cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Semantic web construction: an inquiry of authors' views on collaborative metadata generation

Increasing the amount and quality of metadata is essential for realizing the Semantic Web. The research reported on in this article addresses this topic by investigating how resource authors might best collaborate with metadata experts to expedite and improve metadata production. Resource authors, working as scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), were surveyed about collaborating with metadata experts (catalogers) during the metadata creation process. The majority of authors surveyed recognized cataloger expertise is important for organizing and indexing web resources and support the development of a collaborative metadata production operation. Authors discovered that, as creators of web resource intellectual content, they too have knowledge valuable for cataloging. This paper presents the study's framework and results, and discusses the value of collaborative metadata generation for realizing the Semantic Web.
First Record of an Actinosporean (Myxozoa) in a Marine Polychaete Annelid

The marine polychaete Nereis (Hediste) diversicolor (Annelida) from shallow water in the Oresund, Denmark, was found to be infected with an actinosporean stage of a myxozoan parasite. The body length of the pyriform actinospore is 12–16 μm and its maximum width is 10–12μm. The spore is triangular in apical view, with the 3 spherical polar capsules distally. The spore is without caudal processes. Eight spores develop in each pansporocyst. Free spores and pansporocysts were found in the musculature and parapodia but not in the intestine. The myxosporean stage in fish is unknown. This is the first record of an actinosporean stage in a marine polychaete, but because marine oligochaetes are rare, compared with polychaetes, the latter are believed to play an important role as invertebrate (alternate) hosts in marine myxozoan life cycles.
World-system position and democracy, 1972–2008:

Global levels of democracy are higher than ever before, and democratic principles are now institutionalized as a world cultural norm. Nevertheless, a number of countries continue to feature governi...
The Reliability-Mass Trade-Off in Multi-Criteria Life Support Technology Selection

Life support technology should be selected by considering all the important criteria, including performance, safety, reliability, mass, cost, and technology readiness. These criteria require trade-offs. Reliability is important in itself and it also affects maintainability and the probability of mission failure. But, because high operational reliability can be achieved by providing redundant systems or spare parts, reliability is much less important in initial technology selection than the hardware mass. To achieve high reliability with the lowest mass, it is usually better to select the lowest mass rather than the highest reliability technology. Achieving high reliability requires attention to system design, development, and test as well as initial technology selection.
Taxonomic application of isozyme patterns produced with disc electrophoresis of some myxomycetes, order Physarales.

Disc electrophoresis was run on proteins from 14 myxomycete isolates in the order Physarales. The combination of profiles produced to general protein, esterase, phosphatase, amino peptidase and per...
Apathy and Antipathy: Media Coverage of Restrictive Immigration Legislation and the Maintenance of Symbolic Boundaries

Although the government no longer explicitly establishes boundaries of whiteness, it continues to play a central role in shaping symbolic boundaries between immigrants and nonimmigrants through immigration lawmaking. However, the salience of these boundaries may depend on how the media disseminate them to the public. In this study, we investigate media framing of immigration lawmaking using an original data set of news coverage of six of the most widely recognized exclusionary immigration bills and laws at different levels of government. Two patterns emerged from an iterative frame analysis. First, in their coverage of frames critical of these bills and laws, outlets devoted more attention to the effects of exclusionary legislation for nonimmigrants. Second, in their coverage of frames supportive of the restrictive legislation, outlets provided more space to those who openly associated immigrants with criminality and terrorism. Regardless of outlets’ seemingly neutral stance toward restrictive legislation, their disparate coverage of exclusionary lawmaking demonstrates apathy and antipathy toward immigrants, which has repercussions for the maintenance of inequality.
Retrospective cohort study of cancer incidence and mortality by HIV status in a Georgia, USA, prisoner cohort during the HAART era

Objective Non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs) have emerged as significant contributors to cancer mortality and morbidity among persons living with HIV (PLWH). Because NADCs are also associated with many social and behavioural risk factors that underlie HIV, determining the extent to which each of these factors contributes to NADC risk is difficult. We examined cancer incidence and mortality among persons with a history of incarceration, because distributions of other cancer risk factors are likely similar between prisoners living with HIV and non-infected prisoners. Design Registry-based retrospective cohort study. Participants Cohort of 22 422 persons incarcerated in Georgia, USA, prisons on 30 June 1991, and still alive in 1998. Outcome measures Cancer incidence and mortality were assessed between 1998 and 2009, using cancer and death registry data matched to prison administrative records. Age, race and sex-adjusted standardised mortality and incidence ratios, relative to the general population, were calculated for AIDS-defining cancers, viral-associated NADCs and non-infection-associated NADCs, stratified by HIV status. Results There were no significant differences in cancer mortality relative to the general population in the cohort, regardless of HIV status. In contrast, cancer incidence was elevated among the PLWH. Furthermore, incidence of viral-associated NADCs was significantly higher among PLWH versus those without HIV infection (standardised incidence ratio=6.1, 95% CI 3.0 to 11.7, p Conclusions Among PLWH with a history of incarceration, cancer incidence was elevated relative to the general population, likely related to increased prevalence of oncogenic viral co-infections. Cancer prevention and screening programmes within prisons may help to reduce the cancer burden in this high-risk population.
Identifying the Critical Members of the House of Representatives

This article combines the historical record of presidential-congressional relations with previous scholarly findings to develop a model that identifies the members of Congress whose support is critical to the president's ability to build enacting coalitions. It then analyzes the relationship between President Obama and the House of Representatives during the 113th Congress as a case study that demonstrates the model's utility. Conventional wisdom and political pundits suggest that presidents working in divided government will have impossible difficulty working with Congress, but history suggests otherwise. The president's ability to successfully build enacting coalitions during divided government requires him to perform two rather disparate tasks. First, the president must minimize the amount of presidential party members who cross party lines to vote against the president's position. Second, the president must entice at least some opposition party members to cross party lines and support the president's ...
Arthroscopy of the Foot and Ankle in the Athlete

Arthroscopy has become a useful tool both diagnostically and therapeutically in the treatment of athletic foot and ankle injuries. A thorough knowledge of the tendinous and neurovascular structures will minimize complications. Debridement of osteochondral lesions of the talus and bony and soft-tissue impingement lesions now may be performed arthroscopically with results comparable with established open techniques. Although still evolving, arthroscopy in the foot shows promise with expanded indications for the athlete.
Fast Curing Copolymer Resins of Phenol, Formaldehyde, and Chemicals from Forest and Agricultural Residues

For many years, barks and agricultural residues were regarded as waste materials to be disposed of as cheaply as possible. However, in this era of material shortages and ecology awareness, increasing efforts have been directed away from mere disposal and toward positive utilization of barks and residues.
The Avian Enteric Immune System in Health and Disease

The intestine is a complex tissue that includes a major immune component. Indeed, the numbers of immune cells found in intestinal tissues exceed the numbers found in the rest of the body. The intestinal lumen also contains huge numbers of microbes, including those that are not normally pathogenic (referred to as commensals) and a wide array of pathogens that either reside in, or use, this site as a means of entry to other tissues. Hence, immune function in the intestine is a complex and tightly regulated process geared toward differentiating pathogenic from apathogenic challenge and limiting the growth or survival of a wide array of pathogens. This chapter considers the organization and components of the immune system in the gut before considering the mechanisms stimulated by, and active against, a range of pathogenic microbes encountered by the avian gut.
How to ask for permission

Application platforms provide applications with access to hardware (e.g., GPS and cameras) and personal data. Modern platforms use permission systems to protect access to these resources. The nature of these permission systems vary widely across platforms. Some platforms obtain user consent as part of installation, while others display runtime consent dialogs. We propose a set of guidelines to aid platform designers in determining the most appropriate permission-granting mechanism for a given permission. We apply our proposal to a smart-phone platform. A preliminary evaluation indicates that our model will reduce the number of warnings presented to users, thereby reducing habituation effects.
Multiple Model Analysis of Sediment Transport and Contaminant Distribution in the Clinch River/Watts Bar Reservoir, Tennessee, USA*

Three models of sediment transport and contaminant distribution (CHARIMA, HEC-6, and TODAM) are being applied to the Clinch River/Watts Bar Reservoir system as part of a CERCLA remedial investigation. Planned uses of model results are to identify high deposition areas of the river, forecast the effects of various remedial actions and climatic events on contaminant distribution, and aid in the design of future data collection efforts. The three models share some similarities but also differ in several important details. All three models are one-dimensional and include similar processes for sediment deposition and resuspension. Differences among the models include steady-state versus unsteady flow, the complexity of the channel network permitted, and the level of detail of contaminant-related fate processes represented. As part of our multiple model strategy, some aspects of the three models are configured using common information on the system (e.g., spatial geometry), while other aspects of the models, including some modeler decisions and calibration methods, are allowed to differ. Comparison of results among the three models can lead to increased confidence in predictions and in recommendations for future data collection. The general approach of using multiple models is described and preliminary results of the Clinch River/Watts Bar application are presented to illustrate the utility of using a multiple model approach for complex environmental assessments.
The effect of regulatory focus on attention residue and performance during interruptions

Abstract This paper explores how regulatory focus affects transitions between tasks following interruptions. Consistent with the research on attention residue (Leroy, 2009), we argue that in order to be cognitively available and perform well on an interrupting task, people must cognitively disengage from the task that is interrupted—that is they must fully switch their attention to the interrupting demand. Integrating the research on regulatory focus (Higgins, 1997) and attention residue (Leroy, 2009), we predict that both the framing of the initial/interrupted task and the framing of the interrupting task interact to affect how well people switch their attention to and perform on an interrupting task. This investigation allows the identification of when attention residue is most likely to occur, hindering performance on the interrupting task and how attention residue can be prevented or mitigated. Data across three studies support our predictions.
Wasted Humans and Garbage Animals: Deadly Transcorporeality and Documentary Activism

The juxtaposition of these two terms—garbage and animal—has a long material history that can be traced back to medieval gastronomic practices and tastes in the West. The material and symbolic entanglements of garbage and animal justify a further cross-examination between waste studies and critical animal studies and a two-edged cross-intervention into two devastating problems we are facing in the age of the Capitalocene: garbage and anthropocentric speciesism. Such a fusion of two terms articulates a vocabulary and a new conceptual frame for critical animal studies. “Garbage animal studies” provides an ecocritical theoretical frame for envisioning a type of practice under the nascent environmental humanities or, more appropriately, “naturecultural studies.” In this chapter, I use “garbage animal” as a nodal point to intersect waste studies, animal studies, and documentary film studies. I attempt to elucidate a theory of garbage animal and theorise a genre of garbage animal documentary as a form of redemption. I particularly focus on Kunal Vohra’s documentary The Plastic Cow, which discusses the way India’s modernisation has affected their sacred cow. Terms such as “the plastic cow” in India or “garbage goat” in China serve as a synecdoche designating urban roaming animals eating plastic bags and waste found on the streets. The documentaries address the “garbage animal” issue in globalised modernity, which serve as visual evidence of slow violence against non-human animal bodies and the body of the earth.
Hurricanes and Power System Reliability-The Effects of Individual Decisions and System-Level Hardening

Hurricanes produce significant, widespread, and often prolonged electrical-power outages. For example, Hurricane Irene caused more than 500 000 Long Island Power Authority customers to lose power and it took eight days to achieve 99% customer restoration. Individuals and businesses are heavily dependent on a continuous supply of electricity. Given this strong dependence on reliable electricity, individuals and private industries are increasingly putting collective pressure on regulators to require system hardening by utilities. In some cases, this has led to utility action. Conversely, many customers install a backup generator to guarantee electricity supply during disruptive events. These actions taken by individual customers affect their experiences in future storms, and are generally influenced by individuals’ strength of preference for reliable power, their beliefs about the likelihood of losing power in the future, and the outcomes of their most recent experiences. However, individual action may come at the expense of collective action, whereby those who buy generators, often those with more resources available to purchase the generator, do not participate in the collective grievance, reducing the demand for overall system hardening. By using a validated power-outage forecasting model in conjunction with an agent-based model, we characterize how a community’s likelihood of losing power in repeated hurricanes is affected by the complex interactions among individuals’ behavioral responses in whether to engage in personal or collective action.
An Analysis of Predictors of History Content Knowledge: Implications for Policy and Practice.

How and to what extent students learn history content is a complicated process, drawing from the instructional opportunities they experience; the policy prioritization of history/social studies instruction in schools; and their own cultural perspectives toward the past. In an attempt to better understand the complex inter-play among these dimensions, we examined relationships among student sociocultural characteristics, instructional exposure, and school-level variables and US History content knowledge. Using data from the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress Test on US History (NAEP-USH), multilevel analyses indicated that while sociocultural indicators (such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status) correlate with achievement, students’ instructional exposure variables remain significant predictors of history content knowledge. Moreover, school context such as building-level demographics and state testing-policy predict between school variance in content knowledge and moderate the achievement gap. Results also suggest that, while a substantial achievement gap remains, exposure to text-based instructional practices is associated with increased knowledge. Findings from this study have policy implications for the development of a more inclusive social studies curriculum, the advocating of text-dependent instruction as a high-leverage practice among history teachers, and cautious consideration of tests as proxies for accountability in history education.
Two microRNA signatures for malignancy and immune infiltration predict overall survival in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer

MicroRNAs have been established as key regulators of tumor gene expression and as prime biomarker candidates for clinical phenotypes in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). We analyzed the coexpression and regulatory structure of microRNAs and their co-localized gene targets in primary tumor tissue of 20 patients with advanced EOC in order to construct a regulatory signature for clinical prognosis. We performed an integrative analysis to identify two prognostic microRNA/mRNA coexpression modules, each enriched for consistent biological functions. One module, enriched for malignancy-related functions, was found to be upregulated in malignant versus benign samples. The second module, enriched for immune-related functions, was strongly correlated with imputed intratumoral immune infiltrates of T cells, natural killer cells, cytotoxic lymphocytes, and macrophages. We validated the prognostic relevance of the immunological module microRNAs in the publicly available The Cancer Genome Atlas data set. These findings provide novel functional roles for microRNAs in the progression of advanced EOC and possible prognostic signatures for survival.
Heterogeneous ozonation reactions of PAHs and fatty acid methyl esters in biodiesel particulate matter

Abstract Numerous studies have examined the oxidation of PAHs found in diesel particulate matter (PM) by ozone, but no studies have investigated the ozone oxidation of biodiesel exhaust PM. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), found in high abundance in biodiesel PM, can potentially alter the kinetics of the reactions between atmospheric oxidants such as ozone and particle-phase PAHs. In this study, the heterogeneous reactivity of 16 EPA PAHs upon 24 h exposure to 0.4 ppm ozone in the presence (PAH + FAMES) and absence (PAH-only) of FAMEs was investigated at room temperature and 50% relative humidity. The ozone-reactivity of the PAHs detected in 20% biodiesel (B20) exhaust PM was also investigated. In the absence of FAMEs, the pseudo-first order ozone reaction rate constant, k O 3 , of PAHs varied from 0.086 ± 0.030 hr−1 (chrysene) to 0.184 ± 0.078 hr−1 (anthracene). In the presence of FAMEs, k O 3 of the PAHs varied between 0.013 ± 0.012 hr−1 (benzo[b]fluoranthene) and 0.168 ± 0.028 hr−1 (benzo[a]pyrene), and with the exception of benzo[a]pyrene, the k O 3 of PAHs were 1.2–8 times lower compared to those obtained during the PAH-only ozone exposure. Only one PAH, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), did not show a significant change in kO3 with addition of FAMEs. Phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene, the only PAHs detected in the B20 PM, had k O 3 values about 4 times lower in B20 PM than those obtained when spiked PAHs-only were exposed to ozone. The k O 3 values of phenanthrene and fluoranthene in the B20 PM were 2 times higher than rates obtained when the PAH mix was exposed to ozone in the presence of the FAMEs. In contrast, pyrene's k O 3 in the B20 PM was about 2 times lower than that obtained for the PAH + FAMEs exposure. Observed differences in PAH behavior demonstrate individual PAH heterogeneous reactivity with gas-phase ozone is sensitive to PAH (vapor pressure, solubility/sorption to matrix components, chemical reactivity) as well as substrate properties (PAH and O3 diffusivity in the matrix that may evolve with reaction progress). Saturated FAMEs were not reactive with ozone ( k O 3 range = 0.004 ± 0.003 to 0.012 ± 0.026 hr−1), but compared to PAHs, up to two times higher k O 3 was measured for the unsaturated FAMEs (range 0.087 ± 0.015 to 0.329 ± 0.023 hr−1) during PAH + FAMEs exposures. These changes in substrate composition during atmospheric aging would be expected to affect PAH diffusivity and therefore heterogeneous reactivity over time. The factor of 1.2–8 decreased heterogeneous reactivity of PAHs in the presence of the FAMEs mix and the B20 PM matrix suggests that the presence of FAMEs in the diesel fuel supply may lead to increased PAH atmospheric lifetimes and longer range PAH transport. Predictive methods to quantify changes in PAH reactivity with gas-phase oxidants as a function of substrate composition and characteristics (viscosity, polarity, degree of unsaturation) are needed as biodiesel is increasingly present in our diesel engine fuel supply from a variety of feedstocks at different blend ratios.
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Antimicrobials in Critically Ill Patients

Critically ill patients with severe infections often have altered pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variables that lead to challenging treatment decisions. These altered variables can often lead to inadequate dosing and poor treatment outcomes. The pharmacokinetic parameters include absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. Pharmacodynamics is the relationship between drug serum concentrations and pharmacologic and toxicologic properties of the medication. In addition to these altered parameters, these critically ill patients frequently are receiving organ support in the forms of continuous renal replacement therapy or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation. Altered pharmacodynamics can lead to decreased end-organ perfusion, which can ultimately lead to treatment failure or exposure-related toxicity. The most common antimicrobials utilized in the intensive care unit are classified by the pharmacodynamic principles of time-dependent, concentration-dependent, and concentration dependent with time-dependence. Thus, the aim of this review is to outline pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes of critically ill patients with severe infections and provide strategies for optimal antibiotic agent dosing in these patients.
Pink pepper phenolic compounds incorporation in starch/protein blends and its potential to inhibit apple browning

Abstract The effect of different ratios of rice starch/fish protein (15/85, 50/50, 85/15, w/w) and different concentrations of pink pepper phenolic compounds (4%, 6% and 8%, v/w) were evaluated in films properties as well in the capacity to inhibit enzymatic browning of fresh-cut apples. The films were characterized according to mechanical properties, water vapor barrier, solubility in water, color and opacity, morphological and thermal properties. The ratio 15/85 of starch/protein showed tensile strength of 6.50 MPa and elongation at break of 173.3%. It has the greatest potential to be used as packaging for vegetables preservation. This blend showed potential to inhibit the enzyme peroxidase and thus was used as coating in fresh-cut apples. The samples coated with the blend presented lower browning index in comparison to the control sample. The blend clearly showed potential to be used as food packaging, especially to be used as antioxidant packaging to inhibit enzymatic browning.
Acute exposure of white-tailed deer cortical bone to Staphylococcus aureus did not result in reduced bone stiffness.

Abstract Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the main source of osteomyelitis in adults. The end-result of untreated osteomyelitis is bone necrosis and distraction of bone structure. While bone tissue can heal and remodel its structure to ameliorate its mechanical properties, so far no study has tested the mechanical properties of cortical bone tissue exposed to S. aureus. With the increase usage of bone banks as a source of bone graft supply, it is important to screen for any possible pathology that may affect the bone graft success to function normally in the receiving patient. This study tested the effect of acute exposure to S. aureus on cortical bone stiffness. We have postulated that the incubation of cortical bone with S. aureus for 48 h will result in a significant decrease in bone stiffness. Sixty-five bone cubes (2 × 2 × 2 mm) were prepared from the cranial and caudal aspects of four white-tailed deer mid-diaphysis humeri. First, all bone samples were tested to determine their stiffness in the three principle orientations (axial, radial and transverse). Next, bone samples were incubated for 48 h with S. aureus (32 cubes, experimental group) or with sterile distilled water (33 cubes, control group). Finally, all cubes were mechanically tested again and each stiffness value was compared to the original value obtained from the same cube. Our results revealed that overall, acute exposure to S. aureus did not significantly decrease bone stiffness and thus our working hypothesis could not be supported. Therefore, our findings support the current tissue collection screening methods employed by bone-graft banks.
The Development of Innovative Ideas Through Creativity Training

Abstract: Creativity training became popular in the 1950s with programs such as Osborn's brainstorming approach to problem-solving. Half a century later, in an effort to enhance innovative thinking, creativity training programs of various types have proliferated in educational institutions and business environments. These programs vary in methods and scope. With such popularity and diversity of programs, it is appropriate to examine their effectiveness in enhancing innovation. This chapter will provide an overview of various types of creativity training programs and will examine recent research findings regarding their effectiveness for stimulating the development of innovative ideas.
Microangiopathy and early diabetic-like sugar tolerances in animals with induced thyroid immunity.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses microangiopathy and early diabetic-like sugar tolerances in animals with induced thyroid immunity. In an experiment described in the chapter, thyroglobulin immunity was elicited in adult New Zealand white rabbits by three weekly injections of 1% bovine thyroglobulin in Freund's complete adjuvant. Control animals were either immunized against albumin or were injected with complete adjuvant. The fasting plasma glucose levels in control and immunized animals and their tolerance to a glucose load are illustrated in the chapter. While the mean fasting levels in control and immunized animals were not significantly different, higher values in the latter were invariably apparent. Similar elevations in plasma glucose concentration in immunized animals were apparent at all-time intervals after the glucose load, but only the 30 min value showed a difference with a low order of statistical significance. These observations suggested that with repeated glucose stress, any inherent deficiencies in control and immunized animals in disposing of the glucose load may become exaggerated. After 30 min of a single injection of epinephrine, plasma glucose concentration increased in both control and immunized animals by 25.5 and 31.7%, respectively.
Bronchoscopic localization of radiologically occult cancer.

Bronchoscopy has played a long and important role in the study of patients with clinical bronchogenic carcinoma. It is well known, however, that some bronchial carcinomas shed malignant cells into the sputum for periods of many months before becoming detectable by bronchoscopy or chest X-ray [1]. Prior to the advent of the fiberoptic bronchoscope, differential cytology was too unreliable to allow definitive therapy in such patients until biopsy confirmation could be made.
Neurosurgical treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Background Case reports suggest that neurosurgical operations can improve symptoms in patients with severe treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it is unclear which procedure is best and which may produce the most side-effects. Method I review the literature on the efficacy and complications of four frequently used neurosurgical procedures (cingulotomy, capsulotomy, limbic leucotomy and subcaudate tractotomy) that are used to treat refractory OCD. Results Since the vast majority of patients who underwent surgery were severely and chronically disabled, it is likely that these procedures were of assistance in alleviating some of their symptoms. It is currently impossible to determine which surgical procedure is the best for a particular patient. Conclusions Despite a lack of controlled data and inconsistencies in the literature, it appears that when nonsurgical treatments have failed to improve OCD symptoms significantly in severely ill patients, at least partial relief can be obtained by some people with OCD by neurosurgery Results of cumulative studies strongly support the need for continued research in this area.
A Review of Molten Salt Reactor Kinetics Models

Interest in circulating fuel reactors (CFRs), particularly molten salt reactors (MSRs) of the fluid fuel type, has been growing in the last two decades. Starting with a resurgence of interest in Eu...
Abstract B14: A restricted cell population propagates MPNST growth after treatment

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor is a type of soft-tissue sarcoma that arises from the neural crest lineage and is commonly associated with nerve trunks. Surgical removal is the major treatment conjugated with chemo/radiation therapy when applicable. However, the complete tumor clearance is limited by the resectability, especially when tumor is associated with large peripheral nerve such as sciatic nerve, brachial plexus, and sacral plexus. The local recurrence of MPNST is 40-45% and distal recurrence is 40-48%. By harnessing our Nes-hsvTK-GFP transgene that successfully labeled the cancer stem cells in glioblastoma, we identified a small quiescent cell population in MPNSTs from both cisNf1+/-;Trp53+/- (cisNP) spontaneous model and skin progenitor (SKP)-based allograft model. Inhibition of these cells by feeding mice ganciclovir chow significantly decreased the tumor growth in both cisNP model and allograft model. We also found that the transgene-labeled GFP+ cells enrich in the sciatic nerve region compared to the distal tumor mass in MPNST allograft model. Tumor primary culture from the sciatic nerve vicinity forms significantly larger and more spheres in vitro than the distal tumor mass. The BrdU-EdU sequential labeling assay after chemotherapy in MPNST allograft model shows that the GFP+ cells can continuously repopulate tumor. These results indicate that the transgene-labeled GFP+ cells may serve as a source of tumor growth and, at the same time, a novel target to reduce MPNST relapse after treatment. Citation Format: Daochun Sun, Luis Parada. A restricted cell population propagates MPNST growth after treatment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Conference on Advances in Sarcomas: From Basic Science to Clinical Translation; May 16-19, 2017; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2018;24(2_Suppl):Abstract nr B14.
Stochastic approximation with cone-contractive operators: Sharp $\ell_\infty$-bounds for $Q$-learning

Motivated by the study of $Q$-learning algorithms in reinforcement learning, we study a class of stochastic approximation procedures based on operators that satisfy monotonicity and quasi-contractivity conditions with respect to an underlying cone. We prove a general sandwich relation on the iterate error at each time, and use it to derive non-asymptotic bounds on the error in terms of a cone-induced gauge norm. These results are derived within a deterministic framework, requiring no assumptions on the noise. We illustrate these general bounds in application to synchronous $Q$-learning for discounted Markov decision processes with discrete state-action spaces, in particular by deriving non-asymptotic bounds on the $\ell_\infty$-norm for a range of stepsizes. These results are the sharpest known to date, and we show via simulation that the dependence of our bounds cannot be improved in a worst-case sense. These results show that relative to a model-based $Q$-iteration, the $\ell_\infty$-based sample complexity of $Q$-learning is suboptimal in terms of the discount factor $\gamma$.
Migrant and refugee lesbians: Lives that resist the telling.

This essay introduces the special issue on “Migrant and Refugee Lesbians: Lives that Resist the Telling.” It discusses the stakes involved in silence about migrant lesbian lives that permeates scho...
Fatal side impact crash scenarios for rear seat and seat belt-restrained occupants from vulnerable populations.

AbstractObjective: Previous studies have revealed vulnerability of school-age children and older adults in rear seats in motor vehicle crashes. Detailed information about crashes in which these fat...
Tracking of obesity among 2- to 9-year-olds in an electronic heath record database from 2006 to 2018.

Background and objective As obesity among children and adolescents is associated with major health risks, including the persistence of obesity into adulthood, there has been interest in targeting prevention efforts at children and adolescent. The longitudinal tracking of BMI and obesity, as well as the effects of initial age and duration of follow-up on this tracking, were examined in a large electronic health record (EHR) database. Methods The data consisted of 2.04 million children who were examined from 2006 through 2018. These children were initially examined between ages 2 and 9 years and had a final examination, on average, 4 years later. Results Overall, children with obesity at one examination were 7.7 times more likely to have obesity at a subsequent examination than children with a BMI ≤ 95th percentile. Further, 71% of children with obesity at one examination continued to have obesity at re-examination. Although 2-year-olds had a relative risk of 5.5 and a positive predictive value of 54%, then sensitivity of obesity at younger ages was low. Of the children who were re-examined after age 10 y and found to have obesity, only 22% had a BMI ≥ 95th percentile at age 2 years. Conclusions Despite the tracking of obesity at all ages, these results agree with previous reports that have found that an elevated BMI at a very young age will identify only a small proportion of older children with obesity.
Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for Barrett’s esophagus (BE)-related early neoplasia after standard endoscopic management is feasible and safe

Background and study aims There is little data on the feasibility and safety of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) as a salvage treatment for Barrett’s esophagus (BE)-related neoplasia after standard endoscopic treatments. Patients and methods A multicenter retrospective analysis on patients who underwent ESD for BE was performed. The primary endpoint was effectiveness of obtaining en-bloc resection in salvage as compared to non-salvage treatments. Results Median age was 71 (IQR 55 – 79) years. Twelve (37%) of 32 patients underwent salvage ESD. Median resection time was 100 (IQR 60 – 136) minutes. En-bloc resection was achieved in 31 patients (97 %). Complete R0 resection was obtained in 75 % in the salvage group and 80 % in the non-salvage group (P = 1.00). In seven patients (22 %), the pre-ESD diagnosis was upgraded on post-ESD histopathology (1 low-grade dysplasia to high grade dysplasia [HGD], 4 HGD to early esophageal carcinoma (EAC), and 2 intramucosal EAC to invasive EAC). No perforations occurred in either group. Two late adverse events occurred, both in the salvage group (P = 0.133). Delayed bleeding occurred in a patient who had just resumed warfarin and stricture occurred in a patient who had a circumferential resection requiring serial dilation and stent placement. Conclusions Our cohort study demonstrated that ESD as salvage therapy for BE related neoplasia is feasible and safe, achieving similar high rates of en-bloc resection and complete R0 resection as in treatment-naive patients. Referral to an expert center performing ESD should be considered for patients with recurrence or progression following endoscopic mucosal resection or ablation therapy.
PRAME immunohistochemistry as an adjunct for diagnosis and histological margin assessment in lentigo maligna.

AIMS Lentigo maligna (LM), the most common type of melanoma in situ, is a diagnostically challenging lesion for pathologists due to abundant background melanocytic hyperplasia in sun-damaged skin. Currently, no laboratory methods reliably distinguish benign from malignant melanocytes. However, preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) has shown promise in this regard, and could potentially be applied to diagnosis and margin assessment in difficult cases of LM. METHODS AND RESULTS Ninety-six cases with a diagnosis of LM (n = 77) or no residual LM (n = 19) following initial biopsy were identified and stained with an antibody directed towards PRAME. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was scored as positive or negative, and measurement of histological margins by PRAME was performed and compared to the measurement of histological margins using conventional methods [haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and/or sex-determining region Y-box 10 (SOX10) and/or Melan-A]. Of cases with LM, 93.5% (72 of 77) were PRAME+ and 94.7% (18 of 19) of cases with no residual LM were PRAME- . Of the 35 cases with no margin involvement by PRAME or conventional assessment, 14 cases (40.0%) had no difference in measurement, 17 (48.6%) had a difference of 1 mm or less and four (11.4%) differed by between 1 and 3.5 mm. There was a high correlation between margin assessment methods (r = 0.97, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS PRAME IHC is a sensitive (93.5%) and specific (94.7%) method for diagnosing LM on biopsy and excision, and measurement of histological margins by PRAME shows a high correlation with conventional methods for margin assessment. Furthermore, the nuclear expression of PRAME makes it a good target for use in dual-colour IHC stains.
Nuclear Deformation Lets Cells Gauge Their Physical Confinement.

How cells sense their physical microenvironment remains incompletely understood. In two recent Science articles, Lomakin et al. (2020) and Venturini et al. (2020) demonstrate that progressive nuclear deformation associated with cellular confinement triggers intracellular events that promote cell contractility and migration, revealing the nucleus to serve as a central mechanosensor.
Caps on Capsules: Prescription for Lower Drug Prices in the United States

The United States is the foremost innovator of pharmaceutical therapies in the world. That innovation, however, comes at a price—literally. Americans pay more for their medications than any other country. In a country without universal healthcare, the topics of economics, human rights, and healthcare intersect at the crossroads of pharmaceutical pricing. In contrast to most other countries, the United States has no regulations on pharmaceutical price control. One major argument against government regulation is its inherent opposition to the free market system: the heart of the American economy. Further still is the argument that profit restriction would create a chilling effect on the industry, stifling the pharmaceutical industry’s cutting-edge (but expensive) innovations and jeopardizing the United States’ leading position in the global pharmaceutical industry. The most basic argument for profit control is to prevent pharmaceutical price monopolization so Americans can afford the care prescribed to them. This Comment summarizes some of the unique issues in the pharmaceutical industry, major arguments for and against profit control, and the current climate in United States’ politics and laws regarding this issue for a possible solution. Proposed solutions herein include policy changes to enhance Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers, limiting drug companies’ ability to raise prices without confines or explanation, and making reimbursement contingent on drug performance to ensure that new medications provide measurable benefits. This multipronged approach would not only make medications more affordable, but it would also increase the quality of new formularies.
Proprioceptive Genes as a Source of Genetic Variation Underlying Robustness for Flight Performance in Drosophila

A central challenge of quantitative genetics is partitioning phenotypic variation into genetic and non-genetic components. These non-genetic components are usually interpreted as environmental effects; however, variation between genetically identical individuals in a common environment can still exhibit phenotypic variation. A traits resistance to variation is called robustness, though the genetics underlying it are poorly understood. Accordingly, we performed an association study on a previously studied, whole organism trait: robustness for flight performance. Using 197 of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) lines, we surveyed variation across single nucleotide polymorphisms, whole genes, and epistatic interactions to find genetic modifiers robustness for flight performance. There was an abundance of genes involved in the development of sensory organs and processing of external stimuli, supporting previous work that processing proprioceptive cues is important for affecting variation in flight performance. Additionally, we tested insertional mutants for their effect on robustness using candidate genes found to modify flight performance. These results suggest several genes involved in modulating a trait mean are also important for affecting trait variance, or robustness, as well. Article SummaryWe sought to understand the genetic architecture of robustness (variation in a trait caused by non-genetic factors) for flight performance. We used 197 Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) lines to find significant individual variants and pairs of epistatic interactions, many of which were involved in proprioception. Additionally, we validated significant genes identified from a prior study for the mean of flight performance, showing genes affecting trait means may also affect trait robustness.
Anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis: A neuropsychiatric syndrome associated with ovarian teratoma

•Anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis is a paraneoplastic syndrome caused by teratomas.•The syndrome includes psychiatric symptoms followed by autonomic dysregulation.•Rapid diagnosis and removal of the tumor is essential for optimizing outcomes.•Following recovery, counsel on contraceptive options, particularly LARC methods.•If no tumor is identified initially, monitor for development of ovarian teratoma.
Identifiability of Nonlinear Systems with Hysteretic Elements

This paper is concerned with the conditions under which deterministic systems containing a hysteresis-type nonlinearity are identifiable from input-output measurements. The approach to the problem requires that identifiability conditions for appropriately defined nearly-equivalent systems be obtained initially. Then conditions under which identifiability of the nearly-equivalent nonlinear (but non-hysteretic) system imply the identifiability of the original hysteretic system are obtained. Sufficient conditions for identibiability of these systems are presented.
Enhancing Document Clustering through Heuristics and Summary-Based Pre-processing

Knowledge workers are burdened with information overload. The information they need might be scattered in many places, buried in a file system, in their email, or on the web. Traditional Clustering algorithms help in assimilating these wide sources of information and generating meaningful relationships amongst them. A typical clustering preprocessing involves tokenization, removal of stop words, stemming, pruning etc. In this paper, we propose the use of summary and heuristics of a document as a pre-processing technique. This technique preserves the formatting of a document and uses this information for producing better clusters. In addition, only a summary of a document is used as the basis for clustering instead of the whole document. Clustering algorithms using the proposed pre-processing technique on formatted documents resulted in improved and more meaningful clusters.
Two Tales of Bundling: Implications for the Application of Antitrust Law to Bundled Discounts

The economic literature on bundling has made many theoretical advances. However, several omissions reveal themselves. The advances have largely been on the theoretical side. These models contain restrictive assumptions regarding the existence of monopoly in some markets, and the nature of rivalry in others. The models generally ignore obvious and ubiquitous reasons firms may use bundled discounts. These models have not been subject to robustness checks, nor have their assumptions been tested empirically. As a result, the literature that shows the possibility of anticompetitive harm does not provide a reliable way to gauge whether the potential for harm would outweigh any demonstrable benefits from the practice. As a result of the underdeveloped nature of the literature, simple rules that result in extreme tradeoffs between type I and type II errors may dominate more complex tests that attempt to differentiate procompetitive from anticompetitive behavior. Such complex tests may work well within the confines of a theoretical model, but not when applied to firms in actual antitrust cases. Improving the reliability of more complex tests for anticompetitive behavior will require economists to expand their understanding of both the anticompetitive and procompetitive reasons firms engage in bundling. This will entail studying the reasons bundling is adopted by firms without market power, relaxing the assumption of monopoly in theoretical models, and generating testable hypothesis and the data to test them.
Separating Quantum and Classical Learning

We consider a model of learning Boolean functions from quantum membership queries. This model was studied in [26], where it was shown that any class of Boolean functions which is information-theoretically learnable from polynomially many quantum membership queries is also information-theoretically learnable from polynomially many classical membership queries. In this paper we establish a strong computational separation between quantum and classical learning. We prove that if any cryptographic one-way function exists, then there is a class of Boolean functions which is polynomial-time learnable from quantum membership queries but not polynomial-time learnable from classical membership queries. A novel consequence of our result is a quantum algorithm that breaks a general cryptographic construction which is secure in the classical setting.