cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intrauterine Insemination of Isolated Motile Sperm

Semen from infertile males was filtered through liquid albumin, and sperm retrieved from the most distal fraction were used for intrauterine insemination. Compared with the ejaculate, the isolated specimens contained fewer sperm but an increased percentage of motile sperm. The fractions were also free of the debris (white cells, agglutinated sperm, immature forms, and particulate matter) commonly seen in the ejaculates. Despite the improvement in motility none of the 19 women who were treated for a total of 67 cycles became pregnant. It is possible that even the best sperm from a poor specimen may have intrinsic defects that interfere with their ability to fertilize.
Spatial Distribution of Synaptically Activated Sodium Concentration Changes in Cerebellar Purkinje Neurons

Callaway, Joseph C. and William N. Ross. Spatial distribution of synaptically activated sodium concentration changes in cerebellar Purkinje neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 145–152, 1997. The spatial ...
Liver Regeneration in Experimental Carbon Tetrachloride Intoxication.

SummaryAn autoradiographic technic employing tritiated thymidine was used to study liver regeneration in rats treated with a single oral dose of carbon tetrachloride. Results demonstrate that following toxic liver injury synthesis of desoxyribonucleic acid, indicating new cell formation, occurs chiefly in non-necrotic areas of the liver; the regenerative process is diffuse and involves the acinar, intermediate, centrilobular and periportal regions. The highest rate of regeneration is reached 36 to 72 hours following administration of hepatotoxin, when the number of labeled liver cell nuclei is increased more than 250 fold over control values; after 120 hours, the regenerative process is virtually completed and the histological and autoradiographic pattern returns to normal. Under conditions of this experiment, the presence of a plasma factor for liver regeneration could not be demonstrated.
In-stream attenuation of neuro-active pharmaceuticals and their metabolites.

In-stream attenuation was determined for 14 neuro-active pharmaceuticals and associated metabolites. Lagrangian sampling, which follows a parcel of water as it moves downstream, was used to link hydrological and chemical transformation processes. Wastewater loading of neuro-active compounds varied considerably over a span of several hours, and thus a sampling regime was used to verify that the Lagrangian parcel was being sampled and a mechanism was developed to correct measured concentrations if it was not. In-stream attenuation over the 5.4-km evaluated reach could be modeled as pseudo-first-order decay for 11 of the 14 evaluated neuro-active pharmaceutical compounds, illustrating the capacity of streams to reduce conveyance of neuro-active compounds downstream. Fluoxetine and N-desmethyl citalopram were the most rapidly attenuated compounds (t1/2 = 3.6 ± 0.3 h, 4.0 ± 0.2 h, respectively). Lamotrigine, 10,11,-dihydro-10,11,-dihydroxy-carbamazepine, and carbamazepine were the most persistent (t1/2 = 12 ± ...
A New Species of Ardeicola (Mallophaga: Philopteridae) from Thailand

Ardeicola ixobrychae , n. sp., from Ixobrychus cinnamomeus (Gmelin), the Cinnamon Least Bittern, is described and illustrated.
Elucidation of the Chain-Folding Structure of a Semicrystalline Polymer in Single Crystals by Solid-State NMR

Despite tremendous efforts over the last half-century to elucidate the chain-folding (CF) structure of semicrystalline polymers, the re-entrance sites of folded chains, the successive CF number n, and the adjacent re-entry fraction F have not been well characterized due to experimental limitations. In this report, 13C–13C double-quantum (DQ) NMR was used to determine for the first time the detailed CF structure of 13C CH3-labeled isotactic poly(1-butene) (iPB1) in solution-grown crystals blended with nonlabeled iPB1 across a wide range of crystallization temperatures (Tcs). Comparison of the results of DQ experiments and spin dynamics simulations demonstrated that the majority of individual chains possess completely adjacent re-entry structures at both Tc = 60 and ∼0 °C, as well as indicated that a low polymer concentration, not kinetics, leads to cluster formations of single molecules in dilute solution. The changes in crystal habits from hexagonal shapes at Tc = 60 °C to rounded shapes at ∼0 °C (kinetic...
Implementation and Management of Telecom SLA

This paper first explains the conception of SLA (Service Level Agreement), and discusses the importance of telecom SLA and its benefits to telecom operators and subscribers; then analyzes the difficulties and challenges of implementing and managing telecom SLA, it also describes the basic requirements of SLA management; finally, it introduces some of the SLA management systems in the marketplace.
LGBT Parents and Social Media: Advocacy, Privacy, and Disclosure during Shifting Social Movements

Increasing numbers of American parents identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Shifting social movements are beginning to achieve greater recognition for LGBT parents and more rights for their families; however, LGBT parents still experience stigma and judgment in a variety of social contexts. We interviewed 28 LGBT parents to investigate how they navigate their online environments in light of these societal shifts. We find that 1) LGBT parents use social media sites to detect disapproval and identify allies within their social networks; 2) LGBT parents become what we call incidental advocates, when everyday social media posts are perceived as advocacy work even when not intended as such; and 3) for LGBT parents, privacy is a complex and collective responsibility, shared with children, partners, and families. We consider the complexities of LGBT parents' online disclosures in the context of shifting social movements and discuss the importance of supporting individual and collective privacy boundaries in these contexts.
Preconditioning protects coronary arteriolar endothelium from ischemia-reperfusion injury

The objectives of this study were to test the hypotheses that 1) endothelium-dependent regulation of coronary arteriolar reactivity is impaired after ischemia and reperfusion, and 2) preconditioning protects the arteriolar endothelium from reperfusion injury. In anesthetized open-chest dogs, coronary arteriolar diameters (30-110 microns) were measured in the beating heart using intravital microscopy during fluorescent stroboscopic epi-illumination in three groups: 1) control, 2) ischemia and reperfusion: 60-min occlusion and 120-min reperfusion of the left circumflex coronary artery, and 3) preconditioning: 10-min occlusion and reperfusion preceding ischemia-reperfusion. To evaluate endothelial reactivity, the diameter responses of coronary arterioles to the endothelium-dependent vasodilators, acetylcholine and serotonin, were assessed. Ischemia and reperfusion significantly reduced the increase in diameter by serotonin (0 +/- 2 vs. 11 +/- 3% change in controls; P < 0.05) and acetylcholine (7 +/- 2 vs. 20 +/- 2% in controls; P < 0.05). In contrast, preconditioning preserved the dilation to both serotonin (6 +/- 1%) and acetylcholine (24 +/- 3%; both NS vs. control; P < 0.05 vs. ischemia and reperfusion). Dilation by the endothelium-independent vasodilator, papaverine, was similar in the three groups, indicating similar levels of vasodilatory reserve and suggesting that the impaired dilation to acetylcholine and serotonin after ischemia and reperfusion was not due to nonspecific damage to vascular smooth muscle. These data demonstrate that ischemia-reperfusion significantly attenuates endothelium-dependent vasodilation of coronary arterioles in the intact beating heart. Furthermore, preconditioning reduces the endothelial dysfunction of coronary arterioles after ischemia-reperfusion.
Interpretation of Inelastic Light Scattering Measurements in 4He

We describe calculations of the inelastic light scattering spectrum for frequencies of the order of up to several times the roton frequency. The calculations are based on the two body approximation in a theoretical description of the fluid due to Pandiharipande and Manousakis. We use the results to determine the role of two mechanisms for the development of multiquasiparticle structure in the spectrum which we proposed earlier. We find that the mechanism arising from quasiparticle anharmonicities plays a much larger role in producing these structures in the spectrum than does the mechanism arising from nonlinearities in the relation between the density and quasiparticle operators. We find that the three quasiparticle couplings on which the theory rests depend strongly on the magnitudes and directions of the quasiparticles in a way which strongly favors processes involving colinear momenta. This has striking qualitative effects on the details of the predicted spectra.
Non-invasive genetic sampling reveals diet shifts, but little difference in endoparasite richness and faecal glucocorticoids, in Belizean felids inside and outside protected areas

Many Neotropical felids are threatened with extinction due to direct effects of habitat destruction and/or human persecution. However, indirect and synergistic effects of human-felid conflict remain under-studied and potentially include increased stress and diet shifts that may negatively impact felid health. We hypothesized that faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) and endoparasite species richness (ESR) would be higher, and diet would shift, for felids outside protected areas where conflict occurs. In north-western Belize, a scat-detector dog located 336 faecal samples, identified to species and individual using DNA analyses. DNA amplification success was substantially higher within protected areas than outside. We detected jaguar, puma, ocelot, jaguarundi and domestic cat. FGMs were higher in puma and jaguarundi than in other felids, while ESR was similar across felids with domestic cats exhibiting the highest number of genera. Diet partitioning occurred among felids, but domestic cats may compete with ocelot and jaguarundi for small prey. Outside of protected areas, large cats shifted their diet to smaller prey and livestock remains were not found. Contrary to our hypotheses, FGM and ESR did not differ inside versus outside protected areas, but sample sizes were low in human-modified areas. We provide a baseline on wild felid adrenal activity, endoparasites and diet and suggest improvements to increase sample sizes outside protected areas. Our research provides a template for expanding non-invasive sampling approaches more widely across the range of Neotropical felids.
Diastolic dysfunction and heart failure: Mechanism and experimental treatment

I the past, we have focused on heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Recently, we have begun to focus on heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), in which patients suffer from a diastolic dysfunction with a normal or near normal cardiac contraction. Patients with HFrEF typically have hypertension, diabetes, and various cardiomyopathies. They have a stiff ventricle that is non-compliant compared with patients with HFrEF. Diastolic dysfunction or diastolic heart failure is commonly observed in pediatric patients with hypertrophic or restrictive cardiomyopathy, primary hypertension and diabetes. We have generated a transgenic mouse line modeling human restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM). Using this animal model, we have demonstrated that myofibril hypersensitivity to calcium is a key that causes impaired relaxation, i.e. diastolic dysfunction in mice with RCM. Using a genetic way or desensitizing chemical molecules to reduce the myofibril hypersensitivity can correct the diastolic dysfunction and rescue the RCM mice. Calcium desensitization provides us with a promising option in the treatment of diastolic dysfunction and diastolic heart failure.
Maturation of end-systolic stress-strain relations in chick embryonic myocardium

The embryonic myocardium increases functional performance geometrically during cardiac morphogenesis. We investigated developmental changes in the in vivo end-systolic stress-strain relations of embryonic chick myocardium in stage 17, 21, and 24 white Leghorn chick embryos (n = 10 for each stage). End-systolic stress-strain relations were linear in all developmental stages. End-systolic strain decreased from 0.50 +/- 0.02 to 0.31 +/- 0.01 (mean +/- SE, P < 0.05), while average end-systolic wall stress was similar at 3.29 +/- 0.34 to 4.19 +/- 0.43 mmHg (P = 0.14) from stage 17 to 24. Normalized end-systolic myocardial stiffness, a load-independent index of ventricular contractility, increased from 2.98 +/- 0.19 to 6.03 +/- 0.39 mmHg from stage 17 to 24 (P < 0.05). Zero-stress midwall volume increased from 0.024 +/- 0.002 to 0.124 +/- 0.004 microl from stage 17 to 24 (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the embryonic ventricle increases normalized ventricular "contractility" while maintaining average end-systolic wall stress over a relatively narrow range during cardiovascular morphogenesis.
A comparison of alternative cash flow and discount rate news proxies

Abstract This paper evaluates various methods of estimating firm-level Cash Flow and Discount Rate news. The standard VAR approach of Campbell (1991) and Voulteenaho (2002) is compared to two alternatives that use analysts' forecasts as proxies for market expectations: the ICC method of Chen et al. (2013) and the Revisions in Analysts' Forecasts (RAF) method. Methods are evaluated based on (i) the forecast accuracy of cash flow expectations, (ii) association with the other proxies of CF news, and (iii) Monte-Carlo simulations. The results suggest that analysts' forecasts behave as more accurate proxies of market expectations than the VAR system predictions. The ICC method is sensitive to the cash flow forecast errors because it amplifies forecast errors during implied cost of capital estimation. Overall, the RAF method appears to have a greater construct validity than the VAR and ICC methods as it incorporates forward looking information of direct cash flow forecasts and avoids amplification of forecast errors.
A flexible two dimensional force sensor using PDMS nanocomposite

This paper presents a two dimensional force sensor fabricated on PDMS nanocomposite, with patterned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) acting as a force sensing unit. A novel fabrication method is composed of inkjet printing of CNTs onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and subsequent transfer of the CNT patterns to PDMS, resulting in a CNT-elastomer nanocomposite that is flexible and conductive. This approach allows patterning of a large-area conductive carbon nanotube pattern on PDMS. The achieved sheet resistance of the transferred patterns on PDMS was 1.2k/ when printed 35 times, using an office inkjet printer. The fabricated sensor changes its resistance when force is applied perpendicularly to the sensor. A two dimensional force sensor, working on the principle of compression-induced deformation was fabricated and characterized with achieved resolution of four sensing cells per cm2. Additionally, we demonstrate a two dimensional flexible force sensor capable of creating a pressure map of the applied force. Together with inkjet printing, this pattern transfer process represents a highly effective patterning technique for embedding carbon nanotubes in PDMS. Display Omitted A transfer printing technique has been developed to pattern embedded carbon nanotubes onto PDMS.Patterns show good uniformity, forming an embedded CNT network.A highly flexible two dimensional force sensor has been demonstrated, showing the pressure map applied.
A New Type of HJBI Inequality Governing Situations where Certainty Equivalence Fails 1

Abstract This paper deals with the generalization ofHcontrol methods to non-linear systems. The classical certainty equivalence principle says that the measurement feedback can be obtained by applying the state feedback law to a certain ”worst case” estimate of the state. However, all the results to date relied heavily on the assumption that the ”worst case” state is unique. In this paper we study in detail the special case when there are precisely two ”worst case” estimates of the state. Our analysis gives not only sufficient but also necessary conditions for the special case of two ”worst case” estimates of the state. The key element of our construction is a new ”two-point” Hamilton- Jacobi-Isaac-Belman equation which deals with two states at the same time. The results announced here are part of a longer paper which includes more details on smoothness assumption and how to avoid them.
Supply-Side Differences Only Modestly Associated With Inpatient Hospitalizations Among Medicare Beneficiaries in the Last Six Months of Life

Abstract Context Inpatient hospitalizations are a driver of expenditures at the end of life and are a useful proxy for the intensity of care at that time. Objectives Our study profiled rural and urban Medicare decedents to examine whether they differed in rates of inpatient hospital admissions in the last six months of life. Methods Using a sample of 35,831 beneficiaries from the 2013 Medicare Research Identifiable Files, we examined inpatient hospital utilization patterns for a full six months before death. Supply-side variables included the number of hospital beds, certified skilled nursing facility beds, and hospice beds per 1000 residents, plus primary care provider/population ratios. Patient characteristics included age, sex, race/ethnicity, dual eligibility status, region, and chronic conditions. Results In both adjusted and unadjusted analysis, rural vs. urban residence was not associated with an increased risk for hospitalization at the end of life among Medicare beneficiaries nor was there a relationship between the supply of hospital, skilled nursing, and hospice services and the rate of hospitalization. Within rural residents alone, modest effects were found for facility supply. Rural residents in a county without a hospital were slightly less likely than other rural decedents to have been hospitalized during their last six months of life but were no less likely to have used skilled nursing facilities or hospice. Conclusions The absence of major disparities in utilization suggests that end-of-life care is reasonably equitable for rural Medicare beneficiaries.
The relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic drivers to population growth vary among local populations of Greater Sage-Grouse: An integrated population modeling approach

ABSTRACT Consideration of ecological scale is fundamental to understanding and managing avian population growth and decline. Empirically driven models for population dynamics and demographic processes across multiple spatial scales can be powerful tools to help guide conservation actions. Integrated population models (IPMs) provide a framework for better parameter estimation by unifying multiple sources of data (e.g., count and demographic data). Hierarchical structure within such models that include random effects allow for varying degrees of data sharing across different spatiotemporal scales. We developed an IPM to investigate Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) on the border of California and Nevada, known as the Bi-State Distinct Population Segment. Our analysis integrated 13 years of lek count data (n > 2,000) and intensive telemetry (VHF and GPS; n > 350 individuals) data across 6 subpopulations. Specifically, we identified the most parsimonious models among varying random effects and d...
Enhanced forest interior estimations utilizing lidar-assisted 3D forest cover map

Abstract Accurate estimation of forest interior is essential for large scale sustainable forest management. Conventional 2D forest cover maps only indicate the presence and absence of forests and may introduce quantity and allocation bias in the delineation of forest interior due to the inclusion of early successional/recently disturbed forests. We addressed this issue by utilizing both lidar data and National Land Cover Database (NLCD) to generate a 3D forest cover map in the forested region of western North Carolina, USA. We first classified forest cover as either early or late successional based on vertical structural information (using either a single-height threshold or a variable-height threshold by forest type). We then estimated forest interior based on these different forest cover classes and assessed disagreement in quantity and allocation of interior forests as determined using 2D forest cover maps. In addition, we determined spatial relationships between developed areas and forest interiors to evaluate the impact of landscape settings on the estimation of forest interior. Our results indicated that using a single-height threshold, the 3D forest cover map was able to distinguish early vs. late successional forests with a classification accuracy of 96.6%. A similar classification accuracy (94.6%) was achieved when applying variable-height thresholds by forest type. Based on the single-height threshold method, excluding early successional forests (6.4% of all forested area) reduced estimates of forest interior by 10.3%, 9.6% and 10.4% at spatial resolutions of 4.4 ha, 39.7 ha and 234 ha, respectively. Using variable-height threshold by forest type, the estimates of forest interior were approximately 1% less than the estimates using the single-height threshold method due to the slightly decrease of the early successional forest classification (5.7% of all forest area). Our results indicated the forest interior may be overestimated without accounting for successional stage. Moreover, geospatial distance analysis revealed the overestimation of forest interior to be most pronounced in highly-fragmented areas. Our study demonstrated the advantage of considering 3D structural information for the accurate estimation of forest interior, particularly in areas already having fragmented forests. This information can be relatively easily obtained from lidar data. This 3D method will allow for the creation of high-accuracy forest interior maps that can help to answer a variety of ecological questions and improve forest management and conservation.
Microcomputing in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

This is an overview of microcomputing in the Cema (Council for Economic Mutual Assistance) nations, showing the effects of national similarities and differences, intra-CEMA cooperative efforts, and indigenous capabilities, as well as the influence of technology transfer from the West. Cema includes the Soviet Union and the six East European Warsaw Pact nations: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany (GDR), Hungary, Poland, and Romania. (While Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam are also Cema members, their contributions to microcomputing are negligible.)
Modeling of Side-Chain Liquid Crystal Polysiloxanes

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of polysiloxanes havm& cholesterol and methoxynitrostilbene (MONS) substituents tethered 10 the siloxane backbone by an allyloxybenzoate spacer group demonstrated that ordering involving all of the substituents developed quite rapidly, even though only the cholesterol group by itself inherently mesogemc The observed ordering varied with the nature and arrangement of the substituents Generally, strong interactions between cholesterol groups iesulted in the longest lived pair-wise associations. MONS substituents also showed orientation, aosing primarily from their associations with cholesterol mesogens The overall order parameter was typically unaffected by the incorpoiation of MONS at tractions of the order of 25% The polymer having alternating MONS and cholesterol substituents did not develop any significant order Association lifetimes were not simply related to order parameter Polymers which achievea the highest ordei parameters did not exhibit the longest association lifetimes Cholesterol - cholesteiol associations tended to be the longest, MONS - MONS association the shortest.
“Gullible’s Travails”: or How I Eventually Discovered the “Implantation Paradox”

The editors asked me, in writing on my role in the history of neuroendocrinology, to focus mainly on the “implantation paradox.” In that frame of reference, I must discuss three periods of my scientific life. These might be described as “preconceptive” (in several senses), “conceptive,” and “gestational” phases in the development of a view of brain-pituitary-gonadal interplay (Fig. 1) which I guess I “pioneered.” Although I shall emphasize the conceptive phase, the flavor of that adventure can be savored best in the light of what has so far followed, and insight into how I managed to become a “pioneer” requires some understanding of my preconceptive period.
DESIGN OF LINEAR CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR ROBUST STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE

Abstract The problem of robust stability and performance in SISO feedback control systems with structured uncertainty is discussed. A technique based on conformal mapping theory is proposed to reduce the problem to a Nevanlinna-Pick interpolation problem.
ASPEN: a scalable in-SRAM architecture for pushdown automata

Many applications process some form of tree-structured or recursively-nested data, such as parsing XML or JSON web content as well as various data mining tasks. Typical CPU processing solutions are hindered by branch misprediction penalties while attempting to reconstruct nested structures and also by irregular memory access patterns. Recent work has demonstrated improved performance for many data processing applications through memory-centric automata processing engines. Unfortunately, these architectures do not support a computational model rich enough for tasks such as XML parsing. In this paper, we present ASPEN, a general-purpose, scalable, and reconfigurable memory-centric architecture for processing of tree-like data. We take inspiration from previous automata processing architectures, but support the richer deterministic pushdown automata computational model. We propose a custom datapath capable of performing the state matching, stack manipulation, and transition routing operations of pushdown automata, all efficiently stored and computed in memory arrays. Further, we present compilation algorithms for transforming large classes of existing grammars to pushdown automata executable on ASPEN, and demonstrate their effectiveness on four different languages: Cool (object oriented programming), DOT (graph visualization), JSON, and XML. Finally, we present an empirical evaluation of two application scenarios for ASPEN: XML parsing, and frequent subtree mining. The proposed architecture achieves an average 704.5 ns per KB parsing XML compared to 9983 ns per KB in a state-of-the-art XML parser across 23 benchmarks. We also demonstrate a 37.2x and 6x better end-to-end speedup over CPU and GPU implementations of subtree mining.
Management of Stage IV rectal disease – How to incorporate radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery

Abstract Approximately 50–60% of patients diagnosed with rectal cancer either present with or will develop metastatic disease. Treatment for metastatic rectal cancer has evolved due to advances in both medical and surgery therapy and involves a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. This multimodal therapy requires individualization due to a variety of patient and tumor characteristics and results in variability of regimens and the sequence of treatment for metastatic disease. In this article we will review various approaches to the treatment of metastatic rectal cancer combining multimodal chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.
Esophageal cancer treatment costs by phase of care and treatment modality, 2000-2013.

Background Detailed cost estimates are not widely available for esophageal cancer. Our study estimates phase-specific costs for esophageal cancer by age, year, histology, stage, and treatment for older patients in the United States and compares these costs within stage and treatment modalities. Methods We identified 8061 esophageal cancer patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare database for years 1998-2013. Total, cancer-attributable, and patient-liability costs were calculated based on separate phases of care-staging (or surgery), initial, continuing, and terminal. We estimated costs by treatment modality within stage and phase for esophageal adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma separately. We fit linear regression models using log transformation to determine cost by age and calendar year. All costs are reported in 2018 US dollars. Results Overall, mean (95% CI) monthly total cost estimates were high during the staging ($8953 [$8385-$9485]) and initial phases ($7731 [$7492-$7970]), decreased over the continuing phase ($2984 [$2814-$3154]), and increased substantially during the 6-month terminal phase ($18 150 [$17 211-$19 089]). This pattern of high staging and initial phase costs, decreasing continuing phase costs, and increasing terminal phase costs was seen in all stages. The highest staging costs were in stages III ($9249, $8025-$10 474) and II ($9171, $7642-$10 699). The highest initial phase cost was in stage IV, $9263 ($8758-49 768), the lowest continuing phase cost was in stage I, $2338 ($2160-$2517), and the highest terminal phase costs were in stages II ($20 533, $17 772-$23 293) and III ($20 599, $18 268-$22 929). The linear regression models showed that cancer-attributable costs remained stable over the study period and were unaffected by age for most histology, stage, and treatment modality subgroups. Conclusions Our estimates demonstrate that esophageal cancer costs can vary widely by histology, stage, and treatment. These cost estimates can be used to guide future resource allocation for esophageal cancer care and research.
Deficits in the Palliative Care Process Measures in Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Undergoing Operative and Invasive Nonoperative Palliative Procedures

Given survival measured in months, metrics, such as 30-day mortality, are poorly suited to measure the quality of palliative procedures for patients with advanced cancer. Nationally endorsed process measures associated with high-quality PC include code-status clarification, goals-of-care discussions, palliative-care referral, and hospice assessment. The impact of the performance of these process measures on subsequent healthcare utilization is unknown. Administrative data and manual review were used to identify hospital admissions with performance of palliative procedures for advanced pancreatic cancer at two tertiary care hospitals from 2011 to 2016. Natural language processing, a form of computer-assisted abstraction, identified process measures in associated free-text notes. Healthcare utilization was compared using a Cox proportional hazard model. We identified 823 hospital admissions with performance of a palliative procedure. PC process measures were identified in 68% of admissions. Patients with documented process measures were older (66 vs. 63; p = 0.04) and had a longer length of stay (9 vs. 6 days; p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, patients treated by surgeons were less likely to have PC process measures performed (odds ratio 0.19; 95% confidence interval 0.10–0.37). Performance of PC process measures was associated with decreased healthcare utilization in a Cox proportional hazard model. PC process measures were not performed in almost one-third of hospital admissions for palliative procedures in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Performance of established high-quality process measures for seriously ill patients undergoing palliative procedures may help patients to avoid burdensome, high-intensity care at the end-of-life.
Self-paced tutorials to support evidence-based practice and information literacy in online health sciences education

Information literacy instruction for evidence-based practice in health sciences education often centers around literature review assignments in research courses. Librarians may have limited opportu...
Extending Maximal Perfect Haplotype Blocks to the Realm of Pangenomics

Recent work provides the first method to measure the relative fitness of genomic variants within a population that scales to large numbers of genomes. A key component of the computation involves finding conserved haplotype blocks, which can be done in linear time. Here, we extend the notion of conserved haplotype blocks to pangenomes, which can store more complex variation than a single reference genome. We define a maximal perfect pangenome haplotype block and give a linear-time, suffix tree based approach to find all such blocks from a set of pangenome haplotypes. We demonstrate the method by applying it to a pangenome built from yeast strains.
Abstract 141: G9a regulates tumorigenicity and stemness through genome-wide DNA methylation reprogramming in non-small cell lung cancer

Eukaryotic Histone Methyltransferase 2 (EHMT2 or G9A) has been regarded as a potential target for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) therapy. To investigate the regulatory roles of G9A in tumorigenesis, and stemness, we isolated and enriched tumor-initiating cells (TIC) from surgically resected NSCLC tissues by FACS and sphere formation assays. We then knocked down G9A using shRNA and carried out genome-wide 850K methylation array and RNA sequence analyses. We identified 67 genes hypomethylated and 143 genes upregulated following G9A knockdown of which 43 genes were both hypomethylated and upregulated. We selected 6 genes (CDYL2, DPP4, SP5, FOXP1, STAMBPL1 and ROBO1) for validation. These genes are involved in epigenetic regulation in human cancers, signaling pathways, other biological processes and have roles in patients9 prognosis. In addition, G9A expression was higher in TICs and targeting G9a by shRNA knockdown or by selective inhibitor UNC0638 significantly inhibited the expression of cancer stem cell markers and sphere forming capacity, in vitro proliferation and in vivo growth. Further, transient overexpression of FOXP1 in TICs resulted in downregulation of stem cell markers and sphere forming capacity and cell proliferation in vitro indicating that the genes we identified are directly regulated by G9A through aberrant DNA methylation and subsequent expression. These data suggest that G9A contributes to epigenetic regulation by maintaining DNA methylation of multiple genes genome-wide and their expression. Citation Format: Rajendra P. Pangeni, Lu Yang, Keqiang Zhang, Jinhui Wang, Wendong Li, Chao Guo, Xinwei Yun, Ting Sun, Jami Wang, Dan J. Raz. G9a regulates tumorigenicity and stemness through genome-wide DNA methylation reprogramming in non-small cell lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 141.
Between shame and a shared world: Toward a democratized theory of heterodoxical awareness:

This article develops a democratized account of heterodoxy that draws attention to how heterodoxical discourses may implicitly arise through social interaction. The analysis is based on one rural B...
On Trusting a Cyber Librarian: How Rethinking Underlying Data Storage Infrastructure Can Mitigate Risksof Automation

The increased ability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to generate and parse texts will inevitably lead to more proposals for AI’s use in the semantic sentiment analysis (SSA) of textual sources. We argue that instead of focusing solely on debating the merits of automated versus manual processing and analysis of texts, it is critical to also rethink our underlying storage and representation formats. Further, we argue that accommodating multivariate metadata exemplifies how underlying data storage infrastructure can reshape the ethical debate surrounding the use of such algorithms. In other words, a system that employs automated analysis typically requires manual intervention to assess the quality of its output, and thus demands that we select between multiple competing NLP algorithms. Settling on an algorithm or ensemble is not a decision that has to be made a priori, but when made, involves implicit ethical considerations. An underlying storage and representation system that allows for the existence and evaluation of multiple variants of the same source data, while maintaining attribution to the individual sources of each variant, would be a much-needed enhancement to existing storage technologies, as well as, facilitate the interpretation of proliferating AI semantic analysis technologies. To this end, we take the view that AI functions as (or acts as an implicate meta-ordering of) the SSA sociotechnical system in a manner that allows for novel solutions for safer cyber curation. This can be done by holding the attribution of source data in symmetrical relationship to its further multiple differing annotations as coexisting data points within a single publishing ecosystem. In this way, the AI program allows for the annotations of individual and aggregate data by means of competing algorithmic models, or varying degrees of human intervention. We discuss the feasibility of such a scheme, using our own infrastructure model, (MultiVerse), as an illustrative model for such a system, and analyse its ethical implications.
Immigrant and Refugee Youth Organizing in Solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives

In recent years, politically active Latinx and Asian American Pacific Islander youth have addressed anti-Black racism within their own immigrant and refugee communities, engaged in protests against...
Halophiles and their enzymes: negativity put to good use

Halophilic microorganisms possess stable enzymes that function in very high salinity, an extreme condition that leads to denaturation, aggregation, and precipitation of most other proteins. Genomic and structural analyses have established that the enzymes of halophilic Archaea and many halophilic Bacteria are negatively charged due to an excess of acidic over basic residues, and altered hydrophobicity, which enhance solubility and promote function in low water activity conditions. Here, we provide an update on recent bioinformatic analysis of predicted halophilic proteomes as well as experimental molecular studies on individual halophilic enzymes. Recent efforts on discovery and utilization of halophiles and their enzymes for biotechnology, including biofuel applications are also considered.
Implementing Competition Law in Asia: Using European and US Experience

Asian states will develop their own competition law systems on their own terms and on the basis of their own institutions, traditions, and goals. In making choices about the structure and operations of their competition law systems, however, they are likely to look to US and European concepts and institutions. There may be value, therefore, in looking at how such concepts and institutions have there been used in implementing competition law and assessing how Asian governments, competition law officials and attorneys can evaluate and utilize this experience.This Article will first identify some of the basic issues relating to the implementation of competition law. It then looks at experience with implementing competition law in the US and in Europe. Thereafter I analyze the differences in those two arenas of experience and make some suggestions as to how that experience might be useful to decisionmakers in Asia.
Migration of i.c. injected BMDCs from brain to deep cervical lymph nodes is CCR7 dependent but does not promote EAE disease progression (CCR1P.244)

Cell-mediated antigen (Ag) drainage from the central nervous system (CNS) is incompletely understood. In other organs, Ag-presenting cells—such as dendritic cells (DCs)—migrate from organ tissue through lymphatics to draining lymph nodes (dLNs); however, classical lymphatic vessels are not found in the CNS and few migratory tissue DCs populate neuropil. In the context of neuroinflammation associated with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), intracerebral (i.c.) injection of myelin peptide-loaded bone marrow (BM)DCs exacerbates disease, suggesting that increasing the number of CNS-DCs promotes EAE progression. However, whether CNS-infiltrating DCs transport Ag to dLNs for T cell priming or restimulate myelin-specific effector T cells in situ within developing CNS inflammatory lesions is unknown. Since migration of i.c. injected BMDCs to dLNs is pertussis toxin sensitive—and thus likely regulated by G proteins/ chemokine receptors—we sought to identify key chemokine receptors that govern DC migration from CNS to dLN. Here we report that 1) CCR7+/+ but not CCR7-/- BMDCs appear in dLNs after i.c. injection, 2) CCR7-/- DCs accumulate in CNS but not dLNs during EAE compared to CCR7+/+ DCs, 3) CCR7 is not necessary for i.c. injected BMDCs to exacerbate EAE, and 4) ablation of CCR7+/+ DCs during onset of EAE leads to increased CNS T cell cytokine production. These data suggest CCR7-dependent DC migration from CNS to dLN might regulate T cell responses in early EAE.
Transactions costs and the controversial good or service

The consumption of some goods and services is controversial - for example, marijuana, prostitution, etc. In Kohn (1986), I treat the problem of the controversial good or service (CGS) as a case of market failure caused by adverse interpersonal externalities and propose a solution based on Pigouvian taxation. Littlechild and Wiseman (1986) criticize the market failure approach because it fails to provide a criterion that selects the particular goods or services with respect to which government policy should be implemented. For the market failure approach to be useful, Littlechild and Wiseman (1986: 167) call for '... a rule to decide what kinds of externality are to be treated as policyrelevant, since without such a rule few human actions can be excluded.' Their argument is a valid one; this paper considers such a rule, based on consumer and producer surplus and transactions costs.
Effects of artificial cracks and poisson's ratio upon photoelastic stress-intensity determination

A series of stress-freezing photoelastic experiments were performed with multiple replications upon edge-cracked strips for three types of “cracks” in current use: (1) Rectangular slots 0.152 mm wide, (2) 1.59-mm-wide slots terminating in a 30-deg vee notch of approximately 0.025-mm root radius, and (3) Natural cracks (approximately 0.0025-mm root radius).
Indoor versus Outdoor Calf Rearing at Three Weaning Ages

Abstract Sixty Holstein calves were randomly allotted to two housing systems (inside and outside) and three weaning ages (3, 5, and 7 weeks) within each housing system. Individual outdoor calf hutches and individual pens in an insulated heated barn were utilized for the initial 14 weeks. At 14 weeks of age all calves were group housed in outdoor sheds and remained there until 26 weeks old. Average daily gains were not significantly different (P > .05) between weaning ages or housing systems. Calves weaned at 3 weeks consumed significantly more starter (P .05) by housing systems or weaning ages. Housing systems had no effect (P > .05) on the incidence of scours or pneumonia, but the incidence of scours was higher (P
Stratospheric motions as noted from daily rocket soundings

During January 17 to February 11, 1977, daily rocket soundings were made from several stations in the U.S. Meteorological Rocket Network in order to provide a data base for investigation of the temporal and spatial variability of the stratosphere. Daily changes in the calculated heights of constant-pressure levels are investigated and found to be occasionally very large, and sometimes occurring simultaneously at more than one station. Objectively analyzed daily constant-pressure charts of height and temperature at the 5-, 2-, 1-, and 0.4-mb levels and Fourier analyses of these fields indicate the regular movement of synoptic-scale systems. Comparisons between constant pressure charts containing both rocket and VTPR satellite data with those using only the satellite information indicate substantial differences in several parameters.
Extremely high values of prostate-specific antigen in patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate; demonstration of the hook effect.

We reviewed 721 consecutive samples submitted for measurement of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) over five months. We identified three patients with extremely high PSA concentrations: 650, 1840, and 3280 micrograms/L (their acid phosphatase activities were 3.2, 1337, and 2.8 U/L, respectively), and present case reports for the latter two. Serial dilutions of samples obtained from the patient with the highest PSA concentration indicated that the one-step Tandem-PSA assay gave falsely low values for high concentrations of PSA, an observation consistent with the phenomenon of the "hook effect." This effect was not observed when the sample was reanalyzed for PSA by a two-step procedure.
Epigenetic promoter silencing in Friedreich ataxia is dependent on repeat length

Objective Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is caused by an expanded GAA triplet-repeat (GAA-TR) mutation in the FXN gene. Patients are typically homozygous for expanded alleles containing 100 to 1,300 triplets, and phenotypic severity is significantly correlated with the length of the shorter of the 2 expanded alleles. Patients have a severe deficiency of FXN transcript, which is predominantly caused by epigenetic silencing of the FXN promoter. We sought to determine whether the severity of FXN promoter silencing is related to the length of the expanded GAA-TR mutation in FRDA. Methods Patient-derived lymphoblastoid cell lines bearing a range of expanded alleles (200–1,122 triplets) were evaluated for FXN transcript levels by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. FXN promoter function was directly measured by quantitative analysis of transcriptional initiation via metabolic labeling of newly synthesized transcripts in living cells. Results FXN transcriptional deficiency was significantly correlated with the length of the shorter of the 2 expanded alleles, which was noted both upstream (R2 = 0.84, p = 0.014) and downstream (R2 = 0.89, p = 0.002) of the expanded GAA-TR mutation, suggesting that FXN promoter silencing in FRDA is related to repeat length. A bilinear regression model revealed that length dependence was strongest when the shorter of the 2 expanded alleles contained 400 triplets in the shorter of the 2 expanded alleles revealed a significantly greater deficiency in individuals with longer GAA-TR alleles (p < 0.05). Interpretation FXN promoter silencing in FRDA is dependent on the length of the expanded GAA-TR mutation. Ann Neurol 2014;76:522–528
Smectite Clays as Adsorbents of Aflatoxin B1: Initial Steps

Smectite clay has been shown to sorb aflatoxin B1 (AfB1) in animal feed 2) and thereby reduce its toxic influence on animals and its entrance to the human food chain. In an effort to find effective adsorbents, 39 samples proposed to adsorb aflatoxin were analyzed and classified into four groups based on their properties: coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE), pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic carbon, microbial content and x-ray diffraction (XRD) spacings. A subset of 20 bentonite samples from commercial sources and reference minerals from 6 US-states and 2 sites in Mexico was selected for sorption determinations. A 10-fold difference in sorption based on the Langmuir equation was observed. Yet clay properties were mostly clustered and it is not clear which properties influence this variation. The basal spacing of AfB1 saturated smectites exhibited greater resistance to collapse on heating than untreated smectites indicating that AfB1 entered the interlayer galleries of the smectites. After heating the mycotoxin-clay complex the desorbed mycotoxin was altered indicating a reaction of the molecules with the clay surface. The most effective sorbent smectite samples were from three US-states (MS, ID, TX).