cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Successful coronary artery bypass in hemodialysis patients.

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in maintenance hemodialysis patients. We report two chronic hemodialysis patients with unstable, disabling angina in association with severe coronary artery disease involving all three major vessels. Both successfully underwent coronary artery bypass sugery and subsequently experienced dramatic clinical improvement. Principles of management are discussed and it is suggested that hemodialysis patients should not be arbitrarily denied consideration of coronary artery bypass surgery when it is otherwise indicated.
Concordance rates between parent and teacher clinical evaluation of language fundamentals observational rating scale

Background: Research has shown that early identification of children with language issues is critical for effective intervention, and yet many children are not identified until school age. The use of parent‐completed rating scales, especially in urban, minority populations, might improve early identification if parent ratings are found to be reliable and valid.Aims: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Observational Rating Scale (ORS) in an urban setting where it may be difficult to distinguish language difficulties from cultural language differences.Methods & Procedures: The present study examined the degree to which parent and teacher ORS scores for 73 7–10‐year‐old children (47 boys) had concordance for the four ORS dimensions of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing, as well as for a composite ORS score. The relationship between the ORS ratings and the children's scores on the CELF‐3, or CELF‐4 Receptive and Expressive scores, and the WIAT Reading Composite scores were also examined.Out...
Adaptive Bayes Classification Model with Incompletely Specified Experiment

A 2-stage classification model is presented in which the first stage is a quick, computerized Bayes rule decision device, and the second a slow, but perfectly accurate, classifier. A stationary stream of elements or objects to be classified into one of several mutually exclusive categories is fed into the model. The conditional probabilities associated with the Bayes device are assumed unknown at the outset, except up to an initial probability distribution. The a posteriori probabilities from the first stage are treated as information that can speed up or slow down the processing time in the second stage. The latter, after a delay time, feeds back accurate classification information to the first stage to update the conditional probabilities. It is shown that, as the classification process unfolds, any updating scheme that causes the Bayes classifier ultimately to learn the true values of the conditional probabilities also minimizes the expected processing time in the second stage. The learning rate of the system is discussed as a function of the updating scheme. An example of a simple system is presented and the learning rate is derived specifically for that case.
Sequence of two tomato nuclear genes encoding chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins of CP24, a PSII antenna component.

We have isolated and characterized (Fig. 1) two tomato nuclear genes each encoding a protein of 256 residues with discernible sequence identity with other CAB polypeptides. The two genes, which we designate Cab 10A and Cab 10B (tomato genes designated Cab l through Cab9 encoded other CAB polypeptides of PSI and PSII [9, 10]), are tandemly linked and are separated by approximately 5 kb. Each gene contains a single, short intron 199 bp in CablOA, 97 bp in CablOB whose position (same in both genes) was determined by comparisons with cDNA clones. An intron in an equivalent position is also found in the tomato PSI Type II and Type III CAB genes [9]. Within the coding region, CablOA and Cab 10B are 92.5 ~o identical, but the introns and 5' and 3' flanking regions show little similarity. Comparison of the sequence of the proteins encoded by Cab 10A and Cab 10B with the N-terminal sequence of the homologous (see below) spinach protein (Fig. 2A) indicates that the transit peptide of the CAB10A protein consists of 48 residues, and the transit peptide of CAB 10B consists of 46 residues. Thus, the mature CAB10A protein has 208 residues, with a calculated molecular weight of 22.6 kDa, and the mature CAB10B protein has 210 residues, with a calculated molecular weight of 22.8 kDa. CAB 10A and CAB10B are 94.5~o identical within the mature part of the protein, and the sequences of the transit peptides are less similar. Three hydrophobic regions are found in all CAB polypeptides examined to date, and it has therefore been hypothesized that they represent alpha-helices which span the thylakoid membrane, and that the three-dimensional structure of all CAB polypeptide is therefore similar despite the high level of primary sequence divergence [3, 10]. The hydropathy plots of CAB10A and CAB10B also indicate 3 hydrophobic regions of sufficient length to traverse the thylakoid membrane (Fig. 2B). It should be noted, however, that algorithms to predict secondary structure (e.g. [4]) do not always indicate complete overlap between the hydrophobic regions in the CAB polypeptides and regions predicted to assume the alpha-helix conformation, and this is especially true with CAB 10A and CAB 10B, where no extensive alpha-helix conformation is predicted (not shown) anywhere between the first and third hydrophobic regions. (However, these programs can predict alpha-helical regions in only 50 ~o -60 ~o of the cases where they indeed occur, as determined with proteins whose structure has been experimentally determined [4]). In addition to possessing the three hydrophobic regions, the CAB10A and CAB10B proteins also share the two regions of sequence similarity (Fig. 2C) found in all CAB proteins [10]. The two conserved regions include the first and third hydrophobic regions and their immediate N-terminal regions, and in these regions CAB 10A and CAB 10B dis-
Understanding William James's Conception of Consciousness with the Help of Gerald E. Myers

Myers recently published a major work on James's life and thought. The present article reexamines parts of my own understanding of James's conception of consciousness in the light of Myers's advanced interpretation. In particular are addressed James's account of direct (reflective) awareness, the nature of the components of the stream of consciousness, and the significance of James's claim that the stream of consciousness is sensibly continuous.
Comprehensive analysis of melanoma antigen specific T cell repertoire: EPIMAX (EPItope MAXimum)

3016 Background: We have demonstrated in phase I clinical trial treating 20 patients with metastatic melanoma that dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with killed allogeneic tumor cells can elicit immune ...
Towards a Just, Courageous, and Honest Resolution of the Futility Debate

This essay discusses the history of the "futility debate" and the motives that sometimes prompt health care professionals, health care providers, patients, and surrogates to take different sides in it. Changes in the health care system, financial responsibility shifts, technical medical advances, and medical care rationing are analyzed as contributors to the futility debate. So too are variations in the definition of futility examined as part of the current controversy. The respective attitudes of professionals, providers, patients, and surrogates in accepting the goals, capabilities, and limits of medicine are also explored. In particular, the lack of honest communication between health care professionals/health care providers on the one hand and patients/surrogates on the other is acknowledged as a major roadblock in the building of care-focused futility policies. Finally, various initial attempts of hospitals to create futility guidelines are evaluated in order to detect problem areas and to suggest lines of improvement.
Refining the Reconstruction of Col. 2 of the Temple Scroll (11QTa): The Turn to Digital Mapping and Historical Syntax

Digital technology significantly expands the resources available to scholars seeking to reconstruct ancient manuscripts and, in combination with conventional philology, contributes to a more accurate reconstruction of both the text and the line breaks of col. 2 of the Temple Scroll. The column’s fragmentary condition led Yadin and Qimron to diverge in their reconstructions of the manuscript’s line-breaks and its lacunae. The problem is most acute at 2:8–9, where the scroll’s composer expanded the base text of Exod 34 with Deut 7:25–26. By employing techniques of digital mapping in conjunction with historical syntax, this article helps reconstruct the column’s line-breaks, helps restore the lacunae, and offers a refined reconstruction of the column.
Identification and annotation of repetitive sequences in fungal genomes.

Abstract Advances in sequencing technologies have fundamentally changed the pace of genome sequencing projects and have contributed to the ever-increasing volume of genomic data. This has been paralleled by an increase in computational power and resources to process and translate raw sequence data into meaningful information. In addition to protein coding regions, an integral part of all the genomes studied so far has been the presence of repetitive sequences. Previously considered as "junk," numerous studies have implicated repetitive sequences in important biological and structural roles in the genome. Therefore, the identification and characterization of these repetitive sequences has become an indispensable part of genome sequencing projects. Numerous similarity-based and de novo methods have been developed to search for and annotate repeats in the genome, many of which have been discussed in this chapter.
Gender and other Determinants of Undergraduate Student Satisfaction in STEM

In this research, the author is attempting to identify the factors that lead to student’ satisfaction with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program in a public college. By building a model of these factors, the author was able to test the impact of various demographic variables on students’ satisfaction. Of specific interest was the role of gender, as well as having English as a first language and how these two factors influenced student satisfaction. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, both variables were not found to have any influence, and as thus the determinants of satisfaction were the same for males and females, as well as for those who had English as a first language, and those who did not. On the other hand, students’ perception of the effectiveness of the program, the skills acquired, satisfaction with teaching, and the availability of an internship, all contributed to students’ overall satisfaction with the program. In addition, it was also found that as students mature (in terms of the number of credits they have), they tend to be more satisfied with the program. Similarly, Bachelor’s students were more satisfied than Associate’s students.
An Investigation of the Rusbult Investment Model of Commitment in Relationships with Pets

ABSTRACTThe present research examines relationships between people and their pets through the lens of the Rusbult Investment Model. The Rusbult Investment Model identifies important antecedents to commitment in a relationship: satisfaction with the relationship, quality of alternatives to the relationship, and investments in the relationship. In turn, commitment predicts enactment of behaviors that involve forgoing one’s own needs to benefit one’s relationship. Among these behaviors are forgiving transgressions, accommodating undesirable behaviors, and sacrificing for the sake of one’s relationship partner. Recent research has revealed that pets benefit humans through conferral of social support. By examining commitment processes in human–pet relationships, relationship duration may be maximized, leading to greater benefits for both the human and the pet. The present research surveyed pet owners about their relationship with their pet (e.g., feelings of commitment, investment) and their willingness to eng...
The Search for the “Breaking Point” in VietnamThe Statistics of a Deadly Quarrel

American strategies for success in the Vietnam War, derived at least partly from historical experience, were based on the assumption that Communist forces would reach a “breaking point” after suffering enough punishment. In conformity with this strategy, extensive damage was inflicted to the point where it appears the military costs accepted by the Communists, in comparison with population, were virtually unprecendented in modern history. The central question about the war then is: Why were the Vietnamese Communists willing to accept virtually unprecedented losses for a military goal that was far from central to the continued existence of their state? Some aspects of an answer to this question are suggested; the strategy of attrition is assessed in historical comparison; and the question of where the “breaking point” might have been is discussed.
Medical management of abnormal uterine bleeding in the patient in her 40s.

SUMMARY A large proportion of AUB can be controlled successfully with a variety of pharmacologic agents.
Descriptive epidemiology of Parkinson's disease through proxy measures

Background and Objective: In preparation for analytic study we undertook to describe areas of relative excess and deficit of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) in Nebraska and tested two methodologic tools for inexpensive assessment of descriptive epidemiology of PD. Methods: In lieu of large-scale population screening and diagnosis, we obtained sales information of anti-PD drugs in the state in 1988 – 1990 as well as listings of all people dying from 1984 to 1993 who had Parkinson’s Disease mentioned anywhere on their death certificate. The anti-PD drug sales data are intended as a proxy for prevalence, while the death certificate data are intended as a proxy for incidence. Results: Sales divided by population over age 54 indicates where anti-PD drug sales differ from expected. We found high correlation of drug sales rates with several farming exposures. Age-adjusted death rates, however, showed a low degree of association with sales or farming variables. This may be attributable to differences in death certificate completion or in underlying incidence versus prevalence. Conclusions: These techniques provide a useful tool for delineating possible differences in incidence and prevalence. While not as accurate as full community survey with expert diagnosis, they are not as expensive, and can be followed by local cluster investigations and individual-level etiologic studies to test hypotheses resulting from the initial study.
Gene Networks Driving Development, Conservation and Evolution of

The field of Evolutionary Developmental Biology seeks to understand how animal morphology evolves by determining how cell types and their spatio-temporal placement changes over evolutionary time. Recently, developmental biology has moved toward system level descriptions of cell specification, which involves determining the networks of gene regulatory interactions that operate to direct the formation of cell types. This is now being extended to comparison of these gene regulatory networks, which are revealing new insights into the mechanisms of the evolution of development.
Growth and condition of juvenile chum and pink salmon in the northeastern Bering Sea

Abstract As the Arctic continues to warm, abundances of juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the northern Bering Sea are expected to increase. However, information regarding the growth and condition of juvenile salmon in these waters is limited. The first objective of this study was to describe relationships between size, growth, and condition of juvenile chum (O. keta) and pink (O. gorbuscha) salmon and environmental conditions using data collected in the northeastern Bering Sea (NEBS) from 2003–2007 and 2009–2012. Salmon collected at stations with greater bottom depths and cooler sea-surface temperature (SST) were longer, reflecting their movement further offshore out of the warmer Alaska Coastal Water mass, as the season progressed. Energy density, after accounting for fish length, followed similar relationships with SST and bottom depth while greater condition (weight-length residuals) was associated with warm SST and shallower stations. We used insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentrations as an indicator of relative growth rate for fishes sampled in 2009–2012 and that found fish exhibited higher IGF-1 concentrations in 2010–2012 than in 2009, although these differences were not clearly attributable to environmental conditions. Our second objective was to compare size and condition of juvenile chum and pink salmon in the NEBS between warm and cool spring thermal regimes of the southeastern Bering Sea (SEBS). This comparison was based on a hypothesis informed by the strong role of sea-ice retreat in the spring for production dynamics in the SEBS and prevailing northward currents, suggesting that feeding conditions in the NEBS may be influenced by production in the SEBS. We found greater length (both species) and condition (pink salmon) in years with warm thermal regimes; however, both of these responses changed more rapidly with day of year in years with cool springs. Finally, we compared indicators of energy allocation between even and odd brood-year stocks of juvenile pink salmon, finding support for the idea that the even-year stock allocates more energy to storage, as opposed to growth, than does the odd-year stock. Over all, our results support the idea that sea-ice dynamics influence energy allocation and growth of juvenile salmon in the northern Bering Sea and provide a foundation for further understanding of how environmental conditions influence juvenile salmon at the northern edge of their range.
Intra-articular osteoid osteoma at the femoral trochlea treated with osteochondral autograft transplantation

We present the case of an intra-articular osteoid osteoma at the femoral trochlea. Intra-articular osteoid osteoma can present a diagnostic challenge both clinically and with imaging because it presents differently from the classic cortical osteoid osteoma. Given the lesion's proximity to overlying cartilage, the patient underwent resection of the lesion with osteochondral autograft transplantation at the surgical defect. A comprehensive literature review and discussion of intra-articular osteoma will be provided.
QA-It: Classifying Non-Referential It for Question Answer Pairs

This paper introduces a new corpus, QA-It, for the classification of non-referential it. Our dataset is unique in a sense that it is annotated on question answer pairs collected from multiple genres, useful for developing advanced QA systems. Our annotation scheme makes clear distinctions between 4 types of it, providing guidelines for many erroneous cases. Several statistical models are built for the classification of it, showing encouraging results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such a corpus is created for question answering.
A Kagome fiber-based, high energy delivery laser scalpel system for ultrafast laser microsurgery

We present the development of a 5 mm, piezo-actuated, ultrafast laser scalpel for microsurgery with a capability to deliver energies in excess of 1 μJ per pulse. Having previously established that the maximum energy deliverable was limited by cladding damage in photonic badgap fibers, we utilized a large, 35μm cored inhibited-coupling Kagome fiber that allowed the delivery of micro-Joule energy femtosecond pulses. To maintain diffraction limited performance over the entire scan range of the piezo-actuated fiber tip, special objective lenses were developed and manufactured out of a high-refractive index Zinc Sulfide (ZnS) crystal. The probe was packaged in hypodermic 304SS stainless steel with a form factor minimizing in-line configuration. The probe’s performance was tested via metal and tissue ablation studies, characterizing highspeed ablation parameters and uniformity of ablation over the scan area. Additionally, we studied the nonlinear performance of ZnS and Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) as materials for refractive optics and determined the maximum energy deliverable through our probe using these optical materials. The high energy delivery through the probe system should allow for fast and effective tissue ablation.
Brief guided group discussion and classroom lights: normative influence can be limited with a public request for commitment / Breve discusión guiada en grupo e iluminación del aula: la influencia normativa se puede limitar con una petición pública de compromiso

An initial survey indicated university students were reluctant to turn off classroom lights in part because of concerns they were not allowed to do so. An intervention was designed to teach student...
Water-limited vegetated ecosystems driven by stochastic rainfall: feedbacks and bimodality

In arid or semi-arid ecosystems, water availability is one of the primary controls on vegetation growth. When subsurface water resources are unavailable, the vegetation growth is dictated by the rainfall, and the random nature of the rainfall arrivals and quantities induces a probability distribution of soil moisture and vegetation biomass via the coupled dynamic equations of biomass balance and water balance. We have previously obtained an exact solution for these distributions under certain conditions, and shown that the mapping of rainfall variability to observed biomass variability can be successfully applied to a field site. Here, we expand upon our earlier theoretical work to show how the dynamics can give rise to more complicated, bimodal (and multimodal) structures in the biomass distribution when positive feedbacks between growth and water availability are included. We also derive some new analytical results for the crossing properties of this system, which enable us to determine on what time scale the effects of these feedbacks will be felt, and, relatedly, how long the system will take to cross between different modes.
Management of peripheral nerve defects: external fixator-assisted primary neurorrhaphy.

BACKGROUND Controlled joint extension followed by gradual distraction with use of an external fixator may facilitate primary repair of peripheral nerve defects by permitting end-to-end repair without tension. The hypothesis of the present study was that gradual lengthening of nerve repairs with use of incremental distraction would provide superior results compared with grafting or repair under tension. METHODS A median nerve segment measuring four times the diameter of the nerve was resected in thirty-six rabbits to create a 7-mm gap in the nerve. Neurorrhaphy was performed with use of one of three techniques. In Group 1 (cable graft), a tension-free medial antebrachial cutaneous graft was placed to allow full range of motion of the elbow postoperatively. In Group 2 (end-to-end repair without distraction), the elbow was externally fixed in hyperflexion and the nerve was repaired end-to-end. At fourteen days, the fixator was removed and unprotected elbow motion was permitted. In Group 3 (end-to-end repair with gradual distraction), the elbow was externally fixed in hyperflexion and primary neurorrhaphy was performed. At fourteen days, the elbow was extended 10 degrees every other day with use of the articulated external fixator until full extension was achieved. Median nerve amplitude, latency, and nerve-conduction velocity; flexor digitorum superficialis single-twitch force generation and maximum tetanic force generation; muscle mass; and elbow range of motion were measured at three or six months. In addition, histologic analysis of the median nerve distal to the repair site and the morphometry of the neuromuscular junction in the flexor digitorum superficialis were performed at six months. RESULTS All rabbits regained full active and passive range of motion. At three months, the nerve-conduction velocities in Groups 2 and 3 were significantly greater than that in Group 1. At six months, the nerve-conduction velocities and amplitudes in Group 3 were significantly greater than those in Groups 1 and 2. At six months, the tetanic force in Group 3 was significantly greater than those in Groups 1 and 2. There were no significant differences in muscle mass among the groups. There were no significant differences in histological findings among the three groups, although there was a trend toward larger fiber size in Group 3 as compared with the other two groups. The neuromuscular junctions in Group 3 had a significantly larger surface area than did those in Group 1 (p = 0.002) and Group 2 (p = 0.034). CONCLUSION The use of an articulated external fixator and controlled gradual distraction appears to facilitate the treatment of peripheral nerve defects.
Osseous malrepair in calcium-deficient states.

A primary body tissue involved in metabolic change under the influence of gravity is bone. Osseous integrity is obviously essential for normal musculoskeletal activity; this is of particular importance in long manned space flights where some evidence suggesting calcium loss from bone exists. Studies in our laboratory, utilizing an avian model, have been on the effects of chronic calcium deficiency (or “nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism”), particularly on bone repair. Quantitative methods to determine both the rate and quality of osseous defects have been developed. A calcium-deficient synthetic diet (0.002′ calcium by weight, but otherwise nutritionally complete) has been formulated to permit the induction of true calcium deficiency states in adult, skeletally mature, male domestic fowl. This report is concerned with the effects of long-term calcium depletion on bone repair. It has been classically taught that bone injury repair is always preferentially treated by the body, despite skeletal calcium depletion. For the first time, we have been able to demonstrate that this is incorrect; in the chronic calcium-deficient state, an osseous defect will not be preferentially calcified at the expense of an already-decalcifying skeleton. Quantitative data demonstrate that healing patterns in bone vary in response to the duration of the calcium deficiency. In adult male fowl, calcium-deficient for ten months, bone repair is almost completely absent; in those calcium-deficient for six months, bone repair is both retarded and imperfect; repair is absent even when supplemental calcium is administered at the time of osseous injury induction and thereafter. The conclusions to be drawn from this study are that (i) bone repair is adversely affected in the calcium-deficient state, (ii) the rate and quality of bone repair are directly related to the duration of the calcium-deficient state, and (iii) supplemental calcium administration in chronic calcium-deficient states initially retards, rather than enhances, bone repair. These conclusions have direct relevance to long-term manned space flight.
Action Recognition in Realistic Sports Videos

The ability to analyze the actions which occur in a video is essential for automatic understanding of sports. Action localization and recognition in videos are two main research topics in this context. In this chapter, we provide a detailed study of the prominent methods devised for these two tasks which yield superior results for sports videos. We adopt UCF Sports, which is a dataset of realistic sports videos collected from broadcast television channels, as our evaluation benchmark. First, we present an overview of UCF Sports along with comprehensive statistics of the techniques tested on this dataset as well as the evolution of their performance over time. To provide further details about the existing action recognition methods in this area, we decompose the action recognition framework into three main steps of feature extraction, dictionary learning to represent a video, and classification; we overview several successful techniques for each of these steps. We also overview the problem of spatio-temporal localization of actions and argue that, in general, it manifests a more challenging problem compared to action recognition. We study several recent methods for action localization which have shown promising results on sports videos. Finally, we discuss a number of forward-thinking insights drawn from overviewing the action recognition and localization methods. In particular, we argue that performing the recognition on temporally untrimmed videos and attempting to describe an action, instead of conducting a forced-choice classification, are essential for analyzing the human actions in a realistic environment.
Evidence of Change Deafness with Continuously Moving Targets

Change deafness, the failure to detect above-threshold changes within complex scenes, has been considered analogous to change blindness despite the fact that auditory and visual demonstrations have...
Clinical correlates of sluggish cognitive tempo in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder frequently experience social communication difficulties, executive functioning deficits, and anxiety and depressive symptoms, which are similar to the symp...
Auditory Gating and Extended High-Frequency Thresholds in Normal-Hearing Adults With Minimal Tinnitus

Purpose The goal of this study was to assess whether peripheral auditory sensitivity in frequency regions above 8 kHz is related to central inhibitory function, as measured through a sensory gating...
Signal Filter Cut-Off Frequency Determination to Enhance the Accuracy of Rail Track Irregularity Detection and Localization

A continuous condition monitoring system to detect and localize railroad track irregularities is achievable with inertial sensors onboard revenue service trains. However, the inaccurate geospatial position estimates of GPS receivers and the non-uniform sampling of inertial sensors adds noise and reduces signal strength. Consequently, the signal-to-noise ratio decreases, which leads to higher rates of false positives and false negatives. Appropriate signal filtering, alignment, and combination from multiple traversals can enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. However, it is not straightforward in determining the best cut-off frequency for the filter. This paper introduces a method that is suitable for any signal filtering approach. The frequency window of the resultant energy and variance of ensemble averaged FFTs informs the best cut-off frequency. The results affirm that a low-pass finite impulse response filter with the selected cutoff frequency progressively increases the signal-to-noise ratio with increasing filter order, thus demonstrating the effectiveness and practicality of the method.
The role of electrical conductivity in radarwave reflection

Abstract. We have examined a general expression giving the specular reflection coefficient for a radar wave approaching a reflecting interface with normal incidence. The reflecting interface separates two homogeneous media, the properties of which are fully described by three scalar quantities: dielectric permittivity, magnetic permeability, and electrical conductivity. The derived relationship indicates that electrical conductivity should not be neglected a priori in glaciological investigations of subglacial materials, and in GPR studies of saturated sediments and bedrock, even at the high end of typical linear radar frequencies used in such investigations (e.g., 100 MHz). Our own experience in resistivity surveying in Antarctica, combined with a literature review, suggests that a wide range of geologic materials can have electrical conductivity that is high enough to significantly impact the value of radar reflectivity. Furthermore, we have given two examples of prior studies in which inclusion of electrical conductivity in calculation of the radar bed reflectivity may provide an explanation for results that may be considered surprising if the impact of electrical conductivity on radar reflection is neglected. The commonly made assumption that only dielectric permittivity of the two media need to be considered in interpretation of radar reflectivity can lead to erroneous conclusions.
Geographic Atrophy: Confocal Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy, Histology, and Inflammation in the Region of Expanding Lesions

Purpose To describe the pathology of AMD in eyes with geographic atrophy (GA) using confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) blue light autofluorescence (BAF), and near-infrared (IR) AF and to correlate it with the histology and immunohistochemistry analysis at the margins of the GA lesion. Methods Enucleated, fixed eyes from seventeen donors with GA were imaged and analyzed by BAF-SLO, IRAF-SLO, and by fundus macroscopy (FM). Tissue from the margins of the GA lesions was cut and processed for resin embedding and histology or cryosectioning and fluorescence in the green and far-red channels, and immunohistochemistry to assess markers of inflammation. Isolated DNA from donors was genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously shown to be risk factors for the development and progression of AMD. Results Around the leading edge of the GA lesions we observed hypertrophic RPE cells with cytoplasm filled with granules fluorescent both in the far-red and green-red channels; abundant microglia and macrophage; deposition of complement factor H (CFH) in Bruch's membrane (BM) and increased membrane attack complex (MAC) on RPE cells. Conclusions Fluorescence imaging of cryosections of RPE cells around the leading edge of the GA lesions suggest that IRAF-SLO visualizes mostly melanin-related compounds. In addition, medium-size GA atrophy displayed the most significant changes in inflammation markers.
Tracking Urbanization and Exurbs: Migration Across the Rural–Urban Continuum, 1990–2016

This paper summarizes annual migration patterns across the rural-urban continuum in the USA between 1990 and 2016. We introduce a modified rural-urban continuum classification, the Rural-Urban Gradient (RUG). The RUG holds metropolitan classification constant, effectively designates exurbs, and distinguishes central city core counties in major metropolitan areas from their suburbs and exurbs. The RUG is used to compare, over time and across regions, net migration, and migration efficiency using annual county-level data from the Internal Revenue Service. Results show how migration patterns correlated with changes in demographics and housing depending on counties' location along the RUG. We also describe the extent to which rural migration flows converged in counties at metropolitan peripheries and concentrated in the South and West, thus shaping widening disparity across US rural contexts.
Comprehensive and systemic optimization for improving the yield of SARS-COV-2 spike pseudotyped virus

Virus neutralization assay is principally conducted by measuring the ability of the antibodies in patient sera to prevent the infection of susceptible cells by the virus. As SARS-CoV-2 is classified as a risk group 3 pathogen, neutralization assay using a live virus needs to be handled in a biosafety level 3 laboratory. To overcome this limitation, pseudotyped viruses have been developed as an alternative for the live SARS-CoV-2. However, one of the issues that we and others have encountered during the production of pseudotyped virus with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was the low virus yield. In our own experience, we were only able initially to produce a stock with a virus titer that is more than two orders of magnitude lower than what we usually get with a vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) pseudotyped lentiviral vector. We have conducted a series of improvements, including using a C-terminal truncated form of spike protein and a D614G mutated spike. Together, these have led to a significant improvement in the yield of the pseudotyped virus. Finally, our data show that using a high-affinity ACE2-expressing cell line resulted in a reduction in detection sensitivity of the neutralization assay.
Socioscope: spatio-temporal signal recovery from social media

Many real-world phenomena can be represented by a spatio-temporal signal: where, when, and how much. Social media is a tantalizing data source for those who wish to monitor such signals. Unlike most prior work, we assume that the target phenomenon is known and we are given a method to count its occurrences in social media. However, counting is plagued by sample bias, incomplete data, and, paradoxically, data scarcity --- issues inadequately addressed by prior work. We formulate signal recovery as a Poisson point process estimation problem. We explicitly incorporate human population bias, time delays and spatial distortions, and spatio-temporal regularization into the model to address the noisy count issues. We present an efficient optimization algorithm and discuss its theoretical properties. We show that our model is more accurate than commonly-used baselines. Finally, we present a case study on wildlife roadkill monitoring, where our model produces qualitatively convincing results.
Superclustering of Galaxies

Evidence for superclustering of galaxies includes the local supercluster, the large deviation of the observed surface distribution of clusters of galaxies from a random one, the cell size dependence of the index of clumpiness, the results of covariance function tests for correlations between different cluster centers and between clusters and individual galaxies, and a power-spectrum analysis. All tests give results that indicate or are compatible with the existence of inhomogeneities in the distribution of matter in space with linear diameters of 50 to 100 Mpc. If these are dynamically stable superclusters, they probably have internal velocity dispersions in the range 1000 to 3000 km s−1. The possible effects of superclustering on dynamical studies of individual clusters are discussed briefly.
Massenspektrometrie und IHRE anwendung auf strukturelle und stereochemische probleme—LXVII

Zusammenfassung Die Zerfallsreaktion organischer Molekule unter Elektronenbeschuss, die formal einer retro-Diels-Alder-Reaktion entspricht, wird diskutiert. Im Falle des einfachsten Vertreters, Cyclohexen, wird versucht, an Hand von thermodynamischen Daten die fur den Zerfall notwendige Energie zu berechnen, und es wird gezeigt, dass auf Grund dieser Uberlegungen Voraussagen uber die bevorzugte Bildung eines ionisierten En- oder Dien-Fragmentes gemacht werden konnen, die selbst auf komplizierte Molekule wie Steroide und pentacyclische Triterpene anwendbar sind. Beispiele aus verschiedenen Verbindungsklassen werden gegeben, die den diagnostischen Wert dieser Zerfallsreaktion illustrieren.
The value added intellectual coefficient - possible indicator of measurement in the knowledge based economy

The purpose of this article is a fundamental re-evaluation of the method of VAICTM, which is very often used by researchers around the world, often in major studies assessing the value added produced mainly in the banking sector and in listed companies. It is questionable whether this method deserves such recognition, and whether it should be used for the general studies of the effectiveness of the use of resources both tangible and intangible in creating value for the company. This critical analysis was then presented in the article.
Therapy of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in adults [see comments]

Chronic ITP is a common hematologic illness. Approximately three fourths of the patients respond to corticosteroids or splenectomy and need no further treatment. Patients refractory to these two therapeutic approaches are relatively resistant to present forms of treatment and are at much greater risk for morbidity and mortality. Future clinical studies evaluating therapy in this refractory group would be best performed in a cooperative group setting in which large numbers of patients could be treated in a prospective randomized manner.
Of Politics and Pulpits: A first Amendment Analysis of IRS Restrictions on the Political Activities of Religious Organizations

This Article explores some of the policy justifications offered in support of restricting the political activities of tax-exempt religious organizations. The author begins with an overview of the scope of current federal restrictions and then considers the contention that it is inappropriate for religious organizations to be involved in politics from their own standpoint. He argues that federal restrictions on the political activities of tax-exempt religious organizations raise a fundamental question of mission that must be resolved by each organization according to its conscience. The author also considers restrictions front the standpoint of public policy and constitutional law, with a focus on tit government's interest in not. compelling taxpayers to subsidize political speech with which they disagree, and its interest. in preserving its ability to prevent the taking of tax deductions for contributions to political candidates. He concludes that appropriate respect for the values of free speech and free exercise warrants a narrowing construction of the restrictions in certain circumstances.
Effects of an interchain disulfide bond on tropomyosin structure. Differential scanning calorimetry.

An interchain disulfide bond is readily formed between cysteines located at equivalent positions (190) on each of the two chains of rabbit skeletal tropomyosin (Tm) by Cu”-catalyzed air oxidation [ 1,2] or by Nbsz reaction [3] . In order to determine how this crosslink affects the structure of Tm and what relevance it may have to its function, we studied the thermal and denaturant induced unfolding profiles by spectroscopic methods [4]. Two effects of the crosslink were apparent in the unfolding profiles. A shift of the major unfolding transition to higher temperature or greater denaturant (GuHCI) concentrations and the appearance of a pretransition in the 30&45”C region or the O-2 M GuHC1 region. Previous comprehensive studies of Tm unfolding which were done in the presence of reducing agent to prevent disulfide bond formation obtained evidence that partially unfolded intermediates exist prior to the beginning of the major transition and that the appearance of dissociated subunit species coincided with the major unfolding transition (2-3 M GuHCl)
Impacts and the Early Evolution of Life

The K/T event shows that, even today, biospheric cratering is an important process. Impacts were much larger and more frequent on the early Earth. In all likelihood impacts posed the greatest challenge to the survival of early life.
Optical imaging of temporal integration in human auditory cortex

Behavioral and physiological studies have indicated the existence of a temporal window of auditory integration (TWI), within which similar sounds are perceptually grouped. The current study exploits the combined temporal and spatial resolution of fast optical imaging (the event-related optical signal, EROS) to show that brain activity elicited by sounds within and outside the TWI differs in location and latency. In a previous event-related brain potential (ERP) study [Sable, Gratton, and Fabiani (2003) European Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 2492-2496], we found that the mismatch negativity (MMN; a brain response to acoustic irregularities) elicited by deviations in stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) had a unique shape when the deviant SOA was within the TWI. In the present study, we extended these ERP results using EROS. Participants heard trains of five tones. The first four tones had SOAs of 96, 192, 288 or 384 ms. The SOA of the fourth and fifth tones was either the same (standard) or one of the other three (deviant) SOAs. With a deviant SOA of 96 ms, the cortical response was approximately 2 cm anterior to responses to longer SOA deviants, and was followed by a later response that was absent in the other conditions. Similarly to the electrical MMN, the optical mismatch response amplitudes were proportional to the magnitude of interval deviance. These results, in combination with our previous findings, indicate that the temporal integration of sounds is reflected in cortical mismatch responses that differ from the typical response to interval deviance.
Longevity and Fecundity of Boll Weevils Exposed to Sublethal Doses of Systemic Insecticides

Four systemic insecticides, disulfoton, dicrotophos, monocrotophos, and aldicarb were evaluated for their effect on the longevity and fecundity of Anthonomus grandis Boheman. Weevils were exposed continuously to 2 treated substrates: (1) filter paper treated with the toxicants, and (2) excised cotton leaves that had taken up known amounts of the toxicants through the petioles, Mortality increased with time and increased doses, Also, the rate of oviposition decreased during a 19-day period when the weevils were continuously exposed to sublethal doses of the insecticides; greater reductions occurred at higher doses. In all tests, aldicarb affected mortality and fecundity more than other insecticides.
Stress-related sleep disturbance and polysomnographic response to caffeine.

Abstract Background and purpose To determine the sleep response to caffeine in individuals vulnerable to stress-related sleep disturbance as measured by polysomnography. Patients and methods Eleven healthy individuals without insomnia scoring low (4 women, mean age=32.64±15.46 years) and 10 healthy individuals also without insomnia scoring high (6 women, mean age=34.20±13.73 years) on a measure of vulnerability to stress-related sleep disturbance were studied in a laboratory protocol. A moderate-low dose of caffeine (3 mg/kg) was administered 1 h prior to lights-out and compared to a counterbalanced control night with each condition separated by 1 week. Standard polysomnographic measures were assessed (i.e. total sleep time, sleep efficiency, latency to persistent sleep, and sleep stage percentages) for both control and caffeine nights. Results There were no between-group differences in sleep on the control night. Importantly, individuals reporting vulnerability to stress-related sleep disturbance had significantly prolonged latency to persistent sleep in response to the caffeine challenge (interaction; P Conclusion Normal sleepers with an identified vulnerability to stress-induced sleep disturbance exhibited greater objectively verifiable sleep-reactivity in response to a caffeine challenge compared to non-vulnerable individuals. These results suggest that the construct of individual differences in vulnerability to sleep disturbance applies to a pharmacological ‘stressor’ (i.e. caffeine) as well as to previously assessed stressors such as a first-night effect. This finding provides further support for generalized trait vulnerability by demonstrating a sleep disturbance to a wake-promoting pharmacological challenge in specific a priori identified individuals.
The Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing as an Entry-Level Requirement for Professional Nursing Practice.

The education of professional nurses must take place in institutions of higher learning with a bachelor of science in nursing degree required for beginning professional practice. Nurses educated in these academic settings should be socialized as professionals with a philosophical and value system that is compatible with this role. This education should be flexible, diverse, and directed toward providing the nurse with a solid base for general, professional nursing practice. Nursing as a profession is a social institution and must present itself as a strong, unified profession to survive the inevitable changes occurring on the health care front. By tracing the evolution of the entry-into-practice dilemma, a systems archetype and two mental models that currently drive nursing and jeopardize its potential to meet the demands of the emerging health care market are identified. The authors offer a high-leverage solution to the entry-into-practice dilemma that they believe will strengthen the nursing profession.