognition of delirium

Objective To compare the recognition of delirium by emergency physicians based on observations made during routine clinical care with concurrent ratings made by a trained researcher after formal cognitive assessment and to examine each of the four individual features of delirium separately to determine the variation in identification across features. Methods In a prospective study, a convenience sample of 259 patients, aged ≥65 years, who presented to two urban, teaching hospital emergency departments (EDs) in Western Pennsylvania between 21 June and 29 August 2011, underwent paired delirium ratings by an emergency physician and a trained researcher. Emergency physicians were asked to use their clinical judgment to decide whether the patient had any of the following delirium features: (1) acute change in mental status, (2) inattention, (3) disorganised thinking and (4) altered level of consciousness. Questions were prompted with examples of delirium features from the Confusion Assessment Method. Concurrently, a trained researcher interviewed surrogates to determine feature 1, conducted a cognitive test for delirium (Confusion Assessment Method for the intensive care unit) to determine delirium features 2 and 3 and used the Richmond Agitation and Sedation Scale to determine feature 4. Results In the 2-month study period, trained researchers identified delirium in 24/259 (9%; 95% CI 0.06 to 0.13) older patients admitted to the ED. However, attending emergency physicians recognised delirium in only 8 of the 24 and misidentified delirium in a further seven patients. Emergency physicians were particularly poor at recognising altered level of consciousness but were better at recognising acute change in mental status and inattention. Conclusions When emergency physicians use routine clinical observations, they may miss diagnosing up to two-thirds of patients with delirium. Recognition of delirium can be enhanced with standardised cognitive testing.
Allelic variation, aneuploidy, and nongenetic mechanisms suppress a monogenic trait in yeast.

Clinically relevant features of monogenic diseases, including severity of symptoms and age of onset, can vary widely in response to environmental differences as well as to the presence of genetic modifiers affecting the trait’s penetrance and expressivity. While a better understanding of modifier loci could lead to treatments for Mendelian diseases, the rarity of individuals harboring both a disease-causing allele and a modifying genotype hinders their study in human populations. We examined the genetic architecture of monogenic trait modifiers using a well-characterized yeast model of the human Mendelian disease classic galactosemia. Yeast strains with loss-of-function mutations in the yeast ortholog (GAL7) of the human disease gene (GALT) fail to grow in the presence of even small amounts of galactose due to accumulation of the same toxic intermediates that poison human cells. To isolate and individually genotype large numbers of the very rare (∼0.1%) galactose-tolerant recombinant progeny from a cross between two gal7Δ parents, we developed a new method, called “FACS-QTL.” FACS-QTL improves upon the currently used approaches of bulk segregant analysis and extreme QTL mapping by requiring less genome engineering and strain manipulation as well as maintaining individual genotype information. Our results identified multiple distinct solutions by which the monogenic trait could be suppressed, including genetic and nongenetic mechanisms as well as frequent aneuploidy. Taken together, our results imply that the modifiers of monogenic traits are likely to be genetically complex and heterogeneous.
Preventing the Degradation of Mps1 at Centrosomes Is Sufficient to Cause Centrosome Reduplication in Human Cells

Supernumerary centrosomes promote the assembly of abnormal mitotic spindles in many human tumors. In human cells, overexpression of the cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk)2 partner cyclin A during a prolonged S phase produces extra centrosomes, called centrosome reduplication. Cdk2 activity protects the Mps1 protein kinase from proteasome-mediated degradation, and we demonstrate here that Mps1 mediates cyclin A-dependent centrosome reduplication. Overexpression of cyclin A or a brief proteasome inhibition increases the centrosomal levels of Mps1, whereas depletion of Cdk2 leads to the proteasome-dependent loss of Mps1 from centrosomes only. When a Cdk2 phosphorylation site within Mps1 (T468) is mutated to alanine, Mps1 cannot accumulate at centrosomes or participate in centrosome duplication. In contrast, phosphomimetic mutations at T468 or deletion of the region surrounding T468 prevent the proteasome-dependent removal of Mps1 from centrosomes in the absence of Cdk2 activity. Moreover, cyclin A-dependent centrosome reduplication requires Mps1, and these stabilizing Mps1 mutations cause centrosome reduplication, bypassing cyclin A. Together, our data demonstrate that the region surrounding T468 contains a motif that regulates the accumulation of Mps1 at centrosomes. We suggest that phosphorylation of T468 attenuates the degradation of Mps1 at centrosomes and that preventing this degradation is necessary and sufficient to cause centrosome reduplication in human cells.
Epithelial Anion Transporter Pendrin Contributes to Inflammatory Lung Pathology in Mouse Models of Bordetella pertussis Infection

Pertussis disease, characterized by severe and prolonged coughing episodes, can progress to a critical stage with pulmonary inflammation and death in young infants. However, there are currently no effective treatments for pertussis. We previously studied the role of pertussis toxin (PT), an important Bordetella pertussis virulence factor, in lung transcriptional responses to B. pertussis infection in mouse models. One of the genes most highly upregulated in a PT-dependent manner encodes an epithelial transporter of bicarbonate, chloride, and thiocyanate, named pendrin, that contributes to asthma pathology. In this study, we found that pendrin expression is upregulated at both gene and protein levels in the lungs of B. pertussis-infected mice. Pendrin upregulation is associated with PT production by the bacteria and with interleukin-17A (IL-17A) production by the host. B. pertussis-infected pendrin knockout (KO) mice had higher lung bacterial loads than infected pendrin-expressing mice but had significantly reduced levels of lung inflammatory pathology. However, reduced pathology did not correlate with reduced inflammatory cytokine expression. Infected pendrin KO mice had higher levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines than infected pendrin-expressing mice, suggesting that these inflammatory mediators are less active in the airways in the absence of pendrin. In addition, treatment of B. pertussis-infected mice with the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor acetazolamide reduced lung inflammatory pathology without affecting pendrin synthesis or bacterial loads. Together these data suggest that PT contributes to pertussis pathology through the upregulation of pendrin, which promotes conditions favoring inflammatory pathology. Therefore, pendrin may represent a novel therapeutic target for treatment of pertussis disease.
Naegleria gruberi De Novo Basal Body Assembly Occurs via Stepwise Incorporation of Conserved Proteins

Centrioles and basal bodies are discrete structures composed of a cylinder of nine microtubule triplets and associated proteins. Metazoan centrioles can be found at mitotic spindle poles and are called basal bodies when used to organize microtubules to form the core structure of flagella. Naegleria gruberi, a unicellular eukaryote, grows as an amoeba that lacks a cytoplasmic microtubule cytoskeleton. When stressed, Naegleria rapidly (and synchronously) differentiates into a flagellate, forming a complete cytoplasmic cytoskeleton de novo, including two basal bodies and flagella. Here, we show that Naegleria has genes encoding conserved centriole proteins. Using novel antibodies, we describe the localization of three centrosomal protein homologs (SAS-6, γ-tubulin, and centrin-1) during the assembly of the flagellate microtubule cytoskeleton. We also used these antibodies to show that Naegleria expresses the proteins in the same order as their incorporation into basal bodies, with SAS-6 localizing first, followed by centrin and finally γ-tubulin. The similarities between basal body assembly in Naegleria and centriole assembly in animals indicate that mechanisms of assembly, as well as structure, have been conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution.
Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for the treatment of proximal humeral fractures: patterns of use among newly trained orthopedic surgeons

Background This study compared the use of reverse and hemishoulder arthroplasty for the treatment of proximal humeral fractures among orthopedic surgeons taking part II of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery board examination. We hypothesized that the use of reverse shoulder arthroplasty for fractures in the elderly is increasing amongst newly trained orthopedic surgeons. Materials and methods We queried the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery database for the cases of proximal humeral fractures treated with arthroplasty submitted between 2005 and 2012. We evaluated the prosthesis used, patient-specific factors, complications, and the difference in use by shoulder fellowship-trained surgeons. Results From 2005 to 2012, 5395 board-eligible orthopedic surgeons submitted cases to the database. Of these, 435 (mean, 54 per year) were proximal humeral fractures treated with arthroplasty. The overall incidence of reverse shoulder arthroplasty for fracture increased from 2% to 4% during 2005 to 2007 to 38% in 2012. Shoulder surgeons treated 5 times more proximal humeral fractures with shoulder arthroplasty and were also more than 20 times more likely to use a reverse implant ( P P = .49). Patients who received a hemiarthroplasty tended to be younger (mean age, 70.8 vs 75.7 years; P = .0015). Conclusions Overall, the use of a hemiarthroplasty for fracture is still more common (62% in 2012), although the relative proportion of reverse implants is rising. Among shoulder surgeons, more than 50% of the arthroplasties performed for fractures during the past 3 years (2010-2012) have been reverse arthroplasties.
The Link Between ADHD and the Risk of Sexual Victimization Among College Women Expanding the Lifestyles/Routine Activities Framework

Using data from a nationally representative sample of college women, the current study examines attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a potential risk factor in the prediction of sexual victimization among college women and as an extension of the lifestyles/routine activities framework. The findings indicate that college women with ADHD experienced sexual victimization at significantly higher rates than college women without ADHD. Furthermore, ADHD emerged as a significant predictor of sexual victimization across models. The lifestyles/routine activities theory also received general support, particularly for the concepts of exposure, proximity, and guardianship. This research suggests that other risk factors outside the lifestyles/routine activities framework are important in the prediction of sexual victimization in college women.
Special considerations when performing and interpreting FDG PET/CT studies in patients with Li-Fraumeni syndrome

1349 Learning Objectives 1. To examine the role of 18F-FDG PET in the management of patients with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS). 2. Review the diagnostic considerations, genetic causes, and characteristic pathologic finding in patients with LFS. 3. Address the special concern for radiation exposure in a patient population already at high-risk for developing malignancy. Discussion: Li-Fraumeni syndrome is a hereditary cancer syndrome associated with a p53 germline mutation that predisposes patients to developing characteristic tumors, including sarcoma, breast, leukemia, and adrenal among many other. As these patients are at risk for developing multiple types of tumors in varying locations throughout their lifetime, a combination of clinical exam and diagnostic imaging is used for surveillance and when deemed clinically needed. When reading an FDG PET study in patients with LFS, being familiar with the most common malignancies and patterns of disease related to this syndrome is crucial for optimal diagnostic assessment. This presentation will provide an image rich review of PET findings and considerations to keep in mind when evaluating LFS patients. Conclusion: Viewers of this presentation will gain an understanding of the pathophysiology, predisposition, and common tumor presentations in patients with LFS as well as an understanding of important considerations when performing and interpreting FDG PET/CT studies on these patients.
Computing axes of rotation for 4-axis CNC milling machine by calculating global visibility map from slice geometry

This thesis presents a new method to compute a global visibility map (GVM) in order to determine feasible axes of rotation for 4-axis CNC machining. The choice of the 4th-axis is very important because it directly determines the critical manufacturing components; visibility, accessibility and machinability of the part. As opposed to the considerable work in GVM computation, this thesis proposes an innovative approximation approach to compute GVM by utilizing slice geometry. One advantage of the method is that it is feature-free, thus avoiding feature extraction and identification. In addition, the method is computationally efficient, and can be easily parallelized in order to vastly increase speed. In this thesis, we further present a full implementation of the approach as a critical function in an automated process planning system for rapid prototyping.
Development of Latching Type Large Vertical-Travel Microactuator

This paper describes design, fabrication and preliminary characterization of a proof-of-concept vertical-travel microactuator, providing linear motion and high precision positioning in space. The microactuator is capable of providing latching function when it is un-powered to maintain its position. The microactuator consists of two opposing comb drive actuator dies, a slider and bulk PZT actuators sandwiched between the dies. The slider is inserted between clutches. Comb drives are connected to the clutches to engage/disengage clutching. Sequential activation of the comb drives (in-plane motion) and the PZT actuator (out-of-plane motion) provides cumulative linear travel of the slider. The novelty of the slider insertion approach include (1) post-fabrication engagement of comb teeth enabling thick wafer DRIE process for comb drive actuators and (2) stressed tethers enabling zero-power latching. A test device was fabricated and assembled. By applying 100V∼300V DC to the electrostatic comb drive, lateral actuation of clutches was observed. Vertical actuation by PZT was also confirmed using WYKO RST plus interferometer.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Enhancing Agricultural Geospatial Data Dissemination and Applications Using Geospatial Web Services

There are many important publicly available agricul- tural geospatial data products for the agriculture-related research, applications, and educational outreach programs. The traditional data distribution method cannot fully meet users' on-demand geospatial data needs. This paper presents interoperable, stan- dard-compliant Web services developed for geospatial data access, query, retrieval, statistics, mapping, and comparison. Those stan- dard geospatial web services can be integrated in scientific work- flows to accomplish specific tasks or consumed over the Web to createvalue-addednewgeospatialapplicationbyusers.Inaddition, this paper demonstrates, via real world use cases, applications of those services and potential impacts on facilitating geospatial Cropland Data Layer (CDL) retrieval, analysis, visualization, dis- semination and integration in agricultural industry, government, research, and educational communities. This paper also shows that the geospatial Web service approach helps improve the reusability, interoperability, dissemination, and utilization of agricultural geos- patialdata.Itallowsforintegratingmultipleonlineapplicationsand different geospatial data sources, and enables automated retrieving and delivery of agricultural geospatial information for decision- making support. Index Terms—Cropland Data Layer (CDL), CropScape, geospatial web service, geospatial data sharing and interoperability, service chain.
Effects of Intrinsic Fano Interference on Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: Comparison between Platinum and Gold

Using pyridine as a probe molecule, we performed surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) studies on platinum and gold nanodisk arrays at both plasmon resonant and off-plasmon resonant excitation wavelengths. A large Raman cross-section enhancement factor (EF) of ∼106 was obtained with plasmon resonant excitation on the Au array, and the EF decreases with off-resonant excitations. However, for Pt nanodisks the experimental EF is much smaller (∼102) and not sensitive to excitation wavelength. Electric field intensities calculated in Au and Pt nanoparticles using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) with a dielectric function including or excluding interband transitions allowed us to explain the SERS EF differences at different excitation wavelengths. The observed SERS insensitivity to excitation wavelength in Pt was explained using Fano interference between the free plasmon electrons and continuum interband transitions. The importance of Fano interference was explored analytically in the electrostatic...
A mosasaur from the Maastrichtian Fox Hills Formation of the northern Western Interior Seaway of the United States and the synonymy of Mosasaurus maximus with Mosasaurus hoffmanni (Reptilia: Mosasauridae)

We report here a large mosasaur skull, preserved three-dimensionally in a concretion recovered from Ziebach County, South Dakota, USA. This fossil represents the first articulated mosasaur skull from the Trail City Member of the Fox Hills Formation and the first definitive occurrence of Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829 from that area and the northernmost occurrence in the Western Interior Seaway, greatly extending the paleobiogeographic range of this taxon. The age of this specimen is determined to be between 68.3 and 67.6 Ma based on the associated invertebrate fauna. Although previous authors have suggested synonomy of the North American Mosasaurus maximus Cope, 1869 and the European M. hoffmanni, this is the most comprehensive analysis to date and is based on comparisons with Mosasaurus specimens recovered across the Northern Hemisphere, allowing an emended diagnosis of the species M. hoffmanni. Minor differences are considered individual variation or to reflect ontogenetic stage, including slender dentaries in some individuals, range of development of the C-shaped notch of the coronoid and differences in the shape of the supratemporal fenestra.
472 POST-MENINGITIC INFLAMMATORY HEARING LOSS

Hypothesis Blockade of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) with TNF-α antibody will reduce the extent of intracochlear fibrosis, ossification, and hearing loss associated with Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis. Background Inflammatory mediators play a significant role in the morbidity associated with bacterial meningitis including hearing loss and labyrinthitis ossificans. Previous studies have shown the attenuation of hearing loss by the non-specific blockade of such pathways. Methods Fifty Mongolian gerbils were divided into 4 groups. Auditory brainstem response testing (ABR) was conducted to measure hearing thresholds. Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis was induced in groups 1 and 2. Group 2 was then given a single intraperitoneal injection of TNF-α antibody while group 1 received normal saline. Uninfected animals in groups 3 and 4 were implanted with osmotic pumps that delivered a continuous 8 day intrathecal flow of either TNF-α or phosphate buffered saline (PBS). After 6 weeks, ABR testing was repeated. Results Group 2 animals with S. pneumoniae meningitis which also received TNF-α antibody developed significantly less hearing loss than group 1 animals with meningitis alone. The decrease in the average threshold at 4, 8, 16, and 32 kHz was 31, 30, 25, and 28 dB SPL respectively (P ≤ 0.0092 for each). Furthermore, histomorphometric analysis showed significantly less damage to the organ of Corti, spiral ganglion, spiral ligament, and stria vascularis in group 2. Conversely, TNF-α induced meningitis animals (group3) showed increased hearing loss compared to PBS controls (group4) with P ≤ 0.0001 at all frequencies. Conclusions TNF-α plays an important role in cochlear injury following bacterial meningitis. Blockade of TNF-α reduces post-meningitic hearing loss and cochlear injury. Induction of meningitis with intrathecal also resulted in hearing loss and cochlear injury similar to bacterial meningitis.
Bandelet-based image fusion: a comparative study for multi-focus images

There is a strong initiative to maximize visual information in a single image for viewing by fusing the salient data from multiple images. Many multi-focus imaging systems exist that would be able to provide better image data if these images are fused together. A fused image would allow an analyst to make decisions based on a single image rather than crossreferencing multiple images. The bandelet transform has proven to be an effective multi-resolution transform for both denoising and image fusion through its ability to calculate geometric flow in localized regions and decompose the image based on an orthogonal basis in the direction of the flow. Many studies have been done to develop and validate algorithms for wavelet image fusion but the bandelet has not been well investigated. This study seeks to investigate the use of the bandelet coefficients versus wavelet coefficients in modified versions of image fusion algorithms. There are many different methods for fusing these coefficients together for multi-focus and multi-modal images such as the simple average, absolute min and max, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a weighted average. This paper compares the image fusion methods with a variety of no reference image fusion metrics including information theory based, image feature based and structural similarity based assessments.
Abstract 2364: Spontaneous and vaccine-induced clearance of Mus Musculus Papillomavirus1 (MusPV1) infection

Human papilloma virus (HPV) high risk (hr) types cause several cancers, including cervical, vaginal, penile, and oropharyngeal, whereas low risk types cause benign diseases such as skin warts, anogenital warts and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis. Although hrHPV infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases most infections remain asymptomatic and are cleared while a sub-population develops persistent HPV-related pathologies including cancer. Further, immune-compromised populations, notably organ transplant and HIV-positive patients, are particularly vulnerable to HPV-related pathologies. Here, we describe the first establishment of mouse papillomavirus-1 (MusPV1) disease in outbred and immune competent SKH1-Elite mice (Crl:SKH1-Hrhr). Challenge of SKH1 mice with MusPV1 resulted in three clinical outcomes: 1) persistent (>2 months) papillomas (∼15%), 2) transient papillomas that spontaneously regress typically within 2 months (∼10%), 3) no visible papillomas and viral clearance (∼75%). SKH1 mice with persisitent papillomas were treated using a potentially preventive and therapeutic DNA vaccine composed of human calreticulin (hCRT) linked to MusPV1 early proteins, mE6 and mE7 and the late protein mL2 (hCRTmE6/mE7/mL2). Three intramuscular DNA vaccinations (15 μg in PBS) via in vivo electroporation were administered weekly and immune responses were measured, including mE6/mE7/mL2 serum antibody response and T-cell epitope mapping studies. Previously persistent papillomas disappeared within 2 months after final vaccination. Clearance of MusPV1 was confirmed by loss of mE6/mE7 transcript staining using RNA-CISH on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tail sections. Vaccination induced a strong mE6 and mE7 CD8+ T cell response in all mice. Interestingly, mL2 antibody responses were faster and stronger in asymptomatic challenged mice and in those that spontaneously cleared their papillomas after challenge as compared to mice with persistent papillomas. In sum, MusPV1 challenge of outbred, immune-competent SKH1 mice represents a promising model to further study potential immunotherapies for HPV-related disease and the relationship between spontaneous clearance of papillomavirus and host genetics. Citation Format: Rosie T. Jiang, Joshua W. Wang, Shiwen Peng, Chien-Fu Hung, Richard B.S Roden. Spontaneous and vaccine-induced clearance of Mus Musculus Papillomavirus1 (MusPV1) infection. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2364.
Irish Studies Meets Disability Studies

Modern Irish cultural practice is anchored in a set of discursive and somatic frameworks defined by disability. The notion of Ireland itself and what it means to be Irish are constructed in modern Irish writing1 primarily through the category of physical or cognitive difference, or, as it is currently framed in many humanities-oriented critical discourses, the ever-broadening category of the disabled body. For Irish writers and both Irish and English audiences in this period, stereotypes of physical difference and the resulting negative social constructions of strangeness, weakness, dependence, interdependence, paralysis, blindness, heroic bravery, foolish sentimentality, and excessive imagination all define what Ireland is and how Ireland functions. These cultural stereotypes are key elements in Ireland’s self-conceptions, as well as in modern British understandings of and answers to the ever-troublesome Irish “problem” or “question.”
Acute leukaemia with a pure erythroid phenotype: under‐recognized morphological and cytogenetic signatures associated universally with primary refractory disease and a dismal clinical outcome

Aims Pure erythroid leukemia (PEL) is a very rare and aggressive subtype of acute myeloid leukemia defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a neoplastic proliferation of immature cells committed exclusively to the erythroid lineage comprising >80% of bone marrow cells and not meeting criteria of other well-defined myeloid neoplasms. The aim of this study was to describe the clinicopathologic features of acute leukemias with a pure erythroid phenotype (ALPEP) irrespective of their WHO classification and determine if ALPEP represents a distinct clinicopathologic entity. Methods and results We identified 7 cases of ALPEP in which immature cells fulfilled WHO morphologic and immunophenotypic criteria for PEL. All patients except for one were male with a median age of 60 years. Three cases represented de novo PEL, 3 were therapy-related myeloid neoplasms, and 1 was a blast phase of a myeloproliferative neoplasm. Extensive tumor necrosis was present in 5 cases (71%). Five cases with available modal karyotypes all demonstrated a complex karyotype involving the TP53 gene locus with 3 cases (60%) also showing a monosomy 5 or deletion 5q and additional material on chromosome 19q13. All patients died of their disease with a mean overall survival of 189 days and 64.7 days in cases without and with necrosis on the initial biopsy, respectively. Conclusions We describe previously unreported but relatively common findings of extensive tumor necrosis and recurring cytogenetic abnormalities in ALPEP. Our findings strongly suggest that ALPEP represents a distinct clinicopathologic entity regardless of its WHO classification. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Collective construction using Lego robots

Social insects, such as ants and termites, collectively build large and complex structures, with many individuals following simple rules and no centralized control or planning [Theraulaz and Bonabeau 1995, Camazine et al. 2002]. Such swarm systems have many desirable properties: a high level of parallelism, cheap and expendable individuals, and robustness to loss, addition, and errors of individual insects. Our goal is to design systems for automating construction that are similarly adaptive and robust, but build what we want. Automated construction will impact our ability to operate in inhospitable habitats, from outer space to under water. and allow automated disassembly and repair.
Surgical and Nonsurgical Management of Lymphedema

Lymphedema is swelling that is a result of the disruption of the lymphatic system’s ability to adequately transport lymph fluid. This leads to the abnormal accumulation of protein-rich fluid in the interstitial tissue spaces. Lymphedema is a chronic, progressive condition for which currently there is no cure.
Utility of dual-source computed tomography in cardiac resynchronization therapy—DIRECT study

Background Dual-source computed tomography (CT) can evaluate left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony, myocardial scar, and coronary venous anatomy in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Objective We aimed to determine whether dual-source CT predicts clinical CRT outcomes and reduces intraprocedural time. Methods In this prospective study, 54 patients scheduled for CRT (mean age 63 ± 11 years; 74% men) underwent preprocedural CT to assess their venous anatomy as well as CT-derived dyssynchrony metrics and myocardial scar. Based on 1:1 randomization, the implanting physician had preimplant knowledge of the venous anatomy in half the patients. In blinded analyses, we measured time to maximal wall thickness and inward wall motion to determine (1) CT global and segmental dyssynchrony and (2) concordance of lead location to regional LV mechanical contraction. End points were 6-month CRT response measured using heart failure clinical composite score and 2-year major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Results There were 72% CRT responders and 17% with MACE. Two wall motion dyssynchrony indices—global wall motion and opposing anteroseptal-inferolateral wall motion—predicted MACE ( P P P = NS for all). Myocardial scar (43%), posterolateral wall scar (28%), and total scar burden did not predict outcomes ( P = NS for all). Preknowledge of coronary venous anatomy by CT did not reduce implant or fluoroscopy time ( P = NS for both). Conclusion Two CT dyssynchrony metrics predicted 2-year MACE, and LV lead location concordant to regions of maximal wall thickness was associated with less MACE. Other CT factors had little utility in CRT.
BIFURCAID: AN APP DEFINING A NEW ERA OF INNOVATIVE MEDICAL EDUCATION IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE

Conversion of medical knowledge into a mobile application (app) requires a multidisciplinary approach (medical educator, technical app development team, and medical illustrator). Our aim is to share our experience of app development where we simplified a complex subject of coronary artery
Comparative Assessment of Conjugated Polymers for High Performance Plastic Electronics

Conjugated polymers (CPs) are emerging active materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices, such as organic solar cells, thin-film transistors, light-emitting diodes, as well as optical and amperometric sensors. There has been an intensive worldwide research effort on the development of stable, organic semiconductors as potential replacements for amorphous silicon, the benchmark large area, amorphous semiconductor. ID TechEx, the UK-based market research company, “estimates that over the last two decades global investments into plastic electronics technologies exceed US $10 billion, and predict that this will grow to almost US $25 billion by 2020”.1 The ecological and commercial motivation to implement the use of plastic electronics is compelling. Recently, such efforts have facilitated the development of thin film transistors for backplane applications such as e-paper. The ability to operate in ambient atmosphere without costly and rigorous encapsulation barriers to avoid water and/or oxygen is an important step towards commercialization. Despite ever increasing numbers of newly developed conjugated polymers, the performance of CP thin films in optoelectronic devices prepared by the current fabrication methods has been rather limited largely due to the disordered structure. Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) have been widely investigated for various optical, mechanical, and electrical applications due to their unique ordered nature. In general LCP design, rod-like mesogens having a large aspect ratio are connected through somewhat flexible linker units to form a main-chain or as a side chain LCP to a flexible polymer. This design allows good molecular interactions between mesogens, but prevents regularly structured crystal formation. Therefore, it is highly desired to devise a novel and universal molecular design strategy to achieve lyotropic liquid crystalline CPs that can be easily processed to form a macroscopically assembled and aligned structure. The synthesis of well-defined conjugated molecules/polymers is a considerable synthetic challenge that many excellent research groups have addressed over the last decade or so. A particularly promising class of potential donor/acceptor materials for use in organic electronics for solution processed polymers is the promising Indacenodithiophene (IDT) unit. Herein we will report our synthetic efforts in the development of innovative polymeric materials containing a suit of wisely selected side chains and having different bridging atoms by replacing IDT with indacenodithiozole (IDDT) system. When incorporated into small molecules or polymers, this structure affords very narrow band-gaps capable of harvesting a large percentage of the solar flux. References; (1) http://ukplaticelectronics.com, C. G.-U. P. E.
GLIS1-3 transcription factors: critical roles in the regulation of multiple physiological processes and diseases.

Kruppel-like zinc finger proteins form one of the largest families of transcription factors. They function as key regulators of embryonic development and a wide range of other physiological processes, and are implicated in a variety of pathologies. GLI-similar 1-3 (GLIS1-3) constitute a subfamily of Kruppel-like zinc finger proteins that act either as activators or repressors of gene transcription. GLIS3 plays a critical role in the regulation of multiple biological processes and is a key regulator of pancreatic β cell generation and maturation, insulin gene expression, thyroid hormone biosynthesis, spermatogenesis, and the maintenance of normal kidney functions. Loss of GLIS3 function in humans and mice leads to the development of several pathologies, including neonatal diabetes and congenital hypothyroidism, polycystic kidney disease, and infertility. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in GLIS3 genes have been associated with increased risk of several diseases, including type 1 and type 2 diabetes, glaucoma, and neurological disorders. GLIS2 plays a critical role in the kidney and GLIS2 dysfunction leads to nephronophthisis, an end-stage, cystic renal disease. In addition, GLIS1-3 have regulatory functions in several stem/progenitor cell populations. GLIS1 and GLIS3 greatly enhance reprogramming efficiency of somatic cells into induced embryonic stem cells, while GLIS2 inhibits reprogramming. Recent studies have obtained substantial mechanistic insights into several physiological processes regulated by GLIS2 and GLIS3, while a little is still known about the physiological functions of GLIS1. The localization of some GLIS proteins to the primary cilium suggests that their activity may be regulated by a downstream primary cilium-associated signaling pathway. Insights into the upstream GLIS signaling pathway may provide opportunities for the development of new therapeutic strategies for diabetes, hypothyroidism, and other diseases.
Maintaining diversity in genetic search

Genetic adaptive algorithms provide an efficient way to search large function spaces, and are increasingly being used in learning systems. One problem plaguing genetic learning algorithms is premature convergence, or convergence of the pool of active structures to a sub-optimal point in the space being searched. An improvement to the standard genetic adaptive algorithm is presented which guarantees diversity of the gene pool throughout the search. Maintaining genetic diversity is shown to improve off-line (or best) performance of these algorithms at the expense of poorer on-line (or average) performance, and to retard or prevent premature convergence.
Curve Stitching in an Elementary Calculus Course.

on the segments, the resulting figure begins to look very much like a parabola. As the number of points increases, the figures so constructed appear to approach a true parabola as a limiting curve. The problem is to prove this assertion by actually finding the equation of the limiting curve. Al though at first this seems a very difficult problem, it is actually quite simple and re quires only a little ingenuity and a knowledge of basic differential calculus.
Ribosomal Vaccines as Immunomodulators

“Ribosomal vaccines” can be defined as ribosome-rich subcellular extracts of microorganisms used as vaccines. Extracts of this sort have been shown to be highly protective against a number of experimental bacterial and fungal infections, but their mechanisms of protection are still under investigation (1). This paper is concerned with protection induced by such subcellular extracts prepared from Salmonella typhimurium. Experiments have been carried out using a murine model of salmonellosis in which animals were immunized intraperitoneally and challenged three weeks later, intraperitoneally. Survival of vaccinated and control animals was followed for 30 to 40 days post-challenge.
A Field Study of Pedestrians and Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles have been in development for nearly thirty years and recently have begun to operate in real-world, uncontrolled settings. With such advances, more widespread research and evaluation of human interaction with autonomous vehicles (AV) is necessary. Here, we present an interview study of 32 pedestrians who have interacted with Uber AVs. Our findings are focused on understanding and trust of AVs, perceptions of AVs and artificial intelligence, and how the perception of a brand affects these constructs. We found an inherent relationship between favorable perceptions of technology and feelings of trust toward AVs. Trust in AVs was also influenced by a favorable interpretation of the company's brand and facilitated by knowledge about what AV technology is and how it might fit into everyday life. To our knowledge, this paper is the first to surface AV-related interview data from pedestrians in a natural, real-world setting.
Design of an Intelligent Vehicle for Industrial, Office and Home Environments Applications

In this work we describe the design and implementation of a Medicine Delivery Robot for use in hospital environments that will be able to help in hospitals or assisted living communities environments to perform delivery of drugs, medications, meals and other medical related items to medical staff in the examination rooms or to patients' rooms to patients with limited motor skills or special needs at homes or assisted living communities.
Bridging the Chasm: Faculty Support Roles for Academic Librarians in the Adoption of Open Educational Resources

Despite demonstrated student benefits from Open Educational Resources (OER), especially those in community colleges, faculty adoption remains marginal. This study is framed by diffusion of innovations theory, which acknowledges that adoption of an innovation must exceed a tipping point to ensure enduring success. The study focuses on community college faculty with demonstrated OER engagement, on the basis that these faculty have greater likelihood to adopt OER and help “bridge the chasm.” In surveying faculty, we tested a range of roles librarians have played in supporting OER adoption. Findings show that faculty value librarians’ roles in discovery, cataloging, and information literacy but are less open to librarians operating outside these traditional roles, including mentoring and policy development. Faculty were supportive of librarians’ role in advocacy for OER and, overall, felt that librarians have a role to play in the OER movement on their campuses.
Patients with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Are at Risk of Adenomatous Colon Polyps.

Patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) are frequently referred for colonoscopy to evaluate gastrointestinal symptoms during their treatment course. Here, we described the rate of colonic adenomas in patients with NHL. This was a retrospective study of patients with NHL who underwent colonoscopy after being diagnosed with NHL between January 2000 and December 2017. Of the 17,938 patients who had been diagnosed with NHL in the study period, 2176 met the inclusion criteria. The mean age at the time of colonoscopy was 61 years. Most patients were male (61%). Overall, 1273 polyps were detected in 811 patients (37%). Sessile serrated adenomas were detected in 102 (5%) patients. The overall ADR was 12% in patients younger than 40 years of age (n = 103), 26% in patients aged 40–50 (n = 251), 34% in patients aged 51–60 (n = 630), and 43% in patients older than 60 (n = 1212). Most polyps were located in the right colon (63%), and 101 (8%) were larger than 1 cm. Villous adenomatous features were present in 1% of polyps, while high-grade dysplasia was detected in 22%. Invasive adenocarcinoma was identified in 4%. The median interval from lymphoma diagnosis to adenoma detection was 1.4 years (interquartile range 0.5–3.8 years). A repeat colonoscopy was performed in 343 patients. The overall ADR on repeat colonoscopy was 30%. Cox regression analysis revealed that age (hazards ratio 1.04; 95% confidence interval 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001) and male sex (hazards ratio 1.35; 95% confidence interval 1.13–1.60; P = 0.001) were independent factors associated with worse overall survival. By contrast, screening colonoscopy was associated with longer survival duration (hazards ratio 0.48; 95% confidence interval 0.36–0.63; P < 0.001). The ADR in NHL patients aged 40–50 years was equivalent to that reported in the literature in non-cancer patients aged 50–70 years. Early screening colonoscopy may be warranted in NHL patients younger than 50 years. Screening colonoscopy significantly improved the overall survival of patients with NHL.
Benefits of Neurohormonal Therapy in Patients With Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have dramatically improved short-term outcomes among patients with advanced heart failure. While neurohormonal blockade (NHB) is the cornerstone of treatment for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, its effect after LVAD placement has not been established. We reviewed medical records of 307 patients who underwent primary LVAD implantation from January 2006 to September 2015 at two institutions in the United States. Patients were followed for at least 2 years post-LVAD implantation or until explantation, heart transplantation, or death. Cox regression analysis stratifying on center was used to assess associations with mortality. Neurohormonal blockade use was treated as a time-dependent predictor. Stepwise selection indicated treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEIs/ARBs) (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.53 [0.30-0.95], p = 0.03), age at the time of implantation (HR = 1.28 [1.05-1.56] per decade, p = 0.02), length of stay postimplantation (HR = 1.16 [1.11-1.21] per week, p < 0.01) and INTERMACS profile of 1 or 2 (HR = 1.86 [1.17-2.97], p < 0.01) were independent predictors of mortality. In this large, retrospective study, treatment with ACEIs or ARBs was an independent factor associated with decreased mortality post-LVAD placement.
Testing Martingale Hypothesis Using Variance Ratio Tests: Evidence from High-frequency Data of NCDEX Soya Bean Futures:

AbstractThe aim of the article is to examine the martingale hypothesis of market efficiency on high-frequency data of the soya bean futures traded in National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NC...
Accelerated clearing and molecular labeling of large tissue samples using magnetohydrodynamic force

Here we report a strategy to efficiently render opaque biological tissues transparent and demonstrate that this approach can be modified to rapidly label intact samples with antibodies for large volume fluorescence microscopy. This strategy applies a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) force to accelerate the removal of lipids from and the introduction of antibodies into tissue samples as large as an intact adult mouse brain. This strategy complements a growing array of tools that enable high-resolution 3-dimensional anatomical analyses in intact tissues using fluorescence microscopy. MHD-accelerated clearing and MHD-accelerated antibody labeling are fast, reliable, inexpensive, and compatible with existing strategies for high-quality fluorescence microscopy of intact tissues.
SpinSmart: Exploring Optimal Server Fan Speeds to Improve Overall System Energy Consumption

Cost of data centers has risen sharply in the past few years. Today, it represents about 3% of total US energy consumption with projections to increase further in the coming years. In this paper, we focus on the server infrastructure and observe that workload consolidation techniques, which maximize power efficiency of server systems, do not automatically optimize the overall system power efficiency especially when compute engines and the corresponding on-board cooling systems are considered holistically. We design SpinSmart, a framework that explores optimal server fan speeds to minimize the overall system energy consumption. We explore core capping strategies that estimate the desired number of CPU cores to be used at any given time to minimize combined CPU+fan power. Our experimental results show that we are able to achieve 1) energy savings of up to 10% of total energy and 80% of cooling energy when compared to workload consolidation without core capping strategy; 2) cooling energy savings up to 42% when compared to the strategy that randomly assigns jobs to all the servers and cores.
Variation in opioid analgesia administration and discharge prescribing for emergency department patients with suspected urolithiasis

Abstract Objective Previous research has suggested caution about opioid analgesic usage in the emergency department (ED) setting and raised concerns about variations in prescription opioid analgesic usage, both across institutions and for whom they are prescribed. We examined opioid analgesic usage in ED patients with suspected urolithiasis across fifteen participating hospitals. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a clinical trial including adult ED patients with suspected urolithiasis. In multilevel models accounting for clustering by hospital, we assessed demographic, clinical, state-level, and hospital-level factors associated with opioid analgesic administration during the ED visit and prescription at discharge. Results Of 2352 participants, 67% received an opioid analgesic during the ED visit and 61% were prescribed one at discharge. Opioid analgesic usage varied greatly across hospitals, ranging from 46% to 88% (during visit) and 34% to 85% (at discharge). Hispanic patients were less likely than non-Hispanic white patients to receive opioid analgesics during the ED visit (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.55–0.94). Patients with higher education (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.05–1.59), health insurance coverage (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.02–1.60), or receiving care in states with a prescription drug monitoring program (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.06–2.53) were more likely to receive an opioid analgesic prescription at ED discharge. Conclusion We found marked hospital-level differences in opioid analgesic administration and prescribing, as well as associations with education, healthcare insurance, and race/ethnicity groups. These data might compel clinicians and hospitals to examine their opioid use practices to ensure it is congruent with accepted medical practice.