cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deficiency in a cytosolic ribose-5-phosphate isomerase causes chloroplast dysfunction, late flowering and premature cell death in Arabidopsis.

The oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (oxPPP) is part of central metabolism, consisting of two distinct phases: the oxidative phase and the non-oxidative phase. The non-oxidative phase of the oxPPP generates carbon skeletons for the synthesis of nucleotides, aromatic amino acids, phenylpropanoids and their derivatives, which are essential for plant growth and development. However, it is not well understood how the non-oxidative phase of the oxPPP contributes to plant growth and development. Here, we report the characterization of Arabidopsis T-DNA knockout mutants of the RPI2 gene (At2g01290), which encodes a cytosolic ribose-5-phosphate isomerase (RPI) that catalyzes the reversible interconversion of ribulose-5-phosphate and ribose-5-phosphate in the non-oxidative phase of the oxPPP. Although recombinant Arabidopsis RPI2 protein exhibits marked RPI enzymatic activity, knockout of the RPI2 gene does not significantly change the total RPI activity in the mutant plants. Interestingly, knockout of RPI2 interferes with chloroplast structure and decreases chloroplast photosynthetic capacity. The rpi2 mutants accumulate less starch in the leaves and flower significantly later than wild-type when grown under short-day conditions. Furthermore, the rpi2 mutants display premature cell death in the leaves when grown at an above-normal temperature (26°C). These results demonstrate that a deficiency in the non-oxidative phase of the cytosolic oxPPP has pleiotropic effects on plant growth and development and causes premature cell death.
Endothelial Dysfunction A Marker of Atherosclerotic Risk

Endothelial dysfunction is a systemic disorder and a key variable in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and its complications. Current evidence suggests that endothelial status is not determined solely by the individual risk factor burden but rather, may be regarded as an integrated index of all atherogenic and atheroprotective factors present in an individual, including known as well as yet-unknown variables and genetic predisposition. Endothelial dysfunction reflects a vascular phenotype prone to atherogenesis and may therefore serve as a marker of the inherent atherosclerotic risk in an individual. In line with this hypothesis, dysfunction of either the coronary or peripheral vascular endothelium was shown to constitute an independent predictor of cardiovascular events, providing valuable prognostic information additional to that derived from conventional risk factor assessment. Interventions like risk factor modification and treatment with various drugs, including statins and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, may improve endothelial function and thereby, potentially prognosis. Hence, given its reversibility and granted the availability of a diagnostic tool to identify patients at risk and to control the efficacy of therapy in clinical practice, endothelial dysfunction may be an attractive primary target in the effort to optimize individualized therapeutic strategies to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Collaborative Approach: The Self-Study Process And Writing The Report

When conducting a self-study within an educational organization, there should be a collaborative effort by members of the organization regarding the process and writing the report. In order to create a culture of self-study and to make the process clear to all stakeholders (faculty, staff, students leaders, administrators and support partners), there should be frequency in evaluation and assessing the progress of the organization. The self-study should be conducted for “self” and to prepare for the accreditation association’s visit every five years generally. The major purpose of the self-study is not only to comply with wishes of the accreditation association’s standards, but to comprehensively evaluate how the stakeholders or educators are doing within the organization. The self-study should show how the educational organization has evolved and improved its services and commitment over the past several years by addressing strengths and areas recommended for improvement. In preparation for articulation for the growth of the organization, each department within the organization should have in place a common formatted template for writing up the self-study report based on the standards set by the accrediting agency. The standards stated/written by the accrediting agency will help to guide the writing process. In essence, the template will help the writing groups to know who, what, when, where, and why to address needed information. These group writers should know how to address information needed in a precise manner and to the point when writing the report. The writing groups should use information, materials and resources that the educational organization already has on hand to write the report. The available and use of data within the organization should be collected and analyzed by groups and committees of individuals, with expertise, to be shared with others and write the self-study report. All written information for the self-study report should be supported by evidence of physical and electronic documents for review by stakeholders and the visiting accreditation association team. When writing the self-study report in preparation for the accreditation association visit, this is the general format to follow: introduction, degree programs and objectives, general education, resources/materials, outcome assessment, specific recommendation for improvement, a comprehensive look at graduate programs, summary evaluation and optional information about success stories i.e. using photos or graphics.
The New Iconography of the Global City: displacement and the residues of culture in Chicago

In this article, the authors situate race within the context of a discussion of globalization, neoliberalism and the class conquest of the city, focusing attention particularly on how developments associated with these dynamic processes present us with new philosophical and practical challenges to addressing the topic of racial antagonism within the school and the university in the new century. Specifically, the article is formulated against the backdrop of important changes in social, economic and cultural dynamics taking place on a global scale – dynamics which have as profound implications for racial affiliation and ‘its’ cultural and social uses in the new century as ‘they’ have for the organization of knowledge in schooling and in the university.
Comparison of the association with sleep apnoea of obesity versus insulin resistance.

Sleep apnoea severity in overweight men may be more closely related to insulin resistance than degree of obesity http://ow.ly/S1LC5
Trinity Health: Using Digitization, Unification, and Data Analytics to Tame the Quality, Cost, and Accessibility Problems of Healthcare

Trinity Health of Novi, Michigan has sought to tame healthcare’s quality, cost, and accessibility problems by using enterprise-wide digitization, unification, and analytical decision making. It started by making strategic commitments to an enterprise-wide digital platform and a unified operating model. These commitments created a foundation for analytical decision making and organizational improvements. Operating units across the enterprise sought to adopt standardized information systems applications, standardized clinical and operational processes, and standardized data types and definitions. The standardization of applications, processes, and data definitions increased the quality of performance metrics and fostered performance benchmarking across similar operating units. Transparency of performance results strengthened accountability and fostered collaboration and best practice sharing across operating units. Lower performing units started to learn and adopt the best practices of higher performing units. This organizational learning enabled Trinity Health to increase the quality and efficiency of its care. The resources freed up by the efficiencies were used to increase the accessibility of Trinity Health’s services to poor and uninsured patient populations. Going forward, Trinity Health faces challenges in maintaining and upgrading its digitization, unification, and analytics foundation as it acquires new entities and co-evolves with the rapidly changing healthcare industry; expanding the foundation to all entities in its continuum of care; and building more sophisticated analytical skills and expertise to enable a more predictive enterprise.
Organizations and Unusual Routines: A Systems Analysis of Dysfunctional Feedback Processes

List of figures List of tables Preface Acknowledgements 1. Crazy systems, Kafka circuits and unusual routines 2. Causes, symptoms, and subroutines of unusual routines in six computer information/communication systems 3. Getting personal - unusual routines at the customer service interface 4. A multi-theoretical foundation for understanding unusual routines 5. A detailed case study of unusual routines 6. Summary and discussion of the case study results 7. Individual and organizational challenges to feedback 8. A multi-level and cross-disciplinary summary of concepts related to unusual routines 9. Recommendations for resolving and mitigating unusual routines and related phenomena 10. summary and a tentative integrated model of unusual routines References Index.
Finite groups that have exactly n elements of order n

(2002). Finite Groups That Have Exactly n Elements of Order n. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 215-219.
Boron-Dipyrromethene-Functionalized Hemilabile Ligands as “Turn-On” Fluorescent Probes for Coordination Changes in Weak-Link Approach Complexes

Herein we report a new class of hemilabile ligands with boron-dipyrromethene (Bodipy) fluorophores that, when complexed to Pt(II), can signal changes in coordination mode through changes in their fluorescence. The ligands consist of phosphino-amine or phosphino-thioether coordinating moieties linked to the Bodipy’s meso carbon via a phenylene spacer. Interestingly, this new class of ligands can be used to signal both ligand displacement and chelation reactions in a fluorescence “turn-on” fashion through the choice of weakly binding heteroatom in the hemilabile moiety, generating up to 10-fold fluorescence intensity increases. The Pt(II) center influences the Bodipy emission efficiency by regulating photoinduced electron transfer between the fluorophore and its meso substituent. The rates at which the excited Bodipy-species generate singlet oxygen upon excitation suggest that the heavy Pt(II) center also influences Bodipy’s emission efficiency by affecting intersystem crossing from the Bodipy excited singl...
LOCAL UPDATE SCHEMES FOR CELLULAR AUTOMATA IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN

This paper investigates original local update schemes for Cellular Automata (CA) in structural design. Local problems based on mathematical programming and optimality criteria are tested, allowing the isolation of an original local update scheme. The scheme consists of repeating analysis and optimality-based design rules locally. Several systematic experiments on various problem sizes are performed to show the efficiency and robustness of the approach. For comparison, the experiments are also run using a more traditional CA implementation.
Iron oxide nanoparticles grafted with sulfonated copolymers are stable in concentrated brine at elevated temperatures and weakly adsorb on silica.

Magnetic nanoparticles that can be transported in subsurface reservoirs at high salinities and temperatures are expected to have a major impact on enhanced oil recovery, carbon dioxide sequestration, and electromagnetic imaging. Herein we report a rare example of steric stabilization of iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles (NPs) grafted with poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate-co-acrylic acid) (poly(AMPS-co-AA)) that not only display colloidal stability in standard American Petroleum Institute (API) brine (8% NaCl + 2% CaCl2 by weight) at 90 °C for 1 month but also resist undesirable adsorption on silica surfaces (0.4% monolayer NPs). Because the AMPS groups interacted weakly with Ca2+, they were sufficiently well solvated to provide steric stabilization. The PAA groups, in contrast, enabled covalent grafting of the poly(AMPS-co-AA) chains to amine-functionalized IO NPs via formation of amide bonds and prevented polymer desorption even after a 40 000-fold dilution. The aforementioned methodology may be re...
Jamming Beamforming: A New Attack Vector in Jamming IEEE 802.11ac Networks

Wireless LAN systems (WLAN) are intrinsically vulnerable to various jamming attacks. The recently released 802.11ac protocol standardizes beam forming which is susceptible to new types of jamming attacks. We summarize those attacks and provide a proof-of-concept based implementation for one very efficient such attack. As far as we know, there has not been any previous work done using the beam forming mechanism as a jamming attack vector. We have used a 802.11ac Access Point (AP) along with a commercially available 802.11ac Net gear (A6200) client, both capable of beam forming. For the jammer, we used a Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP2) Software Defined Radio (SDR). We show that jamming the beam forming mechanism is very effective in reducing the aggregate throughput of the targeted WLAN. Furthermore, we also show that the effects of jamming the beam forming mechanism in a Multi User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) environment can bring the throughput down to a small fraction of its maximum potential.
Results From a Controlled Study of the iPad Fractions Game Motion Math

Although fractions knowledge is essential for future success in mathematics, data show that most U.S. students fail to become proficient in fractions. With the advent of mobile technologies such as...
Seeding an arbitrary convention in capuchin monkeys: the effect of social context

The study of social learning in non-human animals has advanced beyond attempts to determine which animals are capable of learning socially to investigations of the factors that influence transmission. Capuchin monkeys (Sapajus sp.) are adept social learners of various behaviours including extractive foraging techniques and social customs. Here, we conducted an open diffusion experiment to determine whether capuchins would learn an arbitrary convention from a knowledgeable demonstrator. In addition, we investigated whether rank, sex and social context affected acquisition and expression of the behaviour. Participation in the experiment was strongly influenced by dominance rank in the group setting. However, when tested individually, the majority of individuals participated and faithfully copied the convention that was seeded into their group. Our findings demonstrate that capuchins can acquire an arbitrary convention via social learning, but that social context must be carefully considered in studies of social learning.
Absence of seasonal variation on the frequency of HELLP syndrome

BACKGROUND We wanted to determine the relationship between weather/seasonal conditions and the incidence/severity of HELLP syndrome. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed medical records of all patients with class 1 (platelet nadir 50,000/microL but 100,000/microL but < or = 150,000/microL) HELLP syndrome, who had been treated at the University of Mississippi Medical Center between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1992. RESULTS No seasonal differences were observed in the incidence or severity of pregnancies complicated by HELLP syndrome. CONCLUSION HELLP syndrome appears to occur throughout the year without any seasonal variation.
Acquired respiratory failure in critically ill patients

With increasing survival rates from acute medical or surgical emergencies a new form of peripheral neuropathy, CIP, has been recognized. CIP can be seen only in patients who are considered to be critically ill; therefore, it invariably occurs in the ICU. Typically, initial symptoms begin with transient (hours to a few days) septic encephalopathy followed by generalized weakness, manifested in weaning failure, limb weakness and hyporeflexia. Diagnosis is confirmed by an EMG. CIP should be considered in any elderly patient with sepsis and prolonged respiratory muscle weakness. Prognosis is poor in severe cases, in which the EMG also shows severe axonal degeneration. In milder forms, fair to good recovery is expected within weeks. Management includes treatment of sepsis, normalization of failing organ function, physical therapy and proper nutrition.
Domestic Violence and Aging: Teaching About Their Intersection

Women of all ages experience domestic violence, and the population of middle-aged and older women is growing rapidly. This article discusses how women’s issues, domestic violence, aging, and elder abuse all relate to social work education and then suggests how they can be integrated together into the social work curriculum through teaching about elder domestic violence.
Hospital Readmission Rates Among Patients With Schizophrenia Treated With Long-Acting Injectables or Oral Antipsychotics

Objective:This study analyzed hospital readmission rates of patients with schizophrenia who were treated with long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) or with oral antipsychotics after being discharged from a hospitalization.Methods:Medical claims of patients with schizophrenia who were ages 18–64 and had a first hospitalization for a serious mental illness (index hospitalization, October 2007 through September 2012) and at least one prescription for a first- or second-generation antipsychotic were analyzed from the Truven Health MarketScan Multi-State Medicaid Database. Analyses were conducted for patients with a sole diagnosis of schizophrenia (N=1,450) and for all patients with schizophrenia (N=15,556), which added patients with a codiagnosis of bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. Probability of rehospitalization for any cause at 30 and 60 days after the initial hospitalization was assessed with multivariate logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) methods. The PSM model m...
War Against the Idols: FROM ICONOCLASM TO REVOLUTION: THE POLITICAL DIMENSIONS OF THE WAR AGAINST IDOLATRY

W hen it came to matters of faith, John Calvin was more interested in doing what was “right” than about being liked or complimented; or at least he wanted to give that impression. As he told Melanchton, no servant of God should concern himself with being popular. In December 1556, though, one Scottish refugee living in Geneva praised Calvin and his work as few others ever had, especially in the city itself. The man was John Knox, an aggressive Reformer who made Calvin and Farel seem timid in comparison. What he said about Calvin's Geneva has come to be regarded as perhaps the greatest testimony to the way in which Calvinism sought to turn its theological vision into a concrete social and political reality: I neither fear nor ashame to say, [Geneva] is the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in earth since the days of the Apostles. In other places, I confess Christ to be truly preached; but manners and religion so sincerely reformed, I have not yet seen in any other place. Yet, only two years earlier, when Calvin and Knox first met, the two men had disagreed about the way in which such a state of affairs could be achieved in less receptive lands, such as England and Scotland. As in the other cases we have witnessed where pupil met master, Calvin could not bring himself to accept the new dimensions being given to his own teachings by this refugee.
Design considerations for digitally controlled buck converters with large input transients

While digital control has achieved success in various power electronic applications, data conversion remains a primary challenge and limitation compared to conventional analog methods. In particular, tradeoffs among resolution, switching frequency, and power consumption of digital pulse-width modulation (DPWM) blocks limit performance, particularly in high conversion-ratio applications. Analog-digital conversion is also challenging when line-voltage feedforward techniques are applied as it requires high speed, accuracy, and in some cases exposure to voltages exceeding the rating of deep-submicron CMOS technologies. This work explores tradeoffs in power consumption of counter/delay-line DPWM circuits, implemented in CMOS, and derives an optimization method to segment the bit allocation among the counter and delay line components. A method for line-voltage feedforward is also presented that can instrument and quantize transients on the supply voltage without direct exposure of low voltage devices to the supply. An automotive 48V:7V application is considered.
Bipedal Hopping Reveals Evidence of Advanced Neuromuscular Aging Among People With Mild Multiple Sclerosis

ABSTRACTMeasures of walking such as the timed 25-ft walk test (T25FWT) may not be able to detect subtle impairment in lower limb function among people with multiple sclerosis (MS). We examined bipedal hopping to determine to what extent people with mild (Expanded Disease Severity Scale ≤ 3.5) MS (n = 13) would differ compared to age-, gender-, and education-matched controls (n = 9) and elderly participants (n = 13; ≥ 70 years old). We estimated lower limb power (e.g., hop length, velocity), consistency (e.g., variability of hop length, time), and symmetry (ratio of left to right foot). Participants completed the T25FWT and, after a rest, they then hopped using both feet 4 times along the walkway. We found that although all groups scored below the 6 -s cutoff for T25FWT, the elderly group had significantly shorter hop lengths, more variability, and more asymmetry than the controls. The results of the MS group were not significantly different from the elderly or controls in most measures and most of their v...
ACCOUNTING MEASUREMENT AND CAPACITY LIMITS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICES

In this paper the capacity limits of technological devices used in ancient Egypt are used to explain the Biblical phrase that in accounting for grain the Egyptians ran out of numbers.
Severe sunitinib-induced myelosuppression in a patient with a CYP 3A4 polymorphism:

Sunitinib, an oral vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, is a first-line option for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and widely used in clinical practice. Despite the proven benefit of sunitnib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, patients may suffer from a variety of adverse events including hypertension, fatigue, hypothyroidism, hand-foot skin reactions, rash, depigmentation, and myelosuppression. Myelosuppression is usually mild, transient and resolves during the two weeks at the end of each cycle where no drug is taken. We present a case of severe and early grade 3 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia occurring two weeks into a six-week cycle. Because of the extreme nature of the toxicity, CYP 3A4 polymorphisms were explored. The patient was found to be heterozygous for CYP 3A4*22, at least partially explaining the early-onset and severity of myelosuppression. This pharmacogenetics information resulted in a rechallenge of dose-reduced sunitinib, which was well tolerated by the patient. The current state of pharmacogenomics concerning sunitinb is also presented, and the need for greater research in this area is highlighted.
Oakeshott, Schumacher, and an examination of the tension between the “college and career readiness” consensus and school choice in American education policy

American education policy at the elite level has coalesced around a consensus valuing “college and career readiness” as the primary metric and value for American schools. This “readiness” is often defined by economic outcomes or by standardized test measures (which serve as predictors for economic outcomes). Policy actors at the local, state, and national levels are pursuing more centralized methods to reach goals based on these value assumptions. At the same time, more individualized programs and more forms of school choice are being implemented across the nation. This theoretical paper explores criticisms of this approach from both the political left and right, as well as the inherent tension between the desire for centralized standardization and outcomes measured by economic outcomes on one hand, and the growing desire among families for individualized, varied, and self-directed schooling experiences on the other.
A novel approach for performing measurements in diagnostic images on a mobile-based App for the training of professionals

Mobile Apps are deeply entering in daily lives and could be also used for e-learning/e-training purpose. The realisation of a Mobile App, designed for iOS, would allow a wide spread of such tools, even among the medical community. However, several key points should be faced to build up a reliable product for this purpose, among which the implementation of accurate, reproducible methods to perform measurements on biomedical images. To this extent, a new approach for computing distances on biomedical images was developed and the results obtained with this approach were comparable to the ones achieved with more complex systems. Such result could foster the implementation of more complex functions and Apps devoted to healthcare professionals in various fields.
THE SAFETY AND TOLERABILITY OF MULTIPLE DOSE ADMINISTRATION OF CSL112, AN INTRAVENOUS FORMULATION OF PLASMA-DERIVED APOA-I, AMONG SUBJECTS WITH MODERATE RENAL IMPAIRMENT AFTER ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

CSL112 is plasma-derived apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), currently in development for early reduction of cardiovascular risk after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The AEGIS-I trial demonstrated renal and hepatic safety and elevations in cholesterol efflux with 4 weekly intravenous infusions of 2g or
Taking the fear out of apocalyptic preaching

In the last century of the American Church, fear has characterized much of apocalyptic preaching. Fear of apocalyptic texts has inhibited the preaching of them in some pulpits; fear of the future a...
FORCAST: A Mid-Infrared Camera for SOFIA

We describe the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) which is presently operating as a facility instrument on the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)....
Linear elasticity with isotropic lognormal Young's modulus: Localization of stresses and strains and effective stiffness tensor

Publisher Summary This chapter concentrates on the analysis on the stresses σ and strains ɛ in linear elastic solids when Young's modulus E varies spatially as an isotropic lognormal random field and Poisson's ratio v is constant. Under ergodicity conditions (when the spatial fluctuations of In E are of high frequency relative to the size of the solid), we study the localization properties of σ and ɛ and obtain an expression for the effective stiffness tensor Keff. The most fundamental issue is how the random stresses and strains at a point inside the body vary when F is low-passed below different cutoff frequencies o, where r ≥ 0 is a resolution parameter.
Lung energy metabolism following twenty-four hours exposure to one hundred percent oxygen.

The interstitial edema and endothelial cell damage observed in rat lungs following 48 hours of exposure to 100% oxygen is believed to result from oxygen-derived free-radical damage of cellular membranes, enzyme proteins, and possibly components of the extracellular matrix. Earlier physiological alterations of endothelial function have been demonstrated by depressed serotonin uptake in isolated perfused rat lungs following 18 to 24 hours of oxygen exposure,1 at a time when tissue adenine nucleotide levels have been found not to be affected.2 In vitro experiments using homogenates and isolated subcellular tissue fractions have demonstrated that key enzyme systems involved in energy generation are susceptible to oxygen inactivation. These include the dehydrogenases of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, pyruvate, succinate, and oxoglutarate.3–5 The purpose of the present investigation was to use an intact organ preparation to determine whether lung glycolytic and mitochondrial enzyme systems are impaired during the first 24 hours of oxygen exposure when pathological alterations are not observed.
Electron Transfer at Biological Interfaces

The electron transfer rates were electrochemically measured across the manifested bio-membrane-solution interface. Three or five layers of lipid membranes (dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine with or without gramicidin) were formed on the metal substrate (gold, platinum or tin dioxide) and were brought into contact with aqueous solution containing redox ions (Q/H2Q). Tafel line characteristics with biolipid-gramicidin were radically different from those of the biolipid (which resembled those on the substrate).
“STATIC” OCTUPOLE DEFORMATION

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses static octupole deformation. Certain nuclei can be described as having intrinsic shapes with parity-breaking static moments. The chapter discusses the rationale for this description and presents spectroscopic models and a comparison of their consequences with experiment. The key to understanding the structure of a large class of nuclei is to be able to imagine an intrinsic frame of reference in which the nucleus has quadrupole deformation. The chapter describes ground state as an average of all possible orientations of the intrinsic frame and illustrates the same. Then the quadrupole and higher multipole moments can be observed only via transition moments to a nearly degenerate I = 2 level whose excitation energy is associated with the rotational frequency and reflects the fact that the intrinsic frame of this nucleus is not an inertial frame for the entire universe. In nuclei, a major contribution to the splitting of such parity doublets arises from coupling to nonaxial mode. Theoretical physics recognizes and deals with broken intrinsic symmetries through the field approximation. A Hamiltonian is minimized without imposing symmetries on the fields, and the method is useful if correlations can be added and spontaneously broken symmetries restored with only minor perturbations of the intrinsic state. Theoretically, the basic point is that the energy minimum—however shallow it may be—is in fact the best possible mean field approximation. The position of shallow minima is currently being emphasized also in other applications of mean field theory—for example, in connection with triaxial shapes at very high spins. The most important effect of shallowness in these analyses is shape polarizability.
Dissemination of information on neutropenic diet (ND) by top U.S. cancer centers: In line with evidence?

e18940Background: Neutropenic Diet (ND) is commonly recommended and widely practiced for cancer patients with neutropenia with the goal of reducing infections. However, multiple randomized trials s...
Mathematical models: An extension of the clinician's mind.

Abstract Traditionally, clinicians have used their experience and intuition to diagnose and treat disease states, including neurological disorders. However, the rapid increase in basic knowledge, coupled with a realization that human judgments are often flawed, has made it helpful to approach many clinical disorders by casting them in the form of models (quantitative hypotheses) that can be tested experimentally; in this way the power of the scientific method can be applied. This is especially the case in systems neuroscience, in which the experimental testing of mathematical models has proven an effective approach to understanding a range of clinical problems. Here, we focus on disorders of the neural control of eye movements, which offer many advantages to clinician scientists, providing examples of how thorny clinical mysteries became much clearer once they were formulated as models, and tested experimentally. Such an approach inevitably raises new questions and experimental tests and may suggest novel therapies.
An efficient regression testing approach for PHP Web applications using test selection and reusable constraints

Web applications undergo frequent changes. These changes can be due to the addition of new features or the modification of existing features to support customer requests or to patch faults in the system. Given that Web applications have a large surface area subject to attack, changes often include security fixes either in response to malicious attacks or to forestall such attacks. Effective regression testing should ensure that any change does not disable existing features or compromise security. Executing the entire regression test suite takes time and consumes many resources. One approach is to focus regression test efforts only on code paths that were modified in the new version. Such code paths can be identified using tools such as PHP Analysis and Regression Testing Engine (PARTE). In this paper, we extend this approach to test selection where a subset of existing tests that cover the modified code paths can be detected. To further reduce the amount of regression testing needed, we used PARTE’s reusable constraint value information to identify tests that can be reused against the new version without having to modify the input test values. We performed an empirical study to determine whether test selection data combined with reusable constraint values would further improve the turnaround time for regression tests. Results from the experiment conducted on four Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) web applications demonstrate that this approach is effective in reducing the cost of regression testing of frequently patched Web applications.
E-cigarette use is associated with a self-reported diagnosis of prediabetes in never cigarette smokers: Results from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system survey

Abstract Background The use of e-cigarettes is increasing in the US but there is still a paucity of research on the metabolic effects of e-cigarette use. The goal of this work was to determine the association between e-cigarette use and self-reported prediabetes in adult never cigarette smokers. Method The 2017 cross sectional Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey data was used for the analysis. Current e-cigarette users reported daily or someday use of e-cigarettes and former e-cigarette users reported no current use of e-cigarettes. Participants who reported a history of diabetes, gestational prediabetes/ diabetes were excluded. Odds ratios were calculated to determine the association between e-cigarette use and self-reported prediabetes in never cigarette smokers after adjusting for potential confounders. Results There were a total of 154,404 participants that met the inclusion criteria. Of those participants, there were 143,952 never, 1339 current and 7625 former e-cigarette users. Current e-cigarette users had an increased odds of reporting a diagnosis of prediabetes 1.97 (95% CI 1.25–3.10) compared to never e-cigarette users. After stratifying by gender, men and women had an increased odds ratio of reporting a diagnosis of prediabetes 2.36 (95% CI 1.26–4.40) and 1.88 (95% CI 1.00–3.53) respectively when compared to never e-cigarette users. There was no association between former e-cigarette use and a self-reported diagnosis of prediabetes. Conclusion Our findings show that e-cigarette use may be associated with self-reported prediabetes. Further evaluation is needed in prospective studies.
Impact of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion on Utilization of Mental Health Care

BACKGROUND The Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansions (ME) increased insurance coverage for low-income Americans, among whom unmet need for mental health care is high. Empirical evidence regarding the impact of expanding insurance coverage on use of mental health services among low income and minority populations is lacking. METHODS Data on mental health service use collected between 2007 and 2015 by the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey from nationally representative cross-sectional samples of low income (income<138% of the federal poverty line) adults were analyzed. Use trends among people in states that expanded Medicaid (ME states; n=29,827) were compared with concurrent trends among people in states that did not (non-ME states; n=22,873), with statistical adjustment for demographic characteristics and psychological distress. RESULTS Annual outpatient visits for mental health conditions increased by 0.513 (0.053-0.974) visits per person, from a baseline rate in ME states of 0.894 visits per person. However, no significant changes were observed in number of mental health related hospital stays, emergency department visits or prescription fills. The increase outpatient visits was limited to Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites, with no increase in service use observed among non-Hispanic Blacks. There was no apparent increase in the number of users of outpatient mental health care (AOR=0.992, P=0.942) and a marginally significant (P=0.096) increase of 3.144 visits per user. DISCUSSION ME had a limited but positive impact on use of mental health services by low income Americans, although it may also have increased racial/ethnic disparities.
Inequality and Locational Determinants of the Distribution of Living Standards in India

Using 2011-12 consumption micro-data, we find that nearly one-third of the variation in living standards in India can be explained by location alone. Consumption levels and locational inequality are positively related. In effect, from an individual’s perspective, living standards are higher in richer, but more unequal, locations in India. The central factor behind these findings is the large difference in average consumption levels between rural and urban India and continued divergence in per-capita incomes between rich and poor states. Our results provide a possible explanation for the persistence of economic migration from rural to urban areas within a fast-growing emerging economy. While individuals cannot easily alter specific characteristics like their caste or religion, they have some freedom to change their location to enjoy better living standards.
Biologics and Minimally Invasive Approach to TLIFs: What Is the Risk of Radiculitis?

ABSTRACT Background: Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and allograft containing mesenchymal stem cells (live cell) are popular biologic substitutes for iliac crest autograft used in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). Use of these agents in the pathogenesis of postoperative radiculitis remains controversial. Recent studies have independently linked minimally invasive (MIS) TLIF with increased radiculitis risk compared to open TLIF. The purpose of this study was to assess the rate of postoperative radiculitis in open and MIS TLIF patients along with its relationship to concurrent biologic adjuvant use. Methods: Patients ≥18 years undergoing single-level TLIF from June 2012 to December 2018 with minimum 1-year follow-up were included. Outcome measures were rate of radiculitis, intra- and postoperative complications, revision surgery; length of stay (LOS), and estimated blood loss (EBL). Results: There were 397 patients: 223 with open TLIFs, 174 with MIS TLIFs. One hundred and fifty-nine surgeries used bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), 26 live cell, 212 neither. Open TLIF: higher mean EBL, LOS, and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) than MIS. Postoperative radiculitis in 37 patients (9.32% overall): 16 cases MIS BMP (15.69% of their cohort), 6 MIS without BMP (8.33%), 5 open BMP (8.77%), 10 open without BMP (6.02%). MIS TLIF versus open TLIF: no differences in 1-year reoperation rates, infection/wound complication, pseudarthrosis, or postoperative complication rate. BMP versus non-BMP: no differences in reoperation rates, infection/wound complication, pseudarthrosis, or postoperative complication rate. Multivariate logistic regression found that neither BMP (P = .109) nor MIS (P = .314) was an independent predictor for postoperative radiculitis when controlled for age, gender, body mass index, and CCI. Using paired open and MIS groups (N = 168 each) with propensity score matching, these variables were still not independently associated with radiculitis (P = .174 BMP, P = .398 MIS). However, the combination of MIS with BMP was associated with increased radiculitis risk in both the entire patient cohort (odds ratio [OR]: 2.259 [1.117–4.569], P = .023, N = 397) and PSM cohorts (OR: 2.196 [1.045–4.616], P = .038, N = 336) compared to other combinations of surgical approach and biologic use. Conclusion: Neither the MIS approach nor BMP use is an independent risk factor for post-TLIF radiculitis. However, risk of radiculitis significantly increases when they are used in tandem. This should be considered when selecting biological adjuvants for MIS TLIF. Level of Evidence: 3
Comparative interactomes of HSF1 in stress and disease reveal a role for CTCF in HSF1-mediated gene regulation

Heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) orchestrates cellular stress protection by activating or repressing gene transcription in response to protein misfolding, oncogenic cell proliferation, and other environmental stresses. HSF1 is tightly regulated via intramolecular repressive interactions, post-translational modifications, and protein-protein interactions. How these HSF1 regulatory protein interactions are altered in response to acute and chronic stress is largely unknown. To elucidate the profile of HSF1 protein interactions under normal growth and chronic and acutely stressful conditions, quantitative proteomics studies identified interacting proteins in the response to heat shock or in the presence of a poly-glutamine aggregation protein cell-based model of Huntington's disease. These studies identified distinct protein interaction partners of HSF1 as well as changes in the magnitude of shared interactions as a function of each stressful condition. Several novel HSF1-interacting proteins were identified that encompass a wide variety of cellular functions, including roles in DNA repair, mRNA processing, and regulation of RNA polymerase II. One HSF1 partner, CTCF, interacted with HSF1 in a stress-inducible manner and functions in repression of specific HSF1 target genes. Understanding how HSF1 regulates gene repression is a crucial question, given the dysregulation of HSF1 target genes in both cancer and neurodegeneration. These studies expand our understanding of HSF1-mediated gene repression and provide key insights into HSF1 regulation via protein-protein interactions.
Arduino Based Obstacle Detecting System

Water is an object detecting system which uses radio waves to determine the range, angle and distance of the obstacle from the detecting system. In this paper we used ultrasonic sensor to transmit pulses of radio waves or microwaves which bounce off any object in their path. Arduino is a single- board micro controller to make multiple accessories support easily with low cost. The main aim of this paper was detecting both movable and immovable obstacles which are present in particular range by using processing IDE software and also known about the detected obstacle image by using camera. This system was controlled by using Bluetooth controlled car.
A Survey of Bayesian Calibration and Physics-informed Neural Networks in Scientific Modeling

Computer simulations are used to model of complex physical systems. Often, these models represent the solutions (or at least approximations) to partial differential equations that are obtained through costly numerical integration. This paper presents a survey of two important statistical/machine learning approaches that have shaped the field of scientific modeling. Firstly we survey the developments on Bayesian calibration of computer models since the seminal work by Kennedy and O’Hagan. In their paper, the authors proposed an elegant way to use the Gaussian processes to extend calibration beyond parameter and observation uncertainty and include model-form and data size uncertainty. Secondly, we also survey physics-informed neural networks, a topic that has been receiving growing attention due to the potential reduction in computational cost and modeling flexibility. In addition, in order to help the interested reader to familiarize with these topics and venture into custom implementations, we present a summary of applications and software tools. Finally, we close the paper with suggestion for future research directions and a thought provoking call for action.
Sunflower Lecithin

Because of the increased domestic production of sunflower seed oil, by-products of oil processing such as meal and lecithin will be in greater supply. Lecithin content varies according to the type of sunflower seed produced. Removal of this material is greatly affected by seed condition and processing conditions. Conditions which favor optimal removal of phospholipids are also those for optimal oil quality. This review will cover some of the properties and processing details of lecithin production.
Interference and Inhibition in Cognition and Behavior: Comments on the Commentaries

In our target article (Dempster & Corkill, 1999a) we presented an overview of recent work on interference and inhibition in cognition and behavior. The commentators provided highly informative feedback about a range of implications of this new body of work for educational psychology, including learning disabilities. In our response to the commentators, we reply to two relatively broad topics they touch on: consciousness and the functionalist tradition of American psychology. We also remark on two relatively narrow issues raised by the commentators: what constitutes irrelevant information and perseveration in the missing addend task.
Introduction to Different Ways of Knowing

The ways of knowing of indigenous Africans and westerners are described. I look at the problem of how westerners discredit the knowledge system of others. I consider the effect of the dominance of the western way of knowing imposed on Africa during the colonial period.
The Pill on trial

Abstract Efforts were made in the past year by the FDA task force directed by Dr. Philip Sartwell of Johns Hopkins Medical School, the report of the Scowen Committee in the United Kingdom, and the Nelson Committee hearings to assess oral contraceptives. The Nelson Committee hearings were marked by sensationalism, publicity, and a circuslike atmosphere, and were followed by panic among Pill-users. Largely as a result of the adverse publicity which emanated from the Senate hearings, 18 per cent of the 8.5 million American women taking the Pill stopped taking the Pill and 23 per cent seriously considered doing so, according to a Gallup Poll. Doctors saw a first round of unwanted pregnancies among women who discontinued using the Pill. After the initial impact of the hearings wore off, important elements of the responsible scientific community rallied to support the Pill and the judgment of physicians who prescribe it. The Sartwell study was based on a limited sample so that the task force stated “much more research” was needed to validate the conclusions. The report by the Committee on the Safety of Drugs in the United Kingdom indicates that the Pill is the best contraceptive available and the low-estrogen Pill (50 meg.) is the safest. Low-estrogen Pills emerge a decisive winner, but no Pill appears as the kind of killer suggested by sensational publicity last year. A technological breakthrough in contraception methods, although desirable, is not likely to be imminent. Aside from technical problems, more than 8 years would be required to satisfy all the current Food and Drug Administration requirements to introduce a new product. It is not a simple task to come up with a substitute for the Pill that is of equal effectiveness, without side effects or metabolic effects, and “with a built-in crystal ball’ to predict what the effects will be 20 years hence.