cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High expression of transforming growth factor-β long cell cycle times and a unique clustering of S-phase cells in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia

Expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), which inhibits the proliferation of hematopoietic progenitors, was investigated simultaneously with cell cycle characteristics in 63 bone marrow biopsies from 23 cases with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was administered to every patient (17 newly diagnosed) for determination of the labeling index (LI) and the durations of S-phase (Ts) and the cell cycle (Tc) of leukemic promyelocytes. APL cases had lower LI both in the bone marrow aspirate (6.1% v 11.4%, P = .008) and biopsy (21.1% v 28.0%, P = .001) and longer Tc (93.6 hours v 56.0 hours, P = .002) when compared with other French-American-British subtypes. TGF-beta expression (detected by a monoclonal anti-TGF-beta 2/beta 3 antibody) was dramatically high, especially in interstitial areas of the biopsies. S-phase cells were found as geographically restricted islands of proliferation (GRIPs) in 20 of 22 cases. Weekly biopsies showed an increment in TGF-beta on day 7 of therapy in 13 of 17 cases, while in vivo differentiation was noted in 9 of 15. We conclude that the presence of high TGF-beta expression may explain the biologic basis for the slowly cycling nature of leukemic promyelocytes in APL as well as the unique clustering of S-phase cells observed in GRIPs.
Parathyroid carcinoma: The relationship of nuclear DNA content to clinical outcome

This article reports the use of flow cytometry to determine tumor nuclear DNA content and its correlations with clinical outcome in a series of patients with parathyroid carcinoma. Information concerning nine patients with parathyroid cancer (aged 25 to 88 years) was reviewed. Paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed archival tissue was used to determine tumor DNA content flow cytometrically. Twenty-five operative procedures were performed in nine patients, including 11 parathyroidectomies, two wide local excisions, six central neck dissections, and four median sternotomies for resection of metastases. With flow cytometry used to determine a tumor DNA index, five patients had evidence of tumor aneuploidy; in two patients two aneuploid peaks were evident. The DNA index ranged from 0.7 (hypodiploid) to 1.92 (mean, 1.31). Follow-up ranged from 1 to 18 years. Four patients died. Five were alive 1 to 13 years after diagnosis of parathyroid disease. Four of the five patients with evidence of tumor aneuploidy had metastatic disease and died, and the fifth has had three local recurrences. The four patients with diploid tumors were alive and free of disease 1, 3, 4, and 8 years after the initial operation. It is concluded that in patients with clinically or pathologically demonstrated parathyroid cancer, flow cytometry may help differentiate those whose cancers are likely to behave indolently (diploid tumors) from those with tumors (aneuploid) more likely to behave aggressively by recurring locally or metastasizing.
Absolute quinidine bioavailability

The absolute bioavailability of quinidine was studied in 11 hospitalized patients. A 400-mg dose of quinidine gluconate was administered to each patient by intravenous infusion and as an oral solution. Drug treatments were separated by a 72-hr period. In 8 patients, peak plasma quinidine concentrations were reached in 65 min after the oral dose; in the remaining 3 subjects, peak concentrations were reached later. From the ratio of the total area under the plasma concentration-time curves (AUCoral/AUCir), the absolute bioavailability of quinidine ranged from 44% to 89% (mean, 72). In 8 patients, the ratio of the total amount of quinidine excreted in the urine in 48 hr (AUinfinity oral/AUinfinity ir) indicated that the extent of quinidine bioavailability varied form 47% to 96% (mean, 73). The predicted bioavailability of quindine due to first-pass effects was 76+/-11%. It is concluded that absorption after the oral solution was rapid and that the reduction of quinidine bioavailability was due to first-pass hepatic drug removal.
An Integrated 100-element schottky varactor diode array for sideband generation at 1.6 THz

This work describes the development and implementation of a Schottky varactor diode array for sideband generation at 1.6 THz. The array integrates 100 planar diodes into an array of bowtie antennas to act as a tunable phase-shifter for reflected submillimeter-wave radiation. Measurements performed to characterize the array indicate that 20° of phase shift is achieved as the diode bias voltage is swept between 0.3 and −4 Volts, yielding an estimated sideband conversion loss of 26 dB.
Nitrite Regulation Of Platelet Reactivity Under Physiological Conditions

Nitric oxide (NO) is generated by serial reduction pathway of nitrate and nitrite or by activity of endogenous nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and modulates platelet function and hemostasis. We have shown by aggregometry and flow cytometric analysis of P-selectin that nitrite in the presence of erythrocytes inhibits platelet aggregation and activation after its reduction to NO at low oxygen tension [ PLoS One . 2012; 7 : e30380. 10.1371/journal.pone.0030380]. We then investigated how nitrite may affect overall clotting processes by regulating platelet function using thrombelastography (TEG), a method used to assess platelet function, fibrin clot formation, and fibrinolysis in blood and/or plasma. We measured the effect of NO donors and nitrite on three TEG parameters, reaction time (R, time to initial fibrin formation), α angle (velocity of clot growth) and maximum amplitude (MA, clot strength), in healthy volunteers. The NO donor (DEANONOate) inhibited all three TEG parameters in response to two independent platelet activators (ADP and AA), in platelet rich plasma (PRP) or whole blood diluted with plasma to yield 20% hematocrit (Hct) to model blood in the microcirculation in vivo . At DEANONOate concentrations ranging from 0-1 μM, R values were progressively prolonged from 1.9 to 3.6 (p=0.008), α angle was decreased from 17.8 to 9.5 (p=0.01) and maximum clot amplitude was reduced from 9.0 to 4.4 (p=0.001) in 20% Hct with ADP stimulation. In contrast, nitrite did not affect clotting parameters in PRP, but exhibited moderate inhibitory effects in 20% Hct at concentrations from 0-10 μM; R values were slightly prolonged from 1.6 to 2.7 (p=0.12), α angle was decreased from 21.8 to 12.8 (p=0.07) and maximum clot amplitude was reduced from 11.0 to 5.0 (p=0.02). This inhibitory effect of nitrite on clotting was greatly enhanced under hypoxic conditions (blood pO2 46.5±11.6 mmHg); R values from 1.4 to 4.0 (p=0.003), α angle from 21.7 to 7.8 (p=0.002), and maximum clot amplitude from 10.0 to 3.4 (p=0.0003). These results suggest that the nitrite effect may be greatest in the microcirculation and be important in differences between arterial and venous clotting. In conclusion, our results show TEG parameters indicate NO inhibition of platelet-mediated blood clotting and that the physiological effect of factors which determine NO bioavailability, such as reduction of blood and tissue nitrite, could be used to predict hemostasis. Disclosures: Schechter: National Institutes of Health: Dr. Alan Schechter is listed as a co-inventor on several patents issued to the National Institutes of Health for the use of nitrite salts for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases., Dr. Alan Schechter is listed as a co-inventor on several patents issued to the National Institutes of Health for the use of nitrite salts for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Patents & Royalties.
Attitude stabilization of small satellites using only magnetic actuation

Recently there has been a great deal of excitement over the emergence of new techniques for the attitude control of small satellites. In particular, the feasibility of nonlinear techniques for the attitude control of small satellites using only magnetic actuators is becoming a topic of increasing interest in the literature. Since magnetic control systems are relatively lightweight, require low power and are inexpensive, they are attractive for small, inexpensive satellites in low Earth orbits. Although the magnetic torques that can be applied to the spacecraft for attitude control purposes are constrained to lie in the plane orthogonal to the magnetic field vector, three-axis magnetic stabilization is still possible as the variability of the magnetic field along the considered orbit is sufficient to guarantee the stabilizability of the spacecraft. In this paper we present novel three-axis attitude control algorithms for small satellites using only magnetic torquers and investigate their performance through simulations.
Pilot Study: User Acceptance of a Virtual Coach in a Mirror by Elderly Persons with Dementia

This reports a pilot study of the willingness and ability of elders with memory diseases to follow directions from a virtual coach. This pilot study included older adult participants with dementia residing in a skilled nursing facility. The participants viewed the virtual coach through, and themselves in, a two-way mirror while the virtual coach led upper body exercises. Four of five participants reacted favorably to the virtual coach. Participants demonstrated the ability to mimic detailed movement of the virtual coach. Data indicate that elderly individuals with dementia will accept the virtual coach and follow its directions.
Using Light-Activated Enzymes for Modulating Intracellular c-di-GMP Levels in Bacteria

Signaling pathways involving second messenger c-di-GMP regulate various aspects of bacterial physiology and behavior. We describe the use of a red light-activated diguanylate cyclase (c-di-GMP synthase) and a blue light-activated c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase (hydrolase) for manipulating intracellular c-di-GMP levels in bacterial cells. We illustrate the application of these enzymes in regulating several c-di-GMP-dependent phenotypes, i.e., motility and biofilm phenotypes in E. coli and chemotactic behavior in the alphaproteobacterium Azospirillum brasilense. We expect these light-activated enzymes to be also useful in regulating c-di-GMP-dependent processes occurring at the fast timescale, for spatial control of bacterial populations, as well as for analyzing c-di-GMP-dependent phenomena at the single-cell level.
Editorial: Now That's a Lot of People!

How will another 220,000,000 Americans affect you? Professionally? Personally? How about the environment? These are the preliminary questions raised by a recent article in The Economist . In this editorial I will try to sketch a way to look at the issues. The gist of The Economist's article is that America and Europe show strong signs of diverging demographically, after many years of moving in tandem. Before 1980, both were dropping so far in fertility rates (the number of children born to each woman) that both were below the replacement level of about 2.1 children per woman.
Applying the Modification of Attributes, Affordances, Abilities, and Distance for Learning Framework to a Child’s Multi-touch Interactions with an Idealized Number Line

Technologies such as touchscreen apps are increasingly popular in mathematics education. Researchers have begun to investigate children’s interactions with the apps, outcomes of using apps, and the characteristics that contribute to outcomes. This study applies the Modification of Attributes, Affordances, Abilities, and Distance (MAAAD) for Learning Framework to an 11 year-old child’s interactions with the mathematics app Motion Math: Zoom to evaluate the outcomes, contributors, and interactions. This framework accounts for relationships among attributes, affordance-ability relationships, and distance involved in interactions. Interacting with Motion Math: Zoom involves using multi-touch gestures to navigate an idealized number line with changeable interval scales. Findings indicate that the framework can contribute to research on the outcomes, contributors, and interactions, as well as linking the three.
Phenological Differences Between Understory and Overstory

The timing of phenological events varies both among species, and also among individuals of the same species. Here we use a 12-year record of spring and autumn phenology for 33 woody species at the Harvard Forest to investigate these differences. Specifically, we focus on patterns of leaf budburst, expansion, coloration and fall, in the context of differences between canopy and understory species, and between canopy and understory individuals of the same species. Many understory species appear to adopt a strategy of “phenological escape” in spring but not autumn, taking advantage of the high-light period in spring before canopy development. For all but a few of these species, the spring escape period is very brief. Relationships between canopy and understory conspecifics (i.e. individuals of the same species) varied among species, with leaf budburst and leaf fall occurring earlier in understory individuals of some species, but later in other species. We fit standard models of varying complexity to the budburst time series for each species to investigate whether biological responses to environmental cues differed among species. While there was no clear consensus model, Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) indicated that a simple two-parameter “Spring warming” model was best supported by the data for more than a third of all species, and well supported for two-thirds of all species. More highly-parameterized models involving various chilling requirements (e.g., Alternating, Parallel or Sequential chilling) were less well supported by the data. Species-specific model parameterization suggested that responses to both chilling and forcing temperatures vary among species. While there were no obvious differences in this regard between canopy and understory species, or between early- and late-budburst species, these results imply that species can be expected to differ in their responses to future climate change.
Detecting exploit patterns from network packet streams

Network-based Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS), e.g., Snort, Bro or NSM, try to detect malicious network activity such as Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and port scans by monitoring network traffic. Research from network traffic measurement has identified various patterns that exploits on today's Internet typically exhibit. However, there has not been any significant attempt, so far, to design algorithms with provable guarantees for detecting exploit patterns from network traffic packets. In this work, we develop and apply data streaming algorithms to detect exploit patterns from network packet streams. In network intrusion detection, it is necessary to analyze large volumes of data in an online fashion. Our work addresses scalable analysis of data under the following situations. (1) Attack traffic can be stealthy in nature, which means detecting a few covert attackers might call for checking traffic logs of days or even months, (2) Traffic is multidimensional and correlations between multiple dimensions maybe important, and (3) Sometimes traffic from multiple sources may need to be analyzed in a combined manner. Our algorithms offer provable bounds on resource consumption and approximation error. Our theoretical results are supported by experiments over real network traces and synthetic datasets.
The use of polyolefins in industrial and medical applications

Abstract In this chapter we will focus on polyolefin fiber and film applications in industrial and medical applications. Hence, polyolefin fiber forms and properties are reviewed to map out these technical applications that utilize polyolefin properties advantageously. Brief conversion techniques from the polyolefin fibers to technical fibrous structures such as yarns, ropes cordages, woven, knitted fabrics, nonwoven and their composites are discussed with reference to typical equipment, processes and structural properties. Industrial applications of the fibrous structures derived from the polyolefin fibers and yarns in medical, filtration, transportation, nets and ropes are also discussed. The polyolefins have a strong growth potential in certain industrial applications by adopting the emerging nanotechnologies to improve performance properties and cost factor over competing rival thermoplastic fibers.
The Roles of Growth Factors and Their Receptors in Peri-Implantation Mouse Embryos and at the Embryomaternal Interface

Because mouse preimplantation embryos grow and differentiate in the absence of exogenous factors, endogenous factors must sustain the embryo during the first six cleavage divisions.1 These early cleavage divisions serve two unique functions in mammals: the generation of progenitors of the trophoblasts and extraembryonic membranes, and the generation of the embryonic anlagen from the inner cell mass (ICM), and hence the embryo proper. Fate maps indicate that after implantation mammalian gastrulation and neurulation may be mechanistically and morphologically similar to that of nonmammalian vertebrates, such as Xenopus. However, unlike Xenopus, the unfertilized mammalian egg does not partition in the cytoplasmic determinate, but must generate positional information during the six preimplantation cleavage divisions. Also, unlike the abbreviated synchronous cleavage cell cycles of Xenopus that precede gastrulation, mouse preimplantation embryos have near-normal cell cycle times,2–4 which may be regulated by growth factors. The paradigm for intercellular regulation of growth and differentiation is the interaction of growth factor ligands and receptors.
Evaluation of non-fumigant chemical and biological nematicides for strawberry production in Florida

Abstract In Florida, strawberry is an economically important horticultural crop. Plant-parasitic nematodes present a significant obstacle for strawberry growers in the sandy soils found in this state. Historically, nematodes have been controlled through the application of soil fumigants; however, there is interest in exploring the use of non-fumigant nematicides that can provide similar levels of control and at the same time be more environmentally friendly than fumigants. Using two field experiments, the effects of non-fumigant chemical and biological nematicides on plant vigour and fruit yield, populations of plant-parasitic nematodes, and populations of free-living nematode feeding groups were evaluated. In experiment 1, soil fumigation with metam potassium, as well as all non-fumigant chemical nematicides (fluopyram, fluensulfone, fluazaindolizine) failed to increase plant vigour, fruit yield, or suppress populations of plant-parasitic nematodes. In experiment 2, fluopyram increased fruit yield and suppressed Belonolaimus longicaudatus populations by the end of the growing season. Biological nematicides (Dazitol®, Majestene®, and Nemakill®) did not enhance crop establishment or suppress plant-parasitic nematode populations. Soil fumigation with 1,3-dichloropropene + chloropicrin provided consistent enhancement of plant vigour and fruit yield, as well as suppressed populations of B. longicaudatus; however, populations of free-living nematodes were also reduced. Overall, soil application of fluopyram shows potential to be a component of an integrated pest management strategy for the control of B. longicaudatus populations on strawberry in Florida.
Ecological cocktail party listening reveals the utility of extended high-frequency hearing.

Abstract A fundamental principle of neuroscience is that each species' and individual's sensory systems are tailored to meet the demands placed upon them by their environments and experiences. What has driven the upper limit of the human frequency range of hearing? The traditional view is that sensitivity to the highest frequencies (i.e., beyond 8 kHz) facilitates localization of sounds in the environment. However, this has yet to be demonstrated for naturally occurring non-speech sounds. An alternative view is that, for social species such as humans, the biological relevance of conspecific vocalizations has driven the development and retention of auditory system features. Here, we provide evidence for the latter theory. We evaluated the contribution of extended high-frequency (EHF) hearing to common ecological speech perception tasks. We found that restricting access to EHFs reduced listeners' discrimination of talker head orientation by approximately 34%. Furthermore, access to EHFs significantly improved speech recognition under listening conditions in which the target talker's head was facing the listener while co-located background talkers faced away from the listener. Our findings raise the possibility that sensitivity to the highest audio frequencies fosters communication and socialization of the human species. These findings suggest that loss of sensitivity to the highest frequencies may lead to deficits in speech perception. Such EHF hearing loss typically goes undiagnosed, but is widespread among the middle-aged population.
“It Would Be Better If You Can Hang Out With Different People”: An Examination of Cross-National Interaction in Postsecondary Classrooms

This study examines the motivations and experiences of international and domestic students on three U.S. campuses related to cross-national interactions within classroom settings. The study also examines the role of instructors in facilitating such interactions through individual and group interviews. Findings indicate that domestic students appreciate the global perspectives of international students related to course content. International students, in turn, appreciate the “real world” perspectives that domestic students provide about the US (but do not necessarily find value in their content-related comments). The implications of this study are that cross-national interactions have different meanings for different stakeholders (i.e., some perceive to benefit academically while others perceive to benefit culturally). The implications of this study relate to how instructors structure student interactions and what might be reasonable outcomes for students in international groups in postsecondary classrooms.
Influence of eyelid pigmentation on the diagnosis of meibomian gland dysfunction.

Purpose To determine whether reliance on eyelid margin vascularization as a diagnostic criterion for meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) results in underdiagnosis of MGD in individuals with dark skin pigmentation. Patients and methods This cross-sectional study enrolled consecutive cornea clinic patients in Buffalo, New York. Eyelid margin vascularization was graded qualitatively from slit-lamp photos. Skin pigmentation was quantified from digital photos using red/green/blue (RGB) pixel analysis and dichotomized using the RGB median. MGD was defined as abnormal quantity or quality of meibum or increased pressure required to express meibum. Additional testing included infrared meibography, Schirmer's testing, and a dry eye questionnaire. Sensitivity of MGD diagnosis by visualization of vascularization, compared to diagnosis by expression of meibum, was estimated with and without stratification by skin pigmentation. Results Among 47 participants, 15-79 years old, meibomian gland truncation/dropout, abnormal tear production, and dry eye symptoms affected individuals of all skin pigmentations. Eyelid margin vascularization was less common in subjects with dark (n=21%) compared to light pigmentation (65%; p=0.002), although the prevalence of MGD assessed via clinical evaluation did not vary significantly between those groups. Use of eyelid margin vascularization alone was not sensitive (33%) for MGD diagnosis. The sensitivity was 17% when limited to those with dark pigmentation. Conclusion Our findings highlight the importance of gland expression and suggest limiting reliance on eyelid margin vascularization for MGD diagnosis, especially in those with dark eyelid skin pigmentation.
Cause-Specific Actuarial Survival Analysis: A Useful Method for Reporting Survival Data In Men with Clinically Localized Carcinoma of the Prostate

AbstractThe primary objective of this retrospective 15-year survival analysis of 57 men with clinical stage B1 carcinoma of the prostate undergoing radical prostatectomy between 1951 and 1963 is to compute the cause-specific curve for these men and argue why it is a useful method to report survival data in men with clinically localized prostatic cancer. Historically, survival following radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy has been reported using all cause survival analysis. Cause-specific survival focuses on the impact of a disease process on survival, since men dying of causes unrelated to carcinoma of the prostate are considered lost to followup as of date of death of such unrelated causes. Cause-specific survival analysis reduces the impact of age, medical condition and other risk factors on survival rates. The cause-specific 15-year actuarial survival rate in our patients was 86 per cent. The 95 per cent confidence interval for this 15-year survival rate was 76.9 to 90.1 per cent. Based upon this se...
Do charter schools receive their fair share of funding? School finance equity for charter and traditional public schools

U.S. charter schools are publicly funded through state school finance formulas that often mirror the traditional public school finance systems. While charter school advocates and critics disagree over whether charters receive an equitable share of funding, few discussions are based on rigorous analyses of funding and expenditures. Most prior analyses, especially those presented in policy briefs or white papers, examine average funding differences without exploring underlying cost factors between the two sectors. Our purpose is to demonstrate how careful analysis of charter school funding with appropriate methodological approaches can shed light on disagreements about charter school finance policy. Using detailed school finance data from Texas as a case study, we find that after accounting for differences in accounting structures and cost factors, charter schools receive significantly more state and local funding compared to traditional public schools with similar structural characteristics and student demographics. However, many small charter schools are actually underfunded relative to their traditional public school counterparts. Policy simulations demonstrate that on average, each student who transfers to a charter school increases the cost to the state by $1,500. We discuss the implications of these findings for both school finance policy in Texas and nationally.
22 – Special Relativity

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses special relativity. In the early twentieth century, Albert Einstein proposed the special theory of relativity, a revolutionary thesis that changed the conception of space and time. For many years before 1900, it had been understood that Newton's laws of mechanics were applicable to an inertial reference frame. It was also clear that any reference frame moving at a constant velocity relative to an inertial frame was also an inertial frame. In other words, the Newtonian laws of mechanics were assumed to be valid in any inertial frame. But the laws of electrodynamics were not as clear with respect to reference frames. Time is an abstraction conceived to order the occurrence of events. As no instant of time inherently has different properties from any other, time is homogeneous. The measurement of spatial distances may be accomplished in terms of any standard unit of length. Time is measured by a clock, a device calibrated in terms of any periodic motion sustained over a large number of cycles. Physical observations are made in terms of events, discernible that happen at a particular location in space at a particular time.
Changes in Insurance Coverage and Healthcare Use Among Immigrants and US-Born Adults Following the Affordable Care Act

Immigrants to the USA have disparate access to health insurance coverage and healthcare services. We evaluate the effects of gaining insurance following the January 2014 Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) key provisions implementation on health services use among foreign- (FB) and US-born (USB) adults. Longitudinal data from two panels (2013/2014 and 2014/2015) of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey on FB and USB adults, ages 26–64 (unweighted n = 15,232), and difference-in-differences analysis using generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the effects of insurance gain. The primary outcomes were five measures of healthcare utilization including yearly routine care appointment, annual number of physician office visits, annual number of prescription medications filled or refilled, use of the emergency department (ED) during the year, and having an inpatient hospital stay during the year. Immigrants were more likely to gain health insurance between 2013 and 2015 relative to USB adults (6.3% vs. 4.4%) but remained much more likely to be continuously uninsured by 2015 (20.8% vs. 6.4%). Controlling for sociodemographic and health characteristics, FB and USB adults who gained insurance increased their use of health services, including routine care (absolute change ΔFB = 15.7%; p < 0.001 and ΔUSB = 11.7%; p < 0.001), office-based doctor visits (ΔFB = 1.3; p < 0.001 and ΔUSB = 0.6; p < 0.001), prescribed medications (ΔFB = 2.5; p < 0.001 and ΔUSB = 1.6; p = 0.016), and inpatient hospitalizations (ΔFB = 3.6%; p = 0.017 and ΔUSB = 3%; p < 0.001). ED use increased only among the FB (ΔFB = 4.8%; p < 0.001). Gaining insurance eliminated the differences in health services use for all considered outcomes among the FB relative to the continuously insured USB. US immigrants had notable gains in health insurance after the ACA provisions took full effect, but major disparities in coverage persist. If insurance continues to expand among immigrants, then the gains may reduce longstanding disparities in health services use and enhance primary and preventive healthcare.
Laser Inscribed Fe:LiNbO 3 Photorefractive Waveguides

We utilize ultra-fast laser inscription to fabricate photorefractive type III waveguides in Fe:LiNbO 3 along the crystal c-axis. We demonstrate the ability to write transmission and reflection gratings into these waveguides with losses of 2.5 dB cm−1 and 48 dB cm−1 respectively.
Ligation Method to Specifically Label a Liver Segment With Indocyanine Green in an Orthotopic Nude-Mouse Liver-Metastasis Model.

Background/aim The visualization of hepatic segments with indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence can aid in anatomic liver resection. The present study aimed to develop a method to specifically label an hepatic segment in a nude mouse model with liver metastasis. Materials and methods An orthotopic mouse model was established by surgical orthotopic implantation (SOI) of a patient-derived colon-cancer liver metastasis in the left lobe of the liver. Three weeks after SOI, the left Glissonean pedicle was ligated and 10 μg ICG was administrated intravenously. Images were obtained with the Pearl Trilogy Imaging System. Results All mice expressed an 800 nm signal from ICG on the right lobe of the liver. The left lobe of the liver, in which the tumor was located, showed no fluorescence and had ischemia due to successful ligation of the Glissonean pedicle. Conclusion The ligation of the Glissonean pedicle enables specific liver-segment labeling with ICG, which has potential clinical application for liver metastasectomy.
Roles of mitonuclear ecology and sex in conceptualizing evolutionary fitness

We look to mitonuclear ecology and the phenomenon of Mother’s Curse to argue that the sex of parents and offspring among populations of eukaryotic organisms, as well as the mitochondrial genome, ought to be taken into account in the conceptualization of evolutionary fitness. Subsequently, we show how characterizations of fitness considered by philosophers that do not take sex and the mitochondrial genome into account may suffer. Last, we reflect on the debate regarding the fundamentality of trait versus organism fitness and gesture at the idea that the former lies at the conceptual basis of evolutionary theory.
RL-Based Waveform Adaptation With Partial Overlapping Tones in HetNets

Partially-overlapping tones (POT) mitigate the co-channel interference in a wireless network by exploiting the space between adjacent subcarriers through intentional frequency offsets (FOs). In this letter, we use partially-overlapping tones (POT) in a two-tier heterogeneous network, where multiple small cells (SCs) interfere with a macro cell. We propose a multi-agent Q-learning-based approach to obtain transmit power and intentional FOs assigned to SCs for filtered multi-tones with various pulse shapes. We show that the proposed method reduces the total interference and in turn, increases the throughput in the network. We then compare the performance of the proposed approach to the existing schemes and demonstrate its advantage with numerical results.
Practice-enhancing publications about the medication-use process in 2020.

Disclaimer In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. Purpose This article identifies, prioritizes, and summarizes published literature on the medication-use process (MUP) from calendar year 2020 that can impact health-system pharmacy daily practice. Summary The MUP is the foundational system that provides the framework for safe medication utilization within the healthcare environment. The MUP is defined in this article as having the following components: prescribing/transcribing, dispensing, administration, and monitoring. Articles evaluating at least one step of the MUP were assessed for their usefulness in practice improvement. A PubMed search for articles published in calendar year 2020 was conducted in January 2021 using targeted Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords, and the table of contents of selected pharmacy journals was searched, providing a total of 9,433 articles. A thorough review identified 49 potentially practice-enhancing articles: 15 for prescribing/transcribing, 10 for dispensing, 6 for administration, and 18 for monitoring. Ranking of the articles for importance by peers led to the selection of key articles from each category. The highest-ranked articles are briefly summarized, with a mention of why they are important within health-system pharmacy. The other articles are listed for further review and evaluation. Conclusion It is important to routinely review the published literature and to incorporate significant findings into daily practice. This article assists in identifying and summarizing the most impactful recently published literature. Health-system pharmacists have an active role in improving the MUP in their institution, and awareness of the moist significant published studies can assist in changing practice at the institutional level.
Friendship and Happiness in Adolescence

Despite both significant attention to the contributions of adolescents’ friendships to their adjustment and considerable research on the role of close relationships in adults’ happiness, happiness has rarely been considered as an antecedent or consequence of adolescents’ experiences with their friends. This chapter reviews the literature on associations between friendship and three components of happiness in adolescence—life satisfaction, the presence of positive affect, and the absence of negative affect. Having friends, friendship quality, and the characteristics of friends are most clearly linked with the negative affect dimension of happiness, specifically loneliness and depression. Nevertheless, there are positive associations between various aspects of friendship experiences and positive affect and life satisfaction. We suggest several directions for future research to further elucidate the connections between these developmentally significant relationships and adolescents’ subjective well-being.
Towards Calculations of the Total Energy of Large Systems

Using the augmented plane wave method we present a procedure of performing accurate semi-self-consistent calculations for multi-atom supercells. In addition, we present very efficient calculations of elastic constants and phonon spectra based on a tight-binding Hamiltonian and a pair potential that are fit to the APW band structure and total energy results of the cubic structures.
Automated teller machines: their history and authentication protocols

Luther Simjian filed a patent in 1959 for perhaps the first ATM; he convinced the City Bank of New York (now Citibank) to run a 6-month field test of his Bankmatic. The test was, however, not extended due to lack of demand. Simjian suggested that the only customers using the machine were a small number of prostitutes and gamblers who did not want to deal with bank tellers face to face. Nature abhors a vacuum and is also the mother of invention; John Shepherd-Barron (OBE), managing director of London’s De La Rue Instruments succeeded in 1964 with help from Barclay’s Bank. The DACS (De La Rue Automatic Cash System) was installed at their branch in Enfield, North London, on June 27, 1967. Since banks are guardians of your money, it was necessary to institute controls on who could get the moolah or lolly! JSB and his many successors required an ATM user to provide two identifiers: the first, a PAN—proof of the existence of a bank account—though not necessary well funded—and the second, a PIN—proof of identity, the creation of James Goodfellow of Chubb’s Integrated System. The PAN in time would ultimately be recorded magnetically on an ATM bankcard, the PIN entered at the ATM’s keyboard. Goodfellow’s invention was followed by ATM inventions of Geoffrey Constable (also of Chubb) and in the US by Donald C. Wetzel. He was former baseball player (shortstop) for a farm team of the San Francisco (nee New York) Giants, IBM sales person and then vice president of Docutel. Since pickpockets were plentiful in London, a substantial part of the security rested with knowledge of the PIN. But how were the PAN and PIN related and how was this tested during an ATM transaction? These remained to be discovered. The IBM Corporation entered the scene in 1968 with a contact to design an ATM. Horst Feistel working at their Yorktown Research Center developed the first cryptographic algorithm to relate the PIN and PAN. Feistel’s algorithm LUCIFER was modified and affirmed in 1976 as the Data Encryption Standard (DES) in the US by the National Bureau of Standards. It evolved into Triple DES (3DES), currently the guardian of most PINs today. This paper is a summary of the achievements of the inventors, the problems encountered and the necessary technical enhancements needed and introduced.
PROFILING U.S. METROPOLITAN REGIONS BY THEIR SOCIAL RESEARCH NETWORKS AND REGIONAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

On the premise that knowledge creation defines contemporary metropolitan regions, we profile them by their inventive networks, as measured by a variety of complementary social network, technology, and patenting metrics that distinguish scalar and structural aspects. Using a comprehensive, multiyear database of patent applications, we investigate whether the knowledge creation network profiles are discriminating characteristics of metropolitan regions by establishing a new urban taxonomy for metropolitan areas in the United States. The four-class taxonomy is not only statistically significant, but it is also economically meaningful in terms of economic performance of metropolitan areas. We find that metropolitan areas benefit from a higher density of inventors in the population, and that there is a positive correlation between economic performance and metropolitan areas with inventor teams working in similar or complementary areas of technology. In fact, the structure of knowledge creation networks are fundamental to economic performance and extends to metropolitan growth rates in jobs and income.
Al2O3/TiC/(MoSi2+Mo2B5) multilayer composites prepared by tape casting

Abstract A new multilayer composite (MLC) with a super-plastic layer, a hard layer and a weak interface was proposed in this paper. The hard layer can provide the MLC high temperature strength, the super-plastic layer can deform plastically at high temperatures and disperse the applied stress and stop the advance of the crack, and the weak interface can deflect the propagating crack at room temperature. Such MLC was prepared by tape casting in the Al2O3/TiC/MoSi2+Mo2B5 system in the present work. In this system Al2O3 was as the hard layer, MoSi2+Mo2B5 was as the super-plastic layer and TiC was as the weak interface. The microstructures and the stress-displacement behaviors of the MLCs were investigated. It was found that such design is effective on the increase of fracture energy both at room temperature and at high temperatures, and the strength at high temperatures could be remained in a relatively high level. ©
MSR-NLP Entry in BioNLP Shared Task 2011

We describe the system from the Natural Language Processing group at Microsoft Research for the BioNLP 2011 Shared Task. The task focuses on event extraction, identifying structured and potentially nested events from unannotated text. Our approach follows a pipeline, first decorating text with syntactic information, then identifying the trigger words of complex events, and finally identifying the arguments of those events. The resulting system depends heavily on lexical and syntactic features. Therefore, we explored methods of maintaining ambiguities and improving the syntactic representations, making the lexical information less brittle through clustering, and of exploring novel feature combinations and feature reduction. The system ranked 4th in the GENIA task with an F-measure of 51.5%, and 3rd in the EPI task with an F-measure of 64.9%.
Software model checking: the Bandera approach

Model checking techniques have been an effective means for finding subtle defects in hardware designs and communication protocols. The increased use of concurrent software in embedded applications and the widespread adoption of Java with its built-in concurrency constructs have led researchers to attempt to adapt model-checking techniques to software. To date, this effort has been hindered by several obstacles including construction of correct tractable models from programs with enormous state spaces, appropriate specification of checkable software requirements, and interpretation of long, and potentially abstract, counterexample traces.In this talk, we describe Bandera --an integrated collection of tools for model-checking concurrent Java software that attempts to overcome the obstacles described above. Bandera is a model compiler in the sense that it takes Java source code as input and compiles it to a program model expressed in the input language of one of several existing verification tools including Spin, dSpin, and JPF. Program slicing and abstract interpretation components are used during compilation to customize the program model with respect to the properties being checked. Bandera is like a debugger in the sense that it maps counterexamples produced by back-end model checkers back to the source code level, and it allows the user to replay program execution both forwards and backwards along the path of the counterexample.We will present an overview of several case studies using Bandera that provide positive evidence of the effectiveness of model checking realistic properties of non-trivial concurrent software. These case studies also point out the need for additional functionality to enable scaling of software model checking to even larger and more complex systems. Finally, we conclude with a description of the latest public release of the Bandera toolset and our plans for future functionality.
High-pressure infrared spectra of feldspars : Constraints on compressional behavior, amorphization, and diaplectic glass formation

The infrared spectra of KAlSi 3 O 8 -microdine and NaAlSi 3 O 8 -albite are presented to pressures of 30 GPa. Three separate deformational regimes of the aluminosilicate framework are observed on compression of these feldspars: between 0 and about 11 GPa, the infrared spectra document that compression occurs via a combination of Si-O-Si(Al) angle bending coupled with some tetrahedral compression. Compression of tetrahedra appears to be greater in microcline than in albite. At 11-12 GPa, the appearance of a new tetrahedral stretching band near 980 cm -1 indicates that some depolymerization of SiO 4 tetrahedra commences in these phases: this depolymerization is most plausibly associated with a severe distortion or coordination change of some of the AlO 4 tetrahedra in the structure and appears to be reversible on decompression. Above ∼20 GPa, a major loss in intensity in the SiO 4 stretching bands occurs, and a spectral region associated with octahedral coordination of silicon increases in intensity: this intensity shift occurs to a greater extent in albite than in microcline. Previous spectra of CaAl 2 Si 2 O 8 -anorthite show reasonably similar behavior to that of albite, although two pressure-induced crystallographic transformations complicate the behavior of anorthite. Spectra on compression indicate that albite converts to a disordered, diaplectic glass-like material at 24 (±4) GPa, while microcline does not convert to a glass-like phase to 30 GPa. This is consistent with the observation that microcline forms diaplectic glass less readily than either of the plagioclase end-members. Moreover, the pressure at which apparent AlO 4 coordination changes commence is coincident with the onset pressure of the mixed phase regime present under shock-loading, implying that the volumetric changes which occur along the Hugoniot are produced by the extreme shifts in local structure observed under static compression.
Our Year of Assessment at Columbia University’s Business and Economics Library

In order to establish a baseline understanding of the needs and the perceptions of service quality among graduate business and economics students and faculty, we employed a multi-method assessment approach combining quantitative and qualitative statistics through a survey, exit polls, and direct observations to inform improvement planning of library services and spaces. While a substantial number of faculty and students were completely satisfied with the services and staff of the Thomas J. Watson Library of Business and Economics, there were some differences among student groups in terms of their satisfaction and interest in new services, technology, furniture, amount of space in the library, and service hours. The Watson Library is both a social and academic space, and students want to complete their academic work efficiently, without wasting time by switching locations, rooms, and/or devices. Our observation revealed that students rarely seem to engage in just one activity and are often studying, texting and talking with friends simultaneously.