cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of three enthesitis indices in a multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of golimumab in ankylosing spondylitis (GO-RAISE)

OBJECTIVE To compare the abilities of three enthesitis indices to detect improvement in entheseal tenderness with the TNF antagonist golimumab in AS. METHODS Adult patients with active AS were randomly assigned to receive s.c. injections of placebo or golimumab (50 or 100 mg) every 4 weeks. Patients with inadequate week 16 responses were switched (blinded) from placebo to golimumab 50 mg or from golimumab 50 mg to 100 mg. At week 24, all patients still receiving placebo crossed over to golimumab 50 mg. Enthesitis data through week 52 are reported herein. Enthesitis was measured by a trained, independent assessor who recorded the presence or absence of tenderness in 27 entheses, which allowed simultaneous determination of three different indices [12-point Berlin Index, 17-point University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Index and 13-point Maastricht AS Enthesitis Score (MASES)]. RESULTS Three hundred and fifty-six AS patients were randomized to placebo (n = 78), golimumab 50 mg (n = 138) or golimumab 100 mg (n = 140); 355 had enthesitis data available for analysis. Using the UCSF Index, significant improvement from baseline vs placebo was observed for golimumab 100 mg at weeks 14 and 24. Using the MASES, significant improvement for golimumab 100 mg vs placebo at week 14 and a trend toward improvement at week 24 were observed. Using the Berlin Index, significant improvement for golimumab 100 mg vs placebo at week 14 was observed. Effect size determinations for changes to weeks 14, 24 and 52, respectively, in the Berlin (-0.27, -0.34, -0.42), UCSF (-0.44, -0.61, -0.55) and MASES (-0.30, -0.55, -0.39) indices suggested small to moderate effect sizes. CONCLUSION In patients with active AS, the UCSF Index appeared most sensitive in detecting the effect of golimumab 100 mg vs placebo on enthesitis. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov, http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00265083.
Mot3, a Zn Finger Transcription Factor That Modulates Gene Expression and Attenuates Mating Pheromone Signaling in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mating pheromone response is initiated by activation of a G protein- and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase-dependent signaling pathway and attenuated by several mechanisms that promote adaptation or desensitization. To identify genes whose products negatively regulate pheromone signaling, we screened for mutations that suppress the hyperadaptive phenotype of wild-type cells overexpressing signaling-defective G protein beta subunits. This identified recessive mutations in MOT3, which encodes a nuclear protein with two Cys2-His2 Zn fingers. MOT3 was found to be a dosage-dependent inhibitor of pheromone response and pheromone-induced gene expression and to require an intact signaling pathway to exert its effects. Several results suggested that Mot3 attenuates expression of pheromone-responsive genes by mechanisms distinct from those used by the negative transcriptional regulators Cdc36, Cdc39, and Mot2. First, a Mot3-lexA fusion functions as a transcriptional activator. Second, Mot3 is a dose-dependent activator of several genes unrelated to pheromone response, including CYC1, SUC2, and LEU2. Third, insertion of consensus Mot3 binding sites (C/A/T)AGG(T/C)A activates a promoter in a MOT3-dependent manner. These findings, and the fact that consensus binding sites are found in the 5' flanking regions of many yeast genes, suggest that Mot3 is a globally acting transcriptional regulator. We hypothesize that Mot3 regulates expression of factors that attenuate signaling by the pheromone response pathway.
Access to oral health services for urban low-income Latino children: social ecological influences.

Objectives: Using an ecological conceptual model, this study examined the social context, structural, and behavioral factors within an immigrant community that contribute to increased access and use of oral health services by Latino children. The predictors of health service use at the level of the individual, the family, the provider, and the health service system were studied for their effects on the initiation of care, continuity of care, and frequency of planned visits. Methods: In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with 320 Latino mothers regarding their use of oral health services for 4-8-year-old children [Mexican (n = 221), Puerto Rican (n = 69), and Central and South American (n = 30)]. Outcome measures of dental care utilization were early age at initiation of care, continuity of care, and frequency of planned dental visits. Results: Regular planned dental visits were significantly related to the structural variables of household income and provider availability. The initiation of dental care was related to the mother's beliefs about the value of early preventive dental care. Mothers were more likely to continue care if they believed that the purpose was to keep the child's teeth healthy and had satisfactory communication with the dentist. Conclusions: Identifying the structural and behavioral factors that increase the likelihood of the use of oral health services can provide the basis for developing effective interventions specific to Latino children at the neighborhood level. The study findings can be also used for designing culturally appropriate oral health promotion programs and provider coordination of care.
The effect of impurities on the doping and VOC of CdTe/CdS thin film solar cells

Abstract The effect of introducing impurities in CdTe, namely antimony (Sb) and oxygen (O), on the net carrier concentration in CdS/CdTe solar cells and on their open-circuit voltage (VOC) has been investigated. Oxygen was introduced in the CdTe films during the deposition of this layer by the close-spaced sublimation process. The total pressure was held constant at 1330 Pa (N2 and O2). The amount of oxygen was varied by varying its partial pressure. Antimony was introduced into CdTe using a post-deposition diffusion process. Following the deposition of CdTe a thin film (a few nm) of Sb was deposited onto the CdTe surface and subsequently heat-treated to cause in-diffusion of Sb. The temperature and time during the diffusion process were varied in the range of 300–525 °C and 20–160 min respectively. In both instances it was possible to vary (increase) the doping concentration in CdTe. The increase in doping was accompanied by an increase in VOC. However, in all instances the doping in CdTe reached a maximum value, beyond which further increases were not possible leading to saturation in VOC. The highest VOC measured was similar to state-of-the-art values in the range of 800–830 mV, and the highest doping concentration measured was in the 1016 cm− 3 range.
Spiral Cavity Backing Effects on Pattern Symmetry and Modal Contamination

The majority of reported results on lossless, cavity-backed planar spiral antennas do not provide a good indication of higher-order modal contamination or azimuthal pattern symmetry. These parameters are crucial for determining the purity of the radiated far field and, thus, the actual bandwidth. Effects of the spiral backing on these parameters are studied in this letter. It is demonstrated that the best backing for the printed spiral remains the conventional absorber loaded cavity. The addition of either perfect magnetic or perfect electric (PEC/PMC) backing contributes to the overall pattern asymmetry of the antenna, even if some other far-field parameters such as gain are improved. However, we show that for a simple and inexpensive horizontally fed slot spiral, the far-field modal purity and gain can be improved with various counter- or cowound slot spiral backings.
‘Mendelian randomization’ equals instrumental variable analysis with genetic instruments

Interest in instrumental variable (IV) analyses using genetic instruments has been growing over the past 4 years. The background, strength and weaknesses of this approach, which in the epidemiology literature has been referred to as 'Mendelian randomization', has been recently reviewed by Lawlor et al. (Statist. Med. 2007. DOI: 10.1002/sim.3034). We suggest a change in the nomenclature of 'Mendelian randomization' and discuss issues relevant to IV analysis including instrument validation, motivation of IV analysis and interpretation of IV estimates in order to motivate a more consistent and standard use of IV analysis across applications using genetic instruments.
Workload-aware database monitoring and consolidation

In most enterprises, databases are deployed on dedicated database servers. Often, these servers are underutilized much of the time. For example, in traces from almost 200 production servers from different organizations, we see an average CPU utilization of less than 4%. This unused capacity can be potentially harnessed to consolidate multiple databases on fewer machines, reducing hardware and operational costs. Virtual machine (VM) technology is one popular way to approach this problem. However, as we demonstrate in this paper, VMs fail to adequately support database consolidation, because databases place a unique and challenging set of demands on hardware resources, which are not well-suited to the assumptions made by VM-based consolidation.Instead, our system for database consolidation, named Kairos, uses novel techniques to measure the hardware requirements of database workloads, as well as models to predict the combined resource utilization of those workloads. We formalize the consolidation problem as a non-linear optimization program, aiming to minimize the number of servers and balance load, while achieving near-zero performance degradation. We compare Kairos against virtual machines, showing up to a factor of 12× higher throughput on a TPC-C-like benchmark. We also tested the effectiveness of our approach on real-world data collected from production servers at Wikia.com, Wikipedia, Second Life, and MIT CSAIL, showing absolute consolidation ratios ranging between 5.5:1 and 17:1.
Thick, Binder-Free Carbon-Nanotube-Based Electrodes for High Power Applications

In this study, synthesis and characterization of thick carbon nanotube (CNT) electrodes with impressive electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, and large surface area is presented. The electrodes are made by effectively cross-linking the CNTs with graphitic carbon particles. The random network of cross-linked CNTs results in a bulk conductivity of >60 S/cm, large Young’s modulus (∼1.2 GPa), and high surface area (>500 m2/g). Electrochemical characterization of these thick CNT electrodes (100–1000 μm) shows a capacitance of 90 F/g (40 F/cm3) in an aqueous electrolyte (5 M KOH). Furthermore, much of this capacitance is maintained at fast scan rates up to 1000 mV/s. This high rate performance leads to a simultaneous display of large energy densities (>10 Wh/kg) and power densities (>40 kW/kg) for the thick, binderless CNT electrode. © 2013 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.020310jss] All rights reserved.
Role of left posterior superior temporal gyrus in phonological processing for speech perception and production

Models of both speech perception and speech production typically postulate a processing level that involves some form of phonological processing. There is disagreement, however, on the question of whether there are separate phonological systems for speech input versus speech output. We review a range of neuroscientific data that indicate that input and output phonological systems partially overlap. An important anatomical site of overlap appears to be the left posterior superior temporal gyrus. We then present the results of a new event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment in which participants were asked to listen to and then (covertly) produce speech. In each participant, we found two regions in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus that responded both to the perception and production components of the task, suggesting that there is overlap in the neural systems that participate in phonological aspects of speech perception and speech production. The implications for neural models of verbal working memory are also discussed in connection with our findings.
Action selection in interactive model-based diagnosis

The authors developed a probabilistic diagnosis theory that incorporates probabilistic reasoning into model-based diagnosis. In addition to the structural and functional information normally used in model-based diagnosis, probabilities of component failure are also used to solve the two major subtasks of interactive model-based diagnosis: hypothesis generation and action selection. The authors describe the action selection strategy based on this probabilistic theory. The major contributions are the incorporation of probabilistic reasoning into model-based diagnosis and the integration of repair as a part of diagnosis. >
Implementation of routinely checked laboratory test results into the national early warning score (NEWS) significantly improves its prognostic ability

with RDW, and 0.764 with RIFLE classification. AU-ROC for NEWS improved from 0.748 to 0.771 when combined with both RDW and RIFLE classification. Based on NEWS alone, there were 128 patients with moderate and high risk scores, while this number increased to 170 when RDW and RIFLE were added to the tool. Conclusions
Region-Based Convolutional Networks for Accurate Object Detection and Segmentation

Object detection performance, as measured on the canonical PASCAL VOC Challenge datasets, plateaued in the final years of the competition. The best-performing methods were complex ensemble systems that typically combined multiple low-level image features with high-level context. In this paper, we propose a simple and scalable detection algorithm that improves mean average precision (mAP) by more than 50 percent relative to the previous best result on VOC 2012—achieving a mAP of 62.4 percent. Our approach combines two ideas: (1) one can apply high-capacity convolutional networks (CNNs) to bottom-up region proposals in order to localize and segment objects and (2) when labeled training data are scarce, supervised pre-training for an auxiliary task, followed by domain-specific fine-tuning, boosts performance significantly. Since we combine region proposals with CNNs, we call the resulting model an R-CNN or Region-based Convolutional Network . Source code for the complete system is available at http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~rbg/rcnn.
Identification of a heparin-binding domain in the distal carboxyl-terminal region of lipoprotein lipase by site-directed mutagenesis.

The interaction of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) with heparan sulfate proteoglycans plays an important role in the metabolism and catalytic function of the enzyme. We have used site-directed mutagenesis to replace the basic res- idues contained in a discontinuous charge cluster (residues Lys 321, Arg 405, Arg 407, Lys 409, Lys 415, and Lys 416) of avian LPL with asparagine. The mutant proteins were ex- pressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and their affinity for heparin was evaluated by heparin-Sepharose chromatogra- phy. Mutation of residues Lys 321, Arg 405, Arg 407, Lys 409, and Lys 416 resulted in a decrease in affinity for hep- arin. The triple mutant LPL(R405N, R407N, K409N) pos- sessed almost no high-affinity binding. The LPL mutants showed enzymatic activities ranging between 50-100% of that seen for wild-type LPL demonstrating that the overall structure of the enzyme was not significantly altered by the mutations. Mutation of previously identified heparin-bind- ing regions of LPL results in a relatively small decrease in heparin-binding affinity, as compared with mutations in this carboxyl-terminal region, indicating that Lys 321, Arg 405, Arg 407, Lys 409, and Lys 416 constitute the major heparin- binding domain in LPL.— Sendak, R. A., and A. Bensadoun. Identification of a heparin-binding domain in the distal car- boxyl-terminal region of lipoprotein lipase by site-directed mutagenesis. J. Lipid Res. 1998. 39: 1310-1315.
Metal-templated synthesis of intertwined, functionalized strands as precursors to molecularly woven materials

Herein we propose a novel approach toward yet to be realized molecularly woven materials (MWMs), based on metal-templated precursors containing intertwined strands with functional ends. Two different potential precursors, based on terminal alkene-functionalized bis-Schiff base ligands (with either 1,2-diaminophenylene or 1,2-diaminoethylene cores) coordinated around a Cu(I) ion, have been tested. During this work, four novel organic ligands were prepared, along with the Cu(I) or Ag(I) complexes of three of them, and were characterized by X-ray diffraction and/or NMR spectroscopy. Chemical reactivity and structural studies (by single-crystal X-ray crystallography) of these novel compounds led to the assessment of their viability as precursors for MWMs. The essential requirement that terminal functionalities on the two intertwined ligand strands of the precursor must be far enough from each other so that only inter- and no intra-molecular reactivity is possible, is only met by the precursor with a 1,2-diaminophenylene core. This precursor, however, is less stable than the analogous one with a 1,2-diaminoethylene core, as it easily undergoes intramolecular cyclization/aromatization to yield a stable benzimidazole moiety, resulting in breakdown of the strands. The benzimidazole-containing compound offers an interesting example of chiral crystallization (helical arrangement about a four-fold axis) induced by hydrogen bonding of an otherwise achiral molecule. The results of this study outline the challenges involved in the preparation of a MWM using our approach, and will aid in identifying more robust ligand systems that meet the requirements of a MWM precursor set forth here.
Advocacy, Assessment and Accountability: Using Policy to Impact Practice in Ohio.

Physical education teachers and programs are affected by increasing accountability demands. The purpose of this article is to explain Ohio's journey from advocacy for state physical education academic content standards to state-level policy that led to the development of state-wide assessments and data reporting on each school's report card. The process for developing the standards and assessments is shared, as well as teachers' perceptions of the effect of the assessments and accountability measures on physical education.
Synthetic adaptive optoelectronic color camouflage skins

This paper reports, for the first time, an artificial adaptive color camouflage skin device that is able to sense the surrounding environment and match its color autonomously. Such skin device combines ultra-thin Si based multiplexed arrays of thermal actuators and photodetectors in laminated, multilayer configurations on flexible substrates, with overlaid arrangements of pixelated, color-changing elements. Demonstration devices are capable of producing black-and-white patterns that spontaneously match those of the surroundings, without user input or external measurement.
Change detection of storm runoff and sediment yield using hydrologic models following wildfire in a coastal redwood forest, California

This study attempted to detect changes in stormflow volumes, peakflows, and sediment loads using hydrologic models within the context of an uncertainty assessment following wildfire. In 2009, after 8 years of study, the Lockheed Fire burned the treatment and control watersheds of a paired watershed study in coastal California, USA, eliminating the ability to continue a paired watershed before–after control–intervention (BACI) study design. An alternative analysis was used to detect stormflow and sediment load changes due to the wildfire by comparing measured posttreatment stormflow and sediment load with simulated predisturbance responses predicted with the hydrologic models HBV-EC and DHSVM. High natural variability of stormflow and sediment measurements compounded with uncertainty associated with the hydrologic models and climate suggest that only large changes can be detected. The fire and subsequent salvage harvest created an approximately 9%–12% reduction in forest overstory canopy and a 70%–90% cons...
Topologically Mismatched Pinning of Scroll Waves

Three-dimensional scroll waves in excitable reaction−diffusion systems rotate around one-dimensional phase singularities. Although these filaments are dynamic objects, their motion can be arrested if pinned to unexcitable obstacles. We study this vortex pinning for a case in which the topology of the initial filament (circular loop) differs from the topology of the obstacle (double torus). In experiments with the Belousov−Zhabotinsky reaction and numerical simulations, we show that pinning is possible and that it induces periodic rotation patterns. Continuous rotation extends around either one or both halves of the double torus. The latter case is doubly degenerate because waves can move through the two holes in the same or opposite directions. Opposite rotation is organized by a two-armed vortex segment that emits waves at a period approximately two-times larger than the other pinned vortex states.
Vibration Fault Analysis and Optimization Solution by Dynamic Balance for High Speed Hydrogenerating Unit

The vibration and swing of the No.2 unit of Nangao Hydropower Station increased gradually after its upgrading.The reason of vibration fault is analysed after experiments and the solution by dynamic balance is given.Through the application of the related theory in the influence coefficient method of rotor dynamic balance and the optimization algorithm of dynamic balance,the vibration of upper and lower bracket and the swing of upper and lower guide bearing decrease synchronously.After the treatment,the unit run very well.
Long Time Dynamics and Coherent States in Nonlinear Wave Equations

We discuss recent progress in finding all coherent states supported by nonlinear wave equations, their stability and the long time behavior of nearby solutions.
Reducing colorectal surgical site infections: a novel, resident-driven, quality initiative

Abstract Background Surgical site infections (SSIs) cause significant patient morbidity and increase costs. This work prospectively examines our institutional effort to reduce SSIs through a resident-driven quality initiative. Methods A general surgery resident-championed, evidenced-based care bundle for patients undergoing colorectal surgery at a single academic institution was developed using attending mentorship. National Surgical Quality Improvement Program definitions for SSIs were used. Data were collected prospectively and bundle compliance was monitored using a checklist. The primary outcome compared SSIs before and after implementation. Results In the 2 years preceding standardization, 489 colorectal surgery cases were performed. SSIs occurred in 68 patients (13.9% SSI rate). Following implementation of the bundle, 212 cases were performed with 10 SSIs (4.7% SSI rate, P Conclusions These data demonstrate that resident-driven initiatives to improve quality of care can be a swift and effective way to enact change. We observed significantly decreased SSIs with a renewed focus on evidence-based, standardized patient care.
Single-Genotype Syntrophy by Rhodopseudomonas palustris Is Not a Strategy to Aid Redox Balance during Anaerobic Degradation of Lignin Monomers.

Rhodopseudomonas palustris has emerged as a model microbe for the anaerobic metabolism of p-coumarate, which is an aromatic compound and a primary component of lignin. However, under anaerobic conditions, R. palustris must actively eliminate excess reducing equivalents through a number of known strategies (e.g., CO2 fixation, H2 evolution) to avoid lethal redox imbalance. Others had hypothesized that to ease the burden of this redox imbalance, a clonal population of R. palustris could functionally differentiate into a pseudo-consortium. Within this pseudo-consortium, one sub-population would perform the aromatic moiety degradation into acetate, while the other sub-population would oxidize acetate, resulting in a single-genotype syntrophy through acetate sharing. Here, the objective was to test this hypothesis by utilizing microbial electrochemistry as a research tool with the extracellular-electron-transferring bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens as a reporter strain replacing the hypothesized acetate-oxidizing sub-population. We used a 2x4 experimental design with pure cultures of R. palustris in serum bottles and co-cultures of R. palustris and G. sulfurreducens in bioelectrochemical systems. This experimental design included growth medium with and without bicarbonate to induce non-lethal and lethal redox imbalance conditions, respectively, in R. palustris. Finally, the design also included a mutant strain (NifA*) of R. palustris, which constitutively produces H2, to serve both as a positive control for metabolite secretion (H2) to G. sulfurreducens, and as a non-lethal redox control for without bicarbonate conditions. Our results demonstrate that acetate sharing between different sub-populations of R. palustris does not occur while degrading p-coumarate under either non-lethal or lethal redox imbalance conditions. This work highlights the strength of microbial electrochemistry as a tool for studying microbial syntrophy.
Abstract LB-279: N-cadherin promotes castration-resistant prostate cancer progression by enhancing stem cell properties of prostate cancer cells

New generation of anti-androgen treatments such as enzalutamide and abiraterone are improving survival of men with advanced and metastatic prostate cancers, but resistance to these inevitably arises. The molecular mechanisms governing the emergence of treatment resistance in castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients are not well understood. Recent experience suggests that tumor regeneration from castration-resistant stem-like cells induce resistance to hormonal therapy. Therefore, elucidating novel targets essential for driving stem-like activity is critical to prevent and defeat CRPC. It has been shown that normal and cancer stem cells exploit normal development process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to survive and metastasize, and that EMT confer stem cell properties to more differentiated cancer cell progeny in breast and other cancers. However, it is unclear if EMT is linked with stem cells in normal and malignant prostate. We previously showed that N-cadherin, a marker of EMT, promotes CRPC progression and that there was a correlation between N-cadherin expression and the expression of stem cell associated markers. This leads to hypothesis that N-cadherin may promote CRPC by enhancing tumorige esis/tumor initiating properties of cancer cells in a castrate environment. N-cadherin may confer tumor initiating or stem-like properties to prostate cancer cells perhaps uniquely or specific to in a castrate environment. Here, we verified that EMT is linked to stem cells in both normal prostate and CRPC. We further demonstrate that N-cadherin is involved in increased stem cell properties in normal mouse and human prostates from clinical samples in an androgen-deprived environment. Castration elevates the expression of N-cadherin and stem cell marker Trop2, accompanied with enhanced stem cell properties of luminal population in normal mouse prostates. N-cadherin upregulates stem cell properties in prostate cancer cells in the absence of androgen and CRPC tumors. N-cadherin-positive cells from CRPC tumors behave as stem cells. Overexpression of N-cadherin enhances ALDH activity in a panel of prostate cancer cell lines. Our findings reveal an important role of N-cadherin in prostate cancer and stem cells, and provide useful information of EMT-related biomarkers for preventing and developing efficient therapeutics to combat the treatment resistance to next-generation AR antagonists. Citation Format: Shu Lin, Tanya Stonyanova, Evelyn Kono, Jaclyn Matsuura, Naoko Kobayashi, Joyce Yamashiro, Dai Hong, Owen N. Witte, Andrew S. Goldstein, Robert E. Reiter. N-cadherin promotes castration-resistant prostate cancer progression by enhancing stem cell properties of prostate cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-279.
Hypertension in the Hemodialysis Patient

Hypertension is common yet difficult to manage in the hemodialysis patients population. This chapter discusses various aspects of this problem including its prevalence, distinctive pathophysiology, methods of diagnosis and pharmacological and non pharmacological treatment approaches. The topic is relevant to any health care provider taking care of hemodialysis patients.
Opportunities of Photorealistic Visualizations for the Product Process of a Car

Photorealistic visualizations are an inherent part of the work and design processes both in the film and advertising industry and in automotive development. Besides conventionally filmed real world sequences, also completely virtual scenes and worlds are created. At Volkswagen, the future belongs to the cooperation of the disciplines photo graphy and computer graphics, to rate quickly new stylings and car models. It is shown with the examples of Scirocco, Tiguan and Passat CC, how therefore the chances are, to use both technologies optimally in a combined form.
Phase I/II Randomized Study of Proton Beam with Anti–Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor for Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration: One-Year Results

Objective To assess the safety and efficacy of proton beam therapy (PBT) as an adjunct to intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for the treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration. Design Phase I/II, interventional, prospective, randomized, sham-controlled double-blinded study. Participants Eyes with newly diagnosed exudative age-related macular degeneration with vision between 20/40 and 20/400 were included. Exclusion criteria included diabetes or other ocular comorbidities affecting vision. Methods Eyes were randomized to receive either 16 GyE, 24 GyE, or sham PBT. All eyes had 3 monthly intravitreal anti-VEGF treatments, followed by monthly visits with treatments as needed. Main Outcome Measures Mean change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), mean number of anti-VEGF injections, proportion of eyes with >15 letters BCVA decrease, proportion of eyes developing radiation retinopathy or papillopathy, proportion of eyes with cataract progression, and mean changes central retinal thickness on OCT and lesion size on angiography at 1 year. Results Of 30 enrolled eyes, 22 completed follow-up monthly for 12 months for analysis. The BCVA improved by a mean of 8 letters (0.48±0.36 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) overall from baseline. Overall, central retinal thickness decreased from 340±155 to 246±48 ( P = 0.008) at 12 months. The mean change in BCVA and central retinal thickness was not different among the 3 study groups. The mean number of anti-VEGF injections at 12 months was 6.13 for sham irradiation arm, 5.52 in the 16 GyE arm, and 3.83 for the 24 GyE arm ( P = 0.004 between sham and 24 GyE). No eye had severe visual loss, radiation retinopathy, or papillopathy. Conclusions No safety issue was noted associated with combining 16 GyE or 24 GyE PBT with intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy in eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration. Overall improvements in BCVA and imaging parameters were not affected by the addition of PBT, but the number of anti-VEGF treatments needed was significantly lower with the addition of 24 GyE PBT.
Mitochondrial Quality Control and Disease: Insights into Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Mitochondria are key regulators of cell fate during disease. They control cell survival via the production of ATP that fuels cellular processes and, conversely, cell death via the induction of apoptosis through release of pro-apoptotic factors such as cytochrome C. Therefore, it is essential to have stringent quality control mechanisms to ensure a healthy mitochondrial network. Quality control mechanisms are largely regulated by mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy. The processes of mitochondrial fission (division) and fusion allow for damaged mitochondria to be segregated and facilitate the equilibration of mitochondrial components such as DNA, proteins, and metabolites. The process of mitophagy are responsible for the degradation and recycling of damaged mitochondria. These mitochondrial quality control mechanisms have been well studied in chronic and acute pathologies such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and acute myocardial infarction, but less is known about how these two processes interact and contribute to specific pathophysiologic states. To date, evidence for the role of mitochondrial quality control in acute and chronic disease is divergent and suggests that mitochondrial quality control processes can serve both survival and death functions depending on the disease state. This review aims to provide a synopsis of the molecular mechanisms involved in mitochondrial quality control, to summarize our current understanding of the complex role that mitochondrial quality control plays in the progression of acute vs chronic diseases and, finally, to speculate on the possibility that targeted manipulation of mitochondrial quality control mechanisms may be exploited for the rationale design of novel therapeutic interventions.
Evaluating Double Integrals

Although the definition of the integral reflects its origins in scientific problems, its evaluation relies on a considerable range of mathematical concepts and tools. Most fundamental is the change of variables formula; the single-variable version (“u-substitution”) is perhaps the core technique of integration in the introductory calculus course. By contrast, the method of iterated integrals has no singlevariable analogue; it evaluates a double integral by “partial integration” of one variable at a time. This chapter connects double and iterated integrals, establishes the change of variables formula, and discusses Green’s theorem as a tool for evaluating double integrals and as a reason for orienting them.
Performance of Blind and Sighted Persons on Spatial Tasks

This article reports on a study of the performance by congenitally blind, adventitiously blind, and sighted persons on three types of tasks: manipulatory, simple locomotion, and complex locomotion....
Synthesis and characterization of graphene nanocomposites for non-linear optical applications

Abstract Graphene shows remarkable non-linear optical behavior. Above a particular incident light intensity threshold, transmission is attenuated. Unfortunately, capitalizing on the unique properties of graphene can be a challenge because the material itself is hard to handle, unless it is integrated with other materials. The purpose of this work is to develop graphene-based nano-composites for non-linear optical applications. Few and single layer graphene flakes were synthesized through liquid phase exfoliation of graphite in 1-Methyl-2-pyrrolidinon (NMP), and characterized via Raman and transmission electron microscopy. Synthesis parameters for stable, high quality graphene suspensions were identified and graphene was integrated into nano-composites prepared via sol-gel methods. In addition to structural and chemical characterization, I-scan measurements revealed the composites demonstrated non-linear optical behavior with a cut-off frequency tunable with few layer graphene concentration in the composite.
A Distributed Computing Platform for fMRI Big Data Analytics

Since the BRAIN Initiative and Human Brain Project began, a few efforts have been made to address the computational challenges of neuroscience Big Data. The promises of these two projects were to model the complex interaction of brain and behavior and to understand and diagnose brain diseases by collecting and analyzing large quanitites of data. Archiving, analyzing, and sharing the growing neuroimaging datasets posed major challenges. New computational methods and technologies have emerged in the domain of Big Data but have not been fully adapted for use in neuroimaging. In this work, we introduce the current challenges of neuroimaging in a big data context. We review our efforts toward creating a data management system to organize the large-scale fMRI datasets, and present our novel algorithms/methods for the distributed fMRI data processing that employs Hadoop and Spark. Finally, we demonstrate the significant performance gains of our algorithms/methods to perform distributed dictionary learning.
Sensitization and remediation effects on environmentally assisted cracking of Al-Mg naval alloys

Abstract Aluminum-magnesium alloys are ideal for a number of structural applications; however, alloys with magnesium content more than 3 wt% can become sensitized and susceptible to environmentally-assisted failure after exposure to moderately elevated temperatures for sufficient periods of time. Commercial Al-Mg alloys were tested in the as-received and sensitized conditions to investigate susceptibility to environmentally-enhanced cracking in fatigue crack growth. Slow strain rate testing (SSRT) of short-transverse (S-T) smooth tensile samples and fatigue crack growth testing of SEN bend specimens was also conducted in various loading orientations (L-T, L-S, S-L and S-T). Sensitization treatments included exposure to temperatures ranging from 60 °C – 175 °C for times ranging from 10 h to 20,000 h. Under specific loading conditions and the presence of a local hydrogen source, IGSCC manifested itself as ST and SL plane splits during the cyclic loading of sufficiently sensitized L-S and L-T test specimens. The regimes of grain boundary cracking have been determined. Initial findings using ESBD data is suggestive that the high angle grain boundaries most likely to suffer IGSCC are those with a sharp gradient in the Taylor factor. Remediation treatments were also conducted on sensitized Al-Mg alloys in an attempt to reverse sensitization and restore alloy properties. While thermal remediation was somewhat effective in reducing the environmentally-sensitive fracture, this condition occurred at the expense of a loss in strength and its long-term effectiveness remains questionable. SEM and EBSD were used to document the locus and orientation-dependence of grain boundary failure while TEM was used to determine species present at grain boundaries susceptible to environmentally-enhanced fracture. SSRT testing of S-T samples in various environments revealed different degrees of embrittlement depending on the environment and degree of sensitization. A change in alloy sensitization kinetics occurs at around 100 °C.
Length Considerations: Gradual Versus Acute Correction of Deformities

Length discrepancy of a bone is considered a deformity when there is a difference in length between the two limbs or when there is a deviation from the normal expected length of a bone for a certain age. The latter is associated with short stature and disproportion of one bone to another or of the limbs to the spine. Length discrepancy is defined by two parameters: magnitude and direction. Magnitude refers to the difference in length between one side and the other. Leg length is either increased or decreased in one limb relative to the other. When there is an opposite normal limb segment for comparison, the measurement is made between the length of the normal side and the length of the affected side. When both limbs are affected (e.g. rhizomelic or mesomelic short stature), the comparison is made with the normal length in the population for that age and the proportion of the femur to the tibia (from published tables and growth charts [Anderson et al. 1964; Aldegheri and Agostini 1993]).
Role of calmodulin and myosin light-chain kinase in lung ischemia-reperfusion injury.

It is generally accepted that microvascular permeability is controlled by intercellular endothelial cell gap size. This process is controlled in endothelial cell monolayers and peripheral blood ves...
Implantable pre-metastatic niches for the study of the microenvironmental regulation of disseminated human tumour cells

Cancer survivors often carry disseminated tumour cells (DTCs), yet owing to DTC dormancy they do not relapse from treatment. Understanding how the local microenvironment regulates the transition of DTCs from a quiescent state to active proliferation could suggest new therapeutic strategies to prevent or delay the formation of metastases. Here, we show that implantable biomaterial microenvironments incorporating human stromal cells, immune cells and cancer cells can be used to examine the post-dissemination phase of the evolution of the tumour microenvironment. After subdermal implantation in mice, porous hydrogel scaffolds seeded with human bone marrow stromal cells form a vascularized niche and recruit human circulating tumour cells released from an orthotopic prostate tumour xenograft. Systemic injection of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells slowed the evolution of the active metastatic niches but did not change the rate of overt metastases, as the ensuing inflammation promoted the formation of DTC colonies. Implantable pre-metastatic niches might enable the study of DTC colonization and proliferation, and facilitate the development of effective anti-metastatic therapies.
Academic Detailing for Postpartum Opioid Prescribing

Introduction: Overprescribing opioid pain medications has become a major concern in our society due to the increasing rates of substance use disorders and the rate of accidental overdoses. The widespread availability of opioid medications suggests that patients are being prescribed opioids in amounts larger than they require for pain control. Efforts are now being made on a variety of fronts to decrease overprescribing. Material and Methods: A quality-improvement model was applied to address this concern at one medical center in women being discharged from the hospital following childbirth. The rates and amounts at which opioids were prescribed to this population before and after an academic detailing intervention were compared. Results: The overall percentage of women who received prescriptions for opioid medications decreased from 100% to 93% in cesarean sections (P = .054) and 15% to 9% in vaginal deliveries (P = .03). The average prescription size decreased by 5 tablets (P Implications: Simple quality-improvement methods may have a positive impact on opioid prescribing patterns, including decreasing the percentage of opioids postdelivery or the quantity of opioids per prescription.
Molecules targeting the androgen receptor (AR) signaling axis beyond the AR-Ligand binding domain

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality in men in the United States. The androgen receptor (AR) and the physiological pathways it regulates are central to the initiation and progression of PCa. As a member of the nuclear steroid receptor family, it is a transcription factor with three distinct functional domains (ligand-binding domain [LBD], DNA-binding domain [DBD], and transactivation domain [TAD]) in its structure. All clinically approved drugs for PCa ultimately target the AR-LBD. Clinically active drugs that target the DBD and TAD have not yet been developed due to multiple factors. Despite these limitations, the last several years have seen a rise in the discovery of molecules that could successfully target these domains. This review aims to present and comprehensively discuss such molecules that affect AR signaling through direct or indirect interactions with the AR-TAD or the DBD. The compounds discussed here include hairpin polyamides, niclosamide, marine sponge-derived small molecules (eg, EPI compounds), mahanine, VPC compounds, JN compounds, and bromodomain and extraterminal domain inhibitors. We highlight the significant in vitro and in vivo data found for each compound and the apparent limitations and/or potential for further development of these agents as PCa therapies.
The Sit-Ins: Protest and Legal Change in the Civil Rights Era

Publication Date: March 2018In The Sit-Ins: Protest and Legal Change in the Civil Rights Era, legal historian Christopher Schmidt updates and extends William Chafe’s classic Civilities and Civil Ri...
III–V Semiconductor Nanoresonators—A New Strategy for Passive, Active, and Nonlinear All‐Dielectric Metamaterials

We demonstrate 2D and multilayer dielectric metamaterials made from III–V semiconductors using a monolithic fabrication process. The resulting structures could be used to recompress chirped femtosecond optical pulses and in a variety of other optical applications requiring low loss. Moreover, these III–V all-dielectric metamaterials could enable novel active applications such as efficient nonlinear frequency converters, light emitters, detectors, and modulators.
Determination of the star-spot covering fraction as a function of stellar age from observational data

The association of starspots with magnetic fields leads to an expectation that quantities which correlate with magnetic field strength may also correlate with {starspot} coverage. Since younger stars spin faster and are more magnetically active, assessing whether {starspot} coverage correlates with shorter rotation periods and stellar youth tests these principles. Here we analyze the {starspot} covering fraction versus stellar age for M{-}, G{-}, K{-}, and F{-}type stars based on previously determined variability and rotation periods of over 30,000 {\textit{Kepler}} main-sequence stars. We determine the correlation between age and variability using single and dual power law best fits. We find that {starspot} coverage does indeed decrease with age. Only when the data {are} binned in an effort to remove the effects of activity cycles of individual stars, do statistically significant power law fits emerge for each stellar type. {Using bin averages,} we then find that the {starspot} covering fraction scales with the {X}-ray to bolometric ratio to the power $\lambda$ with {$0.22\pm 0.03 < \lambda < 0.32\pm 0.09$} for {G-type} stars of rotation period below 15 days and for the full range of F{-} and M{-type} stars. For K{-}type stars, we find two branches of $\lambda$ separated by variability bins, with the lower branch showing nearly constant starspot coverage and the upper branch {$\lambda \sim 0.35\pm 0.04$.} G{-}type stars with periods longer than $15$ days exhibit a transition to steeper power law of {$ \lambda \sim 2.4 \pm 1.0$.} The potential connection to previous rotation-age measurements suggesting a magnetic breaking transition at the solar age, corresponding to period of $24.5$ is also of interest.
SHIPCOST - VESSEL AND VOYAGE COSTING MODEL

SHIPCOST, a computer-based methed for evaluating vessel and voyage costs, is described. The method was first developed in 1984 by the World Bank, and has subsequently been refined. The economics of vessel ownership and operation are examined and examples given of typical fleet voyage and trade costs, including a comparison between the use of newbuildings and secondhand ships. The separate fleet, ship and voyage modules included in the SHIPCOST model are discussed and typical applications given.