cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Angioscopically directed valvulotomy: A new valvulotome and technique

Despite a large experience with "blind" retrograde valvulotomy in in situ vein bypass grafting, the incidence of residual competent valves remains high, and valvulotome-induced injury is common. In this study we describe a new valvulotome and technique of angioscopically directed valvulotomy and review the video tape recordings of 85 completion angioscopies of in situ femorodistal bypasses. Fifty-three vein grafts were prepared with the blind retrograde valvulotomy technique and 32 vein grafts with the new valvulotome and angioscopy. The use of the new valvulotome and technique is compared with that of the standard blind retrograde valvulotomy technique, and the normal endoluminal anatomy and incidence of primary disease in saphenous vein grafts was noted. The incidence of valvulotome-induced injury was 5/32 (15.6%) and 45/53 (85%) in vein grafts prepared with angioscopically directed valvulotomy and blind retrograde valvulotomy, respectively. Residual competent valves were found in 10/53 (18.9%) in blind retrograde valvulotomy and 0/25 of angioscopically directed valvulotomy vein grafts (p = 0.0114). In 22/53 vein grafts unsuspected primary disease was detected. Angioscopically directed valvulotomy with the new valvulotome and technique is feasible, reliable, and safe. It avoids residual competent valves, minimizes valvulotome-induced injury, and allows the detection and correction of unappreciated primary vein graft abnormalities. The new valvulotome and technique is a first step in the complete endoluminal preparation of the in situ vein graft.
An evaluation of the metabolic syndrome in the HyperGEN study.

In 2001 the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) provided a categorical definition for metabolic syndrome (c-MetS). We studied the extent to which two ethnic groups, Blacks and Whites were affected by c-MetS. The groups were members of the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN), a part of the Family Blood Pressure Program, supported by the NHLBI. Although the c-MetS definition is of special interest in particular to the clinicians, the quantitative latent traits of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) are also important in order to gain further understanding of its etiology. In this study, quantitative evaluation of the MetS latent traits (q-MetS) was based on the statistical multivariate method factor analysis (FA). The prevalence of the c-MetS was 34% in Blacks and 39% in Whites. c-MetS showed predominance of obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Three and four factor domains were identified through FA, classified as "Obesity," "Blood pressure," "Lipids," and "Central obesity." They explained approximately 60% of the variance in the 11 original variables. Two factors classified as "Obesity" and "Central Obesity" overlapped when FA was performed without rotation. All four factors in FA with Varimax rotation were consistent between Blacks and Whites, between genders and also after excluding type 2 diabetes (T2D) participants. Fasting insulin (INS) associated mainly with obesity and lipids factors. MetS in the HyperGEN study has a compound phenotype with separate domains for obesity, blood pressure, and lipids. Obesity and its relationship to lipids and insulin is clearly the dominant factor in MetS. Linkage analysis on factor scores for components of MetS, in familial studies such as HyperGEN, can assist in understanding the genetic pathways for MetS and their interactions with the environment, as a first step in identifying the underlying pathophysiological causes of this syndrome.
Intercomparison of stratospheric water vapor observed by satellite experiments: Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II versus Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere and Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy

A comparison is made of the stratospheric water vapor measurements made by the satellite sensors of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II), the Nimbus-7 LIMS, and the Spacelab 3 Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) experiment. It was found that, despite differences in the measurement techniques, sampling bias, and observational periods, the three experiments have disclosed a generally consistent pattern of stratospheric water vapor distribution. The only significant difference occurs at high southern altitudes in May below 18 km, where LIMS measurements were 2-3 ppmv greater than those of SAGE II and ATMOS.
An 18-GHz, 10.9-dBm fully-integrated power amplifier with 23.5% PAE in 130-nm CMOS

An 18-GHz fully integrated class-E power amplifier with 10.9-dBm saturated output power, and 23.5-% maximum PAE is fabricated in the UMC 130-nm digital CMOS process. At the saturated output, the required input power level is -5dBm and PA consumes 35mA from V/sub DD/=1.5V. The amplifier is single-ended and includes a 2-stage pre-amplifier and a driver stage. A mode-locking technique exploiting the instability of driver amplifier is used to improve the drive for the gate of output stage. The mode-locking improves PAE by /spl sim/3% and reduces the required input power level by /spl sim/6dB to get same output level.
Benefits of ‘observer effects’: lessons from the field

This article responds to the criticism that ‘observer effects’ in ethnographic research necessarily bias and possibly invalidate research findings. Instead of aspiring to distance and detachment, some of the greatest strengths of ethnographic research lie in cultivating close ties with others and collaboratively shaping discourses and practices in the field. Informants’ performances — however staged for or influenced by the observer — often reveal profound truths about social and/or cultural phenomena. To make this case, first we mobilize methodological insights from the field of science studies to illustrate the contingency and partiality of all knowledge and to challenge the notion that ethnography is less objective than other research methods. Second, we draw upon our ethnographic projects to illustrate the rich data that can be obtained from ‘staged performances’ by informants. Finally, by detailing a few examples of questionable behavior on the part of informants, we challenge the fallacy that the pr...
Combination Cisplatin and Carboplatin in Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Twenty-three patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who had received no prior chemotherapy were treated with carboplatin 350 mg/m2 followed by cisplatin 50 mg/m2 every 28 days. Twenty-one of 23 patients were evaluable for response and toxicity. Eight patients (38%) achieved complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) with 2 CR and 6 PR. The overall median survival was 8.4 months (range 19 days-56+ months). The major toxicity was hematological with grade III/IV granulocytopenia in 32% and grade III/IV thrombocytopenia in 32%. There was very little nonhematological toxicity and no nephrotoxicity. There were no therapy-related deaths. The combination carboplatin/cisplatin is tolerable in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, with objective responses in 38%; however, the response rate was not superior to single-agent carboplatin or cisplatin. Further studies with a higher dose of cisplatin should be considered.
Nano-power tunable bump circuit using wide-input-range pseudo-differential transconductor

An ultra-low-power tunable bump circuit is presented. It incorporates a novel wide-input-range tunable pseudo-differential transconductor linearised using the drain resistances of saturated transistors. Measurement results show that the transconductor has a 5 V differential input range with <20% of linearity error. The bump circuit demonstrates tunability of the centre, width and height, consuming 18.9 nW power from a 3 V supply, occupying 988 μm2 in a 0.13 μm CMOS process.
Positive Psychological Practices in Multicultural School Settings

This chapter provides an overview of research on positive psychology within the context of multicultural school settings. First, the chapter outlines the importance of a shift toward positive psychology within diverse schools, including the positive effects students from diverse backgrounds experience through school programs that focus on positive psychological constructs. The chapter concludes with a review of the role of professionals in multicultural school settings and with recommendations on how important personnel can work to promote optimal functioning for students in diverse school settings.
Predicting aboveground biomass with LANDIS-II: A global and temporal analysis of parameter sensitivity

Abstract Forest landscape models (FLMs) have become a valuable tool for projecting broad-scale forest dynamics, but incomplete knowledge about model behavior can make parameterization challenging and outcomes unreliable. FLMs generally model forest growth as a set of interacting processes, and, consequently, predictions can be influenced by process or parameter uncertainty. A sensitivity analysis can potentially help identify sources of uncertainty, but if it does not use global measures of sensitivity nor consider that sensitivity in a process-based model is likely time-dependent, results could be misleading. Our aim was to evaluate the sensitivity of nine key parameters when predicting live aboveground biomass (AGB) with the widely used FLM, LANDIS-II. To fully explore parameter interactions and nonlinear model behavior, we selected a range of parameter values based on LANDIS-II applications in North America that was considerably wider than in previous local sensitivity analyses. Our results showed commonalities with previous studies, which concluded the maximum allowable biomass and maximum annual net primary productivity specified for a species were most influential when predicting AGB. In contrast to earlier work, we also clearly demonstrated how relative importance was time-dependent for all but the least important parameters. Interactions between parameters and with simulation duration generated substantial variability in AGB and number of cohorts established. Results will improve future calibration efforts and may offer insight into opportunities for possible model refinements. This study also suggests, however, that parameters which cannot be calibrated based on empirical data will continue to be a major source of model uncertainty.
Persistent Challengers: Repression, Concessions, Challenger Strength, and Commitment in Latin America

One of the most perplexing issues in contentious politics is whether political repression deters future contentious challenges. In order to understand this effect, it is important to look more broadly at what explains the persistence of contentious challengers. This study examines specific contentious challenges and assesses whether the challenger involved persisted by taking part in any subsequent challenges over the following twelve months. The results do not provide strong evidence of a direct, consistent impact of repression on persistence. However, the results consistently show that challengers are more persistent when they include organized groups, when they have staged previous challenges, when they seek regime change, when they oppose authoritarian regimes, and when they have mobilized more participants in protests. A key argument presented is that repression filters out less committed challengers, so that contentious challenges that emerge in more repressive situations are more persistent.
Lagrangian Relaxation for Inference in Natural Language Processing

There has been a long history in combinatorial optimization of methods that exploit structure in complex problems, using methods such as dual decomposition or Lagrangian relaxation. These methods leverage the observation that complex inference problems can often be decomposed into efficiently solvable sub-problems. Thus far, however, these methods are not widely used in NLP. In this talk I will describe recent work on inference algorithms for NLP based on Lagrangian relaxation. In the first part of the talk I will describe work on non-projective parsing. In the second part of the talk I will describe an exact decoding algorithm for syntax-based statistical translation. If time permits, I will also briefly describe algorithms for dynamic programming intersections (e.g., the intersection of a PCFG and an HMM), and for phrase-based translation. For all of the problems that we consider, the resulting algorithms produce exact solutions, with certificates of optimality, on the vast majority of examples; the algorithms are efficient for problems that are either NP-hard (as is the case for non-projective parsing, or for phrase-based translation), or for problems that are solvable in polynomial time using dynamic programming, but where the traditional exact algorithms are far too expensive to be practical. While the focus of this talk is on NLP problems, there are close connections to inference methods, in particular belief propagation, for graphical models. Our work was inspired by recent work that has used dual decomposition as an alternative to belief propagation in Markov random fields. This is joint work with Yin-Wen Chang, Tommi Jaakkola, Terry Koo, Sasha Rush, and David Sontag.
High Energy Conversion Efficiency in Nanofluidic Channels

It is proposed that the layering of large ions at the wall/liquid interface of nanofluidic channels can be used to achieve high efficiency (possibly >50%) in the conversion of hydrostatic energy in...
Abstract 1724: Inhibition of the PI3K and mTOR pathways reverses gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL BACKGROUND: Despite chemotherapy, survival for most patients with pancreatic cancer is less than one year. These dismal statistics reflect the lack of effective therapy. Understanding the molecular pathways that drive cancer growth may help target our therapy. Over 90% of pancreatic cancers are K-ras mutant which activates the PI3K/AKT pathway and signals downstream to mTOR leading to cell growth, proliferation and survival. We explored the combination of gemcitabine and BEZ235, a novel dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, in pancreatic cancer cell lines. METHODS: Cytotoxicity assays were performed utilizing the CellTiter-96-Aqueous-One-Solution-Cell-Proliferation-Assay-(MTS) from Promega in K-ras mutant MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic cancer cell lines. We generated gemcitabine resistant cell lines by serial passage of cells with increasing concentrations of drug. We utilized the CalcuSyn program by Biosoft to quantify synergism or antagonism with drug combinations. We also collected cells 6 hours after drug treatment for analysis of phosphorylated proteins. RESULTS: MIA PaCa-2 wild-type and gemcitabine resistant cells were treated with 100, 50 and 25 nM of either gemcitabine, BEZ235 or the combination of both. At the 100 nM dose, cell viability of the wild-type cells was 66%, 55% and 39% respectively. In the gemcitabine resistant cells, cell viability was 84%, 63% and 44%. The combination index was 0.51 in the wild-type cells and 0.46 in the gemcitabine resistant cells indicating synergy in both cell lines. In both cell lines, p-S6K and p-AKT levels increased with gemcitabine treatment which was abrogated by treatment with BEZ-235. Interestingly, in the gemcitabine resistant cells, there appeared to be significantly increased levels of p-MEK1 compared to control. CONCLUSION: Because pancreatic cancer remains resistant to current therapies despite recent advances in the development of molecular targeted therapies, there is an urgency to understand these pathways. We showed that the combination of gemcitabine and BEZ235 is synergistic in both cell lines but cell viability still remains high at 39% and 44% respectively. Combination with a MEK inhibitor may help to increase cell apoptosis and studies are on-going. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1724. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1724
Rapidly changing environment modulates the thermoregulatory fanning response in honeybee groups

Social insect societies maintain homeostasis through decentralized collective effort. In quickly changing environments, homeostasis can be difficult, as information may promptly become outdated. How do decentralized social insect groups respond to rapid environmental changes? Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) workers use thermoregulatory fanning behaviour as part of their repertoire to maintain nest temperatures below 36 °C, as larvae can develop malformations and die if temperatures surpass this threshold. Here, we determine whether honeybees alter their fanning behaviour when experiencing different rates of thermal change. We found that honeybee fanners were significantly more likely to fan when experiencing rapidly increasing temperatures, but this response was only seen in larger groups of bees. Additionally, fanners responded at significantly lower temperatures when temperatures were increased quickly, but again, only when they were in larger groups. Our results show a statistically significant interaction between fanning response and group size. These findings illustrate the importance of exploring both response thresholds and probability of response of animals in social groups experiencing changing environments, as both factors affect homeostatic responses. Understanding how self-organized animal societies maintain homeostasis provides insight into decentralized organization across many biological systems.
Study on Correlation and Clinical Effect of Trimetazidine in Treating Chronic Heart Failure by NT-proBNP and 6MWT

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of trimetazidine in treating chronic heart failure(CHF) and investigate the correlation between NT-proBNP and traditional indexes. Methods 78 patients of CHF were randomly divided into the trimetazidine treatment group(the observation group) and the conventional therapy group(the control group).The observation group was treated on the basis of conventional therapy plus trimetazidine;the control group was taken the Cardiac, diuretic, ACEI and β-blocker as the conventional therapy treatment last for 3 months. The NT-proBNP, 6MWT, LVEDD, LVEF of the two groups' patients were detected before and after the treatment. Result After 3 months' treatment, the groups of patients with 6-minute walk distance, NT-proBNP, left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD) improved significantly after treatment, and the observation group was significant than thecontrol group(P0.05). The research showed that the NT-proBNP and LVEDD had positive correlations, but negative correlations between LVEF and6 MWT. Conclusion Trimetazidine combined with conventional treatment can improve the effects of heart failure. The index of NT-proBNP combined with 6MWT can diagnose and treat the disease of heart failure more accurately.
Fertilization of human oocytes by sperm from infertile males after zona pellucida drilling

Infertile couples who had failed to achieve fertilization of oocytes in previous trials of in vitro fertilization (IVF) were treated by IVF with zona pellucida drilling. Zona drilling entails use of micromanipulation to introduce a gap in the zona pellucida either mechanically or by localized application of a zona solvent from a microneedle. Ten couples were treated, from whom 63 oocytes were recovered for manipulation. Sixteen eggs were denuded of the cumulus oophorus only, and the remaining 47 eggs were subjected to zona drilling. Of the 16 eggs denuded but not drilled, 4 (25%) were fertilized. Of the 47 oocytes drilled, 31 survived (67%) and 10 of the surviving eggs (32%) were fertilized. The polyspermy rate for drilled eggs that fertilized was high (5/10, 50%), and polyspermic eggs were often penetrated by more than two spermatozoa. The remaining five eggs fertilized after drilling were diploid fertilizations, and in three cases cleavage was followed by embryo transfer, although pregnancies were not obtained. These data indicate that zona drilling has the potential for establishing pregnancies in instances where treatment by standard IVF would fail. In addition, results indicate that the block to polyspermy in human eggs occurs at the level of the zona pellucida.
Analysis of systemic and pulmonary vascular responses to PACAP and VIP: role of adrenal catecholamines

Systemic and pulmonary vascular responses to pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), a novel peptide with 68% sequence homology to vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), were investigated in the anesthetized cat. Intravenous injections of PACAP in doses of 0.1–3.0 nmol/kg produced decreases in arterial pressure (AP) at low doses and biphasic changes (decreases followed by increases) at higher doses, which were accompanied by increases in central venous pressure (CVP) and cardiac output (CO), and decreases and biphasic changes in systemic vascular resistance (SVR). In contrast, VIP in doses of 0.1-3.0 nmol/kg produced only dose-dependent decreases in AP and SVR and produced little change in CVP and CO. PACAP produced increased pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP), left atrial pressure (LAP), and increases in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). PACAP increased heart rate (HR) and right ventricular contractile force (RVCF), while VIP had no effect. Increases in AP and SVR in response to PACAP were changed to decreases following the administration of phentolamine or after adrenalectomy. Under constant flow conditions, PACAP and VIP produced dose-dependent decreases in lobar arterial pressure when tone was elevated, with PACAP being threefold more potent than VIP. Meclofenamate and nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) had no effect on pulmonary responses to the peptides. PACAP produced dose-dependent biphasic changes in hindquarters perfusion pressure, whereas VIP produced only decreases that were unchanged by indomethacin, L-NAME, and glibenclamide. Phentolamine and adrenalectomy eliminated the hindquarters pressor response to PACAP and D-Phe2-VIP, a VIP antagonist, reduced responses to VIP but not to PACAP. These data suggest that responses to PACAP and VIP are mediated by distinct receptors and that pressor responses to PACAP are due to the release of catecholamines from the adrenal gland.
Using Address Information to Identify Hardships Reported by Families of Children Hospitalized With Asthma.

Abstract Objective Socioeconomic hardship is common among children hospitalized for asthma but often not practically measurable. Information on where a child resides is universally available. We sought to determine the correlation between neighborhood-level socioeconomic data and family-reported hardships. Methods Caregivers of 774 children hospitalized with asthma answered questions regarding income, financial strain, and primary care access. Addresses were geocoded and linked to zip code-, census tract-, and block group-level (neighborhood) data from the US Census. We then compared neighborhood median household income with family-reported household income; percentage of neighborhood residents living in poverty with family-reported financial strain; and percentage of neighborhood households without an available vehicle with family-reported access to primary care. We constructed heat maps and quantified correlations using Kendall rank correlation coefficient. Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to assess predictive abilities of neighborhood measures. Results The cohort was 57% African American and 73% publicly-insured; 63% reported income Conclusions Universally available neighborhood information might help efficiently identify children and families with socioeconomic hardships. Systematic screening with area-level socioeconomic measures has the potential to inform resource allocation more efficiently.
HISTORICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION: Huizinga

[J. Huizinga (1872–1945) belonged to that remarkable group of Dutch, Belgian, and Swiss historians—Jakob Burckhardt, Henri Pirenne, Pieter Geyl, and Werner Kaegi—who have contributed so much to the development of history, especially cultural history. By his own account a highly unconventional historian—he had studied linguistics and was known first as a student of Sanskrit—Huizinga had been attracted to history by his aesthetic pleasure in viewing the past, by his exceptional empathy for it. He was appointed professor of history at Groningen in 1905, and called to the University of Leyden ten years later. Like Burckhardt, he was able to capture a moment’s impression in masterly pencil sketches and wrote history in a similarly precise, yet impressionistic manner. In his greatest work, The Waning of the Middle Ages (1919), Huizinga, with an intuitive grasp of the spirit of late medieval art and popular culture, portrays that period not as the seedtime of the Renaissance but as a period of decay and decline. In his Erasmus (1923) he attained an equally sure sense of the inner life of the great humanist and compatriot.
Long-term stability of oil impregnated polypropylene laminated paper insulation under high electrical stress

UHV cables such as 750 KV and 1000 KV cables will be desinged at high electrical working stresses because the insulation thickness is restricted by dimensional limitations due to manufacturing, transportation and installation conditions. Therefore the insulation material for UHV cables must have high electrical strength, low dielectric loss and stable dielectric properties under high electrical stress.
Moral-Character Development for Teacher Education

In this article the authors accept the common view that moral-character education is immanent to the life of classroom and schools and inevitable even when remanded to the hidden curriculum. Most s...
The Role of Food Workers in Food Safety: A Policy Analysis of the U.S. 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act

Foodborne disease is a significant problem in the United States and around the world. Though research identifies diverse factors associated with foodborne outbreaks, one of the most common is poor worker health and improper hygiene practice. Research on social determinants of health indicates that living and working conditions play a role in shaping these risks. To start addressing these issues, we must first understand how we currently account for the role of workers in food safety. This qualitative study describes the role of workers in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) proposed regulations to implement the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, an unprecedented federal action to improve food safety. The analysis is guided by fundamental causes of disease theory, which provides a useful framework for exploring regulations within the context of the socio-structural factors that impact health and hygiene behavior. Findings reveal that proposed regulations primarily treat contamination by workers as an individual-level problem, including the result of workers' lack of food safety knowledge and need for education and training. With few exceptions, broader social and structural factors shaping workers' health and hygiene are overlooked. Study results may begin to change the food safety conversation by connecting the impact of macrosocial inequality on food workers to food safety and public health.
Daily and trait rumination: diurnal cortisol patterns in adolescent girls.

Rumination is a maladaptive form of emotion regulation associated with psychopathology. Research with adults suggests that rumination covaries with diurnal cortisol rhythms, yet this has not been e...
Social Network Types and Mental Health Among LGBT Older Adults

Purpose of the study This study was designed to identify social network types among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults and examine the relationship between social network type and mental health. Design and methods We analyzed the 2014 survey data of LGBT adults aged 50 and older (N = 2,450) from Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study. Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify clusters of social network ties based on 11 indicators. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the association between social network types and mental health. Results We found five social network types. Ordered from greatest to least access to family, friend, and other non-family network ties, they were diverse, diverse/no children, immediate family-focused, friend-centered/restricted, and fully restricted. The friend-centered/restricted (33%) and diverse/no children network types (31%) were the most prevalent. Among individuals with the friend-centered/restricted type, access to social networks was limited to friends, and across both types children were not present. The least prevalent type was the fully restricted network type (6%). Social network type was significantly associated with mental health, after controlling for background characteristics and total social network size; those with the fully restricted type showed the poorest mental health. Implications Unique social network types (diverse/no children and friend-centered/restricted) emerge among LGBT older adults. Moreover, individuals with fully restricted social networks are at particular risk due to heightened health needs and limited social resources. This study highlights the importance of understanding heterogeneous social relations and developing tailored interventions to promote social connectedness and mental health in LGBT older adults.
Trends in atrial fibrillation hospitalizations in the United States: A report using data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey.

Abstract Aims Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. Patients presenting with AF are often admitted to hospital for rhythm or rate control, symptom management, and/or anticoagulation. We investigated temporal trends in AF hospitalizations in United States from 1996 to 2010. Methods Data were obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), a national probability sample survey of discharges conducted annually by National Center for Health Statistics. Because of the survey design, sampling weights were applied to the raw NHDS data to produce national estimates. Hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of AF were identified using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code of 427.31. Weighted least squares regression was used to test for linear trends in the number of AF admissions, length of stay, and inpatient mortality. We further stratified AF admissions based on patients' age, gender, and race. Results Admissions for a primary diagnosis of AF increased from approximately 286,000 in 1996 to about 410,000 in 2010 with a significant linear trend (β = 9470 additional admissions per year, p Conclusion Our data demonstrate an increase in the number of AF admissions but constant length of stay and mortality over time.
Abstract 3882: Identification of targetable EMT markers in cancer stem-like cells derived from therapeutic resistant melanoma

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, expected to claim approximately 10,000 lives in 2016. An activating mutation in BRAF(V600E) occurs in 50-60% of melanomas and 7% of all cancers. Despite an unprecedented initial response, patients treated with a highly effective BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib (FDA approved 2011), acquire drug resistance within 6-9 months. Vemurafenib-resistant sub-lines, derived from BRAFV600E isogenic parental melanoma cells, have altered cell morphology and upregulated PDGFRβ expression. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a hallmark of cancer-stem-like cells (CSC), is a potential mechanism that melanomas employ to evade targeted therapy. Through immunocytochemical, immunoblot, and flow cytometric analysis, we investigated the expression profile of EMT biomarkers within parental and resistant melanoma cell lines. Our findings indicate CSCs within melanoma populations may serve as progenitor cells for therapy-resistant melanoma sublines through differential expression of key EMT-related biomarkers. Furthermore, resistant cell lines were significantly more invasive in migration assays. Our results implicate notable EMT biomarkers in CSCs that can be used as novel targets for diagnosis and treatment of tumor resistance in melanoma patients. Citation Format: William P. Crosson, Elyse Berlinberg, Ramin Nazarian. Identification of targetable EMT markers in cancer stem-like cells derived from therapeutic resistant melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3882. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3882
Enterprise Management and Systems Engineering for a Mobile Power Grid

Coordinated mobility of people, goods, and energy is a foremost concern of infrastructure development. For example, deployment of advanced chargers and the associated communications networks will enable electric-vehicle fleets to serve particular needs of the power grid and microgrids. Incorporating plug-in electric vehicles as agents of energy storage in the grid can provide services to ancillary markets including frequency regulation. To prioritize research and development (RaD), this paper quantifies the sensitivity of vehicle-to-grid enterprise initiatives and milestones subject to a variety of emergent and future conditions, and demonstrates how the results of the analysis can be used for further investigation of initiatives. These conditions involve technology innovation (fast bi-directional chargers and related information technologies), environment, market prices, regulations, organizations, behaviors, workforce, etc. The results identify combinations of conditions for which research and development (RaD) are most beneficial. The approach includes scenario-based preferences to inform decision makers which initiatives are robust to variety of emergent and future conditions, thus supporting resilience of plans for electric vehicle fleets in logistics systems. An RaD initiative of particular concern is regional resource planning. An agent-based simulation is performed to forecast the availabilities of the vehicles at hour-long intervals, including route locations, and the state of charge of batteries. The paper has a context in the systems engineering body of knowledge (SEBoK), particularly as methodology for risk analysis and systems engineering.
Effects of renal impairment on transporter-mediated renal reabsorption of drugs and renal drug-drug interactions: A simulation-based study.

Renal impairment (RI) significantly impacts the clearance of drugs through changes in the glomerular filtration rate, protein binding and alterations in the expression of renal drug transport proteins and hepatic metabolizing enzymes. The objectives of this study were to evaluate quantitatively the effects of renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics of drugs undergoing renal transporter-mediated reabsorption. A previously published semi-mechanistic kidney model incorporating physiologically relevant fluid reabsorption and transporter-mediated active renal reabsorption (PMID: 26341876) was utilized in this study. The probe drug/transporter pair utilized was γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and monocarboxylate transporter 1 (SCL16A1, MCT1). γ-Hydroxybutyric acid concentrations in the blood and amount excreted into urine were simulated using ADAPT 5 for the i.v. dose range of 200-1500 mg/kg in rats and the impact of renal impairment on CLR and AUC was evaluated. A 90% decrease in GFR resulted in a > 100-fold decrease in GHB CLR . When expression of reabsorptive transporters was decreased and fu was increased, CLR approached GFR. The effect of renal impairment on CLR was reduced when the expression of drug metabolizing enzymes (DME) was increased as a result of increased metabolic clearance; the converse held true when the DME expression was decreased. In conclusion, this study quantitatively demonstrated that the effects of renal insufficiency on the clearance of drugs is modulated by transporter expression, contribution of renal clearance to overall clearance, expression of drug metabolizing enzymes, fraction unbound and drug-drug interactions with inhibitors of renal transporters that may be increased in the presence of renal impairment.
The Number N of Advanced Civilizations in Our Galaxy and the Question of Galactic Colonization. An Introduction

Since the oldest of the digital computers, the fingers of the two hands that as a rule are ten in number, we enjoy the marking of twentieth anniversaries. It is now just twenty years since the scientific literature began to inlcude papers dealing with the possibility of interstellar communication among putative societies spread among the stars. The idea remains a speculation, but it has drawn much attention, and with this symposium we find it reaching the level of I.A.U. as a topic for daring discussion. If the idea should ever prove correct, we may wish to modify the name - if not the acronym of this union to I.A.U., I for Interstellar!
Pain and Sleep

This article reviews the bidirectional relation of pain and sleep. Sleep is disturbed in both acute and chronic pain conditions. Importantly, it is now becoming clear that reduced sleep time, sleep fragmentation, and specific sleep stage deprivation enhances pain. Studies exploring the underlying mechanisms of the pain–sleep relation suggest that at least one mechanism is pro-inflammatory cytokine activation. Pharmacological and behavioral treatments in pain patients have not consistently shown improvement of both sleep and pain. A more complete understanding of the normal physiology and pathophysiology of acute and chronic pain is likely to remove barriers to managing pain and sleep clinically.
Alcohol-associated Pancytopenia with Hypocellular Bone Marrow

Two patients who presented with pancytopenia and bone marrow hypocellularity are described. Both patients had consumed alcohol in excess for many years, and one patient had previously presented with alcohol-associated thrombocytopenia and a hypocellular marrow. Marrow examinations revealed increased hemosiderin, vacuolated pronormoblasts and promyelocytes, and ringed sideroblasts. Serum and erythrocyte folate levels were normal. The marrow findings coupled with the long history of heavy alcohol consumption and documented alcohol-associated thrombocytopenia on two separate occasions in one patient, in the absence of known marrow toxins, support the notion that the marrow hypocellularity was alcohol associated.
Self-Focus and Feedback Loops

At the beginning of the preceding chapter we noted that a control-theory approach to self-regulation requires two information processing systems. One system defines goals or behavioral standards. The other system regulates activity with respect to those standards. We spent a good deal of that chapter in discussing the standard as a theoretical construct, and pointing out that many standards are implied in the execution of any behavior—standards that vary hierarchically in their degrees of abstraction.
What have teeth taught us about culture? Practice, patienthood and ethics in the history of dentistry and public health.

Teeth cut across cultures, They transgress cultural boundaries but also define social boundaries. They provide information about what goes into the mouth, and what the mouth is appropriately used for. Scrutiny of teeth identified a new biomedical space to analyze pain, and created a new culture of medicine for such practices. This paper uses the evolution of dentistry since the 18th century to look at how our social and scientific understanding of teeth has shaped cultural attitudes about pain, politics, beauty and prophylaxis. It then raises questions about how these attitudes in turn create ethical contexts for the practice of dentistry around the world.
VOT Distinctions in Infants: Learned or Innate?

Publisher Summary Voice onset time (VOT) refers to the relation between laryngeal pulsing and the onset of consonant release. Variations in VOT appear to be one of the cues utilized by adults to discriminate between various voiced and voiceless stop consonants. Adult listeners can discriminate between variations in VOT only to the extent that they can assign unique labels to the sounds. Adults are unable to discriminate between bilabial stop consonant sounds with VOT values of 0 and + 20 msec. The three methods used to determine whether discrimination of the VOT continuum in infants is learned or innate are: high amplitude sucking (HAS), habituation of heart rate (HR), and auditory evoked responses (AER). HAS requires the active participation of the subjects and hence a high attrition rate with young infants is to be expected due to their highly variable state. The difficulty associated with the HAS procedure concerns its applicability to only a narrow age range of subjects. The HAS procedure has been used with only limited success with newborn infants. HR, like HAS, is a method that depends on the habituation of a response to a stimulus, but unlike HAS, requires little active participation from subjects. The HR method is based on the role of the orienting reflex in the responsiveness of infants to their environment. The AER is an electrocortical response evoked by an external auditory stimulus. AERs have also been used to investigate VOT perception. The AER procedure has proven to be an effective means of assessing responses to VOT stimuli across subject populations of diverse ages.
Catastrophic storm impact and gradual recovery on the Mississippi-Alabama barrier islands, 2005–2010: Changes in vegetated and total land area, and relationships of post-storm ecological communities with surface elevation

Abstract One of the most destructive tropical cyclones ever to strike the U.S., Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Mississippi coast on 29th August 2005. The Mississippi-Alabama (MS-AL) barrier islands were subjected to storm breaching, area reduction, and vegetation loss caused by a number of parameters including salt spray, saltwater flooding, mechanical damage (e.g., ablation of bark from tree trunks), removal of plants and their soil substrate by scouring, burial under sand, and a 10-month, post-storm period of low rainfall. Repeated acquisitions of remotely-sensed data served as an essential tool in quantifying vegetated and total land area before and after the storm, and post-storm ecological community type and topographic elevation. Vegetated land area continued to decline on some islands in the first year following the storm. However, by November 2007, only 2.2 years after the storm, total vegetated land area had recovered to 72, 96, 77, 93, and 82%, and total subaerial land area to 97, 94, 33, 100, and 104%, of pre-Katrina values on Cat, W. Ship, E. Ship, Horn, and Petit Bois islands by natural re-growth and sediment accretion, respectively. Comparing ecological community-type maps that were developed from field and remotely-sensed data with LiDAR-derived digital elevation models determined that year 2010 ecological community type changed distinctively at the decimeter scale as mean surface elevation ranged from 0.1 m to 1.2 m. Storm-related changes in ecological community type included subtidal to supratidal sand flat, low marsh to wet or dry herbland, and woodland to wet herbland/shrubland.
Increased cancer incidence in Holocaust survivors and the implications for survivors of other extreme events.

Cancer is a multifactorial disease caused by multiple etiological factors [1]. Rothman proposed a model which defines a minimum set of conditions, characteristics, and events that inevitably genera...
Intranasal infection by MCMV reveals key roles for viral evasion of MHC-I to enable viral spreading and CD4 T cell help to promote functional CD8 T cell responses

Natural Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection occurs primarily through the oral/nasal mucosa. Recent evidence from murine (M)CMV infection suggested that MCMV is spread to salivary gland (SG) by dendritic cells after intranasal (i.n.) inoculation. In agreement with this, a recombinant MCMV, which cannot replicate in hematopoietic cells, could not spread to SG after i.n. infection. However, the mechanisms by which infected cells evade immune control while spreading the virus are unclear. In fact, previous work suggested that deleting all three genes blocking MHC-I antigen presentation results in only a subtle defect in total latent viral loads and SG replication in vivo . Surprisingly, we found that viral evasion of MHC-I antigen presentation was critical for MCMV to replicate persistently in nasal mucosa and spread to SG after i.n. inoculation, in contrast to intraperitoneal (i.p.) infection. Remarkably, depletion of CD4 T cells reversed this immune restriction on viral spreading, enabling even MCMV lacking all evasion genes to replicate in nasal mucosa and spread to SG after i.n. infection. This was not due to a direct anti-viral effect of CD4 T cells as delaying CD4 T cell depletion until day 7 post infection restored immune control of MCMV at later times. Instead, priming and expansion of functional CD8 T cells was impaired by lack of CD4 T cells after i.n. infection, in contrast to i.p. infection. Thus, intranasal inoculation revealed a critical role for CD4 T cell help in the promotion of protective CD8 T cell responses. Moreover, our data suggest since MCMV spreads only in infected hematopoietic cells after i.n. infection, viral evasion of MHC-I is necessary to protect CD8 T cells from killing infected cells carrying MCMV.
Polyphenols from mango (Mangifera indica L.) modulate PI3K/AKT/mTOR-associated micro-RNAs and reduce inflammation in non-cancer and induce cell death in breast cancer cells

Abstract Dietary polyphenols are known to exert health benefits through modulation of signaling networks. This study investigated the modulation of micro-RNAs associated with the PI3K/AKT/mTOR-axis by mango polyphenols (MP) in MCF-12A non-cancer and MDA-MB231 breast cancer cell lines. MP reduced proliferation in the cancer cells by up to 90% (10 mg GAE/L) but did not cause cytotoxicity in the non-cancer cells within the same concentration range. In contrast, in TNF-α-treated non-cancer MCF-12A cells, MP significantly decreased expression and phosphorylation of NF-κB while modulating mRNA and protein levels of PI3K/AKT/mTOR and up-regulated miR-126. The mechanistic involvement of miR-126 was investigated using its antagomiR. In MDA-MB231 cells, miR-126 was not affected. However, polyphenols modulated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR-axis and down-regulated miR-21 while the expressions of NF-κB and biomarkers for inhibition of apoptosis, namely, PARP-1 and Bcl-2 decreased. Overall, MP reduced inflammation in non-cancer and proliferation in breast cancer cells by differentially modulating PI3K/AKT/mTOR and associated micro-RNAs.
Primate Groups and Their Correlates

Most primates are highly social and live in groups ranging from small reproductive units to large troops counting hundreds of individuals. Spatial and temporal distribution of food resources, competition with other species, and threat of predation are important determinants of primate group size. Many female primates and their dependent offspring forage largely independently of males, and most primate groups are female bonded. Furthermore, mating and breeding occur in a large variety of ways and may include individuals from outside existing groups. Like their closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos, humans live in multimale, multifemale groups. However, humans differ from all other primates by commonly forming strong pair bonds within such groups. Cultural norms for group affiliation and mating patterns can shape the genetic structure of human populations.