cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The preneoplastic state in mouse mammary tumorigenesis

It is widely accepted that neoplasms in epithelial organs arise via multiple intermediate stages (1—3). This concept has been extensively developed over the past 30 years and is based upon both clinical and experimental observations in practically all major epithelial organs. The intermediate stages have been labeled with various terms, although the terms preneoplastic or premalignant have been used most frequently. It is the aim of this commentary to discuss the preneoplastic state in the mouse mammary gland. It is hoped that the review will invite discussion and comment, stimulate new ideas and experimental approaches, and attract new participants into this research area. The time is appropriate for such a review in light of the new methodologies which have been developed in the area of mammary gland research over the past 10 years and the opportunity to apply newer molecular biology approaches to examine basic questions in mammary carcinogenesis.
On the security cost of interval multicast

Interval multicast was defined as to send a message to a subset of a group, rather than all of the members in the group, which is important in battle fields and other applications. A Key-Tree based approach was proposed to achieve interval-multicast security, i.e., to securely multicast the message to the subgroup. The cost of the proposed approach is defined as the number of different keys needed to encrypt the message so that only the members within the subgroup can decrypt. In this paper, we propose another approach based on the Subset Difference scheme to achieve interval-multicast security. We formally prove that, given any subgroup, the cost of the Subset-Difference based approach is no bigger than the one of the Key-Tree based approach. Our experiment studies demonstrate that in most cases, the cost of the SD-based approach is much smaller.
Effects of transdermal testosterone administration on insulin sensitivity, fat mass and distribution, and markers of inflammation and thrombolysis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected women with mild to moderate weight loss.

Objective To determine the effects of raising serum T levels into the high normal female range by transdermal T administration on insulin sensitivity, fat volume, and markers of inflammation and thrombolysis in HIV-infected women with recent weight loss. Design Placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. Setting Academic clinical research center. Patient(s) Fifty-two HIV-infected, menstruating women with >5% weight loss over the prior 6 months and current T Intervention(s) Placebo or T patches twice weekly for 24 weeks to achieve nominal delivery of 300 μg T daily. Main Outcome Measure(s) Testosterone by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, insulin sensitivity by the frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIVGT), abdominal and thigh fat volumes by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and C-reactive protein (CRP) as a measure of inflammation and plasminogen-activated inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) levels as a marker of thrombolysis. Result(s) Serum and free T levels significantly increased into the high normal female range in T-treated but not placebo-treated women. Insulin sensitivity by FSIVGT, whole body, thigh SC, and intra-abdominal fat volumes, and CRP and PAI-1 levels did not change significantly in either group and were not significantly different between the two groups. Fasting insulin increased in the placebo group and fell slightly in the T group, resulting in significant differences in change between groups. Conclusion(s) Twenty-four weeks of elevation of serum T levels into the high normal female range in HIV-infected women with mild to moderate weight loss by transdermal T patches did not adversely affect insulin sensitivity, whole-body fat mass or regional fat distribution, or markers of inflammation and thrombolysis. More prolonged and larger studies are needed to determine the effects of higher doses of T on body composition and insulin sensitivity in women.
Stable-unstable resonator design for a wide-tuning-range free-electron laser

A stable-unstable resonator design which employs a one-sided negative-branch unstable mode in the plane perpendicular to the wiggler magnetic field and a stable Gaussian cavity mode in the perpendicular direction can provide a near-ideal solution for a very-wide-tuning-range infrared free-electron laser. A trial design which provides for all-reflective optics, reasonable output coupling, and potentially continuous tunability from 3 to 50 mu m in a single resonator is described. >
Comparing Boron and Aluminum Nanoparticle Combustion in Teflon Using Ultrafast Emission Spectroscopy

Boron and aluminum nanoparticle combustion in TeflonAF was studied using time-resolved emission spectroscopy after laser flash-heating. When a threshold energy density was reached by the nanoparticles, a picosecond emission burst was observed. This was attributed to a dense metal plasma with an emission profile that fit well to a graybody model. Thermodynamics showed that this plasma only represented a small fraction of the nanoparticle mass. Depassivation of the boron particles occurred when the oxide shell boiled off and the metal core was melted. Depassivation of aluminum occurred when the oxide shell melted and the metal core was almost vaporized. The lifetimes for exothermic chemistries could be determined from their effects on the plasma lifetime. The rate of energy release from vapor Al + Teflon reactions has a ∼100 ps lifetime, while energy release from liquid B + Teflon was observed to occur with a ∼200 ps lifetime.
Uncovering the urban dimension in nationalist conflict: Jerusalem and Belfast compared

How does an urban setting of a nationalist conflict exert effects on the coherency of political opposition and the level of ethnic tension? Urban policies can transform broader conflict by affecting the material grounds for political grievance and the dynamics of an ethnically‐based urban opposition. This article probes the effects of partisan Israeli policies on Jerusalem Palestinians since 1967 and the effects of ethnically‐neutral British policies on Belfast Catholics since 1972. Findings indicate that the urban region, heretofore neglected in conflict studies, is a complex platform for the interplay of community‐based opposition and nationalist ethnic conflict. In Jerusalem, Palestinian grievances over Israeli partisan urban strategy are strong, but Israeli co‐optation of the Arab community and Palestinian government's lack of enthusiasm concerning grassroots advocacy and human rights work dampen Palestinian oppositional mobilization. In Belfast, Catholic grievances over material conditions are partia...
PLATELET SIZE IN RELATION TO PLATELET AGE.

SummaryThe frequency distribution of platelet sizes in platelet populations of various ages was investigated using a Coulter Electronic Particle Counter, model B, and a particle size distribution plotter. Platelets were obtained from male Sprague-Dawley rats, young platelets from rats recovering from thrombocytopenia induced with platelet-specific antiserum, and old platelets after 2 days' in vivo incubation of normal platelets in irradiated, thrombopenic rats. The size distribution curves demonstrated a shift toward larger than normal size in the case of young platelets and smaller size for old platelets. Statistical analysis of the curves gave unbiased estimates of mean sizes and variances which were used to test hypotheses concerning the effect of age on platelet size.
Obligation and Human Nature in Hume’s Philosophy

It is commonly held that moral judgements are implicitly general or universalizable in that if anyone is morally obligated to perform or refrain from some action, everyone in relevantly similar circumstances is similarly obligated. I undertake here to show that David Hume fully subscribed to this thesis and that because of the way it is related to his conceptions of obligation and what he terms the practicality of morals he is pushed to insist that the moral sentiments of human beings across space and time are much more uniform than he knew them to be. My discussion places Hume in the historical context of the controversy about 'the general foundation of morals' referred to near the beginning of the second Enquiry, and it is part of my thesis that Hume's moral philosophy can be understood only in terms of arguments and counter-arguments developed by other contributors to the controversy.
Evaluation of a Resistant Parasitoid for Biological Control of Weevils in Insecticide-Treated Wheat

Interaction of a resistant strain of Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) and a host, the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera : Curculionidae), on wheat treated with malathion was studied in the laboratory. Based on dose response and serial time-response bioassays, malathion concentration had no significant effect on longevity, fecundity, or effectiveness of the Bamberg strain of A. calandrae parasitizing S. oryzae in wheat. Suppression of the immature weevil population exceeded 90% on malathion-treated wheat. Bamberg A. calandrae were more successful parasitizing the Savannah laboratory strain of S. oryzae compared with the Bamberg strain of S. oryzae, possibly because of the larger size of the Savannah weevils. The Bamberg strain of S. oryzae (12 times resistant at the LD 99 based on vial bioassays) was more tolerant of malathion applied to wheat than was the susceptible Savannah strain of S. oryzae. However, malathion concentration had no significant effect on emergence of adults of either weevil strain when wheat containing immatures was treated. Although oviposition was significantly reduced, both weevil strains oviposited on wheat treated with malathion. These results indicate that the ecology of host development (for example, protected weevil larvae feeding within grain kernels) may be primarily responsible for development of the resistance in Bamberg A. calandrae by providing a food source when the parasitoid is under selection pressure. Use of the resistant strain of A. calandrae in a management system for insect pests in stored grain is discussed.
Performance Measurement System for Assessing Transportation Sustainability and Community Livability

Sustainability and livability as concepts that indicate the capability of transportation systems to maintain social well-being have been widely accepted as critical principles to improve the quality of life and health in communities. This study introduced a geographic information system as the basis for a performance measurement system to assess the two goals from the standpoint of transportation systems. The city of Buffalo, New York, was used as the case study. Various data were collected, and 20 sustainability and livability related performance measures (PMs), including transportation attributes, land use measures, living condition indicators, and systemwide indexes, were developed. Analysis of the PMs raised several policy implications and led to some suggestions. Lessons and challenges from the PM development process are summarized to help other relevant initiatives. The PMs, the supporting database, the case study, and the findings produced by the research are expected to help a wide range of stakeh...
O31-2 Effects of low job control on onset of diabetes among older adults participating in the u.s. labour force: a 7 year follow up

Introduction Most literature on psychosocial occupational characteristics and their effects on health have been based on studies outside the U.S., leaving a significant knowledge gap about psychosocial exposures and outcomes in the U.S. labour force. Low job control has been posited as a potential risk factor for type 2 diabetes, however most of the research has focused on younger adult workers. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of baseline job control on incident diabetes over a 7-year period, in a sample of older adults aged 50 years and older participating in the US labour force. Methods Using Health and Retirement Study data from 2006–2012 Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the risk of incident diabetes according to perceived job control at baseline in 1,391 adults. Results In comparison to high job control, working in low control jobs was associated with a 66% (95% CI = 1.17–2.36) increased risk of diabetes after adjustment for behavioural, socioeconomic and occupational factors. Stratification by gender indicated that women had a 72% increased risk (95% CI = 1.08–2.98), while men showed a 77% increased risk (95% CI = 1.03–2.89) of incident diabetes. Risk was highest in participants who were racial minorities, obese, less educated, worked long hours, and those who were not married. Conclusions Low job control is a risk factor for incident diabetes in older adults participating in the workforce. Interventions which take into account the dynamics and psychosocial aspects of work culture in America should be explored, particularly for adults nearing or surpassing the age of retirement.
A quantitative evaluation of a 2.5-kb rat tyrosine hydroxylase promoter to target expression in ventral mesencephalic dopamine neurons in vivo

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) have become powerful tools in neuroscience for both basic research and potential therapeutic use. They have become especially important tools for optogenetic experiments based on their ability to achieve transgene expression in postmitotic neurons with regional selectivity. With the use of appropriate promoter elements they can achieve cellular specificity as well. One population of neurons that plays a central role in human neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases are the dopamine neurons of the midbrain. To study these neurons in vivo with advanced techniques it would be highly advantageous to characterize an appropriate specific promoter. To this end we have characterized a 2.5-kb sequence of the rat tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) promoter. The rTHp(2.5) promoter induced expression of the fluorescent reporter protein mCherry in SN dopamine neurons. Although it showed excellent specificity in cortex and striatum, where no reporter expression was observed, in the SN region many neurons expressed reporter but not TH. We show that some of the TH negativity is due to the suppression of its expression by the transgene. We conclude that rTHp(2.5) does preferentially label dopamine neurons but its specificity is not complete within the substantia nigra and caution must be used.
Dying for advice: Code-status discussions between resident physicians and patients with advanced cancer—A national survey.

83 Background: Patients with treatment-resistant advanced cancer rarely benefit from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but infrequently discuss end-of-life care with a physician until hospitalized for deterioration. Admitting resident physicians may therefore conduct initial code-status discussions, but may elicit patients’ preferences without providing necessary guidance. Methods: We distributed a case-based survey to all United States internal medicine residency program directors, of whom 19 enrolled and forwarded the survey to their residents. 358 residents (response rate 22.0%) completed the survey. Results: Faced with a hypothetical case of an inpatient with treatment-refractory advanced cancer, nearly all residents felt CPR would not be helpful. Yet, fewer than half (46.7%) of residents were likely to discuss an estimate of prognosis and the value of CPR with the patient. Only 30% were likely to offer a specific recommendation on CPR. A majority (69%) of residents who were unwilling to make a reco...
Timely Verification at Large-Scale Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plants

ABSTRACTThis article examines challenges in international nuclear safeguards pertaining to the timely detection of highly enriched uranium production at large-scale gas centrifuge enrichment plants. To establish where present gas centrifuge enrichment plant safeguards measures and approaches could be strengthened, we have created a discrete time model for simulating hypothetical misuse scenarios, both through transient phases and at steady-state. We find that timely detection of misuse at modern large-scale facilities presents a challenge for international safeguards. A toolbox of unattended measurement systems, along with remote monitoring, however, could be used to improve detection timeliness, enabling the initiation of follow-up activities, potentially on a rapid time scale. These measures, which would need very low false alarm rates, should be implemented in a graded approach, depending on the characteristics of each enrichment plant and an analysis of plausible acquisition paths for the State in whi...
Keeping Peace from Above: Air Assets in UN Peace Operations

Aviation assets, which include fixed-wing aircraft, utility and attack helicopters, and unmanned aerial systems, are key enablers that give peace operations the mobility and agility they need to deter and prevail against hostile actors. They are also force multipliers that enhance the effectiveness of multidimensional operations, allowing them to implement their mandates. However, peace operations face a chronic shortage of air assets with the right capabilities, and pressure to cut costs is likely to push missions to further rationalize and reduce the use of air assets. This report looks at how missions’ air assets are organized, generated, managed, tasked, controlled, and commanded. It also makes a number of recommendations to address persistent shortcomings: - At the headquarters level, the UN should take a more strategic approach to deploying air assets, facilitate multinational rotation contributions, encourage triangular partnerships, share air assets among missions, and review the policy for command and control. - At the mission level, the UN should require civilian and military components of aviation units to be better integrated, implement existing policies and procedures, provide training on standard operating procedures, and restrict the use of special flights.
Self-assembled stoichiometric barium titanate thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract The growth of stoichiometric barium titanate using molecular beam epitaxy was investigated by providing excess barium during co-deposition of barium, titanium, and oxygen. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that excess barium accumulated at the surface as barium oxide, and that post methanol cleaning removed the barium oxide and resulted in the stoichiometry of all grown films to be that of bulk stoichiometric barium titanate. Piezoforce microscopy was used to determine the ferroelectric properties of the thin films. Results demonstrated the d33 values were equal to or better than bulk values. These results indicate that the excess barium self-limited the growth to the stoichiometry of barium titanate by transferring the excess barium to the surface as barium oxide, creating a new growth approach for barium titanate.
Empowering Young Minds through Communication, Creative Expression, and Human Rights in Refugee Art.

Despite the United States having a long history of being a receiving country for immigrants (Hollifield, Martin, & Orrenius, 2014), a greater portion of immigrants that are currently migrating to t...
Hormone Therapy: Individualizing Treatment Based Upon Perimenopausal Symptoms

All FDA-approved systemic estrogen formulations relieve hot flushes. However, menopausal symptoms are not always equivalent to estrogen deficiency. Women in their 40s have varying estradiol levels based upon BMI, ethnicity and other factors. I believe that progesterone has an important role in treating menopausal symptoms and balancing estradiol. Symptoms of high estradiol, such as breast tenderness and enlargement, increased irritability, and frequent awakening (without night sweats), may be best treated with progesterone alone. Administration of estradiol to women with already high (or spiking) estradiol levels may also result in weight gain. While guidelines recommend using hormones for the shortest time possible, I do not believe that women should be encouraged to discontinue them if they feel well and desire to continue.
NALOXONE'S EFFECTS ON A VARIETY OF MOTIVATED BEHAVIORS

Summary Using rats and hamsters as subjects, a variety of behaviors were assessed following administration of narcotic agonists, antagonists, or both. Pressing for direct electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus, substantia nigra, periaquaductal grey, accumbens nucleus, or amygdala is increased by morphine and decreased by naloxone in opioid-naive subjects. Water intake is increased by morphine and decreased by naloxone. Decreases under naloxone occur across a wide variety of circumstances suggesting that naloxone's effects on water intake are robust. Naloxone also decreases feeding. Morphine and ethanol depress copulatory behavior, and both drugs1 effects are naloxone reversible, but naloxone itself has only minor effects. Collectively, these observations support the notion that endorphinergic systems are components of behavioral regulatory systems.
Patients' Racial Preferences and the Medical Culture of Accommodation

One of medicine’s open secrets is that patients routinely refuse or demand medical treatment based on the assigned physician’s racial identity, and hospitals typically yield to patients’ racial preferences. This widely practiced, if rarely acknowledged, phenomenon — about which there is new empirical evidence — poses a fundamental dilemma for law, medicine, and ethics. It also raises difficult questions about how we should think about race, health, and individual autonomy in this context. Informed consent rules and common law battery dictate that a competent patient has an almost-unqualified right to refuse medical care, including treatment provided by an unwanted physician. Yet the accommodation of patients’ racial preferences with respect to their choice of physician in the hospital context appears to violate antidiscrimination principles. How should we reconcile this apparent conflict between respect for patient autonomy and accepted notions of racial equality? Moreover, is the accommodation of patients’ racial preferences the type of invidious discrimination that civil rights laws were enacted to prevent?This Article engages these questions through an evaluation of antidiscrimination norms, principles of medical ethics, and federal laws, including Titles II, VI, and VII of the Civil Rights Act. In so doing, the Article offers critical insights into why a form of discrimination that is prohibited in other contexts is tolerated in the hospital setting and draws important conclusions about the legal propriety and medical efficacy of this practice. The Article contends that the various titles of the Civil Rights Act offer no clear legal directive on this practice, and it makes the counterintuitive claim that although hospital accommodation of patients’ racial preferences appears to contravene antidiscrimination principles, it is not only consistent with our normative commitments to racial equality but, in fact, constitutes an effective means of alleviating race-based health disparities, improving health outcomes, and quite possibly, saving patients’ lives.
Ethics and the new biology

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the ethics and moral issues that are raised by the new biology. The ethical and moral guidelines of the past have developed partly on the basis of democratic pressures; partly on the basis of service to special interests, including those of the class of priests; partly as a result of impact of individual leaders, whose motivations in turn may have been based on various rational and sometimes irrational but functional considerations. For the majority of people in the past, the standards of behaviour, of action and of social interaction, though having evolved just as other social processes and institutions, were codified by authority. The chapter reviews the manipulation of individual genotypes and barely possible genes; the prospects of cloning; the putting of human chromosomes into apes for research or possibly various nefarious purposes; the production of test-tube or surrogate mother babies(prenatal adoption); and multiparental mosaics. The furthering of esthetic ideals of the possibilities of self-actualization, the fulfilment of man's potential for expressing himself both as an individual and as a member of a group, the development of loyalties to increasingly more inclusive entities from self to family to parish to country to the world at large are attainable with the conquest over hunger, disease, toil, hatred, and war, which technology can make possible. The ethics of the decision-making in the contemporary world are not clear, but the development of an effective and a just machinery for this process as it concerns individuals and society should have a high place on mankind's agenda.
Economics-informed design of CDNs

Over the past decade, both the contents available on the Internet, and its means of distribution have undergone a drastic change. In the mid-nineties, the development of electronic commerce and web services had fueled the dominance of HTTP traffic, which resulted in easily distinguishable “clients” and “servers.” However, since then two important events radically transformed the Internet landscape. First, the Napster service [1], launched in 1999, ushered the era of “Peer-to-Peer (P2P)” computing. P2P computing markedly differs from the client-server paradigm that preceded it (and now co-exists with it), in that any host at the edge of the network can act as an information provider. Second, digital production tools became accessible to the masses, through the availability of high-resolution cameras, videorecorders, or high-quality sound cards with sampling capabilities. This in turn led to a proliferation of user-generated contents, which intensified even further as information dissemination platforms, e.g. weblogs, became easier to use. Shortly stated, end-users have gained the tools and resources to now act as active content contributors. However, at the same time (and, paradoxically, maybe because of this empowerment), novel phenomena, such as occurrences of the “tragedy of the commons” [23] have started to be observed on the network. The tragedy of the commons is best explained by its canonical example. Consider a village pasture that can accommodate a fixed number of sheep, and is a “common” good shared among all herdsmen. Each herdsman can see a significant advantage in slightly increasing their own herd – more sheep mean more wool, and in turn more
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL PHARMACOLOGY OF HYPOTHALAMIC NEURONS IN EXPLANT TISSUE CULTURE

Publisher Summary The elucidation of the intrinsic physiologic properties of neurons of the mammalian central nervous system is a major goal of modern neurobiology. In situ preparations are not optimal for use in such studies, because it is not possible to assess the effect of afferent and hormonal inputs on the measured properties of the neuron under investigation. The endocrine hypothalamus is particularly complex in this regard: It receives afferent input from several other brain regions and its activity is influenced by hormones of both pituitary and gonadal origin. Selective removal of one type of input, as by hypophysectomy, evokes compensatory changes in other inputs, thereby confounding the analysis, while animals that have multiple interventions are extremely labile. This chapter discusses the fundamental electro-physiological actions of those putative neurotransmitters that normally influence tuberal hypothalamic neuronal activity. The accessibility of cultured neurons has been utilized to investigate in detail the receptor pharmacology and physiological mechanisms of actions of several of these putative neurotransmitters.
A Comparison of Individual and Collective Pitch Model Predictive Controllers for Wind Turbines

Model predictive control (MPC) has been gaining attention in the wind energy field for its ability to optimize performance while taking into account constraints and preview disturbance measurements such as those that can be provided by lidar scanners. While a growing body of research exists showing the benefits of MPC over baseline controllers, little work has been done to compare competing MPC formulations. This paper compares the performance of collective and individual pitch enabled linear-quadratic MPCs both to each other and to their baseline counterparts. Realistic lidar measurements are used to provide preview information. Our results show that collective pitch MPC can lead to reductions in both rotor speed deviations and tower damage equivalent loads with little increase in pitch activity. Moreover, we find that the individual pitch MPC can reduce blade loads further than a baseline individual pitch controller with less actuation, although as with all individual pitch controllers, there is a significant increase in pitch activity compared to collective pitch controllers.
PLEXIFORM SCHWANNOMA OF THE ORAL/PHARYNGEAL REGION: REPORT OF FOUR CASES AND A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Plexiform schwannoma represents an unusual schwannoma variant, characterized by multinodular growth grossly and/or microscopically. A review of the English language literature reveals only 30 previously reported cases involving the oral/pharyngeal region, and herein we present 4 additional cases. Among these 34 cases, the average age at diagnosis was 27 years (range 5 to 58 years), with a female-to-male ratio of 1.3:1. The most frequently involved sites were the lips (n=11) and tongue (n=11). Lesion duration prior to presentation was reported in 15 cases and ranged from 6 weeks to 26 years. The average lesion size was 2.1 cm (range 0.4 to 8.5 cm). Three tumors were described as “large” or “giant,” including one extending from the sublingual region to the mediastinum. The typical clinical presentation was a solitary/localized, painless, and slowly enlarging swelling. However, 5 patients exhibited other clinical findings (e.g., pain/discomfort, sore throat, dysphagia, dyspnea). Three cases arose in association with neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2). Other neural tumor types (e.g., conventional schwannoma, meningioma) and/or >1 plexiform schwannoma were found in 5 patients (3 with NF2 and 2 who did not fulfill diagnostic criteria for NF2). Microscopic examination typically showed a proliferation of multiple well-circumscribed tumor nodules, each surrounded by a thin capsule. Antoni A and B patterns were evident in varying proportions. Infrequent histopathologic findings included ancient change (n=1) and induction of adjacent surface epithelium/odontogenic epithelial rests (n=1). Immunohistochemical findings included reactivity for S-100 protein among the tumor cells (15/15 cases), reactivity for EMA among capsular perineural cells (3/4 cases), and no reactivity for NFP among the tumor cells (6/6 cases). Most patients (n=22) were treated by excision or enucleation. Among the 14 cases for which follow-up information was provided, 3 recurred. Unlike plexiform neurofibromas, plexiform schwannomas exhibit only a weak association with neurofibromatosis and have no known malignant potential.
A randomized pragmatic trial of telephone-delivered cognitive behavioral-therapy, modafinil, and combination therapy of both for fatigue in multiple sclerosis: The design of the "COMBO-MS" trial.

Abstract Background Fatigue is one of the most common and disabling chronic symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS). Optimization of available treatments for MS-related fatigue has been stymied by lack of comparative effectiveness research that focuses on real-world treatment delivery methods and potential modification of treatment effect by other chronic MS symptoms or disability level. This report describes the design of a patient centered, comparative effectiveness trial of cognitive behavioral-therapy (CBT), modafinil, and combination therapy of both for fatigue in MS (“COMBO-MS”). Methods We describe the methods of this pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial that is guided by a team of patient, family, provider, community, and payer stakeholders. Eligible participants with MS and significant fatigue severity are randomly assigned (1:1:1) to received either CBT, modafinil, or a combination of CBT and modafinil for 12 weeks. The primary outcome is change in fatigue impact as measured by the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) at 12 weeks. Secondary outcome measures include ecological momentary assessment (EMA) measures of fatigue intensity, fatigue interference, and fatigability (measured over 7 days' time at baseline and at 12 weeks), and change in MFIS score at 24 weeks. Projected outcomes We hypothesize that combination therapy will more effectively ameliorate fatigue severity than either monotherapy, and that heterogeneity of treatment effects will be found based on depression status, presence of known or suspected sleep disorder, and disease severity. Study findings will assist patients, providers, payers, and policy makers to provide more effective care for managing fatigue in MS.
Tainacanthus ferox, a remarkable new genus and species of katydids from the high mountains of Hispaniola (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Pseudophyllinae: Polyancistrini)

The new genus and species of Polyancistrini katydids Tainacanthus ferox gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from specimens collected in the highest mountains of the Dominican Republic, island of Hispaniola. This is the third genus of Polyancistrini known from Hispaniola and the seventh genus of the tribe. Tainacanthus is distinctive due to the unique architecture of its pronotum, which is a large and bulbous shield with an extended metazona that covers and protects the stridulatory apparatus surrounded by a relatively small number of large and sharp spines. Additionally, all legs are armed with larger and more robust spines than those of Polyancistrus Audinet-Serville, 1831, its most likely closest relative. Tainacanthus inhabits the highest mountains of the Dominican Cordillera Central at over 2,400 m above sea level, living among hard-leaf evergreen vegetation interspersed with pine forests. The type locality is included within the Armando Bermudez National Park, one of the most important protected areas in the Dominican Republic.
6 – Macroscopic Balances

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses macroscopic balances. With the macroscopic balances and appropriate experimental data, one can determine flow rates and pressure differences, but not velocity fields and pressure fields; one can determine inter-phase heat transfer rates and average temperatures of process streams entering and leaving control volumes, but cannot determine the details of the temperature field. Also, these are helpful in determining mass flow rates, but not the density field. Most of the time it is the pressure drop, flowrate, and inter-phase heat transfer rate that one really needs, and the pressure field, velocity field, and temperature field is often something one can do without. The interest in liquid metals as heat transfer fluids stem from their high thermal conductivity and high boiling points . This allows liquid metals to be used at high temperatures and relatively low pressures . The obvious disadvantage to the use of liquid metals is their toxic nature, for example, mercury is quite poisonous, and their difficult handling characteristics, for example, sodium reacts violently with water and reacts with air at elevated temperatures.
The State of the ML-universe: 10 Years of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Software Development on GitHub

In the last few years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have become ubiquitous terms. These powerful techniques have escaped obscurity in academic communities with the recent onslaught of AI & ML tools, frameworks, and libraries that make these techniques accessible to a wider audience of developers. As a result, applying AI & ML to solve existing and emergent problems is an increasingly popular practice. However, little is known about this domain from the software engineering perspective. Many AI & ML tools and applications are open source, hosted on platforms such as GitHub that provide rich tools for large-scale distributed software development. Despite widespread use and popularity, these repositories have never been examined as a community to identify unique properties, development patterns, and trends. In this paper, we conducted a large-scale empirical study of AI & ML Tool (700) and Application (4,524) repositories hosted on GitHub to develop such a characterization. While not the only platform hosting AI & ML development, GitHub facilitates collecting a rich data set for each repository with high traceability between issues, commits, pull requests and users. To compare the AI & ML community to the wider population of repositories, we also analyzed a set of 4,101 unrelated repositories. We enhance this characterization with an elaborate study of developer workflow that measures collaboration and autonomy within a repository. We've captured key insights of this community's 10 year history such as it's primary language (Python) and most popular repositories (Tensorflow, Tesseract). Our findings show the AI & ML community has unique characteristics that should be accounted for in future research.
Weighted $\ell _{1}$ -Minimization for Generalized Non-Uniform Sparse Model

Model-based compressed sensing refers to compressed sensing with extra structure about the underlying sparse signal known a priori . Recent work has demonstrated that both for deterministic and probabilistic models imposed on the signal, this extra information can be successfully exploited to enhance recovery performance. In particular, weighted $\ell _{1}$ -minimization with suitable choice of weights has been shown to improve performance in the so-called non-uniform sparse model of signals. In this paper, we consider a full generalization of the non-uniform sparse model with very mild assumptions. We prove that when the measurements are obtained using a matrix with independent identically distributed Gaussian entries, weighted $\ell _{1}$ -minimization successfully recovers the sparse signal from its measurements with overwhelming probability. We also provide a method to choose these weights for any general signal model from the non-uniform sparse class of signal models.
Grandparenting and Cognitive Functioning in China

Caring for grandchildren provides grandparents an opportunity to sustain an active lifestyle and remain socially engaged in older age. Studies have examined the association between providing care to grandchildren and grandparents’ cognitive function. However, these studies had several limitations and yielded mixed findings. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this study examined the longitudinal association between caregiving and cognitive functioning in grandparents aged 50–75 years. Grandparents’ caregiving status and cognitive functioning were assessed in 2011, 2013, and 2015. Random-effects and fixed-effects regression models were estimated and compared. The full sample (20,000 + person-year observations) was divided into four subgroups to examine gender and rural–urban variations. Being a part-time noncoresident caregiver was associated with higher scores on episodic memory for grandfathers but not for grandmothers. Compared with their noncaregiving counterparts, rural part-time multigenerational caregiving grandmothers had significantly better mental intactness and global cognitive functioning, while rural full-time noncoresident caregiving grandmothers had significantly better episodic memory. Caregiving status was not associated with any cognitive measure among urban grandmothers. Taken together, these findings suggest that Chinese grandparents enjoy cognitive benefits from providing casual or intensive care to grandchildren, but these benefits vary substantially by gender and rural–urban status.
Gravitational wave background from mergers of large primordial black holes.

The Peters formula, which tells how the coalescence time of a binary system emitting gravitational radiation is determined by the initial size and shape of the elliptic orbit, is often used in estimating the merger rate of primordial black holes and the gravitational wave background from the mergers. Valid as it is in some interesting scenarios, such as the analysis of the LIGO-Virgo events, the Peters formula fails to describe the coalescence time if the orbital period of the binary exceeds the value given by the formula. This could underestimate the event rate of mergers that occur before the cosmic time $t\sim 10^{13}\ \text{s}$. As a result, the energy density spectrum of the gravitational wave background could develop a peak, which is from mergers occurring at either $t\sim 10^{13}\ \text{s}$ (for black holes with mass $M\gtrsim 10^8 M_\odot$) or $t\sim 10^{26}(M/M_\odot)^{-5/3}\ \text{s}$ (for $10^5 M_\odot \lesssim M\lesssim 10^8 M_\odot$). This can be used to constrain the fraction of dark matter in primordial black holes (denoted by $f$) if potential probes (such as SKA, LISA and BBO) do not discover such a background, with the result $f\lesssim 10^{-5}\text{-}10^{-4}$ for the mass range $10\text{-} 10^9M_\odot$. We then consider the effect of mass accretion at redshift $z\sim 10$, and find that the merger rate would increase during the accretion period, and could drop significantly at low redshifts. The spectrum of the gravitational wave background thus gets slightly enhanced at low frequencies, and suppressed at the high-frequency end. This feature might be captured by future detectors such as ET and CE for initial mass $M= \mathcal{O}(10\text{-}100) M_\odot$ with $f\gtrsim 10^{-4}$
MIMO Modeling by Learning Explicitly the Projection Space: The Maximum Correlation Ratio Cost Function

Maximal correlation measures the statistical dependence between two random variables and has been broadly used by statisticians. In this paper, we present a novel regression framework based on a special case of the maximal correlation using the correlation ratio to train a Multiple-input Multiple-output (MIMO) model called the Bank of Wiener Models (BWM). Nonlinear time series modeling under maximal correlation unifies the cost and the mapping function under the same mathematical optimization framework. This provides direct optimality (maximal statistical dependence) between BWM model outputs and the desired response, without the restriction of constructing an error signal as conventionally done in regression. Based on the idea of correlation ratio, we propose the Maximal Correlation Algorithm (MCA), which approximates directly the correlation ratio between BWM outputs and the desired response. As an important consequence, MCA modularizes the training of models with hidden layers and avoids the end-to-end training of backpropagation (BP), while improving the equivalent mapping capability. We further propose several possible multi layer arrangements to create deep networks trained with MCA. We demonstrate experimentally that MCA performs at the same level of output error or better when compared to a single and multiple-hidden-layer MLP trained with BP and the Mean Squared Error (MSE). We also show that the system identification capabilities of MCA are superior to MLPs trained with BP. Hence, MCA has great promise in both nonlinear system identification and machine learning.
Recent population trends in the USSR

Pending the publication of new Soviet population data based on the 1979 census, to be hald next January, the author reviews population trends in the 1970's. After a steady decline through much of the Soviet period, birth rates and death rates have stabilized for the country as a whole, although marked regional differences continue. An unexplained rise in infant mortality and an apparent reduction of life expectancy have led to the suppression of data in these areas. No ready explanation is found for a recent increase in female fertility and age-specific death rates. Abnormalities in the age-sex structure, resulting from past population catastrophes, continue to persist and indicate future labor shortages. Geographical differences in population growth rates, resulting from differential rates of natural increase and migration, are analyzed. Urbanization, a typical phenomenon of the Soviet period, continues apace, with the biggest increases in large cities despite a policy designed to discourage big-city gro...
THEOLOGIANS OF SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION: A PROPOSAL FOR READING RENÉ GIRARD THROUGH THE LENSES OF HANS URS VON BALTHASAR AND JOHN CASSIAN

This essay contends that Rene Girard is not a philosopher or a scientist whose ideas are open to theological appropriation. Instead, contrary to his assertions otherwise, the Girard corpus ought to be read as if it were articulating a form of theology whose primary intellectual home can ultimately be found on a theological map. As the field of Girardian theology grows, it becomes more evident that we need some theological lenses for examining the theology already lying waiting—sometimes inchoately, sometimes not—in Girard's texts, and also for examining how theologians use and misuse his texts. If we can see that he is already doing theology then a theological critique becomes plausible and valid in principle, and indeed becomes an internal critique. Applying good interpretive lenses will provide some rigorous criteria for analyzing the degree to which Girardian theologians are following the internal logic of Girard's thought in their appropriations of it. The interpretive lenses I propose using on Girard are first the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar (d. 1988) and then the theology of John Cassian (d. circa 435). These two theologians provide us with lenses that help us see that Girard is fundamentally a Catholic theologian involved in resisting the speculative re-writing of Christianity by proponents of “false gnosis” and that he belongs within the category of theologians who advocate spiritual transformation and “true gnosis.”
Evidence for a lecithin-retinol acyltransferase activity in the rat small intestine.

Cellular retinol-binding protein, type II (CRBP (II] is an abundant protein of the mature enterocytes of the small intestine. It has been shown to direct retinol to an acyl-CoA-independent esterifying activity that utilizes an endogenous acyl donor (Ong, D.E., Kakkad, B., and MacDonald, P.N. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 2729-2736). Here we report that this activity in intestinal microsomes will catalyze the transfer of acyl moieties from exogenous phosphatidylcholine (PC) to retinol-CRBP(II) to produce retinyl esters. The microsomal activity displayed positional selectivity as only the sn-1-acyl moiety of PC was transferred to retinol-CRBP(II). The retinyl ester synthase was selective for PC substrates as acyl transfer from phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidic acid, or free fatty acid to retinol-CRBP(II) was not observed. Some formation of retinyl esters was observed with exogenous acyl-CoA, but the amount produced was considerably lower than ester formation from exogenous PC and could be shown to be due to a different enzyme activity. Inhibitor studies clearly distinguished between the enzyme activities responsible for the acyl-CoA-dependent esterification and the phosphatidylcholine-dependent esterification of retinol. The results provide strong evidence that retinol-CRBP(II) esterification in the intestine proceeds via a phosphatidylcholine-dependent transacylase mechanism similar to that established for the esterification of cholesterol by lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase.