cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation contributes to reduced connexin43 and development of atrial arrhythmias

Aims c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation is implicated in cardiovascular diseases and ageing, which are linked to enhanced propensity to atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the contribution of JNK to AF remains unknown. Thus, we assessed the role of JNK in remodelling of gap junction connexin43 (Cx43) and development of AF. Methods and results AF induction, optical mapping, and biochemical assays were performed in young and aged New Zealand white rabbit left atria (LA) and cultured HL-1 atrial cells. In aged rabbit LA, pacing-induced atrial arrhythmias were dramatically increased and conduction velocity (CV) was significantly slower compared with young controls. Aged rabbit LA contained 120% more activated JNK and 54% less Cx43 than young LA. Young rabbits treated with JNK activator anisomycin also exhibited increased pacing-induced atrial arrhythmias and reduced Cx43 (by 34%), similar to that found in aged LA. In HL-1 cell cultures, anisomycin treatment for 16 h led to 42% reduction in Cx43, 24% reduction in CV, and an increased incidence of irregular rapid spontaneous activities. These effects were prevented by a specific JNK inhibitor, SP600125. Moreover, a 63% reduction in Cx43 after anisomycin treatment for 24 h led to further slowed CV (by 41%) along with dramatically increased irregular rapid spontaneous activity and highly discontinuous conduction. These JNK-induced functional abnormalities were completely reversed by overexpressed exogenous wild-type Cx43, but not by inactive Cx43. Conclusion JNK activation contributes to Cx43 reductions that promote development of AF. Modulation of JNK may be a potential novel therapeutic approach to prevent and treat AF.
Auditory P300 and self-reported impulsive aggression

Abstract 1. 1. The purpose of the present study was to determine the cognitive psychophysiological correlates of impulsive aggression in a population considered “normal” by societal standards: college students. 2. 2. Auditory event-related potentials were acquired on all subjects during a standard oddball task. The stimuli consisted of a random sequence of two tones, a frequent 1,000 Hz tone and a rare 2,000 Hz tone. Tones were presented in a ratio of 80 20 . 3. 3. Results of the study demonstrated that impulsive aggressive subjects show significantly lower P300 amplitude at frontal electrode sites when compared to nonaggressive controls. 4. 4. These findings are consistent with the psychophysiological findings in impulsive aggressive incarcerated criminals and support the notion of a specific behavioral syndrome associated with spontaneous aggressive outbursts.
Does prenatal care at community-based health centers result in infant primary care at these sites?

Objectives To describe where women receiving prenatal care (PNC) at community-based health centers (CBHCs) go for infant primary care, and to assess reasons for and factors associated with leaving CBHCs and using other practices for infant care. Methods A prospective survey of women receiving PNC at CBHCs from February 2000 to February 2002 was conducted. In-person, prepartum, and postpartum surveys included questions about sociodemographic and health characteristics, and health services use. Results Among 1107 primarily low-income, African American mothers, 60% of women left CBHCs and used other practices for their infants due to dissatisfaction, inconvenience, referral to and perceived expertise at other sites, and insurance changes. Leaving CBHCs was associated with being white, Latina, US born, educated beyond high school, single, owning a car, using non-CBHC practices for prepregnancy care, and having child health insurance. Among those who left, 48% used hospital-based clinics (HBCs) and 52% used private practices (PPs). Mothers using HBCs, when compared to those using PPs, were more likely to be African American (AOR = 6.83; 95% CI: 3.82, 12.22) or Latina (AOR = 5.60; 95% CI: 2.79, 11.24), dissatisfied with their PNC (AOR = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.05, 3.89) and to leave CBHCs because of insurance changes (AOR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.18, 4.39) and perceived pediatric expertise at other sites (AOR = 4.81; 95% CI: 2.53, 9.11). Conclusions The majority of women in our study left CBHCs and used other sites for pediatric care. Higher education, having child health insurance, and car ownership were associated with leaving CBHCs. Among women who left, race/ethnicity and perceived pediatric expertise were major factors associated with using HBCs rather than PPs.
Multiterminal HVDC System Representation in a Transient Stability Program

This paper describes a method for representing parallel connected, multiterminal HVDC systems in a general-purpose transient stability program. The models for the dc converters, dc-terminal controller, and dc network are described in detail. Based on the models, equations and solution procedures for simulating dc faults and other disturbances are developed. The effectiveness of the solution algorithm is demonstrated on a 3-terminal and a 7-terminal system.
Silastic Replacement of Metacarpal after Resection of Giant Cell Tumour. A Case Report

Giant cell tumours are aggressive lesions, albeit benign. Lesions in the hand, especially those arising from metacarpals require resection with adequate margins and definitive structural reconstruction to ensure preservation of hand architecture, function and cosmesis. Almost all the described reconstructive procedures require a stump of tumour free metacarpal base after resection, for reconstruction of the metacarpal. This report describes replacement of the entire metacarpal with a silastic prosthesis, in a case of giant cell tumour involving the entire metacarpal head and shaft to within 7 mm of the base.
Immobilizing reporters for molecular imaging of the extracellular microenvironment in living animals.

The microenvironment as an integral part of cells plays critical roles in their physiology, structure and function. There are continuously increasing interests in understanding how the microenvironment controls the behavior and fate of stem cells,1, 2 and the initiation, progression and metastasis of tumors.3–5 Molecular characterization of the extracellular microenvironment is usually performed in vitro through identification of the secreted proteins in cultured cells6 and analysis of gene expression in purified components of normal and malignant tissues.7 The great complexity of the extracellular microenvironment and our current incomplete understanding of the biological factors involved present a big challenge in recreating an ex vivo counterpart. In vivo imaging can shed light into the biological processes within their native microenvironment through tracking the movement of cells genetically labeled with fluorescent proteins.8–14 It is, however, presently challenging to directly image specific signaling molecules in the extracellular microenvironment involved in the cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix interactions because of the lack of methods that can stably present the designed reporters in the extracellular microenvironment in vivo. To meet this critical need, we report here a simple, general strategy to deliver and immobilize synthetic reporters for creating a reporting system in animals for in vivo imaging of molecular signaling and interactions in the microenvironment. Our strategy takes advantage of the ubiquitous distribution of collagen proteins, which are a major component of the extracellular matrix inside the mammalian body. Collagens provide an ideal harbor for the reporters because of their abundance (they are the most abundant proteins in the body, representing about 30% of total proteins) and relative physiological stability. In our design, a reporter is immobilized onto the collagens in extracellular microenvironment through a collagen-binding protein (Fig. 1a). Unlike targeting to the cell surface, which often leads to internalization of the reporters, binding of the reporters to collagens will prevent them from being internalized into cells, and retain them in the extracellular microenvironment for effective sensing. With this strategy we were able to create a mouse with reporters embedded throughout the body. The distribution, stability and function of the immobilized reporters were evaluated by successfully mapping extracellular enzyme activity in tumor-bearing mice. We further evaluated the immobilized reporter for imaging enzyme activity in an inflammation site in a mouse model to demonstrate the general applicability of the reporter immobilization strategy for various biological models. Fig. 1 A reporter immobilization strategy for in vivo imaging. (a) Schematic of reporter immobilization over the body through binding ubiquitous collagens for imaging the extracellular microenvironment. (b) In vivo bioluminescence imaging of CB-Luc, a fusion ...
On the Structure Sensitivity of Dimethyl Ether Electro-oxidation on Eight FCC Metals: A First-Principles Study

The electro-oxidation of dimethyl ether (DME) was investigated using periodic, self-consistent density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the (111) and (100) facets of eight fcc metals: Au, Ag, Cu, Pt, Pd, Ni, Ir, and Rh. The goal of this study is to understand the experimentally observed structure sensitivity of this reaction on Pt, and to predict trends in structure sensitivity of this reaction across the other seven metals studied. The main conclusion is that the enhanced activity of Pt(100) originates from more facile C–O bond breaking and removal of surface poisoning species, including CO and CH. When comparing C–O bond breaking energetics, we do not find a universal trend where these elementary steps are always more exergonic on the (100) facet. However, we find that, at a given potential, DME can be dehydrogenated (prior to breaking the C–O bond) to a greater extent on the (100) facet. Additionally, we find that the reaction energy for C–O bond breaking in CHxOCHy-type species becomes increasingly exergonic as the species becomes increasingly dehydrogenated. Together, the more facile dehydrogenation on the (100) facets provides more favorable routes to C–O bond activation. Though we calculate a lower onset potential on Au(100), Ag(100), Cu(100), Pt(100), and Pd(100) than their respective (111) facets, the calculated onset potential for Ni(100), Ir(100), and Rh(100) are actually higher than for their respective (111) facets. Finally, by constructing theoretical volcano plots, we conclude that Au(100), Ag(100), Cu(100), Pt(100), and Pd(100) should be more active than their respective (111) facets, while Ni(100), Rh(100), and Ir(100) will show the opposite trend.
Generating extraterrestrial terrain

In recent years, generating both realistic and fanciful terrain has roused substantial interest among computer graphics specialists, motion picture and special-effects artists, geologists, and even mathematicians. Most fractal terrain models have been based on Fourier filtering, midpoint displacement, Poisson faulting, and successive random additions. Techniques such as these, while often creating convincing fractal forgeries of natural mountain terrain, do not always account for the fact that mountains are not statistically self-similar or identical from top to bottom. Nor do many prior methods naturally account for the beautiful ridges, craters, streaks, and various other features often associated with extraterrestrial terrain. The simple, flexible approach I present creates aesthetic extraterrestrial terrain with rich structures of varying asymmetry. >
Pre-reckoning algorithm for distributed virtual environments

We propose a prereckoning algorithm for distributed virtual environments. First, an overview of dead reckoning techniques used in distributed virtual environments is provided. The benefits and drawbacks of implementing dead reckoning within specific types of distributed virtual environments are discussed. An alternative to traditional dead reckoning techniques used in DIS-compliant distributed virtual environments is proposed. The alternative, referred to as "prereckoning", seeks to significantly reduce prediction error with a minimal increase in the number of entity state update packets issued. The performance of the prereckoning algorithm is compared to one of the DIS standard algorithms for location prediction. The test cases are based upon a game-based environment where the movements of participants are influenced by physical boundaries.
On the equivalence of DESA-1a and Prony's method when the signal is a sinusoid

We show that the frequency estimator in the discrete-time energy separation algorithm-1a (DESA-1a) proposed by Maragos et al. (see IEEE Trans. Signal Processing, vol. 41, no.10, p.3024, 1993) can be derived using Prony's method when the signal is x/sub n/=A cos(/spl Omega//sub c/n+/spl theta/). In the presence of noise, the DESA-1a frequency estimator is not equivalent to the Prony estimator. Simulation results indicate that on the whole, both methods share a similar sensitivity to noise.
Impact of errors in operational spreadsheets

All users of spreadsheets struggle with the problem of errors. Errors are thought to be prevalent in spreadsheets, and in some instances they have cost organizations millions of dollars. In a previous study of 50 operational spreadsheets we found errors in 0.8% to 1.8% of all formula cells, depending on how errors are defined. In the current study we estimate the quantitative impacts of errors in 25 operational spreadsheets from five different organizations. Within these 25 spreadsheets we identified 381 potential errors, of which 117 (31%) were confirmed as errors by the developers of the spreadsheet. Among these confirmed errors, 47 (40%) had no quantitative impact on the results. Among the remaining 70 confirmed errors, the largest error was $100 million; however, 9 of the 25 spreadsheets tested had no errors at all.
Timeliness of service discovery in DEAPspace

A new algorithm is presented, through which a computing device can detect the presence of neighbouring devices, share configuration and service information with those devices, and also notice when devices become unavailable. Targeted for wireless ad-hoc, single-hop networks, this solution reduces the number of transmissions required from individual devices. The effectiveness of this algorithm is demonstrated through comparison with others that achieve similar goals.
The Limits of Piecemeal Causal Inference

In medicine and the social sciences, researchers must frequently integrate the findings of many observational studies, which measure overlapping collections of variables. For instance, learning how to prevent obesity requires combining studies that investigate obesity and diet with others that investigate obesity and exercise. Recently developed causal discovery algorithms provide techniques for integrating many studies, but little is known about what can be learned from such algorithms. This article argues that there are causal facts that one could learn by conducting a large study but which could not be learned by combining many smaller studies. Moreover, I characterize the frequency with which combining many studies increases underdetermination and exactly how much information is lost.
Networks of strong ties

Abstract Social networks transmitting covert or sensitive information cannot use all ties for this purpose. Rather, they can only use a subset of ties that are strong enough to be “trusted”. This paper addresses whether it is still possible, under this restriction, for information to be transmitted widely and rapidly in social networks. We use transitivity as evidence of strong ties, requiring one or more shared contacts in order to count an edge as strong. We examine the effect of removing all non-transitive ties in two real social network data sets, imposing varying thresholds in the number of shared contacts. We observe that transitive ties occupy a large portion of the network and that removing all other ties, while causing some individuals to become disconnected, preserves the majority of the giant connected component. Furthermore, the average shortest path, important for the rapid diffusion of information, increases only slightly relative to the original network. We also evaluate the cost of forming transitive ties by modeling a random graph composed entirely of closed triads and comparing its connectivity and average shortest path with the equivalent Erdos–Renyi random graph. Both the empirical study and random model point to a robustness of strong ties with respect to the connectivity and small world property of social networks.
Formation and Stabilization of Vertical Hierarchies among Adolescents: Towards a Quantitative Ethology of Dominance among Humans

Social psychological investigations of hierarchy formation have been almost entirely confined to the case of task-oriented groups and hence have produced theories that turn on the existence of such a task. But other forms of vertical hierarchy may emerge in non-task groups. One form, orderings of dominance, has been studied among animals using systematic behavioral observations, but almost never among humans, despite many discussions of such structures existing among adolescent males. Using stochastic models, this paper examines change in vertical orderings for data on dominance encounters among same-sex adolescent campers. There seem to be different paths for stabilization of vertical hierarchies for boys and girls, both of which involve the emergence of special roles, the top boy or the bottom girl. Further, stabilization seems to be greatly facilitated (at least for boys) by members adopting Roger Gould's theory of dominance encounters and turning their attention to those close in rank.
Pharmacokinetic variability of antiretroviral drugs and correlation with virological outcome: 2 years of experience in routine clinical practice

Objectives: To assess the inter-individual and intra-individual plasma concentration variabilities of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and protease inhibitors (PIs) in routine clinical practice and to investigate their relationships with virological failure. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled HIV-infected patients undergoing therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of NNRTIs and PIs during routine outpatient visits. Plasma drug concentrations were measured by HPLC-UV and were considered therapeutic if above the proposed minimum efficacy trough concentration. Inter-individual and intra-individual variabilities were evaluated through the coefficient of variation (CV). Results: A total of 457 PI and 172 NNRTI plasma concentrations were measured from 363 patients (HIVRNA <50 copies/mL in 70.8%, median CD4 count 434 cells/mm 3 ). NNRTIs showed less inter-individual (CVinter 54.8% versus 84.3%) and intra-individual (CVintra 19.0% versus 38.1%) pharmacokinetic variabilities than PIs. Intra-individual variability was constantly lower than inter-individual variability for each drug. Subtherapeutic drug concentrations were observed in 106 samples (16.9%). Older age (P 50.020) and higher viral load (P 50.013) were associated with subtherapeutic levels. Patients with therapeutic levels had a viral load of <50 copies/mL more frequently than those with subtherapeutic levels (74.8% versus 63.2%, P 50.020). The estimated proportion with virological failure at 24 weeks was 0.21 in patients with suboptimal baseline drug levels and 0.08 in those with optimal levels (P<0.001). In the multivariate analysis, therapeutic drug levels showed an independent negative association with virological failure (P50.004). Conclusions: A wide inter-individual and limited intra-individual pharmacokinetic variabilities, together with the demonstration of a concentration‐response relationship, suggest that TDM is a useful tool for the clinical management of patients treated with NNRTIs or PIs.
XML technologies for RESTful services development

For the last several decades the predominant architectural style for the implementation of data-centric applications has had a relational database at the core, procedural code implementing the application services and an object-oriented API. More recently the API has transitioned, via a slight detour through SOAP-based web services, to a RESTful style, however what lies beneath that interface has been slower to take a new approach. In this paper we argue that upgrading that which is under the covers to an XML-centric technology stack will result in a system that is easier to build, test and maintain. Further, these technologies are a step toward making construction of such systems available to non-programmers. We present an XML RESTful Services framework that provides mechanisms to address all of the key aspects of systems built in the RESTful architectural style.
Residential racial segregation and racial differences in sexual behaviours: an 11-year longitudinal study of sexual risk of adolescents transitioning to adulthood

Background Determining the underlying causes of racial disparities in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is important. In the USA, rates of the most common STIs range from 5 to 20 times higher for African–Americans compared to Caucasians, and the health consequences of STIs can be serious. Residential racial segregation results in very different contexts for individuals and may be an important determinant of sexual risk. The purpose of this study was to examine how segregation and race interact to impact the age trajectory of sexual risk behaviours. Methods Using 11 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (1997–2007) and 2000 Census data, the authors performed three-level hierarchical linear regression to examine the associations between hypersegregation, race and a sexual risk behaviour index among black and white non-Hispanic adolescents as they transition to adulthood. Results Through most of the teenage years, African–Americans are at higher sexual risk than Caucasians. However, by age 19, Caucasians are at higher risk. Hypersegregation was not associated with increased sexual risk index score on average and did not impact the trajectory of the race–sexual risk association. Conclusions The authors did not find any evidence that hypersegregation was associated with the sex risk index or that it modified the race–sex risk association as individuals got older. Future studies should examine whether segregation is associated with other causes of STI/HIV acquisition risk, such as sexual network patterns.
SPIDER: flexible and efficient communication support for point-to-point distributed systems

SPIDER is a network adapter that provides scalable communication support for point-to-point distributed systems. The device exports an efficient interface to the host processor, provides transparent support for dependable, time-constrained communication, and handles packet routing and switching. The communication support provided by SPIDER exploits concurrency between the independent data channels feeding the point-to-point network, and offers flexible and transparent hardware mechanisms. SPIDER allows the host to exercise fine-grain control over its operation, enabling the latter to monitor and influence data transmission and reception efficiently. In the current implementation, SPIDER interfaces to the Ironics IV-3207, a VMEbus-based 68040 card and will be controlled by x-kernel, a communication executive allowing the flexible composition of communication protocols. >
Effects of the normal nocturnal rise in cortisol on carbohydrate and fat metabolism in IDDM

Plasma cortisol concentrations increase approximately three- to five-fold during sleep in healthy humans. To determine the effects of the normal nocturnal rise in cortisol on carbohydrate and fat metabolism independent of changes in endogenous insulin secretion, we studied the disposition of a mixed meal in individuals with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in whom the normal nocturnal rise in cortisol had been either prevented or mimicked by using metyrapone and a constant or variable hydrocortisone infusion. Insulin was infused intravenously on both occasions in amounts sufficient to create relative postprandial insulin deficiency. The nocturnal rise in cortisol resulted in an approximately 30 mg/dl greater (P < 0.001) peak postprandial glycemic excursion due to greater (P < 0.01) systemic glucose appearance and inappropriately low (P < 0.05) tissue glucose uptake. The latter was most evident when postprandial glucose concentrations in the presence and absence of the nocturnal rise in cortisol were matched by means of an exogenous glucose infusion to avoid the confounding effects of differences in glycemia. The nocturnal rise in cortisol also resulted in increased (P < 0.01) incorporation of 14CO2 into glucose (an index of gluconeogenesis), decreased (P < 0.05) carbohydrate oxidation, and increased (P < 0.05) rates of palmitate appearance, lipid oxidation, and beta-hydroxybutyrate concentrations. Thus the normal nocturnal rise in cortisol, independent of changes in insulin secretion, is an important regulator of postabsorptive and postprandial carbohydrate, fat, and ketone body metabolism in humans.
Convolutional spike-triggered covariance analysis for neural subunit models

Subunit models provide a powerful yet parsimonious description of neural responses to complex stimuli. They are defined by a cascade of two linear-nonlinear (LN) stages, with the first stage defined by a linear convolution with one or more filters and common point nonlinearity, and the second by pooling weights and an output nonlinearity. Recent interest in such models has surged due to their biological plausibility and accuracy for characterizing early sensory responses. However, fitting poses a difficult computational challenge due to the expense of evaluating the log-likelihood and the ubiquity of local optima. Here we address this problem by providing a theoretical connection between spike-triggered covariance analysis and nonlinear subunit models. Specifically, we show that a "convolutional" decomposition of a spike-triggered average (STA) and covariance (STC) matrix provides an asymptotically efficient estimator for class of quadratic subunit models. We establish theoretical conditions for identifiability of the subunit and pooling weights, and show that our estimator performs well even in cases of model mismatch. Finally, we analyze neural data from macaque primary visual cortex and show that our moment-based estimator outperforms a highly regularized generalized quadratic model (GQM), and achieves nearly the same prediction performance as the full maximum-likelihood estimator, yet at substantially lower cost.
Adiposity and spinal cord injury

The drastic changes in body composition following spinal cord injury (SCI) have been shown to play a significant role in cardiovascular and metabolic health. The pattern of storage and distribution of different types of adipose tissue may impact metabolic health variables similar to carbohydrate, lipid and bone metabolism. The use of magnetic resonance imaging provides insights on the interplay among different regional adipose tissue compartments and their role in developing chronic diseases. Regional adipose tissue can be either distributed centrally or peripherally into subcutaneous and ectopic sites. The primary ectopic adipose tissue sites are visceral, intramuscular and bone marrow. Dysfunction in the central nervous system following SCI impacts the pattern of distribution of adiposity especially between tetraplegia and paraplegia. The current editorial is focused primarily on introducing different types of adipose tissue and establishing scientific basis to develop appropriate dietary, rehabilitation or pharmaceutical interventions to manage the negative consequences of increasing adiposity after SCI. We have also summarized the clinical implications and future recommendations relevant to study adiposity after SCI.
Clinical utility of dronabinol in the treatment of weight loss associated with HIV and AIDS.

Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, weight loss has been a common complaint for patients. The use of various definitions defining HIV wasting syndrome has made it difficult to determine its actual prevalence. Despite the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy, it is estimated that the prevalence of HIV wasting syndrome is between 14% and 38%. HIV wasting syndrome may stem from conditions affecting chewing, swallowing, or gastrointestinal motility, neurologic disease affecting food intake or the perception of hunger or ability to eat, psychiatric illness, food insecurity generated from psychosocial or economic concerns, or anorexia due to medications, malabsorption, infections, or tumors. Treatment of HIV wasting syndrome may be managed with appetite stimulants (megestrol acetate or dronabinol), anabolic agents (testosterone, testosterone analogs, or recombinant human growth hormone), or, rarely, cytokine production modulators (thalidomide). The goal of this review is to provide an in-depth evaluation based on existing clinical trials on the clinical utility of dronabinol in the treatment of weight loss associated with HIV/AIDS. Although total body weight gain varies with dronabinol use (–2.0 to 3.2 kg), dronabinol is a well-tolerated option to promote appetite stimulation. Further studies are needed with standardized definitions of HIV-associated weight loss and clinical outcomes, robust sample sizes, safety and efficacy data on chronic use of dronabinol beyond 52 weeks, and associated virologic and immunologic outcomes.
A literature review of radiological findings to guide the diagnosis of gallbladder adenomyomatosis

Background Gallbladder adenomyomatosis (GA) is a benign gallbladder entity discovered as an asymptomatic gallbladder mass. Since gallbladder cancer is in the differential diagnosis for gallbladder masses, the ability to differentiate benign disease avoids a more extensive oncologic resection. This study sought to review imaging modalities used to diagnose GA.
“Non-hydrolytic” sol–gel synthesis of molybdenum sulfides

Abstract Non-hydrolytic sol–gel reactions provide a low temperature solution based synthetic approach to solid-state materials. In this paper, reactions between molybdenum chloride and hexamethyldisilthiane in chloroform were explored, which gave access to both MoS 2 and Mo 2 S 3 after heat treatment of as-recovered amorphous samples to 600–1000 °C. Interesting morphologies were obtained for MoS 2 , ranging from fused spherical particles to well-defined nanoplatelets and nanoflakes. Both 2H- and 3R-MoS 2 were observed, which formed thin hexagonal and triangular platelets, respectively. The platelets exhibited thicknesses of 10–30 nm, which corresponds to 15–50 MoS 2 layers. No attempts to prevent agglomeration were made, however, well separated platelets were observed for many samples. Heating at 1000 °C led to formation of Mo 2 S 3 for samples that showed well-defined MoS 2 at lower temperatures, while less crystalline samples had a tendency to retain the MoS 2 structure.
Pharmacotherapy for Dravet Syndrome

Dravet syndrome (DS) is an intractable pediatric epilepsy syndrome, starting in early childhood. This disorder typically manifests with febrile status epilepticus, and progresses to a multifocal epilepsy with febrile and non-febrile seizures with encephalopathy. Most cases are due to a mutation in the SCN1A gene. This article reviews treatments for DS, with an emphasis on pharmacotherapy. While many medications are used in treating the seizures associated with DS, these patients typically have medically refractory epilepsy, and polytherapy is often required. First-line agents include valproate and clobazam, although there are supportive data for topiramate, levetiracetam, stiripentol and the ketogenic diet. Other agents such as fenfluramine are promising therapies for Dravet syndrome. Sodium channel-blocking anticonvulsants such as carbamazepine and lamotrigine are generally contraindicated in this syndrome. Nonpharmacologic therapies (such as neurostimulation or surgery) are understudied in DS. Because DS is a global encephalopathy, pharmacologic treatment of non-epileptic manifestations of the disease is often necessary. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is often encountered in patients with DS, and psychostimulants can be helpful for this indication. Other psychoactive drugs are less studied in this context. Extrapyramidal and gait disorders are often encountered in DS as well. While DS is a severe epileptic encephalopathy with a high (up to 15 %) mortality rate in childhood, careful pharmacologic management can improve these patients' clinical picture and quality of life.
Magnetic Tensor Sensor for Gradient-Based Localization of Ferrous Object in Geomagnetic Field

This paper presents a gradient-based method, along with the design concept, characteristics, and operating range of a magnetic tensor sensor (MTS), for locating and identifying a ferrous/magnetic object in the presence of geomagnetic field. This method characterizes the magnetic moment $M$ and position vector $R$ of a ferrous/magnetic object in terms of two scalar parameters (an orientation-insensitive $P$ and a distance-insensitive $\gamma )$ derived from the measured magnetic tensor data. These scalar parameters offer an excellent alternative to the traditional ( $M$ and $R)$ in characterizing a magnetic object with an arbitrary shape for some applications when the dipole model is a poor approximation. With a prototype MTS that has been developed and experimentally validated, the effectiveness and accuracy of the gradient-based method are demonstrated with two different types of compact objects. The first object is a uniformly magnetized cylindrical permanent magnet, commonly used as an engineered landmark for machine applications, where the interest is to accurately determine $M$ and/or $R$ . The second object is an example of a general ferrous object with a non-uniform shape to illustrate the detection and approximate localization of a ferrous object for applications such as visually impaired assistance.
TSH and ACTH secretion and cyclic adenosine 3'5' monophosphate content following stimulation with TRH or lysine vasopressin in vitro: suppression by thyroxine and dexamethasone.

SummaryThe studies reported here demonstrate temporally related changes in pituitary hormone release and levels of cAMP following stimulation with either TRH or LVP. They thus strengthen the postulation that cAMP is a second messenger in the action of releasing hormones on the pituitary. However, a divergence between hormone release and pituitary cAMP levels was noted in several instances. Therefore, a definitive role for cAMP as mediator of anterior pituitary hormone release was not established. These studies also show target gland hormone feedback in vitro can inhibit releasing factor produced elevations of pituitary cAMP levels and suggest such an action may be a method by which target gland hormones inhibit tropic hormone release.
Research on Three-Dimension Modeling Technologies of Remote Monitoring Platform for Shearer

Taking MG400/920-WD alternating current electrical haulage shearer as an example to study the key technologies of real-time graphics rendering and accelerating for remote monitoring platform of shearer. An algorithm for level of detail rendering of shearer based on energy function. The selection strategy of collapsing edge and erroneous measurement were established. The time and space overhead needed to calculate the new vertex was saved because the selected edge was collapsed into one of its two vertices, which was unnecessary to recalculate the position of a new vertex after edge collapsing. The results fulfill the demands of real-time graphics rendering for remote monitoring platform of shearer.
Preinjury cigarette smoking among those with traumatic spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE Identify the prevalence of cigarette smoking at the time of spinal cord injury (SCI) onset, compare the rate of cigarette smoking to that of the general population in the same geographic area, and identify the relationship of cigarette smoking with demographic, injury, behavioral, and psychological characteristics. RESEARCH METHOD Self-report assessments were completed during inpatient rehabilitation for new SCI. RESULTS The prevalence of smokers at the time of their SCI onset was 37.9%, substantially higher than the rate for those in the general population from the same geographic region (22.8%). Those who were smokers at SCI onset, on average, were older, had less education, were more likely to have consumed alcohol in the month prior to SCI onset, and had higher personality scores indicative of Impulsive/Sensation Seeking and Neuroticism/Anxiety. CONCLUSIONS At the time of SCI, cigarette smoking is elevated over the general population and is related to behavioral and psychological factors that may be important to consider with smoking cessation interventions.
Near Optimal Viterbi Algorithm for Storage Channels With Linear Regressive Noise

This paper proposes a noise-predictive detection algorithm for intersymbol interference channels with linear regressive noise. A block factorization of the covariance matrix of the linear regressive Gaussian noise is used to derive the branch metrics. This algorithm exhibits near optimal performance. A generalization of this algorithm to signal dependent linear regressive noise is also presented and its performance improvement over conventional algorithms with comparable complexity is shown using simulation results.
Primer for image informatics in personalized medicine

Abstract Image informatics encompasses the concept of extracting and quantifying information contained in image data. Scenes, what an image contains, come from many imager devices such as consumer electronics, medical imaging systems, 3D laser scanners, microscopes, or satellites. There is a marked increase in image informatics applications as there have been simultaneous advances in imaging platforms, data availability due to social media, and big data analytics. An area ready to take advantage of these developments is personalized medicine, the concept where the goal is tailor healthcare to the individual. Patient health data is computationally profiled against a large of pool of feature-rich data from other patients to ideally optimize how a physician chooses care. One of the daunting challenges is how to effectively utilize medical image data in personalized medicine. Reliable data analytics products require as much automation as possible, which is a difficulty for data like histopathology and radiology images because we require highly trained expert physicians to interpret the information. This review targets biomedical scientists interested in getting started on tackling image analytics. We present high level discussions of sample preparation and image acquisition; data formats; storage and databases; image processing; computer vision and machine learning; and visualization and interactive programming. Examples will be covered using existing open-source software tools such as ImageJ, CellProfiler, and IPython Notebook. We discuss how difficult real-world challenges faced by image informatics and personalized medicine are being tackled with open-source biomedical data and software.
Comment on Qu et al. 2016

Qu et al. (2016) claim to have identified members of the three major families of chemoreceptors known in arthropods in a whole-body transcriptome of the storage mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae Schrank. Unfortunately, I believe their analysis is seriously flawed. The Odorant Receptor (OR) family in insects is a relatively recent evolutionary innovation derived from a lineage of the more ancient and diverse Gustatory Receptor (GR) family within the insect chemoreceptor superfamily (Robertson et al. 2003, Benton 2015), and appears to have evolved within the insect lineage (Missbach et al. 2014). It has not previously been detected in arthropods beyond insects for which a whole genome sequence is available, thus the OR family is not present in the genomes of the crustacean Daphnia pulex (Penalva-Arana et al. 2009), the centipede Strigamia maritima Leach (Chipman et al. 2014), the black-legged tick Ixodes scapularis Say (Gulia-Nuss et al. 2016), or the predatory mite Metaseiulus occidentalis Nesbitt (Hoy et al. 2016). Members of the OR family are also not present in numerous published transcriptomes from noninsect arthropods (e.g., Misof et al. 2014). The authors’ claim to have identified this gene family in …
A comparison of early and late reconstruction of malunited fractures of the distal end of the radius

AbstractWe retrospectively evaluated the results for ten patients in whom a malaligned fracture of the distal end of the radius had been treated with early reconstruction (an average of eight weeks [range, six to fourteen weeks] after the injury) consisting of an osteotomy through the site of the fr
Range of motion and complications following primary repair versus reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament.

Abstract Introduction Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair. The procedure is less invasive than ACL reconstruction, yet studies assessing early postoperative course are lacking. Goal therefore was to assess postoperative range of motion (ROM), complications and operative times following primary repair and compare this to the gold standard of reconstruction. Methods A retrospective study was performed for which 52 repair and 90 reconstruction patients could be included. Patients were examined at one week and one, three and six months. Rehabilitation protocol consisted of early ROM and was equal for both groups. Outcomes were compared using independent t-tests and chi-square tests, and reported in mean±standard deviation. Results Repair had more ROM than reconstruction patients at one week (89°±18 vs. 61°±21, p
Abstract P160: Non-invasive Method to Assess Human Circadian Rhythms

Circadian rhythms are controlled by an endogenous time-keeping system oscillating approximately on a 24-h cycle under constant conditions. These rhythms depend on a network of interacting genes and proteins, including transcriptional activators such as CLOCK, NPAS2, and ARNTL (BMAL1), which induce transcription of the clock genes Period ( Per1 , Per2 , and Per3 ) and Cryptochrome ( Cry1 and Cry2 ). Human salivary cortisol and melatonin follow a clear circadian rhythm as well. Disruption of the circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycles are considered risk factors for a variety of health problems, especially hypertension and other cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Here we put together practical methods for assessing circadian rhythms in adult subjects conducted by each individual. This method is non-invasive, inexpensive and provides a predictive profile of an individual’s circadian rhythm related to clock-controlled gene expression in buccal cells, salivary cortisol, salivary melatonin, and subject’s activity or sleep. Subjects are instructed on how to obtain buccal cells using swabs (Whatman OmniSwab) from the inside of their cheeks and collect saliva using salivettes (Sarstedt) every 4 hours starting at 6am, for 2 consecutive days. Subjects also wear actigraphy watches (Phillips Respironics) during the 2 days, to record their activity, light exposure and estimates of sleep times. To monitor adherence to correct time point collections, each subject is given an electronic vial called eCAP (Information Mediary Corp) that records the exact time the container is opened to place samples once collected. We demonstrate feasibility to extract up to 150ng/μl of RNA (Ambion RNAqueous-Micro Total RNA Isolation Kit) from buccal cells swabs. Salivary melatonin and cortisol are measured by radioimmunoassay (Buhlmann Lab) with melatonin peak levels ranging from 14 to 23 pg/ml and cortisol peak levels ranging from 10 to 24 ng/ml. We suggest that buccal cell expression of clock-controlled genes, salivary melatonin, salivary cortisol, and actigraphy data are valuable in providing reliable assessment of human circadian rhythm profiles under a variety of conditions.
Decision role preferences for return of results from genome sequencing amongst young breast cancer patients.

Abstract Objective To better understand decision role preferences in women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age for return of results of genome sequencing in research and clinical settings. Methods Participants were surveyed about communication and decision-making preferences related to genome sequencing results and factors that may affect these preferences. The primary outcome was decision role preference (Control Preference Scale) for selecting what results to receive within medical care or within a research study. Results For results returned as part of medical care, most patients preferred a collaborative (N = 481, 45%) or active (N = 488, 45%) role with only 107 (10%) choosing a passive role. When making the decision as part of a research study, most patients preferred an active role (N = 617, 57%), 350 (33%) choosing a collaborative role, and110 (10%) choosing a passive role. Conclusion Most women in this study preferred to share in decision making. Participants had somewhat different role preferences for clinical and research contexts, with greater preference for active roles in the research context. Practice Implications We advocate for practice guidelines that incorporate discussion of decision role as an integral part of patient centered care and shared decision-making and recognize that more work is needed to inform guidelines.
FOLFCIS regimen for treatment of cancer of the anal canal.

3567Background: The combination of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a standard chemotherapy regimen for advanced anal squamous cell cancer (AC) and is associated with significant toxicity. We...
Run Over by the Globe: Overcoming the Flat World and Reinventing the Educational Wheel in U.S. Urban Schools:

Despite ongoing reform efforts, academic achievement in the U.S. educational system is declining both on internal measures as well as on international comparative assessments. While students from a...
Potentiation of serotonin signaling leads to increased carbohydrate and lipid absorption in the murine small intestine.

Abstract Background Enteric serotonin influences intestinal homeostasis and functions as a mucosal growth factor. Previously, we demonstrated increased mucosal surface area and enhanced crypt cell proliferation in serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT)-deficient mice. Therefore, we hypothesized that serotonin-mediated mucosal growth would also result in enhanced carbohydrate and lipid absorption. Material and methods Wild-type C57Bl/6 (WT) and SERT-knockout (SERTKO) mice were fasted then gavaged with D-xylose or boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) FL-C12 medium-chain fatty acid analog. Serum D-xylose and BODIPY concentrations were serially measured from blood drawn at 30 to 360 min post-gavage. Small intestine was harvested from both groups for comparison of morphometric parameters. Area under the curve of plotted graphs was calculated, and means were compared with Student's t-test to a significance of p Results Villus height and crypt depth were significantly greater in the middle and distal small intestine of SERTKO animals compared to WT. Overall absorption of D-xylose and BODIPY was greater in SERTKO animals compared to WT animals. Absorption of D-xylose was persistently elevated in SERTKO animals, while there was an initial delay in BODIPY absorption followed by a sustained and significantly greater absorption in SERTKO animals at 60–360 min after gavage. Conclusion Potentiation of serotonin signaling in SERTKO mice results in small intestinal mucosal growth and enhanced carbohydrate and fat absorption in vivo. These functional increases support the concept of targeting the serotonin signaling system to augment intestinal adaptation in the setting of intestinal failure.