cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal Modeling of Depressive Trajectories Among HIV-Infected Men Using Cocaine.

Cocaine use is prevalent among HIV-infected individuals. While cross-sectional studies suggest that cocaine users may be at increased risk for depression, long-term effects of cocaine on depressive symptoms remain unclear. This is a longitudinal study of 341 HIV-infected and uninfected men (135 cocaine users and 206 controls) ages 30–60 enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study during 1996–2009. The median baseline age was 41; 73% were African-American. In mixed-effects models over a median of 4.8 years of observation, cocaine use was associated with higher depressive symptoms independent of age, education level, and smoking (n = 288; p = 0.02); HIV infection modified this association (p = 0.03). Latent class mixed models were used to empirically identify distinct depressive trajectories (n = 160). In adjusted models, cocaine use was associated with threefold increased odds of membership in the class with persistent high depressive symptoms (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38–6.69) and eightfold increased odds (95% CI (2.73–25.83) when tested among HIV-infected subjects only. Cocaine use is a risk factor for chronic depressive symptoms, particularly among HIV-infected men, highlighting the importance of integrating mental health and substance use treatments to address barriers to well-being and successful HIV-care.
LABORATORY OBSERVATIONS ON THE LIFE CYCLE OF HISTER NOMAS (COLEOPTERA: HISTERIDAE)

The biology of Hister nomas Erichson was studied in the laboratory to define the developmental history of this bovine dung attracted predator. Female beetles deposited eggs singly 0.5–3.0 cm deep in the soil beneath dung. Embryogenesis was completed in 2.8 days after oviposition. There were two larval instars; each stage required ca. 6.1 and 6.2 days, respectively, for full development, and pupation to adult emergence averaged 17.5 days. Developmental time from oviposition to adult averaged 32.6 days.
Class Imagery and Subjective Social Location During Iceland’s Economic Crisis, 2008–2010

It has long been argued that perceptions of the class structure shape how individuals see their position in society. However, researchers using nationally representative data to study subjective so...
A Dyadic Approach to Pornography Use and Relationship Satisfaction Among Heterosexual Couples: The Role of Pornography Acceptance and Anxious Attachment.

The majority of research on pornography use within committed relationships has found such use to be associated with negative outcomes. However, given the variability in pornography use among couple...
Closing remarks: novel approaches to complex societal change and sustainability.

This paper summarizes some personal impressions of the 7th conference of the International Complex Systems Society, co-organized with “Future Earth”, held in Stockholm on August 24–26, 2017. The main point is that it is urgent and important to consider the sustainability conundrum as long-term, society-driven one, and to place societal dynamics at the core of how we, as a global society, came to this point, how ongoing dynamics are driving us towards a tipping point, and which role the Information and Communication Technology revolution plays in that process. A much wider involvement of the social sciences is essential. This also requires major changes in our thinking about sustainability—we need to develop an approach in which change is the natural state of affairs and societies attempt to impose stability on the dynamics involved. We need to focus on learning from the past, about the present, but above all for the future. And we need to shift from an entity-focused approach to a relational one, which pays more attention to contexts and networks. Other issues raised by such a shift in our thinking are about the role of science, the adoption of complex systems approaches and a few others that the paper points to.
Temperature rise from fracture in a Zr-based metallic glass

Inhomogeneous serrated plastic flow and the subsequent fracture of a Zr-based metallic glass are probed by high-speed in-situ pyrometry and in-situ acoustic emission. Whilst the temperature rise during serrated flow remains below the detection threshold of 300 °C, fracture is accompanied by ΔT of up to approximately 600 °C within less than 100 μs. Heating rates during fracture are up to 107 K/s, for which a dynamic glass transition temperature can be determined. A continuous wavelet analysis of the acoustic-emission pulse from fracture reveals an intermittent crack propagation with phases of intense activity of ca. 5–15 μs. These findings quantify the final stage of a shear-band-to-crack transition in terms of time scales and temperature excursions, the latter of which remains well below the melting temperature of the material in this study.
Effect of Depleted-Uranium Dioxide Particulate Fill on Spent-Nuclear-Fuel Waste Packages

The use of depleted uranium dioxide (DUO2) particulates as fill material for repository waste packages (WPs) containing light-water reactor (LWR) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) was investigated. A reposi...
Exploring the use of wearable sensors to monitor drug response of patients with Parkinson’s disease in the home setting (P4.002)

Objective: Investigate the use of wearable sensors to predict tremor severity and its response to medications. Background: Wearable sensors enable unobtrusive and mobile assessment of symptoms, with significant potential for improving the clinical management of subjects with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Design/Methods: Fourteen patients with PD were monitored continuously over four days using wearable sensors placed bilaterally on the ankles and forearms. On the first and fourth day, patients performed a battery of motor tasks in the laboratory. The battery of tasks was repeated six times at 30min intervals. The severity of tremor in the laboratory was labeled using a scale ranging from 0 to 4 during each task. On the second and third day, data was collected in the home setting. Subjects performed their regular daily activities and followed their regular medication regimen. They were also asked to choose a time of the day when they performed a battery of three motor tasks at 30min intervals for seven times. Machine learning algorithms were developed to estimate the tremor scores for each limb during the performance of each task. The actual and estimated tremor scores were averaged over limbs and motor tasks for each repetition. Then, the actual and estimated tremor scores for the laboratory data were compared by calculating the root mean square error. The time intervals corresponding to the minimum actual and estimated tremor scores ( t min and ť min ) were also calculated. Results: The root mean square error between the actual and estimated tremor scores was 0.21±0.14. The mean values of t min (laboratory), ť min (laboratory), and ť min (home setting) were 92.8±23.5min, 85.2±24.3min, and 86.0±28.2min, respectively. Conclusions: This study shows that wearable sensors can be used to accurately predict the severity of tremor across different motor tasks. Furthermore, the results suggest that wearable sensors can effectively monitor the response of tremor to medications in the home setting. Study Supported by: Michael J Fox Foundation Disclosure: Dr. Daneault has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kanzler has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lee has nothing to disclose. Dr. Golabchi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Vergara-Diaz has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ferreira Carvalho has nothing to disclose. Dr. Fabara has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sapienza has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sudarsky has nothing to disclose. Dr. Growdon has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bonato has nothing to disclose.
How Long Does It Take for Patients to Complete PROMIS Scores? An Assessment of PROMIS CAT Questionnaires Administered at an Ambulatory Sports Medicine Clinic:

Background:Challenges exist in routinely collecting patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from patients at a busy ambulatory clinic. A number of validated Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Informati...
An Online Analytical Processing Database for Environmental Water Quality Analytics

Online analytical processing databases allow for the efficient analysis of vast amounts of data. In this paper, we describe the design of an online analytical processing data cube structure for use in the analysis of multiple measures of environmental water quality data. The measures, also known as facts, will be the quantitative values returned by various water quality tests while the dimensions will be the attributes that describe the what, when and where of the water quality test measures. The data model and build process presented here will allow for varying types of tests and for the insertion of new data as it becomes available. The overall goal of this design is to provide business intelligence capabilities to water quality decision makers.
Assisting the Development of Secure Mobile Apps with Natural Language Processing

With the rapid growth of mobile devices and mobile apps, mobile has surpassed desktop and now has the largest worldwide market share [1]. While such growth brings in more opportunities, it also poses new challenges in security. Among the challenges, user privacy protection has drawn tremendous attention in recent years, especially after the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal in April 2018 [2].
Personalized Models for Injected Activity Levels in SPECT Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

We propose a patient-specific (“personalized”) approach for tailoring the injected activities to individual patients in order to achieve dose reduction in SPECT-myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). First, we develop a strategy to determine the minimum dose levels required for each patient in a large set of clinical acquisitions (857 subjects) such that the reconstructed images are sufficiently similar to that obtained at conventional clinical dose. We then apply machine learning models to predict the required dose levels on an individual basis based on a set of patient attributes which include body measurements and various clinical variables. We demonstrate the personalized dose models for two commonly used reconstruction methods in clinical SPECT-MPI: 1) conventional filtered backprojection (FBP) with post-filtering and 2) ordered-subsets expectation-maximization (OS-EM) with corrections for attenuation, scatter and resolution, and evaluate their performance in perfusion-defect detection by using the clinical Quantitative Perfusion SPECT software package. The results indicate that the achieved dose reduction can vary greatly among individuals from their conventional clinical dose and that the personalized dose models can achieve further reduction on average compared with a global (non-patient specific) dose reduction approach. In particular, the average personalized dose level can be reduced to 58% and 54% of the full clinical dose, respectively, for FBP and OS-EM reconstruction, while without deteriorating the accuracy in perfusion-defect detection. Furthermore, with the average personalized dose further reduced to only 16% of full dose, OS-EM can still achieve a detection accuracy level comparable to that of FBP with full dose.
Electron Distributions and Thermodynamics

If one integrates the spherically averaged Compton profile one can show that in the impulse approximation the total kinetic energy contained within a sphere of radius p in momentum space is $$K.E.(P)=[3\int _{o}^{p}J(Z){{Z}^{2}}dZ]- {{p}^{3}}J(p)$$ (1) Thus the total ground state kinetic energy of the electrons is $$ = 3\int _{o}^{\infty } J(Z){{Z}^{2}}dZ$$ (2) Since it is difficult to obtain accurate data for large values of Z one can integrate J(Z) to perhaps Z = 3 a. u. and assume that beyond Z = 3 a. u. The Compton profile of a solid or liquid is given by a superposition of Hartree-Fock free atom profiles which are tabulated. In fact by taking a difference between the measured Compton profile and a superposition of H.F. free atom profiles one obtains the difference between free atoms and solid. Since both free atoms and solid satisfy the Virial Theorem = − 1/2 where is the potential energy it follows that the K.E. is just minus the total energy.
Decision Making in Preservation Rhinoplasty: A 100 Case Series With One-Year Follow-Up

Background Preservation rhinoplasty (PR) is a new chapter in rhinoplasty history. The term was coined by Daniel in 2018 and represents a fundamental change in philosophy. Objectives The aim of this study is to discuss a single-surgeon case series utilizing PR techniques. Methods One hundred fifty-three primary rhinoplasty cases were studied retrospectively between December 2016 and August 2017. One hundred cases had at least 1 year of follow-up. Technical details were recorded, including dissection plane, ligament preservation, tip support, lateral crural maneuvers, alar contour grafts, and preservation of the dorsum vs traditional reduction. These 100 cases can be categorized as either complete preservation rhinoplasty (PR-C) or partial preservation rhinoplasty (PR-P). Results All patients had open rhinoplasty and the average follow-up time was 13 months. All patients had preservation of the dorsal soft tissue envelope, and in 36 the entire soft tissue envelope and ligaments were preserved. Fifty-four had preservation of the alar cartilages. Thirty-one had dorsal preservation. The combinations include: PR-C (skin, dorsum, and alars): 24; PR-P (skin and dorsum): 2; PR-P (alars and dorsum): 2; and PR-P (skin and alars): 7. Conclusions In most patients, the dorsal soft tissue envelope and nasal ligaments can be preserved. When possible, the lateral crura should be preserved and tensioning chosen over excision. Dorsal preservation is a versatile technique when proper patient selection is undertaken, and long-term issues with the middle vault and keystone area can be avoided. Some patients will benefit from total preservation where nothing is removed/disrupted and underlying structures are reshaped. Level of Evidence: 4.
Abstract 4591: Overexpression of p62/IMP2 can promote cell migration in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via activating Wnt/ β-catenin pathway

There are three members in the family of insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding proteins (IMP): IMP1, IMP2 and IMP3. The IMPs are oncofetal proteins, expressed during embryogenesis and lost in most tissues in adults. However, IMPs were found overexpressed in various cancers. IMPs share similar protein structure in mammals and have similar functions: to bind specific mRNAs, regulate their expression, transportation, and degradation. Although p62/IMP2 was first reported as a tumor-associated antigen in HCC around 20 years ago, we still know little about the role of p62/IMP2 in HCC progression. Our previous studies found that p62/IMP2 was not only overexpressed in HCC tissues, but also overexpressed in HCC cell lines. To explore the biological roles of p62/IMP2 in HCC progression, p62/IMP2 was knockout in two p62/IMP2 positive HCC cell lines (SNU449, HepG2). Due to the low expression level of p62/IMP2 in SNU449, we performed the transfection experiment to overexpress p62/IMP2 in this cell line. The Wound healing assay and transwell migration assay indicated that overexpressed p62/IMP2 in both cell lines showed the ability that could promote the cell migration significantly (p 0.3, Adj. p Citation Format: Mengtao Xing, Jianxiang Shi, Pei Li, Jiejie Qin, Xiaojun Zhang, Yangcheng Ma, Xiao Wang, Giulio Francia, Jianying Zhang. Overexpression of p62/IMP2 can promote cell migration in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via activating Wnt/ β - catenin pathway [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4591.
Abstract LB-210: An enhanced tumor evolution model for colorectal cancer evolution

The classical genetic model of colorectal cancer presents somatic APC mutations as the earliest genomic alterations, followed by KRAS and TP53 mutations. However, the timing and relative order of clonal expansion and other types of somatic genome alterations such as genomic rearrangements are still unclear. Here, we performed detailed analysis of somatic genetic alterations, including point mutations, copy number alterations and genomic rearrangements, in 63 whole-genome sequenced colorectal cancers from the Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. The relative order of these alterations occurring during tumorigenesis was inferred from variant allele fractions. We found that driver point mutations, gene fusions, and arm level copy losses typically arise early. Copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity is often a two-step event: a deletion followed by a duplication. Different mechanisms act in different genomic regions to optimize the DNA dosage. Chromothripsis, clustered genomic rearrangements previously thought to occur as a single catastrophic event, is frequent and may occur multiple times independently in the same tumor through different mechanisms. In contrast to recent studies reporting neutral growth of tumors, selection is often present on subclones. Our results suggest that different evolutionary models can operate in a single tumor at different stages. Combining these results, we present a refined tumor progression model for human colorectal cancer. Our enhanced genetic model significantly expands our understanding of tumorigenesis process. Citation Format: Lixing Yang. An enhanced tumor evolution model for colorectal cancer evolution [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-210.
The Racialization of the Muslim Body and Space in Hollywood

Using 11 high-grossing post-9/11 Hollywood films on terrorism and the Middle East, the author analyzes how films racialize Muslim identities in service to Islamophobia. This research brings togethe...
Overcoming resistance, stimulating action and decentering white students through structural racism focused antiracism education

There are significant inherent challenges in teaching students about structural racism resulting from white supremacist systems but overcoming these challenges leads to better outcomes. The goal ma...
Congregational Switching in an Age of Great Expectations

A majority of the American laity has switched congregations at least once in their adult lives, and more than two-thirds of U.S. congregants have previously attended a different congregation (Schwadel in Rev Relig Res 54(4):543–54, 2012). In contrast to religious tradition switching, we know little about the individual-level correlates of congregational switching. In this paper, we provide a framework for understanding congregational switching that emphasizes the role of congregational legitimacy in a social context of expressive individualism, the “spiritual marketplace,” and a competitive religious field. This social context leads to evaluations of congregations according to individually defined spiritual needs and meaningful interpersonal relationships. The salience of religion to the individual, for example, makes the link to a particular congregation more precarious as individuals seek the best fit for their perceived religious and spiritual needs. Using the 2006 and 2012 Portraits of American Life Surveys, a national panel survey of U.S. adults, we find that meaningful social ties, religious salience, leadership roles, meeting perceived religious and spiritual needs, and views of congregational decision-making influence switching. These factors remain even after accounting for residential mobility. We draw implications for theories of religion and understandings of congregational dynamics.
Religious Service Attendance and Deaths Related to Drugs, Alcohol, and Suicide Among US Health Care Professionals

Importance The increase in deaths related to drugs, alcohol, and suicide (referred to asdeaths from despair) has been identified as a public health crisis. The antecedents associated with these deaths have, however, seldom been investigated empirically. Objective To prospectively examine the association between religious service attendance and deaths from despair. Design, Setting, and Participants This population-based cohort study used data extracted from self-reported questionnaires and medical records of 66 492 female registered nurses who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) from 2001 through 2017 and 43 141 male health care professionals (eg, dentist, pharmacist, optometrist, osteopath, podiatrist, and veterinarian) who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) from 1988 through 2014. Data on causes of death were obtained from death certificates and medical records. Data analysis was conducted from September 2, 2018, to July 14, 2019. Exposure Religious service attendance was self-reported at study baseline in response to the question, “How often do you go to religious meetings or services?” Main Outcomes and Measures Deaths from despair, defined specifically as deaths from suicide, unintentional poisoning by alcohol or drug overdose, and chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of deaths from despair by religious service attendance at study baseline, with adjustment for baseline sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, psychological distress, medical history, and other aspects of social integration. Results Among the 66 492 female participants in NHSII (mean [SD] age, 46.33 [4.66] years), 75 incident deaths from despair were identified (during 1 039 465 person-years of follow-up). Among the 43 141 male participants in HPFS (mean [SD] age, 55.12 [9.53] years), there were 306 incident deaths from despair (during 973 736 person-years of follow-up). In the fully adjusted models, compared with those who never attended religious services, participants who attended services at least once per week had a 68% lower hazard (HR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.16-0.62) of death from despair in NHSII and a 33% lower hazard (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.48-0.94) of death from despair in HPFS. Conclusions and Relevance The findings suggest that religious service attendance is associated with a lower risk of death from despair among health care professionals. These results may be important in understanding trends in deaths from despair in the general population.
Suspected Malignant Hyperthermia and the Application of a Multidisciplinary Response

Purpose: Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a critical and potentially life-threatening emergency associated with inhaled anesthetic and depolarizing neuromuscular blocker administration. This is a single center’s response to MH. Summary: When signs of MH are observed, a page for “anesthesia STAT-MH crisis” is called, triggering a multidisciplinary response, including the deployment of a Malignant Hyperthermia Cart. The MH cart and the delegation of duties allows nurses, physicians and pharmacists to quickly understand their role in the stabilization, transition and recovery of a suspected MH patient. Conclusion: This case highlights the importance of multi-disciplinary involvement in these rare, but potentially fatal, cases.
Prospective Phase 2 Study of Radiation Therapy Dose and Volume De-escalation for Elective Neck Treatment of Oropharyngeal and Laryngeal Cancer.

Purpose The required elective nodal dose and volumes for head and neck intensity modulated radiation therapy have largely been extrapolated from conventional radiation therapy fields. In this prospective, dual-center, phase 2 study, we investigated the efficacy and tolerability of reduced elective nodal volume and dose in oropharyngeal and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods and Materials Patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx and larynx were eligible for enrollment. Each lymph node was characterized as involved or suspicious based on imaging criteria. For oropharynx cancer, only involved and immediately adjacent stations were treated to 40 Gy in 20 fractions. In larynx patients, at least bilateral levels II and III were treated to 40 Gy, with level IV treated only if level III was involved. Involved and suspicious nodes were then boosted with 30 Gy and 24 Gy in 15 fractions, respectively. Concurrent chemotherapy was required for stage T3N0-1 and IVA/B patients. The primary endpoint of the study was solitary elective volume recurrence, with secondary endpoints including patterns of failure and patient-reported outcomes. Results A total of 72 (51 oropharynx, 21 larynx) patients completed treatment on this trial from January 2017 through November 2018. The stages at presentations were 5, 17, and 50 stage I-II, III, and IV, respectively, with 90% treated with chemoradiation therapy. At a median follow-up of 24.7 months for surviving patients, there have been no solitary elective nodal recurrences. Seven patients developed a nodal recurrence, 5 of which were in-field and 2 were elective with synchronous in-field recurrence. Patient-reported outcomes assessment at 1 year showed superior or equivalent outcomes compared with baseline, except for saliva and taste measures. Conclusions The results of this trial suggest that elective dose and volume reduction is oncologically sound for oropharyngeal and laryngeal cancer treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy, with promising quality-of-life outcomes.
ANN Classification of Female Breast Tumor Type Prediction Using EIM Parameters

Electrical Impedance Myography (EIM) is a painless, non-invasive electrical bio-impedance measurement technique for assessing neurological disease states. In this electro-physiological technique, the EIM parameters, namely resistance, reactance, and phase magnitude, depend on several anatomic factors such as muscle girth, skin thickness, fat thickness. EIM may also be affected by several non-anatomic factors like frequency, electrode size, and inter-electrode distance. This paper explores the female breast tumor type classification by extracting EIM parameters from a 3D model of the female breast. The extracted EIM parameters from the simulation employ an artificial neural network (ANN) to identify benign and malignant tumor types. A 3D finite element (FEM) model of a female breast with a rectangular shape of electrodes are developed with a base shape of an 80 mm outer radius. The subsequent shapes are designed as -20% and +20% of the base shape, as mentioned above. This paper presents the EIM parameters that can classify female breast tumor types with an accuracy of 96.2% using an ANN.
Different Is More: The Value of Finding an Inhabited Planet That Is Far from Earth2.0.

Abstract The search for an inhabited planet, beyond our own, is a driver of planetary exploration in our solar system and beyond. Using information from our own planet to inform search strategies a...
Institutions, Infrastructures, and Innovation

Innovators, institutions, and infrastructures are hidden but essential to innovation ecologies that produced important breakthroughs. This article provides examples and suggestions for spotting institutional and infrastructural factors important to any technological trajectory.
Reflections and Observations

Like any good book about a journey, a process, or a long process a logical way to conclude our conversation is to reflect, observe, and provide some context for some of the core takeaways that could be generated from this journey. What this chapter does is to attempt to summarize and encapsulate the takeaways and insights that my own personal journey might be able to generate for you. Put another way, if you have made it this far through this book and the commentary included therein, taking a chance to catch up, reflect, and consider how these lessons might apply to your own journey is most likely a good idea. The transition and shift from a practitioner background—be it public practice, business and industry, or some other role, to higher education, is certainly something that requires a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of risk. To that end, what are the primary areas of focus in this last chapter of the book are reflecting on what worked, understanding what did not work, and the lessons learned from both types of information.
Relationship Between Retrievals of Surface Soil Moisture and Roughness Using SAR Data at L-Band

Surface soil moisture is estimated by inverting physical scattering models for low-vegetation crops using L-band airborne SAR data over the incidence angle range from 30 to 50°. The retrieval performance is fairly uniform across the incidence angle, partly because of the solid forward modeling of the vegetation correction across the incidence angle and also thanks to the retrieval of surface roughness. In this paper, we examine whether and how the retrieval of surface roughness impacts the soil moisture retrieval performance. Theoretical considerations suggest the two should may be related. Experimental results suggest both positive and negative relationship.
MicroRNA expression profiling predicts clinical outcome of carboplatin/paclitaxel-based therapy in metastatic melanoma treated on the ECOG-ACRIN trial E2603

Carboplatin/paclitaxel (CP), with or without sorafenib, result in objective response rates of 18–20 % in unselected chemotherapy-naive patients. Molecular predictors of survival and response to CP-based chemotherapy in metastatic melanoma (MM) are critical to improving the therapeutic index. Intergroup trial E2603 randomized MM patients to CP with or without sorafenib. Expression data were collected from pre-treatment formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissues from 115 of 823 patients enrolled on E2603. The selected patients were balanced across treatment arms, BRAF status, and clinical outcome. We generated data using Nanostring array (microRNA (miRNA) expression) and DNA-mediated annealing, selection, extension and ligation (DASL)/Illumina microarrays (HT12 v4) (mRNA expression) with protocols optimized for FFPE samples. Integrative computational analysis was performed using a novel Tree-guided Recursive Cluster Selection (T-ReCS) [1] algorithm to select the most informative features/genes, followed by TargetScan miRNA target prediction (Human v6.2) and mirConnX [2] for network inference. T-ReCS identified PLXNB1 as negatively associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and miR-659-3p as the primary miRNA associated positively with PFS. miR-659-3p was differentially expressed based on PFS but not based on treatment arm, BRAF or NRAS status. Dichotomized by median PFS (less vs greater than 4 months), miR-659-3p expression was significantly different. High miR-659-3p expression distinguished patients with responsive disease (complete or partial response) from patients with stable disease. miR-659-3p predicted gene targets include NFIX, which is a transcription factor known to interact with c-Jun and AP-1 in the context of developmental processes and disease. This novel integrative analysis implicates miR-659-3p as a candidate predictive biomarker for MM patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and may serve to improve patient selection.
Chronic exposure to nicotine and saquinavir decreases endothelial Notch‐4 expression and disrupts blood‐brain barrier integrity

Since the advent of HAART, there have been substantial improvements in HIV patient survival; however, the prevalence of HIV associated dementia has increased. Importantly, HIV positive individuals who smoke progress to HIV associated neurological conditions faster than those who do not. Recent in vitro data have shown that pharmacological levels of saquinavir causes endothelial oxidative stress and significantly decreases Notch-4 expression, a primary protein involved in maintaining stability of blood-brain barrier (BBB) endothelium. This is concerning as nicotine can also generate reactive oxygen species in endothelium. It is largely unknown if pharmacological doses of these drugs can cause a similar in vivo down-regulation of Notch-4 and if there is a concurrent destabilization of the integrity of the BBB. The data herein show: (i) nicotine and protease inhibitors cause an additive oxidative stress burden in endothelium; (ii) that the integrity of the BBB is disrupted after concurrent chronic nicotine and protease inhibitor administration; and (iii) that BBB endothelial dysfunction is correlated with a decrease in Notch-4 and ZO-1 expression. Considering the high prevalence of smoking in the HIV infected population (3- to 4-fold higher than in the general population) this data must be followed up to determine if all protease inhibitors cause a similar BBB disruption or if there is a safer alternative. In addition, this data may suggest that the induced BBB disruption may allow foreign molecules to gain access to brain and be a contributing factor to the slow progression of HIV associated dementia.
Redrafting California's Jury Instructions

California was a leader in the pattern jury instruction movement. Beginning in the 1930s, committees of judges and lawyers acting under the auspices of the Los Angeles Superior Court began to publish standardized (fill-in-the-blank) jury instructions. These pattern instructions saved judges and lawyers a great deal of time and were well regarded as being legally accurate. But the legal accuracy came at a cost. The instructions, which generally parroted the language of statutes and judicial opinions, were often quite stilted, used obscure language, and were hard for jurors to understand.In the late 1990s the California Judicial Council, as part of a broader reform effort, appointed a task force to draft more user-friendly instructions. This article describes that process and then compares some of the old to the new instructions, including those on evidence, burden of proof, homicide, and the death penalty.
Postoperative Stroke Following Administration of Intraoperative Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator for the Treatment of Intracardiac Thrombus During Liver Transplantation

MASSIVE INTRACARDIAC AND PULMONARY thromboembolism have an extremely high mortality during liver transplantation. The authors describe 2 cases in which intraoperative use of tissue plasminogen activator was able to reduce the thrombus size and improve hemodynamics during liver transplantation. Although both patients survived the surgery, they suffered neurologic sequelae postoperatively. The authors discuss the current understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of intracardiac thromboembolism during liver transplantation.
Land surface energy partitioning revisited: A novel approach based on single depth soil measurement

The partitioning of solar energy into sensible, latent, and ground heat fluxes over the land surface is responsible for changes of state variables in the soil-atmosphere system. Recent research enables the reconstruction of the land surface temperature and ground heat flux using Green's function approach, as well as the estimate of the distribution of available energy into latent and sensible heat fluxes based on linear stability analysis. Combining the Green's function approach and linear stability analysis, we propose a new physically based numerical procedure to estimate the land surface energy partitioning in this paper. The new method is capable of predicting all surface energy budgets using a single depth soil measurement; the model reliability is evaluated with comparisons to flux tower measurements. The results of this study deepen our insight into the implicit link between surface energy partition and subsurface soil dynamics and how the link can be employed to related research areas.
De effectiviteit van leefstijlinterventies in de eerste lijn

Lakerveld J, Bot SD, Nijpels G. De effectiviteit van leefstijlinterventies in de eerste lijn. Huisarts Wet 2014;57(2):64-7. Uit gecontroleerd onderzoek is gebleken dat leefstijlinterventies effectief kunnen zijn in het kader van diabetespreventie. Of dezelfde resultaten ook in de eerste lijn haalbaar zijn, is onbekend. In het Leefstijl Onderzoek West-Friesland onderzochten we de (kosten)effectiviteit van interventies gericht op leefstijlveranderingen bij volwassenen met een verhoogd risico op diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM II) en hart- en vaatziekten (HVZ) in de huisartsenpraktijk. We verdeelden 622 volwassenen met een risico van 10% of hoger op DM II en/of HVZ at random over een controle- en een interventiegroep, en volgden deze gedurende 24 maanden. De interventiegroep (n = 314) kreeg individuele counselinggesprekken op basis van motivational interviewing en problem solving treatment, uitgevoerd door praktijkondersteuners. De controlegroep (n = 308) kreeg alleen informatiebrochures. Uitkomstmaten waren het geschatte risico op DM II en HVZ (ARIC- en SCORE-risicoformules), lichamelijke activiteit, voeding en rookgedrag. Aan de laatste meting namen 490 (79%) deelnemers deel. Op geen van de vervolgmetingen vonden we verschillen tussen de groepen wat betreft DM II- of HVZ-risico of leefstijl. Zowel op de korte als de langere termijn maakte het voor het geschatte risico op DM II of HVZ en voor de leefstijl niet uit of de deelnemers het leefstijlprogramma kregen of alleen maar brochures. Verder onderzoek moet uitwijzen of leefstijlinterventies buiten de onderzoeksetting wel effectief kunnen zijn als deze behalve op individuele determinanten ook op omgevingsdeterminanten aangrijpen.
Strategic outsourcing for competing OEMs that face cost reduction opportunities

This paper explores production and outsourcing decisions for two Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) who produce partially substitutable products and have opportunities to invest in reducing the manufacturing cost. In such an environment, competition drives both OEMs to set lower prices and invest more than would maximize their combined profits, particularly when product substitutability is high. However, outsourcing provides a mechanism by which the two OEMs can credibly signal that they will not overinvest in cost reduction, mitigating a mutually destructive cost competition. Our paper explores the role that an external supplier(s) can play in dampening competition between the OEMs when there are opportunities to invest in cost reduction. In particular, we characterize the conditions under which a supplier can profitably enter the market by inducing the OEMs to outsource production. We first examine a basic model of two identical OEMs in which there is a single common supplier and a single component...
Inefficiency in provisioning interconnected communication networks

We model the Internet as a collection of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that transit and peer to meet an exogenous demand for the transport of IP traffic among an arbitrary set of cities. The prices of bandwidth and of transit are also exogenous. ISPs are assumed to behave rationally and selfishly and therefore they provision the network that maximizes their own profit regardless of how expensive the overall network becomes. We call optimal to a network that ISPs would build if they cooperated to reduce overall provisioning costs; and we call inefficiency cost the additional cost to provision a network at Nash equilibrium relative to the provisioning cost of an optimal network. We show that inefficiency cost is primarily related to transit agreements. In fact, in a world where only peering agreements exist there is no inefficiency cost. However, networks with only peering agreements forgo the efficiencies of traffic aggregation. Transit agreements help reduce provisioning costs by realizing benefits from economies of scale. We show, by example, that there exist Nash networks that are strictly more expensive than optimal networks even when ISPs choose transit prices and therefore the market to provision communication networks with interconnection agreements designed they way the are today is inefficient. We show that inefficiency cost may be reduced, for example, by enforcing side payments between ISPs. We conclude with an analysis of the difficulties a regulator would face in endeavoring to move a market from am inefficient Nash equilibrium to optimality.
Langford sequences: perfect and hooked

A sequence {d, d+1,..., d+m-1} of m consecutive positive integers is said to be perfect if the integers {1, 2,..., 2m} can be arranged in disjoint pairs {(a"i, b"i): 1=
Transplantation of allogeneic lymphoid cells specifically depleted of graft versus host reactive cells.

GRAFT versus host (GvH) disease has been a major problem in the transplantation of allogeneic haematopoietic or immunocompetent lymphoid cells. In man, attempts to reduce the GvH effect of transplanted allogeneic cells, including HL-A matching1,2, cell separation techniques3, anti-lymphocyte globulin4, and injection of small doses of bone marrow cells5, have aided successful bone marrow transplantation. Various techniques have been used in animal systems6–14 to reduce the GvH reaction by removing reactive cells from populations of lymphoid cells. So far, however, there has been no attempt to assess the potential value of such specifically depleted cells in transplantation.
An O ( n log n ) algorithm for finding all repetitions in a string

Abstract Any nonempty string of the form xx is called a repetition. An O(n log n) algorithm is presented to find all repetitions in a string of lenght n. The algorithm is based on a linear algorithm to find all the new repetitions formed when two strings are concatenated. This linear algorithm is possible because new repetitions of equal length must occur in blocks with consecutive starting positions. The linear algorithm uses a variation of the Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithm to find all partial occurrences of a pattern within a text string. It is also shown that no algorithm based on comparisons of symbols can improve O(n log n). Finally, some open problems and applications are suggested.
Threonine Phosphorylation of the β3 Integrin Cytoplasmic Tail, at a Site Recognized by PDK1 and Akt/PKB in Vitro, Regulates Shc Binding

The mechanism of outside-in signaling by integrins parallels that for growth factor receptors. In both pathways, phosphorylation of a cytoplasmic segment on tyrosine generates a docking site for proteins containing Src homology 2 (SH2) and phosphotyrosine binding domains. We recently observed that phosphorylation of a threonine (Thr-753), six amino acids proximal to tyrosine 759 in β3 of the platelet specific integrin αIIbβ3, inhibits outside-in signaling through this receptor. We hypothesized that the presence of phosphothreonine 753 either renders β3 a poor substrate for tyrosine kinases or inhibits the docking capabilities of the tyrosyl-phosphorylated form of β3. The first alternative was tested by comparing the phosphorylation of β3 model peptides by the tyrosine kinase pp60c-src and we found that the presence of a phosphate group on a residue corresponding to Thr-753 did not detectably alter the kinetics of tyrosine phosphorylation. However, the presence of phosphate on this threonine inhibited the binding of Shc to tyrosyl-phosphorylated β3 peptide. The inhibitory effect of the phosphate group could be mimicked by substituting an aspartic acid for Thr-753, suggesting that a negative charge at this position modulates the binding of Shc and possibly other phosphotyrosine binding domain- and SH2-containing proteins. A survey of several protein kinases revealed that Thr-753 was avidly phosphorylated by PDK1 and Akt/PKB in vitro. These observations suggest that activation of PDK1 and/or Akt/PKB in platelets may modulate the binding activity and/or specificity of β3 for signaling molecules.
Substrate and inhibitor specificity of anion exchangers on the brush border membrane of rabbit ileum.

In previous studies we have found that several anions can be transported by an exchange process in rabbit ileal brush border membranes. We demonstrated exchanges of Cl for OH or HCO3, SO4 for OH, oxalate for OH, and oxalate for Cl. The purpose of these studies was to determine the number of distinct carriers mediating these exchanges. We utilized substrate and inhibitor specificity studies to distinguish between different anion exchange transporters. We conclude that SO4∶OH and oxalate: OH exchange occur on the same carrier because: (i) pH-gradient stimulated transport of both14C-oxalate and35SO4 were equally sensitive tocis-inhibition by unlabeled SO4 or oxalate; and (ii) both were inhibited equally by K. We conclude that oxalate: OH and oxalate: Cl exchanges occur on different carriers because: (i) Cl or SO4 caused unequalcis-inhibition of these two exchanges; and (ii) as compared to oxalate: Cl exchange, oxalate: OH exchange was more sensitive to inhibition by probenecid and K and less sensitive to inhibition by bumetanide. Finally, we conclude that oxalate: Cl exchange and Cl∶HCO3 exchange occur on different carriers because: (i) Cl∶HCO3 exchange was almost completely insensitive tocis-inhibition by oxalate; and (ii) oxalate: Cl exchange was more sensitive to inhibition by DIDS and bumetanide than Cl∶HCO3 exchange. Thus we have found that there are at least three separate anion exchangers on rabbit ileal brush border: (i) a Cl∶HCO3 exchanger; (ii) a SO4∶OH exchanger, which also transports oxalate; and (iii) an oxalate: Cl exchanger.
Phase equilibria in the Al-Fe-C system: Isothermal sections 1550 °C to 2300 °C

Fe-C and Al-Fe-C systems were investigated over the temperature range of 1550 °C to 2300 °C by chemical analysis of alloys saturated with carbon within internally sealed graphite crucibles. The solubility of carbon in liquid iron agrees with accepted published values at 1550 °C, but was found to be slightly higher than published values at higher temperatures. Partial isothermal sections for the Al-Fe-C system at 1550 °C, 2150 °C, and 2300 °C and complete isothermal sections at 1700 °C, 1850 °C, and 2000 °C were constructed from the chemical analyses and from metallographic observations. The univariant point on each complete isotherm, at which the solid phase in equilibrium with the homogeneous liquid changes from A14C3 (aluminum carbide) to carbon with increasing Fe-Al ratio in the alloy, was determined to be 55.OAl-37.6Fe-7.4C at 1700 °C, 61.2Al-29.4Fe-9.4C at 1850 °C, and 65.7Al-21.9Fe-12.4C at 2000 °C, where all concentrations are in atomic percent. The only solid phases observed at these elevated temperatures were A14C3 and graphite.
Blood protein profiles of infants born before 28 weeks differ by pregnancy complication

Objective Disorders that lead to preterm delivery influence the fetal inflammatory response. Study Design We calculated odds ratios of elevated concentrations of 25 blood proteins on the first postnatal day in 798 infants born before the 28th week and classified by the pregnancy disorder that lead to preterm delivery. Results Concentrations of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα), cytokine receptors (IL-6R, TNF-R1, TNF-R2), systemic inflammatory proteins (CRP, SAA, MPO), chemokines (IL-8, MCP-1, MCP-4, MIP-1β, RANTES, I-TAC), adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, ICAM-3, VCAM-1, E-selectin), and metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-9) were elevated in children delivered after preterm labor, membrane rupture, abruption, and cervical insufficiency, whereas such a pattern was not seen after preeclampsia or fetal indication/growth restriction. Inflammatory profiles were also associated with maternal vaginitis. Conclusion The patterns of blood proteins in the newborn support the division of pregnancy disorders that lead to preterm delivery into those associated, and those not associated, with inflammation.