cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trends in prior receipt of prescription opioid or adjuvant analgesics among patients with incident opioid use disorder or opioid-related overdose from 2006 to 2016.

Abstract Background With increasing efforts to scrutinize and reduce opioid prescribing, limited data exist on the recent trend in receipt of prescription pain medications before diagnosis of opioid use disorder (OUD) or opioid-related overdose (OD). Methods Using 2005–2016 Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims databases, we assessed trends in annual 1) incidence of OUD or OD and 2) prevalence of receipt of prescription opioids or four commonly-prescribed adjuvant analgesics among patients newly diagnosed with OUD/OD. Trends were examined in the overall sample and by 3 age groups, including youths (≤18 years), adults (19–64 years), and older adults (≥65 years). Results The incidence of diagnosed OUD or OD increased more than 3-fold from 4.99 to 23.81 per 10,000 persons from 2006 to 2016, with the highest increase (14.18-fold) seen in older adults, followed by adults (3.53-fold), and youths (0.16-fold). Between 2006 and 2016, the proportion of patients with incident OUD/OD who received anticonvulsant adjuvant analgesics in the year before diagnosis increased (from 23.4% to 34.3% [P-trend = .005]) whereas the proportion receiving high-dose prescriptions opioids decreased (from 45.5% to 34.8% [P-trend = Discussion In US commercially insured patients newly diagnosed with OUD/OD, receipt of high-dose opioid prescriptions preceding the diagnosis decreased over time, paralleled by increased use of anticonvulsants commonly prescribed for pain conditions. Further investigations are warranted to understand how prescribed and anticonvulsants contribute to the development of OUD/OD.
Sexing the Mueller Report

A popular criticism of the Mueller Report was that it was simply not sufficiently sexy: where were the scandals and salacious tidbits that would grab our attention? In short, the Mueller Report was no Starr Report. Yet sexual indiscretions, misconduct, and deceits percolate throughout the extensive 2019 Report on The Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election — known as the Mueller Report. While Trump’s sexual behaviors are certainly not the focus of the report, the report desexualized Trump’s conduct to such an extent that it obscured important matters meriting further exploration. This Article aims to highlight and expand on the sexual issues raised by the report and contends that the sexual circumstances are not merely titillating distractions, but present important contexts regarding cooperation with foreign powers and obstruction of justice. There are three main areas of concern. First, this Article discusses the Access Hollywood tape, on which Trump is heard discussing his sexual misconduct toward women, and which the Mueller Report considered briefly related to coordination with foreign actors during the campaign. Second, the allegations of a Moscow sex tape, which the Mueller Report considered in relation to obstruction of justice, but which might be relevant more broadly. Third and most centrally, this Article examines Trump’s alleged consensual sexual relationships with two women, Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, and explores how Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, came to plead guilty to campaign finance violations involving the payments to both women. All of these sexual matters raised but not resolved in the Mueller Report are relevant to the possibility of impeachment proceedings; they are not as peripheral as presently presumed and should be considered as a matter of impeachment.
When Mental Walls Lead to Physical Walls: The US-Mexico Border Wall, Art, and Public Conversations about the Social Responsibility of Engineering

The fact that engineering is involved in highly political issues—from climate change caused by fossil fuel extraction to how we understand truth itself because of deepfakes—makes it imperative that we find new ways to highlight the crucial role that engineers and engineering play in shaping society, and new ways to hold engineers and engineering accountable. We have designed, built, and installed an interactive art installation called When Mental Walls Lead to Physical Walls to generate public conversation about the social responsibility of engineers and engineering, using the US-Mexico border wall as a case study. We find that the politically charged nature of the topic might make it difficult for attendees to speak directly to ideas of social responsibility. At the same time, the installation provides opportunities for attendees to question, critique, and reflect on the effectiveness and impacts of the design of the border wall and the motivations engineers might have in working on this project. With proper planning and execution, the installation can be used as a research tool to understand how diverse audiences—from engineering students to those who may not have any experience in engineering—understand the role of engineering in society.
Google Translate Gets Voltaire: Literary Translation and the Age of Artificial Intelligence

In the fall of 2016, users of Google Translate working from French to English and English to French saw a marked improvement in the quality of the translated texts. Google Translate was beginning t...
Diverse lncRNA mechanisms in brain development and disease

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a diverse and pervasive class of genes. Recent studies in the mammalian brain have uncovered several novel mechanisms. LncRNA loci are often located in proximity to developmental transcriptional factors. The lncRNA product may act like a transcription factor to control distantly located genes, or in other instances, the lncRNA loci contain DNA regulatory elements that act locally on neighboring genes. Circular RNAs are covalently closed single-stranded RNAs that can control neuronal function by acting as microRNA sponges and additional mechanisms. LncRNAs can also engage in target-directed microRNA degradation to shape the pool of microRNAs and translation. Thus, diverse mechanisms allow lncRNAs to act in the nucleus and cytoplasm to control neuronal fate and function.
The 2019 n2c2/OHNLP Track on Clinical Semantic Textual Similarity: Overview

Background: Semantic textual similarity is a common task in the general English domain to assess the degree to which the underlying semantics of 2 text segments are equivalent to each other. Clinical Semantic Textual Similarity (ClinicalSTS) is the semantic textual similarity task in the clinical domain that attempts to measure the degree of semantic equivalence between 2 snippets of clinical text. Due to the frequent use of templates in the Electronic Health Record system, a large amount of redundant text exists in clinical notes, making ClinicalSTS crucial for the secondary use of clinical text in downstream clinical natural language processing applications, such as clinical text summarization, clinical semantics extraction, and clinical information retrieval. Objective: Our objective was to release ClinicalSTS data sets and to motivate natural language processing and biomedical informatics communities to tackle semantic text similarity tasks in the clinical domain. Methods: We organized the first BioCreative/OHNLP ClinicalSTS shared task in 2018 by making available a real-world ClinicalSTS data set. We continued the shared task in 2019 in collaboration with National NLP Clinical Challenges (n2c2) and the Open Health Natural Language Processing (OHNLP) consortium and organized the 2019 n2c2/OHNLP ClinicalSTS track. We released a larger ClinicalSTS data set comprising 1642 clinical sentence pairs, including 1068 pairs from the 2018 shared task and 1006 new pairs from 2 electronic health record systems, GE and Epic. We released 80% (1642/2054) of the data to participating teams to develop and fine-tune the semantic textual similarity systems and used the remaining 20% (412/2054) as blind testing to evaluate their systems. The workshop was held in conjunction with the American Medical Informatics Association 2019 Annual Symposium. Results: Of the 78 international teams that signed on to the n2c2/OHNLP ClinicalSTS shared task, 33 produced a total of 87 valid system submissions. The top 3 systems were generated by IBM Research, the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and the University of Florida, with Pearson correlations of r=.9010, r=.8967, and r=.8864, respectively. Most top-performing systems used state-of-the-art neural language models, such as BERT and XLNet, and state-of-the-art training schemas in deep learning, such as pretraining and fine-tuning schema, and multitask learning. Overall, the participating systems performed better on the Epic sentence pairs than on the GE sentence pairs, despite a much larger portion of the training data being GE sentence pairs. Conclusions: The 2019 n2c2/OHNLP ClinicalSTS shared task focused on computing semantic similarity for clinical text sentences generated from clinical notes in the real world. It attracted a large number of international teams. The ClinicalSTS shared task could continue to serve as a venue for researchers in natural language processing and medical informatics communities to develop and improve semantic textual similarity techniques for clinical text.
Nudging Discharge Readiness With a Poster: A Sequential, Exploratory Mixed Methods Pilot Study of Patient Caregivers

Many hospitals face a common challenge: limited space for a high number of patients. This has led to quick patient throughput, which can impact patient perception of discharge readiness. This study...
Toward Transparency: New Approaches and Their Application to Financial Markets

The Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s not only highlighted the welfare consequences of transparency in the financial sector but also linked this relatively narrow problem to the broader context of transparency in governance. It has been observed that objections to transparency, often on flimsy pretexts, are common even in industrialized countries. This article argues that transparency is indispensable to the financial sector and describes its desirable characteristics: access, timeliness, relevance, and quality. The authors emphasize the need to weigh the costs and benefits of a more transparent regulatory policy, and they explore the connection between information imperfections, macroeconomic policy, and questions of risk. The article argues for developing institutional infrastructure, standards, and accounting practices that promote transparency, implementing incentives for disclosure and establishing regulations to minimize the perverse incentives generated by safety net arrangements, such as deposit insurance. Because institutional development is gradual, the authors contend that relatively simple regulations, such as limits on credit expansion, may be the most reasonable option for developing countries. They show that transparency has absolute limits because of the lack of adequate enforcement and argue that adequate enforcement may be predicated on broader reforms in the public sector.
Off-on-off-on use of imatinib in three children with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.

Abstract The compassionate use of available medications with unproven efficacy is often in conflict with their clinical evaluation in placebo-controlled clinical trials. For ultra-rare diseases where no approved treatments exist, such as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), routine clinical trial enrollment for available medications may be difficult to achieve. Therefore adaptive methods of evaluation are often desirable. Off-on-off-on (O4) approaches offer an opportunity to rapidly assess the potential symptomatic efficacy and tolerability of a medication with a limited number of patients and may aid in the design of more focused clinical trials that are amenable to enrollment. Here we report three children with classic FOP who had recalcitrant flare-ups of the back and who had been treated with an O4 regimen of imatinib. In all three children, fewer flare-ups, decreased swelling and improved function with activities of daily living were reported by the parents and treating physician when the children were “on” imatinib than when they were “off” imatinib. The median time to improvement on imatinib was 2–3 weeks. The anecdotal O4 experience with imatinib reported here in three children with FOP who had recalcitrant flare-ups of the back supports the design of a brief placebo controlled trial to assess the potential efficacy of imatinib in reducing the symptoms in children with refractory flare-ups of FOP. A tool to prospectively measure and quantitate flare-up symptoms is presently being developed and validated and will be used for such a study.
Multi-establishment Firms, Pricing and the Propagation of Local Shocks: Evidence from US Retail

I study whether and how retail chains and their geographic distribution of stores contribute to the propagation of shocks across regions in the United States. Linking detailed store scanner micro-data to a county-level house price dataset for the period of the Great Recession, I investigate the spread of house-price-induced local shocks through the networks of retail chains. My main empirical finding is that county-level prices are sensitive to shocks in distant counties that happen to be served by the same retail chains. A 10% drop in house prices in other counties that are served by the same retailers leads, on average, to a 1.4% decline in the local consumer retail price index. My results hold after conditioning on trade relationships due to geographic proximity. In fact, I document that once the retail chains' networks are controlled for, there is no additional role for propagation of shocks across nearby regions. Finally, while the network of retail chains is an important determinant of the effect local shocks have on consumer prices, it does not affect wages in distant regions, which suggests that the network of retail chains affects consumers' real income. I rationalize the reduced-form estimates in a model in which retail chains vary prices uniformly across their stores as a function of changes in market demand that they face at the (aggregate) chain level. I find that the calibrated model with uniform pricing can fully account for the reduced-form effects. Counterfactual analysis shows that uniform pricing and the geographic distribution of retail chains reduced cross-county dispersion in inflation by 40% during the Great Recession, benefiting consumers from low-income counties that were less exposed to drops in local house prices.
Scanning X-Ray Microscopy

Microscopy using soft X rays has considerable potential for examining a variety of specimens at a higher resolution than is possible with visible light. This is because the wavelengths of soft X rays (1−10 nm) are about two orders of magnitude shorter than visible wavelengths. The predominant contrast mechanism in x-ray microscopy is one of absorption, which strongly depends on both wavelength and atomic number. The resulting sensitivity to the elemental composition of a specimen is particularly advantageous for the examination of hydrated biological specimens that are a few micrometers thick. This is because the absorption of X rays by water in the wavelength range 2.4−4.4 nm is small compared to that by material containing carbon. Thus, wet specimens can be imaged at atmospheric pressure without the need for fixing, sectioning, or staining.
Doubly robust covariate shift correction

Covariate shift correction allows one to perform supervised learning even when the distribution of the covariates on the training set does not match that on the test set. This is achieved by re-weighting observations. Such a strategy removes bias, potentially at the expense of greatly increased variance. We propose a simple strategy for removing bias while retaining small variance. It uses a biased, low variance estimate as a prior and corrects the final estimate relative to the prior. We prove that this yields an efficient estimator and demonstrate good experimental performance.
Banished for Minor Crimes: The Aggravated Felony Provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act as a Human Rights Violation

The aggravated felony provision of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act was was originally intended to provide for the deportation of non-citizens convicted of very serious crimes. Over the last 15 years, however, the provision has been consistently expanded to include a plethora of minor crimes that are neither aggravated nor felonious. Moreover, Congress has categorically prohibited aggravated felons from applying for discretionary, equitable relief. This Note contends that the sweeping and indiscriminately applied aggravated felony provision violates an individual's universally recognized right to respect for family and private life. The Note concludes that to comply with international law and treaty obligations, Congress should follow the standards employed by the European Court of Human Rights in deportation cases. Under this approach, a court may overturn a deportation order when the relevant interests of the non-citizen outweigh those ofthe United States. The impact of deportation upon the life of an alien is often as great if not greater than the imposition of a criminal sentence. A deported alien may lose his family, his friends and his livelihood forever. Return to his native land may result in poverty, persecution or even death. l
Radar signature validation by comparison to measured data

Monostatic radar signature measurement data are compared to CADDSCAT synthetic predictions for a standard set of primitive and complex targets. Prediction accuracy is compared for temporal, spatial, and spectral signature accuracy. The limitations of the CADDSCAT asymptotic predictions are assessed. CADDSCAT's implementation of the PO (physical optics), ILDC (incremental length diffraction coefficient), and SBR (shooting and bouncing rays) prediction methods is shown to provide excellent first-order radar signature predictions for complex, electrically large targets. The target measurements used have highlighted the limitation of PO-only predictions. The extension of the PO predictions to specular predictions of dielectric-coated targets was validated. >
A practical handbook of speech coders

INTRODUCTION SPEECH PRODUCTION The Speech Chain Articulation Source-Filter Model SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES Sampling and the Speech Waveform Systems and Filtering z Transform Fourier Transform Discrete Fourier Transform Windowing Signal Segments LINEAR PREDICTION VOCAL TRACT MODELING Sound Propagation in the Vocal Tract Estimation of LP Parameters Transformations of LP Parameters for Quantization Examples of LP Modeling PITCH EXTRACTION Autocorrelation Pitch Extraction Cepstral Pitch Extraction Frequency-Domain Error Minimization Pitch Tracking AUDITORY INFORMATION PROCESSING The Basilar Membrane: A Spectrum Analyzer Critical Bands Thresholds of Audibility and Detectability Monaural Masking QUANTIZATION AND WAVEFORM CODERS Uniform Quantization Nonlinear Quantization Adaptive Quantization Vector Quantization QUALITY EVALUATION Objective Measures Subjective Measures Perceptual Objective Measures VOICE CODING CONCEPTS Channel Vocoder Formant Vocoders The Sinusoidal Speech Coder Linear Prediction Vocoder LINEAR PREDICTION ANALYSIS BY SYNTHESIS Analysis by Synthesis Estimation of Excitation Multi-Pulse Linear Prediction Coder Regular Pulse Excited LP Coder Code Excited Linear Prediction Coder MIXED EXCITATION CODING Multi-Band Excitation Vocoder Mixed Excitation Linear Prediction Coder Split Band LPC Coder Harmonic Vector Excitation Coder Waveform Interpolation Coding PERCEPTUAL SPEECH CODING Auditory Processing of Speech Perceptual Coding Considerations Research in Perceptual Speech Coding APPENDIX: RELATED INTERNET SITES
Integrating Subchapters K and S — Just Do It

The Code contains two “pass-through” tax regimes for business entities. One is contained in Subchapter K, which applies to partnerships, the other in Subchapter S, which, unsurprisingly, applies to S corporations. In the main, both Subchapters tax the owners of the entities rather than the entities themselves. Having two pass-through tax regimes creates obvious administrative and other inefficiencies. There was a time when S corporations served a valuable purpose, particularly when taxpayers needed a fairly simple and foolproof pass-through entity that provided a liability shield. But limited liability companies (LLCs), which are usually taxed as partnerships, 1 in most contexts make S corporations obsolete. LLCs too can be fairly simple and foolproof, while providing the superior tax benefits of the partnership provisions of Subchapter K. The advent and popularity of LLCs means that the inefficiency created by two separate pass-through tax regimes can no longer be justified. I propose that a new pass-through regime be created that retains Subchapter K and incorporates the best parts of Subchapter S, with the balance of Subchapter S repealed. Integrating these two pass-through regimes requires that some changes be made to the C corporation provisions of Subchapter C as well. I also make Subchapter K available to most nonpublic C corporations, putting most closely held businesses on a level playing field. Part II of the Article discusses the tax entity selection process generally, as well as the basics of the taxation of C corporations, S corporations, and partnerships. Part III explores the tax advantages and disadvantages of partnerships and S corporations. Part IV looks at the data on the relative popularity of the major business entities and provides a possible explanation for the continued popularity of S corporations. Part V discusses H.R. 4137, a bill that was ahead of its time (and not unflawed). Part VI asks whether we should repeal Subchapter K instead. Part VII recommends that nonpublic corporations also be allowed to elect Subchapter K. Part VIII proposes taxpayer-friendly methods for getting to my version of the promised land, and Part IX gives a brief conclusion.
Molecular evolution and in vitro characterization of Botryllus histocompatibility factor

Botryllus schlosseri is a colonial ascidian with a natural ability to anastomose with another colony to form a vascular and hematopoietic chimera. In order to fuse, two individuals must share at least one allele at the highly polymorphic fuhc locus. Otherwise, a blood-based inflammatory response will occur resulting in a melanin scar at the sites of interaction. The single-locus genetic control of allorecognition makes B. schlosseri an attractive model to study the underlying molecular mechanisms. Over the past decade, several candidate genes involved in allorecognition have been identified, but how they ultimately contribute to allorecognition outcome remains poorly understood. Here, we report our initial molecular characterization of a recently identified candidate allodeterminant called Botryllus histocompatibility factor (bhf). bhf, both on a DNA and protein level, is the least polymorphic protein in the fuhc locus studied so far and, unlike other known allorecognition determinants, does not appear to be under any form of balancing or directional selection. Additionally, we identified a second isoform through mRNA-Seq and an EST assembly library which is missing exon 3, resulting in a C-terminally truncated form. We report via whole-mount fluorescent in situ hybridization that a subset of cells co-express bhf and cfuhc sec . Finally, we observed BHF’s localization in HEK293T at the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane in addition to the nucleus via a nuclear localization signal. Given the localization data thus far, we hypothesize that BHF may function as a scaffolding protein in a complex with other Botryllus proteins, rather than functioning as an allorecognition determinant.
Association of viral ribonucleic acid with cellular membranes in chick embryo cells infected with Sindbis virus.

Abstract Membranes from cells infected with Sindbis virus had associated with them viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase and about 60 to 70% of the viral RNA labeled when short pulses were used. This RNA contained most of the replicative intermediate and replicative form of viral RNA found in the infected cells. The use of “Mg2+ sarkosyl crystals” permitted the isolation of membrane-bound nucleic acids and allowed the demonstration that Sindbis virus RNA was synthesized on a membrane-viral RNA complex. Viral RNA from the infecting virions first became associated with the membranes during the latent period and, subsequently, slowly detached. The attachment of the viral RNA to the membranes did not require active viral RNA polymerase, since RNA from ts6, an RNA− temperature-sensitive mutant of Sindbis virus, associated with cellular membranes at a nonpermissive temperature. However, the subsequent detachment of the RNA from the membranes was restricted in the absence of viral RNA synthesis. The results indicate that association of viral RNA with cellular membranes may represent an early step occurring during the replication of Sindbis virus RNA.
Minor salivary gland tumors: The role of radiotherapy☆

Previous analyses of minor salivary gland tumors (MSGTs) have not clearly established the role of radiotherapy in their treatment. The following is a retrospective review of 44 patients treated from 1956 to 1984 with MSGT of the maxillary sinus (15 of 44), nasal cavity/ethmoid complex (six of 44), or hard palate (23 of 44). Histological findings included adenocarcinoma (18), adenoid cystic (17), high-grade mucoepidermoid (six), and mixed malignant (three). Treatment was by surgery (18 of 44), radiotherapy (eight of 44), or a combination of both (18 of 44). Patients treated with radiotherapy, either alone or combined with surgery, had disease that was inoperable, marginally resectable, or residual after surgery. Despite this handicap, 3-year local control rates for all treatment modalities were similar (surgery, 78%; radiotherapy, 63%; and combined treatment, 83%). Absolute 3-year survival rates were 94% for surgery, 63% for radiotherapy, and 78% for combined therapy, with death attributable to distant metastases a significant factor in the advanced cases treated with radiotherapy. A dose response relationship was apparent in those patients whose treatment involved radiotherapy. Clearly, MSGTs are radioresponsive lesions and radiotherapy can play an important role in their management.
Perineal Wound Complications after Abdominoperineal Resection

Perineal wound complications following abdominoperineal resection (APR) is a common occurrence. Risk factors such as operative technique, preoperative radiation therapy, and indication for surgery (i.e., rectal cancer, anal cancer, or inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]) are strong predictors of these complications. Patient risk factors include diabetes, obesity, and smoking. Intraoperative perineal wound management has evolved from open wound packing to primary closure with closed suctioned transabdominal pelvic drains. Wide excision is used to gain local control in cancer patients, and coupled with the increased use of pelvic radiation therapy, we have experienced increased challenges with primary closure of the perineal wound. Tissue transfer techniques such as omental pedicle flaps, and vertical rectus abdominis and gracilis muscle or myocutaneous flaps are being used to reconstruct large perineal defects and decrease the incidence of perineal wound complications. Wound failure is frequently managed by wet to dry dressing changes, but can result in prolonged hospital stay, hospital readmission, home nursing wound care needs, and the expenditure of significant medical costs. Adjuvant therapies to conservative wound care have been suggested, but evidence is still lacking. The use of the vacuum-assisted closure device has shown promise in chronic soft tissue wounds; however, experience is lacking, and is likely due to the difficulty in application techniques.
Charged gold nanoparticles in non-polar solvents: 10-min synthesis and 2D self-assembly.

We report a fast and highly reproducible chemical synthesis method for colloidal gold nanoparticles which are negatively charged in nonpolar solvents and coated with hydrophobic organic molecules. If a hexane droplet containing charged gold nanoparticles is mixed with a larger toluene droplet, nanoparticles immediately float to the air−toluene interface and form a close-packed monolayer film. After evaporation of the solvent molecules, the monolayer film of nanoparticles can be deposited to any substrate without any limit in size. The synthesis does not require a postsynthesis cleaning step, since the two immiscible liquid phases separate the reaction byproducts from gold nanoparticles and a minimal amount of coating molecules is used.
High-performance I/O for massively parallel computers: problems and prospects

Over the past two decades (1974-94), advances in semiconductor and integrated circuit technology have fuelled the drive toward faster, ever more efficient computational machines. Today, the most powerful supercomputers can perform computation at billions of floating-point operations per second (gigaflops). This increase in capability is intensifying the demand for even more powerful machines. Computational limits for the largest supercomputers are expected to exceed the teraflops barrier in the coming years. Discussion is given on the following areas: the nature of I/O in massive parallel processing; operating and file systems; runtime system and compilers; and networking technology. The recurrent themes in the parallel I/O problem are the existence of a great variety in access patterns and the sensitivity of current I/O systems to these access patterns. An increase in the variability of access patterns is also expected, and single resource-management approaches will likely not suffice. Providing the I/O infrastructure that will support these requirements will necessitate research in operating systems (parallel file systems, runtime systems, and drivers), language interfaces to high-performance storage systems, high-speed networking, graphics and visualization systems, and new hardware technology for I/O and storage systems. >
Evaluation of fracture parameters of composites subjected to thermal shock using the boundary element method and sensitivity analysis techniques

Abstract Quasi-static crack extension in fiber-reinforced composites subjected to thermal shock is analyzed using the boundary integral equation method, in combination with sensitivity analysis techniques. Buekner's formulation is employed to evaluate the stress intensity factor in a cracked body. This method eliminates the need for special element types to model the crack tip, as well as the use of a large number of elements near the cracked zone of interest. A numerical procedure involving sensitivity analysis techniques based on the adjoint structure approach has been developed to evaluate the energy integrals in the cracked body. Gradients of the functionals of response quantities with respect to variables such as the crack length, necessary for the evaluation of fracture parameters, are determined directly by this method. The numerical differentiation used in other numerical methods, such as the finite element method, which requires the repeated solution of the equations for different crack sizes is avoided. Results for stress intensity factors as a function of crack length are presented for various composite systems. These results are in good agreement with analytical results and results from the finite element method. The present approach results in significantly improved computational efficiency.
Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling in Vascular Disease ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTION THROUGH MYOCARDIN-RELATED TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR A

Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) patients exhibit elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the lung. Concurrently, mutations of bmpr2, the gene encoding the type II receptor of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), are found in ∼75% of patients with familial PAH, but a possible nexus between increased inflammation and diminished BMP signaling has hitherto remained elusive. We previously showed that BMP4 triggers nuclear localization of the Myocardin-related transcription factor A (MRTF-A) in human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC), resulting in the induction of contractile proteins. Here we report the BMPR2-dependent repression of a set of inflammatory mediators in response to BMP4 stimulation of PASMC. Forced expression of MRTF-A precisely emulates the anti-inflammatory effect of BMP4, while MRTF-A depletion precludes BMP4-mediated cytokine inhibition. BMP4 and MRTF-A block signaling through NF-κB, the keystone of most pathways leading to inflammatory responses, at the level of chromatin recruitment and promoter activation. Moreover, MRTF-A physically interacts with RelA/p65, the NF-κB subunit endowed with a transcription activation domain. Interestingly, the MRTF-A-NF-κB interaction is mutually antagonistic: stimulation of NF-κB signaling by TNFα, as well as p65 overexpression, hinders MRTF-A activity and the expression of contractile genes. Thus, a molecular inhibitory pathway linking BMP4 signaling, activation of MRTF-A, and inhibition of NF-κB provides insights into the etiology of PAH and a potential focus of therapeutic intervention.
Learning Obstacle Avoidance Parameters from Operator Behavior

This paper concerns an outdoor mobile robot that learns to avoid collisions by observing a human driver operate a vehicle equipped with sensors that continuously produce a map of the local environment. We have implemented steering control that models human behavior in trying to avoid obstacles while trying to follow a desired path. Here we present the formulation for this control system and its independent parameters and then show how these parameters can be automatically estimated by observing a human driver. We also present results from operation on an autonomous robot as well as in simulation, and compare the results from our method to another commonly used learning method. We find that the proposed method generalizes well and is capable of learning from a small number of samples. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The stability of perceptual compensation for coarticulation within and across individuals: A cross-validation study

Perceptual compensation for coarticulation (PCCA) refers to listener responses consistent with perceptual reduction of the acoustic effects of the coarticulatory context on a target sound. The robustness of PCCA across individuals and across tasks have not been studied together previously. This study reports the results of two experiments designed to determine the robustness of perceptual compensation for vocalic influence on sibilant perception across tasks and the stability of such compensatory response within an individual. Identification and discrimination data, collected in the laboratory and on Amazon's Mechanical Turk, showed that individuals are moderately stable in their PCCA responses across tasks and the level of stability is consistent across both the lab-based and the internet-based cohorts, although some differences are observed.
Interleukin-6 mediates exercise preconditioning against myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine that protects against cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury following pharmacological and ischemic preconditioning (IPC), but the affiliated role ...
Short-term storage of freshly harvested bone

An in vitro study was designed to test effects of various graft storage media on glucose metabolism and collagen synthesis of embryonic chick tibiae, using these variables as indices of bone cell viability. Normal saline solution, distilled water, and 5% dextrose in lactated Ringer's solution were evaluated after a 5-hour incubation and again after a 3-day recovery period in a complete culture medium. The study suggests that bone grafts may be stored in normal saline solution or 5% dextrose in lactated Ringer's solution for up to 5 hours. Normal saline solution is recommended because of fewer deleterious effects. Distilled water should not be used as a storage medium for bone grafts.
Pulmonary Vascular Steal in Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension

After pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, performed for relief of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, perfusion lung scans have frequently disclosed new perfusion defects in segments served by undissected pulmonary arteries. Our hypotheses were that these new postoperative defects occurred with great frequency and did not represent postoperative vessel occlusion. We retrospectively reviewed the preoperative and postoperative perfusion scans of 33 consecutive patients undergoing pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. New postoperative perfusion defects were noted in 23 of 33 patients. The incidence of new defects was increased tenfold in segments that had (1) normal preoperative angiographic findings, (2) normal preoperative radionuclide perfusion, and (3) not been entered at the time of surgery. Postoperative angiograms, available in 15 of 33 patients, documented the nonembolic, nonocclusive nature of the new perfusion scan defects. The most plausible alternate explanation for this previously undescribed finding is a redistribution of pulmonary arterial resistance induced by the thromboendarterectomy, namely, a pulmonary vascular "steal."
Isolation of a respiratory inhibitor from alfalfa.

Abstract A method is presented for the isolation of a respiratory inhibitor(s) from an alfalfa forage which caused bloat in grazing cattle. Solvents were used to extract the crude respiratory inhibitor, and ion-exchange chromatography separated it from an anticholinesterase constituent of the forage. Carbon-column chromatography afforded purification of the respiratory inhibitor, which was eluted with methanol and then further purified by precipitation with cholesterol. The respiratory inhibitor was thus purified 350–400-fold from the original dried alfalfa. The behavior of the respiratory inhibitor during isolation would suggest it to be a saponin.
A continuous migration model with stable demography

A probability model of a population undergoing migration, mutation, and mating in a geographic continuum R is constructed, and an integrodifferential equation is derived for the probability of genetic identity. The equation is solved in one case, and asymptotic analysis done in others. Individuals at x, y e R in the model mate with probability V(x, y) dt in any time interval (t, t + dt). In two dimensions, if V(x,y) = V(x−y) where V(x) ≈ V(x/β)/β2 approaches a delta function, the equilibrium probability of identity vanishes as β → 0. The asymptotic rate at which this occurs is discussed for mutation rates u ≡ uo > 0 and for β ≈ Cuα, α > 0, and u → 0.
Role of acetylglucosamine in chitin synthesis in crayfish. I. Correlation of 14C-acetylglucosamine incorporation with stages of the molting cycle.

Abstract 1. 1. Incorporation of 14C-acetylglucosamine into the chitin of crayfish (Orconectes obscurus) has been correlated with the stages of the molting cycle. 2. 2. Acetylglucosamine incorporation increased earlier in premolt (stage D1″) and remained much higher than previously reported 14C-glucose incorporation. 3. 3. Acetylglucosamine incorporation was similar to previously reported glucose incorporation during intermolt and postmolt. 4. 4. Substantial amounts of breakdown products from the old cuticle are reincorporated into new cuticle. Over half of the radioactivity incorporated into postmolt chitin was reutilized in new chitin synthesis during the succeeding premolt. 5. 5. These data support a major role for acetylglucosamine in premolt chitin synthesis.
Magnets with random uniaxial anisotropy: thermodynamic properties in the large-N limit

Abstract We show that the random-axis model lends itself to a systematic large- N calculation. The model shows different behavior below and above four dimensions. The equation of state is derived and discussed in terms of “Arrott” plots. Higher-order terms in the disorder, when summed, have a crucial effect on the susceptibility which is found to be finite below four dimensions (and above four dimensions for strong disorder). A spin-glass to paramagnetic phase transition is characterized by the vanishing of the Edwards-Anderson order parameter, which differs from zero in the spin-glass phase. A cusp in the specific-heat and susceptibility is seen across the transition. The cross-over exponent and other exponents of interest are calculated. Above four dimensions a third phase appears for weak disorder and low-temperature ferromagnetic in nature. The transverse and longitudinal susceptibilities are discussed. Whereas the ferromagnetic transition is characterized by mean-field exponents, the ferromagnetic to spin-glass exponents are equal to their counterparts in the non-random system in d − 2 dimensions. This is shown to originate from an effective random field proportional to the EA order parameter. The flow equations in the large- N limit are also discussed.
Applications of a theoretic model of information exposure to health interventions.

This paper describes an individual-differences model of information exposure which reflects the needs for novelty and sensation likely inherited as survival behaviors from humankinds ancient past. The model grew out of an earlier activation model developed to explain exposure to information about public affairs. After the models biological basis is explained it is proposed as a theory in deductive nomological form. Propositions are then deduced from its central assumptions and a series of funded health communication studies for which it has provided guidance is described. Individual differences in the need for novelty form the basis for both identifying target audiences most likely to engage in health risk behaviors such as drug and alcohol use and risky sex and guiding the design of appropriate and effective messages. Strategies developed which have been based upon the theoretical model have successfully induced attitudinal and behavioral changes in experimental studies. They have also reached at-risk audiences in field studies through televised public service announcements in appropriate television programming.
Joint and Overhead Cost and Railway Rate Policy

I. Introductory: definitions, 583. — Issue of discrimination versus uniformity only resolvable by precise distinction between joint and overhead cost, 585. II. Joint and overhead cost distinguished, 586; — joint cost, overhead cost, and monopoly all influence pattern of discrimination, 589; — true instances of joint supply, 592. — III. With overhead cost alone discrimination should be adjusted to the degree of utilization, 594; — the case of a single road with a given investment, 595; — proper and improper rate policy, 597; — marginal cost a useful tool for determining proper degree of discrimination, 599. — IV. Problems presented by discontinuity in expansion, 602; — different degrees of discontinuity, 604. — V. Qualifications of the proper rate policy for: different divisions, 609; — competing routes, 611. — VI. Complications presented by time jointness, 613; — unlikely that discrimination should ever give way wholly to uniformity, 614; — stability, 616.
Multiphasic neuronal transfer functions for representing temporal structure

Neural network models of timing have struggled to account for animal timing capabilities using the accepted connectionist assumptions, in most cases without postulating the existence of explicit neuronal time-keeping mechanisms. Current ethological and physiological data, however, suggest that cellular oscillators form the foundation for animals’ temporal capacities. We propose that these oscillators could be used as temporal filters that capture the temporal structure of the animal’s experience. A model is presented that accounts for a number of the salient features of the feeding anticipatory response with only a single circadian filter. This model goes beyond current entrainment models in that it correctly predicts the relationship between the feeding period and the anticipatory interval. An alternative approach using multiple filters is examined that can account for animals’ ability to correctly anticipate two daily feeding times.
SU-E-T-588: 3D Image-Based Customized Radiation Treatment Planning for Syed Interstitial HDR Brachytherapy for Patients with Parametrial Spread of Cervix Carcinoma

Purpose: To investigate the clinical parameters involved in Syed interstitial HDR brachytherapy for patients with cervical carcinoma. Method and Materials:Our institution uses 3‐D image based treatment planning for all Syed Interstitial implants for advanced cervical carcinoma patients with known parametrical spread. Between 8/2009 and 10/2010, eight such patients were treated at our facility with Syed Interstitial HDR brachytherapy. The high risk CTV (HRCTV), intermediate risk CTV (IRCTV), and organs at risk (OAR: rectum, bladder, sigmoid, and small bowel) were contoured on the planning CT scan. All patients received 7 fractions of 4.2 Gy each in 4 days given bid prescribed to the HRCTV. Planning objectives included keeping doses to the OARs below 80% of prescription dose, to have D90 for the HRCTV greater than 90% of the prescription dose, and for V150 and V200 to be less than 50% and 20%, respectively. OARs were evaluated using doses to 2cc (D2cc). CT scan was performed each day. Results: Between 18 and 21 needles were implanted but only 14 needles were used. Because of needle movements, an average of 2.4 plans were required. The average dose to 2cc (D2cc) of bladder was 63±5% of the prescription dose (29.4 Gy). This value for the rectum was 64%±3.4% . The sigmoid and the small bowel D2cc values were generally all less than 40% of the prescription dose. The D90 for the HRCTV was on average 31.7 Gy, whereas the D90 for the IRCTV was on average 20 Gy. V150 and V200 were on average, 51% and 28%, respectively. Conclusion: It is recommended that CT/MRI images be used for Syed interstitial HDR planning to adequately define the HRCTV, IRCTV, and OAR. The implanted needles always move during patient transfers to and from the HDR suite; thus, CT scans should be repeated daily.
Developmental impact of frontal lobe injury in middle childhood

Executive function of frontal lobe systems, like intelligent behavior, appears to demonstrate two major features: it is adaptive and goal-directed. Disruption of executive function following injury to the frontal lobes in childhood might be predicted to impact the trajectory of normal cognitive, behavioral, and social development. Case studies of two children injured at different ages showed the primary developmental impact to involve the behavioral and social realms. While cognitive development may be suspected to also be considerably influenced, assessment of changes in cognitive abilities by traditional psychometric means was found to be problematic. Psychometric changes were found to occur over a prolonged period of time, emphasizing the importance of documenting observations and chronicling postinjury events.
The effects of Pavlovian CSs on two food-reinforced baselines— with and without noncontingent shock

Two experiments explored the effects of Pavlovian (tone-shock) CS+, CS−, and truly random control (TRC) contingencies on two different food-reinforced instrumental baselines. One food-reinforced baseline contained noncontingent shock, while the other did not. In the first experiment, a TRC contingency was shown to produce suppression of food-reinforced responding, while a CS− contingency did not. When noncontingent shock was added to the baseline, however, the TRC stimuli failed to produce suppression, and the CS− contingency increased response rates over baseline level. In a second experiment, the effects of TRC and CS+ contingencies were compared on these same two baselines. While the CS+ produced suppression on both shock and no-shock baselines, the TRC contingency again produced suppression on only the no-shock baseline.