cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Open Letter to Our Students: Doing Interdisciplinary Moral Psychology

This chapter offers some recommendations and guiding principles for conducting interdisciplinary moral psychology research, which will benefit students and experienced scholars alike. It is especially helpful to scholars in the humanities looking to apply scientific methods to their work. Drawing from work at the intersection of philosophy and the cognitive and neural sciences, this chapter offers valuable advice for how to critically evaluate the scientific literature and avoid common pitfalls.
Biomechanics of Ligaments: From Molecular Biology to Joint Function

Head injury remains a worldwide problem for public health professionals. Even with the advent of the airbag in automobiles, the incidence of head injury does not appear to be decreasing rapidly. There is also uncertainty about the mechanisms of brain injury. Based on research conducted over the past four decades, the current understanding is that angular acceleration is more damaging than linear acceleration, even though in any head impact, both forms of acceleration are usually present. Recent studies on brain motion confirm that there is a iA 5 mm relative displacement of the brain with respect to the skull during angular acceleration and that this displacement is minimal for purely linear motion. The relative displacement does not appear to increase beyond the iA 5 mm limit at high levels of angular acceleration (> 10,000 rad/s2 ). It also appears to be independent of the axis of rotation of the head . A validated mathematical model of brain injury was used to confirm this experimental finding. In a separate experiment, it was found that a helmeted head sustained the same degree of angular acceleration as the unhelmeted head for the same impact, but its linear acceleration was decreased significantly. So, if angular acceleration is the cause of brain injury, then how is the brain protected by the helmet? This paper proposes a new hypothesis of brain injury and suggests that the traditional thinking regarding linear and angular acceleration should be abolished in favor of considering response variables instead of input variables. The proposed variables to be studied are strain rate and the product of strain and strain rate.
BLM’s National Greater Sage-Grouse Planning Strategy — What it Means for Montana

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for managing over 50% of the remaining Greater Sage-Grouse habitat throughout their range. In July, 2011 the BLM National Greater Sage-Grouse Planning Strategy was released as a supplement to the 2004 BLM National Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy and the 2006 Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) Greater Sage-Grouse Comprehensive Conservation Strategy. This was in part due to the March 2010 petition decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as “Warranted but Precluded” and settlement discussions between the FWS and Nongoverment Organizations (NGOs) over candidate species. The listing decision identified inadequate BLM regulatory mechanisms as a major factor in this decision. Principle regulatory mechanisms are conservation measures in Resource Management Plans (RMPs). Habitat for the Greater Sage-Grouse is found within five planning units in Montana. In December 2011 BLM issued instruction to offices on; 1) how BLM is to manage activities occurring within habitat for the Greater Sage-Grouse until RMPs amendments or revisions are completed, and 2) management actions and conservation options to be considered when developing RMP amendments or revisions. RMPs are to be completed or revised by December, 2014. This direction identifies actions for BLM programs with the potential to impact Greater Sage-Grouse. BLM is committed to reducing threats to Greater Sage-Grouse habitat on BLM lands in Montana through changes in management.
Speleothems: General Overview

Speleothems are secondary mineral deposits formed in caves by flowing, dripping, or seeping water. The most commonly occurring minerals are calcite, aragonite, and gypsum although many other minerals have been found in speleothems. The shapes of speleothems are determined by a competition between the dynamics of the water and the crystal growth habits of the constituent minerals. Stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and other speleothems deposited from dripping for flowing water take shapes dictated by the details of the flow behavior. Helictites, anthodites, and gypsum flowers formed from seeping water and various pool deposits take shapes dictated by the habit of crystal growth. Tan, orange, and brown colors common to calcite speleothems and also their luminescence under ultraviolet light is due to inclusion of humic and fulvic acid from overlying soils. Speleothems are also found in lava tubes.
Starting Young: Trends in Opioid Therapy Among US Adolescents and Young Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the Truven MarketScan Database Between 2007 and 2015.

Background Opioids are commonly prescribed for relief in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Emerging evidence suggests that adolescents and young adults are a vulnerable population at particular risk of becoming chronic opioid users and experiencing adverse effects. Objectives This study evaluates trends in the prevalence and persistence of chronic opioid therapy in adolescents and young adults with IBD in the United States. Method A longitudinal retrospective cohort analysis was conducted with the Truven MarketScan Database from 2007 to 2015. Study subjects were 15-29 years old with ≥2 IBD diagnoses (Crohn's: 555/K50; ulcerative colitis: 556/K51). Opioid therapy was identified with prescription claims within the Truven therapeutic class 60: opioid agonists. Persistence of opioid use was evaluated by survival analysis for patients who remained in the database for at least 3 years following index chronic opioid therapy use. Results In a cohort containing 93,668 patients, 18.2% received chronic opioid therapy. The annual prevalence of chronic opioid therapy increased from 9.3% in 2007 to 10.8% in 2015 (P < 0.01), peaking at 12.2% in 2011. Opioid prescriptions per patient per year were stable (approximately 5). Post hoc Poisson regression analyses demonstrated that the number of opioid pills dispensed per year increased with age and was higher among males. Among the 2503 patients receiving chronic opioid therapy and followed longitudinally, 30.5% were maintained on chronic opioid therapy for 2 years, and 5.3% for all 4 years. Conclusion Sustained chronic opioid use in adolescents and young adults with IBD is increasingly common, underscoring the need for screening and intervention for this vulnerable population.
Homing and Egg Discrimination in the Western Slimy Salamander, Plethodon albagula (Caudata: Plethodontidae)

In some species of vertebrates egg brooding is a costly form of parental care. Therefore, misdirection of parental care can significantly lower a female's fitness. Because of the maternal investment and increased survivorship to offspring from egg guarding, a brooding female should home to her nest site after being displaced a short distance and discriminate between her own eggs and eggs from other females. In this study, we experimentally tested, in the field, alternative hypotheses concerning homing ability and egg discrimination in a population of nesting western slimy salamanders (Plethodon albagula). Fourteen brooding females were displaced 1 m to the left or right of their nest sites (determined randomly) for the homing experiment. Furthermore, brooding females (n = 13) were presented with their own clutches, which were displaced 50 cm to the left or right (determined randomly), and unfamiliar egg clutches at their original nest sites. The females were released at an equal distance from both egg clutches. After 24 hours, 12 displaced females (86%) had returned to their own nest sites and were brooding their egg clutches. Also, after 24 hours, nine test females had returned to their own nest sites and were brooding the unfamiliar egg clutches. No control or test females were present at the other new nest site locations. Therefore, we suggest that brooding female P. albagula do home to their nest sites and exhibit indirect egg discrimination.
Vegetation Effects on Bacteria and Denitrifier Abundance in the Soils of Two Tidal Freshwater Wetlands in Virginia

This study examined the abundance of bacteria and nirS-type denitrifiers associated with the rhizospheres of three emergent macrophyte species (Juncus effusus, Typha latifolia, and Peltandra virginica) to gain a greater understanding of plant-microbe interactions in wetland soils. Sampling of plant and soil properties was performed during the growing season (June) and following plant senescence (November) at two tidal freshwater wetlands. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the abundance of bacteria (16S rRNA) and nirS-type denitrifier genes from the rhizosphere and rhizoplane of each plant species and from nearby unvegetated soils. For bacteria, there was a positive rhizosphere effect that did not differ significantly across plant species. In contrast, significant differences in the abundance of nirS-type denitrifiers were observed across the plant species. Rhizosphere abundance was ∼2-fold greater in Peltandra virginica and 4-fold greater in Typha latifolia compared to Juncus effusus. For both bacteria and nirS-type denitrifiers, plant effects were greater during the growing season, and abundance was highly correlated with soil pH, moisture, and organic matter content. Overall, these results demonstrate plant effects on the rhizosphere microbial community can be species‐specific and that there is a synergistic relationship between plant species and environmental conditions.
Active Support Control Strategy for PV and Battery Generation System in Weak Grid Condition

With the large-scale access of distributed new energy such as photovoltaic and wind power, the increasing load type and the increasing difference of peak-valley, voltage fluctuation and transformer overload often occur in weak grid. These problems have brought great inconvenience to people's production and life. In order to solve this problem, this paper presents an active/reactive power active support control strategy based on PV and battery generation system. The control strategy takes the current voltage and current data as input, the capacity of the transformer and PV - battery generation system as the constraint condition, and through adjust the output of active/reactive power to achieve the goal of improving grid-connected point voltage stability and reducing the difference of peak- valley. Finally, the experimental results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the control algorithm.
Spatial synchronization codes from coupled rate-phase neurons.

During spatial navigation, the frequency and timing of spikes from spatial neurons including place cells in hippocampus and grid cells in medial entorhinal cortex are temporally organized by continuous theta oscillations (6–11 Hz). The theta rhythm is regulated by subcortical structures including the medial septum, but it is unclear how spatial information from place cells may reciprocally organize subcortical theta-rhythmic activity. Here we recorded single-unit spiking from a constellation of subcortical and hippocampal sites to study spatial modulation of rhythmic spike timing in rats freely exploring an open environment. Our analysis revealed a novel class of neurons that we termed ‘phaser cells,’ characterized by a symmetric coupling between firing rate and spike theta-phase. Phaser cells encoded space by assigning distinct phases to allocentric isocontour levels of each cell’s spatial firing pattern. In our dataset, phaser cells were predominantly located in the lateral septum, but also the hippocampus, anteroventral thalamus, lateral hypothalamus, and nucleus accumbens. Unlike the unidirectional late-to-early phase precession of place cells, bidirectional phase modulation acted to return phaser cells to the same theta-phase along a given spatial isocontour, including cells that characteristically shifted to later phases at higher firing rates. Our dynamical models of intrinsic theta-bursting neurons demonstrated that experience-independent temporal coding mechanisms can qualitatively explain (1) the spatial rate-phase relationships of phaser cells and (2) the observed temporal segregation of phaser cells according to phase-shift direction. In open-field phaser cell simulations, competitive learning embedded phase-code entrainment maps into the weights of downstream targets, including path integration networks. Bayesian phase decoding revealed error correction capable of resetting path integration at subsecond timescales. Our findings suggest that phaser cells may instantiate a subcortical theta-rhythmic loop of spatial feedback. We outline a framework in which location-dependent synchrony reconciles internal idiothetic processes with the allothetic reference points of sensory experience.
Effect of interposed tissue and contamination on the initial stability of a highly porous press-fit acetabular cup.

For biologic fixation, press-fit acetabular cups should have initial stability with minimal micromotion and osteoconductive surfaces in contact with bone. Inadequate exposure potentially influences initial stability by increasing the possibility of soft tissue interposition and contamination at the implant-tissue interface. A sawbone model was used to examine how interposed tissue and contamination influence initial cup stability. Seven groups (n = 4) were tested with varying levels of interposed fatty and fibrous tissue placed around the rim of the cup. 54 millimeter in diameter highly porous hemispherical acetabular cups (Stryker, Mahwah NJ) and 54 mm reamed cavities in sawbone blocks were used. Shells were seated and maximum lever out force was recorded for each sample. Cups with fibrous tissue spaced evenly along the rim had a lever out force that was 150% of the control (107 ± 6 vs. 150 ± 12N, p = 0.005), and fatty tissue contamination had a lever out force that was 140% of the control (143 ± 18 vs. 107 ± 6N, p = 0.04). Cups with fibrous tissue placed eccentrically along the rim had a lever out force that was double the control 107 ± 6 N vs. 200 ± 15 N (p = 0.001). Surprisingly, fatty tissue contamination and fibrous tissue interposition at the rim increased initial stability. The eccentrically interposed tissue forced the opposite pole of the cup into the bone, resulting in a more secure press-fit. However, soft tissue interposition decreases implant/bone apposition, and the effect on long term fixation is unknown. Statement of Clinical Significance: Soft tissue interposition between the bone and cup may provide higher initial stability, but its long-term effects are unknown. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res.
Causes of Abdominal Pain

Abdominal pain can be very challenging to diagnose and treat. It is important to have a good knowledge of the anatomy, symptoms and signs related to acute and chronic abdominal diseases. The establishment of a differential diagnosis, will lead to appropriate clinical tests; subsequently providing the basis for a good management plan.
Effect of Design Variables and System-Level Constraints on Heat Pipes Heatsink Performance: Part II - Heat Pipes Staggering and Non-Uniform In-Server Conditions

In order to investigate the limitations and the theoretical cooling limit of the heat pipe heatsink technology, a parametric study of high-performance heatsinks under different design and in-service constraints was conducted. Although the fluid dynamics and heat transfer of finned heatsinks are well-documented, both experimental and numerical investigations have focused on flowbench-type boundary conditions. Therefore, the impact of surrounding IT equipment, such as upstream electronics, CPU power map, etc., has not be considered for comprehensive design optimization. In this second paper a computational model was developed to investigate the effect of non-uniform features on the heatsink thermal behavior. Of particular interest to this study is to examine the advantages of different heat pipes arrangements while keeping the heat pipes number constant. Four different heat pipes patterns were compared with the original design thermal performance as the associated flow impedance is presented. The impact of non-uniform air flow induced by the upstream IT equipment on the heatsink thermal performance was investigated by dividing the air flow in different number of air streams for different inlet opening percentage. For all analyzed opening areas, the four air streams case presented the best heatsink thermal performance. In order to study the effect of non-uniform heat source over the heatsink thermal behavior, a parametric analysis focused on both power distribution and hotspot orientation with respect the airflow was carried out. Nine symmetrical and three asymmetric fictitious CPU power maps were analyzed. Better heatsink thermal performances were achieved as the heat sources were located away from the center.
Learning and Learning about Religious Knowledge

A few weeks ago I picked up an old copy of Lyman Abbott’s Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, first published in 1875. It is a peculiar book, a dictionary of religious knowledge. Reading it in 2019,...
Effector gene expression underlying neuron subtype-specific traits in the Motor Ganglion of Ciona.

Abstract The central nervous system of the Ciona larva contains only 177 neurons. The precise regulation of neuron subtype-specific morphogenesis and differentiation observed during the formation of this minimal connectome offers a unique opportunity to dissect gene regulatory networks underlying chordate neurodevelopment. Here we compare the transcriptomes of two very distinct neuron types in the hindbrain/spinal cord homolog of Ciona, the Motor Ganglion (MG): the Descending decussating neuron (ddN, proposed homolog of Mauthner Cells in vertebrates) and the MG Interneuron 2 (MGIN2). Both types are invariantly represented by a single bilaterally symmetric left/right pair of cells in every larva. Supernumerary ddNs and MGIN2s were generated in synchronized embryos and isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting for transcriptome profiling. Differential gene expression analysis revealed ddN- and MGIN2-specific enrichment of a wide range of genes, including many encoding potential “effectors” of subtype-specific morphological and functional traits. More specifically, we identified the upregulation of centrosome-associated, microtubule-stabilizing/bundling proteins and extracellular guidance cues part of a single intrinsic regulatory program that might underlie the unique polarization of the ddNs, the only descending MG neurons that cross the midline. Consistent with our predictions, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated, tissue-specific elimination of two such candidate effectors, Efcab6-related and Netrin1, impaired ddN polarized axon outgrowth across the midline.
Utility Of 9-Color, 11-Parameter Flow Cytometry For Detection Of Plasma Cell Neoplasms: A Comparison With Bone Marrow Morphologic Findings and Concurrent M-Protein Studies In Serum and Urine

Background Multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) is a widely available laboratory platform used for primary diagnosis of mature B-cell and plasma cell (PC) neoplasms. Ongoing advances in myeloma therapeutics have drawn attention to the need for advanced laboratory methods for monitoring disease response and defining disease eradication. Recent literature indicates that achievement of remission based on sensitive MFC criteria is prognostically superior to remissions defined by older criteria based on monitoring of paraproteins in blood and urine. As such, the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) recommends MFC for minimal residual disease (MRD) testing during clinical trials for multiple myeloma (MM). This study validates a sensitive 9-color, 11-parameter, two-tube MFC assay suitable for both the initial diagnosis of patients with paraproteinemias and MRD monitoring in MM. Method We established and validated a 9-color, 11-parameter MFC assay in our laboratory. The 9-color tube contained cytoplasmic κ/cytoplasmic λ/CD45/CD38/CD56/CD138/CD19/CD117/CD20. Results of the MFC were compared to bone marrow microscopic examinations, immunohistochemical (IHC) studies and serum/urine M-protein measurements ordered on 363 samples from patients with documented or suspected PC neoplasms and IgM paraproteinemias. Results Total preparation time is approximately 90 minutes (“hands-on” time under 30 minutes) for up to 3 concurrent specimens. The assay is performed in two tubes (control and PC panel) with analysis of up to 1.8 x 106 total bone marrow cells/tube. The mean instrument analysis time was ∼5 minutes/tube (range 1-9 minutes). MFC detected clonal PCs in 19% and 23% of cases in which IHC or morphologic evaluation, respectively, failed to show a clonal plasma cell population. The MFC assay consistently detected clonal PC in bone marrow aspirates when serum M-protein levels were above 1g/dl. The frequency of clonal PC detection by MFC fell in concert with M-protein levels. However, in 11% of patients, MFC detected clonal PC after serum and urine immunofixation studies turned negative. Conclusion We conclude that the assay described herein is suitable when immunologic studies are indicated for either primary diagnosis or MRD detection in PC neoplasms. It equals or exceeds sensitivities reported in the literature and it is readily integrated into a high volume, multipurpose clinical flow cytometry laboratory. Disclosures: Keren: Sebia, Inc (Norcross, GA). : Consultancy.
Transmit Pattern Analysis for Active Incoherent Microwave Imaging

A microwave imaging technique that enables fast image reconstruction without heamforming using low cost receivers has recently been demonstrated by the authors. Using multiple noise transmitters separated by a large number of wavelengths, an incoherent radiation pattern illuminates the scene mimicking the properties of thermal radiation. The receive array takes advantage of the spatial incoherence of the reflections, producing two-dimensional imagery of the scene. In this paper a study to quantify the incoherence of the transmit radiation pattern is presented using the average mutual coherence metric.
Scene Graph Prediction With Limited Labels

Visual knowledge bases such as Visual Genome power numerous applications in computer vision, including visual question answering and captioning, but suffer from sparse, incomplete relationships. All scene graph models to date are limited to training on a small set of visual relationships that have thousands of training labels each. Hiring human annotators is expensive, and using textual knowledge base completion methods are incompatible with visual data. In this paper, we introduce a semi-supervised method that assigns probabilistic relationship labels to a large number of unlabeled images using few labeled examples. We analyze visual relationships to suggest two types of image-agnostic features that are used to generate noisy heuristics, whose outputs are aggregated using a factor graph-based generative model. With as few as 10 labeled examples per relationship, the generative model creates enough training data to train any existing state-of-the-art scene graph model. We demonstrate that our method outperforms all baseline approaches on scene graph prediction by5.16 recall@100 for PREDCLS. In our limited label setting, we define a complexity metric for relationships that serves as an indicator (R^2 = 0.778) for conditions under which our method succeeds over transfer learning, the de-facto approach for training with limited labels.
Detection of E. coli labeled with metal-conjugated antibodies using lateral-flow assay and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

This study explores the adoption of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for the analysis of lateral-flow immunoassays (LFIAs). Gold (Au) nanoparticles are standard biomolecular labels among LFIAs, typically detected via colorimetric means. A wide diversity of lanthanide-complexed polymers (LCPs) are also used as immunoassay labels but are inapt for LFIAs due to lab-bound detection instrumentation. This is the first study to show the capability of LIBS to transition LCPs into the realm of LFIAs, and one of the few to apply LIBS to biomolecular label detection in complete immunoassays. Initially, an in-house LIBS system was optimized to detect an Au standard through a process of line selection across acquisition delay times, followed by determining limit of detection (LOD). The optimized LIBS system was applied to Au-labeled Escherichia coli detection on a commercial LFIA; comparison with colorimetric detection yielded similar LODs (1.03E4 and 8.890E3 CFU/mL respectively). Optimization was repeated with lanthanide standards to determine if they were viable alternatives to Au labels. It was found that europium (Eu) and ytterbium (Yb) may be more favorable biomolecular labels than Au. To test whether Eu-complexed polymers conjugated to antibodies could be used as labels in LFIAs, the conjugates were successfully applied to E. coli detection in a modified commercial LFIA. The results suggest interesting opportunities for creating highly multiplexed LFIAs. Multiplexed, sensitive, portable, and rapid LIBS detection of biomolecules concentrated and labeled on LFIAs is highly relevant for applications like food safety, where in-field food contaminant detection is critical. Graphical abstract.
Health Services for Addiction Treatment and Levels of Care

Health services for substance use disorders include the multidisciplinary factors that affect the content, access, economics, and treatment outcomes of patients. Among these is the influential concept that addictive disorders are chronic illnesses best addressed through a continuum of care wherein the clinical characteristics of patients are matched to therapeutic services. The patient placement criteria of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) exemplify this approach. These criteria are now accepted by government agencies and commercial insurers in authorizing and paying for treatment. Providers, patients, and payers are increasingly emphasizing the measurement of value and performance in the delivery of health services. The treatment of substance use disorders is the focus of substantial quality and performance scrutiny, and the development of suitable measures of quality performance is underway.
Flavopiridol (Alvocidib) Induces Durable Responses in Relapsed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Patients with High-Risk Cytogenetic Abnormalities

Background: Relapsed CLL patients (pts) with high-risk cytogenetic features have limited treatment options. Flavopiridol induces p53-independent apoptosis of CLL cells in vitro . We previously demonstrated that a pharmacokinetically (PK) derived dosing schedule administering flavopiridol by 30-min IV bolus (IVB) followed by 4-hr continuous IV infusion (CIVI) achieves the necessary serum concentration to induce apoptosis and is clinically active in pts with relapsed, genetically high-risk CLL. Study Design and Treatment: We report response and median progression free survival (PFS) results for 117 pts with relapsed CLL (n=107) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (n=10) treated on successive phase 1–2 studies of this PK-derived schedule. Pts received flavopiridol by 30-min IVB followed by 4-hr CIVI weekly for 4 doses every 6 weeks (n=79), or weekly for 3 doses every 4 weeks with pegfilgrastim support (n=38), for up to 6 cycles. Twenty pts received 30 mg/m 2 IVB + 30 mg/m 2 CIVI, and 3 pts received 40 mg/ m 2 IVB + 40 mg/m 2 CIVI. The remaining pts received 30 mg/m 2 IVB + 30 mg/m 2 CIVI for the first 1 or 5 dose(s) followed by dose escalation to 30 mg/m 2 IVB + 50 mg/m 2 CIVI beginning with dose 2 or dose 6 if severe tumor lysis was not observed. Pt Characteristics: Eighty pts were male (68%), median age was 60 years (range, 36–84), and 22 pts were age 70 or older (19%). Median number of prior therapies was 4 (range, 1–14); 116 pts had received prior purine analog therapy, and 85 pts (73%) were refractory to (n=82) or intolerant of purine analog (n=3). Ninety-three pts were Rai stage III/IV (79%), and 85 pts had bulky lymph nodes □ 5 cm (73%). Response Assessment: All 117 pts were evaluated for response by NCI 1996 Working Group criteria. Overall response rate (ORR) was 48%, including 52 partial responses (PR), 3 nodular PR (nPR), and 1 complete response (CR). Seven responders were taken to reduced intensity allogeneic stem cell transplants (SCT) and were censored. Median PFS of the 49 other responders was 10 months. Ten pts remain in remission with a median PFS of 12 months (range, 7–22.5). Six responders relapsed and received repeat flavopiridol therapy; 5 pts responded (4 PR, 1 CR) with a median PFS of 12.5 months. Forty-one of 85 pts (48%) with bulky adenopathy; 23 of 53 pts (43%) with a complex karyotype; 20 of 40 pts (50%) with del(17p13), resulting in loss of p53; and 29 of 49 pts (59%) with del(11q22), resulting in loss of the ATM tumor suppressor gene; responded to therapy. Median PFS was 10–12 months in all cytogenetic groups. Conclusions: Flavopiridol achieves durable responses in heavily treated, relapsed CLL pts with bulky adenopathy and poor-risk cytogenetic features. Flavopiridol allows pts who are not SCT candidates to achieve sufficient reduction of their disease to undergo reduced intensity allogeneic SCT. Pts who respond to flavopiridol and subsequently relapse may respond to repeat therapy. Based on these promising results, a phase 2 registration study is ongoing.
Defining the Design Parameters for in Vivo Enzyme Delivery Through Protein Spherical Nucleic Acids.

The translation of proteins as effective intracellular drug candidates is limited by the challenge of cellular entry and their vulnerability to degradation. To advance their therapeutic potential, ...
Dream and Search to Control: Latent Space Planning for Continuous Control

Learning and planning with latent space dynamics has been shown to be useful for sample efficiency in model-based reinforcement learning (MBRL) for discrete and continuous control tasks. In particular, recent work, for discrete action spaces, demonstrated the effectiveness of latent-space planning via Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) for bootstrapping MBRL during learning and at test time. However, the potential gains from latent-space tree search have not yet been demonstrated for environments with continuous action spaces. In this work, we propose and explore an MBRL approach for continuous action spaces based on tree-based planning over learned latent dynamics. We show that it is possible to demonstrate the types of bootstrapping benefits as previously shown for discrete spaces. In particular, the approach achieves improved sample efficiency and performance on a majority of challenging continuous-control benchmarks compared to the state-of-the-art.
Off-diagonal book Ramsey numbers.

The book graph $B_n^{(k)}$ consists of $n$ copies of $K_{k+1}$ joined along a common $K_k$. In the prequel to this paper, we studied the diagonal Ramsey number $r(B_n^{(k)}, B_n^{(k)})$. Here we consider the natural off-diagonal variant $r(B_{cn}^{(k)}, B_n^{(k)})$ for fixed $c \in (0,1]$. In this more general setting, we show that an interesting dichotomy emerges: for very small $c$, a simple $k$-partite construction dictates the Ramsey function and all nearly-extremal colorings are close to being $k$-partite, while, for $c$ bounded away from $0$, random colorings of an appropriate density are asymptotically optimal and all nearly-extremal colorings are quasirandom. Our investigations also open up a range of questions about what happens for intermediate values of $c$.
Anatomy of a Safe Area: The Military Requirements of Humanitarian Protection During Civil Wars

Civil wars frequently see violence against civilians, generate enormous internal displacement, and produce unmanageable refugee outflows to neighboring countries. Since at least the Second World War, the international community has struggled to provide protection to these war-impacted civilians within the country as well as once they flee. One solution that periodically surfaces in response to this problem is the establishment of a “safe area” for civilians within the borders of the war-torn country. However, little open-source work has evaluated the intricacies of this policy idea, especially its military requirements, costs, and potential risks. This paper provides this much-needed assessment through a close analysis of two possible options for a campaign to establish a safe area in the ongoing Syrian civil war. I find that the option that provides the most complete security to a humanitarian safe area in Syria (an area protected by air and ground assets) would likely be unprecedented in scope and cost, resembling the ground commitment of peak US counterinsurgency efforts, whereas its cheaper alternative (an air-only safe area) does little to address the strategic goals of the safe area and risks the safety of civilians in the process.
Regulation of the retinoblastoma-E2F pathway by the ubiquitin-proteasome system

The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (RB) and its related family members p107 and p130 regulate cell proliferation through the transcriptional repression of genes involved in cellular G1 to S phase transition. However, RB proteins are functionally versatile, and numerous genetic and biochemical studies point to expansive roles in cellular growth control, pluripotency, and apoptotic response. For the vast majority of genes, RB family members target the E2F family of transcriptional activators as an integral component of its gene regulatory mechanism. These interactions are regulated via reversible phosphorylation by Cyclin/Cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) complexes, a major molecular mechanism that regulates transcriptional output of RB/E2F target genes. Recent studies indicate an additional level of regulation involving the ubiquitin-proteasome system that renders pervasive control over each component of the RB pathway. Disruption of the genetic circuitry for proteasome-mediated targeting of the RB pathway has serious consequences on development and cellular transformation, and is associated with several forms of human cancer. In this review, we discuss the role of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in proteolytic control of RB-E2F pathway components, and recent data that points to surprising non-proteolytic roles for the ubiquitin-proteasome system in novel transcriptional regulatory mechanisms.
A supervised learning approach to acronym identification

This paper addresses the task of finding acronym-definition pairs in text Most of the previous work on the topic is about systems that involve manually generated rules or regular expressions In this paper, we present a supervised learning approach to the acronym identification task Our approach reduces the search space of the supervised learning system by putting some weak constraints on the kinds of acronym-definition pairs that can be identified We obtain results comparable to hand-crafted systems that use stronger constraints We describe our method for reducing the search space, the features used by our supervised learning system, and our experiments with various learning schemes.
Macromolecular Synthesis and Thymineless Death in Mycoplasma laidlawii B

The relationships between macromolecular synthesis and viability have been studied in the pleuropneumonia-like organism Mycoplasma laidlawii B adapted to a semidefined grwoth medium. This organism exhibited an absolute growth requirement for the nucleosides uridine and thymidine, a partial requirement for guanosine and deoxyguanosine, but no requirement for adenosine, deoxyadenosine, cytosine, and deoxycytosine. Cytosine and deoxycytosine partially satisfied the requirement for uridine. Loss in viability resulted from thymidine deprivation, but not from a deficiency in other growth requirements. This phenomenon of thymineless death in a mycoplasma is similar in many respects to that reported in other bacterial systems. Chloramphenicol specifically inhibited protein synthesis and allowed deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis to proceed to only about 40% of that normally produced per generation period, while causing less inhibition of ribonucleic acid synthesis. Protein synthesis inhibition permitted thymineless death to a survival level of less than 0.5%, but ribonucleic acid synthesis inhibition resulted in a higher (10%) survival level. These results are consistent with previously noted aspects of thymineless death in Escherichia coli strains, which suggest that thymineless death is coupled to ribonucleic acid synthesis.
Teaching without lectures in the first year of medical school.

the case. In week 1, the faculty member and students met to share an introduction to PTEBL and instructions on clinical thinking, information retrieval, presentation and writing skills. Histories of the case were presented by the faculty member. Four problems were then extracted based on the histories: (i) differential diagnosis of osteoporosis; (ii) differential diagnosis of instability of gait; (iii) differential diagnosis of kidney damage, and (iv) the pharmacological mechanism of glucocorticoid and parathyroid hormone. After the session, the students searched for evidence and worked in teams to discuss and problem-solve the case presented. In week 4, a representative was chosen from each team to present the team’s answers to the four questions and a possible diagnosis of the case. Meanwhile, the faculty member showed the patient’s physical, laboratory and radiological examinations. The students found new problems based on the new information, discussed them in teams and achieved their own answers. In week 8, the four teams presented their final diagnoses and treatments for the patient. Finally, the faculty member revealed the diagnosis, explained how to differentiate it from other possible diseases and introduced the latest research on Wilson’s disease and osteoporosis. During the summer vacation, the students independently formed new teams to write academic papers. Finally, a questionnaire study was carried out among the students to assess the effect of PTEBL. What lessons were learned? The survey showed that most students demonstrated improvements in expressive skills (86%, 30 ⁄35), teamwork (97%, 34 ⁄35) and critical thinking (100%, 35 ⁄35), and that the greatest difficulties during PTEBL referred to weak literature retrieval capability (37%, 13 ⁄35) and the practical utility of materials (37%, 13 ⁄35). Three academic papers were submitted and one was published. It would appear from these results that PTEBL achieves an overall improvement in personal and group development, improves the ability of students to integrate skills, especially in terms of communication skills and critical thinking, and successfully prepares students for future clinical work. Despite some limitations, PTEBL is a creative attempt to develop a teaching strategy. Additional research is required to ascertain whether other benefits can be gained with the application of PTEBL, to develop an objective evaluation system and, finally, to widely implement PTEBL. Correspondence: Ruchun Dai, Institute of Metabolism and Endocrinology, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China. Tel: 00 86 139 7488 4580; Fax: 00 86 731 8536 1472; E-mail: dairuchun@yahoo.com.cn
High resolution functional photoacoustic tomography of breast cancer

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of functional photoacoustic tomography (fPAT) for high resolution detection and characterization of breast cancer and to demonstrate for the first time quantitative hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation images of breasts that were formed with model-based reconstruction of tomographic photoacoustic data. Methods: The study was HIPAA compliant and was approved by the university institutional review board. Written informed consents were obtained from all the participants. Ten cases, including six cancer and four healthy (mean age = 50 yr; age range = 41–66 yr), were examined. Functional images of breast tissue including absolute total hemoglobin concentration (HbT) and oxygen saturation (StO2%) were obtained by fPAT and cross validated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) readings and/or histopathology. Results: HbT and StO2% maps from all six pathology-confirmed cancer cases (60%) show clear detection of tumor, while MR images indicate clear detection of tumor for five of six cancer cases; one small tumor was read as near-complete-resolution by MRI. The average HbT and StO2% value of suspicious lesion area for the cancer cases was 61.6 ± 18.9 μM/l and 67.5% ± 5.2% compared to 25.6 ± 7.4 μM/l and 65.2% ± 3.8% for background normal tissue. Conclusions: fPAT has the potential to be a significant add-on in breast cancer detection and characterization as it provides submillimeter resolution functional images of breast lesions.
Supercomputers/parallel algorithms

The increasing availability of commercial multiprocessors holds out the promise of orders of magnitude improvement in the time to solve computationally intensive problems. This promise, however, will remain unfulfilled unless we can solve some hard technical problems such as: Can we find parallel algorithms that can effectively use the available CPU cycles without getting bogged down by communication bottlenecks?Can we design adaptable multiprocessor architectures that can be programmed to solve a wide spectrum of problems at a speed comparable to specialized architectures?Can we invent effective software tools that allow us to design programs for parallel architectures and to generate efficient code for a wide variety of target machines without reprogramming?The papers by Lee and Jeong, Loganantharaj contribute to the resolution of question (1) in the areas of computational geometry and theorem proving. The paper by Shaffer investigates the implementation of a basic algorithm in real-time estimation and control applications, the Kalman filter on specialized parallel architectures. His performance results present a challenge to the viability of general architectures, as noted in question (2). The paper by Mishra and Srimani deals with an important problem in coordinating processes in a distributed environment. Their paper is directly related to question (3) since solutions to basic coordination problems are building blocks in producing efficient code for different target architectures.It is tempting to think that resource limitation will no longer be a problem with the advent of parallel processing/supercomputers. In fact, quite the opposite is true, the intellectual challenge to effectively use and coordinate multiple processors is only beginning to be appreciated. Serious investigation is needed to understand the limits of parallel processing/supercomputers. Chances are that we shall depend on them not only for processing our next pay check, but in numerous safety-critical real-time systems.
Relationship between Maximal Upstroke Velocity of Transmembrane Voltage and Minimum Time Derivative of Extracellular Potential

The purpose of this computational study was to test the pertinence of the magnitude of the minimum time derivative of the extracellular potential, |dVes /dtmin |, measured in a thin, conducting solution layer adjacent to the tissue, as an index of cardiac excitability. For this purpose, we performed computational studies characterizing the relationship between |dVes /dtmin | and the maximum upstroke velocity of transmembrane voltage, dVm /dtmax , which has been used in previous studies as an index of excitability. A three-dimensional bidomain model of electrical conduction in cardiac tissue was used based on the Noble-Varghese-Kohl-Noble model of ventricular myocytes. The spatial domain included a slab of cardiac tissue with intra- and extracellular anisotropic conductivities surrounded by a layer of solution. The simulations showed linear relationships between |dVes /dtmin | and dVm /dtmax for reduction of maximum sodium current conductance (G Na ) from 100% to 20%. The relationship was dependent on location and propagation direction. However, when both parameters were normalized, those dependencies disappeared. In summary, our study demonstrated that normalized |dVes /dtmin | is linearly related to normalized dVm /dtmax . The results support our hypothesis that normalized |dVes /dtmin | can be used as an index of cardiac excitability.
Part-Products of 1-Free Integer Compositions

If $\vec{\lambda}$ is a composition of the positive integer $n$, define ${\bf B}(\vec{\lambda})$ to be the product of the parts of $\vec{\lambda}$. We present a modified version of Hitczenko's stopped sequence construction that leads to a proof of the asymptotic lognormality of ${\bf B}$ for random 1-free compositions (compositions containing no parts of size 1).
Complete Transcription by the Transcriptase of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) transcriptase completely transcribes the VSV genome into messenger-size ribonucleic acid (RNA) species. The replicating complexes of template and product RNA, generated in vitro by VSV transcriptase, exhibit a mass parity between product and template molecules. Purified product RNA, after annealing to small amounts of viral RNA, rendered 92% of the viral RNA ribonuclease-resistant. It is calculated that, under optimal conditions, 60 min is required before the VSV genome is completely transcribed.
Native-speaker Reactions to Nonnative Speech: A Review

A partir dels treballs de Lambert i altres (1960) s'inicia un camp en l'estudi del llenguatge que pren com a base l'analisi de les reaccions provocades per un parlant a la seva audiencia. Cap als anys vuitanta aquests estudis s'obren a les reaccions dels parlants nadius d'una llengua envers la parla dels no nadius. En aquest article presentem una revisio cronologica de les investigacions mes significatives que s'han realitzat fins al moment, aixi com una valoracio de les seves virtuts i mancances, per acabar defensant la necessitat d'aquests estudis en el camp de la linguistica aplicada.
Influence of stratification, light, and planting depth on rabbitbrush seed germination and emergence

Rubber rabbitbrush ( Ericameria nauseosa (Pall. ex Pursh) G.L. Nesom & Baird) [Asteraceae]) has potential for use as an effective element of water-conserving landscapes. To enhance availability of this species, it is important to optimize nursery seedling production. Our objectives were to determine the influence of 1) stratification (cold-moist); 2) light exposure; and 3) planting depth on germination and emergence of seeds collected from diverse populations of rubber rabbitbrush. Seeds representing a range of environments were collected from Idaho and Utah and were cleaned, sorted, and exposed to germination-enhancing treatments. Following stratification, seeds of 3 of 4 rabbitbrush populations responded with a statistically significant increase in germination percentage. More significant, stratification increased the germination rate, reducing time to culmination from 4 or more wk to 1 wk or less. Compared with seeds germinated in the dark, exposure to sunlight increased germination percentage 1.5- to 3-fold, depending on population. Any amount of seed burial markedly decreased seedling emergence for all 4 populations. Six wk after planting, removal of all but a few mm of soilless substrate resulted in emergence of a portion of the buried seeds, indicating induction and release of conditional dormancy (possibly quiescence) due to a lack of light or other factors. Responses to stratification, light, and seed burial varied by population, thus confirming previously described variability that exists among rubber rabbitbrush populations. Results of this study will help nursery growers provide optimal conditions for producing nursery stock of rubber rabbitbrush.