cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Validation and Operational Implementation of the Navy Coastal Ocean Model Four Dimensional Variational Data Assimilation System (NCOM 4DVAR) in the Okinawa Trough

The Navy Coastal Ocean Model Four-Dimensional Variational Assimilation (NCOM 4DVAR ) system is an analysis software package that is designed to supplement the current capability of the operational analysis/prediction system known as the Relocatable Navy Coupled Ocean Model (Relo NCOM ) system. The present assimilation component of Relo NCOM employs the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation Three-Dimensional Variational Assimilation (NCODA 3DVAR) system to process and assimilate observations. The NCOM 4DVAR, on the other hand, uses a representer based 4DVAR method and has been found to improve the forecast-skill for several regional applications. This chapter presents the results of validation experiments performed in the Okinawa Trough. The analysis and resulting forecast skill of the two assimilation methods within Relo NCOM (NCOM 4DVAR and NCODA 3DVAR ) are compared, and the operational implementation of NCOM 4DVAR is examined to verify that it satisfies operational constraints. The metrics used to validate the NCOM 4DVAR system include: computational efficiency, scalability, robustness, and the prediction accuracy of temperature, sea surface height, and sonic layer depth through NCOM 4DVAR and NCODA 3DVAR analyses. Forecast skill metrics are computed using surface observations of temperature, salinity and sea surface height, and profile observations from gliders and AXBTs (aerial expendable bathythermograph). Overall, the validation reveals that NCOM 4DVAR has lower root mean square errors for both analyses and forecasts than the operational NCODA 3DVAR system.
Effectiveness of a 1-Hour Extended Focused Assessment With Sonography in Trauma Session in the Medical Student Surgery Clerkship

Objective To demonstrate the effectiveness of incorporating 1 hour of ultrasound training on the extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma (eFAST) into the year-3 medical student surgical clerkship. Design A prospective cohort study where participants served as self-controls. One hour of instruction in the eFAST examination, along with 3 required observed examinations, was incorporated into the year-3 surgery clerkship. Effectiveness of the training was evaluated by a preliminary and posttraining assessment. An online survey was used assessing comfort based on a 5-point Likert scale. An online quiz was used assessing knowledge, and a 2-part objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was used assessing skill and speed. Participants also logged 3 eFAST examinations during the 10-week clerkship where they reported their comfort in performing and interpreting the eFAST on a 5-point Likert scale. Postassessment was held during the last week of the clerkship and included the same online quiz, survey, and 2-part OSCE. Setting The study was performed at Loma Linda University and affiliated hospitals where surgical clerkship students rotate. Participants A total of 148 year-3 medical students completed the study. Results All testing modalities showed improvement. The mean average of the OSCE improved from 46% ± 27% to 81% ± 18%. The percentage of participants able to perform the examination in less than 6 minutes increased from 18% ± 27% to 84% ± 36%. Participants' comfort level in recognizing eFAST pathology increased from a mean of 2.40 ± 0.94 to 3.55 ± 0.87 out of 5. Comfort in performing the eFAST examination improved from 2.81 ± 0.79 to 3.77 ± 0.68. Comfort in interpreting the eFAST examination improved from 2.88 ± 0.87 to 3.65 ± 0.72. Conclusions This study demonstrates that incorporating 1 hour of eFAST training into the general surgery clerkship is feasible and may lead to improved competency in performing and interpreting the eFAST examination.
Aggregating Correlated Wind Power With Full Surplus Extraction

We study the problem of designing profit-maximizing mechanisms for an aggregator who aggregates wind power from a group of wind power producers (WPPs). The WPPs have more refined forecasts of the wind power generation than the aggregator. Such forecasts are their private information, which also give the reservation utilities of the WPPs. The goal of the aggregator is to elicit the private information truthfully, while paying them as little as possible. Inspired by the fact that those forecasts are typically correlated due to the geographical proximity of the WPPs, we formally define the full correlation condition, which holds ubiquitously in practice. Under that condition, we construct an optimal mechanism which yields the truthful elicitation, while extracting the full surplus (i.e., with minimum payments equal to the reservation utilities) in expectation. Finally, we conduct a case study based on the real-world data, which empirically validates the results.
Beyond Botball: A Software Oriented Robotics Challenge for Undergraduate Education

Beyond Botball is a thoroughly thought out robotics challenge that varies from year to year. The challenge does not presume specific equipment or software pack- ages - there are many techniques that can be used to accomplish each of the challenge goals. The challenge is distributed freely and is meant to be used as an end of semester project in a robotics or programming class. An open Beyond Botball tournament is held every year in conjunction with the NCER conference. This paper de- scribes the program in more detail and how it has been used in several classes.
Web-Based Recruitment and Survey Methodology to Maximize Response Rates from Followers of Popular Diets: the Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste (ADAPT) Feasibility Survey.

Background Although there is interest in popular diets such as vegan and vegetarian, Paleo, and other "whole food" diets, existing cohort studies lack data for these subgroups. The use of electronic data capture and Web-based surveys in nutrition research may be valuable for future studies by allowing targeting of specific dietary subgroups. Objective The aim was to perform a Feasibility Survey (FS) to assess the practicality of Web-based research methods to gather data and to maximize response rates among followers of popular diets. Methods The FS was an open, voluntary, 15-min survey conducted over 8 wk in the summer of 2015. Recruitment targeted self-identified followers of popular diets from a convenience sample, offering no incentives, via social media and e-newsletters shared by recruitment partners. Feasibility was assessed by number of responses, survey completion rate, distribution of diets, geographic location, and willingness to participate in future research. Results A total of 14,003 surveys were initiated; 13,787 individuals consented, and 9726 completed the survey (71% of consented). The numbers of unique visitors to the questionnaire site, view rate, and participation rate were not captured. Among respondents with complete demographic data, 83% were female and 93% were white. Diet designations were collapsed into the following groups: whole-food, plant-based (25%); vegan and raw vegan (19%); Paleo (14%); try to eat healthy (11%); vegetarian and pescatarian (9%); whole food (8%); Weston A Price (5%); and low-carbohydrate (low-carb) (4%). Forced-response, multiple-choice questions produced the highest response rates (0-2% selected "prefer not to answer"). The percentage who were willing to complete future online questionnaires was 86%, diet recall was 93%, and food diary was 75%; the percentages willing to provide a finger-stick blood sample, venipuncture blood sample, urine sample, and stool sample were 60%, 44%, 58%, and 42%, respectively. Conclusions This survey suggests that recruiting followers of popular diets is feasible with the use of Web-based methods. The unbalanced sample with respect to sex and race/ethnicity could be corrected with specific recruitment strategies using targeted online marketing techniques.
Intragastric nutrient infusion reduces motivation for food in male and female rats.

The idea that gut-derived satiation signals influence food reward has recently gained traction, but this hypothesis is largely based on studies focused on neural circuitry, not the peripherally rel...
Burden and consequences of retained cardiovascular implantable electronic device lead fragments after heart transplantation.

We performed a retrospective review of 402 consecutive patients who underwent heart transplantation at our institution between January 2009 and March 2017. A retained cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) fragment was identified after transplantation in 49 of the 301 patients (16.2%) with CIED at baseline. Patients with retained fragments had leads with longer dwell times (median 2596 [1982, 3389] vs 1384 [610, 2202] days, P < .001), higher prevalence of previously abandoned leads (14.3% vs 2.8%, P = .003), and dual-coil defibrillator leads (98% vs 81%, P = .001) compared with patients without retained fragments. Five patients (10%) with retained CIED fragments underwent magnetic resonance imaging without adverse events. There was no difference in overall mortality between patients with and without CIED fragments (12% vs 11%, P = .81) Patients with retained fragments located in the superior vena cava had significantly higher fluoroscopic times (3.3 vs 2.9 minutes, P = .024) during subsequent endomyocardial biopsies. In a competing risk analysis, presence of a retained CIED fragment was associated with upper extremity deep venous thrombosis (sub hazard ratio [HR] 2.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-4.10, P = .014) but not bloodstream infection after adjusting for potential confounders. In summary, retained CIED fragments are common after heart transplantation, and are associated with longer radiation exposure during biopsy procedures and upper extremity deep venous thrombosis.
A first-in-human study of the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of PF-06741086, an anti-tissue factor pathway inhibitor mAb, in healthy volunteers.

Essentials Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is an antagonist of FXa and the TF-FVIIa complex. PF-06741086 is an IgG1 monoclonal antibody that targets the Kunitz-2 domain of TFPI. Single doses of PF-06741086 were evaluated in a phase 1 study in healthy volunteers. Data from this study support further investigation of PF-06741086 in individuals with hemophilia. Summary Background Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is a protease inhibitor of the tissue factor-activated factor VII complex and activated FX. PF-06741086 is a mAb that targets TFPI to increase clotting activity. Objectives This study was a randomized, double-blind, sponsor-open, placebo-controlled, single intravenous or subcutaneous dose escalation study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of PF-06741086. Patients/Methods Volunteers who provided written informed consent were assigned to cohorts with escalating dose levels. Safety endpoints included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), infusion/injection site reactions, vital signs, electrocardiogram, and coagulation and hematology laboratory parameters. Pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) endpoints included exposures of PF-06741086 in plasma and measures of PF-06741086 pharmacology, respectively. Results Forty-one male volunteers were recruited overall. Thirty-two were dosed with PF-06741086 from 30 mg subcutaneously to 440 mg intravenously. All doses were safe and well tolerated. TEAEs were mild or moderate in severity, laboratory abnormalities were transient, there were no serious adverse events, there were no infusion/injection site reactions, and no dose escalation stopping criteria were met. Plasma exposures of PF-06741086 increased greater than proportionally with dose under the same dosing route. Coagulation pharmacology was demonstrated via total TFPI, dilute prothrombin time, D-dimer, prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 and thrombin generation assay parameters. Conclusions Single doses of PF-06741086 at multiple dose levels were safe and well tolerated in a healthy adult male population. The safety, PK and PD data from this study support progression to a multiple-dose study in hemophilic patients.
Comparison of image quality and acquistion time of Free-Breathing (FB) motion corrected (MOCO) SSFP to current PSIR sequences: is one sequence superior?

Background Delayed myocardial enhancement (DE) sequences have become essential in cardiac MRI (CMRI) for visualization of abnormal myocardium. DE sequences require an inversion pulse to null normal myocardium, and the introduction of phase-sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR) sequences, which are less sensitive to small variations in inversion time (TI), have provided a suitable alternative to magnitude inversion recovery sequences. Two PSIR sequences are widely available, the single-shot SSFP PSIR (SS-SSFP) and segmented turbo FLASH (STF) PSIR sequences. The SS-SSFP PSIR sequence has a short acquisition time making it motion insensitive, but also limiting resolution. The STF PSIR is a longer sequence with better resolution, but also requires several breath holds. The recent introduction of a free-breathing (FB) motion-corrected (MOCO) version of the SS-SSFP PSIR (FB MOCO SSFP) may offer a compromise between image resolution and acquisition time by combining the speed and motion-insensitivity of SS-SSFP PSIR with a resolution similar to STF PSIR. Since CMRI is a timeintensive exam, comparison of these sequences regarding both image quality and acquisition time is necessary.
An opsin homologue in the retina and pigment epithelium.

Purpose The aim of this project was to investigate the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) at the molecular level by identification of novel RPE-specific cDNAs that may encode proteins of signal transduction pathways or other proteins that are expressed preferentially in the RPE. Methods A bovine RPE cDNA library was constructed in bacteriophage lambda g10 using RPE-enriched poly(A)+ RNA. The library was screened by differential hybridization to bovine RPE and kidney cDNA probes. Results A member of the hepatahelical receptor family was identified in bovine RPE by molecular cloning. Its deduced amino acid sequence predicts a protein that has 291 amino acid residues and resembles most closely the family of visual pigments. A lysine residue, analogous to the retinaldehyde attachment site in rhodopsin, is conserved in the seventh hydrophobic segment of the novel sequence. Messenger RNA encoding the putative G protein-coupled receptor was detected by in situ hybridization in the RPE, inner nuclear layer, and specific cells of the ganglion cell layer. Immunohistochemical staining of bovine retina showed that the receptor protein is localized in Muller cells, as well as in the RPE. Conclusions A novel heptahelical receptor defines a distant evolutionary branch of the visual pigment tree. The selective localization of this putative receptor, its abundance in RPE and retina, and its homology to the visual pigments suggest that the function of this receptor is important in a visual process involving the RPE and Muller cells.
Procedural Justice in Transnational Contexts

Procedural justice scholarship shows that perceptions of judicial fairness can strongly influence a court participant’s satisfaction with judicial outcomes, as well as the perceived legitimacy of the dispute resolution forum. What is largely unknown, however, is how procedural justice plays out in transnational contexts. Most previous studies focus on adjudication in domestic forums. Here, drawing on 622 semi-structured interviews with victims in cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC), we document how four core procedural justice principles–voice, neutrality, trust and respect–are interpreted differently in transnational rather than in national contexts. We also identify additional factors–including participants’ concerns over physical safety and lengthy judicial processes–that condition participants’ subjective evaluations of procedural fairness. These empirical findings force us to rethink the meaning of core principles of procedural justice in transnational settings and shed light on the subjective experiences of victim participants in international criminal proceedings.
SNR: Sub-Network Routing for Flexible Parameter Sharing in Multi-task Learning

Machine learning applications, such as object detection and content recommendation, often require training a single model to predict multiple targets at the same time. Multi-task learning through neural networks became popular recently, because it not only helps improve the accuracy of many prediction tasks when they are related, but also saves computation cost by sharing model architectures and low-level representations. The latter is critical for real-time large-scale machine learning systems. However, classic multi-task neural networks may degenerate significantly in accuracy when tasks are less related. Previous works (Misra et al. 2016; Yang and Hospedales 2016; Ma et al. 2018) showed that having more flexible architectures in multi-task models, either manually-tuned or softparameter-sharing structures like gating networks, helps improve the prediction accuracy. However, manual tuning is not scalable, and the previous soft-parameter sharing models are either not flexible enough or computationally expensive. In this work, we propose a novel framework called SubNetwork Routing (SNR) to achieve more flexible parameter sharing while maintaining the computational advantage of the classic multi-task neural-network model. SNR modularizes the shared low-level hidden layers into multiple layers of subnetworks, and controls the connection of sub-networks with learnable latent variables to achieve flexible parameter sharing. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on a large-scale dataset YouTube8M. We show that the proposed method improves the accuracy of multi-task models while maintaining their computation efficiency.
Building Advantage: Managing Customer Alliances By Professional Distance

One of the crucial factors in customer alliances is maintaining independence in the generation of value-added service solutions. Much is known about customer relationship management (CRM) but there is a lack of understanding on just how to effectively engage or manage customers in knowledge services. In this chapter, “professional distance” is presented as a relational mechanism for effectively balancing the competing tensions of intimacy and objectivity in customer alliances. Professional distance is critical in knowledge services relationships for maintaining engagement personnel independence and optimizing the alliance. Professional distance discussed in the chapter extends the well known customer relationship management (CRM) which does not adequately address the complex issues in customer alliances.
Recovery as an “Act of rebellion”: a qualitative study examining feminism as a motivating factor in eating disorder recovery

Patients with eating disorders (EDs) often feel ambivalent about recovery, and motivation-enhancement interventions are ineffective for many patients. Identifying new targets for motivational inter...
Benefit of multidisciplinary wound care center on the volume and outcomes of a vascular surgery practice.

Abstract Objective Multidisciplinary care is recommended for the treatment of patients with ischemic and diabetic wounds. In addition to integrating care from multiple specialties, outpatient wound care centers provide an opportunity for continuity and organization of care after revascularization or hospitalization. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in the practice patterns and outcomes of patients treated by a tertiary care vascular surgery practice after the introduction of an affiliated outpatient wound care center. Methods A prospective institutional database was used to identify patients who underwent lower-extremity revascularization, amputation, or surgical debridement during consecutive 3-year periods before (BWC; n = 735) and after (AWC; n = 1503) the opening of an affiliated wound care center. Patients were included if they underwent intervention for atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease or diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). Changes in case volume, surgical indication, and procedural characteristics were assessed. Clinical outcomes included freedom from lower-extremity amputations and mortality. Results We identified a total of 1751 procedures performed in 1249 limbs that met inclusion criteria. After the opening of the wound clinic, procedures related to limb salvage represented a greater proportion of overall cases performed by the vascular service (19% vs 26%; P Conclusions The opening of an outpatient wound center affiliated with a tertiary vascular surgical practice was associated with a higher volume of limb salvage patients and procedures. The risk of major amputation decreased following the opening of the wound care center. Integrating vascular surgeons into wound centers may result in a synergistic system that promotes more aggressive and effective limb salvage.
Procalcitonin as a Predictive Marker for Bacteremia in Children With a Central Line and Fever

OBJECTIVES: Unnecessary use of antibiotics is an increasing problem. In this study, we sought to determine the diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin in predicting bacteremia in children with a central line and fever, and we sought to determine optimal cutoff values to maximize sensitivity and specificity. This is the largest study to date in which procalcitonin is examined as a predictive marker of bacteremia in pediatric patients with a central line and fever. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children aged 0 to 23 years with a central line and fever of 38°C who had procalcitonin and blood cultures drawn before initiation of antibiotics and had no other identified bacterial infection. Patients were also prospectively monitored via a custom-built electronic medical record dashboard for eligibility. RESULTS: There were 523 patients and >2500 procalcitonin values reviewed for eligibility. Of these, 169 (47%) patients and 335 blood cultures with procalcitonin were included. There were 94 (28%) positive bacterial blood cultures and 241 (72%) negative bacterial blood cultures. In bacteremic cultures, the mean procalcitonin level was 9.96 ± 15.96 ng/mL, and the median procalcitonin level was 4.85 ng/mL (interquartile range 18.5). In nonbacteremic cultures, the mean procalcitonin level was 1.23 ± 10.37 ng/mL, and the median procalcitonin level was 0.3 ng/mL (interquartile range 0.7). A receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated a procalcitonin level of ≥0.6 ng/mL as the best cutoff point that produced a sensitivity of 85.6% and a specificity of 65.7% (area under the curve 0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Procalcitonin is a sensitive biomarker in predicting bacteremia in children with a central line and fever.
Temporally Adaptive Common Spatial Patterns with Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Brain-computer interface (BCI) systems are proposed as a means of communication for locked-in patients. One common BCI paradigm is motor imagery in which the user controls a BCI by imagining movements of different body parts. It is known that imagining different body parts results in event-related desynchronization (ERD) in various frequency bands. Existing methods such as common spatial patterns (CSP) and its refinement filterbank common spatial patterns (FB-CSP) aim at finding features that are informative for classification of the motor imagery class. Our proposed method is a temporally adaptive common spatial patterns implementation of the commonly used filter-bank common spatial patterns method using convolutional neural networks; hence it is called TA-CSPNN. With this method we aim to: (1) make the feature extraction and classification end-to-end, (2) base it on the way CSP/FBCSP extracts relevant features, and finally, (3) reduce the number of trainable parameters compared to existing deep learning methods to improve generalizability in noisy data such as EEG. More importantly, we show that this reduction in parameters does not affect performance and in fact the trained network generalizes better for data from some participants. We show our results on two datasets, one publicly available from BCI Competition IV, dataset 2a and another in-house motor imagery dataset.
Methods for integrating high-resolution land, climate, and infrastructure scenarios in a hydrologic simulation model.

Abstract Global alterations of the hydrologic cycle by humans have led to alarming rates of water shortages and irreversible ecosystem change. Our ability to manage water resources lies in accurately modeling water availability at scales meaningful to management. Although hydrologic models have been used to understand the implications of future climate and land cover change on regional water availability, many modeling approaches fail to integrate human infrastructures (HI) with bio-geophysical drivers to facilitate sustainable regional water resource management. This paper presents an integrated framework, inclusive of modeling and data needs, to quantify the effects of both bio-geophysical and HI influence on regional surface water hydrology. The framework enables the integration of high spatial and temporal anthropogenic alterations of water availability for identifying hot-spots and hot-moments of hydrological stresses within individual river-segments using a hydrologic simulation model, Soil and Water Analysis Tool (SWAT). • A high-resolution river network for the study region with a greater spatial granularity compared to contemporary SWAT applications attempted to account for HI. • The anthropogenic influence on water balance for each river segment was estimated using data on human infrastructures, such as water intakes, power production facilities, discharges, dams, and land transformation.
Reduction in heat affected zone and recast layer in laser materials processing using a photon sieve lens

Abstract A laser ablation study was carried out by focusing optical energy via a photon sieve planar diffractive lens and the results are compared with traditional refractive lenses. It was found that the materials processed by the photon sieve show a significant reduction in the lateral spread and thickness of the oxidized surface when compared to the refractive lens. This oxide layer is primarily attributed to the heat affected zone and recast layer in the silicon substrate. This difference is attributed to the pinhole diffraction of the photon sieve, which produces a reduced 1/e2 diameter compared to the f-theta lens for a given full-width at half-maximum value. This reduced spot size compared to a refractive lens, for a given numerical aperture, translates to less material removal/redeposition and a narrower ablation region in the case of the photon sieve, without any sacrifice in depth of focus. The numerical apertures achievable with photon sieves are comparable to those of commercial microscope objectives, but with a sub-Airy disk focal spot size. This increased resolution, combined with a longer depth of focus for a given spot size, reduced material redeposition, and a narrower ablation region show a significant improvement over the current state of the art. The results of this study could have a large impact on laser materials processing in the aerospace, medical, semiconductor, and automotive industries, among others.
Implementation of a Formative Objective Structured Clinical Exam to assess self evaluation in a rural BSN-DNP program

Background and objective: The role of self-assessment in competency-based education has been controversial. The Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) has been used to assess competencies across the health professions. However, exploring the role of the OSCE as a method of self-assessment for nursing students has been limited. Objective: Implementation of a low cost pilot OSCE in a rural BSN-DNP program to explore graduate nursing students perceived self-evaluation of competencies to their actual OSCE performance. Methods: Eight students enrolled in a small, rural Bachelor of Science and Nursing to Doctorate of Nursing Practice (BSN-DNP) program in the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) specialty track were required to complete an OSCE. Graduate students participating in the OSCE completed a Self-Assessment of Competency questionnaire prior to performing the OSCE and the results were compared to their actual performance on the OSCE. Using available resources, undergraduate students in the BSN program at the institution were utilized as standardized patients. Results: Students perceived self-assessment of competence rated higher than their actual performance in subjective and objective data collection and implementation of a plan. Students’ actual performance was superior to their perceived self-assessment regarding communication with the patient. Conclusions: Without competency-based self-assessments, students can be unaware of their strengths and weaknesses. The OSCE is an instrument that provides faculty and students with objective measures of self-evaluation and should be considered as a component of competency-based education in rural nursing institutions.
In vitro DNA and RNA synthesis in human bone marrow cells: a study of 12 normal subjects and 12 patients with lymphoplasmocytic disorders.

In 12 normal subjects, DNA and RNA synthesis by individual marrow cells was studied in vitro by autoradiography after short-term incubation with tritiated nucleosides. The DNA labeling index and RNA synthesis rate were highest in normal immature cells. The DNA index was zero in all mature cells, including small lymphocytes and plasma cells. In the most actively proliferating normal immature cells, the RNA synthesis rate was about 5 times higher than in normal plasma cells. Since both normal immature cells and plasma cells are characterized by a high content of RNA and active protein synthesis, the results of the present study suggest that a high RNA turnover may not be necessary for protein synthesis to proceed in nonproliferating, protein-producing marrow cells. In 10 patients with myeloma and in two patients with primary macroglobulinemia, the abnormal plasma cells were found to be labeled with H 3 thymidine in each instance. The RNA synthesis rate was about 3 times greater in plasmocytoid myeloma cells than in mature plasma cells of normal marrows, and also about 3 times greater in lymphocytoid myeloma cells than in mature lymphocytes of normal marrows. The abnormal cells in the lymphoplasmocytic disorders apparently differ from their counterparts in normal marrows not only by a higher proliferative potential, but also by a much greater rate of RNA synthesis. In actively dividing normal bone marrow cells, high values for both DNA and RNA synthesis were found. By contrast, in the neoplastic lymphoplasma cells studied, a discrepancy was noted between relatively low values of DNA synthesis and high values of RNA synthesis. Production of abnormal proteins within long-lived neoplastic plasmocytic cells may account for this finding.
Comberons from single cell transcriptomics in endothelial cells

VEGF inhibitor drugs have been successful, especially in ophthalmology, but not all patients respond to them. Combinations of drugs are likely to be needed for a really effective therapy of angiogenesis-related diseases. In this paper we introduce a new concept, the comberon, a term named by analogy with the operon that refers to evolutionarily conserved combinations of co-expressed genes. These genes identify potential drug targets. Our results show that single-cell gene expression data can help to identify a set of co-expressed endothelial cell receptors, conserved among species (mice and human) and enriched, within a network, of connections to up-regulated genes. This set does include VEGF receptors and includes several other receptors previously shown to play a role in angiogenesis. The conclusions are supported by multiple highly significant statistical tests from large datasets, including an independent validation set. This discovery has broad pharmacological and socio-economic implications, going beyond angiogenesis therapy.
Torque responses to in-place-perturbations in people with multiple sclerosis.

Abstract Background Automatic postural responses are critical to prevent falls after a loss of balance. Although responses have been shown to be delayed in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), the degree to which other aspects of these movements are impacted by MS remains unknown. Research Question Do responses to in-place support-surface perturbations differ in PwMS compared to neurotypical adults? Are these responses related to a functional measure of postural response performance- center of mass (COM) displacement?. Method 52 PwMS and 20 neurotypical, age-matched adults (NA) experienced backward support surface perturbations resulting in forward loss of balance and requiring an in-place response. Center of pressure (COP) and torque were calculated from force plates while center of mass (COM) approximations were collected via motion capture. Primary outcomes were maximal torque production at the foot and its timing, rate, and onset. Results PwMS and NA demonstrated no differences in maximal torque production (p = 0.79), timing of maximal torque (p = 0.29), rate of torque development (p = 0.76), or the onset of AP COP movement (p = 0.44). There was a significant negative association between the rate of torque development and forward COM displacement in both groups (Control: r=-0.64, p = 0.002; MS: r=-0.35, p = 0.01). Larger maximal torque production was also associated with smaller COM displacement in PwMS (r=-0.33, p = 0.02). Conclusion Torque profiles in response to backward support surface translations resulting in feet in-place responses were similar in people with mild MS and neurotypical adults. The rate of development and maximal torque were however correlated to functional postural response outcomes. These findings suggest that while not worse in PwMS during in-place perturbations, force-responses seem to be important predictors of the effectiveness of reactive postural control responses.
Memorializing the Meal: An Analogical Exercise for Transactional Drafting

The legal academy is increasingly focused on producing practice-ready lawyers. For transactional practice, that notion requires that attorneys have the flexibility, creativity, and business acumen to draft documents that anticipate contingencies and accomplish clients’ goals. Effective lawyers are able to structure their clients’ affairs to provide a balance of flexibility for, and protection against, the predictably unexpected. To further this goal, this Article incorporates pedagogical theory to introduce a classroom exercise that focuses on creativity and contingency planning in the transactional drafting context. It does so by introducing that process in a nonlegal context, specifically by having students plan a dinner party and memorialize the arrangements in a valid contract. By developing accessible classroom exercises that incorporate everyday contingencies, law professors can hone students’ abilities to anticipate and adapt to factual and legal contingencies, and accordingly, to be effective planners and drafters as they transition to practice. Thus, this Article augments the tools employed by law schools for developing this deeper concept of a practice-ready lawyer.
Whole-exome sequencing with targeted analysis and epilepsy after acute symptomatic neonatal seizures.

BACKGROUND The contribution of pathogenic gene variants with development of epilepsy after acute symptomatic neonatal seizures is not known. METHODS Case-control study of 20 trios in children with a history of acute symptomatic neonatal seizures: 10 with and 10 without post-neonatal epilepsy. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) and identified pathogenic de novo, transmitted, and non-transmitted variants from established and candidate epilepsy association genes and correlated prevalence of these variants with epilepsy outcomes. We performed a sensitivity analysis with genes associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). We analyzed variants throughout the exome to evaluate for differential enrichment of functional properties using exploratory KEGG searches. RESULTS Querying 200 established and candidate epilepsy genes, pathogenic variants were identified in 5 children with post-neonatal epilepsy yet in only 1 child without subsequent epilepsy. There was no difference in the number of trios with non-transmitted pathogenic variants in epilepsy or CAD genes. An exploratory KEGG analysis demonstrated a relative enrichment in cell death pathways in children without subsequent epilepsy. CONCLUSIONS In this pilot study, children with epilepsy after acute symptomatic neonatal seizures had a higher prevalence of coding variants with a targeted epilepsy gene sequencing analysis compared to those patients without subsequent epilepsy. IMPACT We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) in 20 trios, including 10 children with epilepsy and 10 without epilepsy, both after acute symptomatic neonatal seizures. Children with post-neonatal epilepsy had a higher burden of pathogenic variants in epilepsy-associated genes compared to those without post-neonatal epilepsy. Future studies evaluating this association may lead to a better understanding of the risk of epilepsy after acute symptomatic neonatal seizures and elucidate molecular pathways that are dysregulated after brain injury and implicated in epileptogenesis.
High-quality axions in solutions to the μ problem

Solutions to the $\ensuremath{\mu}$ problem in supersymmetry based on the Kim-Nilles mechanism naturally feature a Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky (DFSZ) axion with a decay constant of the order of the geometric mean of the Planck and TeV scales, consistent with astrophysical limits. We investigate minimal models of this type with two gauge-singlet fields that break a Peccei-Quinn symmetry and extensions with an extra vectorlike quark and lepton supermultiplets consistent with gauge coupling unification. We show that there are many anomaly-free discrete symmetries, depending on the vectorlike matter content, that protect the Peccei-Quinn symmetry to sufficiently high order to solve the strong $CP$ problem. We study the axion couplings in this class of models. Models of this type that are automatically free of the domain wall problem require at least one pair of strongly interacting vectorlike multiplets with mass at the intermediate scale and predict axion couplings that are greatly enhanced compared to the minimal supersymmetric DFSZ models, putting them within reach of proposed axion searches.
Economic instability and child maltreatment risk: Evidence from state administrative data.

Abstract Background The effects of economic instability and the role of economic conditions preceding child protective services (CPS) involvement have not been fully considered in the child welfare literature. Objective This paper investigates the link between earnings instability and CPS involvement. Specifically, it examines whether adequate access to safety net programs mitigates the likelihood of child welfare involvement when families encounter negative earnings shocks. Methodology The study used quarterly administrative data from a sample of at-risk families for CPS involvement in Wisconsin. Event history analysis was employed to estimate the relationship between earnings instability and subsequent child maltreatment investigations. Result Experiencing a negative earnings shock of 30% or more increases the likelihood of CPS involvement by approximately 18%. The effect diminishes and becomes nonsignificant when an earnings decline is compensated by benefit receipt. Each additional earnings drop is associated with a 15% greater likelihood of CPS involvement. Each consecutive quarter with stable income is associated with 5% lower probability of a CPS report. The results are more pronounced for abuse than neglect and are marginally significant for neglect reports. Conclusion Unfavorable economic instability is linked to greater CPS-involvement risk, particularly for child abuse. Moreover, accessing sufficient social benefits as supplemental income when negative earnings shocks occur serves to effectively buffer against the risk of child maltreatment, particularly among families with young children (ages 0–4).
Effects of cultivation conditions on acid–base titration properties of Shewanella putrefaciens

Abstract Acid–base titrations were conducted on pure strain laboratory cultures of the Gram-negative, facultatively aerobic bacterium Shewanella putrefaciens , cultivated under a range of conditions. Bacteria used in acid–base titrations were cultivated for periods of 24 to 100 h (exponential growth phase to late stationary phase), in varying media compositions (rich to minimal), and under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. In addition, two mutant strains of S. putrefaciens were tested, which are respiration-deficient with respect to U(VI) and Fe(III). Titration data were used to constrain the abundances and proton-exchange properties of bacterial surface functional groups using a discrete multisite surface complexation model. Estimated properties for titratable functional groups at the bacteria–water interface were compared on the basis of cultivation conditions. Results demonstrate that the acid–base behavior of the S. putrefaciens surface is largely insensitive to variations in culture age and media composition, yielding values for a wide range of aerobic cultivation conditions that are not significantly different on a statistical basis. Conversely, results for anaerobic growth, in which Fe(III) was supplied as sole terminal electron acceptor, show significantly lower bacterial site densities and differing functional-group acid dissociation constants. It is recommended that different profiles for aerobic and anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria be used in aqueous speciation calculations involving a bacterial component.
Influence of Overweight and Obesity on Medication

Define and describe the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Explain how obesity can impact on drug absorption, distribution, clearance, and effect. Provide a compilation of findings regarding the impact of obesity on specific drugs.
Lung Parenchymal Mechanics

The lung parenchyma comprises a large number of thin-walled alveoli, forming an enormous surface area, which serves to maintain proper gas exchange. The alveoli are held open by the transpulmonary pressure, or prestress, which is balanced by tissues forces and alveolar surface film forces. Gas exchange efficiency is thus inextricably linked to three fundamental features of the lung: parenchymal architecture, prestress, and the mechanical properties of the parenchyma. The prestress is a key determinant of lung deformability that influences many phenomena including local ventilation, regional blood flow, tissue stiffness, smooth muscle contractility, and alveolar stability. The main pathway for stress transmission is through the extracellular matrix. Thus, the mechanical properties of the matrix play a key role both in lung function and biology. These mechanical properties in turn are determined by the constituents of the tissue, including elastin, collagen, and proteoglycans. In addition, the macroscopic mechanical properties are also influenced by the surface tension and, to some extent, the contractile state of the adherent cells. This chapter focuses on the biomechanical properties of the main constituents of the parenchyma in the presence of prestress and how these properties define normal function or change in disease. An integrated view of lung mechanics is presented and the utility of parenchymal mechanics at the bedside as well as its possible future role in lung physiology and medicine are discussed.
Minority Issues in Prevention: Introduction to the Special Issue

This issue of the American Journal of Community Psychology focuses on studies that advance the application of prevention science to minority populations. Minority children in the United States are about twice as likely as nonHispanic white children to experience poverty (Corcoran & Chandry, 1997) and all the additional risk factors associated with poverty (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997). With increased exposure to stressful life conditions such as poverty, living in low-income communities, language barriers, and racial and cultural discrimination, minority children are at greater risk than most other children for mental and physical health problems, school failure or dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy, and unemployment as young adults. From a public health perspective, these conditions indicate a heightened need for prevention scientists to attend to ethnic differences and unique ethnocultural influences in developmental processes leading to positive and negative outcomes for minority groups [Mrazek & Haggerty, 1994; National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 1996, 1998]. However, despite their increased risk status and the overrepresentation of minorities in prevention programs for high-risk groups, minorities and ethnic/cultural issues have been underrepresented in prevention research (Gonzales & Kim, 1997). On the positive side, research on issues relevant to prevention with ethnic minorities has increased significantly in recent years. On the other hand, much of this research has been difficult to interpret or to apply to prevention science (Cauce, Coronado, & Watson, 1998). Too often re-
Concept Analysis: Awareness of Discrimination Based on Genetic Information

PROBLEM. All nurses have the responsibility to deliver nondiscriminatory genetic health care. Patients perceive discriminatory nursing practices when they are being treated differently and unfairly. Nurses are expected to integrate genetic information about their patients into their clinical decision making. Thus, it is both timely and imperative that nurses have an operational definition of the concept “awareness of discrimination based on genetic information.” METHOD. An operational definition of the concept was derived and Wilson's method of concept analysis was utilized to show how the operational definition may be applied in three different case models. FINDINGS. Awareness of discrimination based on genetic information can be operationally defined as “to know differences against people or distinguish between people based on the ancestral, heritable, communicated facts or knowledge”. CONCLUSION. This concept analysis of words and terms used in genetic health care may serve as a framework for further genetic/genomics healthcare concepts under exploration.
Cytoplasmic l-Asparaginase: Isolation of a Defective Strain and Mapping of ansA

An Escherichia coli mutant defective in the production of cytoplasmic l-asparaginase I has been isolated. The mutation (ansA) has been mapped between the gap and pncA loci at 39 min on the E. coli map.
Magnetic studies of high Tc superconducting (La0.9Sr0.1)2CuO4-y

The magnetic moment of La(0.9Sr0.1)2CuO4-y was measured as a function of temperature and magnetic field, and the onset of superconductivity was found to occur at a temperature of 35 K. At 2 K, the dc magnetic susceptibility was found to reach 83 percent of perfect diamagnetism. Field studies have shown that the sample is a type-II superconductor and that the temperature dependences of the critical fiedls are anomalous. Its critical fields, kappa, and lambda(eff) are much larger than those for (La0.9Ba0.1)2CuO4-y, and their temperature dependences cannot be explained in terms of BCS theory.