cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Weanling ventromedial hypothalamic syndrome. bone geometry and biomechanics.

The effect of growth-retarding, obesifying lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) on bone geometry and biomechanics was investigated in male weanling rats. The animals received bilateral, symmetrical, electrolytic lesions (VMNL rats) shortly after weanling (age 27 days); sham-operated rats served as controls (SCON). The rats were maintained for 42 postoperative days and then terminated. Body weight, nose–tail length, food intake, carcass water, and lean body mass were all significantly (p < 0.001) reduced in the VMNL group compared to SCON rats. Carcass fat, lipogenic efficiency (carcass fat % laid down/mean food intake) (both p < 0.001) and epididymal fat pad weight (p < 0.01) were significantly increased in VMNL versus SCON. Femur length, anteroposterior diameter (both p < 0.001), and mediolateral femur diameter (p < 0.01) were significantly reduced in VMNL versus SCON rats, but torque and angle of torque were comparable among the groups. VMNL rats femora also showed a significant greater maximum shear stress compared to the control animals. The reduced parameters in the VMNL rats are in good agreement with the previously demonstrated reduced plasma and pituitary growth hormone levels found in this hypothalamus preparation.
Rab1 recruits WHAMM during membrane remodeling but limits actin nucleation

Small G-proteins are key regulatory molecules that activate the actin nucleation machinery to drive cytoskeletal rearrangements during plasma membrane remodeling. However, the ability of small G-proteins to interact with nucleation factors on internal membranes to control trafficking processes has not been well characterized. Here we investigated roles for members of the Rho, Arf, and Rab G-protein families in regulating WASP homologue associated with actin, membranes, and microtubules (WHAMM), an activator of Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin nucleation. We found that Rab1 stimulated the formation and elongation of WHAMM-associated membrane tubules in cells. Active Rab1 recruited WHAMM to dynamic tubulovesicular structures in fibroblasts, and an active prenylated version of Rab1 bound directly to an N-terminal domain of WHAMM in vitro. In contrast to other G-protein-nucleation factor interactions, Rab1 binding inhibited WHAMM-mediated actin assembly. This ability of Rab1 to regulate WHAMM and the Arp2/3 complex represents a distinct strategy for membrane remodeling in which a Rab G-protein recruits the actin nucleation machinery but dampens its activity.
Action of furacin in delaying growth of a transplanted fibrosarcoma in mice.

SummaryFuracin inhibits the growth of mouse sarcoma S-13 in C3H mice. The average survival time of the control mice after implantation of the tumor was 21 days. The average survival time of the furacin-treated mice varied from 29 to 37 days, depending on the amount of the furacin given. Histological examination of the treated tumors reveal some cellular degeneration and a lessened mitotic activity. Hypertrophy of the adrenal cortex and symptoms of B complex vitamin deficiency were observed in the furacin-treated animals.
A Revision of the North American Species of Pterocheilus and Notes on Related Genera (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Some of the largest and most colorful vespoid wasps are contained in the little known genus Pterocheilus. Although North America is well represented in species, which total 31 at the present time as compared to about 66 from other parts of the world, the distribution is almost entirely western and the bulk of the species come from the arid regions of the southwest. This accounts for the many predominantly red and yellow species which fly in company with similarly colored wasps of the large related genus, Odynerus. In Pterocheilus the tendency which occurs frequently in insect genera of having a few relatively common and widespread species, and a large number of rare and localized species is accentuated. The rarity of specimens of the genus in any one collection, and particularly in the eastern states, where most of the work on vespids has been done, has resulted in scattered descriptions only and has left many species undescribed. Furthermore, a logical classification of the genus can be based only on structural characters, which are hardly mentioned in earlier descriptions.
Diagnosis and management of viral encephalitis. With comments on idoxuridine therapy.

While most nonviral causes of encephalitis are recognizable by ordinary means, the diagnosis of viral encephalitis is largely one of exclusion. Brain biopsy, the only reliable means of diagnosing herpes simplex encephalitis early, is justified only in certain critically ill patients. There is room for cautious optimism about idoxuridine therapy of encephalitis in man.
Interferon and Interferon Inducers: The Clinical Outlook

To what extent is interferon fulfilling its promise as a “broad-spectrum” antiviral agent? Current research suggests that stimulation of host interferon by inducers, rather than direct administration, will be the method by which interferon's properties are exploited. The therapeutic effectiveness of induction has already been demonstrated in animal models; limited clinical trials are not far off.
Tissue-integrated prostheses in the rehabilitation of auricular defects: results with percutaneous mastoid implants.

Functional and cosmetic rehabilitation of the severely atretic auricle poses a formidable challenge. Conventional autologous grafts for auricular reconstruction may produce inconsistent results, and revision offailed grafts is often unsatisfactory. Osseointegrated implant systems to retain auricular prostheses provide an alternative approach in rehabilitating patients with severe auricular defects. Fourteen patients were implanted with 30 osseointegrating implants for rehabilitating major auricular defects and were followed for 1 to 3.5 years, yielding 143 implant observations. Symptomatic skin reactions to the percutaneous implant were noted in 3.5 percent of the observations
Love the one you’re with: replicate viral adaptations converge on the same phenotypic change

Parallelism is important because it reveals how inherently stochastic adaptation is. Even as we come to better understand evolutionary forces, stochasticity limits how well we can predict evolutionary outcomes. Here we sought to quantify parallelism and some of its underlying causes by adapting a bacteriophage (ID11) with nine different first-step mutations, each with eight-fold replication, for 100 passages. This was followed by whole-genome sequencing five isolates from each endpoint. A large amount of variation arose—281 mutational events occurred representing 112 unique mutations. At least 41% of the mutations and 77% of the events were adaptive. Within wells, populations generally experienced complex interference dynamics. The genome locations and counts of mutations were highly uneven: mutations were concentrated in two regulatory elements and three genes and, while 103 of the 112 (92%) of the mutations were observed in ≤4 wells, a few mutations arose many times. 91% of the wells and 81% of the isolates had a mutation in the D-promoter. Parallelism was moderate compared to previous experiments with this system. On average, wells shared 27% of their mutations at the DNA level and 38% when the definition of parallel change is expanded to include the same regulatory feature or residue. About half of the parallelism came from D-promoter mutations. Background had a small but significant effect on parallelism. Similarly, an analyses of epistasis between mutations and their ancestral background was significant, but the result was mostly driven by four individual mutations. A second analysis of epistasis focused on de novo mutations revealed that no isolate ever had more than one D-promoter mutation and that 56 of the 65 isolates lacking a D-promoter mutation had a mutation in genes D and/or E. We assayed time to lysis in four of these mutually exclusive mutations (the two most frequent D-promoter and two in gene D) across four genetic backgrounds. In all cases lysis was delayed. We postulate that because host cells were generally rare (i.e., high multiplicity of infection conditions developed), selection favored phage that delayed lysis to better exploit their current host (i.e., ‘love the one you’re with’). Thus, the vast majority of wells (at least 64 of 68, or 94%) arrived at the same phenotypic solution, but through a variety of genetic changes. We conclude that answering questions about the range of possible adaptive trajectories, parallelism, and the predictability of evolution requires attention to the many biological levels where the process of adaptation plays out.
Compassion and Caring: Missing Concepts in Social Studies Programs:

Current social studies curricula in elementary and secondary schools reflect a generally humanistic perspective. They nonetheless suffer from a serious omission: they do not include the study of pr...
Multi-resonant feedback control of heave wave energy converters

Abstract A feedback control is proposed in this paper for the control of wave energy converters. The proposed controller is a time-domain approximation for the complex conjugate control in the sense that it is an approach to an optimal solution through impedance matching. The theoretical underpinnings of complex conjugate control are fundamentally linear, and the proposed control exploits the linear control theory to provide a complex conjugate control in the time domain. The proposed control does not need wave prediction or wave measurements. The proposed control is novel in that it is a feedback strategy that has a multi-resonant generator. It targets both amplitude and phase through feedback that is constructed from individual frequency components that come from the spectral decomposition of the measurements signal. Each individual frequency uses a Proportional-Derivative control to provide both optimal resistive and reactive elements. By resonating each frequency component and summing them together the controller feedback effort that maximizes the amount of absorbed power is provided.
High-power mode-selective amplification in large mode area ytterbium-doped fiber using a photonic lantern

We demonstrate mode selective amplification in a LMA cladding pumped Yb-doped fiber amplifier employing a photonic lantern. Signal gains of up to 19 dB and >1W output power are demonstrated with high mode fidelity.
Abstract 5103: Loss of p27 upregulates MnSOD in a STAT3-dependent manner, disrupts intracellular redox activity and enhances cell migration

Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA Cell migration is a dynamic process that is central to a variety of physiological functions as well as disease pathogenesis. The modulation of cell migration by p27 (officially known as CDKN1B) has been reported, but the exact mechanism(s) whereby p27 interacts with downstream effectors that control cell migration have not been elucidated. By systematically comparing p27+/+ mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) with genetically ablated p272/2 MEFs using wound-healing, transwell and time-lapse microscopic analyses, we provide direct evidence that p27 inhibits both directional and random cell migration. Identical results were obtained with normal and cancer epithelial cells using complementary knockdown and overexpression approaches. Additional studies revealed that overexpression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD, officially known as SOD2) and reduced intracellular oxidation played a key role in increased cell migration in p27-deficient cells. Furthermore, we identified signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) as the transcription factor responsible for p27-regulated MnSOD expression, which was further mediated by ERK- and ATF1-dependent transactivation of the cAMP response element (CRE) within the Stat3 promoter. Collectively, our data strongly indicate that p27 plays a crucial negative role in cell migration by inhibiting MnSOD expression in a STAT3-dependent manner. Citation Format: Jing An, Dongyun Zhang, Chuanshu Huang. Loss of p27 upregulates MnSOD in a STAT3-dependent manner, disrupts intracellular redox activity and enhances cell migration. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5103. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5103
Policy compression for aircraft collision avoidance systems

One approach to designing the decision making logic for an aircraft collision avoidance system is to frame the problem as Markov decision process and optimize the system using dynamic programming. The resulting strategy can be represented as a numeric table. This methodology has been used in the development of the ACAS X family of collision avoidance systems for manned and unmanned aircraft. However, due to the high dimensionality of the state space, discretizing the state variables can lead to very large tables. To improve storage efficiency, we propose two approaches for compressing the lookup table. The first approach exploits redundancy in the table. The table is decomposed into a set of lower-dimensional tables, some of which can be represented by single tables in areas where the lower-dimensional tables are identical or nearly identical with respect to a similarity metric. The second approach uses a deep neural network to learn a complex non-linear function approximation of the table. With the use of an asymmetric loss function and a gradient descent algorithm, the parameters for this network can be trained to provide very accurate estimates of values while preserving the relative preferences of the possible advisories for each state. As a result, the table can be approximately represented by only the parameters of the network, which reduces the required storage space by a factor of 1000. Simulation studies show that system performance is very similar using either compressed table representation in place of the original table. Even though the neural network was trained directly on the original table, the network surpasses the original table on the performance metrics and encounter sets evaluated here.
The effects of educational imagery on university students' creativity levels and locus of control.

(1984). The Effects of Educational Imagery on University Students' Creativity Levels and Locus of Control. Health Education: Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 42-48.
Multiple Comorbidities and Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy: MADIT-CRT Long-Term Follow-Up.

Background Data regarding cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with multiple comorbidities are limited.
Behavior of fiber reinforced concrete for controlling the rate of cracking in canal-lining

Abstract Seepage is a major water loss (20–30%) from the canal as compared to the other forms of water losses. Concrete is commonly used for canal-lining to reduce the seepage loss. Considerable seepage (15–20%) has been observed even in the cement–concrete conventional sections. The performance of canals decreases with an increase in the rate of cracking in concrete canal-lining. The rate of cracking in canal-lining can be reduced by improving the flexure, compressive, and splitting-tensile strengths of concrete. Out of these, splitting-tensile strength of concrete plays a vital role in controlling cracks. The use of fibers for characteristics improvement of concrete is very ancient. Natural fibers include many benefits, like low cost due to its abundance, least health hazards, and flexibility. The use of synthetic fibers as reinforcement in matrix has also attained intentness by reasons of its high strength, less water absorption, and low density in nature. The overall aim of the research program is to explore materials for better performance of canal-lining in terms of reduced water losses by controlling its rate of cracking due to alternate wetting and drying, and due to differential settlement, etc. The purpose of this work is to examine experimental behaviors of jute fiber reinforced concrete (JFRC), nylon fiber reinforced concrete (NFRC), and polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete (PPFRC) for controlling the rate of cracking in canal-lining. For this purpose, the mechanical properties (compressive, splitting-tensile, and flexure strengths, energies, and toughness indices), water absorption, and linear shrinkage of JFRC, NFRC, and PPFRC are determined experimentally as per ASTM standards. The properties of plain concrete (PC) are used as reference. The proportion of 1:3:1.5:0.7 (cement: sand: aggregate: water) is used for PC mix. The mixes of JFRC, NFRC, and PPFRC are manufactured by adding the jute fibers, nylon fibers, and polypropylene fibers, respectively, in the same mix design as that of PC. For production of each type of fiber reinforced composite (FRC), fibers having length of 50 mm are added in concrete by an amount of 5% (by mass of cement). A reduction in compressive properties, and an improvement in splitting-tensile and flexural strengths, water absorption and linear shrinkage is exhibited by FRCs over that of PC. Among the tested FRCs, PPFRC shows better performance. This may ensure to control the rate of cracking in canal-lining, ultimately improving its performance.
CaMKII regulates the depalmitoylation and synaptic removal of the scaffold protein AKAP79/150 to mediate structural long-term depression

Both long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) of excitatory synapse strength require the Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and its autonomous activity generated by Thr-286 autophosphorylation. Additionally, LTP and LTD are correlated with dendritic spine enlargement and shrinkage that are accompanied by the synaptic accumulation or removal, respectively, of the AMPA-receptor regulatory scaffold protein A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) 79/150. We show here that the spine shrinkage associated with LTD indeed requires synaptic AKAP79/150 removal, which in turn requires CaMKII activity. In contrast to normal CaMKII substrates, the substrate sites within the AKAP79/150 N-terminal polybasic membrane–cytoskeletal targeting domain were phosphorylated more efficiently by autonomous compared with Ca2+/CaM-stimulated CaMKII activity. This unusual regulation was mediated by Ca2+/CaM binding to the substrate sites resulting in protection from phosphorylation in the presence of Ca2+/CaM, a mechanism that favors phosphorylation by prolonged, weak LTD stimuli versus brief, strong LTP stimuli. Phosphorylation by CaMKII inhibited AKAP79/150 association with F-actin; it also facilitated AKAP79/150 removal from spines but was not required for it. By contrast, LTD-induced spine removal of AKAP79/150 required its depalmitoylation on two Cys residues within the N-terminal targeting domain. Notably, such LTD-induced depalmitoylation was also blocked by CaMKII inhibition. These results provide a mechanism how CaMKII can indeed mediate not only LTP but also LTD through regulated substrate selection; however, in the case of AKAP79/150, indirect CaMKII effects on palmitoylation are more important than the effects of direct phosphorylation. Additionally, our results provide the first direct evidence for a function of the well-described AKAP79/150 trafficking in regulating LTD-induced spine shrinkage.
Postoperative Outcomes in Vedolizumab-Treated Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Operations for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background Vedolizumab is now widely available for the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). We sought to quantify the rates of postoperative complications with preoperative vedolizumab compared with anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy. Methods A multicenter retrospective review of adult inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients who underwent an abdominal operation between May 20, 2014, and December 31, 2015, was performed. The study cohort was comprised of patients who had received vedolizumab within 12 weeks of their abdominal operation, and the control cohort was IBD patients who had received anti-TNF therapy. Results A total of 146 patients received vedolizumab within 12 weeks before an abdominal operation (64% female; n = 93; median age, 33 years; range, 15-74 years), and 289 patients received anti-TNF therapy (49% female; n = 142; median age, 36 years; range, 17-73 years). Vedolizumab-treated patients were younger (P = 0.015) and were more likely to have taken corticosteroids (P < 0.01) within the 12 weeks before surgery. Vedolizumab-treated patients had a significantly increased risk of any postoperative surgical site infection (SSI; P < 0.01), superficial SSI (P < 0.01), deep space SSI (P = 0.39), and mucocutaneous separation of the diverting stoma (P < 0.00) as compared with patients taking anti-TNF therapy. On multivariate analysis, after adjusting for body mass index, steroids at the time of operation, and institution, exposure to vedolizumab remained a significant predictor of postoperative SSI (P < 0.01). Conclusions We observed that vedolizumab-treated patients were at significantly increased risk of postoperative SSIs after a major abdominal operation, as compared with anti-TNF-treated patients.
Open Abdomen: Historical Notes

The story of “open abdomen” management (OAM) is reminiscent of many other advances in medicine: described, forgotten, reinvented, ridiculed, and finally accepted. The science of OAM continues to unfold and presents us with a fascinating glimpse into the mysteries of pressure–perfusion phenomena, cytokine response to injury and sepsis, the splanchnic bed, and its role as the motor for multiorgan failure, just to name a few. It is a rational surgical approach, based on solid physiologic principles. Many of the details of OAM management will be discussed in detail in other pages of this work. This chapter will present the evolutionary history of OAM from its origin to the current state.
Shaping Vent and Seep Communities: Habitat Provision and Modification by Foundation Species

Ecologists strive to identify mechanisms that determine the structure or composition of biological communities. Until the past decade, the role of positive species interactions in regulating community structure had been relatively overlooked, compared to negative species interactions, such as competition and predation. While mutualism and commensalism have long been recognized as critically important in pairwise species interactions, the impact of facilitation and habitat provision or modification on community dynamics and species diversity has received increased attention only more recently (Bertness and Callaway 1994; Hacker and Gaines 1997). Part of the reason for the oversight is that positive species interactions are more prevalent in habitats with harsh environmental ­conditions (Bertness et al. 1999; Crain and Bertness 2006) and are more often detectable at regional scales (Bertness and Leonard 1997; van de Koppel et al. 2006). Communities may be structured by facilitation cascades, where foundation species create the habitat or modify the environment that facilitates the settlement of other species, which subsequently interact with one another (Bruno 2000; Altieri et al 2007). Foundation species are large or spatially dominant organisms that create or provide habitats, colonized by other species (Bruno and Bertness 2001; for review).
Fine-Grained and Hierarchical Parallel Genetic Algorithms

This chapter treated fine-grained and hierarchical parallel GAs. It began with a brief review of fine-grained parallel GAs. The chapter identified some of the most salient design problems of this type of algorithms, and discussed some of the recent work on this area.
Excitation of Molecules and Solids with Intense Subpicosecond Ultraviolet Radiation

Studies of the interaction of matter with high intensity radiation are leading to the observation of new physical phenomena and the production of new classes of highly excited matter. Comparative studies of molecular coulomb explosions produced in O2 and CO2 with subpicosecond 248 nm radiation at intensities above 1017 W/cm2 are revealing features of the multiquantum coupling that are sensitive to the molecular structure. With CO2, O3+ ions with maximum kinetic energies on the order of 100 eV have been observed, a result which is comparable to the outcome of ion—molecule encounters at a collisional energy of ~ 1 MeV/au. Solid matter enables the combination of a high particle density with a high level of excitation. Studies of the excitation of solid surfaces are demonstrating the ability to produce fast, intense and easily controlled sources of kilovolt radiation under circumstances comparable to thermonuclear conditions.
Conversation with Biodun Jeyifo

Biodun Jeyifo, Professor of English at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, who turned 60 on Thursday, January 5, periodically teaches a graduate course titled "Marxism and Postcolonial Discourse." One of the texts on the reading list for the course is a fine play, Translations, by the Irish dramatist, Brian Friel. The play about the administrative aspects of English colonialism in Ireland is exceptional in many ways, but one of its greatest delights is a character called Hugh, a school-teacher who habitually lists three points—A, B, and C—on which he will speak to his students. However, by the time he is done, Hugh only manages to take his listeners from Points A to B, while the third point languishes forgotten in the jumble of his perorations. Jeyifo, or "BJ" as he is popularly addressed by colleagues and friends in Nigeria, the UK, and the US, was self-deprecating enough to compare himself to this character once but with a difference: he would often tell the class, 'This is the final point I have to make', but fifteen minutes later he would still be going strong, and after that there would be yet another "final, final" point to make.
How to Write Qualitative Research

Qualitative research has exploded in popularity in nearly every discipline from the social sciences to health fields to business. While many qualitative textbooks explain how to conduct an interview or analyze fieldnotes, rarely do they give more than a few scant pages to the skill many find most difficult: writing. That’s where How to Write Qualitative Research comes in. Using clear prose, helpful examples, and lists, it breaks down and explains the most common writing tasks in qualitative research, and each chapter suggests step-by-step how-to approaches writers can use to tackle those tasks. Topics include: writing about and with qualitative data composing findings organizing chapters and sections using grammar for powerful writing revising for clarity writing conclusions, methods sections, and theory creating and writing about visuals writing different types of qualitative research and different document types Each chapter features real-world examples from both professionals and students, hands-on practice activities, and template sentences that show qualitative writers how to get started. This text provides the perfect companion for writers of almost any skill level, from undergraduates to professionals. Whether you are writing a course paper, a dissertation, or your next book, How to Write Qualitative Research will help you write clearer, more effective qualitative research.
Time to First Cigarette and Self-Reported Health Among US Adult Smokers

Background:Numerous studies have reported that shorter time to first cigarette (TTFC) is linked to elevated risk for smoking-related morbidity. However, little is known about the influence of early...
OR waste reduction

Abstract Reducing wastage in the operating room (OR) is a way to reduce the rapidly increasing cost of health care. Using structured problem solving tools, a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston developed a process to reduce waste generated in the OR. In just 3 months the team identified and implemented a cost avoidance of over $68,000/year. By educating staff and surgeons, several other savings opportunities were identified and acted-upon. Methods were implemented to maintain the gains.
Hematopoietic stem cell mobilization following PD-1 blockade: Cytokine release syndrome after transplantation managed with ascorbic acid

Checkpoint inhibitor therapy is effective in the treatment of relapsed classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Here, we report a patient with relapsed Hodgkin's Lymphoma who received nivolumab prior to autologous stem cell mobilization. She went on to develop cytokine storm shortly following transplantation, with marked T-cell proliferation coincident with myeloid engraftment. Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema and alveolar hemorrhage developed despite corticosteroid therapy. There was rapid and complete resolution of these complications with parenteral ascorbic acid infusion. Our case illustrates the risk of cytokine release syndrome following infusion of stem cells mobilized after checkpoint inhibitor therapy and the role of ascorbic acid in its management.
Surface Crack Modeling with the Boundary Element Method

The use of the direct potential formulation of the boundary-integral equation (BIE) method provided the earliest, general-purpose numerical solution of the three-dimensional elastic fracture mechanics problem [1], That this was possible derives from the accuracy and efficiency of the BIE formulation for three-dimensional problems. The numerical solution of fracture mechanics problems requires an accurate resolution of the singular stress/strain field near the crack tip.
Bayesian approach to incorporating different types of biomedical knowledge bases into information retrieval systems for clinical decision support in precision medicine

By providing clinicians with information regarding treatment options for molecular sub-types of complex diseases with genetic origin, such as cancer, information retrieval (IR) systems play an important role in precision medicine. In this paper, we propose Bayesian Precision Medicine (BPM), a novel probabilistic framework for query expansion in information retrieval systems for Clinical Decision Support (CDS) in Precision Medicine (PM). Such systems can assist clinicians with selecting personalized treatment of complex diseases based on the patients' genomic data, such as gene mutations. In particular, we focus on a clinical decision support scenario in which clinicians provide two types of information in their queries: (1) short description of a patient's case, which may contain information regarding the type of cancer that a patient has as well as symptoms and demographics, and (2) gene mutations, which may contain gene names, mutation code and type of mutation. The goal of an IR system in this scenario is to rank biomedical articles from a large collection, such as the MEDLINE, based on their relevance to the provided query. One of the main challenges faced by IR systems in this scenario is semantic matching of heterogeneous information (gene names, medical terminology and other query keywords) in queries and relevant biomedical articles. To address this challenge, we propose a probabilistic framework that enables mapping gene mutations provided in a given query onto the biomedical concepts that are related to the entire query and can be effectively utilized for query expansion. The BPM obtains candidate query expansion concepts from biomedical knowledge bases, the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) and the Drug-Gene Interaction Database (DGIdb), as well as the top-ranked MEDLINE articles retrieved for the original query. The BPM then utilizes information from the Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) and co-occurrence statistics in MEDLINE to assess the relatedness of candidate query expansion concepts to gene mutations and other information provided in a query. Experimental evaluation of the BPM was conducted on a large subset of MEDLINE articles as well as abstracts from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) proceedings. Experimental results on a publicly available benchmark provided by the 2017 TREC precision medicine track indicate that the proposed probabilistic framework is effective at utilizing both genomic and textual information in queries to improve the accuracy of IR systems for CDS in PM through query expansion.
Marrying Within the Alma Mater: Understanding the Role of Same-University Marriages in Educational Homogamy:

Most prior work on educational homogamy does not distinguish between college attendees who marry someone who attended the same university (same-university marriages) and those who marry someone who...
Studies on the anticoagulant phenylindanedione. I. The effect of emulsified vitamin K1 on phenylindanedione-induced hypoprothrombinemia.

1. Phenylindanedione-induced hypoprothrombinemia is rapidly counteracted by a vitamin K 1 emulsion. This hypoprothrombinemia is antagonized at a more rapid rate than that induced by any of the other commonly employed prothrombopenic agents. 2. The optimum dose of the vitamin K 1 emulsion in emergency is 5 mg. per Kg. Since a refractoriness to the prothrombopenic action of phenylindanedione ensues, smaller doses should be used in situations where there is to emergency.
Using advance care planning for end-of-life care in heart failure improves outcomes

Commentary on: Schichtel M, Wee B, Perera R, Onakpoya I. The effect of advance care planning on heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Gen Internal Med 2019. Epub ahead of print 12 November. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05482-w. Heart failure (HF) is a chronic, progressive condition with tremendous burden on healthcare, patients and families. Six million Americans live with HF, projected to be eight million by 2030.¹ Despite medical developments, HF mortality remains 50% 5 years after diagnosis.² As HF progresses, patients, providers and families experience more suffering and symptom burden, impairing quality of life more …
Leaks and Takeovers

I present a cheap talk model of information leaks in takeovers. Takeover targets strategically leak information about the value of synergies to attract an additional bidder. Targets with high synergies leak exaggerated information, cause a runup, and are sold in an auction. Targets with low synergies do not leak and are sold to a single acquirer. Traditional takeover defenses backfire, by increasing the likelihood that the target is sold to a single acquirer, while toeholds increase the acquirer's revenue by discouraging leaks. More stringent enforcement reduces the likelihood of leaks, reduces runups, and increases efficiency in the takeover market.
The basics of sensory processing sensitivity

Abstract Sensitivity is a normal part of life. However, the degree and frequency to which any individual experiences an amplified, and perhaps oversensitivity to the world and others varies. This heighted responsiveness or sensitivity to the environment and others, known as sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), differential susceptibility, vantage sensitivity, environmental sensitivity, and biological sensitivity to context, is the topic of this book. This chapter provides a broad and brief overview of SPS, describing its behavioral and biological characteristics, history, and evolutionary basis. Moreover, the chapter provides practical examples of everyday issues related to SPS and clinical disorders that may overlap with the trait. The chapter closes with an overview of the present state of SPS knowledge, public awareness, and utility; and looks toward the future of SPS-related applications both on planet Earth and beyond.
Properties of Natural Catastrophes

A variety of phenomena of a catastrophic order and fear of their conse quences served as the reason that until now the properties of disasters remained incomprehensible. We found out the properties of natural ca tastrophes. It is shown that knowledge of these properties is of great im portance, because it contributes to the formation of an objective judgment on natural processes and phenomena.
Synthesis and Processing of Adenoviral RNA in Isolated Nuclei

Abstract Adenoviral RNA sequences synthesized in nuclei isolated during the late phase of productive infection comprise, besides virus-associated, VA, RNA, five major species, ranging in size from approximately 13S to 55S. The latter RNA species is of the length predicted if the major transcriptional unit expressed during the late phase were completely copied in vitro. Some 30% of the RNA sequences labeled in vitro are polyadenylated, and about one-third of the polyadenylated RNA is virus specific. Hybridization analysis of the sequences immediately adjacent to polyadenylic acid in late RNA labeled in isolated nuclei suggests that polyadenylation in vitro occurs at the same sites recognized within the cell. The polyadenylic acid-containing viral RNA sequences made in isolated nuclei are found in three major species of RNA, sedimenting at approximately 28S, 18S, and 13S. These sizes are remarkably similar to those reported for late mRNA species, suggesting that additional processing steps can occur in isolated nuclei. Hybridization of RNA to XhoI fragments of adenovirus type 2 DNA transferred to nitrocellulose filters reveals that sequences complementary to the region from 22.0 to 26.5 units present in 55S RNA are absent from all smaller species, suggesting that the smaller RNA species labeled in isolated nuclei are generated by splicing. The splicing events necessary to generate the 5′ leader segment common to the majority of late adenoviral mRNA species are shown to be performed correctly in isolated nuclei.
Density perturbation theory

Despite the fundamental importance of electron density in density functional theory, perturbations are still usually dealt with using Hartree-Fock-like orbital equations known as coupled-perturbed Kohn-Sham (CPKS). As an alternative, we develop a perturbation theory that solves for the perturbed density directly, removing the need for CPKS. This replaces CPKS with a true Hohenberg-Kohn density perturbation theory. In CPKS, the perturbed density is found in the basis of products of occupied and virtual orbitals, which becomes ever more over-complete as the size of the orbital basis set increases. In our method, the perturbation to the density is expanded in terms of a series of density basis functions and found directly. It is possible to solve for the density in such a way that it makes the total energy stationary even if the density basis is incomplete.
COST DISPERSION AND THE MEASUREMENT OF ECONOMIES IN BANKING

The concept of scale economies in banking is im- portant because it implies that larger banks may have an inherent cost advantage over smaller ones.’ Such a competitive advantage could be increased if large banks found it easier to become even larger. This situation could occur if bank mergers were more freely permitted or nationwide banking became a reality. To properly gauge the effects of public policy in this area, it is necessary both to have accurate estimates of cost economies in banking and to deter- mine their potential contribution to differences in relative costs already observed among banks. Past studies generally have concluded that large banks possess scale economies. It is demonstrated below that these historical estimates of scale economies are small when compared with other in- fluences already operating on bank costs. That is, even if scale economies exist and are statistically significant, they are much less important in con- ferring competitive advantages than commonly thought. Put differently, the observed variation in cost among banks can be split into (a) scale or cost economies across different-sized banks and (b) cost differences between similarly-sized banks. The first type of variation has been extensively studied while the second is new. Using recent data on all commer- cial banks, it is shown that estimated cost economies (when they occur) pale in comparison with existing differences in average cost levels. This effect is easiest to see after all banks have been divided up into four equal groups or quartiles based on the level of their current average costs. The difference in average costs between the 25 percent of all banks with the lowest average costs and the
Multi-frequency tone generator chip

A tone-generator system comprising a VLSI chip and ROM is presented. The prototype of the multi-frequency tone generator chip was built and performance-tested at Stanford, and is intended for use in digital telephone switches using time-division-multiplexing pulse-code modulation techniques. This tone-generator system, using digital techniques, eliminates the need for oscillators and encoders and presents a robust system on a single chip that needs no extensive adjustment in terms of the tone generator. Thus much effort, hardware and cost is saved, and a reliable and easily understood method for generating telephony signals and functions, which can be generalized to reproduce any signal where samples would be stored in the accompanying ROM, is achieved. The authors present the theory, design algorithms and structure of the chip together with the necessary directions for its large-scale production. >
The formal-informal labor market segmentation hypothesis revisited

Despite the existence of a large empirical literature, there is no conclusive answer to whether labor markets in developing countries are segmented. Moreover, a prior and perhaps more fundamental question remains largely unanswered, namely, whether the formal-informal segmentation hypothesis actually has empirical content. This paper tackles the latter question by developing a stochastic dynamic discrete choice model to analyze workers' choices between unemployment, formal and informal jobs. This general framework is then used to assess the empirical implications of dierent models of labor market functioning. As a complete taxonomy exercise is beyond the scope of this paper, I focus on the two most polar cases in the present context: the fully integrated and fully segmented labor markets. The nal goal is to analyze to which extent these two extreme benchmarks can generate implications that are empirically distinguishable and, more broadly, whether the ndings in the empirical literature can be supported by a single model or by a broad array of models. The analysis shows that both models can support the observed regularities regarding formal-informal wage gaps, transitions and job duration. Hence, it does not seem possible to identify the existence of segmentation from the moments typically analyzed in the empirical literature.
Interleukin-18 expression increases in response to neurovascular damage following soman-induced status epilepticus in rats

Status epilepticus (SE) can cause neuronal cell death and impaired behavioral function. Acute exposure to potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitors such as soman (GD) can cause prolonged SE activity, micro-hemorrhage and cell death in the hippocampus, thalamus and piriform cortex. Neuroinflammation is a prominent feature of brain injury with upregulation of multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines including those of the IL-1 family. The highly pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-18 (IL-18) belongs to the IL-1 family of cytokines and can propagate neuroinflammation by promoting immune cell infiltration, leukocyte and lymphocyte activation, and angiogenesis and helps facilitate the transition from the innate to the adaptive immune response. The purpose of this study is to characterize the regional and temporal expression of IL −18 and related factors in the brain following SE in a rat GD seizure model followed by localization of IL-18 to specific cell types. The protein levels of IL-18, vascular endothelial growth factor and interferon gamma was quantified in the lysates of injured brain regions up to 72 h following GD-induced SE onset using bead multiplex immunoassays. IL-18 was localized to various cell types using immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, macrophage appearance scoring and T-cell quantification was determined using immunohistochemistry. Micro-hemorrhages were identified using hematoxylin and eosin staining of brain sections. Significant increases in IL-18 occurred in the piriform cortex, hippocampus and thalamus following SE. IL-18 was primarily expressed by endothelial cells and astrocytes associated with the damaged neurovascular unit. The increase in IL-18 was not related to macrophage accumulation, neutrophil infiltration or T-cell appearance in the injured tissue. These data show that IL-18 is significantly upregulated following GD-induced SE and localized primarily to endothelial cells in damaged brain vasculature. IL-18 upregulation occurred following leukocyte/lymphocyte infiltration and in the absence of other IL-18-related cytokines, suggesting another function, potentially for angiogenesis related to GD-induced micro-hemorrhage formation. Further studies at more chronic time points may help to elucidate this function.
Eye-independent, light-activated chromatophore expansion (LACE) and expression of phototransduction genes in the skin of Octopus bimaculoides.

Cephalopods are renowned for changing the color and pattern of their skin for both camouflage and communication. Yet, we do not fully understand how cephalopods control the pigmented chromatophore organs in their skin and change their body pattern. Although these changes primarily rely on eyesight, we found that light causes chromatophores to expand in excised pieces of Octopus bimaculoides skin. We call this behavior light-activated chromatophore expansion (or LACE). To uncover how octopus skin senses light, we used antibodies against r-opsin phototransduction proteins to identify sensory neurons that express r-opsin in the skin. We hypothesized that octopus LACE relies on the same r-opsin phototransduction cascade found in octopus eyes. By creating an action spectrum for the latency to LACE, we found that LACE occurred most quickly in response to blue light. We fit our action spectrum data to a standard opsin curve template and estimated the λmax of LACE to be 480 nm. Consistent with our hypothesis, the maximum sensitivity of the light sensors underlying LACE closely matches the known spectral sensitivity of opsin from octopus eyes. LACE in isolated preparations suggests that octopus skin is intrinsically light sensitive and that this dispersed light sense might contribute to their unique and novel patterning abilities. Finally, our data suggest that a common molecular mechanism for light detection in eyes may have been co-opted for light sensing in octopus skin and then used for LACE.
Water dimers in the atmosphere III: equilibrium constant from a flexible potential.

We present new results for the water dimer equilibrium constant Kp(T) in the range 190−390 K, using a flexible potential energy surface fitted to spectroscopical data. The increased numerical complexity due to explicit consideration of the monomer vibrations is handled via an adiabatic (6 + 6)d decoupling between intra- and intermolecular modes. The convergence of the canonical partition function of the dimer is ensured by computing all energy levels up to dissociation for total angular momentum values J = 0−5 and using an extrapolation scheme to higher values. The newly calculated values for Kp(T) are in very good agreement with available experimental data at room temperature. At higher temperatures, an analysis of the convergence of the partition function reveals that quasi-bound states are likely to contribute to the equilibrium constant. Additional thermodynamical quantities (ΔG, ΔH, ΔS, and Cp) have also been determined and fit to quadratic expressions a + bT + cT2.