cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The broad range of contractile behaviour of the avian pectoralis: functional and evolutionary implications

SUMMARY Wing-assisted incline running (WAIR) in birds combines the use of the wings and hindlimbs to ascend otherwise insurmountable obstacles. It is a means of escape in precocial birds before they are able to fly, and it is used by a variety of juvenile and adult birds as an alternative to flight for exploiting complex three-dimensional environments at the interface of the ground and air. WAIR and controlled flapping descent (CFD) are the bases of the ontogenetic-transitional wing hypothesis, wherein WAIR and CFD are proposed to be extant biomechanical analogs for incremental adaptive stages in the evolutionary origin of flight. A primary assumption of the hypothesis is that work and power requirements from the primary downstroke muscle, the pectoralis, incrementally increase from shallow- to steep-angled terrestrial locomotion, and between terrestrial and aerial locomotion. To test this assumption, we measured in vivo force, electromyographic (EMG) activity and length change in the pectoralis of pigeons ( Columba livia ) as the birds engaged in shallow and steep WAIR (65 and 85 deg, respectively) and in three modes of slow flight immediately following take-off: ascending at 80 deg, level and descending at –60 deg. Mean EMG amplitude, muscle stress, strain, work and power were minimal during shallow WAIR and increased stepwise from steep WAIR to descending flight and level flight to reach the highest levels during ascending flight. Relative to resting length of the pectoralis, fractional lengthening (maximum muscle strain) was similar among behaviors, but fractional shortening (minimum muscle strain) was absent during WAIR such that the pectoralis did not shorten to less than the resting length. These data dramatically extend the known range of in vivo contractile behavior for the pectoralis in birds. We conclude that WAIR remains a useful extant model for the evolutionary transition from terrestrial to aerial locomotion in birds because work and power requirements from the pectoralis increase incrementally during WAIR and from WAIR to flight.
Dynamic Sparse-Matrix Allocation on GPUs

Sparse matrices are a core component in many numerical simulations, and their efficiency is essential to achieving high performance. Dynamic sparse-matrix allocation (insertion) can benefit a number of problems such as sparse-matrix factorization, sparse-matrix-matrix addition, static analysis (e.g., points-to analysis), computing transitive closure, and other graph algorithms. Existing sparse-matrix formats are poorly designed to handle dynamic updates. The compressed sparse-row (CSR) format is fully compact and must be rebuilt after each new entry. Ellpack (ELL) stores a constant number of entries per row, which allows for efficient insertion and sparse matrix-vector multiplication (SpMV) but is memory inefficient and strictly limits row size. The coordinate (COO) format stores a list of entries and is efficient for both memory use and insertion time; however, it is much less efficient at SpMV. Hybrid ellpack (HYB) compromises by using a combination of ELL and COO but degrades in performance as the COO portion fills up. Rows that use the COO portion require it to be completely traversed during every SpMV operation.
IMPROVEMENT OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BI2223 TAPES BY INSERTING Ag-ALLOY WIRE IN SUPERCONDUCTING CORE

This article introduced a newly structured Bi2223 tape prepared by inserting Ag alloy wire in superconducting core. We discuss the changes in properties of such prepared tape compared to that of conventional Bi2223 tapes and effects of tensile strain on its properties. Experiments indicate that by adoption of this new structure the properties are considerably improved with their I-c and J-c reaching up to 75A, 1.6×10+4A/cm+2 respectively, which constitutes a 35% increase compared to those of conventional tapes. Results of experiments have revealed some remarkable improvements in the mechanical properties of tape Bi2223 under such preparation. The σ -{0.2} of approximately 85Mpa and e -{irr} of approximately 0.45%, increase about 30% and 50% respectively compared to those of the Bi2223 tape prepared by conventional process.
Training older adults with low vision to use a computer tablet: A feasibility study:

IntroductionThe purpose of this feasibility study was to investigate the potential use of a computer tablet as a low vision device to facilitate performance of and satisfaction with daily activitie...
The contact urticaria syndrome.

Contact urticaria may occur following contact of the skin or mucous membranes with a large number of diverse substances. When localized angioedematous reactions of the eyes or oropharynx are caused by proteinaceous substances, the distinction between contact urticaria and common inhalant or food allergies is subtle. The time course of the reaction, negative controls, or occurrence of generalized symptoms do not constitute unequivocal evidence of immunologic contact urticaria, and confirmation by RAST or passive transfer testing is required.
The lipoxin biosynthetic circuit and their actions with human neutrophils.

Signal transduction in inflammatory cells is associated with the release and oxygenation of arachidonic acid by lipoxygenases (1, 2). The lipoxins (LX) are a recent addition to the family of biologically active products generated from arachidonic acid collectively termed eicosanoids. Members of the LX series contain a conjugated tetraene structure (3) and display a unique spectrum of bioactivities which distinguish them from other eicosanoids (3, 4). Along these lines, recent results from several laboratories (5–9) indicate that LXA4** blocks some of the “proinflammatory” actions of leukotrienes. Taken together they suggest that LX may serve as chalones in inflammatory responses. Therefore, complete knowledge of their biosynthesis, temporal association of formation and relationship to other eicosanoids is essential to unraveling the functions of these tetraene-containing eicosanoids in inflammation as well as other physiologic events.
Proteomics and Discovery of Cardiovascular Biomarkers

Early disease detection often relies on accurate measurement of serum or plasma biomarkers. Available tests for myocardial infarction, such as immuonoassays for the troponins, developed out of studies of those proteins in cardiac physiology. Advancements in protein display and identification technologies now permit characterization of global alterations associated with disease conditions. Plasma proteomics in particular, through an unbiased survey of all proteins associated with a given cardiovascular pathology, may lead to the discovery of novel biomarkers and may provide insight into the cellular mechanisms of disease and uncover new proteins that might serve as targets for therapeutic intervention. Advancing instrumentation and computational methodologies are allowing not only exploration but also quantification of the proteomes of biological tissues and fluids on a wide scale. However, there remains lack of consensus and standardization in technology and techniques. Choice of sample is sometimes not obvious; there is not just one proteome, but many. Faster automation, coupled with more accurate mass determinations, more reliable protein databases to accelerate protein identifications, and greater software support, is needed to realize the true potential of proteomics. Finally, the high sensitivity of mass spectrometry and the present lack of bioinformatics standardization make it critical that any suspected proteomic changes be thoroughly reviewed and verified, with the focus on addressing any inadvertent biases or artifacts of collection, handling, storage, or analysis.
Electrophilic nitro-fatty acids suppress allergic contact dermatitis in mice.

Background Reactions between nitric oxide (NO), nitrite (NO2-), and unsaturated fatty acids give rise to electrophilic nitro-fatty acids (NO2 -FAs), such as nitro oleic acid (OA-NO2 ) and nitro linoleic acid (LNO2 ). Endogenous electrophilic fatty acids (EFAs) mediate anti-inflammatory responses by modulating metabolic and inflammatory signal transduction reactions. Hence, there is considerable interest in employing NO2 -FAs and other EFAs for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory disorders. Thus, we sought to determine whether OA-NO2 , an exemplary nitro-fatty acid, has the capacity to inhibit cutaneous inflammation. Methods We evaluated the effect of OA-NO2 on allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) using an established model of contact hypersensitivity in C57Bl/6 mice utilizing 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene as the hapten. Results We found that subcutaneous (SC) OA-NO2 injections administered 18 h prior to sensitization and elicitation suppresses ACD in both preventative and therapeutic models. In vivo SC OA-NO2 significantly inhibits pathways that lead to inflammatory cell infiltration and the production of inflammatory cytokines in the skin. Moreover, OA-NO2 is capable of enhancing regulatory T-cell activity. Thus, OA-NO2 treatment results in anti-inflammatory effects capable of inhibiting ACD by inducing immunosuppressive responses. Conclusion Overall, these results support the development of OA-NO2 as a promising therapeutic for ACD and provides new insights into the role of electrophilic fatty acids in the control of cutaneous immune responses potentially relevant to a broad range of allergic and inflammatory skin diseases.
A 667MT/s 10.7GB/s Multiprocessor Bus Interface

A 130nm 1.2V GTL bus interface with compensated slew rate and termination achieves 667MT/S 10.7GB/S data rate in a 3-load MP environment. The design utilizes preboost and postboost methods, current steering circuit to minimize simultaneous switching noise and negative hysteresis to speed up the common-clock delay. The design also incorporates system-level I/O loopback for system timing marginality test
A fine-grained parallel implementation of a H.264/AVC encoder on a 167-processor computational platform

The emerging many-core architecture provides a flexible solution for the rapid evolving multimedia applications demanding both high performance and high energy-efficiency. However, developing parallel multimedia applications that can efficiently harness and utilize many-core architectures is the key challenge for scalable computing. We contribute to this challenge by presenting a fully-parallel H.264/AVC baseline encoder on a 167-core asynchronous array of simple processors (AsAP) computation platform. By exploiting fine-grained data and task level parallelism in the algorithms, we partition and map the dataflow of the H.264/AVC encoder to an array of 115 small processors coupled with two shared memories and a hardware accelerator for motion estimation. The proposed parallel H.264/AVC encoder is capable of encoding video sequences with variable frame sizes. The encoder presented is capable of encoding VGA (640 × 480) video at 21 frames per second (fps) with 931 mW average power consumption by adjusting each processor to workload-based optimal clock frequencies and dual supply voltages with less than 1dB loss in resolution.
Black Quotidian: A Digital Humanities Approach to Teaching African American History

Black Quotidian: Everyday History in African-American Newspapers [blackquotidian.com] is a digital humanities project designed to highlight moments from ordinary lives in African American history. Each day I post at least one Black newspaper article from that date in history, accompanied by a brief commentary. Taking the ordinary aspects of African American history seriously means recognizing the richness and diversity of Black lives, cultures, and communities. I continue to be surprised by the amazing stories that live in the archives of Black newspapers. Black Quotidian brings several hundred of these stories to web audiences, and, in the process, the project is changing how I think about, write about, and teach African American history.
Spatial variability in the naphthalene mineralization response to oxygen, nitrate, and orthophosphate amendments in MGP aquifer sediments

The feasibility of aerobic in situ bioremediation isbeing investigated for use in a strategy to controlsubsurface coal tar contamination at the site of aformer manufactured gas plant. As part of thisinvestigation, anoxic aquifer sands collected between11 and 25 m below ground surface were assayed in batchmicrocosms to measure the singular and combinedeffects of O2, NO3 -, andPO4 3- on 14C-naphthalenemineralization. The influence of these additivesvaried considerably between sediments. A high initialconcentration of O2 (21 mg/L) promoted thegreatest extent of mineralization in the majority ofactive sediments. NO3 - (85 mg/L) wasobserved to enhance, inhibit, or have no effect on therate of naphthalene mineralization, althoughsignificant denitrification was observed in nearly allthe active sediments. Data suggest thatPO4 3- complexation and/or precipitation withsediment cations limited P bioavailability. Thesediments that were incapable of mineralizingnaphthalene were characterized by low pH (< 4.1),high SO4 2- (> 500 mg/L), and moderate tohigh dissolved Fe(II) (30–265 mg/L) whenequilibrated aerobically with water. Fe(II) likelyexerted a significant O2 demand that reduced theO2 available as an electron acceptor forbiodegradation. These experiments demonstrate thatwhile aeration/oxygenation can be an effectivestrategy for enhancing subsurface bioremediation ofaromatic hydrocarbons, the biodegradation response toaeration/oxygenation and nutrient addition may varyconsiderably within an aquifer.
The Reaction Kinetics for the Formation of Isovaleraldehyde, 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline, di(H)di(OH)-6-Methylpyranone, Phenylacetaldehyde, 5-Methyl-2-phenyl-2-hexenal, and 2-Acetylfuran in Model Systems

A kinetic study on the formation of the Strecker aldehydes, isovaleraldehyde and phenylacetaldehyde, plus four additional, “secondary” aroma compounds was conducted. A gas chromatograph atomic emission detector was used to collect kinetic data on the formation of these volatiles using a glucose (0.5 mole) and amino acid (0.075 mole) model system dissolved in 400 mL phosphate buffer (pH 6, 7 & 8) that had been heated at 75 to 115°C from 5 min. to 7.5 h. The formation of these volatiles followed zero order reaction kinetics and activation energies ranged from 14.3 to 23.1 kcal/mole.
Microbial community biomass and structure in saline and non-saline soils associated with salt- and boron-tolerant poplar clones grown for the phytoremediation of selenium.

Poplar trees (Populus spp.) are often used in bioremediation strategies because of their ability to phytoextract potential toxic ions, e.g., selenium (Se) from poor quality soils. Soil microorganisms may play a vital role in sustaining health of soil and/or tolerance of these trees grown in poor quality soils by contributing to nutrient cycling, soil structure, overall soil quality, and plant survival. The effect of naturally occurring salts boron (B) and Se on soil microbial community composition associated with poplar trees is not known for bioremediation strategies. In this study, three Populus clones 13-366, 345-1, and 347-14 were grown in spring 2006 under highly saline, B, and Se clay-like soils in the west side of the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) of CA, as well as in non-saline sandy loam soils located in the east side of the SJV. After 7 years of growing in the respective soils of different qualities, soil samples were collected from poplar clones grown in saline and non-saline soils to examine and compare soil quality effects on soil microbial community biomass and composition. The phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis was used to characterize microbial community composition in soils from trees grown at both locations. This study showed that microbial biomass and the amount and proportion of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) community were lower in all three poplar clones grown in saline soil compared to non-saline soil. Amounts of Gram + bacterial and actinomycetes PLFAs were significantly lower in poplar clone 13-366 grown in saline soil compared to non-saline soil; however, they did not differ significantly in poplar clones 347-14 and 345-1. Additionally, amounts of saprophytic fungal, Gram - bacterial and eukaryotic PLFA remained similar at saline and non-saline sites under poplar clones 347-14, 345-1, and 13-366. Therefore, this study suggested that salinity and B do have an impact on microbial biomass and AMF; however, these poplar clones still recycled sufficient amount of nutrients to support and protect saprophytic fungal and bacterial communities from the effects of poor quality soils.
Isolated and Afraid in a Small Town

Living in a small southern town, my narrative performance explores the anger, pain, and, at times, privilege of isolation when not having a queer community with whom to publicly mourn following the...
Detection of rogue nodes in AMI networks

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is an integral part of smart power grids. With advanced computing and communications, cybersecurity has emerged to be a critical issue for AMI networks, which demand confidentiality and integrity. Cyber attackers can employ unauthorized devices, also known as rogue nodes, to steal customers' private information, modify or create wrong data that can financially impact customers, utilities, and the electricity market. To detect rogue nodes in AMI networks, we propose and simulate two Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS). Their goal is to detect man-in-the-middle attacks (MiTM), where the rogue node steals information using Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache poisoning. A host-based simplistic IDS for the smart meters and a network-based IDS for the data concentrator, which has a larger computing power, were implemented to detect and stop such MiTM attacks. The proposed IDS system uses a Bayesian-based machine learning technique so that the IDS learns the behavior of the attack and detects future attacks.
Teaching with tech: supplemental journalism instruction using YouTube for the millennial generation

This exploratory study examines how journalism students use online instructional videos to learn skills needed to create successful broadcast stories. Students from an introductory reporting class were provided three videos demonstrating video editing skills. Approximately two months later, survey results found that the more than half of the students (65.3%) had a positive impression of the videos. Further results demonstrate that while students enjoyed the videos, the vast majority (83.7%) did not view them as more effective than face-to-face instruction. Implications of this research demonstrate that the instructional videos can be a supplement, not a replacement, to face-to-face instruction.
High-Efficiency All-Dielectric Huygens Metasurfaces from the Ultraviolet to the Infrared

Conventional optics depend on the gradual accumulation of spatially dependent phase shifts imparted on light propagating through a medium to modify the wavefront of an incident beam. A similar effect may be obtained by the imposition of abrupt, discrete phase changes on a propagating wavefront over a subwavelength scale using photonic metasurfaces. Highly efficient metasurfaces have applications ranging from conventional optics to high-efficiency solar energy conversion, optical communications, and more. We present here the design, computational modeling, and experimental demonstration of all-dielectric transmissive Huygens metasurfaces exhibiting anomalous refraction, defined as the controlled deflection of light at an interface as a function of subwavelength nanostructures. These metasurfaces are composed of dielectric, cylindrical elements, characterized by balanced electric and magnetic dipole resonances. For infrared wavelengths, optical efficiency of 91.3% is demonstrated computationally, and experi...
Concurrent Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum and Pneumorrhachis.

Abstract Background Spontaneous pneumomediastinum with concurrent pneumorrhachis (air in the spinal canal) and subcutaneous emphysema can be an alarming presentation, both clinically and radiographically. These clinical entities often require only conservative measures after ruling out any worrisome underlying causes. Management often involves appropriate imaging, hospital admission, and sub-specialty consultation as needed to help determine any potential causes for the presentation that may require anything more than a period of medical observation. Case Report A 20-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with acute onset of chest pain. Physical examination was significant for subcutaneous emphysema across the anterior chest wall. Radiographs of the neck revealed extensive soft tissue emphysema extending into the upper mediastinum. Computed tomography (CT) of the neck with contrast revealed a small amount of air within the central canal of the spinal cord, in addition to extensive pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema. The patient remained stable and was discharged home on hospital day 2, after significant threats for morbidity or mortality were ruled out. Why Should an Emergency Physician Be Aware of This? Spontaneous pneumomediastinum, pneumorrhachis, and subcutaneous emphysema are rare clinical entities, but each requires thorough investigation in the ED to rule out any underlying life-threatening cause. A conservative treatment approach is appropriate for most patients without evidence of cardiorespiratory compromise or neurologic deficits accruing due to these problems.
Predictors of completion of a psychological-behavioral intervention in acute coronary syndrome patients.

Abstract Objective Dropout from health behavior interventions in patients with heart disease is a major clinical issue that can impact recovery and prognosis. Positive psychology (PP)-based treatments have the potential to promote health behaviors, but predictors of PP intervention completion have not been examined in persons with heart disease. Methods Among 128 patients receiving a phone-based PP intervention to promote physical activity among acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients, numerous baseline sociodemographic, medical, and psychological variables, along with self-reported pre/post improvements in happiness and optimism (on 0–10 Likert scales) associated with an initial PP exercise, were examined as potential predictors of intervention completion. Logistic and linear regression analyses were used to assess relationships between these predictors and (a) intervention completion (at least 4 of 8 sessions completed) and (b) number of total sessions completed. Results No patient characteristic was associated with greater likelihood of completing the PP intervention. However, immediate pre-post change in optimism following the initial exercise was associated with intervention completion (odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.28–3.05; p = .002; mean post-exercise increase in optimism 0.79 [SD 1.52] in completers vs. mean optimism decrease of 0.59 [SD 1.42] in non-completers). Conclusions Pre-post change in optimism with a single PP activity predicted completion of an 8-week PP-based health behavior intervention in post-ACS patients. This information could be used clinically by having potential enrollees complete a single PP activity to assess intervention fit.
Chromatic effects in narrowband phasing of the Keck Telescope segments: theory and numerical simulations

The narrowband segment phasing algorithm that was originally developed at Keck was replaced many years ago by a broadband algorithm that, although slower and less accurate than the former, has proved to be much more robust. A thorough investigation into the lack of robustness of the narrowband algorithm has now shown that this results from systematic errors (∼ 20 nm on average) that are wavelength-dependent. We show that the seemingly continuous distribution of these chromatic errors in fact results from (at least) two independent causes. The largest and most problematic eﬀects are due to “plateaus” of unremoved material that were covered by supports during the ion beam ﬁguring of three of the segments, but other smaller chromatic eﬀects are also shown to be present and these are not yet understood. If the purely chromatic eﬀects can be eliminated, we show that the intrinsic accuracy of the narrowband algorithm is about 6 nm (surface).
Small molecule glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors as upstream therapy in acute coronary syndromes: Insights from the TACTICS TIMI-18 trial

Glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors are beneficial in unstable angina/non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (UA/NSTEMI). In large trials, the GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors tirofiban and eptifibatide were each found to reduce the risk of death or myocardial infarction (MI) in these patients at 30 days. These agents appear to be of greatest benefit in patients with a positive troponin at baseline, diabetes or ST-segment depression, recurrent angina, prior aspirin use, or a Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score > or = 4. The Treat angina with Aggrastat and determine Cost of Therapy with an Invasive or Conservative Strategy (TACTICS) TIMI-18 trial was designed to compare the benefits of an early invasive versus a conservative strategy in high-risk UA/NSTEMI patients treated with GP IIb/IIIa inhibition. Patients were treated with tirofiban (for 48 h) plus aspirin and heparin and randomized to either invasive therapy (coronary angiography and revascularization when feasible) or conservative treatment (angiography only for patients with recurrent ischemia at rest or a positive stress test). A significant reduction in death or MI was demonstrated at 30 days (p = 0.02) and at 6 months (p = 0.0498). Death, MI, or rehospitalization for an acute coronary syndrome was also reduced with the invasive therapy at six months (p = 0.025). These results provide evidence to physicians that early GP IIb/IIIa inhibition in combination with a prompt invasive approach should be used more widely in UA/NSTEMI patients, particularly those at high risk.
Regulation of Liver Glucose Metabolism by the Metabolic Sensing of Leucine in the Hypothalamus

Amino acids exert powerful effects on insulin action and glucose metabolism through direct (substrate-like) as well indirect (hormonally mediated) mechanisms. The majority of these actions are mediated by tissues such as the skeletal muscle and the liver. In this chapter we discuss evidence indicating that leucine improves insulin action and liver glucose metabolism through a metabolic sensing network in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH). Leucine is metabolized in the MBH to generate a neurogenic signal that is relayed to the liver via the vagus nerve to modulate the partition of glucose fluxes resulting in an overall decrease of glucose output. We further postulate that the faltering of this central sensing mechanism leads to hyperglycemia suggesting that hypothalamic leucine sensing is required to maintain euglycemia. Failure of this sensing mechanism could be a contributing factor to the development of diabetes.
Abstract 256: Infections Among Patients With Left Ventricular Assist Devices at University of Kansas Medical Center - Statistics and Strategies

Background: Owing to this improved technology and peri-implantation care around 90% of patients being considered for mechanical circulatory support receive an LVAD. Although LVAD support is associated with improved survival and quality of life, infectious complications remain a major limitation. The exact incidence of LVAD-related and non-VAD related infections among patients with VADs is unknown. Several potential factors make patients with VADs more prone to infectious complications, most obvious being the presence of an implanted device. Temporary alterations in the host immune system, including changes in T-cell function and quantity, have been observed after VAD implantation and may contribute to development of VAD-related infections. The optimal approach to empiric antibiotic therapy and duration of treatment has yet to be fully elucidated. Current treatment recommendations are based on observational studies and expert opinion, as no randomized controlled trials have evaluated empiric treatment of VAD infections. In the past several years we have expanded our understanding of driveline infections in VAD patients. However, information about non-drive line infections in VAD patients remains limited. Study Objectives: This is a quality-improvement (QI) project to look for preventable causes of driveline as well as non-driveline infections (i.e. VAD related and non-VAD related infections) among LVAD patients cared for at University of Kansas Medical Center. Primary Objectives a) Investigate the incidence and types of non-driveline infections among LVAD patients within the first six months of their VAD implantation. b) Investigate the incidence of driveline infections among LVAD patients within the first six months of their VAD implantation. c) Identify potentially preventable causes of driveline and non-driveline infections and propose interventions to reduce the future incidence of such infections. Secondary Objective a) Share our findings with our leadership with the ultimate goal of developing recommendations on empiric antibiotic treatments based on patient-specific risk factors Study Methods: We will perform retrospective chart review of LVAD patients to establish the incidence and types of infections among these patients within the first six months of LVAD implantation. Study will only include patients who received their LVAD implantations at University of Kansas Medical Center between October 2015 and October 2017. Data collection will include patient demographics, co-morbidities and risk factors for infections, as well as infection-focused information including site of acquisition and time to onset, causative organism, and microbiological data (e.g., cultures and sensitivities, viral panels, MIC, MRSA screen) and duration of therapy.
Clinical Outcomes of Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Patients with Elevated Lactate Dehydrogenase Who Underwent Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Background Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a malignant disorder of clonal plasma cells. Elevated Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) has been shown to be an independent prognostic marker associated with shorter survival. Methods Utilizing data from the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) CoMMpass database, we identified patients with baseline LDH values (>4.68 microkatals/liter). We compared baseline characteristics and outcomes with autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), based on LDH as categorical variable. Results We identified 871 patients with NDMM who had baseline LDH values. 385 patients underwent ASCT (High LDH N=44; Normal LDH N=341). Those with high LDH had an inferior OS when compared with those with normal LDH (median OS 800.5 vs 878.8 days, p=0.019). Of the 44 patients with high LDH who underwent ASCT, median age was 60 years and ECOG performance status was 1. 61.36% were females, 77% were Caucasian, 11% were African American. Induction therapy consisted of 4 drugs or more in 16%, 3 drugs in 61%, and 2 drugs in 23%. Bortezomib and immune modulating agents (IMIDS) were combined in 72%. In those who did not receive an IMID, a bortezomib-based induction was used in 16% and carfilzomib-based induction was used in 11%. 93.18% underwent transplant in the consolidative setting with a median time to transplant was 178 days. 21 of the 44 patients (47.72%) received post-transplant maintenance. 10/21(48%) patients received triplet, 8/21 (38%) patients received lenalidomide alone. The median duration of maintenance was 217 days. Of the 341 patients with normal LDH who underwent ASCT, the median age was age 61 years, ECOG performance status was 1. 41.34% were females, 79% were Caucasian, 13% African American. Induction therapy consisted of 4 drugs in 8%, 3 drugs in 64%, 2 drugs in 24%. Combined Bortezomib-IMID in 76.24%, carfilzomib-IMID based therapy in 6%, and bortezomib-non-IMID based in 9.67%. 94.7% underwent an upfront consolidative with median time to transplant 164 days. Post-transplant maintenance was given in 213/341 (62.4%) of patients, in whom triplet therapy was given to 41/213 (19.2%), doublet therapy to 34/213 (16%), 130/213 (61%) received single agent. Median duration of maintenance 266 days. There was no statistically significant difference in race, performance status, drug class and number of drugs used in induction therapy, time to transplant, whether or not patients received maintenance as well as maintenance duration between the groups when stratified by LDH. Female gender was enriched in the high LDH group (p=0.009). Conclusion Elevated LDH was confirmed as a poor prognostic factor in MMRF CoMMpass cohort. ASCT did not abrogate the poor prognosis associated with high LDH. Since clinical outcomes remain poor despite the use of novel effective therapies and early consolidation with AHCT in patients with high baseline LDH, this group represents an unmet need for alternative therapy.
The liar paradox in fifteenth-century Shiraz: the exchange between Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Dashtakī and Jalāl al-Dīn al-Dawānī

ABSTRACTTwo rival scholars from Shiraz in Persia, Dawānī (d. 1502) and Dashtakī (d. 1498) engaged in a bitter and extended dispute over a range of metaphysical and logical issues. One of these was ...
Barriers and Facilitators Influencing Parental Transition of College-Bound Youth with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: An Integrative Review.

The purpose of this review was to synthesize current research about potential barriers impacting parents as they transition their college-bound youth with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) to college. Seven studies, 5 qualitative and 2 quantitative, met the qualifications for inclusion in this study by focusing on parents and were included in this review. Three potential barriers impacting the parental experience during the transition of their youth with T1DM to college were identified: developing and promoting autonomy, evolving relationships and roles in the parent/youth dyad, and distress. Parents consistently indicated concern about their youth’s ability to self-manage their T1DM and lack of support for their own transition. This review indicates that several barriers may influence parents of adolescents with T1DM as they transition to becoming the parent of a college-bound youth with T1DM. The parental transition of launching their youth to college is more complex and unique for parents of youth with T1DM parents of youth without chronic conditions. Additional research focusing on the identification of desired supports for parents and the development of specific interventions to assist parents as they transition with their college-bound youth with T1DM is recommended.
Serpens, A Low-Cost Snake Robot with Series Elastic Torque-Controlled Actuators and A Screw-Less Assembly Mechanism

Even though a few examples of elastic snake robots exist, they are generally expensive and tailored to custom-made hardware/software components that are not openly available. In this work, Serpens, a newly-designed low-cost, open-source and highly-compliant modular snake robot with series elastic actuators (SEA) is presented. Serpens features precision torque control and stereoscopic vision. Only low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components are adopted. The robot modules can be 3D-printed by using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) manufacturing technology, thus making the rapid-prototyping process very economical and fast. A screw-less assembly mechanism allows for connecting the modules and reconfiguring the robot in a reliable and robust manner. By using a low-cost sensing approach, functions for torque sensing at the joint level, sensitive collision detection and joint compliant control are possible. The concept of modularity is also applied to the system architecture on both the software and hardware sides. The software architecture is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS). This paper describes the design of Serpens and presents preliminary simulation and experimental results which illustrate its potential.
Corticosterone Induces Depressive-Like Behavior in Female Peri-Pubescent Rats, but Not in Pre-Pubescent Rats.

BackgroundThere are no data on the effect of exogenous corticosterone on depressive-like behavior in juvenile rats. Furthermore, it has not been tested whether the effects of corticosterone in fema...
Academic Training, Knowledge, and Perceptions of Physical Activity in Student Pharmacists.

Pharmacists are highly effective in providing chronic disease management services in both the community pharmacy and ambulatory clinic settings in large part because of their medication therapy man...
Arthroscopic Treatment of Hip Dislocation After Previous Hip Arthroscopy: Capsular Reconstruction With Labral Augmentation

Abstract The hip capsule and acetabular labrum are critical structures that function to protect and stabilize the hip joint. As the use of hip arthroscopy increases, there is increasing interest in the integrity of the hip capsule and labrum in optimizing postoperative function and outcomes. In this report, we describe the surgical technique for capsular reconstruction with dermal allograft and labral augmentation with tibialis anterior allograft for the treatment of gross instability after hip arthroscopy. This technique may be applied in situations with large capsular defects and deficient labral tissue.
Advising the Smart City: When Artificial Intelligence and Big Data are the Subject of Professional Advice, What is a Government Lawyer to Do?

Technology is redefining modern life at a breakneck pace, and local governments have new and exciting resources and opportunities at their disposal to improve the lives of their citizens. Data gathering technologies for so-called “smart cities,” connected technologies, and artificial intelligence for processing the data enable local governments to be far more responsive to the conditions in their cities. Lawyers advising local governments must therefore be prepared to advise them of the implementation of this technology, which is beyond the scope of what most lawyers are prepared for in their training. While considerable work has gone in to making sure lawyers keep themselves aware of how technology impacts the practice of law, much less study has been directed towards what to do when the technology is not a tool for the lawyer but the subject of legal advice. This essay looks at the role of the local government lawyer in advising governments in the implementation of these technologies. It proceeds by first looking at the identity of the client in the local government lawyer’s context, then by looking at how lawyers can fulfill their ethical obligations when advising governments on implementation of smart city technology.
A roadmap for patient- and family-centered care during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected profoundly all parties and health-care delivery. Most hospitalized patients find that separation from loved ones takes a toll on them and the safety measures instituted come at a huge cost to their physical and emotional well-being. Family members are distressed and traumatized because they are unable to support or advocate for their loved ones and feel disconnected from the health-care team. Health-care professionals (HCPs) experience psychological and moral distress because the absence of families negatively affects their ability to provide quality, compassionate, and timely care. As a result, there have been calls for revisions of policies and procedures to reprioritize patient- and family-centered care (PFCC). Building upon their experience as frontline HCPs, health-care team leaders, and patients and family members who are also frontline HCPs, the interprofessional team (psychologists, psychiatrists, hospitalists, nurses, and specialists) of co-authors reviewed the literature and developed collegial consensus on a roadmap for PFCC during the pandemic that includes guiding principles along with associated best practices and implementation strategies for their operationalization. The guiding principles focus on providing safe yet compassionate and ethical PFCC;balancing community health and the mitigation of viral transmission with appreciating family members as essential partners in care;fostering communication between patients and their families;and promoting interactions and decision-making among HCPs, patients, and families. We hope this roadmap facilitates the transformation of the health-care culture during the pandemic to one that is truly patient and family centered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) © 2021 American Psychological Association
Assessing the Role Performance of Solutions Journalism in a Global Pandemic

This research compares the role performance of solutions journalism in reporting the COVID-19 pandemic in 25 countries and regions. While solutions journalism performed more interventionist, facili...
Sex and Syntax: Subjacency Revisited

Despite the sustained effort of about forty years to analyze Subjacency, to date, there has been no principled account, with the most recent attempts faring not much better than the initial proposals. It is also significant that the seeming arbitrariness of Subjacency has been used to argue that syntax could not have evolved gradually: One does not see why evolution would target a grammar with Subjacency, when its contribution to grammar is not transparent, let alone its contribution to survival. As put in Lightfoot (1991), “Subjacency has many virtues, but … it could not have increased the chances of having fruitful sex”. This article turns the argument around, and proposes that subjecting syntax to a gradualist evolutionary approach can in fact shed light on the existence of Subjacency effects. It thereby offers a reconstruction of how communicative benefits may have been involved in shaping the formal design of language.
Crowdfunding as a Social Movement: The Determinants of Success in Kickstarter Campaigns

Crowdfunding, which can be loosely defined as raising capital through small contributions from a large numbers of investors, is an increasingly popular practice among entrepreneurs. Kickstarter, the largest crowdfunding platform, uses an “all or nothing” approach: projects must reach their funding goal within a set time period before any money can be allocated. Therefore, it is in the interest of project creators to understand the determinants of success before the funding period begins. Models of social movements indicate that when conformity is a concern, high initial participation can lead to herding behavior. In contrast, if backers are only interested in a project’s success, then others’ contributions will encourage free riding. Results based on data collected daily from two months of Kickstarter projects show that funds raised in the first day of a campaign are positively related to the percentage of the funding goal raised at the campaign’s end. However, when controlling for a project’s total backers, first day backers are negatively associated with measures of success.
A comparison of neuronal growth cone and cell body membrane: electrophysiological and ultrastructural properties

This study investigated a broad set of general electrophysiological and ultrastructural features of growth cone and cell body membrane of individual neurons where membrane from different regions of the same neuron can be directly compared. Growth cones were surgically isolated from identified adult Helisoma neurons in culture and compared with the cell body using whole-cell patch-clamp recording techniques. All isolated growth cones generated overshooting regenerative action potentials. Five neurons (buccal neurons B4, B5, and B19; pedal neurons P1 and P5) were selected that displayed distinctive action potential waveforms. In all cases, the growth cone action potential was indistinguishable from the cell body action potential and different from growth cones from other identified neurons. Two of these neurons (B5 and B19) were studied further using voltage-clamp procedures; growth cones and cell bodies again revealed major similarities within one neuron type and differences between neuron types. The only suggested difference between the growth cone and cell body was an apparent reduction in the magnitude of the A-current in the growth cone. Peak inward and outward current densities, as with other electrophysiological features, were different between neuron types, but were, again, similar between the growth cone and the cell body of the same neuron. Freeze-fracture analysis of intramembraneous particles (IMPs) was also performed on identified regions of the same neuron in culture. Both the density and the size distribution of IMPs were the same in growth cone, cell body, and neurite membranes. In these general electrophysiological and ultrastructural characteristics, therefore, growth cone membranes appear to retain the identity of the parent neuron cell body membrane.
Interesting patterns for model-based machine vision

The author's work builds on D.G. Lowe's (1987) theory of perceptual groupings. Minimal processing is applied to an image to extract edges. The edges are then represented as well-defined two-dimensional patterns that the authors call interesting patterns. No attempt is made to infer three-dimensional structure from the patterns, and they are matched against two-dimensional models which are projections of characteristic views of three-dimensional objects. The patterns are built up from modular building blocks called triples. >
Sequence requirements for stabilization of a peptide reverse turn in water solution Proline is not essential for stability

To probe the sequence requirements for stabilization of a reverse turn conformation in a short peptide in water solution, the behavior of two series of peptides was investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The peptides have the general sequences XPGDV and AXGDV, where X is a representative subset of all 20 naturally occurring amino acids. The residues chosen at positions 3 and 4, Gly and Asp, respectively, were shown to give the greatest population of reverse turns in a previous study [Dyson, H. J., Rance, M., Houghten, R. A., Lerner, R. A. & Wright, P. E. (1988) J. Mol. Biol. 201, 161-200]. Within this framework, the identity of the first residue of the turn (X in XPGDV) does not greatly influence the turn population, although a small but significant increase is observed for residues such as Ala which have a preference for backbone conformations in the alpha region of (phi,psi) space. The series AXGDV was initially studied for completeness only, since it was expected that the turn would not be stabilized in such a small linear peptide in the absence of proline. In contrast, it appears that a significant population of type II turn conformations is to be found in peptides in the series AXGDV, although proline remains one of the most favorable residues at position 2. These results indicate that while residues at all positions within the turn can influence the turn population, the presence of Gly-Asp as the third and fourth members of the sequence gives a strong bias towards type II turn formation regardless of the residues at positions 1 and 2. Our results give a final prediction that the sequence with the highest intrinsic propensity for turn formation is APGD.