cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stem Cells, Bioengineering, and 3-D Scaffolds for Nervous System Repair and Regeneration

Abstract:A fundamental issue in biology concerns how cells establish and maintain their identity during early embryogenesis. Gaining a better understanding of these rules is key to future development of experimental therapeutics and is an important foundation of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. With the successful isolation of embryonic stem cells and the emergence of induced pluripotent stem cell technologies, it has become achievable to recapitulate developmental processes of early development. Furthermore, the advent of cellular reprogramming and transdifferentiation technologies has made it possible to implement rational strategies to generate specific cell types in order to model neurodegenerative diseases and develop cell-based therapies for nervous system disorders. Moreover, with advances in biomaterials and in 3-D scaffold fabrication techniques, it is becoming possible to mimic the neural stem cell niche. In this chapter, we provide an overview of approaches merging stem cells, polymeric scaffolds, drug delivery systems, gene therapy, cellular engineering, and biomaterials to develop experimental strategies for neural tissue engineering. Combined, these enabling technologies are likely to be beneficial for development of therapeutic interventions for translation to the clinic. A summary of a number of current clinical trials is also presented at the end to illustrate how combination of these technologies is helping nervous system rescue and repair.
A New Role for Flavoproteins in the Control of Megakaryocyte Polyploidy.

Megakaryocytes (MKs) can reach a ploidy level of greater than 32N (with 2N representing diploid chromosomes), while polyploidization is important for generating an adequate number of functional platelets. The MK population in the marrow intriguingly consists of a large fraction of 8N and 16N cells that are cell cycle arrested. Here, we examined the expression of different NADPH (NOX) oxidases in MKs, using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry, because of their known role in upregulating regulators of the G1 phase of the cell cycle and in promoting cell cycle progression. It was found that in thrombopoietin-treated mouse bone marrow cultures, NOX1 is highly expressed in many, but not all MKs, while NOX4 is expressed at lower levels than NOX1. Treatment of mouse bone marrow or fetal liver cultures with a NOX inhibitor, diphenylene iodonium (DPI) lead to accumulation of viable MKs at diploid and tetraploid levels, and to a significant reduction in the fraction of high ploidy MKs, as measured by Flow cytometry analysis with a MK specific marker as well as by immunostaining. MKs isolated by an albumin gradient were subjected to Western blotting, which indicated a decrease in the level of the G1 phase cyclin, cyclin E, in DPI-treated cells. Taken together, this study shows for the first time the expression of NOX isoforms in MKs and highlights the important role of flavoproteins in promoting polyploidy in this lineage. It is suggested that the population of cell cycle-arrested intermediate-ploidy MKs is prevented from reaching higher ploidy, partly because of diminished levels of G1 phase regulators via NOX downregulation.
Unsupervised feature selection via unified trace ratio formulation and K -means clustering (TRACK)

Feature selection plays a crucial role in scientific research and practical applications. In the real world applications, labeling data is time and labor consuming. Thus, unsupervised feature selection methods are desired for many practical applications. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) with trace ratio criterion is a supervised dimensionality reduction method that has shown good performance to improve classifications. In this paper, we first propose a unified objective to seamlessly accommodate trace ratio formulation and K-means clustering procedure, such that the trace ratio criterion is extended to unsupervised model. After that, we propose a novel unsupervised feature selection method by integrating unsupervised trace ratio formulation and structured sparsity-inducing norms regularization. The proposed method can harness the discriminant power of trace ratio criterion, thus it tends to select discriminative features. Meanwhile, we also provide two important theorems to guarantee the unsupervised feature selection process. Empirical results on four benchmark data sets show that the proposed method outperforms other sate-of-the-art unsupervised feature selection algorithms in all three clustering evaluation metrics.
Single-gene negative binomial regression models for RNA-Seq data with higher-order asymptotic inference

We consider negative binomial (NB) regression models for RNA-Seq read counts and investigate an approach where such NB regression models are fitted to individual genes separately and, in particular, the NB dispersion parameter is estimated from each gene separately without assuming commonalities between genes. This single-gene approach contrasts with the more widely-used dispersion-modeling approach where the NB dispersion is modeled as a simple function of the mean or other measures of read abundance, and then estimated from a large number of genes combined. We show that through the use of higher-order asymptotic techniques, inferences with correct type I errors can be made about the regression coefficients in a single-gene NB regression model even when the dispersion is unknown and the sample size is small. The motivations for studying single-gene models include: 1) they provide a basis of reference for understanding and quantifying the power-robustness trade-offs of the dispersion-modeling approach; 2) they can also be potentially useful in practice if moderate sample sizes become available and diagnostic tools indicate potential problems with simple models of dispersion.
Back to the Future: Trendy Fascism, the Trump Effect, and the Alt-Right

I started writing Trendy Fascism: White Power Music and the Future of Democracy following the 2008 election of Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States, and I finishe...
The Limits of Kant’s Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Practice, and the Crisis in Syria

Although Kant defends a cosmopolitan ideal, his philosophy is problematically vague regarding how to achieve it, which lends support to the empty formalism charge. How Kant would respond to the crisis in Syria reveals that judgement plays too central a role, because Kantian principles lead to equally reasonable but opposite conclusions on how to weigh the duty of hospitality to refugees against a state’s duty to its own citizens, the right of prevention towards ISIS against the duty not to harm non-combatants, and the responsibility to protect the people of Syria against the duty of non-interference in its internal affairs.
Cloud Engineering Principles and Technology Enablers for Medical Image Processing-as-a-Service

Traditional in-house, laboratory-based medical imaging studies use hierarchical data structures (e.g., NFS file stores) or databases (e.g., COINS, XNAT) for storage and retrieval. The resulting performance from these approaches is, however, impeded by standard network switches since they can saturate network bandwidth during transfer from storage to processing nodes for even moderate-sized studies. To that end, a cloud-based "medical image processing-as-a-service" offers promise in utilizing the ecosystem of Apache Hadoop, which is a flexible framework providing distributed, scalable, fault tolerant storage and parallel computational modules, and HBase, which is a NoSQL database built atop Hadoop's distributed file system. Despite this promise, HBase's load distribution strategy of region split and merge is detrimental to the hierarchical organization of imaging data (e.g., project, subject, session, scan, slice). This paper makes two contributions to address these concerns by describing key cloud engineering principles and technology enhancements we made to the Apache Hadoop ecosystem for medical imaging applications. First, we propose a row-key design for HBase, which is a necessary step that is driven by the hierarchical organization of imaging data. Second, we propose a novel data allocation policy within HBase to strongly enforce collocation of hierarchically related imaging data. The proposed enhancements accelerate data processing by minimizing network usage and localizing processing to machines where the data already exist. Moreover, our approach is amenable to the traditional scan, subject, and project-level analysis procedures, and is compatible with standard command line/scriptable image processing software. Experimental results for an illustrative sample of imaging data reveals that our new HBase policy results in a three-fold time improvement in conversion of classic DICOM to NiFTI file formats when compared with the default HBase region split policy, and nearly a six-fold improvement over a commonly available network file system (NFS) approach even for relatively small file sets. Moreover, file access latency is lower than network attached storage.
The Rcs-Regulated Colanic Acid Capsule Maintains Membrane Potential in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

The Rcs phosphorelay and Psp (phage shock protein) systems are envelope stress responses that are highly conserved in gammaproteobacteria. The Rcs regulon was found to be strongly induced during metal deprivation of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium lacking the Psp response. Nineteen genes activated by the RcsA-RcsB response regulator make up an operon responsible for the production of colanic acid capsular polysaccharide, which promotes biofilm development. Despite more than half a century of research, the physiological function of colanic acid has remained elusive. Here we show that Rcs-dependent colanic acid production maintains the transmembrane electrical potential and proton motive force in cooperation with the Psp response. Production of negatively charged exopolysaccharide covalently bound to the outer membrane may enhance the surface potential by increasing the local proton concentration. This provides a unifying mechanism to account for diverse Rcs/colanic acid-related phenotypes, including susceptibility to membrane-damaging agents and biofilm formation.IMPORTANCE Colanic acid is a negatively charged polysaccharide capsule produced by Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and other gammaproteobacteria. Research conducted over the 50 years since the discovery of colanic acid suggests that this exopolysaccharide plays an important role for bacteria living in biofilms. However, a precise physiological role for colanic acid has not been defined. In this study, we provide evidence that colanic acid maintains the transmembrane potential and proton motive force during envelope stress. This work provides a new and fundamental insight into bacterial physiology.
Reintervention Burden and Vessel Growth After Surgical Reimplantation of a Pulmonary Artery During Childhood.

Children requiring reimplantation of a branch pulmonary artery (PA) are at risk for postoperative stenosis and impaired growth of the reimplanted PA. Outcomes and risk factors for reintervention and impaired growth are incompletely described. We reviewed data on patients who underwent reimplantation of a branch PA between 1/1/99 and 5/1/15 at a single center. The primary outcome was reintervention to treat postoperative stenosis. The secondary outcome was “catch-up” growth (faster diameter growth of the affected PA compared with the unaffected PA from the preoperative to follow-up measurements.). Twenty-six patients were identified with a total follow-up of 102.2 patient-years (median 2.5 years). Diagnoses included LPA sling (n = 12) and isolated PA of ductal origin with (n = 7) or without (n = 7) tetralogy of Fallot (ToF). All had primary repair of the anomalous PA. Seventeen (65%) had reintervention with median time to first reintervention of 69 (range 1–1005) days and median of 1.5 (range 1–6) reinterventions. 94% of reinterventions were transcatheter (53% balloon and 41% stent angioplasty). Patients with reintervention were younger (hazard ratio 0.75 per log-day, p = 0.02) and lower weight (hazard ratio 0.18 per log-kg, p = 0.02) at initial repair. Of the 18 with PA growth data, 8 (44%) had catch-up growth. There were no identified differences between those who did and did not demonstrate catch-up growth. Despite a practice of primary reimplantation and aggressive postoperative reintervention, these results suggest that changes in strategy are needed or that there are intrinsic patient factors that have more influence on longer-term reimplanted PA growth.
Constructing Economic Interests: Geography, Culture, & the Liberal International Order

The liberal international order seems to be resting on very shaky ground. While the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote were startling shocks, these developments represented only the most extreme outcomes of anti-globalization and anti-establishment politics that had been growing for some time. As analysts today struggle to understand these complex phenomena, they most often divide their explanations into two opposing camps: identity politics versus economic anxiety. I argue that we need instead to understand the new political cleavages in terms of the interactions between economic circumstances and culture, rather than thinking of them as competing explanations. I offer a new way of theorizing about where interests come from, one that focuses on the stark geographic cleavages of the new post-industrial economy and how these material circumstances have created polarized everyday lived experiences. Although I focus on the US case in this short memo, this emphasis on the cultural class cleavages created by the twenty-first century economy should also illuminate some of the drivers for Brexit and the rise of populist politics more generally.
Overload mitigation control of droop-controlled grid-forming sources in a microgrid

The droop-controlled grid-forming sources are well known for robust voltage and frequency control and the ability to balance power between multiple sources in a microgrid. However, these sources may become overloaded with the possibility of collapsing the microgrid. This paper presents an overload mitigation control strategy which can autonomously transfer the extra load of the overloaded source to other sources without communications. The main advantages of this control strategy are that it maintains voltage control of the overloaded sources and does not need to switch between grid-forming control and grid-following control. A small signal model is established to study the system stability. Simulation and on-site test results verify the effectiveness of this control strategy.
Solubilization of Acridine Orange by Aqueous Triton-305

Solvent-jump relaxation kinetic, equilibrium spectral photometric and relaxation amplitude results are presented on aqueous Triton-305 at 5°, using acridine orange as indicator. The relaxation can be interpreted as the solubilization of the dye adsorbed on the micelle, at a rate determined by the dissolution of the micelle (Aniansson’s slow process).
Abstract 5473: TGF{beta} Induction of Vascular Smooth Muscle Differentiation Markers is Mediated by Nox4 and p38 Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) undergo phenotypic transformation in response to environmental cues. In response to injury, VSMC switch from a “contractile” to “synthetic” phenotype, which is implicated in restenosis and arteriosclerosis. Thus, accelerating VSMC redifferentiation may be one way to limit lesion development. TGF β induces differentiation in VSMC; however, the mechanism is incompletely understood. Previous work has implicated Nox4 in differentiation. In this study, we hypothesized that TGF β induces differentiation via Nox4 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38) pathways. In VSMCs, treatment with TGF β (2 ng/mL) for 24 hours increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (146±15% vs control) and Nox4 protein expression (150±12% vs control), both of which are reduced by transfection with small interfering RNA against Nox4 (siNox4). At 48 hours, TGF β maximally induces the expression of the differentiation markers smooth muscle alpha actin (SMA) and calponin (CNN) and increased incorporation of SMA into stress fibers. This induction is blunted by preincubation with the flavin oxidase inhibitor diphenylene iodonium (DPI) (90±8% inhibition) or by siNox4 (100% inhibition). To investigate the role of p38, we first demonstrate p38 is activated by TGF β at 60 minutes (370±70%) and it is not ROS dependent, because it is not blocked by preincubation with DPI. However, p38 remains activated for up to 24 hours, as measured by continued phosphorylation of its substrates, heat shock protein 27 (650±48%) and the obligatory differentiation transcription factor serum response factor (280±50%). This late activity of p38 is prevented by DPI (68±10% and 57±5% inhibition of HSP27 and SRF). Moreover, the inhibition of p38MAPK partially reverses the upregulation of SMA (60±20% inhibition) and CNN (67%±23 inhibition) by TGF β , and acts in cooperation with Rho kinase (87±10% and 97±1% inhibition of SMA and CNN). Thus, we conclude that Nox4 and p38 are critical regulators of TGFâ-induced differentiation in VSMC, and that Nox4 maintains the activity of p38. These data raise the possibility that Nox4 and p38 are potential targets in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in which VSMC dedifferentiation plays a pivotal role.
INFLUENCE OF HYDROGEN CONTENT ON OXIDATION OF CARBON BLACKS

Small amounts of hydrogen are present in most forms of carbon black. The influence of hydrogen content on the reaction of oxygen with carbon blacks was investigated in detail. The atomic ratio of carbon to hydrogen in the oxidation products varied with the length of oxidation, indicating non-uniformity of distribution of hydrogen with respect to carbon. The reaction rate of channel blacks was observed to be directly proportional to total hydrogen content. However, the reaction rate of oxygen with furnace blacks (total hydrogen contents less than 0.3%) did not show any relationship with hydrogen content. Hydrogen content was varied by heat treatment and again the rate of reaction for channel blacks was proportional to hydrogen content while the furnace blacks showed no proportionality. The implications of the reactivity are discussed in terms of the structure of carbon blacks as revealed by adsorption data and X-ray diffraction data.
Microbial Diversity in Modern Stromatolites

Poised at the biosphere–lithosphere interface, the microbial consortia associated with stromatolites have a profound impact on the evolution of Earth’s environment. In this chapter, we review the current state of knowledge of microbial diversity in extant stromatolites by examining data generated using cultivation-independent molecular techniques. Specifically, we compare natural stromatolitic mat systems of three distinctive habitats: the hypersaline pools of Shark Bay, Australia; the open ocean stromatolites of Highborne Cay, Bahamas; and the lacustrine lagoons of Ruidera Pools, Spain. We compare these natural systems to an experimental artificial microbialite, looking for fundamental differences and similarities within the microbial communities. Of the 21 bacterial phyla or sub-phyla detected in the various stromatolite ecosystems, only Cyanobacteria were found dominant in all habitats. Within the phylum, few cyanobacterial ecotypes were common to all ecosystems. The marine and hypersaline stromatolite ecosystems had significantly higher bacterial diversity than did the artificial microbialite or the freshwater stromatolite, and the diversity approached that observed in non-lithifying hypersaline microbial mats. Finally, we consider the ecological insights provided by the acquisition of metagenomic sequence data for understanding stromatolite diversity and function. These high-throughput metagenomic sequencing approaches have been applied to modern stromatolitic and microbialitic mat communities and have facilitated a higher resolution characterization of microbial diversity at the molecular-level, thus providing an initial glimpse into the functional complexity of these dynamic ecosystems.
Potential New Chemical Roles for Diheme Enzymes in Burkholderia

Recent bioinformatics analysis led to the discovery of unreported diheme enzymes found in all strains of Burkholderia, which share sequence similarity to known bacterial cytochrome c peroxidases (b...
Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

The anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for single-level disc disease was first described in 1958. Since that time, the anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) procedure has become a mainstay in spinal surgery, and its indications have expanded. Time spent ensuring proper positioning secures adequate access to the operative levels. A thorough understanding of surgical anatomy is essential for identifying key structures and safely gaining access to the anterior cervical spine. While the general tenants of the discectomy and fusion portions of the procedure are fairly standardized, adjuvant surgical tools utilized in these portions may vary based on surgeon preference. While there are some well-known complications, the ACDF has been shown to be a safe and effective procedure for addressing anterior cervical pathology.
Athletic game scheduling

GENERAL INTRODUCl ION Introduction Literature Review Dissertation Organization CHAPTER I. PAIRED HOME AND ATHLETIC GAME SCHEDULING USING SIMULATED ANNEALING INTRODUCTION PROBLEM FORMULATION ALGORITHM Generating initial athletic game schedule Multi echelon simulated annealing APPUCATION AND RESULTS Examples for 4 teams Examples for 6 teams Example for 8 teams
Isavuconazole as Primary Antifungal Prophylaxis in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome: An Open-label, Prospective, Phase 2 Study.

Background Mold-active primary antifungal prophylaxis (PAP) is routinely recommended in neutropenic patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) undergoing remission-induction chemotherapy (RIC). Isavuconazole (ISAV) is an extended spectrum mold-active triazole and has superior tolerability and fewer significant drug-drug interactions compared with other triazoles. Methods In our investigator-initiated, phase 2 trial, treatment-naive adult patients with AML or MDS starting RIC received ISAV per the dosing recommendations in the US label until neutrophil recovery (absolute neutrophil count [ANC] ≥ 0.5 × 109/L) and attainment of complete remission, occurrence of invasive fungal infection (IFI), or for a maximum of 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was the incidence of proven/probable IFI during ISAV PAP and up to 30 days after the last dose. Results Sixty-five of 75 enrolled patients received ISAV PAP (median age, 67 years, median ANC at enrollment, 0.72 × 109/L). Thirty-two patients (49%) received oral targeted leukemia treatments (venetoclax, FTL3 inhibitors). Including the 30-day follow-up period, probable/proven and possible IFIs were encountered in 4 (6%) and 8 patients (12%), respectively. ISAV trough serum concentrations were consistently > 1 µg/mL, showed low intraindividual variation, and were not significantly influenced by chemotherapy regimen. Tolerability of ISAV was excellent, with only 3 cases (5%) of mild to moderate elevations of liver function tests and no QTc prolongations. Conclusions ISAV is a safe and effective alternative for PAP in patients with newly diagnosed AML/MDS undergoing RIC in the era of recently approved or emerging small-molecule antileukemia therapies. Clinical trials registration NCT03019939.
The COVID-19 pandemic: a catalyst to improve clinical trials.

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided the vital stepping stones to improve how clinical trials are conducted. We provide an overview of the major changes to the clinical trial process instigated by the pandemic and suggest ways to make these changes sustainable.
Rare Earth Elements Extraction from Coal Waste Using a Biooxidation Approach

Rare earth elements (REE) are moderately abundant and are presently extracted from limited resources of monazite, bastnaesite, and loparite minerals and ionic clays. Other potential sources include large coal resources in active coal mines and existing coal waste dumps. A technology has been proposed and demonstrated that can be used to deliver clean coal for the market as well as REE-bearing non-coal material that is concentrated in REE content and suitably sized for heap leaching. Additionally, a separate stream of concentrated sulfide minerals can be produced from mid to high sulfur coals suitable for the bio-oxidation production of a lixiviant suitable for leaching REE from the non-coal rock in a heap leach setting. The removal of the sulfide minerals cleans the coal, accelerates subsequent REE extraction, and eliminates the future potential for acid-rock drainage. For cost-effective enhanced leaching, bio-oxidation has been used that has been applied to coal-based materials. During bioleaching, Fe3+ ions generated from bioleaching oxidize sulfide minerals such as pyrite, and subsequent production of acid. These two species (acid and Fe3+ ions) are key drivers for REEs dissolution, as well as residual sulfides removal, thereby controlling future acid mine drainage and related liabilities. This paper discusses some associated results acquired for the proposed process.
Uncertainty Quantification in Fatigue Crack Growth Prognosis

This paper presents a methodology to quantify the uncertainty in fatigue crack growth prognosis, applied to structures with complicated geometry and subjected to variable amplitude multi-axial loading. Finite element analysis is used to address the complicated geometry and calculate the stress intensity factors. Multi-modal stress intensity factors due to multi-axial loading are combined to calculate an equivalent stress intensity factor using a characteristic plane approach. Crack growth under variable amplitude loading is modeled using a modified Paris law that includes retardation effects. During cycle-by-cycle integration of the crack growth law, a Gaussian process surrogate model is used to replace the expensive finite element analysis. The effect of different types of uncertainty – physical variability, data uncertainty and modeling errors – on crack growth prediction is investigated. The various sources of uncertainty include, but not limited to, variability in loading conditions, material parameters, experimental data, model uncertainty, etc. Three different types of modeling errors – crack growth model error, discretization error and surrogate model error – are included in analysis. The different types of uncertainty are incorporated into the crack growth prediction methodology to predict the probability distribution of crack size as a function of number of load cycles. The proposed method is illustrated using an application problem, surface cracking in a cylindrical structure
Why is the rent so darn high? The role of growing demand to live in housing-supply-inelastic cities

Abstract Real rents measured in the United States CPI increased 17.4 log-points from 2000 to 2018. We present a spatial equilibrium framework to decompose the increase into several channels, including demand to live in housing-supply-inelastic cities. We find location demand contributed significantly: using parameterizations from the literature and a new rent index, we find it is responsible for between 17 and 73 percent of the overall rent increase, and an even larger share in cities where CPI is measured. The wide range is primarily due to a lack of consensus over the population elasticity to rents, so we estimate it by comparing the effects of demand shocks across cities of differing housing supply elasticities. We find that demand changes have similar effects across cities, suggesting a high population elasticity. Therefore, our preferred estimate is that location demand accounts for more than half of the increase. We discuss implications for housing supply policy.
Postoperative Myocardial Injury in Patients Classified as Low Risk Preoperatively Is Associated With a Particularly Increased Risk of Long-Term Mortality After Noncardiac Surgery.

Background Prior studies have shown an association between myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery (MINS) and all-cause mortality in patients following noncardiac surgery. However, the association between preoperative risk assessments, Revised Cardiac Risk Index and American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, and postoperative troponin elevations and long-term mortality is unknown. Methods and Results A retrospective chart review identified 548 patients who had a troponin I level drawn within 14 days of noncardiac surgery that required an overnight hospital stay. Patients aged 40 to 80 years with at least 2 cardiovascular risk factors were included, while those with trauma, pulmonary embolism, and neurosurgery were excluded. Kaplan-Meier survival and odds ratio (OR) with sensitivity/specificity analysis were performed to assess the association between preoperative risk and postoperative troponin elevation and all-cause mortality at 1 year. Overall, 69%/31% were classified as low-risk/high-risk per the Revised Cardiac Risk Index and 66%/34% per American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Comparing the low-risk versus high-risk groups, preoperative risk assessment was not associated with either postoperative troponin elevation or 1-year mortality. MINS portended a 1-year mortality of OR, 3.9 (95% CI, 2.44-6.33) in the total population. Patients classified as low risk preoperatively with MINS had the highest risk of 1-year mortality (OR, 9.6; 95% CI, 4.27-24.38), with a low prevalence of statin use. Conclusions Current preoperative risk stratification tools do not prognosticate the risk of postoperative troponin elevation and all-cause mortality at 1 year. Interestingly, patients classified as low risk preoperatively with MINS had a markedly higher 1-year mortality risk compared with the general population, and most of them are not taking a statin. Our results suggest that evaluating preoperatively low-risk patients for MINS presents an opportunity for prognostication, risk reclassification, and initiating therapies such as statins to mitigate long-term risk.
Moving Beyond Themes: Reimagining the Qualitative Analysis Curriculum

Teaching novice qualitative researchers how to move beyond first-cycle themes is a challenging endeavor. In this essay, we articulate four harmful habits that tend to impede our success: moving too quickly, privileging product over process, providing cursory coverage of analytic technique and artistry, and overlooking the role of synthesis in qualitative research. As a step toward replacing harmful habits with more healthy ones, we offer a number of practical suggestions for reimagining the qualitative research methods curriculum.
North Coast Women's Care: California's Still-Undefined Standard for Protecting Religious Freedom

Ever since reproductive technology became widely available to treat fertility problems, some physicians have tried to limit access to this technology for various reasons, including the age, marital status, and sexual orientation of patients.1 In a landmark ruling, the California Supreme Court recently held that clinic physicians may not deny lesbians access to fertility treatment on the grounds that the procedure violated the physicians' religious beliefs.2 The court found that neither the federal nor state constitutional rights to free exercise of religion exempted the doctors from following antidiscrimination provisions in California's Unruh Civil Rights Act (Unruh Act).3 In reaching this result, the court held that the federal free exercise right did not justify noncompliance with a neutral and generally applicable law.4 It went on to find that even if the state constitution granted stronger protection, the physicians' interests in religious freedom still did not overcome the state's compelling interest in ensuring equal access to reproductive treatment.5 In so ruling, the court resolved the dispute at hand, but avoided answering the fundamental legal question of what level of
Quantum model of plasmon-quantum emitter interaction in the strong-coupling regime

A full quantum model incorporating realizable materials properties is developed for interactions between a plasmonic resonator and a single two-level quantum emitter, enabling fabrication of plasmonic nanostructures for the strong coupling regime of cavity-quantum-electrodynamics.
Identification and characterization of the ligand binding subunit of a kainic acid receptor using monoclonal antibodies and peptide mapping.

Abstract Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and a polyclonal antiserum were produced against a kainic acid receptor (KAR) purified from frog brain. Several of the mAb and the antiserum immunoprecipitated [3H]kainic acid binding activity from solubilized preparations of frog brain and labeled a group of proteins on immunoblots that migrated at Mr = 48,000. These results confirm that the ligand binding subunit of the frog brain KAR is contained in the Mr = 48,000 proteins. Immunoblots from different frog tissues demonstrated that the antibody reactivity was highly concentrated in the frog nervous system with no detectable immunoreactivity observed in non-neuronal tissues. The purified KAR was radioiodinated and subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. A series of proteins was detected at Mr = 48,000 with isoelectric points from 5.5 to 6.3. The anti-KAR mAb and the antiserum reacted with the same group of proteins from frog whole brain after separation by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Peptide maps of the 125I-labeled KAR separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the group of proteins clustered at Mr = 48,000 is homologous. mAb KAR-B1 reacted on immunoblots with a protein in rat brain with a Mr = 99,000. This protein comigrated with an unreduced form of the KAR in frog brain. It was present in rat cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum but was not detected in thalamus, globus pallidus, or brain stem, nor was it detected in rat non-neuronal tissues. The presence of the Mr = 99,000 immunoreactive polypeptide in discrete areas of rat brain suggests that this protein may be part of a mammalian KAR or a related receptor.
The Colours of the Sun

In this paper, arguments are developed for treating (R—I)C as the most important colour to be derived for the Sun. The solar value of (R — I)C is then found to be 0.335 ± 0.002 mag. This result updates a counterpart given by Taylor in 1992.
School Consultation Research: Methodological Critique and Future Research Directions.

This article reviews the current status of school consultation research and critiques the research methodologies used in consultation research. Major theoretical models in which consultation resear...
Adaptive integral method with fast Gaussian gridding for solving combined field integral equations

Fast Gaussian gridding (FGG), a recently proposed nonuniform fast Fourier transform algorithm, is used to reduce the memory requirements of the adaptive integral method (AIM) for accelerating the method of moments-based solution of combined field integral equations pertinent to the analysis of scattering from three-dimensional perfect electrically conducting surfaces. Numerical results that demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the AIM–FGG hybrid in comparison to an AIM-accelerated solver, which uses moment matching to project surface sources onto an auxiliary grid, are presented.
Variations in Slope Components during Large Magnitude Floods, Wisconsin

Errors are associated with the substitution of map and water surface slopes for energy gradients in hydraulic estimation procedures. Many paleodischarge reconstruction techniques assume one-to-one correspondence between water surface slope and slope measured from a topographic map. The assumption that map slope or water surface slope, however, can be directly substituted for energy slope, involves unknown degrees of error. This research shows that energy gradients are generally overpredicted by both water surface slope (mean = 44 percent) and map slope (mean = 71 percent). At several sites in the Upper Mississippi Valley, the explained variances for the relationship between map slope and water surface slope range from 7–78 percent. Environmental factors that influence the strength of the relationship include the flood-producing mechanism (snowmelt versus convectional precipitation), the storm path through the basin, and the relative synchroneity of response between the tributaries and the trunk stream. The relationship does not systematically improve with increasing relative flood height. The strongest association between these two slope measures occurs during rainstorms distributed fairly uniformly throughout the basin, and when floods attain sufficient stage to minimize the resistance effects of floodplain vegetation and surface irregularities. During other floods, map slopes poorly approximate water surface slopes causing differences in discharge estimation that deviate by 27 percent but may reach 50 percent.
Equation of state in the acentric factor system

Abstract The acentric factor theory for fluid properties was originally presented with tabulated functions for the compressibility factor and other properties because no convenient equation of state represented fluid behavior over a wide range of conditions to the required accuracy. Now much more complex equations are “convenient”, and many equations have been developed which are completely defined when T c , P c , and ω are given. An equation is developed to best meet the following criteria: (1) accuracy of representation of measured properties over a wide range of conditions, (2) accurate agreement with the observed near-critical properties, (3) simplicity of form, and (4) computational convenience. The acentric factor system is an approximation, and agreement to the best experimental accuracy is not expected. Comparisons are presented to indicate the precision that can be expected for the critical isotherm and for other regions. The equation is further tested by comparisons of calculated enthalpies. The behavior of the effective critical exponent β e in the near-critical region is examined.
One carbon metabolism in methanogenic bacteria

Two strains of Methanosarcina (M. Barkeri strain MS, isolated from sewage sludge, and strain UBS, isolated from lake sediments) were found to have similar cellular properties and to have DNA base compositions of 44 mol percent guanosine plus cytosine. Strain MS was selected for further studies of its one-carbon metabolism. M. barkeri grew autotrophically via H2 oxidation/CO2 reduction. The optimum temperature for growth and methanogenesis was 37°C. H2 oxidation proceeded via an F420-dependent NADP+-linked hydrogenase. A maximum specific activity of hydrogenase in cell-free extracts, using methyl viologen as electron acceptor, was 6.0 μmol min · mg protein at 37°C and the optimum pH (9.0). M. barkeri also fermented methanol andmethylamine as sole energy sources for growth. Cell yields during growth on H2/CO2 and on methanol were 6.4 and 7.2 mg cell dry weight per mmol CH4 formed, respectively. During mixotrophic growth on H2/CO2 plus methanol, most methane was derived from methanol rather than from CO2. Similar activities of hydrogenase were observed in cell-free extracts from H2/CO2-grown and methanol-grown cells. Methanol oxidation apparently proceeded via carrierbound intermediates, as no methylotrophy-type of methanol dehydrogenase activity was observed in cell-free extracts. During growth on methanol/CO2, up to 48% of the cell carbon was derived from methanol indicating that equivalent amounts of cell carbon were derived from CO2 and from an organic intermediate more reduced than CO2. Cell-free extracts lacked activity for key cell carbon synthesis enzymes of the Calvin cycle, serine path, or hexulose path.
Development of serotonergic and adrenergic receptors in the rat spinal cord: Effects of neonatal chemical lesions and hyperthyroidism

The sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the spinal cord receive dense serotonergic (5-HT) and catecholaminergic (CA) afferent inputs from the descending supraspinal pathways. In the rat spinal cord, the levels of these biogenic amines and their receptors are low at birth, but undergo rapid ontogenetic increases in the ensuing 2-3 postnatal weeks until the adult levels are reached. In many systems it has been shown that denervation of presynaptic neurons leads to an up-regulation of the number of postsynaptic receptors. To determine whether the 5-HT and CA receptors in the developing spinal cord are also subject to such transsynaptic regulation, we examined the ontogeny of serotonergic receptors and alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptors in thoracolumbar spinal cord of rats given neurotoxins which destroy serotonergic (5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT)) or noradrenergic (6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)) nerve terminals. Intracisternal administration of 5,7-DHT or 6-OHDA at 1 and 6 days of age prevented, respectively, the development of 5-HT and CA levels in the spinal cord. Rats lesioned with 5,7-DHT displayed a marked elevation of 5-HT receptors with a binding of 50% greater than controls at 1 week and a continuing increase to twice normal by 4 weeks. A similar pattern of up-regulation was also detected with the alpha-adrenergic receptor, as rats lesioned with 6-OHDA exhibited persistent increases in receptor concentration. However, in these same animals ontogeny of the beta-adrenergic receptor in the spinal cord remained virtually unaffected by the chemical lesion. In several other parts of the nervous system, it has been demonstrated that the beta-adrenergic sensitivity can be modulated by hormonal signals, particularly that of the thyroid hormones. This phenomenon was examined in the spinal cord and in confirmation with previous studies neonatal treatment of triiodothyronine (0.1 mg/kg, s.c. daily) was capable of evoking persistent increases in beta-adrenergic receptor binding. These results suggest that: (a) development of the postjunctional serotonergic and alpha-adrenergic receptors in the rat spinal cord can occur in the absence of the prejunctional nerve terminals and are subject to transsynaptic modulation; (b) beta-adrenergic receptors in the spinal cord also can develop after prejunctional lesions but are regulated by hormonal rather than neuronal factors.
Development of seriation and its relation to the achievement of inferential transitivity

Sixty kindergarten and first grade children took part in an intervention program during which they were confronted with problems requiring concrete operational thought. The study was designed to ascertain the influence of an intervention in the development of operational seriation and transitivity in kindergarten and first grade children who initially failed to demonstrate the ability to do seriation and transitivity problems. Seriation of size, presumably a prerequisite operation for transitive size relations, was also studied. The subjects showed significant advancement toward concrete operation on the seriation problems but failed to show significant improvement on the transitivity problems. In addition, subjects who showed understanding of transitive inference also demonstrated success on seriation, but subjects who showed clear understanding of seriation did not demonstrate success on making transitive inference. Results were interpreted in the context of Piaget's equilibration theory (Genetic epistemology. New York: Columbia University Press, 1970).
PERSONALITY, INTEGRITY, AND WHITE COLLAR CRIME: A CONSTRUCT VALIDITY STUDY

This study examined the construct validity of personality scales, a personality-based integrity test, and homogenous biodata scales as reflected in their ability to discriminate white collar criminals from other white collar employees. The sample included 365 prison inmates incarcerated in 23 federal correctional institutions for white collar offenses, and 344 individuals employed in upper-level positions of authority. A cross-validated linear discriminant function (DF) based on 16 variables selected in the developmental sample produced a large difference (1.83 standard deviation units) between the two sample groups. The pattern of score differences revealed the offenders as having greater tendencies toward irresponsibility, lack of dependability, and disregard of rules and social norms. This study indicates that there are large and measurable psychological differences between white collar offenders and nonoffenders, and that the major construct underlying these differences is “social conscientiousness.” The best measure of this difference was a personality-based integrity test.
Iron through the ages

Abstract A range of iron artifacts, covering an approximate time period from 1000 BCE to 1000 CE, have been metallographically examined. It is concluded that there was little change in iron manufacturing over this time span of 2000 years. It is also concluded that some artifacts, specifically tool and weapon blades, showed that knowledge existed, by at least 500 BCE, to increase hardness both by increasing carbon content and by rapid cooling from the austenite range. The study indicates that there was a considerable degree of sophistication on the part of these early ironworkers, although the processing is thought to have been empirical.
New application of endoloop for rectal polypectomy

The primary difficulty in performing rectal procedures such as polypectomy in children is the limited space in which to suture after a biopsy. Use of an available laparoscopic pretied loop ligature has been adapted to simplify these cases.
Inorganic pyrophosphatase activity in sewage samples

Abstract Inorganic pyrophosphatase activity was monitored in sewage samples. The optimum pH for incubation (5h) was within pH 7.5–8.0. Magnesium did not consistently enhance the activity, indicating that the trace metal requirements of the enzyme were sometimes met by cations in the sewage. The activity was present in all samples: high values were recorded in the primary raw sludge and the lowest value was detected in the final effluent.
THE DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF HIV INFECTION

In the past 15 years HIV infection and AIDS have become pandemic in the world. Infectious and neoplastic complications have evolved in response to medical advances and to the appearance of HIV infection in different populations. Because AIDS patients live longer with severe immunosuppression and new treatments have controlled opportunistic infections, the spectrum of complications of AIDS has changed. New and more effective antiretroviral drugs are being developed, and physicians are learning how to use them more effectively. Currently, medical management of HIV-infected patients focuses on the appropriate use of antiretrovirals and the prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of complicating illnesses. A coordinated continuum of care and patient education and involvement are also key elements of effective management of HIV infection.
Causes of Death in Carcinoma of the Lung in a Large Public Hospital: An Analysis of 186 Fatalities

A distressing picture emerges from the analysis of 186 fatalities from carcinoma of the lung at Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans. Patients often delayed seeking treatment. Private physicians and hospital staff often failed to suspect the diagnosis or were slow to recommend surgery. The investigation was sometimes perfunctory, sometimes unnecessarily repetitious, and sometimes enmeshed in hospital routine and protocol. Appallingly often the clinical course was far too brief to permit any positive action. If the mortality is to be lowered in this disease, which is now of major importance among malignant diseases, the profession must (1) develop a far higher index of suspicion concerning it; (2) explore the chest on suspicion much oftener; (3) stress the urgency of diagnosis and treatment; (4) investigate the whole man rather than limited fields whenever adults seek medical care for any reason whatsoever; and (5) make the fullest possible use of data available in mass chest surveys.