cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Signal Transition Graph Model

The classical specification and implementation models for asynchronous circuits described in Chapter 3 suffer from a number of problems, that do not allow to use them directly in our integrated design methodology.
Augmented Leverage Score Sampling with Bounds

We introduce a modification to the well studied leverage score sampling algorithm which takes into account data scale, called the augmented leverage score, and introduce an initial error bound proof for the case of deterministic sampling – which to our knowledge is the first bound for this augmented leverage score. We discuss the implications of the error bounds proof and present an empirical evaluation of the proposed augmented leverage score performance on the column subsample selection problem (CSSP) as compared to the traditional leverage score and other methods in both a deterministic and probabilistic sampling paradigm. We show that the augmentation of the leverage score improves the empirical performance on CSSP significantly for many kinds of data.
Research Strategy: Significance

Following the Specific Aims, the “Research Strategy,” which describes the proposed project in detail, starts with the “Significance” section. For decades, the NIH grant application format had a section called “Background and Significance” that was intended for you to provide a detailed review (written in the style of a Scientific American article, accessible to the nonexpert) to give the context for your research. With the revamp of the application format to be shorter and more directly aligned with review criteria, there no longer is a specified “background” component, and the writing must be more compact and focused toward expert reviewers.
Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale: Candidate for Official Designation of FDA Designation as Qualified Clinical Outcome Assessment (P1.023)

Objective: Assess the clinimetric attributes of the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS) relative to the FDA/CDER requirements for a Qualified Clinical Outcome Assessment (QCOA). Background: The FDA/CDER Drug Development Tool Clinical Outcome Assessment Program is a government agency that evaluates outcomes to guide clinical trial sponsors and protocol developers on recommended scales that meet a high bar of clinimetric standards. The outcome of this process is the designation of a Qualified Clinical Outcome Assessment (QCOA). Methods: We reviewed the requirements for official designation of the UDysRS as a potential QCOA for dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease. Core criteria that must be addressed are: Context of Use (COU), instrument Concept of Interest (COI); rigor of instrument development; content validity; cross-sectional evaluation of measurement properties; and longitudinal evaluation of measurement properties and interpretation methods. Results: At study initiation, FDA/CDER DDT contact and on 3/19/2015, FDA accepted our request for consideration in the DDT program (DDT COA number 000077). COU and COI documents have been completed along with full description of all core criteria, including additional material on a centralized training and training certificate program and validated translations in eight non-English languages. Conclusions: The UDysRS is in the process of being officially considered for the designation of QCOA and is the first movement disorder scale to go through this government process. If successfully designated, the UDysRS will harmonize future dyskinesia studies in Parkinson’s disease with a uniform primary outcome. Acknowledgement: This program was initiated with the support of the Michael J Fox Foundation. Dr.Goetz and Dr. Stebbins are supported by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation through the Rush Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Research Center. Disclosure: Dr. Goetz has received royalty payments from Oxford University Press, Elsevier Publishers, Wolters Kluwer Health-Lippincott, and Wilkins and Wilkins. Dr. Stebbins has nothing to disclose.
FLAG ± Idarubicin Compared with 7+3 As Initial Induction for Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Single Institution Experience

Abstract 4330 Objective: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that arises from an antecedent hematologic disorder (most often myelodysplastic syndrome, MDS) or that is related to prior chemotherapy (therapy-related AML, t-AML) carries a poor prognosis. Secondary AML occurs in 16–50% of patients with MDS and in Methods: A retrospective medical record review was conducted between January 1, 2007 and September 30, 2011 of all patients with AML aged ≥18 years seen at our institution who had either cytogenetic abnormalities commonly associated with MDS or had received prior alkylating agents or topoisomerase II inhibitors, and received either FLAG ± Ida or 7+3 for initial treatment of secondary AML. Patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis were excluded. The primary outcome was the CR rate after induction chemotherapy. Secondary outcomes were 30-day mortality, hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), sources and types of infections, antibiotic usage, and time to neutrophil recovery. Fisher9s exact test was used to compare categorical outcomes (CR, documented infections) between groups. Kaplan-Meier curves and corresponding log-rank tests were used for time-to-event outcomes (hospital stay, ICU days, neutrophil recovery). Results: 291 charts were reviewed. 48 patients were found to be eligible and were included in the final analysis. There were no significant differences in baseline demographic characteristics between the two treatment groups, with the exception of AML transformation from MDS being more prevalent in the FLAG ± Ida group (Table I). There were no significant differences in CR rates, 30-day mortality, or hospital LOS between the two groups (Table II). 7+3 was associated with a shorter ICU LOS (0.2 ± 0.7 days vs 2.3 ± 6.8 days, p=0.04) but a greater number of days of antibiotic therapy (56.7 ± 36.3 vs 33.6 ± 31.1, p=0.03), while FLAG ± Ida was associated with a shorter time to neutrophil recovery compared with 7+3 (20.6 ± 4.4 days vs 25.8 ± 7.9 days, p=0.01). Conclusion: In this retrospective study, we found no difference in efficacy between 7+3 and FLAG ± Ida when used as initial induction therapy for patients with secondary AML. Limitations of this study include its retrospective nature, the small sample size and lack of power to detect differences between the groups for both primary and secondary outcomes. A prospectively designed trial is warranted before one regimen can be recommended over the other. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Physicians' Responsibilities for Deaths Occurring at Home.

Deaths occurring at home are increasing in the United States. Primary care physicians and trainees may not be explicitly taught about management of deaths in the home. Physician responsibilities for expected and unexpected deaths at home are summarized. The medical examiner should be contacted if death was due to natural disease processes but occurred suddenly or when a physician was not treating the decedent. Police and emergency personnel are often called after terminally ill individuals have died at home, which may cause significant family distress and is typically not necessary if the death was expected. Clinicians should counsel patients and families on managing expected deaths without involving emergency personnel. There is also the question of autopsy, which has become less common throughout the country. Although there are no requirements for physicians to ask families whether they want an autopsy if the death occurred at home, unexpected deaths should be referred to the medical examiner for possible forensic or medicolegal autopsy. If the medical examiner declines the case, the family can be offered private-pay autopsy; costs can exceed $3000. Regarding the completion of death certificates, it is appropriate for the physician to write “probable’’ or “presumed” for diagnoses when the precise cause of death at home is uncertain. After a person has died, clinicians can still offer significant postmortem guidance and closure to the family.
Cheaper than a Corvette: The Relevance of Phenomenology for Contemporary Philosophy of Religion

Contemporary phenomenology has often been critiqued as having crossed into the domain of confessional theology. Though I reject this characterization, I do think it is important to consider how best to understand the distinction between philosophy and theology. Accordingly, in this essay, I argue that continental philosophy of religion faces something of a mid-life crisis regarding its own professional and disciplinary identity as philosophical. Through an engagement with the recent work of Kevin Hart, I argue that new phenomenology provides important resources for maintaining the distinction between philosophy and theology, while also enabling responsible interdisciplinary work for scholars drawing on both discourses.
Genetic variation in CXCR1 haplotypes linked to severity of Streptococcus uberis infection in an experimental challenge model.

Abstract Mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary gland, costs the dairy industry billions of dollars in lost revenues annually. The prevalence and costs associated with mastitis has made genetic selection methods a target for research. Previous research has identified amino acid changes at positions 122, 207, 245, 327, and 332 in the IL8 receptor, CXCR1, that result in three dominant amino acid haplotypes: VWHKH, VWHRR, and AWQRR. We hypothesize different haplotype combinations influence a cow’s resistance, strength, and duration of response to mastitis. To test this, Holstein dairy cows (n = 40) were intramammarily challenged with Streptococcus uberis within 3 d post-calving. All cows developed mastitis based on isolation of S. uberis from the challenged quarter at least twice. All cows with the VWHRR x VWHRR (n = 5) and AWQRR x VWHRR (n = 6) haplotype combinations required antibiotic therapy due to clinical signs of mastitis and tended (P = 0.08) to be different from cows with a VWHRR x VWHKH (n = 6) haplotype combination where only 33.3% required antibiotic therapy. Cows with a VWHRR homozygous haplotype combination displayed significantly higher responses to challenge indicated by elevated S. uberis counts (4340 ± 5,521.9 CFU/mL; P = 0.01), mammary scores (1.1 ± 0.18; P = 0.03), milk scores (0.9 ± 0.17; P = 0.002), and SCC (1,010,832 ± 489,993 cells/mL; P = 0.03). Contrastingly, AWQRR x VWHRR cows had significantly lower S. uberis counts (15.3 ± 16.46 CFU/mL; P = 0.01), mammary scores (0.3 ± 0.16; P = 0.03), milk scores (0 ± 0.15; P = 0.002), and SCC (239,261 ± 92,264.3 cells/mL; P = 0.03). Cows of the VWHKH x VWHRR haplotype combination displayed responses to challenge statistically comparable to other haplotype combinations, but appeared to have an earlier peak in SCC in comparison to all other haplotype combinations. Haplotype combination did not influence milk yield (P = 0.6). Our results suggest using combinations of the SNPs within the CXCR1 gene gives a better indication of a cow’s ability to combat S. uberis mastitis and could resolve prior studies’ conflicting results focusing on individual SNP.
Meiotic and Mitotic Recombination: First in Flies

Abstract In this chapter, we examine landmark discoveries made in mitotic and meiotic recombination using Drosophila as a model organism. Mitotic recombination is detrimental to cell viability, causing loss of heterozygosity and genome rearrangements, and unrepaired double-strand breaks (DSBs) can result in cell death. To avoid these outcomes, cells utilize multiple pathways to ensure that mitotic DSBs are repaired into noncrossover products. Here we discuss the major mitotic DSB-repair pathways homologous recombination repair (especially, synthesis-dependent strand annealing) and end joining. In contrast to mitotic cells, crossovers are beneficial during meiosis. Meiotic recombination is important to ensure proper chromosome segregation during gametogenesis and defects in crossover formation result in aneuploidy and sterility. Accordingly, we discuss key regulatory mechanisms of meiotic recombination that promote repair of meiotic DSBs as crossovers. Lastly, we examine a novel model for meiotic recombination in Drosophila.
“It fixates”: indie quiets and the new Gothics

The article attempts to make several interventions. Following Jamie Sexton’s work on Independent Horror, it revisits the vexed status of horror within American Independent Cinema. Not only is indie horror frequently omitted from discussion of American Independent Cinema, but low budget, direct-to-DVD and video-on-demand indie horror titles are frequently omitted from academic discussions of horror. This has the effect of skewing our understanding of the genre. From there the article moves to consider a specific subgenre of indie horror that has been gaining in popularity: the Quiet Horror film—a category that contains the sub-genre of indie-Gothic films. Lastly, the paper moves on to a close reading of a specific low budget indie Gothic title, Absentia.
The management of cancer pain

The experience of pain in cancer is widely accepted as a major threat to quality of life, and the relief of pain has emerged as a priority in oncology care. Pain is associated with both the disease as well as treatment, and management is essential from the onset of early disease through long-term survivorship or end-of-life care. Effective relief of pain is contingent upon a comprehensive assessment to identify physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects and as a foundation for multidisciplinary interventions. Fortunately, advances in pain treatment and in the field of palliative care have provided effective treatments encompassing pharmacological, cognitive-behavioral, and other approaches. The field of palliative care has emphasized that attention to symptoms such as pain is integral to quality cancer care. CA Cancer J Clin 2011;61:157–182. V C
The effect of removing a network communication edge: Group network codes

The edge removal problem quantifies the loss in rate when removing an edge from a given network. In this work, we study the edge removal problem on network coding instances that are solvable using group network codes. We show that removing any edge of capacity R e from a given network reduces the rate vector achievable by abelian group network codes by at most an additive R e . Our work extends previous results of similar nature on linear network codes which are a special case of group network codes. The extent to which the achievable rate is affected by removing an R e capacity edge, in the presence of general network coding functions, is yet to be quantified.
Introduction: Finding the Levellers and Their Successors

The Levellers and their followers were adaptable and non-doctrinaire proponents of accountable government, personal rights, and liberty of conscience. They expressed the political aspirations of sectarian communities in London and elsewhere. After 1649, the Levellers and their successors remained loyal to an agenda of political and religious rights that they revised and reasserted in the climacterics of unsettlement that recurred through 1688. The Levellers’ pre-1649 efforts can thus be tied to republican opposition to the Cromwellian Protectorate, to popular support for the revived Commonwealth of 1659, to opposition to the coercive policies of the Restoration church and state in the reign of Charles II (1660–1685), and even to sectarian support for the 1687–1688 toleration implemented by James II before the Glorious Revolution.
Minimizing Risk Associated With Older Liver Donors by Matching to Preferred Recipients: A National Registry and Validation Study.

BackgroundAllografts from older liver donors (OLDs), 70 years or older are often discarded for fear of inferior outcomes. We previously identified “preferred recipients” who did not suffer the higher risk of graft loss and mortality associated with OLDs. Preferred recipients were first-time, non-sta
Effect of transition-metal-ion dopants on the oxygen evolution reaction on NiOOH(0001)

Iron-doped nickel oxyhydroxide has been identified as one of the most active alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts, exhibiting an overpotential lower than values observed for state-of-the-art precious metal catalysts. Several computational investigations have found widely varying effects of doping on the theoretical overpotential of the OER on NiOx. Comparisons of these results are made difficult by the numerous differences in the structural and computational parameters used in these studies. In this work, within a consistent framework, we calculate the theoretical overpotentials for reactions occurring on the most stable, basal plane of undoped and doped β-NiOOH. We compare the activities of Fe(III), Co(III), and Mn(III) doping using density functional theory with Hubbard-like U corrections on the transition-metal d orbitals. We compare the effect of surface and subsurface doping in order to establish whether the dopants act as new active sites for the reaction or whether they induce more widespread changes in the material. The results of our study find only a small reduction in the overpotential (∼0.1 and ≤0.05 V when doped in the surface and subsurface layers, respectively) for the three dopants, if doped in the dominant basal plane. This is much less than the reductions of 0.3 V experimentally observed for the most active Fe-doped systems. Furthermore, the magnitudes of reductions in overpotentials for the three dopants are similar. This work therefore disqualifies the possibility of enhancing the activity of the dominant exposed basal plane of β-NiOOH through substitutional doping.
Patient navigation and clinical trial participation: A randomized controlled trial design

Abstract Background To our knowledge, no published studies utilizing a randomized controlled design have examined the efficacy of patient navigation for improving clinical trial enrollment. Methods This patient navigation and clinical trial participation study is a randomized controlled trial to assess the effect of a patient navigator on enrollment into therapeutic cancer clinical trials. Participants are randomly assigned to high intensity, patient navigator-delivered patient educational materials (PEM) and needs assessment vs. low intensity patient navigation (patient navigator-delivered patient educational materials [PEM] alone). Discussion: Effective enrollment strategies may include utilization of patient navigators as away to meet individual needs, barriers, and concerns of participants enrolled in clinical trials.
User-Centered Design and Experimentation to Develop Effective Software for Evidence-Based Reasoning in the Intelligence Community: The TRACE Project

Improving reasoning in intelligence analysis is of vital national importance. The trackable reasoning and analysis for crowdsourcing and evaluation project takes a user-centered design approach combined with rigorous experimentation to ascertain effective structured techniques to support high-quality reasoning. Results suggest a light structure is more effective than a rigid structure.
Mechanical Behavior Of Elastomeric Stamps During Microcontact Printing Patterns: Direct Observation Of Stamps And Inks

Microcontact printing is a straightforward and effective method for generating surface patterns of micron or submicron lateral dimensions. The fidelity of the ultimate pattern is a complex interplay of mechanical behavior of the elastomeric stamp, fluid transfer between surfaces and the ability of the ink to self-assemble on the new surface. We present here experimental observations and modeling of stamp deformation during precise external loads and visualization of inked surfaces by high contrast analytical methods. Stamp behavior was observed visually in an inverted microscope and load-displacement relationships used to determine onset of failure modes such as roof collapse and buckling of slender relief features as a function of stamp geometry. The load was applied with a glass sphere so as to obviate problems with alignment and to precisely determine contact areas. A “robotic stamper” fabricated from an AFM instrument can deliver ink under conditions of precise load. Surfaces inked with varying densities or combinations of SAMs can be imaged with excellent contrast by scanning surface potential microscopy (SSPM). The same area of the sample can then be examined using time-of-flight SIMS or other surface analytical technique with no additional etching or sample preparation. In this way the fidelity and density of the patterned monolayers can be evaluated. The effect of load on ink pattern quality can also be established.
Dysbiotic 1-carbon metabolism in cardiac muscle remodeling.

Unless there is a genetic defect/mutation/deletion in a gene, the causation of a given disease is chronic dysregulation of gut metabolism. Most of the time, if not always, starts within the gut; that is what we eat. Recent research shows that the imbalance between good versus bad microbial population, especially in the gut, causes systemic diseases. Thus, an appropriate balance of the gut microbiota (eubiosis over dysbiosis) needs to be maintained for normal health (Veeranki and Tyagi, 2017, Journal of Cellular Physiology, 232, 2929-2930). However, during various diseases such as metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension the dysbiotic gut environment tends to prevail. Our research focuses on homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism that occupies a center-stage in many biochemically relevant epigenetic mechanisms. For example, dysbiotic bacteria methylate promoters to inhibit gene activities. Interestingly, the product of the 1-carbon metabolism is Hcy, unequivocally. Emerging studies show that host resistance to various antibiotics occurs due to inverton promoter inhibition, presumably because of promoter methylation. This results from modification of host promoters by bacterial products leading to loss of host's ability to drug compatibility and system sensitivity. In this study, we focus on the role of high methionine diet (HMD), an ingredient rich in red meat and measure the effects of a probiotic on cardiac muscle remodeling and its functions. We employed wild type (WT) and cystathionine beta-synthase heterozygote knockout (CBS+/- ) mice with and without HMD and with and without a probiotic; PB (Lactobacillus) in drinking water for 16 weeks. Results indicate that matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) activity was robust in CBS+/- fed with HMD and that it was successfully attenuated by the PB treatment. Cardiomyocyte contractility and ECHO data revealed mitigation of the cardiac dysfunction in CBS+/- + HMD mice treated with PB. In conclusion, our data suggest that probiotics can potentially reverse the Hcy-meditated cardiac dysfunction.
Candida Parapsilosis Endocarditis Following Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Implantation

Fungal prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) is rare and carries a high mortality rate. While uncommon, fungal endocarditis in transcatheter aortic valves has been reported. We present a unique case of Candida parapsilosis fungal PVE in a patient with a transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement.
Pregnancy Outcomes among Girls Impacted by Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Abstract Objective We measured pregnancy rates and pregnancy outcomes among girls with histories of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), and then quantified the associations between the outcome of pregnancy with: a) girls’ exposure to childhood adversity, and b) their behavioral health. This is the largest study of pregnancy outcomes and associated factors among girls impacted by CSE in the United States. Methods We reviewed court files of participants in a juvenile specialty court for youth impacted by CSE, between 2012 and 2016. We collected data on pregnancy, health, and social factors. Data were updated through 2018 and descriptive statistics were calculated. Two-sample tests for equality of proportions explored associations between pregnancy with adverse childhood experiences and the girls’ behavioral health profiles. Results Among the 360 biological females, 31% had ever been pregnant. Of the girls ever pregnant, 18% had multiple pregnancies. Outcomes for the 130 reported pregnancies were: 76% live births; 13% therapeutic abortions; 5% miscarriages or stillbirths; and 6% of pregnancies were ongoing at case closure. Parental incarceration and histories of maternal substance abuse were both associated with pregnancy. Conclusions High pregnancy rates among girls with histories of CSE suggest the importance of applying a reproductive justice approach to deliver reproductive education, family planning services, prenatal care, and parenting support to girls impacted by CSE.
Generative Deep Neural Networks for Inverse Materials Design Using Backpropagation and Active Learning

In recent years, machine learning (ML) techniques are seen to be promising tools to discover and design novel materials. However, the lack of robust inverse design approaches to identify promising candidate materials without exploring the entire design space causes a fundamental bottleneck. A general-purpose inverse design approach is presented using generative inverse design networks. This ML-based inverse design approach uses backpropagation to calculate the analytical gradients of an objective function with respect to design variables. This inverse design approach is capable of overcoming local minima traps by using backpropagation to provide rapid calculations of gradient information and running millions of optimizations with different initial values. Furthermore, an active learning strategy is adopted in the inverse design approach to improve the performance of candidate materials and reduce the amount of training data needed to do so. Compared to passive learning, the active learning strategy is capable of generating better designs and reducing the amount of training data by at least an order-of-magnitude in the case study on composite materials. The inverse design approach is compared with conventional gradient-based topology optimization and gradient-free genetic algorithms and the pros and cons of each method are discussed when applied to materials discovery and design problems.
Descriptive and Injunctive Norms Related to E-Cigarettes

Introduction E-cigarette use has rapidly increased in prevalence in the United States, and rates of use are even higher among military personnel compared to the general population. Descriptive and injunctive norms have previously been shown to impact tobacco use. However, little research has been conducted related to e-cigarette descriptive and injunctive norms, and no research has addressed e-cigarette norms among a military population. Materials and methods From July, 2018 to February, 2019, 22 focus groups (N = 164) were conducted among airmen, military training leaders, and technical training instructors. The focus groups aimed to gain insight into facilitators and barriers to tobacco use during technical training, where airmen receive training for their specific jobs. Study procedures were approved by the institutional review board of the 59th Medical Wing in San Antonio. Focus group recordings were transcribed, and transcripts coded. Themes related to descriptive and injunctive norms were examined for the current study. Results Many interviewees mentioned the prevalence of e-cigarette use, either generally ("…a lot of people vape but that's kind of the thing nowadays") or with specific estimates of how many airmen use ("vaping, probably at least 60-70%"). However, injunctive norms were not commonly discussed, with only a couple of interviewees mentioning that e-cigarette use is the "cool" trend or they feel peer pressure. Conclusions Descriptive norms were more commonly mentioned than injunctive norms, which may indicate that injunctive norms are not as influential for e-cigarette use. Additionally, all estimates related to e-cigarette prevalence were higher than actual rates of use, showing an overestimation of use, which previous literature has shown increases likelihood of e-cigarette use. Future research should specifically ask about injunctive norms as well as determine if descriptive and injunctive norms influence actual e-cigarette use behaviors among military personnel.
The Case for Mom and Dad.

Is the system of norms comprising traditional, natural marriage—featuring formally enacted, irrevocable, exclusive man/woman sexual union preceded by chastity—essential for children’s development a...
Effects of the Competitive Season and Off-Season on Knee Articular Cartilage in Collegiate Basketball Players Using Quantitative MRI: A Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND Injuries to the articular cartilage in the knee are common in jumping athletes, particularly high-level basketball players. Unfortunately, these are often diagnosed at a late stage of the disease process, after tissue loss has already occurred. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS To evaluate longitudinal changes in knee articular cartilage and knee function in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball players and their evolution over the competitive season and off-season. STUDY TYPE Longitudinal, multisite cohort study. POPULATION Thirty-two NCAA Division 1 athletes: 22 basketball players and 10 swimmers. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE Bilateral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a combined T1ρ and T2 magnetization-prepared angle-modulated portioned k-space spoiled gradient-echo snapshots (MAPSS) sequence at 3T. ASSESSMENT We calculated T2 and T1ρ relaxation times to compare compositional cartilage changes between three timepoints: preseason 1, postseason 1, and preseason 2. Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores (KOOS) were used to assess knee health. STATISTICAL TESTS One-way variance model hypothesis test, general linear model, and chi-squared test. RESULTS In the femoral articular cartilage of all athletes, we saw a global decrease in T2 and T1ρ relaxation times during the competitive season (all P < 0.05) and an increase in T2 and T1ρ relaxation times during the off-season (all P < 0.05). In the basketball players' femoral cartilage, the anterior and central compartments respectively had the highest T2 and T1ρ relaxation times following the competitive season and off-season. The basketball players had significantly lower KOOS measures in every domain compared with the swimmers: Pain (P < 0.05), Symptoms (P < 0.05), Function in Daily Living (P < 0.05), Function in Sport/Recreation (P < 0.05), and Quality of Life (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that T2 and T1ρ MRI can detect significant seasonal changes in the articular cartilage of basketball players and that there are regional differences in the articular cartilage that are indicative of basketball-specific stress on the femoral cartilage. This study demonstrates the potential of quantitative MRI to monitor global and regional cartilage health in athletes at risk of developing cartilage problems. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2 Technical Efficacy Stage: 2.
Flow and performance analysis of a natural gas-air rotating detonation engine with high-speed velocimetry

Abstract An experimental investigation of a high pressure, natural gas-air rotating detonation engine is presented. Simultaneous high-speed measurements of combustion chamber pressure, axially-integrated chamber chemiluminescence, and particle image velocimetry at the combustor exit plane were used to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the exhaust flow of two test conditions with distinct wave dynamics. A single detonation wave with an intermittent counter-rotating wave was characterized in the first test case, while a steady counter-rotating mode was studied in the second. Analysis using the continuous wavelet transform informs the coupled shift in the frequency and amplitude of pressure and velocity fluctuations observed in the raw timeseries. The high-speed measurements are used to reconstruct the wave structure for each case over the course of a cycle, revealing the canonical rotating detonation engine exhaust flow structure with a trailing oblique shock sweeping through the products for the single wave case. Interactions between counter-propagating detonation fronts result in a flowfield that varies with cycle phase angle, in contrast to the self-similar field of the single propagating wave. The axial velocity profile around the circumference of the combustor is independent of wave location, while azimuthal velocity fluctuations from the trailing oblique shocks are observed to track the detonation fronts and destructively interfere at wave intersections. The total pressure and temperature of flow exiting the combustor are computed using the phase-resolved velocity measurements along with the measured reactant flowrate and thrust to close the global balance of mass and momentum. The case with counter-rotating waves delivers 5% higher performance than the single-wave case. The application of simultaneous high-speed diagnostics helps elucidate the flow structure in a rotating detonation engine and provides a connection between the local flow structure and global combustor performance.
Gene expression signature of invasive primary breast cancer cells is transient in nature

1843 Gene expression profiling with microarrays has shown promise in prognosis by identifying patterns of expression that are correlated with metastasis. However, these patterns of expression do not reveal clues as to mechanisms of invasion and metastasis and can appear as random sets of genes with unrelated functions. The process of progression of the tumors from early carcinoma to metastatic carcinoma has been compared to Darwinian evolution in which favorable mutations are accumulated in the cells during tumor progression. A solution to this paradox may be to consider expression profiling of invasive carcinoma cells, which are caught in the act of invading inside tumors, reveal gene expression patterns that are grouped into pathways of functionality and give insight into mechanism. The patterns of gene expression of invasive cells are usually not seen in their entirety in expression profiles derived from whole tumors suggesting that invasion, and the patterns of gene expression that support it, are transitory. This leads to a new model of invasion called the tumor microenvironment invasion model (TMIM) where tumor progression leads to the development of microenvironments encoded within the tumor which elicit the transient gene expression patterns that support invasion. TMIM is a very different view of the events leading to metastasis compared to the conventional model. TMIM is consistent with the finding that genes encoding the tumor microenvironment for invasion and metastasis can be encoded throughout the bulk of the tumor and that they may not be related as pathways of functionality. TMIM is also consistent with the collection of invasive tumor cells using the in vivo invasion assay where any part of metastatic, but not non metastatic tumors, are capable of supplying cells in response to chemotactic ligands. An experimental plan was designed to understand the importance of microenvironment in the regulation of the expression of genes that regulate motility of the cells. The invasive tumor cells were collected by chemotaxis and removed from the microenvironment. Further, the cells which have successfully intravasated into the blood and those that have formed successful lung mets were collected from blood and the lungs by FCAS sorting. The resident tumor cells were used as controls for the experiment. It was observed that the gene expression took three different patterns. Some of the genes were stably over expressed in the invasive, intravasted and mets, indicating a stable genetic change in these cells. On the other hand majority of the other genes indicated in the invasive gene expression signature returned to the levels of non-invasive cells in the mets. We are currently studying the molecular mechanism of these stable and transient changes in the gene expression pattern of the invasive cells.
Pipelined parallel architecture for high throughput MAP detectors

A maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) detector based on a forward only algorithm with high throughput is considered in this paper. MAP gives the optimal performance and, with Turbo decoding, can achieve performance close to the channel capacity limits. Deep pipelined architecture for the forward only method is presented and compared with the other throughput-increasing methods. Simulation results based on the iterative MAP-LDPC (low-density parity check) system are shown. Hardware implementation issues that exploit the regularities of the structure are also discussed.
Effect of Sphere Properties on Microstructure and Mechanical Performance of Cast Composite Metal Foams

Aluminum-steel composite metal foams (Al-S CMF) are manufactured using steel hollow spheres, with a variety of sphere carbon content, surface roughness, and wall porosity, embedded in an Aluminum matrix through gravity casting technique. The microstructural and mechanical properties of the material were studied using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and quasi-static compressive testing. Higher carbon content and surface roughness in the sphere wall were responsible for an increase in formation of intermetallic phases which had a strengthening effect at lower strain levels, increasing the yield strength of the material by a factor of 2, while higher sphere wall porosity resulted in a decrease on the density of the material and improving its cushioning and ductility maintaining its energy absorption capabilities.
Assessment of prognosis with the total illness burden index for prostate cancer: aiding clinicians in treatment choice.

BACKGROUND. Among the most pressing challenges that face physicians who care for men with prostate cancer is evaluating the patient's potential for benefiting from treatment. Because prostate cancer often follows an indolent course, the presence and severity of comorbidities may influence the decision to treat the patient aggressively. The authors adapted the Total Illness Burden Index (TIBI) for use in decision-making among men with prostate cancer at the time of the visit. METHODS. An observational study was performed of 2894 participants in the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor, a national disease registry of men with prostate cancer, to examine how well the adapted TIBI for prostate cancer (TIBI-CaP) predicted mortality over the subsequent 3.5 years and health-related quality of life over the subsequent 6 months. RESULTS. The men who had the highest global TIBI-CaP scores were 13 times more likely to die of causes other than prostate cancer over a 3.5-year period than the men who had the lowest scores (hazard ratio, 13.1, 95% confidence interval, 6.3–27.4) after controlling for age, education, income, and race/ethnicity. Patients who had the highest TIBI-CaP scores had 44% mortality compared with 4.9% mortality for patients who had the lowest scores. Demographic variables explained 16% of the variance in future physical function; TIBI-CaP scores explained an additional 19% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS. The TIBI-CaP, a patient-reported measure of comorbidity, identified patients at high risk for nonprostate cancer mortality. It predicted both mortality and future quality of life. The TIBI-CaP may aid physicians and patients in making appropriate treatment decisions. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
catena-Poly[[diaqua-cadmium(II)]bis-(μ-2,2-dimethyl-butane-dioato-κO,O':O'',O''')[diaqua-cadmium(II)]-μ-1,4-bis-(3-pyridylmeth-yl)piperazine-κN:N].

In the title compound, [Cd2(C6H8O4)2(C16H20N4)(H2O)4]n, penta­gonal-bipyramidally coordinated CdII ions are connected into {Cd2(2,2-dimethyl­succinate)2(H2O)4} centrosymmetric dimeric clusters. In turn, these clusters are linked by tethering 1,4-bis­(3-pyridylmeth­yl)piperazine (3-bpmp) ligands into [Cd2(2,2-dimethyl­succinate)2(3-bpmp)(H2O)4]n coordination polymer chains. The chain motifs are oriented parallel to [1\overline{1}0]. Individual chains are connected into supra­molecular layers via O—H⋯N and O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding mechanisms.
Heightening Reflection Through Dialogue: A Case for Electronic Journaling and Electronic Concept Mapping in Science Classes

The literature on concept mapping and on journaling in the science classroom is well established (Ambron, 1991; Anderson & Huang, 1989; Barenholtz & Tamir, 1992; Emig, 1977; Fulwiler, 1980; Jegede, Alaiyemola, & Okebukola., 1990; Langer & Applebee, 1987; Nakhleh & Krajcik, 1991; Novak, Gowin, & Johansen, 1983; Novak & Gowin, 1984; Richardson, 1990; Wallace & Mintzes, 1990; Wandersee, 1990; Zulich & Bean, 1991), but there has been limited research on electronic variations of these well-established learning tools. Does the electronic medium alter the learning environment in significant ways? In valuable ways? In what ways might the electronic medium heighten "reflective practice," a quality promoted in teacher education (Bean & Zulich, 1989; Davison, King, & Kitchener, 1990; Schon, 1983, 1987; Zeichner & Liston, 1987)?
Targeting the unactivated conformations of protein kinases for small molecule drug discovery.

Background: The number of drugs in active clinical development or on the market that target the unactivated conformational states of protein kinases is growing and represents a significant portion of kinase research at biopharmaceutical companies. These non-classical kinase inhibitors have a mode of action which may overcome some of the liabilities of classical ATP-site inhibitors that substantially overlap the space that ATP occupies in the activated kinase. Objective: This review will discuss state-of-the-art methods of inhibiting protein kinases by targeting the unactivated conformations of the enzyme with small molecules directed to the ATP binding region. Methods: Biochemical and structural biology publications and public domain crystal structures were evaluated to identify key concepts in drug discovery for unactivated protein kinase inhibitors that target the ATP binding region. Conclusion: The potential for enhanced selectivity, potency and duration of pharmacological action may allow non-classica...
Universal statistical model for irradiance fluctuations in a turbulent medium

A universal model is proposed for the irradiance fluctuations of an optical beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence. When this model was compared with existing measured data, we found good qualitative and quantitative agreement, which suggests that this new theoretical model is applicable under all known conditions of turbulence. In the regime of weak scattering, the normalized moments of the distribution are essentially the same as those predicted by the lognormal model, although they show large deviations from lognormal statistics in the saturation regime. The limiting form of the universal model for conditions of super-strong turbulence is that of the negative-exponential distribution, but, for more moderate conditions of turbulence, the form is that of an exponential times an infinite series of Laguerre polynomials. The new distribution was derived under the assumption that the field irradiance consists of two principal components, each of which has an amplitude that is m distributed.
Photoepilation: a growing trend in laser‐assisted cosmetic dermatology

Summary Excess hair is an age-old condition plaguing both men and women alike, of all races. Conditions such as hirsutism or hypertrichosis, procedures that involve grafted donor sites, transsexual transformations from male to female, and genetics are all responsible for excess or unwanted hair. Previous options for people seeking to remove or lessen the presence of hair have either been painful or resulted in short-term hair removal. With the recent advent of laser technology, hair removal has been added to the many capabilities of the new generation nonablative lasers and light systems. Lasers are not yet a permanent solution for hair removal, but they are able to provide a safe, fast, and effective method of hair reduction.
Nonequilibrium electrical conductivity measurements in argon and helium seeded plasmas

In a previous paper, the authors presented experimental values of electrical conductivity measured in a plasma composed of argon gas seeded with potassium vapor. The measurements were made at atmospheric pressure with a neutral gas temperature of 2000° ± 100°K and with a number of values of seed concentration in the range 0.2 to 0.8 mole %. The effect of nonequilibrium heating of the electron gas-excited potassium system was investigated for a range of current densities between 0.8 and 80 amp/cm^2. These data were in good agreement with values of the conductivity calculated by a scheme, outlined in Ref. 1, which included the effects of energy loss from the system, composed of the electron gas and the electronically excited states of potassium due to radiation from the excited potassium atoms. In addition, the pulsed technique used to measure the conductivity in response to a step function application of the electric field made possible the determination of the relaxation times for the ionization process.
Pyridostigmine bromide modulates the dermal disposition of [14C]permethrin.

The cause of the Gulf War Syndrome may be related to soldiers being exposed to insecticides (e.g., permethrin (P)), insect repellents (e.g., N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET)), an organophosphate nerve agent simulant (e.g., diisopropyl fluorpohosphate (DFP)), and/or prophylactic treatment (e.g., pyridostigmine bromide (PB)) against potential nerve gas attacks. The purpose of this study was to assess the dermal disposition of [14C]permethrin in ethanol or ethanol:water (3:2) in the isolated perfused porcine skin flap (IPPSF) model with simultaneous dermal exposure to DEET or DFP. These IPPSFs were also simultaneously perfused arterially with or without PB, DFP, or DFP + PB. The results indicated that DFP + PB significantly increased [14C]permethrin absorption compared to controls (1.06% dose vs 0.14% dose). PB significantly increased [14C]permethrin disposition in the stratum corneum (SC) in aqueous mixtures only (9.40 vs 3.35% dose), while topical DEET or topical DFP reduced [14C]permethrin levels in the SC especially in nonaqueous mixtures. PB also significantly enhanced [14C]permethrin penetration into all skin tissues and perfusate in aqueous mixtures, while DEET reversed this effect. PB appeared to influence [14C]permethrin disposition in flowthrough diffusion cells, suggesting that the mechanism of this interaction may be associated predominantly with epidermal permeability, although muscarinic effects in the vasculature in IPPSFs should not be ruled out and requires further investigation. These experiments suggest that intraarterial perfusion of PB and/or DFP and topical application of DFP or DEET can alter the disposition of [14C]permethrin in skin and possibly its bioavailability in soldiers simultaneously exposed to these chemicals.