cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Leukotrienes in acetylcholine-induced contraction of esophageal circular smooth muscle in experimental esophagitis

Abstract BACKGROUND & AIMS: Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) participates in acetylcholine (ACh)-induced contraction of esophageal circular smooth muscle. Because PLA2, arachidonic acid, and its metabolites are involved in inflammatory responses, their role after induction of experimental esophagitis was examined. METHODS: Experiments were performed in esophageal smooth muscle cells (ESO) isolated by enzymatic digestion from the circular layer of normal and esophagitis animals. Content of peptidoleukotrienes (leukotriene [LT] C4, LTD4, and LTE4) was measured in esophageal circular muscle tissue. RESULTS: The cytosolic PLA2 antagonist trifluoromethyl ketone analogue of arachidonic acid inhibited ACh-induced contraction of normal and esophagitis ESO. Inhibition by secreted PLA2 antagonists AM5 and MJ33 was significantly greater in esophagitis ESO. The lipoxygenase inhibitor nordihydro-guaiaretic acid and the LTD4 antagonist ICI 198,615 inhibited ACh-induced contraction of esophagitis but not of normal ESO. Secreted PLA2 and LTD4 contracted normal ESO more than esophagitis ESO. However, in esophagitis, ESO contraction was increased by threshold diacylglycerol concentration. Resting levels of LTs were greater in esophagitis than in normal circular esophageal muscle and increased in response to ACh in esophagitis but not in normal esophageal muscle. CONCLUSIONS: Esophagitis shifts the signal transduction pathway activated by ACh. Esophagitis increased the contribution of secreted PLA2 and of LTs to ACh-induced contraction. (Gastroenterology 1997 May;112(5):1548-58)
Instantaneous power quantities in polyphase systems — a geometric algebra approach

The paper proposes a new framework for characterizing instantaneous non-active (reactive) power in general polyphase systems. The framework is based on the concept of multivectors, which are a higher-order generalization of vectors, and on the idea of the geometric product, which blends the inner (scalar) and the outer (wedge) products. This framework is representation-free, and thus extends readily to any polyphase system and any choice of coordinates, such as symmetric sequence components. The new framework sheds a new light on the well known 3-phase quantities, and provides a deeper understanding of connections with average (phasor-based) non-active power quantities.
Using the TIP system in the ASIS file management exercise

The Technical Information Program (TIP) system provides a powerful text handling capability on the remote-access CTSS computer facility at MIT. The use of this system in a predetermined file exercise is described. Computer cost figures are given as an approximate measure of the difficulty of performing sections of the exercise with this system.
Kinases in Leuconostoc mesenteroides

Abstract Enzyme extracts of Leuconostoc mesenteroides were found to contain at least four separate kinases: one active with glucose, glucosamine, and N-acetylglucosamine; one active with fructose and mannose; and two active with gluconate, one constitutive and one inducible. The molecular sizes of all the kinases, estimated from sucrose gradient centrifugation, are about the same, 37,000 to 50,000 daltons, except the constitutive gluconate kinase, which is about 100,000 daltons. Apparent Michaelis constants were calculated for all of the substrates mentioned. The kinases are separable on triethylaminoethyl cellulose.
Molecular Spectroscopy of Loosely Bound Complexes

This report is an informal summary of molecular beam spectroscopy conducted in our laboratory. The work was done in most part by T. Dyke, B. J. Howard and S. Novick, and has been published elsewhere as noted. Der vorliegende Bericht ist eine informelle Zusammenfassung von Molekularstrahl-spektroskopischen Arbeiten in unserem Laboratorium. Die Arbeit wurde zum grosten Teil von T. Dyke, N. J. Howard und S. Novick durchgefuhrt und ist, wie jeweils vermerkt, auch schon an anderer Stelle publiziert worden.
Nucleotide sequence and protein analysis of a complex piscine retrovirus, walleye dermal sarcoma virus.

Walleye dermal sarcoma virus (WDSV) is a fish retrovirus associated with the development of tumors in walleyes. We have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of a DNA clone of WDSV, the N-terminal amino acid sequences of the major proteins, and the start site for transcription. The long terminal repeat is 590 bp in length, with the U3 region containing consensus sequences likely to be involved in viral gene expression. A predicted histidyl-tRNA binding site is located 3 nucleotides distal to the 3* end of the long terminal repeat. Virus particles purified by isopycnic sedimentation followed by rate zonal sedimentation showed major polypeptides with molecular sizes of 90, 25, 20, 14, and 10 kDa. N-terminal sequencing of these allowed unambiguous assignment of the small polypeptides as products of thegaggene, including CA and NC, and the large polypeptide as the TM product of env. The 582-amino-acid (aa) Gag protein precursor is predicted to be myristylated as is found for most retroviruses. NC contains a single Cys-His motif like those found in all retroviruses except spumaviruses. The WDSV pro and pol genes are in the same translational reading frame asgagand thus apparently are translated after termination suppression. Theenvgene encodes a surface (SU) protein of 469 aa predicted to be highly glycosylated and a large transmembrane (TM) protein of 754 aa. The sequence of TM is unusual in that it ends in a very hydrophobic segment of 65 residues containing a single charged residue. Following theenvgene are two nonoverlapping long open reading frames of 290 aa (orf-A) and 306 aa (orf-B), neither of which shows significant sequence similarity with known genes. Athirdopenreadingframeof119aa(orf-C)islocatedintheleaderregionprecedinggag.Thepredictedamino acid sequence of reverse transcriptase would place WDSV phylogenetically closest to the murine leukemia virus-related genus of retroviruses. However, other members of this genus do not have accessory genes, suggesting that WDSV acquiredorf-A,orf-B, and perhapsorf-Clate in its evolution. We hypothesize by analogy with other complex retroviruses that the accessory genes of WDSV function in the regulation of transcription and in RNA processing and also in the induction of walleye dermal sarcoma.
Strategies to Address Weight-Based Victimization: Youths’ Preferred Support Interventions from Classmates, Teachers, and Parents

Weight-Based Victimization is a frequent experience for adolescents who are overweight or obese, and is associated with numerous psychosocial and physical consequences for those who are targets of victimization. Assessing targets` preferences for different types of support and intervention has been absent in the context of weight-based victimization, but is needed to help inform potential interventions, motivate action, and identify strategies to help adolescents cope with experiences of weight-related teasing or bullying. Adolescents (14–18 years, N = 361, 40 % female, 71 % Caucasian) enrolled in national weight-loss camps completed an on-line survey. Participants who reported previous experiences of weight-based victimization were surveyed about their preferred interventions from peers, friends, teachers, Physical Education (PE) teachers/coaches, and parents. Participants indicated their preferences for specific strategies pertaining to target support, bullying intervention and prevention (e.g., inclusion in peer activities, confronting the bully, telling an adult, and improving anti-bullying policies). Friends (66 %) and peers (58 %) were the most highly preferred intervention agents followed by teachers (55 %), PE teachers/coaches (44 %), and parents (43 %). Participants who experienced more weight-based victimization expressed increased desire for intervention. The frequency of victimization, social support from friends and family, and perceived likelihood and helpfulness of intervention significantly influenced participant preferences for certain types of intervention, although preferences were generally consistent across participants’ characteristics. The current study is the first to document youth’s preferences for interventions in response to weight-based victimization. The findings have important implications for encouraging appropriate intervention and informing bystanders, which may help to reduce the prevalence, recurrence, and consequences for youth who are targets of weight-based teasing or bullying.
Static test compaction for scan-based designs to reduce test application time

We propose a static compaction procedure to reduce the test application time for full and partial scan synchronous sequential circuits. The procedure accepts as input a set of test subsequences. For every subsequence, it also accepts the vector to be scanned-in before the subsequence is applied. The procedure uses two operations to reduce the test application time. The first operation combines test subsequences. The second operation reduces the lengths of the combined subsequences. The reductions in test application time of the proposed procedure are demonstrated through experimental results.
Adding insight through animation in augmented reality

Most of the virtual world systems that have been so well publicized over the past ten years use opaque head mounted displays that block off the wearer from the surrounding real world, effectively immersing her within a synthesized environment. These systems hold tremendous promise for certain applications ranging from fantasy games to scientific research. In contrast, we believe that the most powerful and commonplace virtual worlds of the future will not replace the real world, but will rather augment it with additional information. This approach is called augmented reality and was pioneered by Ivan Sutherland, who, over a quarter century ago, developed the first see-through head mounted display (I. Sutherland, 1968). When completed, his system presented graphics to the user on a pair of stereo displays, worn on the user's head. The image produced by the displays was combined with the user's view of the world using mirror beam splitters. A 3D tracking system determined the position and orientation of the user's head. This enabled the system to change the view, based on the direction in which the wearer was looking.
Does wildfire likelihood increase following insect outbreaks in conifer forests

Although there is acute concern that insect-caused tree mortality increases the likelihood or severity of subsequent wildfire, previous studies have been mixed, with findings typically based on stand-scale simulations or individual events. This study investigates landscape- and regional-scale wildfire likelihood following outbreaks of the two most prevalent native insect pests in the US Pacific Northwest (PNW): mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae) and western spruce budworm (WSB; Choristoneura freemani). We leverage seamless census data across numerous insect and fire events to (1) summarize the interannual dynamics of insects (1970–2012) and wildfires (1984–2012) across forested ecoregions of the PNW; (2) identify potential linked disturbance interactions with an empirical wildfire likelihood index; (3) quantify this insect-fire likelihood across different insect agents, time lags, ecoregions, and fire sizes. All three disturbance agents have occurred primarily in the drier, interior conif...
Attenuation, modal, and polarization properties of n < 1, hollow dielectric waveguides

The attenuation coefficients for hollow sapphire and lead-based, oxide glass waveguides are calculated using an approximate formalism from Marcatili and Schmeltzer [Bell Syst. Tech. J. 43, 1783-1809 (1964)]. These results are compared with an exact calculation, and the agreement is found to be excellent for bore diameters greater than 100 µm. Although the hollow lead glass waveguides have measured losses in agreement with theory, the hollow sapphire waveguides have losses greater than those calculated for the lowest-order mode. This excess loss is due to roughness of the inner surface of the sapphire. The hollow dielectric waveguides are also shown to preserve polarization and the single mode as do some of the hollow metallic waveguides.
Local cone-beam tomography image reconstruction on chords

We develop reconstruction algorithms for local cone-beam tomography for use with generalized scanning trajectories. The algorithms are grounded theoretically in a recently developed chord-based theory for exact image reconstruction and principles of lambda tomography. Being chord based, they are distinct mathematically and conceptually from conventional local tomography reconstruction algorithms. The salient feature of our algorithms is that they permit reconstruction of discontinuities in the profiles of the object function along chords. By consideration of all possible chords, a 3D image that describes the locations of object discontinuities can be reconstructed. Results from microlocal analysis are applied for understanding the object features that can be reconstructed stably by use of the algorithms. A computer-simulation study is conducted to demonstrate the algorithms and compare their performance with an existing algorithm.
Microwave performance of a digital alloy barrier Al(Sb,As)/AlSb/InAs heterostructure field-effect transistor

High-speed, digital alloy barrier-based, Al(Sb,As)/AlSb/InAs heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) fabricated using a standard mesa process are demonstrated. Current gain cutoff frequencies f/sub T/ of 38.5 GHz were extracted from the measured scattering parameters for devices with a 0.6- mu m gate length and a 3- mu m source-to-drain separation. A significant output conductance depressed f/sub max/ to 40 GHz. The results show the feasibility and potential of InAs/AlSb-based HFETs for high-speed electronics applications. >
Vitamin E deficiency and chemical carcinogenesis

Mannliche Ratten erhielten wahrend mehr als 14 Monaten eine an Vitamin E arme, jedoch an ungesattigten Fettsauren reiche Diat. Vitamin E-Mangel (jeweils mit und ohne niedrigem N-2-Fluorenylacetamid-Gehalt) hemmte das Tumorwachstum nicht und fuhrte zu keiner Zunahme der Karzinogenese, was durch Kontrollen bestatigt wurde.
An effective approach for job-shop scheduling with uncertain processing requirements

This paper presents an effective approach for job-shop scheduling considering uncertain arrival times, processing times, due dates, and part priorities. A separable problem formulation that balances modeling accuracy and solution method complexity is presented with the goal to minimize expected part tardiness and earliness cost. This optimization is subject to arrival time and operation precedence constraints, and machine capacity constraints. A solution methodology based on a combined Lagrangian relaxation and stochastic dynamic programming is developed to obtain dual solutions. A good dual solution is then selected by using "ordinal optimization", and the actual schedule is dynamically constructed based on the dual solution and the realization of random events. The computational complexity of the overall algorithm is only slightly higher than the one without considering uncertainties, and a dual cost is proved to be a lower bound to the optimal expected cost for the stochastic formulation considered.
Plant biologists FRET over stress

Two independent research labs have developed fluorescent biosensors to report the levels of the stress hormone, abscisic acid, within cells in living plants in real-time.
Consumer Financial Issues in Health Care

While government officials, health care providers, and insurers debate the cause and cure of high and rising health care costs, consumers face the daunting task of making critical health care decisions for themselves and family members in a complex market. This chapter describes the characteristics of and key players in that market. Reasons given in the academic and popular press for high and rising health care costs are evaluated. Effectiveness of insurance in keeping health care attainable and affordable for consumers is explored. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research.
Finding the Information You Want

The conventional way of viewing a Web page begins by typing its address into the browser and then hitting the “Enter” button. This Web page address is known as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). This simple way to find what you want depends on knowing the URL of the Web page in the first place. We are bombarded daily by Web page addresses in magazines, on television commercials, billboards, and other forms of advertising. Often, these URLs are seemingly obvious. It is easy to predict that to visit the Web site for the Pepsi Cola company, one would type in http://www.pepsi.com (Figure 6.1). However, many of the Web pages have complex names such as the hypothetical http://www.mycompany. com/sales/newlistings. Not only are these addresses impossible to remember, but they are troublesome to write down and often not inherently obvious by the content of their name
Production and Performance of Trichogramma Reared on Eggs of Heliothis zea and Other Hosts

A technique for mass-rearing Trichogramma spp. on Heliothis zea (Boddie) eggs is described. A comparison was made of the fecundity and longevity of Trichogramma reared for 3 generations on Anagasta (= Ephestia ) kuehniella (Zeller) and Sitotroga cerealella (Oliver). Those reared on A. kuehniella had a much higher fecundity (147.9 vs. 9.9) and longevity (19.9 vs. 4.5) than those from S. cereallela . Field releases were made on cotton, soybeans, and corn to determine the efficiency of T. pretiosum Riley reared on H. zea . Releases of 25,000–60,000/acre resulted in parasitization rates in the range of 30–75% during the initial 24-h period subsequent to release. The results indicate that T. pretiosum reared on H. zea perform better in the field than published reports on the efficiency of those reared on S. cerealella .
The Centrality of Communication and Media in Fostering Community Resilience: A Framework for Assessment and Intervention

A community is resilient if it is able to “bounce forward” after an adverse event. Community resilience is generally considered a process that is indicated by community adaptation following a disaster or crisis. In this article, we employ media and communication perspectives (communication ecology, public relations, and strategic communication) to review the community resilience literature and propose a revised community resilience model. Our proposed model includes four components: communication systems and resources, community relationships, strategic communication processes, and community attributes. Each of these components includes several elements that are described. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Modeling Tar Handling Options in Biomass Gasification

Biomass gasification is receiving increasing attention as a potential source of sustainable development for the production of power, chemicals, and transportation fuels. A major hurdle, however, despite years of research, is the removal of tar formed during the biomass gasification process. In this paper, we model some of the tar handling options using the process simulator, Aspen Plus. While there is extensive experimental work reported in the literature on the tar conversion and absorption methods, the literature on modeling is sparse. Hence, as a part of the study, we present the challenges in modeling the tar handling methods. We report the performance of three frequently suggested tar handling options: uncatalyzed partial oxidation, catalytic steam reforming, and absorption. Some of the practical difficulties that need to be overcome with each of these methods are also discussed.
Application of Horton-Devine Principles to the Repair of Hypospadias

AbstractWe describe the results and complications of the Horton and Devine techniques for repairing hypospadias in 140 children. The V-shaped glandar flap plasty was done in all patients, either as part of a 1-stage operation in some or as the final step in a staged procedure in others. The principles of Horton and Devine were found useful not only in primary repairs but also in achieving a satisfactory result in secondary and complicated cases. Urethrocutaneous fistula was the most common complication. With an average of 1.5 operations per patient the functional and cosmetic results have been excellent.
Results of surgical treatment of coarctation of the aorta in the critically ill neonate. Including the influence of pulmonary artery banding.

During a 7 year period, 64 consecutive neonates (less than 30 days of age) underwent surgical repair of coarctation of the aorta. There were no intraoperative deaths, four (6%) postoperative deaths, and seven (12%) late deaths. Improvement in the survival rate in this study can be attributed to (1) improved perioperative care, (2) avoidance of hypothermia during the operation, (3) use of prostaglandin E, to stabilize the patient’s condition before the operation, (4) emergency cardiac catheterization and operations, (5) adequate relief of the aortic obstruction, and (6) appropriate use of pulmonary artery banding. The last of these factors may further reduce the mortality. Banding of the pulmonary artery in patients with complex cardiac lesions associated with a ventricular septal defect has significantly lowered the mortality compared with the mortality of those without pulmonary artery banding. In contrast, the absence of pulmonary artery banding in those with a large ventricular septal defect did not affect the mortality or postoperative ventilator requirements as compared to patients having banding and coarctation repair. One late death was related to complications of the pulmonary artery band.
Stability analysis and error estimates of Lax–Wendroff discontinuous Galerkin methods for linear conservation laws

In this paper, we analyze the Lax–Wendroff discontinuous Galerkin (LWDG) method for solving linear conservation laws. The method was originally proposed by Guo et al . in [W. Guo, J.-M. Qiu and J. Qiu, J. Sci. Comput. 65 (2015) 299–326], where they applied local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) techniques to approximate high order spatial derivatives in the Lax–Wendroff time discretization. We show that, under the standard CFL condition τ ≤ λh (where τ and h are the time step and the maximum element length respectively and λ > 0 is a constant) and uniform or non-increasing time steps, the second order schemes with piecewise linear elements and the third order schemes with arbitrary piecewise polynomial elements are stable in the L 2 norm. The specific type of stability may differ with different choices of numerical fluxes. Our stability analysis includes multidimensional problems with divergence-free coefficients. Besides solving the equation itself, the LWDG method also gives approximations to its time derivative simultaneously. We obtain optimal error estimates for both the solution u and its first order time derivative u t in one dimension, and numerical examples are given to validate our analysis.
Hematology and Oncology

In this chapter, we have tried to cover points most pertinent for psychiatrists, or other subspecialists, attending to hematology and oncology problems of their patients, or for those concerned with the interface of medical problems and psychiatry. Psychiatry, as well as other disciplines, has a considerable amount to offer these patients with regard to detection of illnesses and treatment of psychiatric consequences (such as depression). Table 3.1 summarizes common disorders and treatments.
We have completely failed

Economics has always been a ‘divided’ science. Keynes’s predecessors saw the division as one between the theory of value and distribution and the theory of money and absolute prices. Keynes — in Chapter 21 of The General Theory — suggests that the correct division is between the theory of the firm and industry and the theory of output as a whole. Both halves should use the same concepts in order to avoid the ‘double life’ of living on ‘two sides of the moon’ without knowing the route that connects them.1 As we saw, Chapter 21 is a notable attempt to use many of the concepts of the theory of the firm to explain the response of prices to a change in the money supply.
Leibniz and the Petrifying Virtue of the Place

The medieval account of fossils is that animals are sometimes changed into stones because of the petrifying virtue of certain places. This doctrine continues well into the second half of the seventeenth century. The standard account, then, is that fossils are the remains of animals; it inherits the difficulty of explaining how the remains are petrified, or are constituted by some matter different from that of the original animals. It is easy to see how this doctrine could evolve to become the view of Athanasius Kircher and others that fossils are the creation of the power of the place mimicking animals, without there being any actual remains of animals. Kircher and the others provide a ready answer for the obvious differences between fossils and living creatures, including the problem of the stony matter of the fossils, but they achieve this status at the cost of severing links between creatures and fossils. This is the background for Leibniz’s writings on fossils. I trace Leibniz’s development from a follower of Kircher to one of his critics (having been influenced by Nicolaus Steno among others). I also show the resilience of the original doctrine; ultimately Leibniz’s rejection is only partial.
Identification of activated enhancers and linked transcription factors in breast, prostate, and kidney tumors by tracing enhancer networks using epigenetic traits

Although technological advances now allow increased tumor profiling, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms leading to the development of different cancers remains elusive. Our approach toward understanding the molecular events that lead to cancer is to characterize changes in transcriptional regulatory networks between normal and tumor tissue. Because enhancer activity is thought to be critical in regulating cell fate decisions, we have focused our studies on distal regulatory elements and transcription factors that bind to these elements. Using DNA methylation data, we identified more than 25,000 enhancers that are differentially activated in breast, prostate, and kidney tumor tissues, as compared to normal tissues. We then developed an analytical approach called Tracing Enhancer Networks using Epigenetic Traits that correlates DNA methylation levels at enhancers with gene expression to identify more than 800,000 genome-wide links from enhancers to genes and from genes to enhancers. We found more than 1200 transcription factors to be involved in these tumor-specific enhancer networks. We further characterized several transcription factors linked to a large number of enhancers in each tumor type, including GATA3 in non-basal breast tumors, HOXC6 and DLX1 in prostate tumors, and ZNF395 in kidney tumors. We showed that HOXC6 and DLX1 are associated with different clusters of prostate tumor-specific enhancers and confer distinct transcriptomic changes upon knockdown in C42B prostate cancer cells. We also discovered de novo motifs enriched in enhancers linked to ZNF395 in kidney tumors. Our studies characterized tumor-specific enhancers and revealed key transcription factors involved in enhancer networks for specific tumor types and subgroups. Our findings, which include a large set of identified enhancers and transcription factors linked to those enhancers in breast, prostate, and kidney cancers, will facilitate understanding of enhancer networks and mechanisms leading to the development of these cancers.
Biosynthesis of Plant Natural Products and Characterization of Plant Biosynthetic Pathways in Recombinant Microorganisms

Plant natural products are important medicinal and flavor and fragrance compounds. Many of these metabolites have complex structures that cannot be produced economically through total chemical synthesis. The production of natural products for consumer use or as scaffolds for more complex molecules has to rely upon extraction from plant materials or the development of engineered production hosts. Limitations in the development of engineered biosynthetic pathways stem from incomplete knowledge of plant biosynthetic pathways. There is a strong dependence on recombinant microorganisms to elucidate plant biosynthetic pathways and characterize individual biosynthetic enzymes. As more pathways are characterized, the emphasis on microorganisms will shift from single enzyme studies to the construction of short biosynthetic pathways for the targeted overproduction of compounds
Dynamic manipulation and patterning of breast cancer cells in biosolution

This paper reports the first experimental exploration of non-invasive and fast manipulation of breast cancer cells by harnessing multimode micromechanical resonators operating in biosolution. We demonstrate, for the first time, that groups of breast cancer cells are spatially manipulated into controlled microscale patterns, facilitated by the spatially abundant and diverse multimode resonances of vibrating thin micro-diaphragms. We further show that these cell patterns can be dynamically switched within 30s via programmed excitation frequencies, exhibiting a cell manipulation speed at ∼4μm/s. The results demonstrate a versatile platform for cell manipulation and patterning at microscale, which may facilitate breast cancer related studies at cellular level.
Results of a Multicenter Prospective Randomized Trial of Carotid Artery Stenting vs. Carotid Endarterectomy

53 Background: Carotid artery stenosis (CAS) is a common etiology for ischemic stroke. While carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is a safe and effective treatment for CAS, endovascular therapy using carotid stenting may be a reasonable alternative. This multicenter study was designed to determine if carotid stenting was equivalent to CEA in patients with symptomatic CAS. Methods: Patients with symptomatic CAS of 60–99% by cerebral angiogram were prospectively randomized to CEA or carotid stenting. All enrolled patients were reviewed by a multidisciplinary team that included neurologists, surgeons, and interventionalists. Patients in the stent group were treated with the WALLSTENT endoprosthesis and received aspirin 325 mg bid and ticlopidine 250 mg bid for 4 weeks. Neurologic assessments were performed 24 hrs post-procedure, then at 1, 6 and 12 months. The primary end-point was ipsilateral stroke, procedure-related death, or vascular death within 1 year. P-values are from 2-sided Fisher’s Exact Test. Results: A total of 219 patients were enrolled; 107 in the stent group (mean age 66.5, 66% male) and 112 in the CEA group (mean age 70, 62% male). The mean baseline degree of stenosis was 76% in the stent group vs 75% in the CEA group. 65% of stent patients had a TIA vs 68% in the CEA group. Median follow-up days for stent and CEA patients were 354 and 341, respectively. The primary end-point rate at approximately one year was 12.1% in the stent group vs. 3.6% for CEA (p = 0.022). The rate of any major stroke was 3.7% for stent vs. 0.9% for CEA (p = 0.204). A post-stent angiogram showed that 97% of patients had less than 30% stenosis. The 30 day peri-procedure complication rate (any stroke or death) was 12.1% for stents and 4.5% for CEA (p = 0.049). The 2 day peri-procedure complication rate was 7.5% for stents and 1.8% for CEA (p=0.055). Other common peri-procedure complications of stenting were severe bradycardia (7%) and groin hematoma (4%). Conclusions: This study did not find that carotid stenting was equivalent to CEA in patients with symptomatic CAS. Based on these data and a futility analysis, the study was terminated before the planned maximum of 700 patients were enrolled.
Secure error correction using multiparty computation

In the last couple of decades, error correction techniques play a prominent role in various scientific and engineering fields such as information theory, communication, networking, to name a few. These techniques are mainly utilized to locate and fix corrupted data over noisy channels. The data might be corrupted due to various reasons, for instance, communication failures, noise, or adversarial activities. On the other hand, data-privacy has been in the center of attention by many researchers in recent years. As such, it's important to be able to use error correction techniques over private data. This paper therefore proposes a secure error correction method by using secure multiparty computation (MPC). To the best of our knowledge, our proposed approach is the first solution in the literature. In secure MPC protocols, parties first share their private inputs by cryptographic primitives in order to jointly compute a function without revealing those private inputs. At the end of the protocol, only the function value will be revealed to all parties. Our secure MPC protocol efficiently implements the error-locator function of Berlekamp-Welch algorithm. After locating errors, we utilize another cryptographic technique, named enrollment protocol, to fix the errors.
Language Modeling for Code-Mixing: The Role of Linguistic Theory based Synthetic Data

Training language models for Code-mixed (CM) language is known to be a difficult problem because of lack of data compounded by the increased confusability due to the presence of more than one language. We present a computational technique for creation of grammatically valid artificial CM data based on the Equivalence Constraint Theory. We show that when training examples are sampled appropriately from this synthetic data and presented in certain order (aka training curriculum) along with monolingual and real CM data, it can significantly reduce the perplexity of an RNN-based language model. We also show that randomly generated CM data does not help in decreasing the perplexity of the LMs.
Proteases in Cancer: Significance for Invasion and Metastasis

There is an extensive body of literature documenting the association of proteases with cancer. Indeed, a search of PubMed for the phrase “proteases in cancer” brings up a list of ~73,000 papers, including >7,200 reviews. Nonetheless, the protease community still has not identified and validated all of the proteases and proteolytic pathways that play causal roles in neoplastic progression, nor determined which proteases would be appropriate therapeutic targets in pre-malignant lesions as compared to end-stage cancers or in any one type of cancer. Furthermore, more than one catalytic type of protease has been implicated in the progression of human tumors, as have interactions among proteases of more than one catalytic type. How vast a repertoire of proteases has been implicated in cancer is evident from a recent comprehensive tome on the many proteases that comprise the cancer degradome (Edwards et al. 2008b).
A Process Model of Desire

Psychologists have argued about the primacy of cognition and emotion for decades without any resolution. Deriving ideas from the bhagavadgItA, in this chapter, cognition, emotion, and behavior are examined by anchoring them in desire. The model presented here posits that cognition, emotion, and behavior derive significance when examined in the context of human desires, and starting with perception and volition, cognition emerges when a desire crystallizes. Desires lead to behaviors, and the achievement or nonachievement of a desire causes positive or negative emotions. Through self-reflection, contemplation, and the practice of karmayoga desires can be better managed, which can help facilitate healthy management of emotions. It is hoped that insights provided by this model would stimulate research for further examination of the role of desire in understanding and predicting cognition, emotion, and behavior.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and NTOS

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain condition with defined diagnostic criteria that occasionally develops following an injury. It may develop in NTOS patients following the initial traumatic event resulting in both nerve injury and compression within the thoracic outlet, or from intraoperative nerve injury during treatment of NTOS. Both are rare occurrences, but this chapter will explore the possible mechanisms involved in CRPS.
In situ and Real-Time Monitoring of Plasma-Induced Etching of PET and Acrylic Films

Residual gas analysis (RGA) and optical emission spectroscopy have been evaluated as potential in situ techniques for the detection of plasma-induced polymer surface etching. The detection is based on the measurement of CO and CO2 species formed in the gas phase following oxidation of the etching fragments released from the polymer surface. Experiments were performed on poly(ethylene terephthalate) and UV-cured acrylic (tripropylene glycol diacrylate) films exposed to O2 RF (13.56 MHz) plasmas. A linear correlation is obtained between the formation of CO and the polymer etching rate over the entire experimental range, but discrepancies appear for the formation of CO2 at high treatment powers (etching rate > 1.0 μg/min.cm2). This behavior is attributed to a deficit of oxidizing agents relative to the generation of etching fragments. The results suggest that both RGA and optical emission spectroscopy can be used to monitor in situ and in real-time the etching of polymer surfaces during plasma treatment.
Loss of outer arm dynein components produce specific and separable phenotypes in zebrafish

Structural and functional defects in cilia lie at the heart of several human genetic disorders, including polycystic kidney disease, male sterility, retinal degeneration, respiratory complications, and organ laterality defects. It is therefore crucial to study various aspects of cilia biology so as to better understand the exact molecular causes of these disorders. In our current study, we utilize a novel zebrafish mutant called flanders to study the relationship between organ laterality defects and kidney cyst development. flanders is expressed in both ciliated Kupffer’s vesicle, important for left-right patterning, and in the pronephros/kidney. However, unlike other laterality mutants we have studied, flanders homozygotes display a strong laterality phenotype without an associated strong kidney cyst phenotype, despite the flanders gene showing high homology to a structural component the outer arm dynein complex. To determine why flanders does not appear to be critical in pronephric cyst formation, we looked for other genes that may function redundantly in this tissue. We show that a flanders paralog, ccdc114, plays a minor role in organ laterality but interacts with flanders during cyst development. Loss of flanders or ccdc114 reduces cilia beat frequencies in both Kupffer’s vesicle and the kidney even though each protein only produces phenotypes thought to originate in one of these tissues. Our data suggest that outer arm dynein complex composition may regulate a functional difference between motile cilia in Kupffer’s vesicle and those in the kidney. We will discuss our ongoing work on this mechanism.
Outsourcing STEM Jobs: What STEM Educators Should Know.

Outsourcing is a business strategy to cut costs by relocating jobs from high-cost countries, like the USA, to low-cost ones, like India. The practice involves moving the jobs and transferring knowledge, technologies, and capabilities. Outsourcing has been growing in scale and scope in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations, and it has implications for the current and future demand of STEM workers. Some jobs will be rendered obsolete as they migrate to low-cost locations, while others, which are complementary to outsourcing, will see demand increases. The paper reviews the theories about which jobs will be vulnerable to outsourcing and the empirical data. It describes the political and policy discussion about STEM outsourcing and how it has been coupled with the STEM workforce shortage debate. Lastly, it explores the implications for STEM educators, workers, and students. Many STEM jobs have already been outsourced and many more are vulnerable. STEM educators, workers, and students can take practical steps to adapt to outsourcing. STEM educators can modify curricula towards skill and knowledge areas less vulnerable to outsourcing and provide tools to students to become better stewards of their own careers. Workers can better steer their careers by closely tracking outsourcing trends.
Fabrication of three-dimensional graphene-based polyhedrons via origami-like self-folding

The assembly of two-dimensional (2D) graphene into three-dimensional (3D) polyhedral structures while preserving the graphene's excellent inherent properties has been of great interest for the development of novel device applications. Here, fabrication of 3D, microscale, hollow polyhedrons (cubes) consisting of a few layers of 2D graphene or graphene oxide sheets via an origami-like self-folding process is described. This method involves the use of polymer frames and hinges, and aluminum oxide/chromium protection layers that reduce tensile, spatial, and surface tension stresses on the graphene-based membranes when the 2D nets are transformed into 3D cubes. The process offers control of the size and shape of the structures as well as parallel production. In addition, this approach allows the creation of surface modifications by metal patterning on each face of the 3D cubes. Raman spectroscopy studies show the method allows the preservation of the intrinsic properties of the graphene-based membranes, demonstrating the robustness of our method.
Volcano Tourism: The Effect of Eruptions and Disasters

There are many factors which affect tourism globally; this chapter aims to discuss the impact natural disasters can have on the tourism industry, looking in particular at certain events such as the eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano in Montserrat, the unexpected Chaiten volcano eruption in Chile in 2008, the December 2009 eruption of Mayon volcano in the Philippines and last but not least the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in 2010.
Human rights amidst despair in the Levant and the West

In 2019, protests in the streets of Algeria and Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq brought back the fragrance of the Jasmine revolution. Can the pendulum swing back towards democracy and human rights in the M...
Effect of Statin Intensity in the Prevention of Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy

Purpose This study aims to examine the efficacy of high-intensity statin therapy compared to low-intensity, moderate-intensity, or no statins at preventing cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) and related outcomes of rejection and mortality after cardiac transplant in the setting of tacrolimus as primary calcineurin inhibitor. Methods A single-center retrospective cohort analysis included all adult heart transplants from July 2015 to July 2018. Patients were grouped by the intensity of statin therapy at post-operative day (POD) 180 including high-intensity (Group A) or no statin, low-, or moderate-intensity statin (Group B). Primary outcomes included one- and three-year incidence of a composite endpoint of CAV, biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR), and death. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of each outcome individually. Transplant events were excluded for death prior to POD180 or insufficient follow-up data. Results Of 131 heart transplant events, 122 met criteria for the one-year analysis. Median age at transplant was 56 and 80% were male patients. Eight, 23, 70, and 21 patients were on no, low-, moderate-, and high-intensity statins, respectively. One-year incidence of the composite endpoint was 28.6% in Group A and 26.7% in Group B (p=NS). CAV occurred in 4.8% vs. 1.0% and BPAR occurred in 23.8% vs. 22.8% in Group A and Group B, respectively (p=NS for both). Death at one year occurred in none of the patients in Group A compared to 3.0% in Group B, but this was not statistically significant. The three-year analysis included 79 transplant events of which 6, 20, 44, and 9 patients were on no, low-, moderate-, and high-intensity statins at POD180. There was no difference in the composite outcome, occurring in 66.7% in Group A vs. 62.9% in Group B. At 3 years, CAV occurred in 22.2% vs. 15.7% and BPAR occurred in 55.6% vs. 41.4% in Group A and Group B, respectively (p=NS for both). Incidence of death at three years trended in favor of the high-intensity group with 0 occurrences compared to 18.6% of Group B but remained statistically insignificant. Conclusion In this interim cohort analysis, high-intensity statin therapy early after heart transplantation does not appear to be associated with a lower incidence of CAV, BPAR, or death at one or three years. While more patients and longer follow-up are necessary, these results may help guide therapy in statin-intolerant patients.
Older-Adult Marijuana Users in Substance Use Treatment: Characteristics Associated with Treatment Completion

More older adults are using marijuana and receiving substance use treatment. We used the 2015–2017 Treatment Episode Data Set-Discharges (TEDS-D) to identify characteristics associated with treatme...
Increase of procalcitonin in infant muggy syndrome

Objective To investigate the characteristics and clinical significance of increased procalcitonin(PCT) in infant muggy syndrome(IMS). Methods A total of 23 IMS cases admitted in PICU from Nov 2011 to Apr 2012 were enrolled.All cases were devided into three groups according to pediatric critical illness score, high risk group(n=5), medium risk group(n=12), and mild risk group(n=6). And 23 cases were also divided into infection group and no infection group according to baseline disease before onset.The relationship of PCT and pediatric critical illness score, primary infection and infection index were observed, and the possible causes of increased PCT in IMS were explored.Twenty age matched infants receiving examination in clinic served as control group. Results PCT increased significantly in IMS cases.The PCT level was(91.5±90.9) ng/ml in high risk group, (81.1±74.1) ng/ml in medium risk group, and(112.1±74.9) ng/ml in mild risk group, there were no significant differences among three groups(F=0.371, P=0.732). Other infection index like leukocyte conmt, neutrophil and C reactive protein in IMS group were higher than those in the control group, and the results had significant differences(P<0.05, respectively). The PCT level was(72.5±74.4) ng/ml in infection group, (101.5±76.6) ng/ml in no infection group, and there was no significant difference between two groups(t=0.873, P=0.392). There was no relevance between increase of PCT and the incidence of infection before IMS.But PCT had higher correlation to the body temperature after IMS(r=-0.362, P=0.049). Conclusion There is correlation between the increased PCT and fever in IMS, and fever in IMS would lead to inflammation and then resulted in the increase of PCT. Key words: Infant muggy syndrome; Procalcitonin