cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Individual differences in cortical glutamate based on locomotor activity in a novel environment

Locomotor activity in a novel environment has been used to predict the propensity to self-administer drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, amphetamine, nicotine, ethanol, and opiates. However, the majority of studies employed outbred rats, which led to difficulty in interpreting genetic and environmental effects. In this thesis, inbred mice were used to assess the environmental influences on locomotor activity in a novel environment. Male C57BL/6J mice were screened for their locomotor response in a novel environment, automated activity chambers, for 30 min. Based on a median split, mice exhibiting a heightened locomotor response were termed high responders (HR) and mice having a lower locomotor response were termed low responders (LR). The activity phenotype of HRs and LRs was correlated with three other phenotypes, which to our knowledge, have not been studied in HRs and LRs. These three experiments were conducted as a means to explain individual differences in activity measured in a novel environment. In experiment 1, the relation between locomotor activity and nerve terminal glutamate irnmunolabeling was examined. Although glutamate has been shown to be differentially regulated in the striatum of HRs and LRs, differences in nerve terminal glutamate immunolabeling and extracellular glutamate have not been investigated in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Because nerve terminal glutamate immunolabeling is a measure of presynaptic stores of glutamate, HRs and LRs were administered a selective postsynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, phencyclidine (PCP; 2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) daily for 10 consecutive days. PCP has been shown to increase extracellular glutamate, most likely by stimulating glutamate release. We hypothesized that LRs would have greater nerve terminal glutamate irnrnunolabeling than HRs and that
Incidence of TEL/AML1 Fusion in Children With Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

The TEL/AML1 fusion associated with t(12;21)(p13;q22) is the most common gene rearrangement in childhood leukemia, occurring in approximately 25% of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and is associated with a favorable prognosis. For example, a cohort of pediatric patients with ALL retrospectively analyzed for the TEL/AML1 fusion treated on Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) ALL Consortium protocols between 1980 to 1991 demonstrated a 100% relapse-free survival in TEL/AML1-positive patients with a median of 8.3 years of follow-up. However, two recent studies analyzing pediatric patients with relapsed ALL have reported the same incidence of the TEL/AML1 rearrangement as in patients with newly diagnosed ALL, suggesting that TEL/AML1 positivity is not a favorable prognostic indicator. To clarify this apparent discrepancy, 48 pediatric patients treated on Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) protocols with ALL at first or second relapse were tested for TEL/AML1 using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The TEL/AML1 fusion was identified in only 1 of 32 analyzable relapsed ALL patients, in concordance with our previous reports of improved disease-free survival in TEL/AML1-positive patients. The low frequency of TEL/AML1-positive patients at relapse is significantly different than that reported in other studies. Although there are several potential explanations for the observed differences in TEL/AML1-positive patients at relapse, it is plausible that relapse-free survival in TEL/AML1-positive patients may be changed with different therapeutic approaches. Taken together, these results support the need for prospective analysis of prognosis in TEL/AML1-positive patients.
Evacuation Algorithm Design and System Implementation in Major Accident

An internet of things system was presented to solve the problem of how to effectively and efficiently evacuate the working staff in major accidents.Based on the proposed system,an efficient evacuation route search algorithm(ERSA) was also proposed to reduce the evacuation time,by which the evacuation route could be iteratively found on the basis of the distribution of roads and people within a prescribed time limit.Experimental results showed that compared with shortest path evacuation algorithm and random path evacuation algorithm,better evacuation routes could be generated by the proposed ERSA and evacuation time could be reduced by 15%and28%,respectively.
Conductivity Sensor for Real-time Monitoring of Magnesium Corrosion under Cell Culture Conditions

Due to its ability to biodegrade in an aqueous, chloride-containing environment, magnesium (Mg) metal, pure or as an alloy, has attracted significant interest in biomaterials research for use in biodegradable implants for bone repair and other applications. However, the interactions between Mg metal and surrounding cells and tissues as the metal resorbs need to be studied extensively to ensure adequate biocompatibility for each intended application. Cell death can result from high local concentrations of the soluble resorption products, which include Mg ions (Mg2+), alloying products, increased pH and hydrogen. Because these products are primarily ionic, we tested whether a conductivity sensor could be used to monitor Mg degradation by detecting changes in ionic strength in real time, in three physiologically appropriate fluids (a sodium chloride solution, phosphate buffered saline and a cell culture medium maintained under the standard conditions used for mammalian cell culture). Here we demonstrate that an electrochemical conductivity sensor, in combination with a pH sensor, recorded very different patterns of real-time changes in the ionic environment created by Mg immersion and degradation in the three model electrolyte solutions, over a 48-hour time period.
Different Students: How Typical Schools Are Built to Fail and Need to Change: A Structural Analysis:

Computer simulation analysis was used to illustrate the thesis that the typical American public school is structured in a way that reinforces the entry characteristics of its students so that by th...
Parallelized Solution of Banded Linear Systems with an Introduction to p-adic Computation

We present an approach that supports a parallelized solution of banded linear systems without communication between processors. We do this by adding unknowns to the system equal to the number of superdiagonals q. We then perform r forward substitution processes in parallel (where r is the number of nonzero terms in the right-hand side vector), and superimpose the resulting solution vectors. This leads to the determination of the extra unknowns, and by extension, to the overall solution. However, some systems exhibit exponential growth behavior during the forward substitution process, which prevents the approach from working. We present several modifications to address this, extending the approach (in a modified form) to be used for general systems. We also extend it to block banded systems. Numerical results for well-behaved test systems show a speedup of 20–80 over conventional solvers using only 8 processors. Theoretical estimates assuming q processors demonstrated a speedup of a factor exceeding 300 for 105 unknowns when q = 2000; for 109 unknowns, the speedup exceeds a factor of 104 when q = 45, 000. We also introduce some fundamentals of p-adic computation and modular arithmetic as the basis of the development and implementation of a fully parallel p-adic linear solver, which allows error-free computation over the rational numbers, and is better suited to control coefficient growth.
Abstract PR01: HPV genotype distribution and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in African American and white women living in the Southeastern United States

Background: Differential distributions of oncogenic HPV genotypes among racial/ethnic groups may explain observed disparities in ICC incidence and mortality rates. We describe HPV genotypes associated with CIN1-3 in a multiethnic cohort of women visiting colposcopy clinic following a cervical abnormality. Methods: We enrolled 516 women attending colposcopic evaluation following an abnormal liquid-based cytology screen. HPV infection was measured using HPV linear array that measures 37 HPV types, and chi-squared tests were used to compare HPV genotypes in African American and Whites overall, and by CIN stage. Results: Of 516 participants, 373 (72%) were HPV-positive; 137 (37%) had no CIN lesion, 174 (47%) had CIN1, 38 (10%) had CIN2, and 24 (6%) had CIN-3. Twenty-seven percent of women were infected with one HPV genotype, and 73% were infected with multiple HPV genotypes. In women with CIN1, 75% of HPV single infections were of high risk (HR) genotypes, and 70% of women had multiple HR-HPV genotype infections. The most frequent HR-HPV genotypes detected among CIN1 cases were 16, 18, 31, 45, 52, 56, 59 and 66 in White women, while HPV subtypes 33, 35, 58 and 68 were the most common in African American women. Restricting analyses to women with CIN2-3 revealed a change in HR-HPV genotype distribution; HR-HPV 16, 18, 33, 35, 39, and 59 were most common in White women with CIN2-3, whereas HR-HPV 31, 45, 51 and 66 were the most prevalent in African American women. Conclusion: Our data suggest that while HPV 16 and 18 are the most common genotypes among women with CIN in Whites; African Americans may harbor different genotypes. The preponderance of non-16/18 HR-HPV genotypes in African Americans with increasing CIN grade has implications for both reflex testing following cytological abnormalities and vaccine development. This abstract is also presented as Poster B11. Citation Format: Adriana C Vidal, Jennifer S Smith, Edwin Iversen, Fidel Valea, Rex Bentley, Margaret Gradison, Kimberly Yarnall, Anne Ford, Francine Overcash, Katherine Grant, Susan Murphy, Cathrine Hoyo. HPV genotype distribution and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in African American and white women living in the Southeastern United States. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr PR01.
Quantification of Epistemic Uncertainty in Grain Attachment Models for Equiaxed Solidification

Recent work has investigated various schemes for the attachment of free-floating grains in models of equiaxed solidification in multicomponent alloys. However, these models are deterministic in nature, and simply investigating their differences for a limited number of results would not constitute an adequate comparison of their predictions. Instead, the models are compared in the context of the uncertainty in the most important input parameters. This approach is especially important in light of the effort required to implement a new model. If the predictions are essentially the same, then either model will suffice, or one may be selected for ease of implementation, numerical robustness, or computational efficiency. If, however, the models are significantly different, then the most accurate should be selected. In order to investigate the effects of input uncertainty on the output of grain attachment models, the PRISM Uncertainty Quantification framework was employed. The three models investigated were a constant packing fraction (CPF) scheme, an average solid velocity method (AVM), and a continuum attachment approach. Comparisons were made between the CPF and AVM models to estimate the importance of the local velocity field and between the CPF and continuum models to determine the sensitivity of the macrosegregation to new parameters unique to the continuum model.
Review: HbA1c has low accuracy for prediabetes; lifestyle programs and metformin reduce progression to T2DM.

Source Citation Barry E, Roberts S, Oke J, et al. Efficacy and effectiveness of screen and treat policies in prevention of type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of screening tests an...
MiR-193a-3p is a key tumor suppressor in ulcerative colitis-associated colon cancer and promotes carcinogenesis through upregulation of IL17RD

Purpose: Patients with ulcerative colitis are at increased risk for colorectal cancer, although mechanisms underlying neoplastic transformation are poorly understood. We sought to evaluate the role of microRNAs in neoplasia development in this high-risk population.Experimental Design: Tissue from 12 controls, 9 ulcerative colitis patients without neoplasia, and 11 ulcerative colitis patients with neoplasia was analyzed. miRNA array analysis was performed and select miRNAs assayed by real-time PCR on the discovery cohort and a validation cohort. DNA methylation of miR-193a was assessed. Following transfection of miR-193a-3p, proliferation, IL17RD expression, and luciferase activity of the 3'UTR of IL17RD were measured. Tumor growth in xenografts as well as EGFR signaling were assessed in HCT116 cells expressing IL17RD with either a mutant 3' untranslated region (UTR) or wild-type (WT) 3'UTR.Results: miR-31, miR-34a, miR-106b, and miR-193a-3p were significantly dysregulated in ulcerative colitis-neoplasia and adjacent tissue. Significant down-regulation of miR-193a-3p was also seen in an independent cohort of ulcerative colitis cancers. Changes in methylation of miR-193a or expression of pri-miR-193a were not observed in ulcerative colitis cancer. Transfection of miR-193a-3p resulted in decreased proliferation, and identified IL17RD as a direct target of miR-193a-3p. IL17RD expression was increased in ulcerative colitis cancers, and miR-193a-3p treatment decreased growth and EGFR signaling of HCT116 cells in xenografts expressing both IL17RD with WT 3'UTR compared with cells expressing IL17RD with mutant 3'UTR.Conclusions: miR-193a-3p is downregulated in ulcerative colitis neoplasia, and its loss promotes carcinogenesis through upregulation of IL17RD. These findings provide novel insight into inflammation-driven colorectal cancer and could suggest new therapeutic targets in this high-risk population. Clin Cancer Res; 23(17); 5281-91. ©2017 AACR.
Chinese Constitutionalism in the New Era: The Emerging Idea and Practice of Constitution in the 19th CPC Congress Report

The 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party concluded at the end of October 2017. It set the fundamental policy positions of China’s leadership for the next five years with particular emphasis on its approaches to constitutionalism, law, and the political theory of the state. These internal political changes will have substantial effects on China’s external relations and on the ways in which Western liberal democracies engage with China. In that context among the most important questions for law revolve around the extent and character of the evolution of CPC thinking, and the CPC Basic Line, with respect to Socialist Rule of Law and Socialist Constitutionalism. The question arose in the context of a key document of the Congress, the Work Report delivered by Xi Jinping reflected in the resulting final Resolution of the 19th Congress. To what extent did this report reflect an official downshifting of the importance of the state constitution and constitutionalism within the construction of Chinese notions of Constitutionalism, and if so, what variation on constitutionalism is likely to emerge? As interesting was a follow up question around the effects of any such downshift on the relation between the state and the political constitutions of China. To that end, it is worth considering whether principles of constitutionalism for the “New Era” may be extracted from Xi Jngping’s Report to the 19th Congress. And if they can, to try to extract a sense of the likely characteristics of emerging structures of Chinese constitutionalism. What follows, then is a preliminary report and assessment of Constitutionalism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era from Out of the 19th CPC Report. It is organized in five sections, (1) a brief introduction to the issues and context of Chinese constitutionalism before the 19th Congress, (2) a consideration of the role of constitutionalism within the structures of the 19th CPC Congress Report, (3) a close reading of the specific references to constitutions in the Report (state, political and mixed), (4) a consideration of the connection between constitutionalism and the emerging characteristics of Chinese consultative democracy, and (5) brief concluding remarks.
ACQUA: adaptive and cooperative quality-aware control for automotive cyber-physical systems

Controllers in cyber-physical systems integrate a design-time behavioral model of the system under design to improve their own quality. In the state-of-the-art control designs, behavioral models of other interacting neighbor systems are also integrated to form a centralized behavioral model and to enable a system-level optimization and control. Although this ideal embedded control design may result in pareto-optimal solutions, it is not scalable to larger number of systems. Moreover, the behavior of the multi-domain physical systems may be too complex for a control designer to model and may dynamically change at run time. In this paper, we propose a novel Adaptive and Cooperative Quality-Aware (ACQUA) control design which addresses these challenges. In this control design, an ACQUA-based controller for the system under design will monitor the quality of the neighbor systems to dynamically learn their behavior. Therefore, it can quickly adapt its control to cooperate with other neighbor controllers for improving the quality of not only itself, but also other neighbor systems. We apply ACQUA to design a cooperative controller for automotive navigation system, motor control unit, and battery management system in an electric vehicle. We use this automotive example to analyze the performance of the design. We show that by using our ACQUA control, we can reach up to 86% improvements achievable by an ideal embedded control design such that energy consumption reduces by 18% and battery capacity loss decreases by 12% compared to the state-of-the-art on average.
"I don't want to take chances.": A qualitative exploration of surgical decision making in young breast cancer survivors.

Objective Young women with unilateral breast cancer are increasingly choosing contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), despite its limited medical benefit for most women. The purpose of this study was to better understand this choice through a qualitative exploration of surgical decision-making in young survivors, including how issues particular to younger women affected their decision and the post-surgical experience. Methods Women age ≤ 40 years with stage 0 to III breast cancer, 1 to 3 years from diagnosis who had undergone breast cancer surgery were recruited to participate. Four focus groups were conducted: 2 with women who had bilateral mastectomy and 2 with women who kept their contralateral breast. Focus groups were recorded and transcribed with identifiers removed. Emergent themes were identified by thematic content analysis using NVivo 11. Results Of the 20 participants, median age at diagnosis was 37 years. Emergent themes were categorized into the following domains: (1) emotions/feelings surrounding surgery/decision about surgery; (2) factors affecting the decision; (3) communication and interaction with the healthcare team; (4) impact on post-surgical life and recovery; and (5) support needs. Young women who chose CPM often were concerned about a future breast event, despite this low risk, suggesting some gain peace of mind by choosing CPM. Young survivors also had many physical and emotional concerns after surgery for which they did not always feel prepared. Conclusions Informational resources and decision aids may enhance patient-doctor communication and help young survivors better understand risk and manage expectations surrounding short and longer-term physical and emotional effects after surgery.
Cooling Load Caused by Lights

An analytical study of the cooling load resulting from power input to lights indicated the need for an experimental determination of some of the parameters involved in the calculations of this load. To meet this need a full scale calorimeter room was built and instrumented by the Division of Building Research of the National Research Council of Canada. This paper presents the results of a series of tests that were carried out using this facility to measure the cooling load for fluorescent lights both with and without air flow through the fixtures, and a set of design coefficients for a range of light fixtures, ventilation rates, and room heat storage capacities. The results of these tests confirm the conclusions reached by the analytical study, namely, that the relation between a step change in power input to lights and the corresponding cooling load component can be described by an exponential type of expression with two independent coefficients. One of them depends on the room heat storage capacity and ...
Over-the-counter medication availability could augment self-management of male lower urinary tract symptoms

In this review, we focus on current trends in the management of male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), defined here as LUTS, namely, storage, voiding, and post-micturition symptoms presumed secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and discuss possible novel approaches toward better care. According to results of a PubMed database search covering the last 10 years and using keywords pertaining to male LUTS, this condition continues to be globally undiagnosed or diagnosed late, partly because of men's hesitation to seek help for perceived embarrassing problems or problems considered a normal part of aging. In addition, the prevalence of male LUTS is continually increasing because of a constantly aging population. Male LUTS can be bothersome and affect the quality of life (QoL) and sexual function. Additional effective alternatives for managing this condition need to be identified and incorporated into the current care model. Considering that most male LUTS such as frequency, hesitancy, urgency, and intermittency are easy to self-identify, a self-management approach toward male LUTS is proposed. Limited evidence supports the efficacy of phytotherapies and herbals as self-management options for male LUTS. However, introducing over-the-counter (OTC) medication with proven efficacy, accompanied by lifestyle and behavioral modifications, may be a promising approach that will encourage more men to treat their symptoms in a timely manner. Formal guidelines, along with appropriate education programs for patients and support from the healthcare community, will be needed to ensure that the promise of this approach is fully materialized.
Crystal structures of the cis and trans isomers of a tetrathia[3.3.3.3]cyclophane

Both the cis and trans isomers of 3,11,18,26-tetrathiatricyclo[26.2.2.15,9.213,16.120,24] hexatriaconta-5,7,9,20,22,24-hexene have been prepared and structurally characterized. Each of these centrosymmetric tetrathia dimers includes two cyclohexane rings in chair conformations with either 1,4-cis or 1,4-trans bonding and two meta-substituted benzene rings. The cis isomer packs into the monoclinic space group P21/a with a = 10.485(3)A, b = 10.3956(18)A, c = 14.1343(10)A, β = 105.200(13)°, Z = 2 and refined to an R factor of 0.046. The trans isomer crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with a = 10.7217(12)A, b = 5.6797(7)A, c = 25.415(5)A, β = 96.001(12)°, Z = 2 and refined to an R factor of 0.043. In the cis structure each benzene ring faces a cyclohexane ring while in the trans structure the cyclohexane rings face one another.
Rapid inhibitor-induced changes in the C14-labeled compounds formed by the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle.

The rapid sampling of a biological system exposed to labeled substrate is often an essential feature of a study of the kinetics of metabolic reactions. If the metabolic system under consideration is as complicated as whole cells, it is composed of a large number of individual reactions comprising one or more networks. The problem of focusing upon the reaction or the portion of a network of immediate interest is one of selecting conditions which will permit observation against a background of general metabolic activity. Often it is desirable to maintain a steady state of metabolism upon which one may be able to impose a specific transient change by means of a suitable perturbation in the controlled environmental conditions. At the same time, if more than one pool of individual metabolites is present, it may be necessary to devise a means of isolating those pools of intermediates which lie along the pathway under study.
Discrepancy between actual and ideal body images: impact on eating and exercise behaviors.

This study examined how discrepancies between actual and ideal body images are related to eating and exercise patterns. A total of 115 college-age women completed the Body Discrepancy Scale (BDS, a measure of the discrepancy between one's "actual" vs. "ideal" weight and size), a leisure-time physical activity survey, and questionnaires assessing the intake of fat and fiber (i.e., fruits and vegetables), as well as measures of maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors. Partial correlations (controlling for Body Mass Index, BMI) showed that scores on the BDS were significantly (P's<.05) associated with low levels of physical activity (r=-.28), with low levels of fruit and vegetable consumption (r=-.19), and with high levels of body image dissatisfaction (r=.32) and binge eating (r=.32). Collectively, these findings suggest that discrepancies between actual and ideal body images are associated with maladaptive eating and exercise patterns.
Naming things: Its importance in youth with epilepsy.

Neuropsychological assessment is undertaken in epilepsy surgery candidates for a number of reasons. One of the primary purposes is to provide information of relevance to the lateralization and localization of the seizure onset zone. Naming tasks are among the most predictive of the laterality of temporal lobe epilepsy in adults.1,2 Auditory naming in this population is more predictive than traditional visual object naming, as assessed by classic measures such as the Boston Naming Test (BNT).3 The pediatric epilepsy literature is less clear in this regard, with multiple studies showing no association between naming performance and laterality of temporal lobe epilepsy.4 This difference has been attributed by some to developmental differences between children and adults: specifically, the burgeoning specialization and localization of language functions in children.5 The competing hypothesis is that previously used assessments of naming ability, and especially visual naming, were designed for and validated in adult populations and were developmentally inappropriate and inaccurate in pediatric populations. Hamberger and her colleagues6 have recently developed and validated age-appropriate visual and auditory naming tests for children.
IHI ID 04 Application of electronic trigger tool methods to identify targets for improving diagnostic safety

Background Failure to follow-up abnormal test results can lead to patient harm. Objectives We created and validated electronic trigger algorithms that analyzed electronic health record (EHR) data from a large Veterans Affairs (VA) network to identify patients with potential delays in diagnostic evaluation for multiple cancers. Methods We developed five trigger algorithms to detect delays in diagnostic evaluation of possible bladder, breast, colorectal, hepatocellular, and lung cancer. Each used structured clinical data to identify patient records with red-flags (abnormal test results warranting further diagnostic evaluation). Red-flags included high-grade hematuria (>50 red blood cells/high powered field; bladder cancer trigger), abnormal mammograms (breast cancer trigger), iron deficiency anemia or positive fecal immunochemical tests (colorectal cancer trigger), elevated alpha-fetoprotein (hepatocellular trigger), or chest imaging flagged as suspicious for malignancy (lung cancer trigger). Algorithms excluded records where follow-up was unnecessary (e.g., hospice patient) and records where follow-up was documented within 30 (lung cancer trigger) or 60 days (all others). We validated triggers by applying them retrospectively to EHR data (see table 1 for timeframes and sample sizes). Results The five triggers yielded PPVs ranging from 56.0–82.3%, NPVs ranging from 88.0–98.0%, sensitivity from 64.1–91.7%, and specificity from 81.1–96.5% (see table 1). We estimated that these triggers have the potential to identify 1192 diagnostic errors in the VA network studied per year. Conclusions Our triggers have potential to identify large numbers of patients experiencing delays in diagnostic evaluation. Implementing prospective electronic trigger-based measurement systems using these algorithms could support health systems in reducing delays in delays in cancer diagnosis.
Transportadores ABC y resistencia a fármacos en la epilepsia: plausibilidad biológica, farmacogenética y medicina de precisión

Introduccion. Un mecanismo plausible que puede contribuir a la resistencia a farmacos en la epilepsia es la falta de llegada de los farmacos al tejido encefalico, causado por cambios en la actividad de los transportadores ABC. El principal argumento a favor de esta hipotesis es que la resistencia ocurre frente a una gran variedad de farmacos antiepilepticos con distintos mecanismos de accion, lo que sugiere un fenomeno subyacente no especifico que limita la efectividad de los tratamientos farmacologicos. Desarrollo. Se realiza una revision bibliografica de los transportadores ABC, su papel en la fisiologia normal de la barrera hematoencefalica y en la resistencia a farmacos en la epilepsia, tanto en estudios en humanos como en modelos animales. Se revisan ademas los estudios de variantes geneticas en los genes ABCB1 y ABCC2, que codifican para estos transportadores, y los recientes estudios genomicos en la epilepsia y patologias afines, discutiendo sus alcances y limitaciones. Conclusiones. Hasta ahora, la asociacion de variantes geneticas de transportadores ABC con la resistencia a farmacos anticonvulsionantes sigue siendo materia de debate. Se espera que la creciente masificacion y accesibilidad a tecnologias de secuenciacion modernas permitan establecer marcadores geneticos que otorguen una aproximacion de medicina de precision para el tratamiento de la epilepsia.
A Survey on the Methods and Results of Data-Driven Koopman Analysis in the Visualization of Dynamical Systems

Koopman mode decomposition is a flow analysis technique developed by Igor Mezic in 2004, based upon the Koopman operator first proposed by Bernard Koopman in 1931. Via Koopman decomposition any non-chaotic well-sampled dynamic system - linear, non-linear, laminar or turbulent - is broken down into single-frequency repetitive components (modes). This paper presents a survey consolidating published information regarding data-driven Koopman analysis techniques. It is intended to aid researchers exploring the suitability of data-driven Koopman analysis in anticipation of developing their own modeling. A basic mathematical explanation of Koopman analysis is given with emphasis toward the data-driven Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) solution, which converges to the Koopman operator given a highly-sampled dataset. The four primary uses of Koopman analysis: flow analysis, power grid analysis, building thermal analysis, and biomedical analysis are discussed, along with other publications. Finally, weaknesses and problems inherent within Koopman analysis/DMD will be enumerated, alongside potential solutions. Koopman analysis is a computationally complex, yet often suitable method for determining periodic motion in any highly-sampled dataset. When compared to a similar analysis method, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, Koopman analysis often provides additional detail regarding the structure of less significant modes present, albeit at the cost of increased computational complexity.
Associations between Child and Administrator Race and Suspension and Expulsion Rates in Community Childcare Programs.

Suspension is defined as a temporary removal from the educational setting where a child is able to return after a determined period of time, while expulsion is the complete and permanent removal of a child from an entire educational system (Gilliam and Shahar 2006). Preschool children have been found to be both suspended and expelled at higher rates than school-aged children (Cutler and Gilkerson 2002; Gilliam 2005; Gilliam and Shahar 2006). It has been reported that 50,000 preschoolers were suspended at least once; another 17,000 were estimated to have been expelled (Malik 2017). However, much of this information had been collected from public preschool programs. Although many factors contribute to the high suspension and expulsion rates of young children, race has risen to the forefront as a possible contributing correlate to disproportionality (Kunesh and Noltemeyer 2019; U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights 2016a, b). More specifically, children of color have been found to be at increased risk for being suspended and expelled (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights 2016a, b). In addition to addressing the gap in research by reporting suspension and expulsion data from one state’s community childcare centers, this paper also examines the disproportionality of suspensions and expulsions in these programs. The impact of director race on early childhood suspension and expulsion is also considered as a contributing factor.
Grammatical evolution decision trees for detecting gene-gene interactions

A fundamental goal of human genetics is the discovery of polymorphisms that predict common, complex diseases. It is hypothesized that complex diseases are due to a myriad of factors including environmental exposures and complex genetic risk models, including gene-gene interactions. Such epistatic models present an important analytical challenge, requiring that methods perform not only statistical modeling, but also variable selection to generate testable genetic model hypotheses. This challenge is amplified by recent advances in genotyping technology, as the number of potential predictor variables is rapidly increasing. Decision trees are a highly successful, easily interpretable data-mining method that are typically optimized with a hierarchical model building approach, which limits their potential to identify interacting effects. To overcome this limitation, we utilize evolutionary computation, specifically grammatical evolution, to build decision trees to detect and model gene-gene interactions. In the current study, we introduce the Grammatical Evolution Decision Trees (GEDT) method and software and evaluate this approach on simulated data representing gene-gene interaction models of a range of effect sizes. We compare the performance of the method to a traditional decision tree algorithm and a random search approach and demonstrate the improved performance of the method to detect purely epistatic interactions. The results of our simulations demonstrate that GEDT has high power to detect even very moderate genetic risk models. GEDT has high power to detect interactions with and without main effects. GEDT, while still in its initial stages of development, is a promising new approach for identifying gene-gene interactions in genetic association studies.
Crystallographic and spectroscopic characterization of racemic Mosher's Acid.

The title compound, C10H9F3O3, represents the structure of racemic Mosher's Acid (systematic name: 3,3,3-tri­fluoro-2-meth­oxy-2-phenyl­propanoic acid), a carb­oxy­lic acid that when resolved can be employed as a chiral derivatizing agent. The compound contains a carb­oxy­lic acid group, a meth­oxy group and a tri­fluoro­methyl substituent on an asymmetric benzylic carbon atom. The two independent mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit form a non-centrosymmetric homochiral dimer via inter­molecularly hydrogen-bonded head-to-tail dimers with graph-set notation R22(8) and donor–acceptor hydrogen-bonding distances of 2.6616 (13) and 2.6801 (13) A.
Mitigating Stragglers in the Decentralized Training on Heterogeneous Clusters

Decentralized algorithms, e.g., AllReduce, have been widely applied as the synchronization strategy for data-parallel distributed deep learning due to its superior performance over centralized ones. The synchronous Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) approach guarantees accuracy for various deep learning models, but its performance suffers from stragglers, i.e., "long-tail effects." The straggler can be caused by the inherent load imbalance from workloads or system heterogeneity. Despite existing optimizations to support centralized algorithms against stragglers, little effort has been explored in decentralized training algorithms. This paper proposes a Randomized Non-blocking AllReduce (RNA) protocol to mitigate the straggler problem. To avoid "long-tail effects" brought by the strict barrier in the AllReduce, we propose a decentralized, relaxed, and randomized sampling approach to implement partial AllReduce operation. To handle heterogeneity at a large scale, we combine the traditional Parameter Servers (PS) with AllReduce to implement a hierarchical synchronization mechanism. We theoretically demonstrate the convergence analysis and detail the system implementation. The experiment results on representative deep learning models show nearly 1.8× speedup over the state-of-the-art Horovod and 1.3× speedup over AD-PSGD on a heterogeneous cluster.
What is Bangladesh’s competitive advantage? An exploratory content analysis of the unique firm resources claimed by Bangladeshi apparel export firms

Apparel exports play a vital role in the economy of Bangladesh. The apparel industry contributes to country’s GDP, generates employment, reduces poverty, and is the most important sector for Bangla...
Enhanced Parallel Simulation for ACAS X Development

ACAS X is the next generation airborne collision avoidance system intended to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). The collision avoidance safety and operational suitability of the system are optimized and continuously evaluated by simulating billions of characteristic aircraft encounters in a fast-time Monte Carlo environment. There is therefore an inherent computational cost associated with each ACAS X design iteration and parallelization of the simulations is necessary to keep up with rapid design cycles. This work describes an effort to profile and enhance the parallel computing infrastructure deployed on the computing resources offered by the Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center. The approach to large-scale parallelization of our fast-time airspace encounter simulation tool is presented along with corresponding parallel profile data collected on different kinds of compute nodes. A simple stochastic model for distributed simulation is also presented to inform optimal work batching for improved simulation efficiency. The paper concludes with a discussion on how this high-performance parallel simulation method enables the rapid safety-critical design of ACAS X in a fast-paced iterative design process.
Emergence and stabilization of transient twisted defect structures in confined achiral liquid crystals at a phase transition.

Spontaneous emergence of chirality is a pervasive theme in soft matter. We report a transient twist forming in achiral nematic liquid crystals confined to a capillary tube with square cross section. At the smectic–nematic phase transition, intertwined disclination line pairs are observed with both helical and kinked lozenge-like contours, configurations that we promote through capillary cross-section geometry and stabilize using fluorescent amphiphilic molecules. The observed texture is similar to that found in “exotic” materials such as chromonics, but it is here observed in common thermotropic nematics upon heating from the smectic into the nematic phase. Numerical modeling further reveals that the disclinations may possess winding characters that are intermediate between wedge and twist, and that vary along the defect contours. In our experiments, we utilize a phase transition to generate otherwise elusive defect structures in common liquid crystal materials.
Mental health in Vietnam: An introductory editorial

2020 has been a very difficult year worldwide, and the experience continues as we write this editorial. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restriction worldwide has brought about the best and ...
Role of platelet-derived growth factor alpha in chronic liver injury (144.4)

Platelet-derived growth factor α (PDGFRα) is a tyrosine kinase receptor that plays a role in liver development and regeneration and is upregulated in livers of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis as well as a majority of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). Whether PDGFRα upregulation in these settings plays a compensatory or a pathological role is unknown. This question has led us to investigate the role of PDGFRα in chronic liver injury and hepatic fibrosis - a pathogenic process that is a precursor to the development of cirrhosis and HCC. In this study we show that PDGFRα is upregulated in murine liver following bile duct ligation, a model of cholestatic liver injury. In addition we show that PDGFRα and one of its ligands, PDGF-CC, is localized to hepatocytes as well as bile duct epithelial cells. In vivo blockade of PDGFRα in mice using a previously described monoclonal antibody revealed significant attenuation of hepatocellular injury assessed through liver function analysis of animal serum. In contr...
Multicast Protocols for Jinni Agents

We extend the Jinni Agent Programming Infrastructure with a multicast network transport layer. We show that the resulting protocol emulates client/server exchanges while providing high performance multicasting of remote calls to multiple sites. To ensure that our agent infrastructure runs efficiently independently of router-level multicast support, we also describe a blackboard based algorithm for locating a randomly roaming agent for message delivery. Jinni's orthogonal design, separating blackboards from networking and multi-threading, turns out to be easy to adapt to support a generalization of Jinni's Linda based coordination model. The resulting system is particularly well suited for building large scale, agent based, IP transparent, fault tolerant, tele-teaching and shared virtual reality applications.
The Feminization of Poverty

Abstract According to the US Bureau of Census, eighty-seven percent of women who are divorced in the United States are custodial parents. This is approximately eight million women. In 1993, the average amount of court ordered obligation was $2,393 per year or $199 per month to support two children. Researchers agree that women and their children suffer a precipitous drop in income after divorce. This precipitous drop is referred to as The Feminization of Poverty. The present article addresses this significant problem by providing information on the nature of the feminization of poverty and its relation to psychological stress. The psychological experience of these women and children is presented utilizing actual case material. Implications for therapy are considered throughout.
The Demand for Public Adjudication and Private Arbitration

There are a number of seemingly unrelated puzzles in the institutional and administrative structure of our legal system, such as why do courts not charge parties the full cost of adjudication, why courts adopt a system of stare decisis in the nineteenth century, and why the government refuse to expand the number of property forms for certain assets, such as real property. This article looks comprehensively at how these features of our modern legal system work together to achieve the government's goal of maximizing the positive externalities of litigation, while relegating lower valued disputes to other means of dispute settlement.
Self-assembling Protein Cage Systems and Applications in Nanotechnology

Introduction Historical Outline Ferritin Using Ferritin for Nanoparticle Synthesis Modification of the Outer Surface of Ferritin Assembly of Ferritin into Two-dimensional Arrays Use of Ferritin as a Photocatalyst Ferritin-like Proteins Viruses as Protein Cages Cowpea Chlorotic Mottle Virus Cowpea Mosaic Virus Norwalk Virus Virus-like Protein Cages Viruses for Gene Delivery Outlook and Perspectives Keywords: ferritin; protein cage; virus; capsid; virion; self-assembly; ordered array; biomineralization; biomimetic materials; nanomaterials; quantum electronics; composite materials; cowpea chlorotic mottle virus; cowpea mosaic virus; Norwalk virus; gene therapy; drug delivery
Sterol carrier protein-2: not just for cholesterol any more.

Although sterol carrier protein-2 (SCP-2) mediates cholesterol esterification in L-cell fibroblasts and stimulates an accumulation of cholesterol in these cells, a potential role for SCP-2 in fatty acid uptake and trafficking has not been appreciated. Certainly, recent experiments have shown that SCP-2 binds fatty acids in vitro with an affinity similar to that observed for fatty acid binding proteins. Because of the ubiquitous tissue distribution of SCP-2, as opposed to the specific distribution of fatty acid binding proteins, as well as the need for fatty acid trafficking in all cells, I have recently proposed that SCP-2 is the universal fatty acid trafficking protein. This supposition is based on a number of observations made with L-cell fibroblasts expressing either the 13.2 kDa SCP-2 or the 15 kDa proSCP-2. In L-cells expressing the 13.2 kDa SCP-2, fluorescent fatty acid uptake was increased by 10–30% depending upon the probe used. In 15 kDa proSCP-2 expressing cells, fluorescent fatty acid uptake was increased 20–40% depending upon the probe used. However, only expression of the 15 kDa pro-SCP-2 increased the cytoplasmic diffusion of the fluorescent fatty acid. Expression of either protein increased the uptake of [3H]-oleic acid 1.9-fold compared to control, with targeting of [3H]-oleic acid for esterification into cholesteryl esters. The 13.2 kDa SCP-2 did target a significant amount of [3H]-oleic acid for esterification into the triacylglycerol pool. Expression of either protein markedly reduced total cellular phospholipid levels, however both proteins increased cholesteryl ester levels. Interestingly, expression of the 15 kDa proSCP-2 decreased ethanolamine plasmalogen levels with a concomitant increase in choline plasmalogen. Expression of both proteins increased PUFA content of the phospholipids, although this effect was greater in 15 kDa proSCP-2 expressing cells. Hence, expression of SCP-2 increased fatty acid uptake and targeted fatty acid to unique lipid pools, suggesting that SCP-2 may effectively serve as universal fatty acid binding and trafficking protein.
Reliability and Validity of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children in Adolescent Substance Abusers:: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Item Response Theory

The reliability and validity of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) was studied with 443 adolescents with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and adolescents with anxiety disorder. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that a three-factor model fit the data better than a two-factor model. The STAIC had a desirable level of reliability when administered to adolescents with SUD. According to item response theory, all the items of the STAIC were highly discriminating. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory, and reliability indicated that the STAIC was applicable to adolescents.