cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Early signal protein expression profiles in basophils: a population study.

IgE-mediated histamine release from peripheral blood basophils is highly variable within the general population. Recent studies have shown that the ability of antiIgE antibody to induce release can be predicted reasonably well by knowing the level of syk expression in the cells. The current study expands a previous survey to include 14 additional early elements known to be involved in activation and deactivation of basophils and showed that with the exception of syk, the variance of expression of 19 other elements (lyn, fyn, csk, cbp/PAG, CIN85, BOB1, c-cbl, SHIP1, SHIP2, p85, p110, btk, PLC1, PLC2, SHP-1, PTEN, SOS2, CRACM1, and IL3R) was narrow despite a broad range of functional capability in the basophils under study. With syk as the only element with high variance and well-correlated to maximum histamine release and cellular sensitivity, this survey examined the expression levels of two proteins thought to regulate syk expression: BOB1/OCA-B and CIN85. Expression of CIN85 was not correlated to syk expression, but BOB1 expression was negatively correlated to expression of syk and maximum histamine release. However, the expected behavior for this protein should have been as a protector of post-translational syk loss and therefore, positively correlated. Previous studies suggested that post-translational control mechanisms regulated syk expression. However, in this study, steady-state mRNA levels for syk in resting basophils showed a correlation with syk protein expression levels (r0.593). It is concluded that with the exception of syk expression, the expression of 19 early signaling elements is tightly regulated and that a component of the regulation of syk may be related to control of transcription or processing of syk mRNA. J. Leukoc. Biol. 86: 000–000; 2009.
Hysteresis of Matric Suction and Capillary Stress in Monodisperse Disk-Shaped Particles

The dependences of matric suction and capillary stress on the degree of saturation in monodisperse disk-shaped particles are established for the full range of the degree of saturation. A thermodynamic free energy approach is employed to obtain both the soil-water characteristic curve SWCC and the capillary stress characteristic curve CSCC for both wetting and drying processes. It is shown that the thermodynamic energy stability concept can lead to the establishment of hysteresis in both the SWCC and CSCC without explicit involvement of the contact angle and ink-bottle hysteresis. The air-entry pressure value and capillary condensation pressure value are quantified and their functional dependencies on the average pore sizes are established. For particle sizes ranging between 0.001 and 1 mm, the air-entry and capillary condensation pressures decrease from several hundred kPa to several kPa and capillary forces are found to range between tens and hundreds of micronewtons.
On the processes that control seasonal variations of sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean

In the tropical Pacific Ocean, the cold phase of both interannual and seasonal sea surface temperature variations is characterized by cold waters off the coast of South America and a pronounced equatorial tongue of cold surface waters in the eastern Pacific. The warm phase, in both cases, is marked by the weakening or complete absence of these features. Despite these striking similarities, very different physical processes are dominant on seasonal and interannual time scales. Interannually, a horizontal redistribution of warm surface waters, the dynamical response of the ocean to changes in the winds, is of primary importance. What matters most seasonally are two local processes: seasonal upwelling associated with a divergence of surface 0. currents, and the seasonal modulation of mixing processes, by heat fluxes, that control to what extent upwelling induced by the mean winds influences sea surface temperatures. These results shed light on the different requirements that coupled ocean-atmosphere models should meet if they are to reproduce both seasonal and interannual variability. The results also make a case for measurements, along a meridian in the eastern tropical Pacific, that focus on the relations between sea surface temperature changes, heat flux variations and mixing processes. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0870.1994.00011.x
Modified lattice parameter/Curie temperature diagrams for Titanomagnetite/titanomaghemite within the quadrilateral Fe3O4‐ Fe2TiO4‐Fe2O3‐Fe2TiO5

Magnetic and mineralogical data were obtained on a sequence of titanomagnetite - titanomaghemite solid solutions from four basalt samples (0 to 70 Ma) dredged from four sites along a traverse normal to the mid-Atlantic Ridge. Data which characterized magnetic iron oxides with the spinel structure include Mossbauer, XRD (including Rietveld structure refinement), TEM/AEM, and magnetic data. The data indicate a sequence ranging from nearly unoxidized titanomagnetite to near end-member titanomaghemite. Compositions of samples with intermediate values of oxidation parameter, Z, varied significantly from those estimated using previously determined relations between lattice parameters and compositions. The data of this study, in conjunction with those of selected references, lead to more accurate contoured diagrams for Curie temperature and lattice parameter (as consistent with Vegard's raw) for the quadrilateral Fe 3 O 4 -Fe 2 TiO 4 -Fe 2 O 3 -Fe 2 TiO 5 .
A Focus on the Positive: Reasons for Not Engaging in Physical Aggression Against a Dating Partner

The current study focuses on reasons why most women do not engage in physical aggression against their partner. The sample consists of 170 women, aged 18–35 from across the US. In an online questionnaire, 34% of the sample reported using physical aggression against a partner. Primary reasons for engaging in aggression were “anger [73%]” and “temper [68%].” For those who were not aggressive, primary deterrents were beliefs that “using aggression is inappropriate [72%]” and “under no circumstances is physical aggression okay [71%].” Physically aggressive females were less satisfied with relationships, more accepting of physical violence, and felt more provoked in conflict situations. Across varied studies assessing reasons for physical aggression against a partner, anger is perceived as most prevalent, though a meta-analysis found that trait anger has a small association with intimate partner aggression. The strikingly different results indicate the need for research to reconcile this discrepancy.
Effect of Quality of Life Measures on the Decision to Remove Third Molars in Subjects With Mild Pericoronitis Symptoms

Purpose To assess how quality of life (QoL) measures affect the decision for third molar (3M) removal in patients with mild symptoms of pericoronitis. Patients and Methods Healthy subjects, aged 18 to 35 years, with mild symptoms of pericoronitis were enrolled in an institutional review board–approved study. The demographic, clinical, and QoL data were collected at enrollment. The subjects voluntarily scheduled surgery for 3M removal. The principal outcome variable was their decision to undergo or not undergo surgery within 6 months of enrollment. The possible predictor variables in a multivariate logistic regression analysis were the demographic characteristics, dental insurance, and QoL measures. Results The mean age of the 113 subjects was 23.2 ± 3.8 years. Of the 113 subjects, 79 elected to undergo 3M removal within 6 months of enrollment (removed group) and 34 elected to retain their 3M at 6 months after enrollment (retained group). A significantly greater proportion of the removed group were white (58% vs 35%; P = .03) and reported having at least “a little trouble” with opening their mouths (38% vs 18%; P = .04) and taking part in social life (27% vs 6%; P = .01). The multivariate logistic regression model suggested the odds of electing 3M removal within 6 months of enrollment were greater for those who were white (odds ratio [OR] 2.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14 to 6.32) and those who had at least “a little trouble” with interactions in their social life (OR 3.22, 95% CI 1.08 to 9.58). Conclusions In subjects with mild pericoronitis symptoms, experiencing problems with oral function and lifestyle, factors not often considered by clinicians, were significantly associated with subjects' decision for early 3M removal.
Use of a classification system to guide nonsurgical management of a patient with chronic low back pain.

Background and Purpose. This case report describes the use of a classification system in the evaluation of a patient with chronic low back pain (LBP) and illustrates how this system was used to develop a management program in which the patient was instructed in symptomreducing strategies for positioning and functional movement. Case Description. The patient was a 55-year-old woman with a medical diagnosis of lumbar degenerative disk and degenerative joint disease from L2 to S1. Rotation with extension of the lumbar spine was found to be consistently associated with an increase in symptoms during the examination. Instruction was provided to restrict lumbar rotation and extension during performance of daily activities. Outcomes. The patient completed 8 physical therapy sessions over a 3-month period. Pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up modified Oswestry Disability Questionnaire scores were 43%, 16%, and 12%, respectively. Discussion. Daily repetition of similar movements and postures may result in preferential movement of the lumbar spine in a specific direction, which then may contribute to the development, persistence, or recurrence of LBP. Research is needed to determine whether patients with LBP would benefit from training in activity modifications that are specific to the symptom-provoking movements and postures of each individual as identified through examination. [Maluf KS, Sahrmann SA, Van Dillen LR. Use of a classification system to guide nonsurgical management of a patient with chronic low back pain. Phys Ther. 2000;80:1097‐1111.]
Yvain and the Myth of the Fountain

THE Bible (Eccles. ix, 4) says: "A living dog is better than a dead lion." Reverse this, substituting vilains (vs. 32) for "dog," and you have the keynote of Chretien de Troyes' Yvain the Knight of the Lion. But differences of opinion on the composition of the poem proliferate. It is in the hope of eliminating some of these and, if possible, of reaching a measure of agreement that I take up the subject once more. As Foerster pointed out (Yvain, 4th ed., p. xiv), the Yvain is closely allied in composition with the poet's Erec. He says: "Wenn man die schematische tbersicht des Ivain mit der des Erec vergleicht, fiillt einem sofort der auffaillige Parallelismus auf. Man sieht, dass die beiden Romane ganz gleich angelegt sind und selbst die einzelnen Abschnitte einander entsprechen." This is true, as I tried to show (MPh, L [1953], 223), of even the Perceval. Roughly speaking, each of these romances falls into six parts: (a) an adventure to avenge a wrong, (b) a fight with a hostile knight, (c) the rescue and wooing of the heroine, (d) fault and defection of the hero, (e) the mad ride of the hero, (f) the final appeasement and reconciliation. Central in the Yvain is the Lady of the Fountain "Laudine" or "Laudune" in only two manuscripts (F and V). She hails from Landuc,' as in the Erec
An integrated approach to reduce the impact of minor allele frequency and linkage disequilibrium on variable importance measures for genome-wide data

Motivation: There is growing momentum to develop statistical learning (SL) methods as an alternative to conventional genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Methods such as random forests (RF) and gradient boosting machine (GBM) result in variable importance measures that indicate how well each single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) predicts the phenotype. For RF, it has been shown that variable importance measures are systematically affected by minor allele frequency (MAF) and linkage disequilibrium (LD). To establish RF and GBM as viable alternatives for analyzing genome-wide data, it is necessary to address this potential bias and show that SL methods do not significantly under-perform conventional GWAS methods. Results: Both LD and MAF have a significant impact on the variable importance measures commonly used in RF and GBM. Dividing SNPs into overlapping subsets with approximate linkage equilibrium and applying SL methods to each subset successfully reduces the impact of LD. A welcome side effect of this approach is a dramatic reduction in parallel computing time, increasing the feasibility of applying SL methods to large datasets. The created subsets also facilitate a potential correction for the effect of MAF using pseudocovariates. Simulations using simulated SNPs embedded in empirical data—assessing varying effect sizes, minor allele frequencies and LD patterns—suggest that the sensitivity to detect effects is often improved by subsetting and does not significantly under-perform the Armitage trend test, even under ideal conditions for the trend test. Availability: Code for the LD subsetting algorithm and pseudocovariate correction is available at http://www.nd.edu/~glubke/code.html. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Waste, Just Another Resource: A Case for Waste Water

ABSTRACTCompanies around the world are looking for ways to save money. Industries implement more efficient lighting, HVAC, and automation systems into their processes to save energy, but industries are also looking for methods to produce energy as a byproduct in their processes. One way industries can produce energy is by installing waste water recovery systems to their treatment process. This article focuses on implementing micro hydro systems at two facilities. The first facility has two possible equipment locations and is located at a pharmaceutical facility in northern Indiana (Site 1). Considering cost and energy savings calculations, Site 1, will have a five or eight year equipment payback time depending on location without incentives. The other location is a paper mill facility also in northern, Indiana (Site 2). Under favorable conditions, Site 2 will have a seven year equipment payback without incentives. The remainder of this article will introduce waste water and how it can be applied to each o...
Entropy and its many Avatars

Entropy was first introduced in 1865 by Rudolf Clausius in his study of the connection between work and heat. A mathematical definition was given by Boltzmann as the logarithm of the number of micro states that corresponds to a macro state. It plays important roles in statistical mechanics, in the theory of large deviations in probability, as an invariant in ergodic theory and as a useful tool in communication theory. This article explores some of the connections between these different contexts.
Modeling of gas curtains in a dual chamber hydride vapor phase epitaxial photovoltaic growth reactor

Hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) is a low-cost method for the deposition of high-efficiency III–V photovoltaics. HVPE offers the use of lower cost reagents and high growth rates, both of which reduce cost compared to metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) while maintaining high performance. Our dual chamber reactor design with gas curtain separation facilitates the formation of abrupt interfaces and monolithic integration of multiple materials chemistries. This reactor has a more complex flow profile compared to single chamber designs, requiring more intensive flow optimization. Experimental optimization alone is not enough to develop a deep understanding of the factors affecting the gas composition profile in the reactor. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling is a vital tool that provides insight into the design and operation of VPE reactors. This work presents the use of a commercial software package to model a case study in our custom HVPE reactor. The effect of the “curtain” gas species identity on cross contamination between the growth chambers is examined in detail. It was found that use of a heavier curtain gas alone is not sufficient to reduce cross contamination. CFD modeling determined the flow for a given gas must be balanced to minimize the development of horizontal flows and eddy currents in order to minimize cross contamination.
Pb 2+ and Ce 3+ Doped SrZnO 2 : New Blue Luminescent Phosphors

Two new blue emitting phosphors, SrZnO2:Pb 2+ and Ce 3+ were synthesized by adipic acid and sucrose templated sol-gel routes, respectively. The resulting phosphor particles were fine, nanocrystalline and pure. The optimum activator concentrations were found to be 1 mol% Pb 2+ and 12 mol% Ce 3+ . Two excitation bands centered at 283 and 317 nm, plus a weak shoulder at 275 nm were observed for Pb 2+ doped samples, however only one broad excitation band with a maximum at 294 nm was observed for Ce 3+ doped samples fired at 1000 °C for 2h. The emission spectra of SrZnO2:Pb 2+ showed a very broad band extending from 374 to 615 nm with a maximum at ~455 nm which was ascribed to the 3P1 iae 1S0 transition on the Pb 2+ ions allowed by the strong spin-orbit (SO) coupling. Similarly, SrZnO2:Ce 3+ showed a broad emission band extending from 374 to 609 nm and centered at 467 nm. This broad emission was attributed to the 5d1 iae 4f1 transition of Ce 3+ ions. The lower level 2F5/2 of the 4f1 is populated but the level 2F7/2 is almost empty at room temperature where all measurements were taken. The luminescence properties of Ce 3+ , K + co-doped SrZnO 2 revealed that the characteristic band locations remained the same and the ratio of emission to excitation intensities were constant. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the SrZnO 2 phase started to form at 900 °C (after 2 hrs), and the single-phase SrZnO2 obtained at 1000 °C. SEM micrographs of both phosphors have a rounded and filled morphology for individual particles with an approximate diameter of 50-250 nm. Dynamic light scattering studies revealed that average particle size is around 1 ¥im for both phosphors.
Career Criminals and the Antisocial Life Course

Career criminals account for more than half of the crime in society and an even larger proportion of the most violent offenses, including homicide. In recent years, biosocial criminologists have specified the etiological bases of pathological criminality using data from twin and genetic studies. Coupled with environmental factors, several endophenotypes (e.g., self-regulation, self-control, neuropsychological functioning, and temperament) connect biological vulnerabilities to behavioral phenotypes. The antisocial repertoire of career criminals is traceable across life as aggressive and antisocial conduct continues from early childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. Prevention programs and interventions can reduce the incidence of career criminality.
Research: The Emergency Contraception Collaborative Prescribing Experience in Washington State

Objective To describe how prescribers and pharmacists view the Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECP) program, and to evaluate pharmacists' performance through the use of a consumer survey. Design Self-administered provider satisfaction surveys were mailed 6 months after the program's inception. Consumer satisfaction surveys were distributed at the point of ECP service for return by mail. Setting The program encouraged pharmacists and prescribers in western Washington to enter into collaborative prescribing agreements, increasing consumers' access to ECP. Patients or Other Participants Pharmacists who had attended ECP training sessions, prescribers who had authorized pharmacists to prescribe ECP, and women who had been prescribed ECP by pharmacists. Main Outcome Measures Providers' reasons for participating, attitudes toward the ECP program, and experiences with ECP as a result of the program; feedback from women receiving ECP from pharmacists. Results 309 pharmacist surveys and 55 prescriber surveys were sent, of which 159 (51%) and 27 (49%), respectively, were returned. Meeting patient needs and having a professional responsibility to participate were commonly reported reasons for ECP program involvement. Both pharmacists and prescribers (92%) reported being "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their prescribing agreements. On the 470 consumer surveys returned out of 7,000 distributed (6.5%), pharmacists were rated highly satisfactory for their interactions with patients and the quality of information about ECP use given, but less satisfactory for information about adverse effects, recognition and follow-up of ECP failure, and regular contraceptive methods. Conclusion All participants expressed satisfaction with the ECP program. This example should support the initiation of similar programs in other states.
Hexameric Octahedral Clusters of PbSe Nanocrystals Grown from Amorphous Lead(II) Carboxylate Nanoparticles

We describe the synthesis and three-dimensional structure of a new single-crystalline “hexameric” nanocrystal composed of six near-spherical PbSe nanocrystals arranged at the vertices of an octahed...
Two Ways to Extend Diffusion Schemes to Navier-Stokes Schemes: Gradient Formula or Upwind Flux

In this paper, we extend the diffusion schemes derived in the AIAA paper 2010-5093 to the Navier-Stokes schemes. There are two ways to do it. One is a widely-used approach: apply the gradient formula identied in the diffusion scheme to the gradients in the physical viscous ux. The other is a new way. It is a direct extension of the hyperbolic approach to the Navier-Stokes equations: a viscous scheme is derived from an upwind scheme applied to a hyperbolic model for the viscous term. Viscous discretizations derived from the two approaches are presented for thenite-volume method. A particular emphasis is given on the damping term which is essential to robust and accurate viscous computations. It is demonstrated that the hyperbolic approach is a general approach by which the damping term is automatically introduced into the viscous discretization. Preliminary results show that both approaches yield Navier-Stokes schemes of comparable accuracy and the lack of damping leads to inaccurate solutions.
Bison Weights From National Parks in the Northern Great Plains

On the Ground Female bison at three Northern Great Plains parks reached maximum size at 5.5 years of age. Male bison reached maximum size around 10.5 years of age. The mean weight for females 5.5 years old and older was 473 kg, and for males 10.5 years old and older was 816 kg. The mean weight for yearling females was 307 kg, and for yearling males was 325 kg. There were significant differences in bison weights between the three parks even though the herds were all stocked well below the forage-based carrying capacity. Heavier calves and yearlings tended to be heavier adults; however, there was much variability among individuals. Accurate and unambiguous data on bison weights can be used to set stocking rates and make other management decisions and therefore should be collected whenever possible.
From Discontent to Civic Engagement in an ESL Learning Community

Cummings explores the world of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and describes her discovery that what was planned for a particular semester or year in a curriculum is not always what is best for the students, and that interest and engagement on the part of students is more important to academic success than the intentionality of seven professors creating a curriculum. Allowing her students to identify problems on their campus and seek out solutions engaged them with the life of the college in ways she could never have planned.
New technique for fabrication of low loss high temperature stable high reflectivity FBG sensor arrays

Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) arrays in silica based optical fibers are increasingly used in applications involving system monitoring in extreme high temperature environments. Where operational temperatures are < 600 °C, traditional UVlaser inscribed FBGs are not appropriate since the induced Type I index change is erased. Instead two competing FBG technologies exist: 1) regenerative FBGs resulting from high temperature annealing of a UV-laser written grating in a hydrogen loaded fiber and 2) FBGs written with femtosecond infrared pulse duration radiation (fs-IR), either using the point-by-point method or using the phase mask approach. Regenerative gratings possess low reflectivity and are cumbersome to produce, requiring high temperature processing in an oxygen free environment. Multiple pulse Type II femtosecond IR laser induced gratings made with a phase mask, while having very good thermal stability, also tend to have high insertion loss (~ 1dB/grating) limiting the number of gratings that can be concatenated in a sensor array. Recently it has been shown that during multiple pulse type II thermally stable fs-IR FBG production, two competing process occur: an initial induced fs-IR type I FBG followed by a thermally stable high insertion loss type II FBG. In this paper, we show that if only a type I FBG is written using type II intensity conditions but limited numbers of pulses and then annealed above 600 °C, the process results in a type II grating that is stable up to 1000 °C with very low insertion loss ideal for an FBG sensor array.
Factors That Virtually Exclude Cervical Cancer at Colposcopy.

OBJECTIVES The objective of this work was to determine the risk of invasive cervical cancer at colposcopy based on the woman's age, associated cervical cytology, and colposcopic impression. METHODS Review of electronic medical records from colposcopy clinics followed by chart review of women with cervical cancer. RESULTS Between March 1, 1996, and April 23, 2013, 27,381 cervical colposcopies for evaluation of abnormal cervical cytology and/or positive high-risk human papillomavirus tests were performed. Median age at colposcopy was 32 years (range, 11-91 years). Biopsy at colposcopy or at subsequent loop electrocautery excision procedure, cervical conization, or hysterectomy diagnosed cervical cancer in 0.5% (132/27,381) of women. At colposcopy, the risk of cervical cancer for women younger than 30 years was 0.07% (8/12,131), for women with Cytology-Lo (low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance, benign endometrial cells, or negative), it was 0.17% (43/25,779); and for women with normal colposcopic impressions, it was 0.17% (18/11,389). The risk of cervical cancer for women younger than 30 years with Cytology-Lo was 0.01% (1/11,663). CONCLUSIONS At colposcopy, cervical cancer is not excluded by a normal colposcopic examination result, Cytology-Lo, or age younger than 30 years, but is virtually excluded by the combination of age younger than 30 years and Cytology-Lo.
Appendix 5—Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Vascular and Interventional Radiology

This section provides helpful, easily accessible supplemental reading materials, tables, and forms on a variety of subjects such as history, physical exam, preprocedural coagulation parameters, antithrombotic medications, procedural risk for bleeding, antibiotic prophylaxis, and preprocedural and immediate documentation and notes.
Decreased leftward 'aiming' motor-intentional spatial cuing in traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the mediation of attention and action in space following traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHOD: Two exploratory analyses were performed to determine the influence of spatial 'Aiming' motor versus spatial 'Where' bias on line bisection in TBI participants. The first experiment compared performance according to severity and location of injury in TBI. The second experiment examined bisection performance in a larger TBI sample against a matched control group. In both experiments, participants bisected lines in near and far space using an apparatus that allowed for the fractionation of spatial Aiming versus Where error components. RESULTS: In the first experiment, participants with severe injuries tended to incur rightward error when starting from the right in far space, compared with participants with mild injuries. In the second experiment, when performance was examined at the individual level, more participants with TBI tended to incur rightward motor error compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: TBI may cause frontal-subcortical cognitive dysfunction and asymmetric motor perseveration, affecting spatial Aiming bias on line bisection. Potential effects on real-world function need further investigation. (PsycINFO Database Record(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
T003 How TDCS polarises a highly folded cortex

The highly convoluted surface of human cortex influences current flow and resulting neuromodulation produced by transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). The canonical findings that “anodal”/“cathodal” stimulation excite/inhibit cortex are first explained from the perspective of a smooth cortical surface using concentric spheres modeling and data from animal studies. MRI-derived models with gyri-specific resolution predict that cortical folding produces an oscillating pattern of polarization both under and between electrodes. Data from modern animals studies provides hypotheses for how a mixed cortical polarization pattern none-the-less can produce stimulation polarity specific effects. Network oscillations provide a substrate to “bind” mixed polarization across regions leading to regional specific effects. Non-linear neuronal processing and synaptic plasticity mechanisms support rectification of mixed polarization by tDCS. Consideration of cortical folding thus enriches understanding of tDCS mechanisms and informs how tDCS protocols should be designed.
Modeling count data with generalized distributions

We present motivation and new commands for modeling count data. While our focus is to present new commands for estimating count data, we also discuss generalized binomial regression and present the zero-inflated versions of each model.
Cutaneous Penetration-Enhancing Effect of Menthol: Calcium Involvement.

Abstract Menthol is a naturally occurring terpene used as a penetration enhancer in topical and transdermal formulations. Literature shows a growing interest in menthol’s interactions with the transient receptor potential melastatin 8. A decrease in extracellular Ca2+ due to the activation of the transient receptor potential melastatin 8 receptor produces inhibition of E-cadherin expression that is responsible for cell-cell adhesion. Because calcium is present in the entire epidermis, the purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the aforementioned properties of menthol are also related to its penetration-enhancing effects. We formulated 16 gels: (i) drug-alone (diphenhydramine or lidocaine), (ii) drug with menthol, (iii) drug, menthol, and calcium channel blocker (CCB; verapamil or diltiazem), and (iv) drug and CCB. In vitro studies showed no effect of the CCB on the release of the drugs either with or without menthol. In vivo experiments were performed for each drug/menthol/CCB combination gel by applying 4 formulations on a shaved rabbit’s dorsum on the same day. Dermis concentration profiles were assessed with microdialysis. The gels containing menthol showed higher penetration of drugs than those without whereas the addition of the CCB consistently inhibited the penetration-enhancing effects of menthol. In summary, these findings strongly support the involvement of calcium in the penetration-enhancing effect of menthol.
Analysis of Ethylene Receptors: Ethylene-Binding Assays

Plant ethylene receptors bind ethylene with high affinity. Most of the characterization of ethylene binding to the receptors has been carried out using a radioligand-binding assay on functional receptors expressed in yeast. In this chapter, we describe methods for expressing ethylene receptors in yeast and conducting ethylene-binding assays on intact yeast and yeast membranes. The ethylene-binding assays can be modified to analyze ethylene binding to intact plants and other organisms as well as membranes isolated from any biological source.
Accessory Alpha-Helix of Complexin I Can Displace VAMP2 Locally in the Complexin-Snare Quaternary Complex

The calcium-triggered neurotransmitter release requires three SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) proteins: synaptobrevin 2 (or VAMP2) on the synaptic vesicle and syntaxin 1 and SNAP-25 at the presynaptic plasmas membrane. This minimal fusion machinery is believed to drive fusion of the vesicle to the presynaptic membrane. Complexin, also known as synaphin, is a neuronal cytosolic protein that acts as a major regulator of synaptic vesicle exocytosis. Stimulatory and inhibitory effects of complexin have both been reported, suggesting the duality of its function. To shed light on the molecular basis of the complexin's dual function, we have performed an EPR investigation of the complexin-SNARE quaternary complex. We found that the accessory α-helix (amino acids 27-48) by itself has the capacity to replace the C-terminus of the SNARE motif of VAMP2 in the four-helix bundle and makes the SNARE complex weaker when the N-terminal region of complexin I (amino acids 1-26) is removed. However, the accessory α-helix remains detached from the SNARE core when the N-terminal region of complexin I is present. Thus, our data show the possibility that the balance between the activities of the accessory α-helix and the N-terminal domain might determine the final outcome of the complexin function, either stimulatory or inhibitory.
Aging Decreases Hand Volume Expansion with Water Immersion.

Hands may show early signs of aging with altered skin texture, skin permeability and vascular properties. In clinics, a hand volumeter is used to measure swelling of hands due to edema, carpal tunnel syndrome or drug interventions. The hand volume measurements are generally taken without taking age into consideration. We hypothesized that age affects hand volumeter measurements and that the younger age group (≤40 years) records a greater change in hand volume as compared to the older group (>40 years). Four volumetric measurements were taken at 5 min intervals during 20 min of water immersion using a clinically-approved hand volumeter. After 20 min of immersion, the hand volume changes of the younger age group were significantly higher than the older age group (p 40 years, n = 10) increased by 2.2 ± 2.0%, and the left hand decreased by 0.6 ± 2.4% after 20 min of water immersion. The data are presented as Mean ± SD. Hand volume changes were not correlated with body mass index (BMI) or gender, and furthermore, neither of these two variables affected the relationship between age and hand volume changes with water immersion. We conclude that the younger age group has a higher increase in hand volume with water immersion as compared to the older age group.
Using Kernel Density Estimation to Detect Loss-of-Coolant Accidents in a Pressurized Water Reactor

This paper presents data-driven methods to detect loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs) in the primary side of a pressurized water reactor. Process data for a variety of accident scenarios have been ge...
Abstract WMP91: Worse Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke for Dual-Eligible Medicare-Medicaid Beneficiaries

Background: Medicaid serves as a safety net for low-income Medicare beneficiaries with limited assets. Over 6.7 million Americans aged ≥65y rely on a combination of Medicare and Medicaid to obtain ...
Writing to learn on the wards: scholarly blog posts by medical students and housestaff at a teaching hospital.

Background: Informative writing is a valuable tool for learning and fostering the scientific process. Pearls4Peers (P4P) is an educational open-access website dedicated to scholarly blog posts in h...
An IL-15-based superagonist ALT-803 enhances the NK cell response to cetuximab-treated squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in greater than 90% of patient tumors. Cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to EGFR and can activate immune cells, such as natural killer (NK) cells, that express receptors for the Fc (constant region) of immunoglobulin G. IL-15 (interleukin-15) is a critical factor for the development, proliferation and activation of effector NK cells. A novel IL-15 compound known as ALT-803 that consists of genetically modified IL-15 plus the IL-15 receptor alpha protein (IL15Rα) fused to the Fc portion of IgG1 has recently been developed. We hypothesized that treatment with ALT-803 would increase NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity of cetuximab-coated head and neck squamous cells. CD56+ NK cells from normal healthy donors were treated overnight with ALT-803 and tested for their ability to lyse cetuximab-coated tumor cells. Cytotoxicity was greater following NK cell ALT-803 activation, as compared to controls. ALT-803-treated NK cells secreted significantly higher levels of IFN-γ than control conditions. Additionally, NK cells showed increased levels of phospho-ERK and phospho-STAT5 when co-cultured with cetuximab-coated tumors and ALT-803. Administration of both cetuximab and ALT-803 to mice harboring Cal27 SCCHN tumors resulted in significantly decreased tumor volume when compared to controls and compared to single-agent treatment alone. Overall, the present data suggest that cetuximab treatment in combination with ALT-803 in patients with EGFR-positive SCCHN may result in significant NK cell activation and have important anti-tumor activity.
COVID-19 Consumer Health Information Needs Improvement to Be Readable and Actionable by High-Risk Populations

Health communicators help promote recommended health behaviors by providing accurate, actionable health information that is easy to read and understand. The COVID-19 public health crisis presents a special challenge to clear health communication because the populations most affected by the virus are those at risk for limited health literacy. We collected 28 consumer COVID-19 materials from the internet using popular search engines. We then assessed the materials for readability, understandability, and actionability using validated tools. Aggregate results suggest that the sample of materials was difficult to read and lacked a number of recommended features that promote a readers’ ability to understand and act upon the information. We present these findings, their implications for health equity, and their limitations and then suggest ways to improve future health communication about time-sensitive infectious diseases.
Spectrum Activity Surveillance: Modeling and Analysis from Perspectives of Surveillance Coverage and Culprit Detection

Spectrum activity surveillance (SAS) is essential to dynamic spectrum access (DSA)-enabled systems with a two-fold impact: it is a primitive mechanism to collect usage data for spectrum efficiency improvement; it is also a prime widget to collect misuse forensics of unauthorized or malicious users. While realizing SAS for DSA-enabled systems appears to be intuitive and trivial, it is, however, a challenging yet open problem. On one hand, a large-scale SAS function is costly to implement in practice; on the other hand, it is not clear how to characterize the efficacy and performance of monitor deployment strategies. To address such challenges, we introduce a three-factor space, composed of spectrum, time, and geographic region, over which the SAS problem is formulated by a two-step solution: 3D-tessellation for sweep (monitoring) coverage and graph walk for detecting spectrum culprits, that is, devices responsible for unauthorized spectrum occupancy. In particular, our system model transforms SAS from a globally collective activity to localized (even distributed) actions, and strategy objectives from qualitative attributes to quantitative measures. With this model, we design low-cost deterministic strategies for dedicated monitors, which outperform strategies found by genetic algorithms, and performance-guaranteed random strategies for crowd-source monitors, which can detect adversarial spectrum culprits in bounded time.
Using Participatory Methods to Enhance Youth Engagement in Substance Use Research

Youth engagement in substance use research is critical to the understanding of correlates that lead to detrimental health and social outcomes for adolescents. In addition to the documented challenges related to youth recruitment for substance use research, Latinx youth living on the U.S.-Mexico border may be difficult for researchers to engage in substance use research because they could face retributory harm if they identify their experiences to any entity perceived as an authority (e.g., researchers). Empirical findings that posit viable strategies to engage marginalized youth in substance use research are lacking. Participatory approaches show promise in increasing participation of historically underrepresented youth in research. Building on previously published work on our youth participatory action research mixed-methods study, this article discusses the youth-led participatory approach used to (1) develop and pilot test a culturally, regionally, and linguistically tailored substance use instrument and (2) engage 445 Latinx youth to participate in a cross-sectional study to assess epidemiological patterns of youth substance use on the U.S.-Mexico border. We share lessons learned related to the youth-led instrument design, youth-led recruitment strategy, and assuring participant confidentiality.
The Effect of Super-spreader Events in Epidemics

The spread of infectious epidemics is often accelerated by super-spreader events. Understanding their effect is important, particularly in the context of standard epidemiological models, which require estimates for parameters such as $R_0$. In this letter, we show that the effective value of $R_0$ in super-spreader situations is significantly large, of the order of hundreds, suggesting a delta-function-like behavior during the event. Use of a well-mixed room model supports these findings. They elucidate infection kinetic modeling in enclosed environments, which differ from the standard SIR model, and provide expressions for $R_0$ in terms of physical and operational parameters. The overall impact of super-spreader events can be significant, depending on the state of the epidemic and how the infections generated by the event subsequently spread in the community.
Risk of Venous Thromboembolism Among Patients with Atopic Dermatitis: A Cohort Study in a US Administrative Claims Database.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, the risk of VTE among this population is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of VTE among adults with AD and compare the risk vs. matched non-AD controls. This retrospective study used claims data from the IBM Watson MarketScan® Commercial Claims and Encounters, Medicare Supplemental, and Medicaid databases to identify adults aged 18 years or older with AD. Incidence rates (IR) per 100 person-years (PY) of VTE were reported for three cohorts: overall AD, moderate-to-severe AD, and non-AD controls matched by age, sex, and calendar time to the overall cohort. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for VTE risk. Overall, 198,685 patients with AD were identified. Crude VTE IRs were 0.24 for AD overall, 0.31 for moderate-to-severe AD, and 0.25 for non-AD controls. VTE risk was similar in patients with AD vs. non-AD controls (partially adjusted HR 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92, 1.09). VTE risk was greater in patients with moderate-to-severe AD vs. non-AD controls in partially adjusted models (HR 1.24, 95% CI 1.13, 1.36), but not after adjustment for healthcare use and VTE risk factors (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.85, 1.07). AD was not an independent risk factor for VTE, and the risk of VTE among patients with AD was low. These findings provide valuable context for understanding VTE risk among patients with AD, which is particularly relevant as advanced therapies for the treatment of moderate to severe AD, such as janus kinase inhibitors, become available.
Preface and Introduction: Why Is There a Need for a Book Like This?

As an introductory part, this chapter focuses on the rationale for why there is a need for a text highlighting racial/ethnic LGBTQ PoC heart, brain, and mental health disparities experienced by these communities. In particular, the unique role of intersectional discrimination as a mechanism for these disparities is centered. Terms used throughout the book are defined and the layout/sections of the edited text are explained. Through the unique incorporation of minority stress, intersectionality, and allostatic load frameworks, this timely edited collection presents a holistic and biopsychosocial analysis of LGBTQ PoC well-being, focused on the heart, brain, and psychological health.
High-resolution time-of-flight PET detector with 100 ps coincidence time resolution using a side-coupled phoswich configuration.

Photon time-of-flight (TOF) capability in positron emission tomography (PET) enables reconstructed image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement. With the coincidence time resolution (CTR) of 100 picosecond (ps), a five-fold SNR improvement can be achieved with a 40 cm diameter imaging subject, relative to a system without TOF capability. This 100 ps CTR can be achieved for aclinically relevantdetector design (crystal element length ≥20 mm with reasonably high crystal packing fraction) using a side-readout PET detector configuration that enables 511 keV photon interaction depth-independent light collection efficiency and lower variance in scintillation photon transit time to the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM). In this study, we propose a new concept of TOF-PET detector to achieve high ( 95% accuracy in identifying interactions in the two adjacent 1.9 × 1.9 × 10 mm3crystal elements using the time-over-threshold technique. Based on our results, we can achieve excellent spatial and energy resolution in addition to ∼100 ps CTR with this novel detector design.
FULL-W2V: fully exploiting data reuse for W2V on GPU-accelerated systems

Word2Vec remains one of the highly-impactful innovations in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) that represents latent grammatical and syntactical information in human text with dense vectors in a low dimension. Word2Vec has high computational cost due to the algorithm’s inherent sequentiality, intensive memory accesses, and the large vocabularies it represents. While prior studies have investigated technologies to explore parallelism and improve memory system performance, they struggle to effectively gain throughput on powerful GPUs. We identify memory data access and latency as the primary bottleneck in prior works on GPUs, which prevents highly optimized kernels from attaining the architecture’s peak performance. We present a novel algorithm, FULL-W2V, which maximally exploits the opportunities for data reuse in the W2V algorithm and leverages GPU architecture and resources to reduce access to low memory levels and improve temporal locality. FULL-W2V is capable of reducing accesses to GPU global memory significantly, e.g., by more than 89%, compared to prior state-of-the-art GPU implementations, resulting in significant performance improvement that scales across successive hardware generations. Our prototype implementation achieves 2.97X speedup when ported from Nvidia Pascal P100 to Volta V100 cards, and outperforms the state-of-the-art by 5.72X on V100 cards with the same embedding quality. In-depth analysis indicates that the reduction of memory accesses through register and shared memory caching and high-throughput shared memory reduction leads to a significantly improved arithmetic intensity. FULL-W2V can potentially benefit many applications in NLP and other domains.