cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SU-G-BRB-12: Polarity Effects in Small Volume Ionization Chambers in Small Fields

Purpose: Dosimetric quantities such as the polarity correction factor (Ppol) are important parameters for determining the absorbed dose and can influence the choice of dosimeter. Ppol has been shown to depend on beam energy, chamber design, and field size. This study is to investigate the field size and detector orientation dependence of Ppol in small fields for several commercially available micro-chambers. Methods: We evaluate the Exradin A26, Exradin A16, PTW 31014, PTW 31016, and two prototype IBA CC-01 micro-chambers in both horizontal and vertical orientations. Measurements were taken at 10cm depth and 100cm SSD in a Wellhofer BluePhantom2. Measurements were made at square fields of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 2.0, 2.4, 3.0, and 5.0 cm on each side using 6MV with both ± 300VDC biases. PPol was evaluated as described in TG-51, reported using −300VDC bias for Mraw. Ratios of PPol measured in the clinical field to the reference field are presented. Results: A field size dependence of Ppol was observed for all chambers, with increased variations when mounted vertically. The maximum variation observed in PPol over all chambers mounted horizontally was <1%, and occurred at different field sizes for different chambers. Vertically mounted chambers demonstrated variations as large as 3.2%, always at the smallest field sizes. Conclusion: Large variations in Ppol were observed for vertically mounted chambers compared to horizontal mountings. Horizontal mountings demonstrated a complicated relationship between polarity variation and field size, probably relating to differing details in each chambers construction. Vertically mounted chambers consistently demonstrated the largest PPol variations for the smallest field sizes. Measurements obtained with a horizontal mounting appear to not need significant polarity corrections for relative measurements, while those obtained using a vertical mounting should be corrected for variations in PPol.
Elements of Effective Interventions for Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in Latina Women: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence remains a global problem and is of particular concern in Latina diasporas. AIM: To identify effective elements of interventions to address intimate partner violence in Latina women. METHOD: The systematic review was undertaken according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We focused the search on intervention studies assessing intimate partner violence as an outcome measure and on publications in English and Spanish from the last 11 years (2004-2015). RESULTS: Despite the scope of the problem, from the 1,274 studies screened only four met the search criteria and only a single study included an exclusive Latino population. Of the four interventions, one was only as effective as the control treatment. Heterogeneity of study populations and designs prohibited meta-analytic methods. CONCLUSIONS: Theoretically derived interventions that are gender specific, culturally appropriate, target mutual aid through group dynamics, and that are developed collaboratively with the target population are likely to be most effective. Language: en
Review: In renal failure, direct oral anticoagulants reduce risk for hemorrhagic stroke compared with VKAs

Source Citation Raccah BH, Perlman A, Danenberg HD, et al. Major bleeding and hemorrhagic stroke with direct oral anticoagulants in patients with renal failure: systematic review and meta-analysis ...
Protection costs of a fully connected IP core network over a WDM ring

Protection costs, optical and electronic, for a fully connected IP core network over a WDM ring network are compared under two implementations of IP Fast Reroute. The particular IP core network considered has its routers paired, and client routers are dual homed to the pairs. The IPFRR schemes are also compared with MPLS Fast Reroute.
Transcription Pausing Regulates Hematopoietic Stem Cell Emergence through Fine-Tuning of Signaling Pathways

Abstract Regulation of RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-mediated gene transcription is a fundamental mechanism to control cell fate during developmental organogenesis, including the emergence of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in vertebrate embryos. Increasing evidences in recent years have demonstrated that transcriptionally engaged Pol II often pauses shortly after initiation by pausing factors such as DSIF and NELF, and requires positive elongation factors such as P-TEFb for pause release. How this pause-to-elongation transition contributes to HSC development is largely unknown. In a zebrafish spt5 mutant, we detected a dramatic loss of HSCs in early embryos. Spt5 is a key subunit of DSIF, which plays a dual role in both Pol II pausing and elongation. The mutation of the zebrafish spt5 mutant has been reported to specifically disrupt the pausing function of DSIF. Similarly, reduction of HSCs was also detected in embryos lacking the other pausing factor NELF. Consistent with the loss-of-pausing in Spt5- and NELF-deficient embryos, we found that the HSC defect could be rescued by inhibiting Pol II pause-to-elongation transition with either P-TEFb inhibitors or knockdown of the P-TEFb subunit cdk9. Intriguingly, we identified that two essential signaling pathways involved in HSC development, the TGFβ signaling pathway and the JAK-STAT mediated proinflammation pathway, were oppositely regulated by Pol II pausing. In spt5 mutant embryos, the TGFβ signaling pathway is upregulated with an enhanced transcription elongation at several TGFβ signaling regulators, as revealed by Pol II ChIP assays; whereas the transcription of multiple genes involved in proinflammation signaling pathways, especially the genes regulating the interferon signaling, are downregulated. Pol II ChIP and nucleosome mapping studies revealed an increase of nucleosome occupancy at the promoters of proinflammation genes, leading to attenuated transcription initiation. These results suggest that paused Pol II can compete with nucleosomes for occupancy on some promoters to maintain accessible chromatin thus the basal transcription level of these genes. Consistent with the change of signaling activity, the HSC defect in mutant embryos could be effectively rescued by TGFβ inhibitors or by activation of JAK-STAT, the downstream effector of IFNγ signaling. Thus Pol II pausing affects HSC emergence through differentially regulating the transcription of distinct signaling regulators: while they negatively regulate the HSC inhibitory signaling (such as TGFβ) by preventing premature transcription elongation, they are also required to maintain the basal transcription of HSC-promoting signaling (such as the inflammation signaling) by preventing promoter nucleosome reassembly. In summary, our study suggests that Pol II pausing/elongation regulators and developmental signals converge at the paused Pol II to regulate HSC emergence in vertebrate embryos. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Losing Your Children: The Failure to Extend Civil Rights Protections to Transgender Parents

No widely accepted legal rule governs how courts adjudicate claims made by transgender parents for custody of, and visitation with, their children. The result is a patchwork of rules, none of which guarantees these parents nondiscriminatory consideration of their claims for custody and visitation. To correct this inequitable treatment, courts should apply the intermediate scrutiny test of the Equal Protection Clause to prevent discrimination when making such decisions. This Note will first explore the current per se and nexus approaches used by courts to adjudicate custody and visitation claims by transgender parents. Next, the Note will survey the current legal status of transgender persons under the law. Finally, the recent legal recognition of the group’s minority status and numerous parallels to laws protecting persons on the basis of sex, will be applied to the case of custody and visitation decisions. This Note will demonstrate that the intermediate scrutiny test of the Equal Protection Clause is the most appropriate standard for appellate courts to use when considering the relevance of a parent’s gender identity in such cases.
Shock Response of Composite Materials Subjected to Aggressive Marine Environments

The marine community has an interest in using composite materials for the construction of vehicles and other marine structures. The use of composite materials is appealing due to their abilities in keeping naval vehicles in stealth. These structures are subjected to aggressive marine environments during their service life, such as high salinity water and ultraviolet radiation that can degrade their performance over time. These effects are of particular concern when composite vehicles are subjected to shock and blast loading. Therefore, there is a need to investigate how composite materials that have been exposed to marine environments respond to shock events, and how these responses differ from an equivalently loaded virgin structure. An experimental investigation was conducted to understand the mechanical response of carbon/epoxy composites subjected to long-term exposure of aggressive marine environments. In order to simulate marine environments, an elevated temperature, salt water solution was created. The material was submerged in a 3.5%, 65°C salt solution for 0, 30 and 60 days. The temperature was maintained at 65°C to accelerate diffusion of water into the epoxy, thus accelerating the weathering process. Accelerated weathering simulates years of actual service life in short time. The specimens were then subjected to a controlled and concentrated air blast loading using a shock tube. High speed photography coupled with 3D DIC is utilized to provide full field displacements, strain, and velocities of shock tube specimens during in air shock loading. The specimens for all of the weathering cases recovered elastically after the shock event. The large difference in displacements between the non-weathered and weathered specimens is due to the degradation of the material from water absorption. This confirms that submergence in extreme marine environments degrades the material and diminishes the material properties.
Motion Biomarkers for Early Detection of Dementia-Related Agitation

Agitation in dementia poses a major health risk for both the patients and their caregivers and induces a huge caregiving burden. Early detection of agitation can facilitate timely intervention and prevent escalation of critical episodes. Sensing behavioral patterns for detecting health critical events is a challenging task. Wearable sensors are often employed for sensing physiological signals, but extracting possible biomarkers for confident detection of early agitation is still an open research. In this paper, we employ an ongoing iterative study to explore the motion biomarkers related to agitation in community-dwelling persons with dementia (PWD). This study uses accelerometers in smart watches to capture PWD behavioral patterns unobtrusively. Analysis of the feature space is performed using data from multiple subjects to discriminate among epochs of onset, preset, and offset of agitation while considering inter-person variability in real deployments. This paper shows the prospect of feature space analysis of the motion data for developing early agitation detection models to deploy in the wild.
Characterization and Control of a Pneumatic Motor for MR-Conditional Robotic Applications

Magnetic resonance (MR)-guided interventional robots have recently been developed for a variety of surgeries, such as biopsy, ablation, and brachytherapy. The actuators and encoders that power and track such robots must be MR conditional. In this paper, we propose an MR-conditional pneumatic motor with an integrated and custom-built fiber-optical encoder that provides powerful and accurate actuation. The motor is coupled with a modular plastic gearbox that provides a variety of gear ratio options so that the motor can be adapted to application requirements. With a 100:1 gear reduction at 0.55 MPa, the motor achieves 460 mN⋅m stall torque and 370 r/min no-load speed, which leads to the peak output power of 6 W. The motor has the bandwidth of approximately 1.1 and 3.5 Hz when connected to 8 and 0.2 m air hoses, respectively. The motor was tested in a 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. No image artifact was observed and maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) variation was less than 5%. Different from most of the existing MR-conditional pneumatic actuators, the proposed motor shape is more like the traditional electric motors, which offers more flexibility in the MR-conditional robot design.
Metrics for Medical Journals

It has been said that, other than professional athletes, academicians are the only group that places great value on metrics. This is certainly true of most aspects of academic medicine, and especia...
Bromocriptine therapy in normoprolactinemic women with unexplained infertility and galactorrhea

Forty-three women with unexplained infertility and 16 women who ovulated with clomiphene citrate therapy, yet failed to conceive, were evaluated because of the presence of expressible galactorrhea and normal random prolactin levels. The overall mean duration of infertility for these women was 5.68 +/- 0.33 years (mean +/- standard error) and their mean age was 30.20 +/- 0.46 years. Fifty-two of these women had primary infertility. Three treatment protocols were evaluated. Twenty-five women with unexplained infertility (Group A) received low-dose bromocriptine (1.25 to 2.5 mg) at bedtime for the first 18 days of the cycle; 18 women with unexplained infertility (group B) received 100 mg of pyridoxine continuously; and 16 women receiving clomiphene citrate (group C) also received bromocriptine in a manner similar to that for group A. All subjects were followed for six treatment cycles or until pregnancy occurred. The estimated cumulative pregnancy rate after six treatment cycles was 65% for groups A and C, which is significantly higher than the 22% rate for group B (Lee-Desu statistic = 4.66, P = 0.03). Women treated with bromocriptine were 2.3 times more likely to conceive than women treated with pyridoxine. Furthermore, those infertile galactorrheic women whose random prolactin level was greater than or equal to 15 ng/ml were most likely to conceive. Expressible galactorrhea in women with unexplained infertility and high normal prolactin concentrations may serve as a clinical sign indicating those women who may benefit from low-dose bromocriptine treatment administered at bedtime.
CRT-100.16 Impact of Chronic Kidney Disease on Length of Hospital Stay and Cost Among Patients Admitted with Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Nationwide Inpatient Sample 2012-2014

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common comorbidity among patients with coronary artery disease. The objective of this study is to assess length of stay and hospitalization cost among patients with CKD admitted for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). A nationwide inpatient sample database
The DoD Encounters the Blogosphere

Social computing is exploding and the imagination of the Department of Defense is overflowing with ways to exploit this brave new world. Do jihadists have Facebooks? Can “we” (the good guys) use our technological genius to discover and surveil “them” (the bad guys) as they express themselves and seek to find an audience in blogs, forums, and other social media? Can “we” find the bad guys? This electronic spygame excites some, while other reject it as unworkable, undoable, and maybe not even desirable. Certainly the question of who “we” are is problematic.
The Galaxy Luminosity Function at Redshift Zero: Constraints on Galaxy Formation

The luminosity function (LF) of low-redshift galaxies is a primary benchmark for models of galaxy formation. The detailed shape of the LF reflects a host of physical processes ranging from the collapse of dark-matter halos to the complex cycle of gas cooling, star formation, and feedback into the interstellar medium. Additional observables such as morphology, color, and emission-line strength provide similar but independent constraints on the input physics. Along with dynamical measures of galaxy masses, the LF and its dependence on morphology, color and emission-line strength anchor the theory of galaxy formation at redshift zero.
The Anomaloscope Plate Test: A New Color Vision Test for Screening Congenital Red-Green Defects

Pseudo-isochromatic plate tests provide an easy to use, rapid method for discriminating people with red-green color vision deficiencies from those who have normal color vision. With the exception of the out-of-print AO-HRR plates, pseudo-isochromatic plates do not provide a diagnosis of the red-green anomaly. For diagnosis of color vision defects, an anomaloscope is preferred. However, the anomaloscope is not well-suited for vision screening because a trained operator and a relatively sophisticated, trained subject are required to obtain accurate results. Although simple to administer and to perform, pseudo-isochromatic plate tests suffer deficiencies when used for vision screening. These deficiencies include the need for a standardized source of illumination and wear and fading associated with repeated handling by test subjects. In response to the need for a rapid, easily administered, durable, but accurate diagnostic color vision screening test, we have developed the anomaloscope plate test (APT) for screening red-green color vision deficiencies. This test, which utilizes the principle of the Nagel anomaloscope, presents images in a pseudo-isochromatic plate format. In this manner, a test which has diagnostic capabilities is combined with ease of use on young and untrained subjects.
Crystal growth and characterization of selected high-performance scintillators for national security applications (Conference Presentation)

Scintillators are important materials for radiation detection applications such as homeland security, geological exploration, and medical imaging. Scintillators for nuclear nonproliferation applications in particular must have excellent energy resolution in order to distinguish the gamma-ray signatures of potentially dangerous radioactive sources, such as highly enriched uranium or plutonium, from non-threat radioactive sources such as radioactive tracers used in medical imaging. There is an established need for scintillators with energy resolution in the 1-2% range at 662 keV. However, there are challenges surrounding the development of this new generation of high light yield/high resolution scintillators; for example, the high cost of production due to low crystal yield and slow growth process, and crystal inhomogeneity. We will discuss efforts focused on developing recently discovered high performance scintillators K(Sr,Ba)2I5:Eu, Cs4(Ca,Sr)I6:Eu and Cs2Hf(Cl,Br)6 that have potential for meeting nuclear security needs. Growth parameters for these materials have been optimized, allowing the growth of excellent quality single crystals measuring up to one-inch in diameter via the vertical Bridgman technique at translation rates between 1 and 5 mm/h. These scintillators materials have excellent properties with light yields between 30,000 and 120,000 ph/MeV, and energy resolutions between 2.3 and 4.6% at 662 keV.
Awakened Hatred and Heightened Fears: “The Trump Effect” on the Lives of Mixed-Status Families:

The rise of the Trump regime has sparked xenophobic sentiments directed toward and heightened fears experienced by mixed-status immigrant families living in the United States. Using the Southern Po...
Evaluating Collaborative Readiness for Interdisciplinary Flood Research

Increasing trends in global flood risk are driven by a complex web of interactions among natural, built environment, and social systems. As a result, flood resilience research is an ideal topic for an interdisciplinary approach. Core characteristics of interdisciplinary research are team collaboration and the systematic integration of disciplinary knowledge, in both problem formulation and analytical methods. Indicators of interdisciplinarity tend to focus on scholarly outcomes, but collaborative processes may be even more important for knowledge integration. In this Perspective piece, we outline and advocate a two-pronged approach to enhance potential for integrating knowledge: using collaborative proximity to assess team readiness to conduct interdisciplinary research and employing program evaluation to assess change in proximity components over time. To do so, we draw on scholarship in economic geography, team science, and program evaluation. We then connect the findings to a case study of collaboration within our interdisciplinary team of flood researchers, program evaluators, and local stakeholders, as we navigate a multi-institutional project on flood resilience.
Can digital breast tomosynthesis accurately predict whether circumscribed masses are benign or malignant in a screening population

Aim To evaluate whether digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) can predict if circumscribed masses are benign or malignant by assessing margin sharpness. Materials and methods Circumscribed masses were evaluated on co-registered two-dimensional digital mammography (2DDM) and DBT. Lesions were categorised as follows: category 1=visible sharp border 0–25% of the total margin; category 2 = 26–50% category 3= 51–75%, and category 4=76–100%. Changes in category between 2DDM and DBT were analysed; if the category was lower on DBT the change was negative, if higher the change was positive. Results Of 759 lesions, 121 masses classified as circumscribed on DBT were included; 25 were malignant and 96 benign. Of the benign lesions, 8/96 were within category 3 or 4 on 2DDM compared with 48/96 benign lesions within category 3 or 4 on DBT (Fisher's exact test p Conclusion The present study demonstrates 97% accuracy in predicting circumscribed lesions as benign when using positive category change and 94% accuracy when >50% of the margin is sharply defined on DBT.
Symbiosis: Fungi as Shrewd Trade Negotiators

Symbiotic fungi associated with plant roots can shuttle a key nutrient through their hyphal network in response to resource inequality. This need-based transport optimizes trade conditions for carbon with plants.
Partnerships and production: Agriculture and polygyny in Tanzanian households

Women make important contributions to household food production in sub‐Saharan Africa. Women's agricultural productivity is often reduced, however, by inefficient intrahousehold allocation of agricultural resources. Complex marital structures found in polygynous households may complicate resource allocation. Using three waves of the Tanzania Living Standards Measurement Survey–Integrated Survey on Agriculture, we measure the effect of the marital structure, wife position, and plot management on agricultural productivity and input allocations. We find evidence of cooperation within polygynous households. Plots managed by husbands and wives in polygynous households produce more valuable crops, have higher yields, and are more likely to use fertilizer than their monogamous counterparts. Within polygynous households, we observe that plots jointly managed by husbands, first wives, and second wives (together) have significantly more family labor than plots managed by husbands and first wives. This result may provide evidence of different production technologies across plot managers within the same households.
Rising Prices and Irregular Wages

This chapter examines the experiences of price liberalization and wage arrears in Russia in the early 1990s. The narratives provided by the women interviewed treat these two challenges very differently: detailed descriptions of price increases contrast with a tendency to deny any personal experience with wage arrears. The women’s denial of having experienced wage arrears was accompanied by statements about their personal frugality and ability to avoid serious financial difficulties, suggesting that they believed an admission of having suffered from delayed wages would have implied that they were not valued as employees. Price increases, in contrast, were clearly not tied to individuals and thus could be acknowledged freely. Leonid Brezhnev, who became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1964 and remained in that post until his death in 1982, oversaw significant improvement in the economic well-being of Soviet citizens. It was during his years that Soviet households, at least those in the cities, finally acquired refrigerators, televisions, vacuum cleaners and washing machines, that per capita consumption of services grew rapidly and that the shared bathroom and kitchen of the communal apartment became for most of the population a (not very distant) memory. And yet by the end of his time in office, as the growth rate of the economy slowed significantly and wage growth outpaced productivity growth, the standard of living still lagged far behind that in the major Western industrialized countries.
Design of a containment apparatus for synchrotron XAS measurements of radioactive fluid samples under high temperatures and pressures

The simple working principles and versatility of the hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell (HDAC) make it highly useful for synchrotron x-ray studies of aqueous and fluid samples at high pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions. However, safety concerns need to be overcome in order to use the HDAC for synchrotron studies of aqueous radioactive samples at high temperatures and pressures. For accomplishment of such hydrothermal experiments of radioactive materials at synchrotron beamlines, the samples are required to be enclosed in a containment system employing three independent layers of airtight sealing at some synchrotron facilities while enabling access to the sample using several experimental probes, including incoming and outgoing x-rays. In this article, we report the design and implementation of a complete radiological safety enclosure system for an HDAC specialized for high P-T x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements of aqueous solutions containing the actinides at synchrotron beamlines. The enclosure system was successfully tested for XAS experiments using the HDAC with aqueous samples containing depleted uranium at temperatures ranging from 25 to 500 °C and pressures ranging from vapor pressure to 350 MPa.
A Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Selinexor in Combination with Decitabine in Patients with Newly Diagnosed and Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract Introduction: Exportin-1 (XPO1), a nuclear transport protein critical for the export of tumor suppressor proteins (TSPs) and select mRNAs to the cytoplasm, is highly expressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and correlates with poor survival. Selinexor, an oral, first-in-class, selective inhibitor of nuclear export, blocks XPO1 function. We previously reported that sequential treatment of AML blasts using the hypomethylating agent decitabine followed by selinexor exhibited strong anti-leukemic effects in vivo by inducing the expression of silenced TSPs that are kept in the nucleus by XPO1 inhibition (Ranganathan, Blood 2015). Methods: Based on these findings, a phase I dose-escalation study was initiated to evaluate the safety, feasibility, maximum tolerated dose (MTD), recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D), and preliminary clinical activity of selinexor in combination with decitabine in poor-risk AML pts (NCT02093403). Adults with relapsed or refractory (R/R) AML and older (age ≥60) unfit pts with untreated AML were eligible. Pts received 10-day decitabine induction(s) at 20mg/m2 on days 1-10 for up to four 28-day cycles in combination with selinexor once daily, twice weekly beginning on day 11. Pts with Results: Twenty-four pts were enrolled (see Table 1 for baseline pt characteristics). Nineteen pts had R/R AML (median of 3 prior chemotherapy regimens, range 1-4); five pts had previously untreated AML. Seventeen pts were treated on the dose escalation phase receiving selinexor doses ranging from 23mg/m2 to 55mg/m2. After two patients in DL 1 declined continuation of study therapy beyond cycle 1 due to grade Conclusions: The combination of selinexor plus decitabine is an active regimen in poor-risk AML pts, with CR/CRi/mCR rate of 80% in older untreated and 21% in R/R AML pts. Modification of selinexor exposure (flat dose of 60mg given twice weekly for 2 weeks after decitabine) improved tolerability of the regimen. Correlative studies, including targeted mutation analysis to assess whether specific mutations are associated with response, are ongoing and will be presented. Download : Download high-res image (198KB) Download : Download full-size image Download : Download high-res image (69KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures Bhatnagar: Karyopharm: Research Funding.
Outcome after Frontline Therapy with the Modified Hyper-CVAD Regimen with or without Rituximab for De Novo Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) or Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (LL).

The hyper-CVAD regimen is an effective frontline program for de novo adult ALL and LL [Kantarjian, JCO 18:547, 2000; Kantarjian, Cancer 101:2788, 2004, Thomas, Blood 104:1624, 2004]. Intensive chemotherapy with hyper-CVAD (fractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine [VCR], doxorubicin, dexamethasone) alternates with high dose methotrexate and cytarabine every 21 days for 8 courses, followed by maintenance with POMP (6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate, VCR, prednisone). Historical CR rate was 92% with 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate of 38%. The regimen was modified in 1999 to address the following: 1. higher induction mortality in patients (pts) aged 60 years or older (17% vs 3%); 2. possible benefit of early anthracycline intensification; 3. worse survival with CD20 expression [Thomas D, Blood, e-pub]; and 4. late relapses after completion of POMP therapy. | | Hyper-CVAD | Modified Hyper-CVAD | |:----------------------------:| ------------ | -------------------- | | Laminar air flow rooms | No | For age ≥60 yrs | | Dose-intensive anthracycline | No | C2 lipo DNR & ara-C | | Rituximab | No | For CD20 ≥20% | | Intrathecal CNS prophylaxis | 4, 8 (16 BL) | 6, 8 (16 BL) | | POMP maintenance | 24 mos | 30 months | | Intensifications | Months 7, 11 | Months 6, 7 & 18, 19 | Newly diagnosed or primary refractory (1 course only) pts with ALL (n=184) or LL (n=27) were treated on two sequential studies. Burkitt-type leukemia/lymphoma (BLL) and Philadelphia positive ALL were treated on alternative protocols. From May 2000 to December 2001, 69 pts were treated with the modified regimen as detailed above (9 courses of intensive chemotherapy). Course 2 was then eliminated from the regimen (8 courses of intensive chemotherapy), with an additional 145 pts treated to date. Median age was 40 yrs (range 15–83). CD20 expression was noted in 40%. Overall CR rate of the group (n=211) was 90%; 4 pts achieved PR, five failed to respond, and 3 died during the induction phase. After a median follow-up of 42 months (range, 2–80), outcome appeared favorable for the younger group (30 yrs or less) with 3-year remission duration (CRD) and survival (OS) rates of 70% and 80%. In the CD20 positive precursor B-cell ALL subset (n=88), rituximab improved outcome compared to historical experience, with 3-yr CRD rates (68% vs 28%, p <.001) and OS rates (65% vs 35%, p =.01) approaching those of the CD20 negative counterparts. In contrast to the Burkitt experience, rituximab was not beneficial for the elderly subgroup (OS rates 48% vs 35%, p NS). Anthracycline intensification appeared to worsen outcome. Rituximab appears to benefit the younger pts with CD20 positive precursor B-cell ALL. Incorporation of rituximab and other monoclonal antibodies (e.g., ofatumumab, epratuzumab) into frontline chemotherapy regimens should be investigated systematically.
The Future of Public Libraries as Convivial Spaces: A Design Fiction

The proliferation of information and communication technologies (ICT) along with pressures of global capitalism has called in to question the role of public libraries in the future. At the same time, communities continue to rely on public libraries for social and civic functions. In this paper, the authors use research through design (RTD) and design fiction methods to explore alternative conceptions of public libraries and the role of ICTs in them The authors propose a design fiction in the form of a call for grant proposals issued by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The design fiction focuses on the concept of conviviality to propose future design spaces for new kinds of interactions between library patrons and the world around them.
Re-Identification of the Many-World Background of Special Relativity as Four-World Background. Part I.

The pair of co-existing symmetrical universes, referred to as our (or positive) universe and negative universe, isolated and shown to constitute a two-world background for the special theory of relativity (SR) in previous papers, encompasses another pair of symmetrical universes, referred to as positive time-universe and negative time-universe. The Euclidean 3-spaces (in the context of SR) of the positive time-universe and the negative time-universe constitute the time dimensions of our (or positive) universe and the negative universe respectively, relative to observers in the Euclidean 3-spaces of our universe and the negative universe and the Euclidean 3-spaces of our universe and the negative universe constitute the time dimensions of the positive time-universe and the negative time-universe respectively, relative to observers in the Euclidean 3-spaces of the positive time-universe and the negative time-universe. Thus time is a secondary concept derived from the concept of space according to this paper. The one-dimensional particle or object in time dimension to every three-dimensional particle or object in 3space in our universe is a three-dimensional particle or object in 3-space in the positive time-universe. Perfect symmetry of natural laws is established among the resulting four universes and two outstanding issues about the new spacetime/intrinsic spacetime geometrical representation of Lorentz transformation/intrinsic Lorentz transformation in the two-world picture, developed in the previous papers, are resolved within the larger four-world picture in this first part of this paper.
A comprehensive influenza reporter virus panel for high-throughput deep profiling of neutralizing antibodies

A number of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) to influenza virus have been isolated, characterized and developed as potential countermeasures for seasonal influenza epidemic and pandemic. Deep characterization of these bnAbs and polyclonal sera is critical to our understanding of influenza immunity and for desgining universal influenza vaccines. However, conventional influenza virus neutralization assays with live viruses require high-containment laboratories and are difficult to standardize and roboticize. Here, we built a panel of engineered influenza viruses carrying a fluorescent reporter gene to replace an essential viral gene. This restricts virus replication to cells expressing the missing viral gene in trans, allowing it to be manipulated in a biosafety level 2 environment. Using this system, we characterize the neutralization profile of a set of published and new bnAbs with a panel consisting of 55 viruses that spans the near complete antigenic evolution of human H1N1 and H3N2 viruses, as well as pandemic viruses such as H5N1 and H7N9. Our system opens opportunities to systematically characterize influenza immunity in greater depth, including the response directed at the viral hemagglutinin stem, a major target of universal influenza vaccines.
162 Collegiate coaches’ beliefs about concussion safety, culture of concussion on campus, and their role in concussion management

Statement of Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs of NCAA coaches across Divisions I, II, & III about their role in concussion management, perspectives about the culture of concussion on their campuses, and their thoughts on concussion safety. Methods/Approach As part of a larger survey, open-ended questions were included to explore coaches’ attitudes and perceptions of their role in concussion management, the culture of concussion on their team and campus, reporting behaviors of athletes, and overall thoughts on concussion. Colleges from all three divisions of the NCAA were randomly selected based on the proportions represented (31% DI, 27% DII, 41% DIII). Coach and assistant coach emails from selected colleges of contact/collision or limited contact sports were sent a link to the survey. Qualitative data was analyzed using a phenomenological, inductive approach. Results Thematic analysis suggests that coaches believe their role was one of supporting the Athletic Trainers and healthcare professionals as well as coaching to instruct and enforce safety. They also indicated that concussion are serious although some indicated concussions are overly-hyped. Coaches indicated that reporting behavior is mixed with some suggesting that athletes report and others indicating that athletes do not report or underreport. Coaches provided reasons they thought athletes may under or over report as well. They also indicated that concussions are serious but better diagnostic assessments are needed and return to play protocols are too long. Conclusion Overall, our findings suggest that coaches report cautious attitudes towards concussion, but there are areas for improvement. Significance and Contributions to Injury and Violence Prevention Science Exploring the culture of concussion from the perspective of coaches contributes to the socio-ecological framework to more fully understand the larger context in which student-athletes are reporting concussions and provides an understanding of how to target future education.
Coronary Artery Ectasia: A Case Report Discussing the Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment

The localized or diffused dilation of a coronary artery lumen is referred to as coronary artery ectasia (CAE). Though it is well recognized, CAE is a rare finding that is encountered in the diagnostic procedure of coronary angiography. This form of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) can be found in 1.4-4.9% of all coronary angiography patients. CAE can manifest in combination with stenotic lesions or present as an isolated condition. Its risk factors are similar to those of atherosclerosis. The underlying pathophysiology involves a vascular remodeling response to atherosclerosis. Enzymatic degradation by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and accumulation of lipoproteins play an important role in the remodeling process. CAE can be diagnosed with the help of imaging modalities such as coronary CT angiogram (CTA) and coronary magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA); coronary angiography is considered the gold standard procedure. The management strategies include treating the cardiovascular risk factors, prevention of thromboembolic events, and percutaneous/vascular revascularization. CAE can be managed medically, but percutaneous/surgical revascularization [coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)] is an option to treat patients with co-existing symptomatic obstructive lesion refractory to medical treatment. Further trials are required to optimize the management guidelines related to CAE. In this report, we describe the case of a 42-year-old man with a past medical history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and asthma who presented with shortness of breath and minimally elevated troponin level. Coronary angiography revealed three vessels with ectasia and severe left ventricular dysfunction on ventriculography.
The Study of Knitting Techniques and Structural Property of 3D Weft-Knitted Space Fabric from Glass Fiber

In the paper, are discussed the main dynamic property and structure of the membrane after adding glutaraldehyde or polyethylene glycol to the aqueous solution of sericin during making sericin membrane. a more complete and hard-melt sericin with good dynamic property was prepared by adding polyethylene glycol. The main structure of sericin membrane is amorphous with few crystals.
Bayesian variable selection for the Cox regression model with spatially varying coefficients with applications to Louisiana respiratory cancer data.

The Cox regression model is a commonly used model in survival analysis. In public health studies, clinical data are often collected from medical service providers of different locations. There are large geographical variations in the covariate effects on survival rates from particular diseases. In this paper, we focus on the variable selection issue for the Cox regression model with spatially varying coefficients. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical model which incorporates a horseshoe prior for sparsity and a point mass mixture prior to determine whether a regression coefficient is spatially varying. An efficient two-stage computational method is used for posterior inference and variable selection. It essentially applies the existing method for maximizing the partial likelihood for the Cox model by site independently first and then applying an Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for variable selection based on results of the first stage. Extensive simulation studies are carried out to examine the empirical performance of the proposed method. Finally, we apply the proposed methodology to analyzing a real dataset on respiratory cancer in Louisiana from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program.
High genetic barrier to escape from human polyclonal SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies

The number and variability of the neutralizing epitopes targeted by polyclonal antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 convalescent and vaccinated individuals are key determinants of neutralization breadth and, consequently, the genetic barrier to viral escape. Using chimeric viruses and antibody-selected viral mutants, we show that multiple neutralizing epitopes, within and outside the viral receptor binding domain (RBD), are variably targeted by polyclonal plasma antibodies and coincide with sequences that are enriched for diversity in natural SARS-CoV-2 populations. By combining plasma-selected spike substitutions, we generated synthetic ‘polymutant’ spike proteins that resisted polyclonal antibody neutralization to a similar degree as currently circulating variants of concern (VOC). Importantly, by aggregating VOC-associated and plasma-selected spike substitutions into a single polymutant spike protein, we show that 20 naturally occurring mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike are sufficient to confer near-complete resistance to the polyclonal neutralizing antibodies generated by convalescents and mRNA vaccine recipients. Strikingly however, plasma from individuals who had been infected and subsequently received mRNA vaccination, neutralized this highly resistant SARS-CoV-2 polymutant, and also neutralized diverse sarbecoviruses. Thus, optimally elicited human polyclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 should be resilient to substantial future SARS-CoV-2 variation and may confer protection against future sarbecovirus pandemics.
A Process to Identify and Address Barriers to Providing Financial Capability Programming to Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Financial dependence on an abusive partner is a threat to long-term safety for survivors of interpersonal violence. This study piloted a process to identify and address barriers to implementation o...
Characterization and Prognosis of Temozolomide-Induced Aplastic Anemia in Patients with Central Nervous System Malignancies.

BACKGROUND Temozolomide-induced aplastic anemia (TIAA) is a rare but highly challenging complication of temozolomide (TMZ) therapy. Evidence describing prognosis, clinical characteristics, and treatment of this entity is very limited. METHODS We performed a multicenter, 22-year observational cohort study of patients with central nervous system (CNS) malignancies treated with temozolomide who developed TIAA, retrospectively analyzing prognosis, complications, and recovery. TIAA was defined using adapted evidence-based severe aplastic anemia criteria incorporating profound cytopenias and a minimum duration (4 weeks) without hematologic recovery. RESULTS Of 3,821 patients with CNS malignancies receiving TMZ, 34 patients (0.89%) met criteria for TIAA. Onset was rapid, with 29 patients (85.3%) developing TIAA before completing a second TMZ cycle. 23 patients (67.6%) ultimately achieved a hematologic recovery. Patients without recovery were more likely to develop febrile neutropenia (72.7% vs. 30.4%, P=0.03), infectious complications (45.5% vs. 8.7%, P=0.02), require hospitalization (81.8% vs. 43.5%, P=0.04), and die (100.0% vs. 60.9%, P=0.02). Median overall survival from TIAA diagnosis was 752 days in patients achieving a partial hematologic recovery versus 28 days in those who did not (P<0.0001). 29 patients (85.3%) received one or more hematopoietic growth factors; hematologic recovery rates were higher in patients receiving thrombopoietin receptor agonists (81.8% vs. 60.9%) but were not higher in patients receiving granulocyte colony stimulating factors. CONCLUSIONS TIAA occurs in <1% of patients receiving TMZ for CNS malignancies, but is highly morbid when it occurs and frequently fatal in the one-third of patients not achieving hematologic recovery. Thrombopoietin receptor agonists may improve the likelihood of a hematologic recovery.
Computers for managing information

Organizations, Systems and the Computer Information Systems and Computer Systems Information Careers in Many Fields Word Processing, Database and Communications Spreadsheets, Graphics and Integrated Special-Purpose Software Systems Software Elements of a Computer System Large Computers for Added Capability Data Communications Networks Designing Systems and Information Centers The Systems Development Cycle Ergonomics - Designing the Environment Computers and the General Public Computers and Your Personal Life Computers, Information, Society and the Future Appendix Glossary Photoessay Credits Index.
Optically processed Seasat radar mosaic of Florida

An uncontrolled mosaic of optically correlated Seasat radar imagery of Florida is presented to illustrate the data and the large area synoptic coverage made possible by combining multiple data sets. The images were taken from a total of 12 passes over 33 days from July 24, 1978 to August 27, 1978. The mosaic is controlled geometrically and with respect to image tone (representing radar backscatter). The SAR data was obtained at an L-band frequency (1.275 GHz, 23.5 cm) and in a horizontal transmit/receive mode, resulting in a 25 m resolution in 100 km swath widths.
Simple Linear Model Provides Highly Accurate Genotypic Predictions of HIV-1 Drug Resistance:

Drug resistance is a major obstacle to the successful treatment of HIV-1 infection. Genotypic assays are used widely to provide indirect evidence of drug resistance, but the performance of these assays has been mixed. We used standard stepwise linear regression to construct drug resistance models for seven protease inhibitors and 10 reverse transcriptase inhibitors using data obtained from the Stanford HIV drug resistance database. We evaluated these models by hold-one-out experiments and by tests on an independent dataset. Our linear model outperformed other publicly available genotypic interpretation algorithms, including decision tree, support vector machine and four rules-based algorithms (HIVdb, VGI, ANRS and Rega) under both tests. Interestingly, our model did well despite the absence of any terms for interactions between different residues in protease or reverse transcriptase. The resulting linear models are easy to understand and can potentially assist in choosing combination therapy regimens.