cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunologic Evidence for Addition of Oviductal Components to the Hamster Zona Pellucida

An indirect immunofluorescent procedure was used to determine whether zonae of unfertilized and fertilized eggs would bind antibodies specific for hamster reproductive tract antigens. Appropriate controls indicated that the fluorescent staining was probably due to antigen-antibody interactions. Antigens were not detected in zonae of ovarian eggs. However, components in zonae of unfertilized eggs collected from the oviduct at metestrus, mid-diestrus, and late diestrus bound antibodies specific for oviductal and uterine antigens. The antigens appeared to be concentrated in a peripheral band within the zona. An outer area of the zona around the eggs obtained from the uterus at proestrus also bound the antibodies, although the fluorescent staining was relatively faint. Antigens were observed in the peripheral area of zonae of fertilized eggs collected from oviducts on days 1 and 2 postcoitum. However, the antibody-binding component of the zona was noticeably reduced in embryos taken from the uterus on day 3 of pregnancy. The results are consistent with the idea that the zonae of both unfertilized and fertilized hamster eggs are composed of layers and that the outer region contains specific antigens which are dereived from the oviduct. Furthermore, loss or alteration of these components in the zona of an embryo (but not of an unfertilized egg of the same postovulation age) may reflect some chemical or structural change which is a prerequisite for zona shedding. Anti-uterus sera (unabsorbed and absorbed) did not interfere with zona removal by trypsin, indicating that the antigens detected in the present study are different from the receptor sites which bind anti-ovary antibodies and certain plant agglutinins (as reported by other workers).
Cancer drug therapy.

The chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer has evolved into a major treatment modality. Better results than ever before are being recorded with the integration of this approach into the early and total management of cancer. Although complex and toxic, these drugs and their combinations are contributing in new ways to the treatment of more and more patients. More than 50% of those people afflicted with cancer in 1991 became long-term survivors. Most of these survivors are destined to be followed on a long-term basis by their family doctor.
Interspecific Variation in Host-Finding Cues of Parasitoids of the Southern Pine Beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)'

Experiments were performed with host-associated olfactory attractants of the larval parasitoids of the southern pine beetle, Dendrocfonus frontal& Zimmermann, to elucidate both their biological origin and their chemical composition. Sticky-screen traps were erected in an active D. frontalis infestation and baited with parts of D. front&s-infested loblolly pines (Pinus taeda L.) or their extracts. The diversity of parasitoid species landing on trees infested with larval D. frontalis was substantially greater than that attracted to traps baited with wood and bark taken from similar, infested trees. Females of four parasitoid species, Spathius pallidus (Ashmead), Ropfrocerus xylophagorum (Ratzeburg), Dir~otiscus dendroctoni (Ashmead), and Euryfoma to- mici Ashmead, were attracted to bark infested with D. fro&a/is larvae. Two of these species, R. xylophagorum and S. pallidus, were attracted to debarked wood from host-infested trees al- though this tissue was free of hosts and host frass. Spafhius pallidus were more attracted to the excised bark (containing D. frontalis larvae and frass) than the debarked wood from D. frontalis- infested pine bolts, while R. xylophagorum were attracted in similar numbers to both materials. When traps were baited with steam/water-distilled extracts of D. frontalis-infested bark, R. xy- lophagorum strongly preferred extracts from bark containing earlyinstar larvae over extracts from bark infested with either younger (egg-stage) or older (late-instar larval and pupal) brood. In contrast, S. pallidus responded significantly only to extracts of late larval/pupal bark. Coupled gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC-MS) analyses of the bark extracts revealed that the concentrations of numerous extract constituents correlated positively with trap catch of S. pal- lidus, but no such relationships were identified for R. xylophagorum. These data provide further evidence that members of the parasitoid complex associated with D. frontalis differ in their strategies for locating trees infested with susceptible hosts.
Femtosecond Dynamics, Two Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy and Echoes of Protein Vibrations

Two approaches that use femtosecond infrared pulses to examine protein dynamics by means of nonlinear IR spectroscopy are described. In the first we dissect the featureless peptide amide-I band and introduce two-dimensional IR spectra [1]. In the second, the correlation function of the frequency fluctuations of a vibrational mode in the active site of carbonic anhydrase and heme pocket of hemoglobin is determined by three-pulse IR photon echoes [2]. These experiments permit the study of ultrafast dynamics without the requirement of chromophores.
Divergent Track Uses

“You know something that you wouldn’t talk about if you realized its significance,” Price, Walker, and I were told one day at General Electric. But unfortunately we didn’t have security clearances, and so we couldn’t be told what we wouldn’t talk about if we knew more about it. The result was that each of us was presented with apparently infinitely long clearance forms to make out: “Where did you live and for how long?” At all times in the past. And such.
SentiLDA — An Effective and Scalable Approach to Mine Opinions of Consumer Reviews by Utilizing Both Structured and Unstructured Data

With the help of Internet and Web technologies, more and more consumers tend to seek opinions online before making purchase decisions. However, with the ever-increasing volume of user generated reviews, people are overwhelmed with the amount of data they have. Thus there is a great need for a system that can summarize the reviews and produce a set of aspects being mentioned in the reviews together with the pros/cons being expressed to them. To address the need, this paper proposes a new probabilistic topic model, SentiLDA, for mining reviews (unstructured data) and their ratings (structured data) jointly to detect the product/service aspects and their corresponding positive and negative opinions simultaneously. A key feature of SentiLDA is that it is capable of mining positive and negative sub-topics under the same aspect without the need of sentiment seed words. Experiment results show that the performance of SentiLDA outperforms the other related state-of-the-art models in detecting product/service aspects and their corresponding sentiments in reviews.
Microeconomics for MBAs: Competitive product markets and firm decisions

Competition, if not prevented, tends to bring about a state of affairs in which: first, everything will be produced which somebody knows how to produce and which he can sell profitably at a price at which buyers will prefer it to the available alternatives; second, everything that is produced is produced by persons who can do so at least as cheaply as anybody else who in fact is not producing it; and third, that everything will be sold at prices lower than, or at least as low as, those at which it could be sold by anybody who in fact does not do so. Friedrich A. Hayek In the heart of New York City, Fred Lieberman's small grocery is dwarfed by the tall buildings that surround it. Yet it is remarkable for what it accomplishes. Lieberman's carries thousands of items, most of which are not produced locally, and some of which come from other parts of this country or the world, thousands of miles away. A man of modest means, with little knowledge of production processes, Fred Lieberman has nevertheless been able to stock his store with many if not most of the foods and toiletries his customers need and want. Occasionally Lieberman's runs out of certain items, but most of the time the stock is ample. Its supply is so dependable that customers tend to take it for granted, forgetting that Lieberman's is one small strand in an extremely complex economic network. How does Fred Lieberman get the goods he sells, and how does he know which ones to sell and at what price? The simplest answer is that the goods he offers and the prices at which they sell are determined through the market process – the interaction of many buyers and sellers trading what they have (their labor or other resources) for what they want. Lieberman stocks his store by appealing to the private interests of suppliers – by paying them competitive prices. His customers pay him extra for the convenience of purchasing goods in their neighborhood grocery – appealing to his private interests in the process.
Second-harmonic generation in single-mode integrated waveguides based on mode-shape modulation

Second-harmonic generation is demonstrated using grating-assisted quasi-phase matching, based on waveguide-width modulation or mode-shape modulation. Applicable to any thin-film integrated second-order nonlinear waveguide, the technique is demonstrated in compact lithium niobate ridge waveguides. Fabricated devices are characterized with pulsed-pumping in the near-infrared, showing second-harmonic generation at a signal wavelength of 784 nm and propagation loss of 1 dB/cm.
A dual-axis single-proof-mass angular accelerometer for a vestibular prosthesis

A dual-axis single-proof-mass angular accelerometer has been developed for a vestibular prosthesis. Designed to sense head rotations both in the yaw and the pitch planes, the output of the inertial sensor may be coded as amplitude or rate modulated biphasic current pulses to stimulate vestibular nerves. Fabricated with a high aspect ratio commercial process, a sensor with small form factor (1.4 mm × 0.8 mm) is achieved with a scale factor of 95.5 μV/rad/sec2 and 145.8 μV/rad/sec2 in the yaw and the pitch planes, respectively. Superior linear acceleration rejection was demonstrated for both rotating axis, and an overall power consumption of 296 μW was estimated including sensor and interface circuit.
Commercial harvest and export of snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) in the United States: trends and the efficacy of size limits at reducing harvest

As Asian turtle populations have crashed, China has increasingly turned to international import to meet domestic demand, which has increased pressure on global turtle populations. Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) are being harvested in unprecedented numbers in the United States (US) to meet the needs of this international market. Here we report US snapping turtle live export from 1999 to 2013, and for the first time test the effectiveness of size limits in reducing commercial harvest numbers. Over three million live snapping turtles from farm and wild caught stock were exported from the US to Asia in 2012–14 alone. Increases in the export of wild caught snapping turtles to over 200,000 individuals in 2012 and 2014, compared to under 50,000 in other years, may indicate that farms are becoming unable to keep up with increasing demand. Annual harvest pressure at the state level increased linearly from 1998 to 2013, mirroring trends in federal export over the same time period. Our model estimates that size-limits were effective at reducing harvest by 30–87% in years with high harvest pressure. However, the majority of size limit regulations result in the removal of larger breeding adults, which has been shown to be detrimental to long term population viability. Regulatory approaches dedicated to the long term management of this iconic species will need to balance the short term gains, in the form of reduced harvest rates, with long term population viability.
Self-Assembled Three-Dimensional Graphene-Based Polyhedrons Inducing Volumetric Light Confinement

The ability to transform two-dimensional (2D) materials into a three-dimensional (3D) structure while preserving their unique inherent properties might offer great enticing opportunities in the development of diverse applications for next generation micro/nanodevices. Here, a self-assembly process is introduced for building free-standing 3D, micro/nanoscale, hollow, polyhedral structures configured with a few layers of graphene-based materials: graphene and graphene oxide. The 3D structures have been further modified with surface patterning, realized through the inclusion of metal patterns on their 3D surfaces. The 3D geometry leads to a nontrivial spatial distribution of strong electric fields (volumetric light confinement) induced by 3D plasmon hybridization on the surface of the graphene forming the 3D structures. Due to coupling in all directions, resulting in 3D plasmon hybridization, the 3D closed box graphene generates a highly confined electric field within as well as outside of the cubes. Moreove...
Interaural time delay personalisation using incomplete head scans

When using a set of generic head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) for spatial sound rendering, personalisation can be considered to minimise localisation errors. This typically involves tuning the characteristics of the HRTFs or a parametric model according to the listener's anthropometry. However, measuring anthropometric features directly remains a challenge in practical applications, and the mapping between anthropometric and acoustic features is an open research problem. Here we propose matching a face template to a listener's head scan or depth image to extract anthropometric information. The deformation of the template is used to personalise the interaural time differences (ITDs) of a generic HRTF set. The proposed method is shown to outperform reference methods when used with high-resolution 3-D scans. Experiments with single-frame depth images indicate that the method is applicable to lower resolution or partial scans which are quicker and easier to obtain than full 3-D scans. These results suggest that the proposed method may be a viable option for ITD personalisation in practical applications.
The Impact of Mandatory Arbitration on the Common Law Regulation of Standard Terms in Consumer Contracts

The focus of this paper is the regulation of standard terms in consumer contracts at common law, i.e., judges deciding cases in published opinions. In particular, I focus on the two most important common law doctrines in this area — unconscionability and good faith — and to a lesser extent on court decisions that interpret consumer statutes. They have all played a central role in regulating standard terms in consumer contracts over the years, yet their continuing role is being threatened by the proliferation of mandatory arbitration provisions in consumer contracts. If this trend continues, the ability of courts to further develop contract doctrine in consumer transactions may be severely limited. I begin with a discussion of the role that common law plays in regulating consumer transactions. I then discuss how the unconscionability and good faith doctrines have evolved as limitations on standard terms in consumer contracts. Next I discuss the increasing use of mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts and the likely effects of this trend on consumer contract litigation. Toward the end of the paper, I explore what this might mean going forward if the common law of unconscionability and good faith in consumer contracts are essentially frozen in time, and if mandatory arbitration results in fewer published decisions interpreting and applying consumer statutes.
Pediatric laparoscopic appendectomy, risk factors, and costs associated with nationwide readmissions.

Abstract Background Previous studies of readmission after pediatric laparoscopic appendectomy have been limited to individual hospitals or noncompeting public pediatric hospitals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk factors and costs associated with nonelective, 30-d readmissions in pediatric patients nationwide across public and private hospitals. Materials and methods The Nationwide Readmission Database for 2013 was queried for all patients under the age of 18 y with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy. Using multivariate logistic regression with 26 different variables, the odds ratios (ORs) for nonelective readmissions within 30 d were determined. The costs of readmission were calculated as well as the most common diagnoses on readmission. Results In 2013, there were 12,730 patients under the age of 18 y undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy, and 3.4% were readmitted within 30 d. The overall mean age was 11.6 ± 3.8 y, and the mean age of the readmitted patients was 10.7 ± 4.0 whereas the mean age of patients not readmitted was 11.6 ± 3.8 (P Conclusions Readmission within 30 d after laparoscopic appendectomy in pediatric patients represents a significant resource burden. This study elucidates the patient characteristics that predispose these patients to readmission. Efforts to reduce these readmissions should be focused around preventing infections in patients with these predisposing risk factors.
Calibration of BASINS HSP-F in Support of a Watershed Approach to CSO Long Term Control Planning

BASINS (Better Assessment Science Integrating point and Nonpoint Sources) HSP-F was used as part of the watershed approach in developing the City of Buffalo Lo…
Topological Aharonov-Bohm suppression of optical tunneling in twisted nonlinear multicore fibers

We show that the Aharonov-Bohm-like suppression of optical tunneling in twisted multicore fibers can persist under highly nonlinear conditions. The energy exchange dynamics are analyzed and possible arrangements to experimentally observe this effect are presented.
“She Doesn’t Have the Basic Understanding of a Language”: Using Spelling Research to Challenge Deficit Conceptualizations of Adolescent Bilinguals

This article examines the alternative English spelling practices of a student who is considered to be a long-term English learner. It draws on a theoretical framework that integrates a social persp...
Teaching Chronic Pain in the Family Medicine Residency.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Chronic pain is a significant condition affecting many Americans. Primary care physicians play an important role in chronic pain management, but many residents and physicians feel poorly prepared to manage it. METHODS Data were collected as part of the 2016 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) Program Director Survey, which was sent electronically to 484 program directors in the United States. The authors sought to determine whether residency directors' attitudes about treating chronic pain were associated with the amount of time devoted to teaching family medicine residents about chronic pain assessment, therapy (use of opioids, use adjuvant pain medications, use of other nonopioids, use of nonpharmacological treatments), and risk management (risk assessment, use of pain management contracts, informed consent when prescribing opioids, and urine drug monitoring). Attitudes were assessed by asking whether: (1) chronic pain is best managed by a primary care physician (PCP); (2) prescribing opioid medications is time consuming; (3) prescribing opioids is high-risk; (4) prescribing opioids contributes to opioid misuse; and (4) effective nonopioid treatments exist. An additional question assessed confidence in treating chronic pain. RESULTS The response rate was 53%. The average family medicine residency devotes about 33 hours to education about pain management topics including 5.4 hours on chronic pain assessment, 16.2 hours on therapy, and 11.4 hours on risk assessment. Residency directors' belief that there are effective nonopioid treatments for chronic pain was the only attitude item that was associated with teaching about chronic pain. CONCLUSIONS Residency directors' attitudes do not predict the time devoted to teaching chronic pain in family medicine residencies.
Same but different: pleiotropy in centrosome-related microcephaly

An intimate link between centrosome function and neurogenesis is revealed by the identification of many genes with centrosome-associated functions that are mutated in microcephaly disorders. Consistent with the major role of the centrosome in mitosis, mutations in these centrosome-related microcephaly (CRM) genes are thought to affect neurogenesis by depleting the pool of neural progenitor cells, primarily through apoptosis as a consequence of mitotic failure or premature differentiation as a consequence of cell cycle delay and randomization of spindle orientation. However, as suggested by the wide range of microcephaly phenotypes and the multifunctional nature of many CRM proteins, this picture of CRM gene function is incomplete. Here, we explore several examples of CRM genes pointing to additional functions that contribute to microcephaly, including regulation of cell cycle signaling, actin cytoskeleton, and Hippo pathway proteins, as well as functions in postmitotic neurons and glia. As these examples are likely just the tip of the iceberg, further exploration of the roles of microcephaly-related genes are certain to reveal additional unforeseen functions important for neurodevelopment.
Comparison of knee injury threshold during tibial compression based on limb orientation in mice.

Abstract Our previous studies used tibial compression overload to induce anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture in mice, while others have applied similar or greater compressive magnitudes without injury. The causes of these differences in injury threshold are not known. In this study, we compared knee injury thresholds using a “prone configuration” and a “supine configuration” that differed with respect to hip, knee, and ankle flexion, and utilized different fixtures to stabilize the knee. Right limbs of female and male C57BL/6 mice were loaded using the prone configuration, while left limbs were loaded using the supine configuration. Mice underwent progressive loading from 2 to 20 N, or cyclic loading at 9 N or 14 N (n = 9–11/sex/loading method). Progressive loading with the prone configuration resulted in ACL rupture at an average of 10.2 ± 0.9 N for females and 11.4 ± 0.7 N for males. In contrast, progressive loading with the supine configuration resulted in ACL rupture in only 36% of female mice and 50% of male mice. Cyclic loading with the prone configuration resulted in ACL rupture after 15 ± 8 cycles for females and 24 ± 27 cycles for males at 9 N, and always during the first cycle for both sexes at 14 N. In contrast, cyclic loading with the supine configuration was able to complete 1,200 cycles at 9 N without injury for both sexes, and an average of 45 ± 41 cycles for females and 49 ± 25 cycles for males at 14 N before ACL rupture. These results show that tibial compression configurations can strongly affect knee injury thresholds during loading.
Selective sensing of a heterogeneous population of units with dynamic health conditions

AbstractMonitoring a large number of units whose health conditions follow complex dynamic evolution is a challenging problem in many healthcare and engineering applications. For instance, a unit may represent a patient in a healthcare application or a machine in a manufacturing process. Challenges mainly arise from: (i) insufficient data collection that results in limited measurements for each unit to build an accurate personalized model in the prognostic modeling stage; and (ii) limited capacity to further collect surveillance measurement of the units in the monitoring stage. In this study, we develop a selective sensing method that integrates prognostic models, collaborative learning, and sensing resource allocation to efficiently and economically monitor a large number of units by exploiting the similarity between them. We showcased the effectiveness of the proposed method using two real-world applications; one on depression monitoring and another with cognitive degradation monitoring for Alzheimer’s d...
Service - Oriented Challenges for Design Science: Charting the “E”-volution

This article links service-dominant (S-D) logic and design science to advance service system design, which is characterized by the indeterminacy of the design problems and outcome measures. Although much progress has been made in IT and IS toward service-orientation, these developments are often adaptations of goods-dominant (G-D) logic, rather than a full transition to a service orientation. In this paper, the “e”-volution of systems design, transitioning from G-D logic to S-D logic, is described and the IS design challenges implied by S-D logic are identified. To devise new, service-oriented modeling, methods and evaluation measurements, S-D logic endorses a fundamental shift in design thinking for design science from “bounded rationality” for problem solving to “expandable rationality” for design for the unknown.
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) and Conventional Cytogenetics for Hematology and Oncology Diagnosis

Over the past 35 years, cytogenetic analysis of malignant hematological disorders has been one of the most rapidly growing areas in cancer. More than 45,000 cytogenetically abnormal neoplastic disorders have been reported and the evidence accumulated clearly demonstrates that karyotype information privide both biological and significant clinical value. While improved cell culture methods and the application of chromosome banding techniques had advanced our understanding of disease-specific abnormalities, molecular cytogenetics has now made it possible to identify genes involved at translocation breakpoints in specific chromosomal rearrangements. This knowledge is at the forefront of our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of cancer. The goal of this chapter is to illustrate specific cytogenetic events and to delineate molecular phenotypes, which are key to the diagnosis and prognosis of leukemia, lymphoma, breast cancer, bladder cancer, and sarcoma. Thus, the hypothesis put forward by Boveri at the turn of the century, namely, that an abnormal chromosome pattern is intimately associated with the malignant phenotype of the tumor cell has proved correct for many malignant disorders.
Workforce Development: Identifying Continuing Education Needs and Programs for Integrated Behavioral Health Training

Despite the recent rise in integrated behavioral health programming nationwide, there continues to be a shortage of training opportunities aimed specifically at the clinical knowledge, skills, and abilities for practice as a behavioral health provider in primary care. As clinics explore opportunities to ensure their employees are adequately trained, they are encouraged to consider their specific needs and how these align with existing educational opportunities or whether developing in-house training is necessary. This chapter outlines the pros and cons of each of these approaches as well as identifies key questions administrators are encouraged to consider when identifying appropriate training opportunities.
Correlated Flows, Portfolio Similarity and Mutual Fund Liquidity Management

We contend that the confluence of portfolio similarity and correlated liquidity shocks within mutual fund styles can exacerbate fund exposure to liquidity risk. We find that mutual funds mitigate such liquidity risk exposure by systematically reducing portfolio overlap with peer funds when their flows become more correlated (Overlap Management). Overlap Management is highly persistent and is more pronounced among funds with liquidity concerns. Funds engaging in overlap management tend to avoid stocks that are more vulnerable to flow-driven trading when facing correlated flows. As a result, this type of liquidity management independently contributes to higher fund performance after controlling for the direct relation between portfolio overlap and fund performance. The benefit of Overlap Management is therefore distinct from that of strategy uniqueness as studied in prior literature. An examination of the channel through which Overlap Management contributes to fund performance suggests that overlap management effectively alleviates the negative feedback effect of outflows on future performance.
Elimination of Mutant Mitochondrial DNA in Mitochondrial Myopathies Using Gene-Editing Enzymes

Mitochondrial diseases form a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of disorders that result in the dysfunction of the mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). This system is responsible for the generation of the cellular energy required for the function of cells, tissues, and organs. Skeletal and cardiac muscle dysfunction is also a common feature of mitochondrial diseases. Effective treatments have not been developed and are mostly related to supportive management and palliative therapies. Most pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are in a heteroplasmic state, and high levels of mutated mtDNA within a cell are required to exceed a critical threshold to cause a phenotype. Therefore, the goal of a therapeutic intervention would be to eliminate or decrease the amount of mutated mtDNA below a certain threshold to avoid clinical and biochemical manifestations of the disease. Our group and others have made several advances over the last 15 years inducing heteroplasmy shift as a potential strategy to treat mtDNA disorders. Although mitochondrial-targeted restriction endonucleases can efficiently change mtDNA heteroplasmy both ex vivo and in vivo, this approach can be used therapeutically only if a unique restriction site is created by a mtDNA mutation. To overcome this, non-specific endonucleases targeted to mitochondrial mutations have been developed using gene-editing nucleases such as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs). These are being used to reduce mutant mtDNA in the muscle and heart of mouse models. Although some limitations and concerns exist, future experiments should make this approach safe to treat patients.
Lean-Thinking: Implementation and Measurement in Healthcare Settings

AbstractDespite positive reports about lean approaches to spearhead quality and patient safety improvement efforts, it is still difficult to determine if healthcare employees have transformed into ...
Prevalence, Risk Factors, Treatment, and Overall Impact of BK Viremia on Kidney Transplantation.

Abstract BK viremia (BKV) is a recognized and potentially serious problem in renal transplantation. The risk factors and the impact of BKV on renal allograft and patient survival are controversial. This study reports an 8-year, single-center experience on the prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of BKV in kidney transplant recipients. This is a retrospective analysis of all patients who received a kidney transplant at the University of Kentucky and had BK viral titers available from 2009 to 2017. BKV was defined by a polymerase chain reaction viral load of ≥ 10,000 copies per mL. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data generated during routine outpatient follow up and inpatients records were collected. Independent risk factors for BKV were determined using uni- and multivariate analysis. Graft and patient survival was compared using Kaplan-Meier analysis, and the severity of polyomavirus nephropathy on biopsy was scored using the Banff 2017 classification. We identified 122 BK positive (19%) and 527 BK negative (81%) patients. BKV developed after a median of 115 days (range, 80–249 days) following kidney transplantation. The 1-, 5-, and 10-year graft survival was 97%, 75%, and 33% in the BKV group and 96%, 85%, and 71% in the BK negative group, respectively. Likewise, the 1-, 5-, and 10-year patient survival was 98%, 84%, and 52% in the BKV group and 98%, 92%, and 84% in the BK negative group. Male sex, age at transplantation, maintenance steroids, and alemtuzumab induction were associated with developing BKV in the multivariate analysis. We concluded that BKV is not uncommon after renal transplantation. The determinants for BKV are male sex, older transplant recipients, and maintenance steroids. BKV adversely affected graft and patient survival. A unified approach for BKV and polyomavirus nephropathy treatment is needed.
Vitality as a Moderator of Clinician History of Trauma and Compassion Fatigue

Vitality is an understudied protective mechanism within the psychotherapy literature. This study explored the impact of vitality on the relationship between a counselor’s past traumatic experiences on their compassion fatigue. The sample consisted of 113 licensed counselors from a variety of disciplines (e.g., social workers, professional counselors, and marriage and family therapists) and represented an international sample. Findings showed that vitality is significant as a protective mechanism for the development of compassion fatigue for counselors with a history of trauma. The ego depletion hypothesis is provided as a context to describe this relationship and the role vitality plays. Implications for the practicing clinician are provided within this context.
Measure for Measure: The Risks of Incorporating Citations Data into U.S. News Rankings

This short essay responds to Paul Heald and Ted Sichelman’s article, Ranking the Academic Impact of 100 American Law Schools. Heald and Sichelman's work provides a rigorous analysis of law school faculties’ citation and download statistics. Their recommendation to incorporate these statistics into U.S. News & World Report’s annual law school rankings, however, appears misguided. Heald and Sichelman do not fully take into account the concerning gaming behavior and problematic incentives related to faculty hiring that such incorporation would likely produce over time.
Distribution Planning of UAV Automatic Charging Station Based on Genetic Algorithm

As the UAV industry develops rapidly, UAVs are seeing wider application. They have the potential to play a crucial role in future smart cities and bring in enormous economic benefits. Presently, the battery life of UAVs is short and it is difficult to make breakthroughs in the short term. In addition, the requirements for UAV battery life get higher and higher. Under this situation, to deploy autonomous charging stations for UAVs becomes an inevitable trend. However, it remains a challenge to minimize the deployment cost due to various factors involved. Against the backdrop of taking the lead in putting forward the planning and layout of UAV charging station, this paper carried out the cost modeling of various factors affecting the cost in the charging process of the initial station and the later UAVs. Moreover, this paper used the weighted Voronoi diagram to introduce the influence of real environmental factors on the layout planning of charging station, flight route and working efficiency, thus quantifying the cost of the space environment. Finally, the comprehensive cost model was established and the optimal location of UAV charging station was selected by iterative optimization calculation based on genetic algorithm. Additionally, the paper selected the practical examples, assigned the parameters reasonably, solved the self-built model using the genetic algorithm, adjusted the iteration times and the corresponding parameters of the algorithm and obtained the optimization results finally. Therefore, applicability of the model as well as feasibility and optimality of the algorithm were verified. Under the condition of modifying and optimizing the parameters and corresponding values of the model in this paper, the calculation process of genetic algorithm was adjusted appropriately. The models and methods in this paper could be applied to the planning of UAV charging stations in the future under the actual comprehensive situation of cities or other regions, which maximizes some of the economic benefits in the field of UAV applications and the coincidence with the actual situation.
Classifying polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by carcinogenic potency using in vitro biosignatures

One of the most difficult challenges for risk assessment is evaluation of chemicals that predominately co-occur in mixtures like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). We previously developed a classification model in which systems biology data collected from mice short-term after chemical exposure accurately predict tumor outcome. The present study demonstrates translation of this approach into a human in vitro model in which chemical-specific bioactivity profiles from 3D human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) classify PAHs by carcinogenic potency. Gene expression profiles were analyzed from HBEC exposed to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic PAHs and classification accuracies were identified for individual pathway-based gene sets. Posterior probabilities of best performing gene sets were combined via Bayesian integration resulting in a classifier with four gene sets, including aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling, regulation of epithelial mesenchymal transition, regulation of angiogenesis, and cell cycle G2-M. In addition, transcriptional benchmark dose modeling of benzo[a]pyrene (BAP) showed that the most sensitive gene sets to BAP regulation were largely dissimilar from those that best classified PAH carcinogenicity challenging current assumptions that BAP carcinogenicity (and subsequent mode of action) is reflective of overall PAH carcinogenicity. These results illustrate utility of using systems toxicology approaches to analyze global gene expression towards carcinogenic hazard assessment.
Review of The U.S. Navy's On-the-Roof Gang, Volume One, Prelude to Warby Matt Zullo

The U.S. Navy’s On-The-Roof-Gang is historical fiction. Matt Zullo, the author, is a retired US Navy Master Chief with more than 35 years of experience in communications intelligence. The story tha...
2D Nanomaterial, Ti3C2 MXene-Based Sensor to Guide Lung Cancer Therapy and Management

Major advances in cancer control can be greatly aided by early diagnosis and effective treatment in its pre-invasive state. Lung cancer (small cell and non-small cell) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among both men and women around the world. A lot of research attention has been directed toward diagnosing and treating lung cancer. A common method of lung cancer treatment is based on COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) inhibitors. This is because COX-2 is commonly overexpressed in lung cancer and also the abundance of its enzymatic product prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Instead of using traditional COX-2 inhibitors to treat lung cancer, here, we introduce a new anti-cancer strategy recently developed for lung cancer treatment. It adopts more abundant omega-6 (ω-6) fatty acids such as dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) in the daily diet and the commonly high levels of COX-2 expressed in lung cancer to promote the formation of 8-hydroxyoctanoic acid (8-HOA) through a new delta-5-desaturase (D5Di) inhibitor. The D5Di does not only limit the metabolic product, PGE2, but also promote the COX-2 catalyzed DGLA peroxidation to form 8-HOA, a novel anti-cancer free radical byproduct. Therefore, the measurement of the PGE2 and 8-HOA levels in cancer cells can be an effective method to treat lung cancer by providing in-time guidance. In this paper, we mainly report on a novel sensor, which is based on a newly developed functionalized nanomaterial, 2-dimensional nanosheets, or Ti3C2 MXene. The preliminary results have proven to sensitively, selectively, precisely, and effectively detect PGE2 and 8-HOA in A549 lung cancer cells. The capability of the sensor to detect trace level 8-HOA in A549 has been verified in comparison with the traditional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method. The sensing principle could be due to the unique structure and material property of Ti3C2 MXene: a multilayered structure and extremely large surface area, metallic conductivity, and ease and versatility in surface modification. All these make the Ti3C2 MXene-based sensor selectively adsorb 8-HOA molecules through effective charge transfer and lead to a measurable change in the conductivity of the material with a high signal-to-noise ratio and excellent sensitivity.
Lung Cancer Survival in Patients With Autoimmune Disease

Importance Patients with autoimmune disease and lung cancer pose a multidisciplinary treatment challenge, particularly with the advent of immunotherapy. However, the association between autoimmune disease and lung cancer survival is largely unknown. Objective To determine the association between autoimmune disease and lung cancer survival. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective cohort study between 2003 and 2019 at a single academic medical center (Northwestern University). A query of the Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse identified 349 patients with lung cancer and several autoimmune diseases. Types of lung cancers included small cell, adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, non-small cell not otherwise specified, and large cell carcinoma. Autoimmune diseases included rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, mixed connective tissue disease, myositis, and Sjogren syndrome. Inclusion criteria were biopsy-confirmed lung cancer, autoimmune diagnosis confirmed by a rheumatologist, and death or an encounter listed in the electronic medical record within 2 years of study end. A control group of patients with biopsy-proven lung cancer but without autoimmune disease was identified. Data analysis was conducted from March to July 2020. Exposure Presence of autoimmune disease. Main Outcomes and Measures Overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with autoimmune disease. The hypothesis was that patients with autoimmune disease would have worse progression-free survival and overall survival compared with patients in the control group. Results Of the original 349 patients, 177 met inclusion criteria. Mean (SD) age at lung cancer diagnosis was 67.0 (10.0) years and 136 (76.8%) were women. Most common autoimmune diseases were rheumatoid arthritis (97 [54.8%]), systemic sclerosis (43 [24.3%]), and systemic lupus erythematous (15 [8.5%]). Most common lung cancers were adenocarcinoma (99 [55.9%]), squamous cell carcinoma (29 [16.4%]), and small cell lung cancer (17 [9.6%]). A total of 219 patients (mean [SD] age at diagnosis, 65.9 [4.1] years; 173 [79.0%]) were identified as having lung cancer without autoimmune disease and included in the control cohort. Compared with patients in the control group, patients with autoimmune disease experienced no difference in overall survival (log-rank P = .69). A total of 126 patients (69.5%) with autoimmune disease received standard of care vs 213 patients (97.3%) in the control group (P < .001). No individual autoimmune disease was associated with worse prognosis, even among patients with underlying interstitial lung disease. Conclusions and Relevance Compared with institutional controls, patients with autoimmune disease experienced no difference in survival despite the fact that fewer patients in this group received standard-of-care treatment. No individual autoimmune disease was associated with worse prognosis. Future multicenter prospective trials are needed to further evaluate autoimmune disease and lung cancer survival.
A Fault Tolerant Selective Harmonic Elimination Method for Modular Multilevel Converters

A selective harmonic elimination pulse-width modulation (SHE-PWM) is proposed in this paper for adding fault tolerant capabilities to the operation of modular multilevel converters (MMC). This method maintains the fundamental harmonic of the faulty phase voltage during single submodule failures in order to keep the line-to-line voltages balanced. A circulating current controller is also designed to mitigate the ac component of the circulating currents while keeping the predefined shape of the output voltage. A 9-level MMC model is built in PSCAD/EMTDC to verify the advantages of the proposed method.
Limiting and Promoting Resident Self-Care in Assisted Living

Objective Assisted living (AL) residents often manage multiple chronic conditions, functional and/or cognitive decline along with their individual needs and preferences for a full life. Although residents participate in their own care, little is known about their self-care activities and how to support them. This analysis focuses on residents' self-care and theorizing the dynamic, socially-embedded process of negotiating self-care. Methods We analyze data from a grounded theory study informed by the Convoys of Care model. Participants included 50 focal residents and 169 paid and unpaid convoy members in eight AL homes; each resident convoy was followed for two years. Data collection included: participant observation, interviews, and resident record review. Results To the extent possible, most AL residents were involved in self-care related to activities of daily living, health promotion and social, emotional, and mental well-being. Residents and care partners engaged in a dynamic process of limiting and promoting self-care activities. Multiple factors influenced self-care, including residents' past self-care behaviors, caregiver fear and availability, and the availability of services and supports. Discussion Strategies for promoting self-care must involve residents and care partners and include: convoy education in collaborative goal-setting, prioritizing care that supports the goals and putting resources in place to support goal achievement.
Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome: Cancer-Induced or Chemotherapy-Induced?

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is an atypical type of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), which is characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA), thrombocytopenia, and thrombi in small blood vessels, leading to end-organ damage. aHUS causes an over-activation of the complement pathway. There are many etiologies of aHUS, including inherited and acquired. This condition has a high mortality rate, as it is often detected late in the disease course. Eculizumab, an inhibitor of the terminal complement pathway, needs to be prescribed as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed. There is limited evidence, however, regarding the duration of treatment. Therefore, it is vital to conduct further analysis on other alternatives and pharmacokinetics with this type of complement inhibitor.