cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Organometallic Vapor Phase Lateral Epitaxy of Low Defect Density GaN Layers

Lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) of GaN layers has been achieved on 3 μm wide and 7 μm spaced stripe windows contained in SiO2 masks on GaN/AIN/6H-SiC(0001) substrates via organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE). The extent and microstructural characteristics of lateral overgrowth were a complex function of stripe orientation, growth temperature and triethylgallium (TEG) flow rate. A high density of threading dislocations, originating from the interface of the underlying GaN with the AIN buffer layer, were contained in the GaN grown in the window regions. The overgrowth regions, by contrast, contained a very low density of dislocations. The second lateral epitaxial overgrowth layers were obtained on the first laterally grown layers by the repetition of SiO2 deposition, lithography and lateral epitaxy.
Sound-Source Localization by the Red Fox

Vocalizations of prey species are sometimes pure-toned calls, which are more difficult to locate than multifrequency calls. Vertebrates do not locate all pure-toned sounds with the same accuracy. In a controlled test we determined how well nine red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) located 13 different frequencies of pure sound, ranging from 300 hertz to 34 kilohertz. Using food as a reward, the foxes were trained to choose the correct location of a 74 ± 4 decibel (re 0.0002 dynes/square centimeter) sound signal emitted from one of two possible loudspeaker positions. The foxes located the sound source best from 0.9 to 14 kilohertz (> 90 percent accuracy) with a slight decrease in accuracy at 8.5 kilohertz (84 percent accuracy). They had the most difficulty locating the source at 0.3, 0.6, 18, and 34 kilohertz (≤ 78 percent accuracy). Foxes appear to readily locate a wide range of sound frequencies, and may have maximized their chances for locating certain calls which are presumably difficult to locate.
Biological evaluation of compounds for their physical dependence potential and abuse liability. XVI. Drug Evaluation Committee of the College of Problems of Drug Dependence, Inc. (1992).

Dr. A. Coop replaced Dr. A. E. Jacobson, the Biological Coordinator of DEC, CPDD, from 1976 to 2000. Dr Coop is the fourth DEC Biological Coordinator (the initial two were Drs. N. Eddy and E. L. May). The other members of DEC remained unchanged this year; they are in DEC's two analgesic testing groups, at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU, Drs. L. Harris, M. Aceto, E. Bowman, P. Beardsley) and the University of Michigan (UM, J. Woods (DEC Chair), J. Traynor), and three stimulant/depressant testing groups, at the University of Mississippi (UMs, W. Woolverton), Louisiana State University (LSU, C. France), and UM (G. Winger, J. Woods). Drs. T Cicero and A. E. Jacobson act as emeritus members. The DEC reports to the CPDD's Liaison Committee for Drug Testing and Evaluation (A. Young, Chair). Members of both that CPDD Committee, and the Industry Relations Committee (R. Mansbach, Chair), as well as NIDA, attend DEC's meeting held during the Annual Scientific Meeting of the CPDD. One or two other DEC meetings are held during the year to discuss the work which has been accomplished, and future plans. Separate meetings are held at VCU quarterly with the members of the VCU Analgesic Testing Group, as well as Drs. E. L. May and E. Bowman, the DEC Biological Coordinator, and a NIDA representative, to discuss the results obtained from the VCU testing and research program.
The effects of early experience on subsequent feeding responses in the Tegu, Tupinambis teguixin (Squamata : Teiidae).

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of early feeding experiences on subsequent responses to prey in the tegu, Tupinambis teguixin. Five-day old lizards were exposed to the odors of various prey and control substances on cotton-tipped applicators with the tongue-flick attack score (TFAS) chosen as the dependent variable. Each lizard was exposed to four stimuli: two controls (deionised water and cologne), and extracts from a mouse Mus musculus, and a lizard Ameiva ameiva, in a repeated measures, randomized block design, receiving one stimulus training session / day over a 40-day period. Tongue-flicks directed toward the applicator were counted over a 1 min period as well as the amount of time that elapsed from the first tongue flick to any bite that may have occurred. Live neonatal mice (but not A. ameiva), offered on a weekly basis, were used as a food source for tegus over a 10-month period. After 10 months, tegus were exposed to applicators containing control odors as well as those containing extracts from mice and lizards (A. ameiva). Mouse extracts elicited significantly higher TFAS as compared to those elicited by A. ameiva or control odors, suggesting that prey odors encountered in the environment shortly after hatching can influence prey preferences by these lizards later in life. These results also indicate that tegu lizards can learn to use specific odor cues associated with naturally occurring prey as releasers for subsequent hunting behaviors.
Conservative management of pediatric tracheal rupture

Traumatic injuries to the pediatric trachea are uncommon events that require prompt diagnosis and management. When they do occur, tracheal injuries often arise in the setting of high impact trauma and are accompanied by major injuries to other organ systems. In this report, we present the diagnosis and conservative management of tracheal rupture at the carina in an 11-year-old female with severe intracranial injuries. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:E1-E3. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Claims, Civil Actions, Congress and the Courts [Or: Limiting the Reasoning of Cases Construing Poorly Drawn Statutes: Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc.]

In Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services, Inc., 545 U.S. 546 (2005), the Supreme Court took its first stab at construing the supplemental jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1367 - a statute that has provoked a great outpouring of scholarly criticism and debate since its enactment in 1990, and generated several conflicts among the lower federal courts. This Article focuses on important features of the Court's reasoning in Exxon Mobil v. Allapattah, including the Court's conflation of a "civil action" with a "claim." Part I discusses the reasoning in Allapattah and Rosario Ortega in detail, showing among other things when and why the Court conflated a "civil action" with a "claim." As part of that discussion, Part I addresses the Court's treatment of "indivisibility theory" and "contamination theory" and how that treatment influenced the Court's view of civil actions. It also considers the relevance of the Supreme Court's decision in City of Chicago v. International College of Surgeons, 522 U.S.156 (1997), to its reasoning and conclusions in Allapattah. Finally, Part I compares the reasoning and ultimate holdings of Allapattah and Rosario Ortega - and the views of the dissent - with the recommendations in the American Law Institutes Federal Judicial Code Revision Project, published in 2004, and with my own thoughts on the issues raised. While my views are more similar to those of the dissent than to those of the majority, I believe that the outcome in Allapattah (but not in del Rosario) is correct because of the presence of a civil action within the original jurisdiction of the federal courts before any class is certified. Part II provides many illustrations of how, if the lower federal courts were to accept the Court's redefinition of "civil action" and "claim," and carry it into other contexts in which the terms have long been understood to share the meanings of those words and phrases as they are used in the federal question and diversity subject-matter jurisdiction statutes, significant and undesirable changes in doctrine would result - particularly in cases removed from state court. Part III then ponders why the federal courts nonetheless have forgone the opportunity to extend the redefinition or conflation into such other statutory contexts, despite some reasons to do so. It considers the jurisprudential question of the propriety of eschewing the precedent set by Allapattah and Rosario Ortega in their treatment of "claim" and "civil action," and argues that the courts are wise to ignore - but would do better to distinguish and limit - the reasoning of Allapattah and Rosario Ortega and to decline to extend it into the interpretation of other jurisdictional statutes. Finally, Part III urges better drafting by Congress, to avoid strained interpretations invited by poor legislative drafting.
Pilot implementation of a formal leadership development strategy within a student chapter of an American pharmacy organisation

Introduction: This report describes the pilot implementation of a formal leadership development strategy for the elected officers within the Midwestern University College of Pharmacy-Glendale Chapter of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP). Description: The leadership development strategy consisted of initial meetings with each chapter officer regarding their personal goals and a self-appraisal of their leadership skills, mid-point meetings with each officer regarding their leadership experiences up to that point, and a concluding group meeting with all officers regarding the concept of strengths-based leadership. Evaluation: Upon completion of their elected terms, each officer was surveyed about their leadership experiences within APhA-ASP. The overall response rate was 95% and each experience was perceived as having some degree of benefit. Future Plans: These data will be used to improve the development strategy and will serve as a baseline for assessing a subsequent initiative founded upon the concept of emotional intelligence.
Electromagnetic Microactuator-Array Based Virtual Tactile Display

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a novel tactile display assembled from a 4 by 5 array of electromagnetic, voice-coil type micro-actuators. Each actuator is separately controlled and operates at the optimum human tactile recognition vibrating frequency and amplitude as vibrotactile actuators (tactors). As a preprogrammed, meaningful sequence of micro-actuators is actuated, the user recognizes the vibro-tactile pattern on his/her fingertip and identifies it as a single alpha-numeric character. Human subject studies have been conducted where the actuators are vibrating vertically between their resting position and the surface of the involved fingertip in a predefined sequence, which creates the tactile perception of continuous curves. The efficiency analysis by which these curves are identified as characteristic shapes by the subjects shows an average of over 70 % recognition performance.
The Further Adventures of Newborn Screening for Biotinidase Deficiency: Where It Is at and What We Still Need to Know

Biotinidase deficiency is an inherited metabolic disorder that, if untreated, can result in neurological and cutaneous symptoms. If treated with the vitamin biotin, individuals with the disorder can markedly improve, but still may have some irreversible problems if therapy is delayed. If treated at birth, biotin therapy can prevent the development of symptoms as indicated by long-term outcomes. Therefore, the disorder readily meets the major criteria for newborn screening. Our laboratory has been instrumental in developing, piloting and establishing newborn screening for the disorder in the United States and in many countries. This review discusses some of the “behind-the-scenes” aspects of how we spread the word about the disorder and what we learned from over 30 years of newborn screening. We also discuss some of the controversies and issues about biotinidase deficiency that remain to be addressed. Based on the successful outcomes of older adolescents and adults with profound biotinidase deficiency identified by newborn screening, this is one of the best, if not the best, disorder for which to perform newborn screening. In summary, “If an individual has to have an inherited metabolic disorder, biotinidase deficiency is the one to have.”
Role of Prolactin in Promotion of Immune Cell Migration into the Mammary Gland

Immune cells in the mammary gland play a number of important roles, including protection against infection during lactation and, after passing into milk, modulation of offspring immunity. However, little is known about the mechanism of recruitment of immune cells to the lactating gland in the absence of infection. Given the importance of prolactin to other aspects of lactation, we hypothesized it would also play a role in immune cell recruitment. Prolactin treatment of adult female mice for a period equivalent to pregnancy and the first week of lactation increased immune cell flux through the mammary gland, as reflected in the number of immune cells in mammary gland-draining, but not other lymph nodes. Conditioned medium from luminal mammary epithelial HC11 cell cultures was chemo-attractive to CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells, B cells, macrophages, monocytes, eosinophils, and neutrophils. Prolactin did not act as a direct chemo-attractant, but through effects on luminal mammary epithelial cells, increased the chemo-attractant properties of conditioned medium. Macrophages and neutrophils constitute the largest proportion of cells in milk from healthy glands. Depletion of CCL2 and CXCL1 from conditioned medium reduced chemo-attraction of monocytes and neutrophils, and prolactin increased expression of these two chemokines in mammary epithelial cells. We conclude that prolactin is an important player in the recruitment of immune cells to the mammary gland both through its activities to increase epithelial cell number as well as production of chemo-attractants on a per cell basis.
Pay for Performance and Value-Based Care

In the past century, the face of medical compensation has changed on multiple occasions. The care delivery model (aka fee-for-service model) has functioned for decades, by rewarding providers for the volume and complexity of services they rendered. Unfortunately, this method has been criticized for leading to excessive workups and testing for financial gain. Therefore, in order to more effectively control physician reimbursement, the Congress created the Physician Payment Review Commission in 1986. By 1992, the resource-based relative value system (RBRVS) was begun by Medicare and maintained the physician payment expenditures in a budget-neutral fashion by creating a financial conversion factor. RBRVS accounted for physician work, practice expense, professional liability, and geographic factors [1]. Although this system was equitable in rewarding physicians for the amount of care provided, it was inadequate to address quality of care, a concept that was developing at the same time.
Pengelompokan usia berdasarkan citra wajah menggunakan algoritma neural network dengan fitur face anthropometry dan kedalam kerutan

ABSTRAK Pengelompokan usia (age prediction) merupakan salah satu topik penelitian yang terkait dengan prediksi usia berdasarkan citra wajah. Permasalahan terkait dengan pengelompokan usia berdasarkan citra wajah adalah bagaimana memilih fitur wajah yang tepat, sehingga dapat mempengaruhi hasil akhir pengelompokan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengelompokan usia berdasarkan citra wajah dengan menggunakan fitur penting yaitu face anthropometry dan kerutan (wrinkle). Di mana fitur kerutan yang digunakan selain memperhitungkan lebar kerutan (wrinkle density) juga digunakan fitur kedalaman kerutan (the dept of wrinkle). Metode penelitian ini terdiri dari 4 tahapan yaitu: Praproses, identifikasi lokasi titik wajah, ekstraksi fitur dan klasifikasi. Lokasi titik wajah diidentifikasi berdasarkan bentuk simetri wajah dan perbedaan nilai intensitas piksel. Sedangkan kerutan didapatkan dari gabungan metode deteksi tepi menggunakan operator Sobel dan histogram equalization. Algoritma yang digunakan untuk proses klasifikasi adalah algoritma Neural Network (NN) yang akan mengelompokan data citra input menjadi 3 kelas yaitu anak, remaja dan tua. Hasil akhir pengujian menunjukkan bahwa metode yang diusulkan telah mampu mengelompokan usia berdasarkan citra wajah dengan cukup baik dengan hasil akurasi pengujian sebesar 65 % dengan epochs = 1000, dan error rate = 0.0095, sebanyak 100 kali iterasi. Kata kunci : Age prediction, face ratio, Neural Network, wrinkle. ABSTRACT Age prediction is one of the research topics related to the prediction of age based on facial image. The problems associated with age groupings based on the image of the face is how to choose the right facial features, that will affect the final result grouping. This study aims to categorize age based on facial image by using the important features, that is face anthropometry and wrinkles. Wherein the wrinkles features that used are wrinkles density and the depth of wrinkles. The research methodology consists of four stages: preprocessing, identification of the face point location , feature extraction and classification. The face point is identified based on facial symmetry and the difference of pixel intensities. While wrinkles was obtained from the combined edge detection method using Sobel operator and histogram equalization. The algorithm used for the classification process is a Neural Network (NN) algorithm that would classify the input image data into three classes, there are children, young and old. The final results of test-ing show that the proposed method was able to categorize age based on facial image fairly well with the results of the test accuracy of 65% with epochs = 1000, and the error rate = 0.0095, 100 iterations. Keywords: Age prediction, face ratio, Neural Network, wrinkle.
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Glutamate and Cocaine-Craving During Abstinence

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a glutamate-rich brain structure critical for high-level cognitive processing that exhibits functional and morphological anomalies in drug-addicted individuals. Drug-induced prefrontal dysfunction is theorized to underpin neurocognitive and behavioral pathology in addiction, including perseverative drug-craving. In both humans and laboratory animals, psychobehavioral reactivity to drug-associated cues increases or incubates with the passage of time in drug withdrawal, concomitant with a perseveration of conditioned drug-seeking during drug abstinence. These two behavioral phenomena appear to depend upon intact function of the ventromedial aspect of the PFC. Based on recent immunological, neurochemical, and neuropharmacological research, we theorize that abstinence-dependent changes within ventromedial PFC glutamate transmission underpin heightened drug-craving and impairments in extinction learning during protracted abstinence that constrain addiction recovery.
Specific CA3 neurons decode neural information of dentate granule cells evoked by paired-pulse stimulation in co-cultured networks

CA3 and dentate gyrus (DG) neurons are cultured in two-chamber devices on multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) and connected via micro-tunnels. In order to evoke time-locked activity, paired-pulse stimulation is applied to 22 different sites and repeated 25 times in each well in 5 MEA co-cultures and results compared to CA3-CA3 and DG-DG networks homologous controls. In these hippocampal sub-regions, we focus on the mechanisms underpinning a network's ability to decode the identity of site specific stimulation from analysis of evoked network responses using a support vector machine classifier. Our results indicate that a pool of CA3 neurons is able to reliably decode the identity of DG stimulation site information.
A p-Value to Die For

McShane and Gal expose statisticians as not understanding what is the very substance of our expertise. Only some of the “experts” failed the authors' tests. Still, such failure impugns our professi...
Twenty-four – Anti-Aging Medicine and Science: Social Implications

Publisher Summary The commercial and clinical anti-aging movements are aimed at extending the time its customers and patients can live without the common morbidities of aging, such as wrinkling of the skin, hardening of the arteries, memory loss, muscle loss, visual impairment, and slowed gait and speech. One of the areas of social concerns raised by anti-aging medicine is consumer protection. Some contemporary interventions undertaken by the anti-aging movement—such as cosmetics, exercise programs, and nutritional regimens—can be beneficial, benign, and not greatly harmful in terms of economic loss to the consumer. Anti-aging interventions raise a number of welfare concerns for patients, practitioners, and the larger society. Foremost is the question of safety for those older persons and aging baby boomers who consume them. The wares being sold and techniques being endorsed include powerful drugs that have the potential to cause serious physical and mental harm. This chapter summarizes the areas of biogerontological research that are promising avenues for the development of effective anti-aging interventions and delineates a series of ethical and social implications of achieving prolongevity.
A review of chronic pain and cognitive, mood, and motor dysfunction following mild traumatic brain injury: Complex, comorbid, and/or overlapping conditions?

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is commonly encountered in clinical practice. While the cognitive ramifications of mTBI are frequently described in the literature, the impact of mTBI on emotional, sensory, and motor function is not as commonly discussed. Chronic pain is a phenomenon more prevalent among patients with mTBI compared to those with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. Chronic pain can become a primary disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) expressed as widespread pain, and cognitive, mood, and movement dysfunction. Shared mechanisms across chronic pain conditions can account for how pain is generated and maintained in the CNS, irrespective of the underlying structural pathology. Herein, we review the impact of mTBI on cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor domains, and the role of pain as an important confounding variable in patient recovery and dysfunction following mTBI.
Shadow-IT System and Insider Threat: An Assessment of an Opportunity Dimension for the Identity Theft

Shadow IT is taken as a key example of unauthorized use of IT resources/tools and is defined as collaborative systems for communication and sharing content among employees of an organization. Currently, organizations are struggling to understand the threats to their sensitive information assets and the necessary means to combat them. This research study seeks to understand such specific threats posed by insiders in an organizational context that facilitate such unauthorized use of Information technology. Using a survey design, this document systematically attempts to measure the fraud risk to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) as identity (ID) theft from insiders in varying security environments. By integrating the opportunity dimension, as explained in a fraud triangle, and the organizational context of insider threat to sensitive information, this research will present a theoretical model that may help explain the relationship between the various aspects of Shadow-IT system and the potential opportunity for the fraudulent behavior from respective shadow users.
Postoperative Imaging of the Ankle.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to review imaging after commonly encountered surgical interventions of the ligaments, tendons, and soft tissues around the ankle. Intraoperative images, wh...
The effect of delivered energy on defibrillation shock impedance

The impedance of internal defibrillator shocks is an important determinant of defibrillation efficacy. To assess the effect of delivered energy on impedance, we studied 97 patients with 4 different lead systems. The lead systems evaluated were two epicardial patches, a hybrid system of a patch and right atrial coil, a dual coil transvenous lead and a transvenous lead with a subcutaneous patch. Impedances were measured for 6 shock energies between 0.1 and 30 J. Shock impedance increased at low energies for all lead systems (p < 0.001), although the rate of increase varied markedly between systems. The energy factor (FE), which is the ratio of impedances for the 0.1 and 10 J shocks, was least for the platinum transvenous lead (1.2 +/- 0.02) and greatest for the titanium hybrid lead (4.2 +/- 0.2). Reversing the polarity of the hybrid lead markedly attenuated the impedance rise. These findings indicate that there is at least a modest rise (20%) of shock impedance at very low delivered energies. The largest increases noted with titanium lead systems are primarily due to polarization. Titanium transvenous leads should be avoided when low energy shocks are utilized such as for the cardioversion of ventricular tachycardia or atrial fibrillation.
Chapter 39 – Neurofibromatosis

The “neurofibromatoses” are a set of distinct genetic disorders that have in common the occurrence of tumors of the nerve sheath. They include NF1, NF2, and schwannomatosis. All are dominantly inherited with a high rate of new mutation and variable expression. NF1 includes effects on multiple systems of the body. The major NF1-associated tumor is the neurofibroma. In addition, clinical manifestations include bone dysplasia, learning disabilities, and an increased risk of malignancy. NF2 includes schwannomas of multiple cranial and spinal nerves, especially the vestibular nerve, as well as other tumors such as meningiomas and ependymomas. The schwannomatosis phenotype is limited to multiple schwannomas, and usually presents with pain. The genes that underlie each of the disorders are known: NF1 for neurofibromatosis type 1, NF2 for neurofibromatosis type 2, and INI1/SMARCB1 for schwannomatosis. Genetic testing is possible to identify mutations. Insights into pathogenesis are beginning to suggest new treatment strategies, and therapeutic trials with several new forms of treatment are underway.
Mechanisms of Resistance to VEGF-Directed Therapy and Implications for Future Trial Design

The von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene is functionally inactivated in the majority of renal cell carcinomas (RCC), resulting in the stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factors HIF-1 and HIF-2 and the overproduction of the angiogenesis factor VEGF. As a consequence, the microvasculature of most RCC is uniquely VEGF dependent and sensitive to drugs that block signaling through the dominant VEGF receptor, VEGFR2. The progression-free survival (PFS) of RCC patients undergoing first-line therapy with any of the recently approved VEGFR2 antagonists is nearly 1 year. Despite these encouraging results, however, the overwhelming majority of RCC patients ultimately develop resistance to these drugs. This chapter reviews several of the mechanisms by which RCC is thought to escape from VEGF-targeted therapies. Many of the proposed mechanisms of acquired resistance involve the increased production by the tumor cells of angiogenesis factors capable of compensating for the loss of VEGF function. Others involve the production of cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases by tumor-associated fibroblasts or infiltrating bone marrow-derived myeloid cells (BDMC). The chapter concludes with a brief review of ongoing clinical trials involving novel agents that could be used in combination with VEGF-targeted therapies in an effort to thwart the development of resistance.
Factors Associated With Long-term Benzodiazepine Use Among Older Adults

This cohort study evaluates factors associated with the transition to long-term benzodiazepine use among older adults newly prescribed this drug by a nonpsychiatric clinician.
Assessing the impact of early Medicaid expansion on insurance, stage at diagnosis, and survival among young adults ineligible for dependent coverage.

6563Background: Cancer outcomes in young adults have lagged behind other age groups, which may be related to lower rates of insurance. While some data suggest the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may impr...
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and Their Clinical Prospective in Pancreatic Cancer

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the world. Pancreatic cancer is reported to be the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. This is due to unreliable early detection system and also lifestyle changes. Most of the patients hospitalized with pancreatic cancer are already in the advanced stages of cancer. Pancreatic cancer is caused by cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, late onset of diabetes, obesity, and hereditary pancreatitis. Surgical removal alone is effective in the patients where cancer is exclusively located in the pancreas and of which 25–40% of the patients shown an overall 5-year survival. In majority of the clinical cases, pancreatic cancer is already in metastatic state, wherein cancer is spread to the surrounding blood vessels and liver that severely impedes the surgical intervention. Hence, the clinician relies on therapeutic intervention for pancreatic cancer.
Characterization of immune cell subtypes in three commonly used mouse strains reveals gender and strain-specific variations.

The lack of consensus on bone marrow (BM) and splenic immune cell profiles in preclinical mouse strains complicates comparative analysis across different studies. Although studies have documented relative distribution of immune cells from peripheral blood in mice, similar studies for BM and spleen from naive mice are lacking. In an effort to establish strain- and gender-specific benchmarks for distribution of various immune cell subtypes in these organs, we performed immunophenotypic analysis of BM cells and splenocytes from both genders of three commonly used murine strains (C57BL/6NCr, 129/SvHsd, and BALB/cAnNCr). Total neutrophils and splenic macrophages were significantly higher in C57BL/6NCr, whereas total B cells were lower. Within C57BL/6NCr female mice, BM B cells were elevated with respect to the males whereas splenic mDCs and splenic neutrophils were reduced. Within BALB/cAnNCr male mice, BM CD4+ Tregs were elevated with respect to the other strains. Furthermore, in male BALB/cAnNCr mice, NK cells were elevated with respect to the other strains in both BM and spleen. Splenic CD4+ Tregs and splenic CD8+ T cells were reduced in male BALB/c mice in comparison to female mice. Bone marrow CD4+ T cells and mDCs were significantly increased in 129/SvHsd whereas splenic CD8+ T cells were reduced. In general, males exhibited higher immature myeloid cells, macrophages, and NK cells. To our knowledge, this study provides a first attempt to systematically establish organ-specific benchmarks on immune cells in studies involving these mouse strains.
The Nature and Effects of Messages That Women Receive From Probation and Parole Agents in Conversations About Employment

Using semistructured interviews with 388 women under supervision, this study integrates criminal justice and communication theories by investigating gender responsivity and type of support in messa...
Adaptive Runtime Features for Distributed Graph Algorithms

Performance of distributed graph algorithms can benefit greatly by forming rapport between algorithmic abstraction and the underlying runtime system that is responsible for scheduling work and exchanging messages. However, due to their dynamic and irregular nature of computation, distributed graph algorithms written in different programming models impose varying degrees of workload pressure on the runtime. To cope with such vastly different workload characteristics, a runtime has to make several trade-offs. One such trade-off arises, for example, when the runtime scheduler has to choose among alternatives such as whether to execute algorithmic work, or progress the network by probing network buffers, or throttle sending messages (termed flow control). This trade-off decides between optimizing the throughput of a runtime scheduler by increasing the rate of execution of algorithmic work, and reducing the latency of the network messages. Another trade-off exists when a decision has to be made about when to send aggregated messages in buffers (message coalescing). This decision chooses between trading off latency for network bandwidth and vice versa. At any instant, such trade-offs emphasize either on improving the quantity of work being executed (by maximizing the scheduler throughput) or on improving the quality of work (by prioritizing better work). However, encoding static policies for different runtime features (such as flow control, coalescing) can prevent graph algorithms from achieving their full potentials, thus can under-mine the actual performance of a distributed graph algorithm . In this paper, we investigate runtime support for distributed graph algorithms in the context of two paradigms: variants of well-known Bulk-Synchronous Parallel model and asynchronous programming model. We explore generic runtime features such as message coalescing (aggregation) and flow control and show that execution policies of these features need to be adjusted over time to make a positive impact on the execution time of a distributed graph algorithm. Since synchronous and asynchronous graph algorithms have different workload characteristics, not all of such runtime features may be good candidates for adaptation. Each of these algorithmic paradigms may require different set of features to be adapted over time. We demonstrate which set of feature(s) can be useful in each case to achieve the right balance of work in the runtime layer. Existing implementation of different graph algorithms can benefit from adapting dynamic policies in the underlying runtime.
Cascade Lake: Next Generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processor

This paper introduces advances in the performance of AI and deep learning inference application on the next generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor, code-named Cascade Lake, which also includes support for Intel Optane DC persistent memory, a breakthrough nonvolatile memory technology that bridges the gap between DRAM and storage.
Efficient Estimation and Prediction for Sparse Time-Varying Underwater Acoustic Channels

This paper investigates the estimation and prediction of the sparse time-varying channel in underwater acoustic communication systems. The estimation approach exploits the sparse structure of the delay-Doppler representation of the channel. Various state-of-the-art matching pursuit (MP)-type algorithms for sparse signal reconstruction are compared. Among the considered algorithms, sparsity adaptive MP (SaMP) and its variant adaptive step size SaMP have the advantage of not requiring a priori knowledge of the sparsity level and outperform the other algorithms in terms of mean squared error (MSE). Moreover, due to the fast time-varying nature and the extremely limited bandwidth of the UWA channels, a channel prediction that can provide up-to-date channel state information is necessary for reliable symbol detection. This paper proposes an adaptive channel prediction scheme that extrapolates the channel knowledge estimated from a block of training symbols, and the predicted channel is used to decode consecutive data blocks. The proposed scheme does not require any a priori knowledge of channel dynamic model and noise statistics, and is able to provide future channel estimates based solely on current channel estimates. Furthermore, the proposed scheme operates in the delay-Doppler domain, and thus has a remarkably lower computational complexity when compared with the channel prediction in time domain. To further improve the prediction accuracy, past detected symbols are fed back to assist the proposed predictor with an up-to-date channel estimate. Simulation results of the proposed channel estimation and prediction demonstrate a good tradeoff between the MSE/bit error rate and the computational complexity.
Background noise disrupts host-parasitoid interactions.

The soundscape serves as a backdrop for acoustic signals dispatched within and among species, spanning mate attraction to parasite host detection. Elevated background sound levels from human-made a...
School Gun Violence in the United States.

Background Although less than 2% of all homicides among young people are school-associated, since 1970 1373 K-12 school gun violence incidents have injured 1403 people and killed another 728. These incidents have changed the education landscape. Informed stakeholders must work together to prevent school gun violence. Methods We reviewed the nature of school gun violence in the United States and efforts to prevent it. Results We briefly outline a public health approach to prevent school gun violence, major actions the nation has taken, current school gun violence surveillance systems, the effects of school gun violence nationwide, the extent to which our schools are implementing various interventions to prevent it, and a national strategy to move forward. Conclusions Our young people and our schools deserve a more organized national effort.
Current knowledge about the antivirals remdesivir (GS-5734) and GS-441524 as therapeutic options for coronaviruses

Recent international epidemics of coronavirus-associated illnesses underscore the urgent medical and public health need for vaccine development and regulatory body approved therapies. In particular, the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has quickly intensified interest in developing treatment options to mitigate impact on human life. Remdesivir (GS-5734™) is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that is now being tested as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in international, multi-site clinical trials. Currently available evidence about the antiviral effects of remdesivir against coronaviruses is primarily based on in vitro and in vivo studies (including some on a chemically related compound, GS-441524™), which have demonstrated largely favorable findings. As the pandemic progresses, information from human compassionate use cases will continue to accumulate before the clinical trials are concluded. It is imperative for public health practitioners and the One Health community to stay up to date on the most promising potential therapeutic options that are under investigation. Thus, the purpose of this review is to synthesize the knowledge to date about remdesivir as a therapeutic option for coronaviruses, with a special focus on information relevant to the One Health community.
Visual effort moderates a self-correcting nonlinear postural control policy

A growing consensus across otherwise disparate perspectives on perception and action is that visually guided postural control emerges from within task constraints. Task constraints generate physiological fluctuations across various parts of the body. These fluctuations foster exploration of the available sensory information. For instance, standard deviation (SD) and temporal correlations of bodily sway can indicate how richly postural control samples available mechanical and visual information. Too much or too little SD entails destabilization of posture. Temporal correlations show a similar relationship, but they have also been shown to support carrying sampled information to other aspects of the postural system. The present study shows that increasing visual constraints on posture reveals an adaptive relationship between SD and temporal correlations of postural fluctuations. In short, changing the viewing distance of a fixation target shows that temporal correlations self-correct themselves across time and diminish SD across time as well. Notably, these relationships were strong for all viewing distances except the most comfortable viewing and reaching distance. This self-correcting relationship allows the visual layout itself to press the postural system into a poise for engaging with objects and events in the surrounding.
Cardiovascular Health and Transition From Controlled Blood Pressure to Apparent Treatment Resistant Hypertension: The Jackson Heart Study and the REGARDS Study.

Almost 1 in 5 US adults with hypertension has apparent treatment resistant hypertension (aTRH). Identifying modifiable risk factors for incident aTRH may guide interventions to reduce the need for ...
Synthesis, structural studies, and redox chemistry of bimetallic [Mn(CO)3] and [Re(CO)3] complexes.

Manganese ([Mn(CO)3]) and rhenium tricarbonyl ([Re(CO)3]) complexes represent a workhorse family of compounds with applications in a variety of fields. Here, the coordination, structural, and electrochemical properties of a family of mono- and bimetallic [Mn(CO)3] and [Re(CO)3] complexes are explored. In particular, a novel heterobimetallic complex featuring both [Mn(CO)3] and [Re(CO)3] units supported by 2,2′-bipyrimidine (bpm) has been synthesized, structurally characterized, and compared to the analogous monomeric and homobimetallic complexes. To enable a comprehensive structural analysis for the series of complexes, we have carried out new single crystal X-ray diffraction studies of seven compounds: Re(CO)3Cl(bpm), anti-[{Re(CO3)Cl}2(bpm)], Mn(CO)3Br(bpz) (bpz = 2,2′-bipyrazine), Mn(CO)3Br(bpm), syn- and anti-[{Mn(CO3)Br}2(bpm)], and syn-[Mn(CO3)Br(bpm)Re(CO)3Br]. Electrochemical studies reveal that the bimetallic complexes are reduced at much more positive potentials (ΔE ≥ 380 mV) compared to their monometallic analogues. This redox behavior is consistent with introduction of the second tricarbonyl unit which inductively withdraws electron density from the bridging, redox-active bpm ligand, resulting in more positive reduction potentials. [Re(CO3)Cl]2(bpm) was reduced with cobaltocene; the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum of the product exhibits an isotropic signal (near g = 2) characteristic of a ligand-centered bpm radical. Our findings highlight the facile synthesis as well as the structural characteristics and unique electrochemical behavior of this family of complexes.
Dizziness and Balance Disorders in a Traumatic Brain Injury Population: Current Clinical Approaches

Balance deficits are frequently observed in traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). This review seeks to explore the components of the balance system affected by TBIs and current interventions used to address the underlying impairments. TBIs result in a wide range of impairments often including imbalance and dizziness. The trauma can result in mechanical issues, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), or central processing issues through damage to the vestibular nucleus and pathways. Both issues can be addressed through physical therapy. BPPV treatment involves using a series of positions to move the otoconia from the canal to the vestibules, whereas treatments for central processing issues involve improving sensory organization using exercises based on the system affected or teaching compensatory strategies. Balance impairments are a common issue after TBI. Physical therapy can be used to treat these impairments, to reduce fall risk, to improve functional independence, and to improve quality of life.
Predicting Avoidable Emergency Department Visits Using the NHAMCS Dataset

Avoidable emergency department (ED) visits contribute increased costs to the healthcare system and lead to overcrowding that can limit capacity to treat patients. There has been little work to develop models from patient characteristics that can predict avoidable ED visits. Here we apply machine learning methods using the NHAMCS dataset to predict avoidable ED visits and identify patient characteristics associated with avoidable ED.
Study of Parallel Linear Solvers for Three-Dimensional Subsurface Flow Problems

The performance of an iterative method for solving a system of linear equations depends on the structure of the system to be solved and on the choice of iterative solvers in combination with preconditioners. In this paper, the performance of a specified set of linear solvers and preconditioners provided by PETSc and Hypre is evaluated based on three data sets from subsurface finite element flow models. The results show that simple preconditioners are robust but do not enable convergence behavior that scales with problem size. They also show that it is important to choose an appropriate type of solver for different kind of simulations.
Balanced translocation t(11;15)(q23;q15) in a P53+/+ breast cancer patient from a Li-Fraumeni Syndrome family

4207 Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS) is characterized by early-onset carcinogenesis involving multiple tumor types with autosomal dominant inheritance. Approximately 70% of LFS cases are due to germline mutations in the p53 gene on chromosome 17p13.1. Mutations have also been found in the CHK2 gene on chromosome 22q11 and others have been mapped to chromosome 11q23. While characterizing an LFS family with a documented defect in p53, we found one that developed bilateral breast cancer at age 37 yet was homozygous for wild-type P53. Her mother also developed early-onset primary bilateral breast cancer while a sister had unilateral breast cancer and a soft tissue sarcoma. Cytogenetic analysis using fluorescence in situ hybridization of a primary skin fibroblast cell line revealed that the patient had a novel balanced reciprocal translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 11 and 15. This translocation t(11;15)(q23;q15) was not present in a primary skin fibroblast cell line from a brother with neuroblastoma, who was heterozygous for the p53 mutation. There was no evidence of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in either the patient or her mother although a nephew did develop leu kemia and died in childhood. These data implicate the region at breakpoint 11q23 and/or 15q15 as playing a significant role in predisposition to breast cancer development.
Tubulin stimulates adenylyl cyclase activity in C6 glioma cells by bypassing the β‐adrenergic receptor: a potential mechanism of G protein activation

While the cytoskeleton is known to play several roles in the biology of the cell, one role, which has been revealed only recently, is that of a participant in the signal transduction process. Tubulin binds specifically to the alpha subunits of Gs (stimulatory GTP-binding regulatory protein of adenylyl cyclase), Gi1 (inhibitory protein of adenylyl cyclase), and Gq and transactivates those molecules through direct transfer of GTP. The relevance of this transactivation process to G proteins which are normally activated by a neurotransmitter-occupied receptor is the subject of this study. C6 glioma cells, made permeable with saponin, retained tight coupling between Gs and the beta-adrenergic receptor. Although 5-guanylylimidodiphosphate (GppNHp) was incapable of activating Gs (and subsequently, adenylyl cyclase) in the absence of agonist, tubulin with GppNHp bound (tubulin-GppNHp) activated adenylyl cyclase with an EC(50) of 30 nM. Desensitization of beta-adrenergic receptors by isoproterenol exposure had no effect on the ability of tubulin-GppNHp to activate Gs and adenylyl cyclase. When the photoaffinity GTP analog, azidoanilido GTP (AAGTP; P3(4-azidoanilido)-P1-5'-GTP), was added to C6 membranes or permeable C6 cells, it was only weakly incorporated by G alpha s in the absence of isoproterenol. When the same concentration of dimeric tubulin with AAGTP bound was introduced, AAGTP was transferred from tubulin to G alpha s, activating the latter species. Similar 'preferential' activation of G alpha s by tubulin-AAGTP versus the free nucleotide was seen using purified components. Thus, membrane-associated tubulin may serve to activate G alpha s, independent of signals not normally coupled to that protein. Tubulin may act as an agent to link a variety of membrane-associated signalling systems.
Improving the Accuracy of Speech Recognition Systems for Professional Translators

Our principal objective was to reduce the error rate of speech recognition systems used by professional translators. Our work concentrated on Spanish-to-English translation. In a baseline study we estimated the speech recognition error rate of an off-the-shelf recognizer to be 9.98% We describe two independent methods of improving speech recognition systems for translators: a word-for-word translation method and a topic-based method. The topic-based approach performed the best, reducing the error rate significantly, to 5.07%.