cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mining Web pages for data records

Data mining to extract information from Web pages can help provide value-added services. The MDR (mining data records) system exploits Web page structure and uses a string-matching algorithm to mine contiguous and noncontiguous data records.
Genetics and Disease

Relationships between genes and diseases have long been hypothesized. The association of a disease with a gene dates back in Western medicine as far as Hippocrates, who hypothesized epilepsy was caused by a singular hereditary unit of biological material. However, with technological advances and the completion of the human genome sequence (1), scientists can now associate specific genetic variations with clinical conditions. Genetic associations provide informative clues for developing new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques to improve patient care. Understanding the principles that underlie genetic studies will become an essential skill for clinicians if we are to appreciate the complexity of genetic contributions to disease and its treatment (Table 5-1).
Air‐suspension technique of coating drug particles. A preliminary report

A new method of rapidly coating drug particles of widely varying size and shape is presented. In this process, the drug particles are coated and dried while suspended in an upwardly moving current of air. Solutions and suspensions of coating materials in both water and volatile organic solvents are employed. The drying of the coated particles is accomplished at either room or elevated temperatures, depending on the solvent used. Some fundamentals and an introduction to practical applications of the process are given.
Study on Kinetics of Nano-Ni(OH)2 Powder Ethanol Desorption Process

This paper studies on the thermal analysis kinetics of nanometer powders ethanol desorption process.The DTA-TG-DTG curves obtain by SDT 2960 Simultaneous DSC-TGA analysis apparatus. Under the condition of N2 atmosphere operation and rise temperature velocity was 10°C·min-1. The mechanism function is used to calculate the kinetics factors. Reaction progression n was obtained by calculation of the kissinger peak shape factor method. The results showed that the apparent activation energy of nano-Ni(OH)2 was 73.210 kJ·mol-1, the pre-exponential factor was 2.349×1012, the reaction progression was obtained as 1.2767, the kinetic equation is
Boselaphus tragocamelus (Nilgai)

Skin biopsies of the male animal were made available by Dr. H. Heck, Catskill Game Farm, Catskill, New York, USA. The karyotype of the female animal was prepared from fibroblast cultures of an animal of the Philadelphia Zoo and kindly supplied by Dr. D. A. Hungerford, Institute for Cancer Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Another male animal studied by Taylor, Hungerford and Snyder (Personal coimuunication, 1967) has a similar karyotype. The sex chromosomes are unusually large and distinctive. The X has a pronounced secondary constriction in the short arm near the centromere.
Dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide, an MR contrast agent for assessing lymph nodes in the head and neck.

PURPOSE To investigate dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (BMS 180549) as an MR contrast agent for assessing lymph nodes. METHODS Five different doses ranging from 0.3 to 1.7 mg Fe/kg were evaluated in five healthy human male subjects as part of a phase 1 clinical study. T1-, T2-, and proton density-weighted spin-echo images as well as multiplanar gradient-echo and spoiled gradient-echo images were acquired before and 1 hour, 4 hours, and 24 hours after contrast administration. Image analysis was performed with visually selected regions of interest. Signal intensities were measured for neck lymph nodes and the adjacent muscle. Enhancement effects were evaluated as a function of dose, imaging time after contrast administration, and MR pulse sequence. RESULTS The iron oxide particles were phagocytized by macrophages within the normal functioning lymph nodes, resulting in a dramatic decrease in signal intensity because of magnetic susceptibility effects. T2*-weighted gradient echo and T2-weighted spin echo showed significant decrease in the signal intensity of normal lymph nodes at 24 hours after contrast injection at a dose of 1.7 mg Fe/kg. No significant changes in lymph node signal intensity on T1-weighted spin-echo images were noted at any dose or imaging time point. CONCLUSIONS This preliminary clinical evaluation demonstrates intravenous delivery of an iron-based contrast agent, resulting in negative enhancement of normal lymph nodes.
Profiling the Winners of the Public Oversight Board’s John J. Mccloy Award

The accounting Public Oversight Board (POB), an independent private sector body, was established in 1977, held its first meeting in 1978, and was terminated in 2002 at the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). During the last twelve years of its history, the POB honored sixteen individuals with the John J. McCloy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Audit Excellence. These individuals included McCloy, the POB’s first chairman, and fifteen others who made great contributions to auditing in America during the later years of the twentieth century. This manuscript profiles McCloy and the individuals who were recipients of the McCloy Award. These recipients included some of the best known names in the accounting profession, plus a few who were not so well known. Some were not even accountants.
The Social Imagination of Homosexuality and the Rise of Same-sex Marriage in the United States:

The author argues that the increase in support for same-sex marriage in the United States must be interpreted in light of the changing social imagination of homosexuality. The author measures the social imagination at the micro level by comparing the frequencies and semantic contexts in which two cohorts use metaphors and analogies to talk about same-sex marriage. Younger informants articulate them in ways that characterize homosexuality as identity, whereas older informants characterize homosexuality as behavior. Because the former image replaced the latter as hegemonic, cohorts coming of age after 1990 tend to support same-sex marriage, and older cohorts are changing their attitudes.
Characteristics of colorectal cancer survival in an urban county hospital

Purpose Disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) survival have been associated with race/ethnicity, screening, and insurance status, but less is known about how geographic and socioeconomic heterogeneity may modulate these factors. We examined CRC outcomes in an urban underserved population with sociodemographic factors distinctly different than those previously studied.
Recruitment-adjusted estimates of HIV prevalence and risk among men who have sex with men: effects of weighting venue-based sampling data.

Objectives. We investigated the impact of recruitment bias within the venuebased sampling (VBS) method, which is widely used to estimate disease prevalence and risk factors among groups, such as men who have sex with men (MSM), that congregate at social venues. Methods. In a 2008 VBS study of 479 MSM in New York City, we calculated venue-specific approach rates (MSM approached/MSM counted) and response rates (MSM interviewed/MSM approached), and then compared crude estimates of HIV risk factors and seroprevalence with estimates weighted to address the lower selection probabilities of MSM who attend social venues infrequently or were recruited at high-volume venues. Results. Our approach rates were lowest at dance clubs, gay pride events, and public sex strolls, where venue volumes were highest; response rates ranged from 39% at gay pride events to 95% at community-based organizations. Sixty-seven percent of respondents attended MSM-oriented social venues at least weekly, and 21% attended such events once a month or less often in the past year. In estimates adjusted for these variations, the prevalence of several past-year risk factors (e.g., unprotected anal intercourse with casual/exchange partners, $5 total partners, group sex encounters, at least weekly binge drinking, and hard-drug use) was significantly lower compared with crude estimates. Adjusted HIV prevalence was lower than unadjusted prevalence (15% vs. 18%), but not significantly. Conclusions. Not adjusting VBS data for recruitment biases could overestimate HIV risk and prevalence when the selection probability is greater for higher-risk MSM. While further examination of recruitment-adjustment methods for VBS data is needed, presentation of both unadjusted and adjusted estimates is currently indicated.
Evaluating the Fatty Acid Distribution of Bratwurst in Retail Products and of Fat in Sows Fed FertiliumTM-Treated Diets

Abstract In Experiment 1, fatty acid distribution of bratwurst (n = 14 different brands) were investigated from products purchased from various retail stores. In Experiment 2, sows were fed a control diet (n = 5) or a diet enriched with FertiliumTM. (United Feeds, Sheridan, IN) (n = 5), a fertility supplement with high levels of Omega n3 fat, to investigate the fatty acid profile in the middle and outer fat layers. Results of Experiment 1 suggest that major fatty acids [C16:0, C18:0, C18:2, as well as the n6:n3 ratio and iodine value (IV)] varied significantly (P
Location of focal silver staining at endothelial gaps in inflamed venules examined by scanning electron microscopy

The century-old histological technique of silver nitrate staining has proven to be extremely useful for visualizing endothelial cell borders and localizing endothelial gaps, but the significance of the staining is still not fully understood. To gain some insight into what silver nitrate stains, we developed a method that enabled us to use scanning electron microscopy with backscattered and secondary electron imaging to examine silver staining at endothelial cell borders of venules of the rat tracheal mucosa. We found that in normal venules, silver lines followed the smooth contour of cell borders. However, 1 min after endothelial permeability was increased by substance P, cell borders were irregular and displaced from the silver lines by as much as 4.3 microns, and the lines were accompanied by three types of silver deposits. Most common (46% of total) were annulus-shaped silver deposits that surrounded endothelial gaps. These deposits averaged 1.5 microns in width, were positioned symmetrically across cell borders, and were located at a depth of 0.3 micron beneath the luminal surface. Many endothelial gaps were partitioned into multiple pores (mean, 2.4) by fingerlike processes of endothelial cells. Surprisingly, the gaps occupied only 5.4% of the total area of the silver deposits and constituted 0.15% of the luminal surface of the leaky postcapillary venules. A second type of silver deposit (19% of total) was positioned asymmetrically with respect to the cell border and marked sites where endothelial cell margins still overlapped but appeared to be vertically separated by obliquely oriented gaps. A third type marked gaps at three-cell junctions; these were no more abundant than deposits elsewhere around the cell perimeter, suggesting that three-cell junctions were not unusually leaky sites. We conclude that silver nitrate marks endothelial cell borders and outlines endothelial cell gaps by staining an element of intercellular junctions. The annular shape of many silver deposits around gaps suggests that junctional elements in the apposing cells are separated during gap formation but are still present at the gap perimeter.
The influence of high planes of nutrition on skeletal growth and development of weanling horses.

Effects of high dietary levels of energy, protein and Ca and deficient levels of Ca on skeletal growth and development in the equine were studied in two experiments. The weanlings were fed grain-based diets. In Exp. 1, Group 1 (Ctl) received all nutrients at NRC recommended levels for growth; Group 2 (HE) received 150% of their digestible energy (DE) requirement; Group 3 (LC) received 150% of DE and 35% of Ca requirements. In Exp. 2, Group 1 (Ctl) again received all nutrients at NRC recommended levels for growth; Group 2 (HEP) received 150% of DE and 275% of CP requirements; Group 3 (HEPC) received 150% of DE, 275% of CP and 500% of Ca requirements. In addition, all groups had access to pasture. The HE treatment resulted in greater (P less than .10) increases in BW and total cortical width. However, LC weanlings had lower (P less than .10) gains in third metacarpal length and radiographic bone density. Cumulative increases in BW and wither height were greater (P less than .10) for the HEP and HEPC weanlings than for the Ctl weanlings. Increases in third metatarsal length also were greater (P less than .10) for HEP weanlings than for Ctl weanlings. Higher planes of nutrition increased body weight gains and growth rate of several long bones. However, skeletal development (e.g., cortical area) may be compromised by a high rate of growth.
Quantitative Radiology: Applications to Oncology

Oncologists, clinician-scientists, and basic scientists collect computed tomography, magnetic resonance, and positron emission tomography images in the process of caring for patients, managing clinical trials, and investigating cancer biology. As we have developed more sophisticated means for noninvasively delineating and characterizing neoplasms, these image data have come to play a central role in oncology. In parallel, the increasing complexity and volume of these data have necessitated the development of quantitative methods for assessing tumor burden, and by proxy, disease-free survival.
Female adolescent athletes' attitudes and perspectives on injury prevention programs

OBJECTIVES: To examine what factors influence a high school female athlete's stated willingness to perform a lower extremity injury prevention program (IPP). A secondary aim was to examine if a participant's stated willingness affected her compliance with an IPP. DESIGN: Repeated measures. METHODS: We surveyed high school female field hockey, soccer and volleyball athletes before and after a season-long IPP warm-up intervention. Participants completed the Injury Prevention Program Attitude Survey (IPPAS), a paper and pencil survey utilizing Likert-style and open-ended questions. It was used to assess the athletes' willingness to perform an IPP if the data proved the player would experience improved performance, fewer injuries and risk factors, what outside factors influence their willingness to perform an IPP, who they would feel comfortable leading their team in an IPP, and what they believe an IPP can improve. RESULTS: Participants responded that they were willing to perform an IPP if data proved that they would have fewer injury risk factors (p≤0.001) and be less likely to suffer an ACL injury (pCONCLUSIONS: Female adolescent athletes are willing to perform IPPs if data indicated that they would have fewer injury risk factors and suffer fewer ACL and leg injuries.Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Language: en
Scandal: Olivia Pope, Pope Francis, and Catholic Social Thought

Millions of viewers tune in to watch ABC's Scandal where political corruption, sexual infidelity, secret lives, and hidden crimes abound. What is it that makes something scandalous? In popular culture, scandal involves something morally or legally wrong coupled with public outrage. In contrast, as a theological category scandal is that which impedes the community's relationship with God. Pope Francis identifies poverty as just such a scandal damaging our relationship with God and each other. Examining scandal in popular culture and the media along with Catholic social thought, this article identifies three types of scandal: hypocrisy, impurity, and dehumanization. Ultimately, the theology of scandal can direct us away from the salacious towards addressing scandals of dehumanization.
AGRICULTURAL FIELDS, IDENTIFICATION AND STUDY

Field systems vary by location and crops as well as culture. Agricultural features include field walls, terraces or lynchets, raised or ridged fields, and irrigation systems. Investigation methods for these off-site features are highly variable and may include aerial photography, remote sensing, geographical information system (GIS), archaeological survey and excavation, geoarchaeology, as well as the study of plant remains within fields themselves. Most research programs incorporate several methods at a variety of scales as are illustrated by examples from diverse cultural and geographical settings.
Conflict Resolution by Peaceful Means

Peaceful settlement of conflicts, whether between individuals or nations, requires machinery, not merely declarations of willingness to keep the peace.
COORDINATION OF INTERNAL CODES

Publisher Summary Experimental psychologists working with adult subjects have been studying the different forms of representation of information in perceptual and learning tasks. This chapter presents four conclusions resulting from these studies: (1) the existence of objective techniques to demonstrate the reality of visual, verbal, and motor codes; (2) these forms of representation are enduring and not merely rapidly decaying residues of stimulation; (3) individuals differ in their propensity for forming and using different representations; and (4) different representations of the same stimulus may serve as isolable subsystems in the sense that it is possible to manipulate experimentally the availability of one code without affecting other codes of the same stimulus. The controversy between single and multiple code theories has also been present in studies of much simpler conceptual and memory tasks. The chapter highlights three instances of controversy between single and multiple coding views.
A Useful First Lab for Introductory Geoscience Courses

The first laboratory session of an introductory earth-science course is often under utilized for teaching. A very effective laboratory exercise can be developed based on the various graphs, tables, and diagrams found in most college textbooks. This lab should illustrate a variety of ways of presenting data, the differences among them, and their individual strengths and weaknesses. This serves many other purposes as well, including: reviewing the concepts of reading graphs, exposing students to major class topics, allowing students to interact, and creating an informal and cooperative classroom atmosphere. Using this approach, I generally find that students are better able to read, interpret, and discuss graphs and diagrams during the remainder of the course.
On a class of multi-parametric quadratic programming and its applications to machine learning

We consider a class of multi-parametric quadratic programming (mpQP) that is closely related with large margin learning methods. With a new treatment for two types of constraints, we derive the parametric solution and provide further results on the geometric structure of the optimality. The issue of degeneracy is discussed in some depth: We show that primal degeneracy can be naturally avoided with the new treatment, and that a classification property composes a sufficient condition to rule out dual degeneracy. For general mpQP that are not strictly convex, a decomposition method is proposed based on null space technique. The theoretical analyses are then connected to large margin machine learning: it is shown that the problem of model selection can be directly reduced to the corresponding mpQP. Moreover, we demonstrate that the problem of learning with hidden variables can be transformed into a concave minimization, which admits diverse global optimization algorithms. Finally, experiments are conducted on publicly available datasets to empirically test the two applications.
IKK inhibition by BMS-345541 suppresses breast tumorigenesis and metastases by targeting GD2+ cancer stem cells

// Venkata Lokesh Battula 1,2 , Khoa Nguyen 1 , Jeff Sun 1 , Mary Kathryn Pitner 2 , Bin Yuan 1 , Chandra Bartholomeusz 2 , Numsen Hail 1 and Michael Andreeff 1 1 Department of Leukemia, Section of Molecular Hematology and Therapy, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA 2 Department of Breast Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA Correspondence to: Venkata Lokesh Battula, email: // Michael Andreeff, email: // Keywords : breast cancer, cancer stem cells, GD2, GD3 synthase, NFκB Received : October 13, 2016 Accepted : March 01, 2017 Published : March 16, 2017 Abstract We have identified that the ganglioside GD2 is a marker for breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), and that targeting the enzyme GD3 synthase (GD3S, which regulates GD2 biosynthesis) reduces breast tumorigenesis. The pathways regulating GD2 expression, and their anomalous functions in BCSC, are unclear. Proteomic analysis of GD2 + and GD2 - cells from breast cancer cell lines revealed the activation of NFκB signaling in GD2 + cells. Dose- and time-dependent suppression of NFκB signaling by the small molecule inhibitor BMS-345541 reduced GD2 + cells by > 90%. Likewise, BMS-345541 inhibited BCSC GD3S expression, mammosphere formation, and cell migration/invasion in vitro . Breast tumor-bearing mice treated with BMS-345541 showed a statistically significant decrease in tumor volume and exhibited prolonged survival compared to control mice, with a median survival of 78 d for the BMS-345541-treated group vs. 58 d for the controls. Moreover, in an experimental metastases model, treatment with BMS-345541 reduced the lung metastases by > 5-fold. These data suggest that GD2 expression and function,and NFκB signaling, are related, and they control BCSCs tumorigenic characteristics. Thus, the suppression of NFκB signaling by BMS-345541 is a potentially important advance in controlling breast cancer growth and metastases.
Mastering the design for rehabilitation strategies in ICU survivors

Although the data from several recent trials have informed our understanding of early intensive care unit (ICU) exercise treatment. There remains a distinct lack of clarity in terms of the dose, duration, and frequency of exercise therapy that should be provided to the ICU survivor.1–4 Indeed, the coordination and integration of care for the critically ill patient, from early ICU exercise therapy and mobilisation to post-ICU rehabilitation, will be key going forward. In Thorax , McDowell et al 5 report on the REVIVE trial, which provides insight into the management of the post-ICU survivor and, in particular, the effectiveness of exercise on physical function (PF) in patients discharged from hospital following critical illness. The target population had received invasive ventilation for at least 4 days in the ICU with the exercise intervention delivered in the outpatient setting after hospital discharge. As with all outpatient-based UK exercise training programmes, the majority of sessions were supervised by a rehabilitation physiotherapist. It was delivered as a bespoke and personalised intervention that was modified based on the response of the individual patient to exercise. The intervention consisted of two directly supervised exercise sessions and one independent unsupervised session per week over 6 weeks. Importantly, there was a standard operation procedure for delivery of the multimodal exercise therapies to ensure uniform delivery of the intervention. More specifically, the training schedule for the rehabilitation physiotherapists included targeted exercise treatments based on the physical capability of the patient with an instruction to deliver goal-directed therapy and progress the patient through the exercises over multiple sessions. The detail of the dose, duration and frequency of the exercise therapy were recorded to permit the investigators to interpret the relationship between these factors and outcome in terms of PF. This is the strict controlled approach …
Response by Fender et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Severe Pulmonary Vein Stenosis Resulting From Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: Presentation, Management, and Clinical Outcomes".

We appreciate the thoughtful letter by Jazayeri et al. Assessment of the pulmonary veins (PVs) using cardiac computed tomography is challenging and requires a systematic approach to ensure accurate measurements are obtained. Some of the difficulties that must be addressed include defining the venous ostium and tracking the 3-dimensional course of the vein as it traverses multiple imaging planes. Our practice has been to use the venous carina to define the edge of the ostium, which becomes a reference point for a centerline extending from the ostium to the distal vein.1–3 We then use en-face and orthogonal slices extracted from the image volume to make cross-sectional measurements along the course of the vein. …
Chapter 8 – Vitamin E

Vitamin E has a fundamental role as an antioxidant in the metabolism of all cells. Vitamin E is the generic descriptor for all tocopherol and tocotrienol derivatives exhibiting the biological activity of α-tocopherol. Primary dietary sources of vitamin E include vegetable oils, seeds, and cereal grains. Vitamin E is fat-soluble and requires micellularization for absorption. It functions as a lipid-soluble biological antioxidant and protects against lipid peroxidation through the scavenging of free radicals. It may also confer anti-inflammatory effects and function in enzyme regulation and gene expression. Vitamin E deficiency is not common in humans and is manifest clinically as hemolytic anemia.
Geometric comparison of the mitral and tricuspid valve annulus: Insights from three dimensional transesophageal echocardiography.

Geometric comparison of the mitral and tricuspid valve annulus: Insights from three dimensional transesophageal echocardiography
Temporal development of near-native functional properties and correlations with qMRI in self-assembling fibrocartilage treated with exogenous lysyl oxidase homolog 2.

Abstract Advances in cartilage tissue engineering have led to constructs with mechanical integrity and biochemical composition increasingly resembling that of native tissues. In particular, collagen cross-linking with lysyl oxidase has been used to significantly enhance the mechanical properties of engineered neotissues. In this study, development of collagen cross-links over time, and correlations with tensile properties, were examined in self-assembling neotissues. Additionally, quantitative MRI metrics were examined in relation to construct mechanical properties as well as pyridinoline cross-link content and other engineered tissue components. Scaffold-free meniscus fibrocartilage was cultured in the presence of exogenous lysyl oxidase, and assessed at multiple time points over 8 weeks starting from the first week of culture. Engineered constructs demonstrated a 9.9-fold increase in pyridinoline content, reaching 77% of native tissue values, after 8 weeks of culture. Additionally, engineered tissues reached 66% of the Young’s modulus in the radial direction of native tissues. Further, collagen cross-links were found to correlate with tensile properties, contributing 67% of the tensile strength of engineered neocartilages. Finally, examination of quantitative MRI metrics revealed several correlations with mechanical and biochemical properties of engineered constructs. This study displays the importance of culture duration for collagen cross-link formation, and demonstrates the potential of quantitative MRI in investigating properties of engineered cartilages. Statement of Significance This is the first study to demonstrate near-native cross-link content in an engineered tissue, and the first study to quantify pyridinoline cross-link development over time in a self-assembling tissue. Additionally, this work shows the relative contributions of collagen and pyridinoline to the tensile properties of collagenous tissue for the first time. Furthermore, this is the first investigation to identify a relationship between qMRI metrics and the pyridinoline cross-link content of an engineered collagenous tissue.
Gamification: when it works, when it doesn't

The concept of using game mechanics to attract and retain customers in the consumer space is now well accepted. However, the use of gamification in the enterprise space is still catching on. There are a number of reasons to believe that acceptance of gamification will grow in the enterprise space. The most likely reason is that companies are increasingly concerned about the effect of employee engagement on productivity. But, there are circumstances where gamification can be successful and circumstances where gamification can fail.
Sarcoidosis Diagnostic Score: A Systematic Evaluation to Enhance the Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis.

Background The diagnosis of sarcoidosis is made by the combination of clinical features and biopsy results. The clinical features of sarcoidosis can be quite variable. We developed a Sarcoidosis Diagnostic Score (SDS) to summarize the clinical features of patients with possible sarcoidosis. Methods Biopsy-confirmed patients with sarcoidosis seen during a 7-month period at the University of Cincinnati sarcoidosis clinic were prospectively identified. Patients with nonsarcoidosis seen at the same clinic were used as control patients. Using a modified World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders organ assessment instrument, we scored all patients for presence of biopsy, ≥1 highly probable symptom, and ≥1 at least probable symptom for each area. Two sarcoidosis scores were generated: SDS biopsy (with biopsy) and SDS clinical (without biopsy). Results The 980 evaluable patients were divided into two cohorts: an initial 600 patients (450 with biopsy-confirmed sarcoidosis, 150 control patients) to establish cutoff values for SDS biopsy and an SDS clinical and a validation cohort of 380 patients (103 biopsy-confirmed patients with sarcoidosis and 277 control patients). The best cutoff value for SDS biopsy was ≥ 6 (sensitivity, 99.3%; specificity, 100%). For the total the 980 patients, an SDS clinical ≥ 3 had a sensitivity of 90.6%, specificity of 88.5%, and a likelihood ratio of 7.9. An SDS clinical score ≥ 4 had a lower sensitivity of (76.9%) but higher specificity (98.6%). Conclusions For sarcoidosis, the presence of specific clinical features, especially multiorgan involvement, can enhance the diagnostic certainty. The SDS scoring system quantitated the clinical features consistent with sarcoidosis.
Total Synthesis and Full Structural Assignment of Namenamicin.

Namenamicin is a rare natural product possessing potent cytotoxic properties that may prove useful as a lead compound for payloads of antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs). Its scarcity, coupled with the uncertainty of its full absolute configuration, elevates it to an attractive synthetic target. Herein we describe the total synthesis of the two C7′-epimers of namenamicin and assign its complete structure, opening the way for further chemical and biological studies toward the discovery of potent payloads for ADCs directed toward targeted cancer therapies.
VARIATIONAL FORMULATIONS IN DEFECT MECHANICS: CRACKS AND DISLOCATIONS

Abstract The forces on cracks and dislocations are discussed, first for the static case, then including dynamic effects. It turns out that the formal procedure used here works in the same way for both dislocations and cracks, giving e.g. the dynamic generalization of the Peach-Koehler force in case of continuous distribution of dislocations. The general variational formalism, however, cannot be given in a unified way, due to incompatibilities of fields describing dislocations. For the latter, the Lagrangian is given in terms of fields of velocities, distortions and their derivatives and source functions, such as dislocation density and flux tensors.
Use of Ezpap Positive Airway Pressure System for Ventilator Weaning in Pediatric Respiratory Failure

Introduction: We are unaware of any prior published case reports describing the use of EzPAP positive airway pressure system to facilitate ventilator weaning in pediatric patients with refractory respiratory failure. Case Report: A 7-year old female presented to the pediatric ICU due to 35% TBSA burns and severe inhalational injury suffered during a house fire. Within one week of injury, she developed severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring VV-ECMO. She was ultimately transitioned to a right CentriMag ventricular assist device (RVAD) with an oxygenator in line to both allow …
Discrete Time Synchronization Modeling for Active Rectifiers in Wireless Power Transfer Systems

Active rectifiers in wireless power transfer systems exhibit many benefits compared to diode rectifiers, including increased efficiency, controllable impedance, and regulation capability. To achieve these benefits, the receivers must synchronize their switching frequency to the transmitter to avoid sub-fundamental beat frequency oscillations. Without additional communication, the receiver must synchronize to locally-sensed signals, such as voltages and currents induced in the power stage by the transmitter. However, the waveforms in the receiver are dependent on both the transmitter and receiver operation, resulting in an internal feedback between sensing and synchronization which prohibits the use of traditional phase-locked-loop design techniques. In this digest, a discrete time state space model is developed and used to derive a small signal model of these interactions for the purpose of designing stable closed-loop synchronization control. A prototype 150 kHz wireless power transfer converter is used to experimentally validate the modeling, showcasing stable synchronization.
ZenCam: Context-Driven Control of Autonomous Body Cameras

In this paper, we present — ZenCam, which is an always-on body camera that exploits readily available information in the encoded video stream from the on-chip firmware to classify the dynamics of the scene. This scene-context is further combined with simple inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based activity level-context of the wearer to optimally control the camera configuration at run-time to keep the device under the desired energy budget. We describe the design and implementation of ZenCam and thoroughly evaluate its performance in real-world scenarios. Our evaluation shows a 29.8-35% reduction in energy consumption and 48.1-49.5% reduction in storage usage when compared to a standard baseline setting of 1920x1080 at 30fps while maintaining a competitive or better video quality at the minimal computational overhead.
A sequential estimation approach to terrestrial reference frame determination

Abstract We review the main concepts underlying the determination of terrestrial reference frames (TRFs) through a recursive algorithm based on Kalman Filtering and Rauch-Tung-Striebel (RTS) smoothing which is currently adopted at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to compute sub-secular frame products (JTRFs). We contextualize the TRF determination in the state-space framework and we emphasize connections between frame state, its observability through space-geodetic frame inputs and the similarity transformation which is central to frame definition. We elaborate on the notion of sub-secular frame, enabled by our approach, in constrast to standard TRF products which, secular by construction, are designed to represent the long-term mean physical properties of the frame. Comparisons of JTRF solutions to standard products such as the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) suggest high-level consistency in a long-term sense with time derivatives of the Helmert transformation parameters connecting the two TRFs below 0.18 mm/yr. We discuss advantages and limitations of JPL approach to TRF determination and outline lines of inquiries that are currently being researched as part of JTRF development plan.
Pandemics and Systemic Financial Risk

The coronavirus has produced a public health debacle of the first-order. But the virus is also propagating the kind of exogenous shock that can precipitate – and to a considerable degree is already precipitating – a systemic event for our financial system. This currently unfolding systemic shock comes a little more than a decade after the last financial crisis. In the intervening years, much as been written about the global financial crisis of 2008 and its systemic dimensions. Additional scholarly attention has focused on first devising and then critiquing the macroprudential reforms that ensued, both in the Dodd-Frank Act and the many regulations and policy guidelines that implemented its provisions. In this essay, we consider the coronavirus pandemic and its implications for the financial system through the lens of the frameworks we had developed for the analysis of systemic financial risks in the aftermath of the last financial crisis. We compare and contrast the two crises in terms of systemic financial risks and then explore two dimensions on which financial regulatory authorities might profitably engage with public health officials. As we are writing this essay, the pandemic’s ultimate scope and consequences, financial and otherwise, are unknown and unknowable; our analysis, therefore, is necessarily provisional and tentative. We hope, however, it may be of interest and potential use to the academic community and policymakers.
Center of rotation of angulation-based leveling osteotomy combined with a coplanar cranial closing wedge ostectomy to manage cranial cruciate ligament insufficiency in dogs with excessive tibial plateau angle.

Objective To describe outcomes of dogs with excessive tibial plateau angle (eTPA) and cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL) disease treated with center of rotation of angulation-based leveling osteotomy (CBLO) and cranial closing wedge ostectomy (CCWO). Study design Retrospective study. Animals Twenty-one dogs. Methods Medical records of dogs with CrCL disease and eTPA (>34°) treated with CBLO/CCWO were reviewed. Signalment, body weight, intra-articular structure appearance, TPA (preoperatively, postoperatively, and at osteotomy healing), postoperative function, and complications were recorded. Results Twenty-one dogs (28 stifles) with CrCL disease/eTPA underwent CBLO/CCWO. Twenty stifles had complete CrCL tears and eight tears were partial. Mean age and weight of dogs were 4 years (range, 1-9) and 27 kg (range, 4-65), respectively. Medial menisci were normal in 20 stifles, torn in 5, and degenerative in 3. All lateral menisci were normal. The caudal cruciate ligament was normal in 26 stifles and partially torn in 2. Mean TPA was 43° preoperatively, 10° postoperatively, and 10° at final recheck. Grade 4 healing occurred in all osteotomies by 8 weeks postoperatively. Complications included one pin migration, breakage of two proximal screws (1 case), one late-onset caudolateral band CrCL tear, two late-onset meniscal tears, and one surgical site infection. Eighteen dogs returned to full function, and three dogs achieved acceptable function, at a mean of 27 months. Conclusion Center of rotation of angulation-based leveling osteotomy/CCWO resulted in grade 4 osteotomy healing by 8 weeks, minimal complications, and acceptable to full return to function. Clinical significance Center of rotation of angulation-based leveling osteotomy/CCWO should be considered to treat canine CrCL disease/eTPA.
Asthma Medication Use and Risk of Birth Defects: National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011.

Background Evidence regarding associations between maternal asthma medication use and birth defects is mixed. Objective Estimate associations between asthma medciation use and 52 birth defects using National Birth Defects Prevention Study data from 1997 to 2011. Methods We compared self-reported maternal asthma medication use for 28,481 birth defect cases and 10,894 nonmalformed controls. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (95% CIs) to estimate the risk of birth defects associated with early pregnancy asthma medication use (the month before through the third month of pregnancy), controlling for maternal age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, smoking, folic acid–containing supplement use, and parity. We calculated risks by medication groupings: bronchodilators, anti-inflammatories, and both. Results Overall, 1304 (5%) case and 449 (4%) control women reported early pregnancy asthma medication use. We observed an association between asthma medication use and longitudinal limb deficiency (1.81; 95% CI, 1.27-2.58). Early pregnancy bronchodilator-only use was associated with cleft palate (1.50; 95% CI, 1.11-2.02), cleft lip (1.58; 95% CI, 1.12-2.23), longitudinal limb deficiency (2.35; 95% CI, 1.55-3.54), and truncus arteriosus (2.48; 95% CI, 1.13-5.42). Although early pregnancy anti-inflammatory-only use was not associated with the birth defects studied, use of both medications was associated with biliary atresia (3.60; 95% CI, 1.55-8.35) and pulmonary atresia (2.50; 95% CI, 1.09-5.78). Conclusions Consistent with previous National Birth Defects Prevention Study analyses, asthma medication use was not associated with most birth defects examined, but we observed modest risks for bronchodilator use and several birth defects. Our findings support maintaining adequate asthma treatment during pregnancy, because early pregnancy asthma exacerbations have been associated with adverse birth outcomes, including birth defects.
One-Time Acute Heat Treatment Is Effective for Attenuation of the Exaggerated Exercise Pressor Reflex in Rats With Femoral Artery Occlusion.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of one-time acute heat treatment (HT) on the exaggerated exercise pressor reflex in a model of peripheral arterial insufficiency induced by ligation of the femoral artery and was to further examine the underlying mechanism of ATP-P2X3 signal activity during this process. The blood pressure (BP) response to static muscle contraction and muscle tendon stretch was recorded to determine the exercise pressor reflex. Also, αβ-methylene ATP (αβ-me ATP) was injected into the arterial blood supply of the hindlimb muscles to stimulate P2X3 receptors in the muscle afferent nerves. To process one-time acute HT, a heating pad was placed locally on the hindlimb and the muscle temperature (Tm) was increased by ~1.5°C and maintained for 5 min. Compared with control rats, a greater mean arterial pressure (MAP) response to muscle contraction was observed in rats with femoral occlusion in a pre-heat control session (28 ± 2 mmHg in occluded rats/n = 12 vs. 18 ± 2 mmHg in control rats/n = 9; p 0.05). Our data suggest that one-time acute HT selectively attenuates the amplified pressor response induced by activation of the metabolic and mechanical components of the reflex in rats after femoral artery occlusion. The suppressing effects of acute HT on the exaggerated exercise pressor reflex are likely mediated through a reduction in metabolites (e.g., ATP) stimulating the muscle afferent nerves in contracting muscle, but unlikely through direct alteration of P2X receptors per se.
Abstract 39: GLP-1 Agonists Improve Cerebrovascular Integrity and Vascular Induced Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Beyond Glycemic Control via Restoration of Brain Pericytes Functions in Diabetic Mice

We have previously shown that diabetes causes pericyte-dysfunction that leads to loss of vascular integrity and vascular-induced cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). Glucagon-like peptide-1(GL...
Performance Evaluation of Low-cost PurpleAir Sensors in Ambient Air

Attention has been paid to low-cost, light-scattering-based particulate matter (PM) sensors, which provide PM measurements in order to supplement a small number of expensive air quality monitoring stations. However, low-cost PM sensors produce measurement data of questionable quality. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of low-cost PM sensors, specifically PurpleAir PA-II units. To evaluate the PurpleAir PA-II units, we use accurate air quality data measured from monitoring stations within close proximity to the PA-II units as reference. By means of linear regression, we compare PurpleAir PA-II units with air quality monitors. From the result, PurpleAir PA-II units have high correlations (R2 ≥ 0.84) with nephelometers, which are based on the principle of light-scattering, and thus the PurpleAir PA-II is a sufficient substitute for nephelometers. PurpleAir PA-II units have a good agreement (R2 = 0.72 and 0.89) with MetOne BAM 1020 monitors based on beta ray attenuation but show a non-linear behavior. Furthermore, there is an essential observation that the PurpleAir PA-II unit needs to have significantly high precision in order to have a high correlation with an expensive reference monitor and thus be used supplementally. The considered PurpleAir PA-II units overestimate PM 2.5 concentrations compared with air quality reference monitors. Therefore, a calibration algorithm for PurpleAir PA-II units should be considered to give a correct air quality index at sites considered in this paper. However, our results show the PurpleAir PA-II to be a promising low-cost air quality sensor for supplementing a conventional air quality sensing network with expensive monitors.
Thyroid-Like Cholangiocarcinoma: Histopathological, Immunohistochemical, In-Situ Hybridization and Molecular Studies on an Uncommon Emerging Entity

Thyroid-like cholangiocarcinoma is a very uncommon variant of peripheral-type cholangiocarcinoma. To date, only 4 prior cases have been reported. The molecular features of this tumor have not been ...
Monitoring C-reactive protein facilitates early discontinuation of immune oncology without compromising outcomes in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

e21107Background: C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is a non-specific inflammatory marker and reflects tissue destruction seen in metastatic cancer (ca). We have observed a tight correlation with CRP trends...
Can We Characterize Tasks Without Labels or Features

The problem of expert model selection deals with choosing the appropriate pretrained network ("expert") to transfer to a target task. Methods, however, generally depend on two separate assumptions: the presence of labeled images and access to powerful "probe" networks that yield useful features. In this work, we demonstrate the current reliance on both of these aspects and develop algorithms to operate when either of these assumptions fail. In the unlabeled case, we show that pseudolabels from the probe network provide discriminative enough gradients to perform nearly-equal task selection even when the probe network is trained on imagery unrelated to the tasks. To compute the embedding with no probe network at all, we introduce the Task Tangent Kernel (TTK) which uses a kernelized distance across multiple random networks to achieve performance over double that of other methods with randomly initialized models. Code is available at https://github.com/BramSW/task_characterization_cvpr_2021/.
Continence, temperance, and motivational conflict: Why traditional neo-Aristotelian accounts are psychologically unrealistic

Traditional neo-Aristotelian accounts hold that temperance and continence are distinct character traits that are distinguished by the extent to which their bearers experience motivational conflict....
Analyzing XOR-Forrelation through stochastic calculus.

In this note we present a simplified analysis of the quantum and classical complexity of the $k$-XOR Forrelation problem (introduced in the paper of Girish, Raz and Zhan) by a stochastic interpretation of the Forrelation distribution.
Aspects of Quantification

This chapter deals with the uses of units and the need for dimensional analysis when multiple units have to be used in combination. Quantities arise in the process of measuring and denoting the degree or intensity of qualities, and the measurement is made with units. One can think of several cases in which the distinctive feature that separates the scientific from the nonscientific is quantification, which means expressing laws or relations in terms of quantities combined with qualities rather than by qualities alone. A unit is a quantity used as a standard in terms of which other quantities of the same kind can be measured or expressed. The inch itself is an arbitrarily defined quantity, meaning that there is nothing in nature to recommend this particular length over any other length.