cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stream–floodplain connectivity and fish assemblage diversity in the Champlain Valley, Vermont, U.S.A.

To evaluate the influence of main channel-floodplain connectivity on fish assemblage diversity in floodplains associated with streams and small rivers, fish assemblages and habitat characteristics were surveyed at 24 stream reaches in the Champlain Valley of Vermont, U.S.A. Fish assemblages differed markedly between the main channel and the floodplain. Fish assemblage diversity was greatest at reaches that exhibited high floodplain connectivity. Whereas certain species inhabited only main channels or floodplains, others utilized both main channel and floodplain habitats. Both floodplain fish alpha-diversity and gamma-diversity of the entire stream corridor were positively correlated with connectivity between the main channel and its floodplain. Consistent with these results, species turnover (as measured by beta-diversity) was negatively correlated with floodplain connectivity. Floodplains with waterbodies characterized by a wide range of water depths and turbidity levels exhibited high fish diversity. The results suggest that by separating rivers from their floodplains, incision and subsequent channel widening will have detrimental effects on multiple aspects of fish assemblage diversity across the stream-floodplain ecosystem.
Defensive Perimeter in the Central Nervous System: Predominance of Astrocytes and Astrogliosis during Recovery from Varicella-Zoster Virus Encephalitis

ABSTRACT Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a highly neurotropic virus that can cause infections in both the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. Several studies of VZV reactivation in the peripheral nervous system (herpes zoster) have been published, while exceedingly few investigations have been carried out in a human brain. Notably, there is no animal model for VZV infection of the central nervous system. In this report, we characterized the cellular environment in the temporal lobe of a human subject who recovered from focal VZV encephalitis. The approach included not only VZV DNA/RNA analyses but also a delineation of infected cell types (neurons, microglia, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes). The average VZV genome copy number per cell was 5. Several VZV regulatory and structural gene transcripts and products were detected. When colocalization studies were performed to determine which cell types harbored the viral proteins, the majority of infected cells were astrocytes, including aggregates of astrocytes. Evidence of syncytium formation within the aggregates included the continuity of cytoplasm positive for the VZV glycoprotein H (gH) fusion-complex protein within a cellular profile with as many as 80 distinct nuclei. As with other causes of brain injury, these results suggested that astrocytes likely formed a defensive perimeter around foci of VZV infection (astrogliosis). Because of the rarity of brain samples from living humans with VZV encephalitis, we compared our VZV results with those found in a rat encephalitis model following infection with the closely related pseudorabies virus and observed similar perimeters of gliosis. IMPORTANCE Investigations of VZV-infected human brain from living immunocompetent human subjects are exceedingly rare. Therefore, much of our knowledge of VZV neuropathogenesis is gained from studies of VZV-infected brains obtained at autopsy from immunocompromised patients. These are not optimal samples with which to investigate a response by a human host to VZV infection. In this report, we examined both flash-frozen and paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed brain tissue of an otherwise healthy young male with focal VZV encephalitis, most likely acquired from VZV reactivation in the trigeminal ganglion. Of note, the cellular response to VZV infection mimicked the response to other causes of trauma to the brain, namely, an ingress of astrocytes and astrogliosis around an infectious focus. Many of the astrocytes themselves were infected; astrocytes aggregated in clusters. We postulate that astrogliosis represents a successful defense mechanism by an immunocompetent human host to eliminate VZV reactivation within neurons.
Future Directions of Chlamydial Research

The ultimate goals of infectious disease research are to prevent infection, morbidity, and mortality. The spectrum of chronic diseases linked to chlamydial infection falls into two broad categories: (i) those for which the evidence for causality is considered conclusive and (ii) those for which the evidence is insufficient to be considered causal. Whether chronic chlamydial infections can be "cured" with appropriate antibiotic therapy is one of the critical research questions facing the medical community. Intensive preclinical and clinical investigations are under way to develop topical microbicides that will prevent chlamydial infection as well as other sexually transmitted infections, including HIV infection. Chronic chlamydial infection in the upper reproductive tract, or pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), is one of the most serious consequences of this sexually transmitted disease for women. There is an urgent need for rapid, inexpensive, easy-to-use diagnostic tests for chlamydial infection. Data from human and veterinary studies suggest that chlamydial infections probably play an important role in pregnancy outcomes. The potential for chlamydial species to precipitate spontaneous abortion is suggested by manifestations of C. psittaci infection in sheep. Psittacosis has long been recognized as a systemic disease. The infectious agent gains entry through a mucosal surface and disseminates widely. Recent studies of brain tissue from patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease have resulted in startling findings. Investigators have identified chlamydial nucleic acid sequences in disease plaques from 17 of 19 patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease; two of these tissue samples also contained viable elementary bodies.
Derived Stimulus Relations Produce Mediated and Episodic Priming

If derived stimulus relations can serve as a beginning behavioral model of semantic meaning, many of the cognitive findings shown with semantic relations should apply to derived stimulus relations. The present study examined whether priming in a lexical decision task occurs in equivalence relations. In the primary experiment, subjects were trained to form three 3- member equivalence classes of “word-like” nonsense words. Subjects were then given a battery of lexical recognition tasks that included previously trained equivalence class members. The priming effect for stimuli in an equivalence class, whether stimulus relations were directly trained or derived, was as strong as that previously reported for associated words. Control conditions show that these effects were due to derived stimulus relations, not to alternative sources of control. Priming through equivalence classes provides one of the more robust instances of what in the cognitive literature are termed “episodic priming” and “mediated priming.” These results provide some additional support for the idea that derived stimulus relations are a useful preliminary behavioral model of semantic relations, and that they supply a useful procedure for research on priming more generally.
Orbital Vascular Lesions

Vascular lesions of the orbit are infrequent. Though the entities discussed in this chapter are to be considered in the differential diagnosis when a patient presents with the appropriate signs and symptoms, nonvascular lesions such as dysthyroid orbitopathy, orbital pseudotumor, metastatic neoplasm, lymphoma, and mucocele are much more commonly found. Many of the clinical presentations of the vascular lesions develop because of an alteration in the orbital hemodynamics (see Chap. 1) as well as the local mass effect.
Reachability metrics for bilinear complex networks

Controllability metrics based on the controllability Gramian have been widely used in linear control theory, and have recently seen renewed interests in the study of complex networks of dynamical systems. For example, the minimum eigenvalue and the trace of the Gramian are related to the worst-case and average minimum input energy, respectively, to steer the state from the origin to a target state. This paper explores similar questions that remain unanswered for bilinear control systems. In the context of complex networks, bilinear systems characterize scenarios where an actuator not only can affect the state of a node, but also can affect the strength of the interconnections among some neighboring nodes. Under the assumption that the infinity norm of the input is bounded by some function of the network dynamic matrices, we derive a lower bound on the minimum input energy to steer the state of a bilinear network from the origin to any reachable target state based on the generalized reachability Gramian of bilinear systems. We also provide a lower bound on the average minimum input energy over all target states on the unit hypersphere in the state space. Based on the reachability metrics proposed, we propose an actuator selection method that provides guaranteed minimum average input energy.
The Relation of the Blood Group Specific Substance a to the Type Specific Carbohydrate of Pneumococcus Type I

In a previous communication' it has been reported that a preparation of the specific carbohydrate of Pneumococcus type I in its genuine acetylated form displayed a marked cross-reactivity with antiserum against the human blood group specific substance A. Two explanations for this cross-reaction may be considered. (1) The bacterial polysaccharide may not be available at the present time in a state of complete purity sufficient to exclude the presence of contamination by blood group A antigen and should be considered as a mixture containing both substances; (2) the pneumococcus substance itself may contain chemical groupings similar to those operative in the blood group A substance. The first possibility was supported by our observation that the blood group A reactivity of the acetylated type I carbohydrate was destroyed by treatment with the socalled blood group enzyme of feces extracts, while the pneumococcus antigenicity remained intact. The alternative assumption, namely that of a uniform substance, drew support from the great differences in blood group A reactivity between specific polysaccharides of the various types of pneumococcus. The potency in hemolysis inhibition tests of soluble specific substance type II was almost 1,000 times less, and that of type III about 100 times less, than that of the acetylated type I substance. This product, in turn, reacted in the same high dilution with blood group A antiserum as the blood group substance A obtained from urine by Freudenberg and Eichel.2 [A de-acetylated preparation still reacted, although with a lower titer, against pneumococcus antiserum3 but completely lacked reactivity to blood group A antibodies.] The divergency in "A" reactivity between the carbohydrates of the several types of pneumococci, grown on the same kind of culture medium, made it difficult to reconcile our observations with the assumption that the polysaccharide I was contaminated with substance A originating from the medium. The fact that the acetylated polysaccharide I reacted in dilutions as high as Freudenberg's purified blood group substance also spoke against this as-
Investigation of cone-beam CT image quality trade-off for image-guided radiation therapy

It is well-known that projections acquired over an angular range slightly over 180° (so-called short scan) are sufficient for fan-beam reconstruction. However, due to practical imaging conditions (projection data and reconstruction image discretization, physical factors, and data noise), the short-scan reconstructions may have different appearances and properties from the full-scan (scans over 360°) reconstructions. Nevertheless, short-scan configurations have been used in applications such as cone-beam CT (CBCT) for head-neck-cancer image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) that only requires a small field of view due to the potential reduced imaging time and dose. In this work, we studied the image quality trade-off for full, short, and full/short scan configurations with both conventional filtered-backprojection (FBP) reconstruction and iterative reconstruction algorithms based on total-variation (TV) minimization for head-neck-cancer IGRT. Anthropomorphic and Catphan phantoms were scanned at different exposure levels with a clinical scanner used in IGRT. Both visualization- and numerical-metric-based evaluation studies were performed. The results indicate that the optimal exposure level and number of views are in the middle range for both FBP and TV-based iterative algorithms and the optimization is object-dependent and task-dependent. The optimal view numbers decrease with the total exposure levels for both FBP and TV-based algorithms. The results also indicate there are slight differences between FBP and TV-based iterative algorithms for the image quality trade-off: FBP seems to be more in favor of larger number of views while the TV-based algorithm is more robust to different data conditions (number of views and exposure levels) than the FBP algorithm. The studies can provide a general guideline for image-quality optimization for CBCT used in IGRT and other applications.
Percutaneous and oral absorption of chlorinated paraffins in the rat.

Parallel percutaneous absorption studies of two14C-labelled chlori nated paraffins (C18, 50-53% chlorination; C28, 47% chlorination) were carried out in the Sprague-Dawley rat. The dermally applied dose (66 mg/cm2) was approximately equivalent to 2.0 g/kg of body weight. An oral absorption study with the C18-chlorinated paraffin (0.5 g/kg) was carried out in rats for comparison. Less than 1% of the dermally applied dose of [1- 14C]polychloro octadecane (50-53% chlorination) and less than 0.1% of the applied dose of [14,15-14C]polychlorooctacosane (47% chlorination) were recovered in excreta, expired air and tissues after 96 hours. In con trast, approximately 86% of the orally administered dose of [1-14C] polychlorooctadecane (0.5 g/kg) was recovered. These results indi cate that rat skin acts as an effective barrier to chlorinated paraffins containing eighteen or more carbons and more than 40% chlorine by weight. The oral absorption of the C18 chlorinated paraffin can be estimated to be nearly 100 times g...
English Teaching and the Nurture of Students' Creative Thinking

With the development of the reform of the national educational system and the presentation of the new teaching syllabus,the teaching method and emphasis should be changed correspondingly.The nurture of students' creative thinking should be the vital aim and task of our country's education.and should be focused on the comprehensive and flexible application of the language ability,pragmatic ability and thinking ability.
Occupational Health Survey and Evaluation on Machine Spinning Asbestos in Yuyao

[Objective] To understand the occupational health status and the impact on the health of workers in machine spinning asbestos,and to provide scientific basis for prevention and control of relative occupational diseases.[Methods] A total of 8 enterprises were investigated.The occupational health survey included detection and evaluation of asbestos dust concentrations,as well as occupational health inspection of 183 workers exposed to asbestos.[Results] The asbestos dust concentrations were higher than the national standard except 2 points qualified in 25 monitoring points.3 workers were diagnosed as suspected asbestosis,9 were observed objects and 37 were abnormal lung markings among the 183 workers.Each selected enterprise installed a mechanical ventilation/dust removal system and 2 to 4 spray devices.Each worker received two sets of working clothes and a dust mask per month.[Conclusion] Occupational hazards and severe health effects are found in machine spinning asbestos industry.Current personal protective equipment and protection facilities are imperfect.Health supervision of asbestos spinning enterprises should be strengthened,in order to improve the working environment and protect workers’ occupational health in future.
B12 binding protein deficiency in pernicious anemia.

When radioactive B12 was added to normal serum, it was bound predominantly to beta globulin. Deficient binding was observed in the serum of five of ten patients with untreated pernicious anemia. Treatment of these patients with B12 restored the beta globulin B12 binding capacity toward normal. In one of the five patients there was virtually no beta globulin binding of added B12 before treatment. This patient exhibited a malabsorptive pattern Schilling test when first seen. Treatment with B12 was attended by an increase of beta globulin binding capacity, and by return of the ability to absorb oral B12 when given with intrinsic factor. It is possible that these two abnormalities are related in that the beta globulin may have an important role in the absorption and transport of B12.
Acid site densities and reactivity of oxygen-modified transition metal carbide catalysts

Abstract Acidic properties of β-Mo2C, α-Mo2C, W2C, and WC were quantified by assessing the kinetics of isopropanol (IPA) dehydration at 415 K either (i) under inert He/Ar atmosphere or (ii) with 13 kPa O2 co-feed. Dehydration kinetics were zero-order with respect to IPA for all catalysts and under all reaction conditions. Intrinsic activation energies were similar across all catalysts (89–104 kJ mol−1). Acid site densities calculated via in situ 2,6-di-tert-butylpyridine (DTBP) titration were used to normalize dehydration turnover frequencies (TOF). O2 co-feed increased dehydration rates per gram by an order of magnitude for all catalysts tested, but TOF remained invariant within a factor of ∼2. Mo- and W-based carbides showed similar dehydration kinetics regardless of O2 co-feed, and O2 co-feed did not alter bulk carbidic structure as noted by X-ray diffraction. Bronsted acid site provenance results from the oxophilicity of Mo and W carbides.
Transient guarantees: maximizing the value of idle cloud capacity

To prevent rejecting requests, cloud platforms typically provision for their peak demand. Thus, a platform's idle capacity can be significant, as demand varies widely over multiple time scales, e.g., daily and seasonally. To reduce waste, platforms have begun to offer this idle capacity in the form of transient servers, which they may unilaterally revoke, for much lower prices---~50-90% less---than on-demand servers, which they cannot revoke. However, transient servers' revocation characteristics---their volatility and predictability---influence their performance, since they affect the overhead of fault-tolerance mechanisms applications use to handle revocations. Unfortunately, current cloud platforms offer no guarantees on revocation characteristics, which makes it difficult for users to optimally configure (and correctly value) transient servers. To address the problem, we propose the abstraction of a transient guarantee, which offers probabilistic assurances on revocation characteristics. Transient guarantees have numerous benefits: they increase the performance of transient servers, enable users to optimally use and correctly value them, and permit platforms to control their freedom to revoke them. We present policies for partitioning a variable amount of idle capacity into classes with different transient guarantees to maximize performance and value. We then implement and evaluate these policies on job traces from a production Google cluster. We show that our approach can increase the aggregate revenue from idle server capacity by up to ~6.5X compared to existing approaches.
Is it morally permissible for hospital nurses to access prisoner-patients’ criminal histories?:

In the United States, information about a person's criminal history is accessible with a name and date of birth. Ruth Crampton has studied nurses' care for prisoner-patients in hospital settings and found care to be perfunctory and reactive. This article examines whether it is morally permissible for nurses in hospital settings to access information about prisoner-patients' criminal histories. Nurses may argue for a right to such information based on the right to personal safety at work or the obligation to provide prisoner-patients with the care that they deserve. These two arguments are considered and rejected. It is further argued that accessing information about a prisoner-patient's criminal history violates nurses' duty to care. Care, understood through Sarah Ruddick's account as work and relationship, requires nurses to be open and unbiased in order to do their part in forming a caring relationship with patients. Knowledge of a prisoner-patient's criminal history inhibits the formation of this relationship and thus violates nurses' duty to care.
Frequency-Current Curves

In this chapter, we study the periodic firing frequency, f, of a model neuron as a function of input current density, I. The graph of f as a function of I is commonly called the frequency-current curve, or f-I curve, of the model neuron. The f-I curve summarizes important features of the dynamics of a neuron in a single picture.
Comprehensive detection of germline variants by MSK-IMPACT, a clinical diagnostic platform for solid tumor molecular oncology and concurrent cancer predisposition testing

The growing number of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) tests is transforming the routine clinical diagnosis of hereditary cancers. Identifying whether a cancer is the result of an underlying disease-causing mutation in a cancer predisposition gene is not only diagnostic for a cancer predisposition syndrome, but also has significant clinical implications in the clinical management of patients and their families. Here, we evaluated the performance of MSK-IMPACT (Memorial Sloan Kettering-Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets) in detecting genetic alterations in 76 genes implicated in cancer predisposition syndromes. Output from hybridization-based capture was sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq 2500. A custom analysis pipeline was used to detect single nucleotide variants (SNVs), small insertions/deletions (indels) and copy number variants (CNVs). MSK-IMPACT detected all germline variants in a set of 233 unique patient DNA samples, previously confirmed by previous single gene testing. Reproducibility of variant calls was demonstrated using inter- and intra- run replicates. Moreover, in 16 samples, we identified additional pathogenic mutations other than those previously identified through a traditional gene-by-gene approach, including founder mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2 and APC, and truncating mutations in TP53, TSC2, ATM and VHL. This study highlights the importance of the NGS-based gene panel testing approach in comprehensively identifying germline variants contributing to cancer predisposition and simultaneous detection of somatic and germline alterations.
A Biased Look at Phase Locking: Brief Critical Review and Proposed Remedy

A number of popular measures of dependence between pairs of bandlimited signals rely on analytic phase. A common misconception is that the dependence revealed by these measures must be specific to the spectral range of the filtered input signals. Implicitly or explicitly, obtaining analytic phase involves normalizing the signal by its own envelope, which is a nonlinear operation that introduces broad spectral leakage. We review how this generates bias and complicates the interpretation of commonly used measures of phase locking. A specific example of this effect may create spurious phase locking as a consequence of nonzero circular mean in the phase of input signals, which can be viewed as spectral leakage to 0 Hz. Corrections for this problem which recenter or uniformize the distribution of phase may fail when the amplitudes of the compared signals are correlated. To address the more general problem of spectral bias, a novel measure of phase locking is proposed, the amplitude-weighted phase-locking value. This measure is closely related to coherence, but it removes ambiguities of interpretation that detract from the latter.
One-dimensional carbon chains as electrical sensors for single-stranded DNA

One-dimensional (1D) carbon chains or carbynes consist of unique electronic properties that are highly suitable for electrical sensing of biomolecules such as DNA based on conductance change. In addition, the single atomic width of a carbyne enables the possibility of ultra-high spatial resolution in the measurement of individual DNA bases when compared to other carbon-based nanostructures such as graphene and carbon nanotubes. The present paper describes a quantum simulation of the interaction between a carbyne and different DNA bases using the density functional theory (DFT) and non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF). Specifically, the transmission probability functions and density of states (DOS) of the carbyne are first computed and then used to determine the I–V characteristics of the carbon chain in the presence of DNA bases. The simulation results indicate that the carbyne's conductance increases when a DNA base is adsorbed onto its surface. This increase is the most significant with base A for a positive biasing voltage, and base T for a negative voltage. The result of the numerical study suggests that 1D carbon chains can be utilized as electrical sensing elements in DNA sequencing devices due to their capability in discriminating DNA bases.
Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-synthesis

The negative consequences of children’s exposure to parental intimate partner violence (IPV) are well documented in the literature; however, few studies examine the experience from the child’s perspective. This qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis (QIMS) explores the lived experience of children’s exposure to parental IPV. We conducted a QIMS of nine studies from the United States and Europe. The QIMS method was developed specifically for social work and involves synthesizing the results of multiple qualitative studies on a specific topic into a new synergetic understanding. We identified four themes: context of the abuse, immediate reactions to the abuse, sequelae reactions, and coping. Further reduction indicated that coping with exposure to parental intimate partner violence exists on a spectrum ranging from integration to distancing. Social workers are critical in helping children learn strategies for managing their emotions. The results of this study inform social workers about the context and purposes of the behaviors that children exposed to parental intimate partner violence may display.
Overminus Lens Therapy for Intermittent Exotropia

Treatment of intermittent exotropia includes orthoptic therapy, prisms, surgery, the use of minus lenses, or simply observation. We have made increasing use of overminus lenses for this problem in ...
Applications of Optimal Impulse Control to Optimal Foraging Problems

The method of optimal impulse control is applied to problems of optimal foraging and optimal switching between patches. This method is particularly appropriate for analysis and modeling of many biological processes during which there is a sudden switch from a particular level of the states to another. It allows derivation of the optimal continuous control and of the optimal time at which a switch from one level of states to another should occur. Three models are considered, two with optimal foraging on a non-renewable patchy resource, and one with renewable patchy resource. Optimal switching times between patches are derived explicitly for the former two and discussed for the latter.
Challenges for Multi-View Video Capture

We discuss challenges in large scale multi-view video capture and use broadcast soccer matches as a motivating application. How far away are we from watching a soccer match at home and changing the virtual viewpoint smoothly from full field views to closeups of individual players, from any angle? We start with a discussion of the total number of pixels required to capture this event for two different kinds of systems: a fixed array of high-resolution cameras, and an active array of low-resolution cameras. Next we look at strategies for increasing the effective frame rate of such systems to allow high-speed capture. Most multi-camera systems are synchronized so all cameras trigger simultaneously, but staggering the triggers samples more efficiently in time, with no additional cost in data bandwidth. We then move from sampling issues to rendering realism and look at one open challenge that is critical for video-based rendering of people: the capture and rendering of moving human hair. Finally, we consider the real-time processing and broadcast of this media for a live soccer match.
Subharmonics for First Order Convex Nonautonomous Hamiltonian Systems

In this paper new estimates on the C0-norm of solutions are shown for first order convex Hamiltonian systems possessing super-quadratic potentials. Applying these estimates, some new results on the existence of subharmonics are obtained, which generalize the main results in Ekeland and Hofer [5], and a question about a priori estimates on subharmonics raised by Ekeland and Hofer [5] is answered when the convex Hamiltonian systems have globally super-quadratic potentials. Using the uniform estimates on the subharmonics, the behavior of convergence of subharmonics is studied too.
Mariposite from belvadi, mysore state

In the light of the above studies, it is evident that the green mica from Belvadi, though resembling fuchsite in its optical characters, does not correspond to it in chemical composition. On the other hand, it closely resembles mariposite, a typical chrome-phengite, from the type locality, Mariposa Estate in California (Whitmore, Berry and Hawley, 1946, p. 4). Hence it is concluded that the Belvadi mineral is not fuchsite but mariposite.
Echocardiographic evaluation of velocity ratio, velocity time integral ratio, and pulmonary valve area in dogs with pulmonary valve stenosis.

Author(s): Nishimura, Satoko; Visser, Lance C; Belanger, Catherine; Oldach, Maureen S; Gunther-Harrington, Catherine T; Stern, Joshua A | Abstract: BackgroundVelocity ratio, velocity time integral (VTI) ratio, and pulmonary valve area indexed to body surface area (iPVA) are methods of assessment of pulmonary valve stenosis (PS) severity that are less dependent on blood flow. Studies evaluating these methods are limited.ObjectivesTo determine the effects of butorphanol, atenolol, and balloon valvuloplasty (BV) on velocity ratio, VTI ratio, iPVA, mean PG, and max PG.AnimalsTwenty-seven dogs with PS (max PG g50 mm Hg).MethodsProspective study. All dogs underwent an echocardiogram at baseline, 5-minutes after administration of butorphanol (0.2-0.25 mg/kg IV), and 2-to-4 weeks after atenolol (1-1.5 mg/kg q12h). Twenty-one of these were evaluated 24-hours after BV.ResultsThere were no significant differences (P g .05) amongst any of the methods of assessment of PS severity after butorphanol. After atenolol, mean (SD) of mean (57.0 [21.0] mm Hg) and max PG (93.1 [33.8] mm Hg) were significantly decreased (P ≤ .047) compared with baseline (65.2 [26.2] mm Hg and 108 [44.4] mm Hg, respectively). After atenolol, there were no significant (P ≥ .12) differences in velocity ratio (0.29 [0.09]), VTI ratio (0.18 [0.05]), or iPVA (0.43 [0.16] cm2 /m2 ) compared with baseline (0.30 [0.09], 0.19 [0.09], 0.44 [0.17] cm2 /m2 , respectively).Conclusions and clinical importanceAtenolol might reduce mean and max PG but does not alter less flow-dependent methods of assessment of PS severity (velocity ratio, VTI ratio, and iPVA) in dogs with PS. Results support an integrative approach to assessment of PS severity that includes less flow-dependent methods, particularly in states of altered flow or right ventricular function.
The effect of aspirin and anticoagulation on tyrosine kinase inhibitors induced thrombotic events in chronic myeloid leukemia: A retrospective cohort.

e18550Background: The newer Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) versus imatinib recently were called into question due to reported long-term toxic effects. These include cardiovascular adverse events,...
José Emilio Pacheco en el imaginario de la poesía mexicana reciente: Ética de escritura y política de lectura

espanolEl objetivo de este articulo es demostrar que parte del legado de Jose Emilio Pacheco en la poesia mexicana reciente consiste en diversas estrategias discursivas (diccion espuria, cuestionamiento de la autoridad textual, subjetividad descentrada, entre otros) en concordancia con un pais continuamente en crisis. Es decir, en la poesia de Pacheco se puede ya ubicar un codigo de lectura y una politica de escritura que convierte el texto en un espacio de reflexion y de resistencia. Mi propuesta en este ensayo, en definitiva, es que el sistema poetico de la ultima lirica mexicana responde a los retos politicos y sociales inmediatos del pais en un entorno global y transnacional, rasgos que se pueden ubicar avant la lettre en la visionaria obra de Jose Emilio Pacheco. EnglishThe aim of this article is to demonstrate that Jose Emilio Pacheco’s legacy to recent Mexican poetry consists of various discursive strategies (spurious diction, questioning of textual authority, decentered subjectivity, among others) in relation to a country continually in crisis. In other words, Pacheco’s poetry implies a reading code and a writing politics that turns the text into a space of both reflection and resistance. Moreover, in this essay I argue that the poetic system of recent Mexican poetry is in alignment with the immediate political and social challenges of the country in a global and transnational context, traits apparent avant la lettre in Jose Emilio Pacheco’s visionary work.
Trends in Epidemiology: Analysis of Risk Factors and Outcomes of Infective Endocarditis: A Retrospective Study (2009–2015)

Background Despite advanced diagnosis and treatment, infective endocarditis (IE) is a potentially life-threatening condition. Although recent studies have provided evidence of changing trends in IE epidemiology, few studies examine patterns within urban minority populations. Here we present the epidemiology, risk factors, and outcomes of IE among an underserved African American population in Brooklyn, New York, compared to the general population. Methods This is a retrospective study which included 67 patients with IE diagnosed at The Brooklyn Hospital Center from 2009 to 2015. Patients were selected according to the modified Duke Criteria for definite IE. Various epidemiological parameters were examined via chi-square and Fisher's exact test using SPSS 24 software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results The mean age of the 67 patients was 63 years and 46.3% of the patients were men. The majority of patients (70.1%) were African American while Hispanics and Caucasians were 17.9% and 7.5%, respectively. Healthcare-associated IE (58.2%, n=39) outnumbered community-acquired IE (41.8%, n=28). The sites of vegetation were the mitral valve (62.7%, n=42), tricuspid valve (22.4%, n=15), aortic valve (11.9%, n=8), and intravenous catheter (3%, n=2). In valves, 13.4% of the cases were found in prosthetic valves while the majority occurred in native valves. The most common pathogens of IE were the Staphylococcus (50.8%, n=34) species, followed by Streptococcus species (32.8%, n=22). Overall, the in-hospital mortality was 38.8% (n=26) with higher mortality observed for healthcare-associated IE than community-acquired IE (P = .049). Embolic complications were associated with significant mortality (P < .001). Conclusion Our study demonstrated that the common causative pathogens for IE among African Americans trends towards Staphylococcus species followed by Streptococcus species, similar to the contemporary epidemiology of IE. Healthcare-associated IE outnumbered community-acquired IE and was associated with higher mortality. Embolic complications were significantly associated with high mortality. Therefore, efforts made to control healthcare-associated infections are expected to decrease the trend of IE.
Square Systems

The notion of a square system is introduced and investigated - it is based on a quaternary relation satisfying certain symmetry conditions. The theory of square systems provides a unifying framework for studying decompositions of systems based on hierarchical families of subsets - hence for tree-like decompositions.
Correction to: Creative Careers: The Life Cycles of Nobel Laureates in Economics

The article Creative Careers: The Life Cycles of Nobel Laureates in Economics, written by Bruce A. Weinberg and David W. Galenson, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 26 April 2019 without open access.
Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptomology among Young Adults Who Use Prescription Opioids Non-medically

ABSTRACTNon-medical prescription opioid (NMPO) use and depression frequently co-occur and are mutually reinforcing in adults, yet NMPO use and depression in younger populations has been under-studi...
The Gig Economy’s Implications for Management Education:

Traditional employment is typically defined as ongoing full-time work for one employer. However, other employment relationships are becoming more prevalent, a phenomenon often called the “rise of t...
Neural Responses to Signals for Behavior Change: Greater Within-Person Variability is Associated With Risk Factors for Substance Dependence.

BACKGROUND An impaired ability to change behavior in the face of cues indicating a need for change is one means of defining risk for substance dependence. The present study used a cognitive task administered in a laboratory as a model of this process. It focused on 2 known and related correlates of risk (conduct disorder, borderline personality disorder) and examined their associations with reactivity to cues requesting a change in motor behavior. METHODS A total of 224 teenagers, 14 to 19 years of age, performed a task during which white noise bursts were used to cue a requirement to reverse the mapping of right and left key press responses onto high- and low-frequency pure tones during a subsequent trial block. The amplitude of the P300 electroencephalographic (EEG) response to each cue was summarized by calculating its across-trial average as well as its intertrial variability (ITV). In addition, the number of motor response reversal failures (perseveration errors) was calculated. RESULTS The ITV of the P300 response to cues for behavior change was superior to its average amplitude in revealing associations with risk: It was significantly greater among teenagers with more conduct problems and more borderline personality disorder symptoms in comparison with their less-affected peers. ITV was also positively correlated with perseveration errors. No group differences were found in P300 amplitude averaged over trials. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that the measurement of intertrial variability in brain activity may be more valuable than the average level for revealing neurophysiological differences associated with impulsivity and personality risk factors for dependence. EEG measures may be particularly valuable in this context because they offer superior temporal resolution and signal-to-noise characteristics.
Statistical Misreporting from Below, As Seen from (Very High) Above

Rulers in authoritarian regimes depend on their ability collect reliable information from society to make and implement policies. In authoritarian regimes with hierarchical and closed bureaucracies such as one-party states, however, even when they have significant capacity to collect information, government agents at lower levels have both the ability and the incentive to distort such information by misreporting internal government statistics. As a result, despite the penetration of sophisticated information collecting institutions and technologies, society remains largely ineligible to regime leaders. Leveraging remote sensing data as an objective benchmark to measure patterns of misreporting by subnational governments, I show that the extent of statistical misreporting facing leaders of one-party regimes can be quite substantial. Specifically, for the case of Vietnam, I use night-time luminosity data to measure the exaggeration and under-reporting of subnational GDP numbers by provincial governments.
An agent-based model for community flood adaptation under uncertain sea-level rise

Adaptation has become the major approach to reduce the adverse effects of storm surge and sea-level rise. However, maladaptation can happen when adaptation actions unintentionally increase community vulnerability. To evaluate the adequacy and efficacy of adaptation policies under uncertain sea-level rise, this study presents an agent-based model by integrating the random nature of storm surges, private adaptation decisions, and real estate market valuation. We evaluated the evolving flood damage of different adaptation strategies under two bounding cases of real estate market change. Our model results quantitatively illustrate the accelerating damages of storm surges under climate-induced sea-level rise. A reform in flood insurance to risk-based rates with a means-tested voucher program and a government-subsidized “twice and out” buyout program could both substantially improve coastal resilience. However, community adaptation with a public seawall may deliver false risk perception to high-risk property owners and result in maladaptation when sea-level rise rate is high. The modeling approach developed in this study can be used as a policy analysis tool to measure the impacts of sea-level rise and the effectiveness of adaptation strategies in coastal communities.
Nitrate Transport Processes and Compartmentation in Root Systems

During normal growing conditions, most higher plants in the vegetative stage tend to accumulate nitrate in the unreduced form in their root tissues and in their above-ground conducting tissues. Under certain stress conditions, this tendency is accentuated (Maynard et al., 1976). Accumulated nitrate thus serves as a storage deposit to sustain growth processes during subsequent periods when stresses are relieved, when the ambient supply becomes limited, or when reproductive growth creates demands for reduced nitrogen which exceed the nitrate uptake rate.
Between- and within-group effects of alcohol and cannabis co-use on AUD/CUD in the NSDUH 2002-2019.

Abstract Background Alcohol and cannabis co-use is a between-group risk factor for heavier drinking and negative consequences, but only one study has tested links between co-use and AUD. In addition, few studies focus on risk profiles within co-users, despite heterogeneity in levels of co-use. The current study tested between-group (co-users vs. alcohol-/cannabis-only users) and within-group (patterns of co-use) risk profiles for AUD and CUD in a large, nationally representative sample. Methods Data from the 2002–2019 National Study on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were used for analyses (N = 1,005,421). Analyses tested 1) whether co-users had greater odds of AUD/CUD than alcohol- and cannabis-only users, respectively, 2) whether there were latent profiles of co-use patterns within co-users, and 3) whether profile membership conferred within-group risk for AUD/CUD. Results Co-users were at 3.38 greater odds of having an AUD, but co-use did not confer risk for CUD. Within co-users, five latent profiles emerged: weekly alcohol/cannabis use, weekly alcohol/monthly cannabis, weekly cannabis/occasional alcohol, weekly alcohol/occasional cannabis, and occasional use of both. Multiple comparisons suggested that, generally as frequency of each substance use increased, odds of both AUD and CUD became greater. Conclusions Primary alcohol users who also use cannabis are at risk for AUD, but the opposite effect was not observed in primary cannabis users. Higher frequency of each substance also conferred risk within co-users for both AUD and CUD. Findings add novel contributions that should be considered within both alcohol and cannabis use interventions. Future studies using prospective data are needed.
A Structured Program Maximizes Benefit of Lung Cancer Screening in an Area of Endemic Histoplasmosis

Abstract: Background Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography has demonstrated at least a 20% decrease in lung cancer-specific mortality, but has the potential harm of unnecessary invasive procedures due to false positive results. We report the outcomes of a structured multi-disciplinary lung cancer screening program in an area of endemic histoplasmosis. Methods A retrospective review of patients undergoing lung cancer screening from December 2012 to March 2019 was conducted. Findings suspicious for lung cancer were presented at a multidisciplinary thoracic tumor board. Patients were assigned to interval imaging follow-up, additional diagnostic imaging, or referral for an invasive procedure. Invasive procedures were then compared between benign and malignant pathologies. Results 4087 scans were done on 2129 patients. 372 (9.1%) were suspicious and presented at a multidisciplinary thoracic tumor board. Ultimately 108 procedures were done: 55 bronchoscopies, seven percutaneous biopsies, and 46 operations. 25 patients (1.2%) underwent bronchoscopy resulting in benign pathology, significantly associated with an indication of an endobronchial lesion (p=0.01). All percutaneous biopsies revealed malignancy. Five patients (0.2%) who underwent resection had benign disease. Lung cancer was diagnosed in 67 patients (3.1% of the entire cohort), 46 of which were stage I/II. Conclusions Lung cancer screening in a structured, multidisciplinary program successfully identifies patients with early-stage lung cancer with limited unnecessary surgical interventions. Isolated endobronchial lesions should undergo short interval imaging follow up to avoid bronchoscopy for benign disease. Future studies to minimize unnecessary procedures could incorporate biomarkers and advanced imaging analysis into risk assessment models.
An Embedded NAND Flash-Based Compute-In-Memory Array Demonstrated in a Standard Logic Process

A neural network hardware inspired by the 3-D NAND flash array structure was experimentally demonstrated in a standard 65-nm CMOS process. Logic-compatible embedded flash memory cells were used for storing multi-level synaptic weights while a bit-serial architecture enables 8 bit x 8 bit multiply-and-accumulate operation. A novel back-pattern tolerant program-verify scheme reduces the cell current variation to less than 0.6 μA. Positive and negative weights are stored in adjacent bitlines, generating a differential output signal. Our eNAND-based neural network core achieves a 98.5% handwritten digit recognition accuracy which is within 0.5% of the software accuracy for the same weight precision. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first physical demonstration of an embedded NAND flash-based compute-in-memory chip in a standard logic process.