cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What Can Lasers Do in the Nano-Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube Based Devices?

Numerous applications based on CNTs have been conceived and developed at laboratory scale. However, only a handful of applications have been successfully implemented due to the difficulties in controlled growth, manipulation, and integration of CNTs. In spite of countless efforts having been devoted into this field, high-performance-on-demand solution packages are still absent. In this study, we investigated applications of lasers in the controlled growth and integration of CNTs, and developed laser-based strategies to achieve nano-fabrication of CNTbased devices. By making use of unique features of lasers, we achieved 1) parallel integration of CNTs into pre-designed micro/nano-architectures in a single-step laser-assisted chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) process, 2) selective removal of metallic CNTs in open air, 3) growing CNTs of controlled-alignments, and 4) diameter modulation in individual CNTs. The laser-based strategies developed in this study suggest a laser-based solution-package to meet the challenges for the nano-fabrication of CNT-based devices and promises a reliable and scalable approach to achieve CNT-integrated devices.
Diffusion of Quick Response in the Texas Sewn Products Industry

Quick Response (QR) has been promoted for the U.S. sewn products industry to survive in a competitive international market. The purpose of this study was to provide information on the diffusion of QR in the Texas sewn products industry. Texas ranksfourth largest in the United States for number of sewn products operations and second largest for retail markets. A mail questionnaire was sent to all Texas manufacturers of sewn products; 123 usable instruments were analyzed with 39 identified as QR users. These 39 executives were in the early majority phase according to diffusion theory. QR users were likely to have a high risk propensity and to have large firms. A number of significant differences were found between QR users and QR nonusers. Results of the study provide information that may help maximize QR diffusion. Implications of this study contribute to the sewn products industry, academia, and education.
Standard maximum likelihood analyses of alignments with gaps can be statistically inconsistent

BACKGROUND: Most statistical methods for phylogenetic estimation in use today treat a gap (generally representing an insertion or deletion, i.e., indel) within the input sequence alignment as missing data. However, the statistical properties of this treatment of indels have not been fully investigated. RESULTS: We prove that maximum likelihood phylogeny estimation, treating indels as missing data, can be statistically inconsistent for a general (and rather simple) model of sequence evolution, even when given the true alignment. Therefore, accurate phylogeny estimation cannot be guaranteed for maximum likelihood analyses, even given arbitrarily long sequences, when indels are present and treated as missing data. CONCLUSIONS: Our result shows that the standard statistical techniques used to estimate phylogenies from sequence alignments may have unfavorable statistical properties, even when the sequence alignment is accurate and the assumed substitution model matches the generation model. This suggests that the recent research focus on developing statistical methods that treat indel events properly is an important direction for phylogeny estimation. Language: en
GBench: benchmarking methodology for evaluating the energy efficiency of supercomputers

Recent studies point to power consumption becoming the major design constraint in exascale computing systems. Current scientific benchmarks, such as LINPACK, only evaluate high-performance computing (HPC) systems when running at full throttle, i.e., 100 % workload, resulting in more of a focus on performance than on power and energy consumption. In contrast, efforts like SPECpower evaluate the energy efficiency of a server at varying workloads. This is analogous to evaluating the fuel efficiency of an automobile at varying speeds. However, the applicability of SPECpower to HPC is limited at best. Given the absence of a scientific benchmark to evaluate the energy efficiency of HPC system at different workloads, we propose GBench (short for Green Benchmark), a methodology to evaluate the energy efficiency of supercomputers and enable a more rigorous study of energy efficiency in HPC. We use LINPACK as a case study and demonstrate the efficacy of our methodology by identifying application parameters impacting performance and providing a systematic methodology to vary the workload of LINPACK.
''An Appeal to the People'': Public Opinion and Congressional Support for the Supreme Court

Scholars often assert that public support for judicial authority induces Congress to grant resources and discretion to the Supreme Court. However, the theory of competing public agency embraced by the Constitution suggests that public support for courts cannot, by itself, explain congressional support for judicial authority. Instead, the logic of the separation of powers system indicates that legislative support for the institutional capacity of courts will be a function of public confidence in the legislature as well as evaluations of the judiciary. We test this theory, finding that public confidence in both Congress and the Court significantly affect congressional support for the Supreme Court, controlling for the ideological distance between the Court and Congress as well as the Court’s workload. The results offer a more refined and complex view of the role of public sentiment in balancing institutional power in American politics.
Type IV pili‐dependent gliding motility in the Gram‐positive pathogen Clostridium perfringens and other Clostridia

Bacteria can swim in liquid media by flagellar rotation and can move on surfaces via gliding or twitching motility. One type of gliding motility involves the extension, attachment and retraction of type IV pili (TFP), which pull the bacterium towards the site of attachment. TFP-dependent gliding motility has been seen in many Gram-negative bacteria but not in Gram-positive bacteria. Recently, the genome sequences of three strains of Clostridium perfringens have been completed and we identified gene products involved in producing TFP in each strain. Here we show that C. perfringens produces TFP and moves with an unusual form of gliding motility involving groups of densely packed cells moving away from the edge of a colony in curvilinear flares. Mutations introduced into the pilT and pilC genes of C. perfringens abolished motility and surface localization of TFP. Genes encoding TFP are also found in the genomes of all nine Clostridium species sequenced thus far and we demonstrated that Clostridium beijerinckii can move via gliding motility. It has recently been proposed that the Clostridia are the oldest Eubacterial class and the ubiquity of TFP in this class suggests that a Clostridia-like ancestor possessed TFP, which evolved into the forms seen in many Gram-negative species.
Human cytomegalovirus infection of human adipose-derived stromal/stem cells restricts differentiation along the adipogenic lineage

Human adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs) display potential to be used in regenerative stem cell therapies and as treatments for inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Despite promising use of ASCs as therapeutics, little is known about their susceptibility to infectious agents. In this study, we demonstrate that ASCs are highly susceptible to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection and permissive for replication leading to release of infectious virions. Additionally, many basic ASC functions are inhibited during HCMV infection, such as differentiation and immunomodulatory potential. To our knowledge this is the first study examining potential adverse effects of HCMV infection on ASC biology. Our results suggest, that an active HCMV infection during ASC therapy may result in a poor clinical outcome due to interference by the virus.
Evolution of the Main Signal

This chapter obtains the contribution Ac(z, t) to the asymptotic behavior of the propagated field Acz, t) that is due to the presence of any simple pole singularities of the spectral function ũ(ω — ωc). The field Ac(z, t) is associated with any long term signal being propagated. The velocity of propagation of the signal and the transition from the precursor field to the signal field are determined by the relative importance of the component fields A s (z, t), A B (z, t), and A c (z,t). Hence, discussion of those topics is deferred to Chap. 9 which deals with the evolution of the total field A(z,t) by combining the results of this chapter with those of Chap. 7.
Mechanisms of airway responses to esophageal acidification in cats

Acid in the esophagus causes airway constriction, tracheobronchial mucous secretion, and a decrease in tracheal mucociliary transport rate. This study was designed to investigate the neuropharmacological mechanisms controlling these responses. In chloralose-anesthetized cats (n = 72), we investigated the effects of vagotomy or atropine (100 μg·kg(-1)·30 min(-1) iv) on airway responses to esophageal infusion of 0.1 M PBS or 0.1 N HCl at 1 ml/min. We quantified 1) diameter of the bronchi, 2) tracheobronchial mucociliary transport rate, 3) tracheobronchial mucous secretion, and 4) mucous content of the tracheal epithelium and submucosa. We found that vagotomy or atropine blocked the airway constriction response but only atropine blocked the increase in mucous output and decrease in mucociliary transport rate caused by esophageal acidification. The mucous cells of the mucosa produced more Alcian blue- than periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-stained mucosubstances, and the mucous cells of the submucosa produced more PAS- than Alcian blue-stained mucosubstances. Selective perfusion of the different segments of esophagus with HCl or PBS resulted in significantly greater production of PAS-stained mucus in the submucosa of the trachea adjacent to the HCl-perfused esophagus than in that adjacent to the PBS-perfused esophagus. In conclusion, airway constriction caused by esophageal acidification is mediated by a vagal cholinergic pathway, and the tracheobronchial transport response is mediated by cholinergic receptors. Acid perfusion of the esophagus selectively increases production of neutral mucosubstances of the apocrine glands by a local mechanism. We hypothesize that the airway responses to esophageal acid exposure are part of the innate, rather than acute emergency, airway defense system.
Bootleggers and Biotechs

Opponents of biotechnology often complain that the large biotech firms have vigorously fought efforts to regulate the industry. In fact, the large firms - Monsanto (now Pfizer), Ciba-Geigy (now Syngenta), DuPont, Pioneer, Dow, Bayer, BASF, et al. - have been anything but consistent opponents of regulation. They have encouraged government intervention in the market both to provide a government seal of approval on their products and - more ominously - to diminish competition with highly innovative small - and mid-sized companies and academic researchers.
Infrared to-visible upconversion luminescence in Er:Yb:SrFBr nanocrystals

The ability of SrFBr nanocrystals codoped with ∼1 mol% of Er3+ and Yb3+ to perform infrared-to-visible light upconversion is demonstrated. The average and local crystal structures conform to those expected on the basis of the P4/nmm tetragonal space-group. Excitation of Yb3+ at 980 nm results in two-photon upconversion and green-yellow luminescence from Er3+. The 2H11/2, 4S3/2, and 4F9/2 excited states of the Er3+ activator in the SrFBr host exhibit a biexponential decay with lifetimes in the 100–200 and 300–400 μs ranges.
Physiological Consequences: Early Hardship and Health Across the Life Span

The overall aim of this chapter is to describe the myriad ways in which early trauma (i.e., adversity, abuse, and poverty) impacts physiology and health across the life span. Reviewed studies focus on the consequences of early adversity for the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, immune functioning, cardiovascular health, chronic disease, and disability prevalence. Studies are also examined for their measurement strategy, specifically as to whether adversity is quantified as a frequency count of exposures or as independent exposure types. Despite differences in measurement strategies and outcomes across studies, many of the studies reviewed support the wide-reaching effects for youth and adults of early trauma exposure. In addition, health-relevant behaviors that have been linked directly or indirectly to early adversity and health are discussed, including overweight/obesity, smoking, alcohol and other substance abuse, and risky sexual behaviors. Finally, measurement challenges as well as individual factors relevant to adversity and health are briefly reviewed. Overall, the work reviewed in this chapter provides trauma researchers with an introduction to the physiological consequences of early adversity across the life span, and provides suggestions for future work in this area.
Clinical analysis of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii causing pneumonia in PICU

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical features and antibiotic resistance of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii(MDRAB) causing pneumonia in pediatric intensive care unit(PICU) so as to provide basis for the control of pulmonary infections.METHODS A retrospective clinical study on 115 patients with MDRAB pneumonia was carried out in PICU of Wuhan Children′s Hospital between Jan 2009 and Aug 2011.Their clinical features and drug resistance pattern of the pathogenic bacteria were analyzed.RESULTS A total of 176 clinical strains of A.baumannii were isolated,in which there were 128 strains of MDRAB,accounting for 72.73%;all of the patients suffered from severe basic diseases.At least three kinds of antibiotics were used in all cases before MDRAB infection in which 97.39% received carbapenems,20.87% were treated by corticosteroids systemically.48.7% received endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation;the ICU stay was significantly longer than that of the patients with non-MDRAB pneumonia.The results of drug susceptibility tests indicated that the resistance rates to β-lactam antibiotics were more than 70.0% except for cefoperazone-sulbactam;the drug resistance rates to the carbapenems were higher than 90.0%;the drug resistance rates to amikacin,levofloxacin,ciprofloxacin and minocycline were less than 20.0%,which were the lowest.CONCLUSION MDRAB is an important opportunistic pathogen causing pneumonia in PICU,and the drug resistance is serious;to control the underlying disease,shorten the ICU stay,strictly grasp the indications of invasive operation,standardize the use of antibiotics and glucocorticoid,and strengthen the environmental disinfection can reduce the MDRAB infection.
STUDY ON WATER HOLDUP OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

A laboratory testing method,which is used to measure water holdup of municipal solid waste(MSW) is introduced. A artificial solid waste is used in the study,which is made according to the composition of a municipal solid waste landfill located in Southern China. In general,the dry gravimetric water holdup of the waste decreases with increasing of its dry density,the waste density is another important factor affecting water holdup. The volumetric water holdup for the dense waste also decreases with increasing overburden pressure and dry density. However,the volumetric water holdup for the loose waste initially increases with the increase of overburden pressure and dry density. After the volumetric water holdup reaches a maximum value,the volumetric water holdup then decreases with the increase of overburden pressure and dry density.
Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide combination therapy of primary chronic myelogenous leukemia blast crisis in SCID mice

The proliferation of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells and the transformation of normal hematopoietic cells by BCR-ABL appear to require the expression of a functional MYC protein, suggesting an approach to treatment of Philadelphia leukemias based on simultaneous targeting of BCR-ABL and c-MYC. To test this hypothesis, CML-blast crisis (CML-BC) primary cells were treated in vitro with bcr-abl and c-myc antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides ([S]ODNs), individually or in combination. Compared with antisense ODNs targeting of individual oncogenes, downregulation of both BCR-ABL and c-MYC by specific antisense [S]ODNs resulted in a synergistic antiproliferative effect. Colony formation of normal bone marrow cells was not affected by either treatment. To assess the therapeutic potential of multiple oncogene downregulation, SCID mice injected with CML-BC primary cells were treated systematically with equal doses of bcr-abl or c-myc antisense [S]ODNs or with a combination of both antisense [S]ODNs. Compared with mice treated with individual compounds, the disease process was significantly retarded in the group treated with both [S]ODNs as revealed by flow cytometry, clonogenic assay, and RT-PCR analysis to detect leukemic cells in mouse tissue cell suspensions. These effects correlated with a markedly increased survival of leukemic mice treated with both antisense [S]ODNs. Leukemic cells harvested from antisense [S]ODN-treated mice were sensitive to the effects of antisense [S]ODNs in vitro, suggesting that the treatment can be successfully repeated. These data demonstrate the therapeutic potential of targeting multiple cooperating oncogenes.
Probing the Intermolecular Interfaces between Claudin Protomers

Tight junctions (TJ) are structurally defined by networks of linear sealing strands between adjoining epithelial cells; this structure regulates the ion and solute permeation through the intercellular space. Claudins, a large family of transmembrane proteins, are the main components of the TJ strand network. A crystal structure of mclaudin-15 monomer was reported recently; however, the crucial domains facilitating polymerization into highly ordered, yet flexible, strands still remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to identify the crucial claudin protomer interfaces required for polymerization using both in silico and in vitro methods. First, we use computational methods including evolutionary couplings, conservation analysis, and solvent accessible surface area evaluation to identify potential key residues on the oligomerization interface. We then perform mutagenesis analysis, confocal imaging of TJ formation in transfected cultured cells, and freeze fracture EM to test the in silico data. We further use molecular docking to construct claudin oligomeric models and molecular dynamics to study intermolecular interactions at the atomic level. Two distinct intermolecular interfaces were obtained after an extensive screening of 1200 interfaces during in silico docking using in silico and in vitro data as constraints. Specifically, hydrophobic residues in extracellular loop1 and loop2 form a “head-to-head” (-trans) interface. In addition, intermolecular hydrogen bonds between hydrophilic residues on the extracellular helix and charged residues on the β-strand (β5) form an axial (-cis) interface. Mutations of these residues eliminated, reduced, or weakened the TJ strands. Combining the data obtained from these different approaches, we further propose an octameric extracellular pore model, which is consistent with the selectivity, size (∼10 A), and evidence for pore-lining residues reported previously. Our study provides mechanistic insight into TJ polymerization, paracellular molecular flow through TJ, and potential targets for TJ modulation.
Skeletal Biology of Androgens

Publisher Summary The influences of androgens on bone are obviously pervasive and complex. Androgens have a multiplicity of effects on skeletal cells in vitro. In vivo, they are particularly dramatic during growth in males, but almost certainly play an important role during this period in females as well. Throughout the rest of life, androgens affect skeletal function in both sexes. Androgens have direct effects on osteoblast proliferation and expression in vitro, but the of these effects remains controversial; both stimulation inhibition of osteoblast proliferation have been reported. It has been shown that prolonged androgen exposure in the presence of serum inhibited proliferation (cell counts) by 15–25% in a transformed human osteoblastic line (TE-85), with testosterone and DHT being nearly equally effective. In contrast, it also demonstrated in serum free primary cultures of murine and passaged human osteoblast-like cells that a variety of androgens increase DNA synthesis up to nearly 300% and cell counts by 200%. Again, testosterone and non-aromatizable androgens were nearly equally effective regulators. Consistent with increased proliferation, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone have also been reported to cause an increase in creatine kinase activity and [3H] thymidine incorporation into DNA in rat diaphyseal bone. The mechanisms by which androgens affect skeletal homeostasis have been the focus of intensified research. Androgen receptors are present in a variety of cells found in bone, clearly identifying bone as a target tissue for androgen. The direct actions of androgen that influence the complex processes of proliferation, differentiation, mineralization, and gene expression in the osteoblast have also been documented. Androgen effects on bone may also be indirectly modulated and/or mediated by other autocrine and paracrine factors in the bone microenvironment.
CT-Guided Percutaneous Lung Biopsies in Patients With Suspicion for Infection May Yield Clinically Useful Information.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to assess the frequency and time frame with which CT-guided lung biopsies for suspected infection yield information that can affect patient management. MATERIALS AND METHODS. All CT-guided lung biopsies over a 68-month period performed for the purpose of diagnosing a suspected infection were reviewed to determine the proportion that yielded information affecting patient management. Patients were included if infection was the only consideration causing the pulmonary lesion in question. RESULTS. Twenty-one biopsies were performed to identify a specific organism causing infection in patients with suspected infection; all patients were receiving antibiotics, 20 (95%) were immunocompromised, and 15 (71%) had undergone a prior bronchoscopy. Material collected from the biopsy provided a diagnosis in nine (43%) patients, whereas the biopsy results were nondiagnostic in the remaining 12 (57%). Of the nine patients for whom the biopsy yielded a diagnosis, eight biopsies rev...
The Doha Paradox: Disparity between Educated and Working Qatari Women

Qatar is considered one of the best places in the world for women to get an education. Research has shown that for every man, there are six women enrolled in tertiary education. This upward trend in the willingness and ability of women to receive higher education is undeniably encouraging. However, though labelled a “vital element within the development process” of Qatar, the Qatari women's role in the labor market is, at best, limited. Recent data demonstrates that the participation of women in Qatar's labor force was a meagre 35%. Qatar, however, has made the empowerment of women in the labor market a significant part of its Development Strategy. The designers for Qatar National Vision have formulated its first National Development Strategy (2011–2016) with Human development being one of the four major pillars of this strategy. One of the aims of Human Development under NDS (2011–2016) is to increase opportunities for women to “contribute to the economic and cultural world without reducing their role in the family structure.” This research, therefore, intends to analyze a) Qatar's success in carving out a more vital role for its female citizens and b) the obstacles in the realization of their goal to establish a more gender-inclusive labor force. The reasons for this analysis are, therefore, not solely to augment and scrutinize Qatar's Development Strategy but to demonstrate that Qatar's extensive investment in education will not reap benefits if the majority of its educated does not take advantage of the various avenues their learning opens up. Whether this is due to unwillingness on the part of women to work or due to gender neutral reasons such as the gap between education, training and job placement or other motives; this research aims to ascertain the reasons for this difference.
The Rhyming Irons of Abdur-Rahman Slade Hopkinson

Despite being a highly respected member of the Brathwaite-Walcott generation, Abdur-Rahman Slade Hopkinson has received only passing attention from scholars of West Indian literature. In an attempt to foster greater appreciation for a Caribbean artist recently dubbed “the forgotten poet” in his native Guyana, this article uncovers an organizing principle running through Snowscape with Signature (1993), a substantial posthumous selection of Hopkinson's poems that includes both secular and religious verses. The defining characteristic of Hopkinson’s poetry, I argue, involves his careful imbrication of competing notions of poetry as, on the one hand, a space for transcendent aesthetics and, on the other hand, an arena for socio-economic critique. Focusing on poems that are most explicitly about the act of writing poetry, this essay charts Hopkinson’s efforts to work through the familiar predicaments of the postcolonial artist through a distinct and formally imaginative process of invoking and complicating forms and ideas associated with the “Western Tradition.”
Conserved effect of aging on DNA methylation and association with EZH2 polycomb protein in mice and humans

In humans, DNA methylation at specific CpG sites can be used to estimate the 'epigenetic clock', a biomarker of aging and health. The mechanisms that regulate the aging epigenome and level of conservation are not entirely clear. We performed affinity-based enrichment with methyl-CpG binding domain protein followed by high-throughput sequencing (MBD-seq) to assay DNA methylation in mouse samples. Consistent with previous reports, aging is associated with increase in methylation at CpG islands that likely overlap regulatory regions of genes that have been implicated in cancers (e.g., C1ql3, Srd5a2 and Ptk7). The differentially methylated regions in mice have high sequence conservation in humans and the pattern of methylation is also largely conserved between the two species. Based on human ENCODE data, these sites are targeted by polycomb proteins, including EZH2. Chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed that these regions interact with EZH2 in mice as well, and there may be reduction in EZH2 occupancy with age at C1ql3. This adds to the growing evidence that EZH2 is part of the protein machinery that shapes the aging epigenome. The conservation in both sequence and methylation patterns of the age-dependent CpGs indicate that the epigenetic clock is a fundamental feature of aging in mammals.
Exceptional points enhanced sensing in a whispering-gallery-mode resonator (Conference Presentation)

In this talk, I will discuss the sensitivity enhancement in a whispering-gallery-mode resonator operating at the exceptional points. The exceptional points are obtained by controllably introducing two scatterers within the mode volume of a whispering-gallery-mode resonator. A nanofiber tip is used to mimic a nanoparticle to study the sensitivity enhancement of the resonator operating at the exceptional points. I will present the experimental results demonstrating that the resonator operating at the exceptional points exhibits square-root enhancement in frequency splitting when compared to a single resonator subject to the same amount of perturbation. The dependence of sensitivity enhancement on the angular position and size of the nanofiber tip is also studied. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions and numerical simulations. Our study shows the potential applications of the resonator operating at the exceptional point for ultrasensitive single nanoparticle and biomolecule detection.
Strong and efficient cache side-channel protection using hardware transactional memory

Cache-based side-channel attacks are a serious problem in multi-tenant environments, for example, modern cloud data centers. We address this problem with Cloak, a new technique that uses hardware transactional memory to prevent adversarial observation of cache misses on sensitive code and data. We show that Cloak provides strong protection against all known cache-based side-channel attacks with low performance overhead. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach by retrofitting vulnerable code with Cloak and experimentally confirming immunity against state-of-the-art attacks. We also show that by applying Cloak to code running inside Intel SGX enclaves we can effectively block information leakage through cache side channels from enclaves, thus addressing one of the main weaknesses of SGX.
Tissue Source and Cell Expansion Condition Influence Phenotypic Changes of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells

Stem cells derived from the subcutaneous adipose tissue of debrided burned skin represent an appealing source of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) for regenerative medicine. Traditional tissue culture uses fetal bovine serum (FBS), which complicates utilization of ASCs in human medicine. Human platelet lysate (hPL) is one potential xeno-free, alternative supplement for use in ASC culture. In this study, adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation in media supplemented with 10% FBS or 10% hPL was compared in human ASCs derived from abdominoplasty (HAP) or from adipose associated with debrided burned skin (BH). Most (95-99%) cells cultured in FBS were stained positive for CD73, CD90, CD105, and CD142. FBS supplementation was associated with increased triglyceride content and expression of adipogenic genes. Culture in hPL significantly decreased surface staining of CD105 by 31% and 48% and CD142 by 27% and 35% in HAP and BH, respectively (p < 0.05). Culture of BH-ASCs in hPL also increased expression of markers of osteogenesis and increased ALP activity. These data indicate that application of ASCs for wound healing may be influenced by ASC source as well as culture conditions used to expand them. As such, these factors must be taken into consideration before ASCs are used for regenerative purposes.
Imaging Genetics: Information Fusion and Association Techniques Between Biomedical Images and Genetic Factors

The development of advanced medical imaging technologies and high-throughput genomic measurements has enhanced our understanding of their interplay as well as their relationship with human behavior. In this chapter, we review the recent work of fusing imaging and genetic data for the correlative and association analysis as well as the diverse statistical models in these studies from univariate to multivariate methods. We also discuss future directions and challenges in integrative analysis of imaging and genetic data and finally give an example of parallel independent component analysis (ICA) in an imaging genetic study of schizophrenia.
Attenuated resting-state functional connectivity in patients with childhood- and adult-onset schizophrenia.

Abstract Background Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is a rare, severe form of the adult-onset disorder (AOS). Our previous resting-state fMRI study identified attenuated functional connectivity in COS compared with controls. Here, we ask whether COS and AOS patients and their siblings exhibit similar abnormalities of functional connectivity. Methods A whole-brain, data-driven approach was used to assess resting-state functional connectivity differences in COS (patients/siblings/controls, n: 26/28/33) and AOS (n: 19/28/30). There were no significant differences in age, sex, or head motion across groups in each dataset and as designed, the COS dataset has a significantly lower age than the AOS. Results Both COS and AOS patients showed decreased functional connectivity relative to controls among a wide set of brain regions (P Conclusions A shared pattern of attenuated functional connectivity was found in COS and AOS, supporting the continuity of childhood-onset and adult-onset schizophrenia. Connections were altered between sensorimotor areas and default-mode areas in both COS and AOS, suggesting potential abnormalities in processes of self-monitoring and sensory prediction. The absence of substantial dysconnectivity in siblings indicates that attenuation is state-related.
Prompts to regulate emotions improve the impact of health messages on eating intentions and behavior

The current study examined the effect of emotion regulation prompts on obesity-related behavioral intentions and food choices in a sample of undergraduate students. Prior to reading a pamphlet regarding obesity-related health concerns and healthy food choices, participants were prompted to regulate their emotions or no prompt was given. Study 1 investigated differences in health behavior intentions and perception of risk of obesity-related health concerns. Study 2 examined differences in meal choices from a menu. Finally, Study 3 examined differences in food choices between participants prompted to attend, regulate emotions, or no prompt. Participants prompted to regulate their emotions were more likely to report intentions to follow a healthier diet and perceive a greater likelihood of health concerns, select health food options from a presented menu. and select a healthier food choice from presented options. These findings suggest emotion regulation strategies may be beneficial to increase awareness of perceived health risks as well as encourage healthier lifestyle choices among college students.
Socioeconomic Status Discrimination

This Article makes the case for protecting socioeconomic status (SES) under discrimination statutes that govern employment, housing, education, voting, public accommodations, and credit/lending. While others have argued that poverty should be a protected class under the Fourteenth Amendment, the courts have rejected this idea. The possibility of protecting SES under discrimination statutes has received little consideration. I argue that this idea deserves more serious attention. I advance four arguments in favor of adding SES to the list of protected traits. Two moral, one political, and one legal. First and most straightforward, the values animating discrimination law apply to poverty: Existing discrimination laws protect traits that are subject to pervasive and illegitimate social bias. They cover both immutable and mutable traits. The logic animating these laws applies to poverty, regardless of whether a person was born poor or falls into poverty later in life. Second, due to the association between race and poverty, SES-based discrimination reinforces and perpetuates racial inequality. A comprehensive strategy for addressing racial discrimination must also address SES-based discrimination. The third argument is political: Many policies that have an adverse racial impact have an adverse impact on poor people of all races—e.g., voter ID laws or zoning laws restricting multi-unit housing. Framing disparate impact claims in terms of SES would highlight the extent that lower-SES people of all races share common experiences of marginalization. This might be a step toward building a multiracial coalition focused on economic inequality—a longstanding goal of many progressives. The fourth argument is legal: Some have argued that racial disparate-impact law should trigger scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment because it requires racially motivated decision making. Because poverty is not a suspect class under the Fourteenth Amendment, disparate impact provisions targeting socioeconomic disparities would not raise the same constitutional concern. I explain how protections against SES discrimination could be administered, as a practical matter. Prohibiting SES discrimination would not be as impractical as it might initially seem. Indeed, the practical questions associated with protecting SES are not really different from those associated with protecting race, disability, age, and other traits.
Is there a role for 21-gene recurrence score in mucinous carcinoma of breast?

e12538Background: 21-gene recurrence score (RS) is widely used in hormone-receptor positive, lymph node negative invasive breast cancer to guide treatment. Many have expanded its use to patients wi...
Perceived neighborhood disorder, racial-ethnic discrimination and leading risk factors for chronic disease among women: California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2013.

Abstract Social environmental factors are theoretically identified as influential drivers of health behaviors – tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity – related to chronic disease disparities. Empirical studies investigating relationships involving social environmental factors have found that either greater interpersonal racial-ethnic discrimination or perceived neighborhood disorder were associated with adverse health behaviors, with potentially larger effects among women. We simultaneously tested whether measures of perceived racial-ethnic discrimination and perceived neighborhood disorder were associated with physical activity, alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking; lifestyle risk factors of major chronic disease among women. Data were from the 2013 California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. In addition to demographic and socioeconomic factors, women self-reported experiences with racial-ethnic discrimination and perception of neighborhood disorder (i.e., crime safety, traffic safety, and aesthetics/physical disorder). Survey-, and inverse probability of censoring-weighted regression models of each chronic disease risk factor were used to investigate associations involving racial-ethnic discrimination and neighborhood disorder, controlling for potential confounders. Perceiving racial-ethnic discrimination and greater neighborhood disorder were associated with a greater tobacco smoking prevalence. Experiences of racial-ethnic discrimination were associated with greater alcohol consumption among African American and Latino women, but not White women. Similarly, African American women reporting experiences with racial-ethnic discrimination report engaging in physical activity about half as much time as women reporting no racial-ethnic discrimination. Increases in perceived neighborhood disorder were associated with increases in alcohol consumption. All associations with social environmental factors were adjusted for potential confounders and each other. Neighborhood disorder and racial-ethnic discrimination may be important, independent contributors to chronic disease risk through relationships with tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity.
Beth Lau, ed., Jane Austen and Sciences of the Mind

Review by Inger S. B. Brodey (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) of Beth Lau, ed., Jane Austen and Sciences of the Mind . London and New York: Routledge, 2018. Pp. 237. 8 b/w illus. $149.95. ISBN 9781472488183.
A Comparison of Physicians' and Nurse Practitioners' Use of Race in Clinical Decision-Making

Objective: The debate over use of race as a proxy for genetic risk of disease continues, but little is known about how primary care providers (nurse practitioners and general internal medicine physicians) currently use race in their clinical practice. Our study in­vestigates primary care providers’ use of race in clinical practice. Methods: Survey data from three cross-sectional parent studies were used. A total of 178 nurse practitioners (NPs) and 759 general internal medicine physicians were included. The outcome of interest was the Racial At­tributes in Clinical Evaluation (RACE) scale, which measures explicit use of race in clinical decision-making. Predictor variables included the Genetic Variation Knowledge Assessment Index (GKAI), which measures the providers’ knowledge of human genetic variation. Results: In the final multivariable model, NPs had an average RACE score that was 1.60 points higher than the physicians’ score (P=.03). The GKAI score was not significantly associated with the RACE outcome in the final model (P=.67). Conclusions: Physicians had more knowl­edge of genetic variation and used patients’ race less in the clinical decision-making process than NPs. We speculate that these differences may be related to differences in discipline-specific clinical training and approaches to clinical care. Further explora­tion of these differences is needed, including examination of physicians’ and NPs’ beliefs about race, how they use race in disease screening and treatment, and if the use of race is contributing to health care dispari­ties. Ethn Dis. 2019;29(1):1-8; doi:10.18865/ ed.29.1.1.
Smoking and Total Hip Arthroplasty: Increased Inpatient Complications, Costs, and Length of Stay.

Abstract Background Smoking is a potentially modifiable risk factor that may impact the overall outcomes of total hip arthroplasty (THA). In an era of bundled payments for THA, the purpose of this study was to evaluate, on a national level, the inpatient complications and additional costs of smokers undergoing THA. Methods The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to identify all primary elective THAs performed in the United States in 2014. This cohort was further stratified by smoking status. Inpatient hospital characteristics, costs, and complications rates were assessed. Results The Nationwide Inpatient Sample had 63,446 admissions recorded for primary THAs in 2014, corresponding to an estimated 317,230 cases nationwide. The smoking rate was 20.7%. Smokers were slightly yet significantly younger than nonsmokers (63.5 years vs 64.8 years; P Conclusions Smoking remains a highly prevalent and important risk factor for complications in elective primary THA in the United States. Patients who smoke have a significantly higher rate of complications and generate significantly higher postoperative inpatient costs. These findings are important for risk stratification, bundled payment considerations, as well as perioperative patient education and intervention.
Association between cumulative social risk, particulate matter environmental pollutant exposure, and cardiovascular disease risk

Long-term exposure to pollution has been shown to increase risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality, and may contribute to the increased risk of CVD among individuals with higher social risk. Data from the community-based Heart Strategies Concentrating on Risk Evaluation (HeartSCORE) study were used to quantify Cumulative Social Risk (CSR) by assigning a score of 1 for the presence of each of 4 social risk factors: racial minority, single living, low income, and low educational status. 1-year average air pollution exposure to PM2.5 was estimated using land-use regression models. Associations with clinical outcomes were assessed using Cox models, adjusting for traditional CVD risk factors. The primary clinical outcome was combined all-cause mortality and nonfatal CVD events. Data were available on 1933 participants (mean age 59 years, 66% female, 44% Black). In a median follow up time of 8.3 years, 137 primary clinical outcome events occurred. PM2.5 exposure increased with higher CSR score. PM2.5 was independently associated with clinical outcome (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.19 [95% CI: 1.00, 1.41]). Participants with ≥2 CSR factors had an adjusted HR of 2.34 (1.48–3.68) compared to those with CSR = 0. The association was attenuated after accounting for PM2.5 (HR: 2.16; [1.34, 3.49]). Mediation analyses indicate that PM2.5 explained 13% of the risk of clinical outcome in individuals with CSR score ≥ 2. In a community-based cohort study, we found that the association of increasing CSR with higher CVD and mortality risks is partially accounted for by exposure to PM2.5 environmental pollutants.
Endoscopic trans-pterygoid resection of a low-grade cribriform cystadenocarcinoma of the infratemporal fossa

This article presents a case of low-grade cribriform cystadenocarcinomas (LGCCC), a rare salivary gland tumor manifesting in the infratemporal fossa (ITF). The lesion in this case is unique in its location, histopathology, and management in that the tumor resection was performed using an exclusively endoscopic, endonasal approach. This case highlights the expanding application of endoscopic skull base techniques to address an indolent, slow-growing malignancy of the ITF.
Effects of discourse factors on the interpretation of Korean null pronouns in subject and object position

The present study investigates whether interpretation of null pronouns in Korean is best captured by a heuristics-based approach, focusing on subjecthood and syntactic parallelism, or a discourse-based coherence-relation approach, which regards pronoun resolution as a side-effect of general inferencing processes during discourse comprehension. We report two experiments where we investigated whether and how the interpretation of null pronouns in subject and object position in Korean is influenced by (i) the nature of the connective between the preceding clause and the pronoun-containing clause ( kuliko “and” or waynyahamyen “because”), (ii) the presence/absence of the additive marker -to “also” in the pronoun-containing clause, and (iii) the presence/absence of the topic marker -(n)un on the subject of the preceding clause. As a whole, our results support the coherence-relation approach. We find that when a cue indicating a resemblance relation (either the connective and or the additive marker also ) is present, null pronouns in both subject and object position tend to be interpreted as referring to an antecedent in a parallel syntactic position (subject and object respectively). This parallelism bias strengthens when a resemblance relation is signaled by both and and also . In contrast, when the two clauses are linked with because (indicating an explanation relation), null pronouns show no significant preference for either the subject or object antecedent. Topic-marking has no effect, possibly due to lack of context. Our study provides new evidence that both subject- and object-position null pronouns are sensitive to both syntactic and discourse-level factors.
Impact Protection Potential of Mammalian Hair: Testing the Pugilism Hypothesis for the Evolution of Human Facial Hair.

Because facial hair is one of the most sexually dimorphic features of humans (Homo sapiens) and is often perceived as an indicator of masculinity and social dominance, human facial hair has been suggested to play a role in male contest competition. Some authors have proposed that the beard may function similar to the long hair of a lion's mane, serving to protect vital areas like the throat and jaw from lethal attacks. This is consistent with the observation that the mandible, which is superficially covered by the beard, is one of the most commonly fractured facial bones in interpersonal violence. We hypothesized that beards protect the skin and bones of the face when human males fight by absorbing and dispersing the energy of a blunt impact. We tested this hypothesis by measuring impact force and energy absorbed by a fiber epoxy composite, which served as a bone analog, when it was covered with skin that had thick hair (referred to here as "furred") versus skin with no hair (referred to here as "sheared" and "plucked"). We covered the epoxy composite with segments of skin dissected from domestic sheep (Ovis aries), and used a drop weight impact tester affixed with a load cell to collect force versus time data. Tissue samples were prepared in three conditions: furred (n = 20), plucked (n = 20), and sheared (n = 20). We found that fully furred samples were capable of absorbing more energy than plucked and sheared samples. For example, peak force was 16% greater and total energy absorbed was 37% greater in the furred compared to the plucked samples. These differences were due in part to a longer time frame of force delivery in the furred samples. These data support the hypothesis that human beards protect vulnerable regions of the facial skeleton from damaging strikes.