cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Methysergide and Infantile Spasms

A trial of antiadrenergic and antiseretonergic drugs in the treatment of 24 newly diagnosed and previously untreated infantile spasm patients is reported from the Epilepsy Research Center, Section of Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine; the Methodist Hospital; and Texas Children’s Hospital; Houston, TX.
Some Recollections About Anatolii Isakovich Lurie

Abstract This talk is focused on the events and general atmosphere of the wartime when A.I. Lurie initiated his work on the absolute stability. The presentation is based on the recorded evidence left behind by Anatolii Isakovich as well as on some personal reminiscences of the speaker.
Recent non-linear radar research at the Army Research Laboratory

Nonlinear radar has proven to be a viable means of detecting devices that contain electrical nonlinearities. Electrical nonlinearities are present in dissimilar metals, metal to oxide junctions, semiconductors and more. This paper presents a linear and nonlinear synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system capable of imaging linear and nonlinear targets. The system creates images using data collected from a fixed 16 channel receiver with a single transmitter. A custom 16:1 switching network was developed to collect the SAR data from a 16 antenna receive array. SAR images presented show a nonlinear target placed directly on the ground and imaged in multiple range and cross-range locations. Data is also presented showing the clutter rejection properties of nonlinear radar. Images show that the harmonic radar is able to ignore the strong linear response from a corner reflector, while retaining the nonlinear response from a target.
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Identifying Patients at Risk of Inflammation or Fibrosis

NAFLD is defined as hepatic steatosis on imaging or histology in the absence of other etiologies for secondary fat accumulation. It is usually identified during the evaluation of elevated transaminase levels in a patient without heavy alcohol intake, or found incidentally on imaging studies.
The Emergence of Small-World Phenomenon in Urban Transportation Networks: An Exploratory Analysis

‘Small-world networks’ is a new concept that is receiving a lot of attention. Introduced by Watts andStrogatz (1998), a ‘small-world network’ is based on ‘six degrees of separation’, or the notion that everyone in the world is related to everyone else through at most six acquaintances. ‘Six degrees of separation’ arises from the existence of cliques and a few popular individuals who provide connections between these cliques. Small-world networks are similar in that they have a high degree of local clustering or cliqueness, like a regular lattice and a relatively short average minimum path, like a completely random network. Unlike the idea of six degrees of separation though, they do not assume random connectivity. Instead, they lie somewhere in between a regular lattice and a random network. Watts and Strogatz (1998) assert that this phenomenon is probably universal, applying to many natural and manmade networks. The United States power grid, the neural network of a particular type of worm, and the social network of acting coworkers are three networks for which this is demonstrated.
Avalanches and Criticality in Driven Magnetic Skyrmions

We show using numerical simulations that slowly driven Skyrmions interacting with random pinning move via correlated jumps or avalanches. The avalanches exhibit power-law distributions in their duration and size, and the average avalanche shape for different avalanche durations can be scaled to a universal function, in agreement with theoretical predictions for systems in a nonequilibrium critical state. A distinctive feature of Skyrmions is the influence of the nondissipative Magnus term. When we increase the ratio of the Magnus term to the damping term, a change in the universality class of the behavior occurs, the average avalanche shape becomes increasingly asymmetric, and individual avalanches exhibit motion in the direction perpendicular to their own density gradient.
Effect of a Medium-Incorporated Hydrogel on Plant Growth and Water Use of Two Foliage Species

A fully expanded hydrogel, Agrosoke, was used to replace 5% (1 ×) or 10% (2 ×) of the volume of a potting medium to determine its effect on plant growth and water use. Although irrigation frequency was unaffected by Agrosoke, spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jacques ‘Vittatum’) grown in the 2 × medium were 50% larger and had more lateral shoots and better root systems than the control, demonstrating improved water use efficiency. Agrosoke had no effect on either irrigation frequency or on fresh weight of Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata (L.) Schott. ‘Rooseveltii’). Leachates from hydrogel-amended media had higher electrical conductivity indicating that more nutrients and other salts were held by these media.
Land, Wood, Water, and Space: Senator Robert S. Kerr, Congress, and Selling the Space Race to the American Public: Land, Wood, Water, and Space

Objective We examine the contribution Sen. Robert S. Kerr (Dâ€ OK) made in promoting NASA and space exploration to Oklahoma and the general public while serving as chair of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences. Methods Using newspaper articles as well as speeches and press releases from the archival papers of Robert S. Kerr, we estimate a topic model to uncover the dimensions of debate concerning space. We also use the communications from Kerr's office to provide substantiation and context to the way the senator promoted space in Oklahoma and elsewhere. Results We find that contrary to the conventional wisdom, Cold War concerns about national security and primacy were not all that fueled arguments for pursuing space technology. We demonstrate here that particularized benefits, stateâ€ level leadership, economic development, and technological advancements were all used to â€œsell spaceâ€ during NASA's infancy. Conclusion While it is easy to give credit to the executive for achieving national goals, it is almost impossible to get to the desired outcomes without buyâ€ in from the legislature. In turn, this means members of Congress need to sell the policy to constituents back home.
Humor in the classroom: the effects of integrated humor on student learning

ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to examine the impact of integrated humor on direct measures of students’ ability to retain and transfer information from educational lessons. In two experiments, participants were randomly exposed to either a lesson with humorous examples or standard examples and were subsequently asked to take tests on the material. Data were analyzed to examine differences in students’ test scores while controlling for the impact of perceived concreteness, interestingness, cognitive overload, and coherence within each lesson. In Study 1, results revealed that, compared with students exposed to standard examples, students exposed to lessons with humorous examples performed worse on a multiple-choice test of the material. Study 2 replicated these findings with a new manipulation and also included an open-ended question test; results revealed that students exposed to the humorous condition again performed worse on their tests compared with students exposed to the standard examples. Finding...
The Meaning of Doing: Reflective Practice in Public Administration Education.

Governments write us into being by compelling the public to fill in tiny boxes on forms revealing our most private information. These personal details become matters of public record. What if stude...
#UrbanAndMakingIt: Urban Youth’s Visual Counternarratives of Being #MoreThanAStereotype

The purpose of this study was to analyze the narratives constructed by urban youth in a summer program for future educators of color. In particular, we asked, “In what ways do students use texts to...
Steatosis Rates by Liver Biopsy and Transient Elastography With Controlled Attenuation Parameter in Clinical Experience of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus/HCV Coinfection in a Large US Hepatitis Clinic

Background Steatosis contributes to liver fibrosis in hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/HCV coinfection. Liver biopsy (LB) is the reference standard for grading steatosis and staging fibrosis, yet recent advances in noninvasive modalities have largely supplanted LB, which may limit recognition of steatosis. We evaluated steatosis rates by LB and transient elastography (TE) with controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) among HCV-infected and HIV/HCV-coinfected patients in a US clinic. Methods Patients with chronic HCV infection during pretreatment evaluation by LB (n = 421; December 2001 through May 2014) and TE with CAP (n = 1157; May 2016 through May 2017) were included. Fibrosis and steatosis rates by LB and TE with CAP were stratified by HCV versus HIV/HCV coinfection status. Results Steatosis was not reported in 26.1% of LBs. Moderate to severe steatosis (grade ≥S2) was detected more often with CAP than with LB (in 24.0% vs 11.4% of patients, respectively). Median CAP values were higher in patients with HCV monoinfection than in those with coinfection (230 vs 215.5 dB/m, respectively; P < .001). With TE, the rate of advanced fibrosis (values F3-F4) was higher in HCV monoinfection than in coinfection (25.9% vs 14.8%, respectively; P <.001). With both LB and TE, advanced fibrosis (F3-F4) was significantly associated with moderate to severe steatosis (S2-S3) in HCV monoinfection compared with HIV/HCV coinfection (33.3% vs 4.4%, respectively for LB [P = 0.003] and 36.0% vs 29.0% for TE [P = 0.008]). Conclusions In patients with chronic HCV undergoing liver fibrosis staging, steatosis was detected more often with CAP than LB, with median CAP values higher in HCV monoinfection than HIV/HCV coinfection. Steatosis severity may be increasing in the modern HCV treatment era.
Burn rate enhancement of ammonium perchlorate–nitrocellulose composite solid propellant using copper oxide–graphene foam micro-structures

Abstract Burn rate enhancement of a composite solid propellant, AP–NC (Ammonium Perchlorate–Nitrocellulose) was demonstrated experimentally by coupling to 3-D, highly conductive, interconnected, porous and CuO-functionalized GF (graphene foam) micro-structures. The pure GF micro-structures were first synthesized using a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) technique and then functionalized with the transition metal oxide CuO using a hydrothermal approach. The CuO-functionalized GF micro-structures significantly enhanced the burn rates, up to 7 times the bulk value, which was attributed to the combined physical (increased thermal transport) and chemical (enhanced thermal decomposition) effects. TG (thermogravimetric) and DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) analysis showed the activation energy of AP–NC was lowered by 22% with the use of the CuO-functionalized GF structures.
Longitudinal Increases in Knee Abduction Moments in Females during Adolescent Growth.

ABSTRACTPurposeKnee abduction moment (KAM) is an injury risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that shows divergent incidence between males and females during adolescence. The objective of this study was to determine the relation between skeletal growth and increased KAM. The hypoth
Quality control associated with use of semipermeable membrane devices

Semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were used to monitor polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in an urban stream. Replicate SPMDs were exposed during seven consecutive 14-day periods and analyzed for PAHs. Relative percent differences (RPDs) were calculated to determine precision (reproducibility) in SPMD replicates. RPDs ranged from 13.9% to 56.0% (n = 14). Variations in replicates encompassed SPMD preparation, deployment, exposure, retrieval, and analysis. Seven SPMDs were spiked at various intervals throughout the study with a mixture of all PAH analytes at 2.0 {micro}g/g triolein per compound. Average percent recovery (n = 7) varied from 52% to 82%. Method detection limits (MDLs) were also assessed by spiking ten SPMDs at 0.200 {micro}g/g with equal amounts of a PAH mixture. Most MDLs for PAHs in SPMDs ranged from 0.054 to 0.178 {micro}g/g triolein, however, if considering a 14-day exposure period, these MDLs can be translated into water concentrations of 2.1 ng/L to 13 ng/L. These values are as much as 2,000 times lower than MDLs for methods which employ solvent extraction and high performance liquid chromatography to directly measure PAHs in water. Blank SPMDs were prepared, and analyzed along with each set of field exposures and proved to be free of PAH contaminantsmore » above MDLs.« less
Adversary for Social Good: Protecting Familial Privacy through Joint Adversarial Attacks.

Social media has been widely used among billions of people with dramatical participation of new users every day. Among them, social networks maintain the basic social characters and host huge amount of personal data. While protecting user sensitive data is obvious and demanding, information leakage due to adversarial attacks is somehow unavoidable, yet hard to detect. For example, implicit social relation such as family information may be simply exposed by network structure and hosted face images through off-the-shelf graph neural networks (GNN), which will be empirically proved in this paper. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose a novel adversarial attack algorithm for social good. First, we start from conventional visual family understanding problem, and demonstrate that familial information can easily be exposed to attackers by connecting sneak shots to social networks. Second, to protect family privacy on social networks, we propose a novel adversarial attack algorithm that produces both adversarial features and graph under a given budget. Specifically, both features on the node and edges between nodes will be perturbed gradually such that the probe images and its family information can not be identified correctly through conventional GNN. Extensive experiments on a popular visual social dataset have demonstrated that our defense strategy can significantly mitigate the impacts of family information leakage.
Photoelectrochemical alcohol oxidation by mixed-linker metal–organic frameworks

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) provide a suitable platform for stable and efficient heterogeneous photoelectrochemical oxidation catalysis due to their highly ordered structure, large surface area, and synthetic tunability. Herein, a mixed-linker MOF comprising of a photosensitizer [Ru(dcbpy)(bpy)2]2+ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, dcbpy = 5,5′-dicarboxy-2,2′-bipyridine) and catalyst [Ru(tpy)(dcbpy)Cl]+ (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine) that were incorporated into the UiO-67 framework and grown as thin films on a TiO2-coated, fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode (RuB-RuTB-UiO-67/TiO2/FTO). When used as an electrode for the photoelectrochemical oxidation of benzyl alcohol, the mixed-linker MOF film showed a faradaic efficiency of 34%, corresponding to a 3-fold increase in efficiency relative to the RuB-UiO-67/TiO2/FTO control. This increase in catalytic efficiency is ascribed to the activation of RuTB moieties via oxidation by photogenerated RuIIIB. Transient absorption spectroscopy revealed the delayed appearance of RuIIITB* or RuIIITB formation, occurring with a lifetime of 21 ns, due to energy and/or electron transfer. The recovery kinetics of the charge separated state was increased (283 μs) in comparison to single-component control experiments (105 μs for RuB-UiO-67/TiO2/FTO and 7 μs for RuTB-UiO-67/TiO2/FTO) indicating a cooperative effect that could be exploited in chromophore/catalyst MOF motifs.
Tourism in the Egyptian Red Sea Area: A Responsible Development Approach

Egypt has always been a world-renowned tourism destination of antiquity. A government policy of product diversification attempts to disperse tourists more evenly in the country. The Egyptian Red Sea coast is therefore targeted as a new tourism development zone. The author identifies the new development patterns in the Egyptian Red Sea area and discusses the potential tourism impact on the coastal environment. It is recommended that a responsible development approach be adopted for coastal and marine tourism in the Egyptian Red Sea area
Analysis of the mechanism of damage produced by thiazole orange photoinactivation in apheresis platelets.

BACKGROUND Pathogen Reduction Technologies (PRTs) are broad spectrum nucleic acid replication-blocking antimicrobial treatments designed to mitigate risk of infection from blood product transfusions. Thiazole Orange (TO), a photosensitizing nucleic acid dye, was previously shown to photoinactivate several types of bacterial and viral pathogens in RBC suspensions without adverse effects on function. In this report we extended TO treatment to platelet concentrates (PCs) to see whether it is compatible with in vitro platelet functions also, and thus, could serve as a candidate technology for further evaluation. MATERIAL AND METHODS PCs were treated with TO, and an effective treatment dose for inactivation of Staphylococci was identified. Platelet function and physiology were then evaluated by various assays in vitro. RESULTS Phototreatment of PCs yielded significant reduction (≥4-log) in Staphylococci at TO concentrations ≥20 μM. However, treatment with TO reduced aggregation response to collagen over time, and platelets became unresponsive by 24 hours post-treatment (from >80% at 1 h to 0% at 24 h). TO treatment also significantly increased CD62P expression ( 50% for TO treated at 1 h) and induced apoptosis in platelets ( 50% for TO treated at 1 h) and damaged mitochondrial DNA. A mitochondria-targeted antioxidant and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger Mito-Tempo mitigated these adverse effects. DISCUSSION The results demonstrate that TO compromises mitochondria and perturbs internal signaling that activates platelets and triggers apoptosis. This study illustrates that protecting platelet mitochondria and its functions should be a fundamental consideration in selecting a PRT for transfusion units containing platelets, such as PCs.
EPA and DHA differentially modulate monocyte inflammatory response in subjects with chronic inflammation in part via plasma specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators: A randomized, double-blind, crossover study.

Abstract Background and aims The independent effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on chronic inflammation through their downstream lipid mediators, including the specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPM), remain unstudied. Therefore, we compared the effects of EPA and DHA supplementation on monocyte inflammatory response and plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) SPM lipidome. Methods After a 4-week lead-in phase (baseline), 9 men and 12 postmenopausal women (50–75 years) with chronic inflammation received two phases of 10-week supplementation with 3 g/day EPA and DHA in a random order, separated by a 10-week washout. Results Compared with baseline, EPA and DHA supplementation differently modulated LPS-stimulated monocyte cytokine expression. EPA lowered TNFA (p Conclusions EPA and DHA had distinct effects on monocyte inflammatory response with a broader effect of DHA in attenuating pro-inflammatory cytokines. These differential effects were potentially mediated by different groups of PUFA derivatives, suggesting immunomodulatory activities of SPM and their intermediates.
Trefftz Functions for Nonlocal Electrostatics.

Electrostatic interactions in solvents play a major role in biophysical systems. There is a consensus in the literature that the dielectric response of aqueous solutions is nonlocal: polarization depends on the electric field not only at a given point but in the vicinity of that point as well. This is typically modeled via a convolution of the electric field with an appropriate integral kernel. A primary problem with nonlocal models is high computational cost. A secondary problem is restriction of convolution integrals to the solvent, as opposed to their evaluation over the whole space. The paper develops a computational tool alleviating the "curse of nonlocality" and helping to handle the integration correctly. This tool is Trefftz approximations, which tend to furnish much higher accuracy than traditional polynomial ones. In the paper, Trefftz approximations are developed for problems of nonlocal electrostatics, with the goal of numerically "localizing" the original nonlocal problem. This approach can be extended to nonlocal problems in other areas of computational mathematics, physics and engineering.
A seat at the table: an invitation to the SRS podium via the study group

The SRS annual meeting (SRS-AM) represents the pinnacle of research in the field of spinal deformity. Spine surgery research was historically based on single-surgeon experience, but an increasing number of abstracts presented at SRS-AM are conducted by multicenter study groups, which may have improved the quality of literature available to surgeons. We sought to determine the proportion of SRS-AM podium presentations (PP) resulting from study groups over a 15-year period. 1874 PP from the 2005–2019 SRS-AM were reviewed to determine if they resulted from a study group or multicenter collaboration. Abstracts were also classified as pediatric- or adult-focused. Pearson correlations were calculated to analyze changes in the proportion of study group or multicenter PP. The number of SRS PP increased from 102 to 171 from 2005 to 2019. 381 (20.3%) PP were identified as a study group product, while 536 (28.6%) resulted from multicenter collaboration. The proportion of study group PP increased by 0.9% annually from 8.8 to 26.9% (r2 = 0.44, p = 0.007), while multicenter PP increased by 1.2% annually from 11.8 to 40.9% (r2 = 0.51, p = 0.003). A greater proportion of study group PP were level of evidence I or II studies compared to those not resulting from the work of study groups (53.8 vs 19.3%, p < 0.001). SRS-AM PP resulting from research study groups and multicenter collaborations increased over threefold from 2005 to 2019. Spine surgeons are taking a more proactive approach to produce more generalizable research with higher level of evidence through multicenter study groups, allowing them to make more informed decisions to ultimately improve surgical outcomes for patients. V.
High Affinity Chimeric Antigen Receptor with Cross-Reactive scFv to Clinically Relevant EGFR Oncogenic Isoforms

Abstract Tumor heterogeneity is a key reason for therapeutic failure and tumor recurrence in glioblastoma (GBM). Our chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell (2173 CAR T cells) clinical trial (NCT02209376) against Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) variant III (EGFRvIII) demonstrated successful trafficking of T cells across the blood brain barrier into GBM active tumor sites. However, CAR T cell infiltration was associated only with a selective loss of EGFRvIII+ tumor, demonstrating little to no effect on EGFRvIII- tumor cells. Post-CAR T treated tumor specimens showed continued presence of EGFR amplification and oncogenic EGFR extracellular domain (ECD) missense mutations, despite loss of EGFRvIII. To address tumor escape, we generated an EGFR-specific CAR by fusing monoclonal antibody (mAb) 806 to a 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain. The resulting construct was compared to 2173 CAR T cells in GBM, using in vitro and in vivo models. 806 CAR T cells specifically lysed tumor cells and secreted cytokines in response to amplified EGFR, EGFRvIII, and EGFR-ECD mutations in U87MG cells, GBM neurosphere-derived cell lines, and patient-derived GBM organoids. 806 CAR T cells did not lyse fetal brain astrocytes or primary keratinocytes to a significant degree. They also exhibited superior antitumor activity in vivo when compared to 2173 CAR T cells. The broad specificity of 806 CAR T cells to EGFR alterations gives us the potential to target multiple clones within a tumor and reduce opportunities for tumor escape via antigen loss.
Consumer acceptance of egg white partially substituted with mushrooms and mushroom-egg white flavor pairing.

Mushroom possesses a distinctive sensory quality and unique nutrients. Its pairing with egg white and consumer acceptance has never been investigated. In this study, formulated mushroom-egg white patty prototypes (white and crimini mushrooms at 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, either oven roasted or steamed) were evaluated by 380 participants for acceptance and intensity of nine sensory attributes. Mushroom-egg white patty prototypes received positive hedonic scores for overall acceptance and the likeability of overall flavor, mushroom flavor, meaty flavor, egg white flavor, overall texture, and firmness. Consumer overall acceptance was most strongly and positively correlated with overall flavor liking, followed by overall appearance and overall texture likeability. Additionally, the likeability of flavor pairing between mushroom and egg white was rated positively across all 16 patties, indicating a good flavor match of mushroom and egg white. Consumer hedonic levels toward mushroom patties were significantly (p ≤ .05) impacted by cooking method, mushroom type, and mushroom level. The addition of mushroom was acceptable up to 20%, with steam method and crimini mushroom most preferred. The results provided new insights into consumer attitudes and potentially important sensory factors affecting the acceptability of mushroom-egg white patties, consequently increasing the utilization and consumption of mushrooms and mushroom-blended products.
The Geography of Strabo: An English Translation, with Introduction and Notes

The Geography of Strabo is the only surviving work of its type in Greek literature, and the major source for the history of Greek scholarship on geography and the formative processes of the earth. In addition, this lengthy and complex work contains a vast amount of information on other topics, including the journey of Alexander the Great, cultic history, the history of the eastern Mediterranean in the first century BC, and women's history. Modern knowledge of seminal geographical authors such as Eratosthenes and Hipparchos relies almost totally on Strabo's use of them. This is the first complete English translation in nearly a century, and the first to make use of recent scholarship on the Greek text itself and on the history of geography. The translation is supplemented by a detailed discussion of Strabo's life and his purpose in writing the Geography, as well as the sources that he used.
Estimations of Milk and Meat Withdrawal Times of Ketamine and Lidocaine in Adult Holstein Cows

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic commonly used for short-term and induction of anesthesia in bovine species. Ketamine has recently become popular for use as a constant-rate infusion for continuous pain relief. Lidocaine, a local anesthetic, is frequently used for local infiltration and epidural nerve blocks. Two of the most common local blocks in adult cattle are the inverted-L local infiltration and caudal epidural nerve blocks. These blocks are utilized for numerous standing surgical procedures such as cesarean sections, obstetric manipulations, correction of a displaced abomasum and perineal surgery. These animals may occasionally be sent for slaughter following a surgical procedure, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a zero-tolerance policy for drug residues in meat and milk. There is limited information and no published data on meat and milk withdrawal times for ketamine anesthesia or lidocaine administration via these two different techniques. The objectives of this study were to investigate the pharmacokinetics of ketamine following administration of a single intravenous dose and lidocaine administered via inverted-Land caudal epidural nerve blocks, and to establish the withdrawal times for meat and milk of these two anesthetics in mature Holstein cows.
On-chip non-Hermitian optical parametric amplifiers with a large bandwidth

Recently, our groups have introduced the notion of optical parametric amplification based on non-Hermitian phase matching wherein the incorporation of loss can lead to gain in this nonlinear optical process. Previous simulation results using second-order nonlinear optical coupled-mode theory have demonstrated the potential of this technique as an alternative to the stringent phase-matching condition, which is often difficult to achieve in semiconductor platforms. Here we fortify this notion for the case of third-order nonlinearity by considering parametric amplification in silicon nanowires and illustrate the feasibility of these devices by employing rigorous finite-difference time-domain analysis using realistic materials and geometric parameters. Particularly, we demonstrate that by systematic control of the optical loss of the idler in a four-wave mixing process, we can achieve efficient unidirectional energy conversion from the pump to the signal component even when the typical phase-matching condition is violated. Importantly, our simulations show that a signal gain of ∼9dB for a waveguide length of a few millimeters is possible over a large bandwidth of several hundreds of nanometers (∼600nm). This bandwidth is nearly 2 orders of magnitude larger than what can be achieved in the conventional silicon-photonics-based four-wave mixing process.
Natural Belief in Persistent Selves

In “Of Personal Identity”, Hume attempts to understand why we ordinarily believe in persistent selves. He proposes that this ontological commitment depends on illusions and fictions: the imaginatio...
Abstract IA008: Mismatch repair deficiency and survival in stage I endometrial cancer

The importance of testing for DNA mismatch repair defects and high levels of tumor microsatellite instability (MSI) is established for screening colorectal and endometrial cancers for Lynch Syndrome and advanced solid tumor malignancies for treatment with checkpoint inhibitors. Therefore, accurate clinical assays are necessary to identify DNA mismatch repair defects and patients with cancers with high levels of MSI. While defects in DNA mismatch repair identified by immunohistochemistry may often overlap with tumor microsatellite instability as identified by PCR-based assays, the two molecular events are not synonymous and can be discordant in individual cancers. Cancers outside of the GI tract may have loss of DNA mismatch repair proteins but may have more subtle microsatellite instability or even be microsatellite stable. The College of American Pathologists has established an expert guideline committee to help navigate some of the clinical testing issues when trying to detect defects in DNA mismatch repair and MSI in cancers. In addition to these established clinical uses of DNA mismatch repair and MSI, their use as a prognostic biomarker for endometrial cancer is emerging. Data suggest that specific environmental factors may interact with DNA mismatch repair, causing a more variable phenotype in cancers with loss of DNA mismatch repair. Citation Format: Russell R. Broaddus. Mismatch repair deficiency and survival in stage I endometrial cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference: Endometrial Cancer: New Biology Driving Research and Treatment; 2020 Nov 9-10. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(3_Suppl):Abstract nr IA008.
Mothers Driving Cycles

Ecological Orbits . How Planets Move and Populations Grow. By Lev Ginzburg and Mark Colyvan . Oxford University Press, New York, 2004. 182 pp. $29.95, £17.99. ISBN 0-9-516816-X. The authors offer a short, metaphor-rich argument for the importance of the inertial behavior of biological populations.
Growth and mineral nutrition of tobacco.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the results and conclusions from research on the growth characteristics of the tobacco plant and its response to the variations in the nutrient environment. Tobacco derives its value from the unique physical and chemical properties of the leaves. In most of the areas, where the crop is grown, the seeds are shown in open beds, protected by a covering of cheesecloth or some straw-like material; in the cooler regions, seedlings are produced in greenhouses or cold frames. Seeds of some varieties require light for germination. Daily alternations of moderately high and low temperatures, however, may largely overcome the need for light. The tobacco plant, from seedling stage until final harvest, is extremely sensitive to the relatively small fluctuations in nutritional regimes and environmental conditions. In the commercial production of each type tobacco, under favorable temperature conditions, growth is most noticeably affected, by the supplies of available water and nitrogen in the soil. The practice of topping (removal of the terminal bud) and suckering (removal of axillary buds) was adopted in the early stages of tobacco culture. These practices have significant effects on the subsequent development of the plant that are frequently manifested through changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the leaves. The quantity of each nutrient, absorbed by a field-grown crop of tobacco, varies considerably; it is dependent on the class of tobacco, fertilization practices, residual level of nutrients in the soil, number of plants per acre, rainfall, and other environmental factors.
Saccadic Characteristics of Monozygotic and Dizygotic Twins Before and After Alcohol Administration

Purpose. To evaluate the degree of heritability in the latency, accuracy, and peak velocity of reflexive saccades in young adult monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins before and after the administration of a single dose of ethanol. Methods. Saccades were recorded using a scleral search coil before and after alcohol consumption, and data were analyzed offline. Estimates of heritability based on intraclass correlations (ICCs) and using a maximum likelihood estimates of genetic variance were calculated for the saccadic measures made before and after alcohol, as well as for die changes in latency, accuracy, and velocity. Results. Intraclass correlations for MZ twins (rMZ) were highly significant; those for DZ twins (rDZ) were not significantly different from zero. This disparity between rMZ and rDZ suggests either multiple gene interactions or in utero environmental differences in the MZ twins. Alcohol significandy prolonged latency, reduced accuracy, and lowered peak velocity. Although the changes after alcohol were not significant, heritability values increased in all three measures after alcohol administration. Conclusions. Latency, accuracy, and peak velocity appear to be controlled by multiple genes or to depend on prenatal environmental factors. Even a single low dose of alcohol appeared to enhance heritability measures. Differences seen between ICCs for latency, accuracy, and velocity after alcohol administration suggest that developmental control of the neural mechanisms underlying each measure may vary. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1996;37:339-344.
AES software implementations on ARM7TDMI

Information security on small, embedded devices has become a necessity for high-speed business. ARM processors are the most common for use in embedded devices. In this paper, we analyze speed and memory tradeoffs of AES, the leading symmetric cipher, on an ARM7TDMI processor. We give cycle counts as well as RAM and ROM footprints for many implementation techniques. By analyzing the techniques, we give the options we found which are the most useful for certain purposes. We also introduce a new implementation of AES that saves ROM by not explicitly storing all the SBOX data.
Altmetrics: Value all research products

A new funding policy by the US National Science Foundation represents a sea-change in how researchers are evaluated, says Heather Piwowar.
Africa Since 1940: The Past of the Present

Africa since 1940 is the flagship textbook in Cambridge University Press' New Approaches to African History series. Now revised to include the history and scholarship of Africa since the turn of the millennium, this important book continues to help students understand the process out of which Africa's position in the world has emerged. A history of decolonisation and independence, it allows readers to see just what political independence did and did not signify, and how men and women, peasants and workers, religious and local leaders sought to refashion the way they lived, worked and interacted with each other. Covering the transformation of Africa from a continent marked by colonisation to one of independent states, Frederick Cooper follows the 'development question' across time, seeing how first colonial regimes and then African elites sought to transform African society in their own ways. He shows how people in cities and villages tried to make their way in an unequal world, through times of hope, despair, renewed possibilities, and continued uncertainties. Looking beyond the debate over what or who may be to blame, Cooper explores alternatives for the future.
Pediatric dental sedation: challenges and opportunities

High levels of dental caries, challenging child behavior, and parent expectations support a need for sedation in pediatric dentistry. This paper reviews modern developments in pediatric sedation with a focus on implementing techniques to enhance success and patient safety. In recent years, sedation for dental procedures has been implicated in a disproportionate number of cases that resulted in death or permanent neurologic damage. The youngest children and those with more complicated medical backgrounds appear to be at greatest risk. To reduce complications, practitioners and regulatory bodies have supported a renewed focus on health care quality and safety. Implementation of high fidelity simulation training and improvements in patient monitoring, including end-tidal carbon dioxide, are becoming recognized as a new standard for sedated patients in dental offices and health care facilities. Safe and appropriate case selection and appropriate dosing for overweight children is also paramount. Oral sedation has been the mainstay of pediatric dental sedation; however, today practitioners are administering modern drugs in new ways with high levels of success. Employing contemporary transmucosal administration devices increases patient acceptance and sedation predictability. While recently there have been many positive developments in sedation technology, it is now thought that medications used in sedation and anesthesia may have adverse effects on the developing brain. The evidence for this is not definitive, but we suggest that practitioners recognize this developing area and counsel patients accordingly. Finally, there is a clear trend of increased use of ambulatory anesthesia services for pediatric dentistry. Today, parents and practitioners have become accustomed to children receiving general anesthesia in the outpatient setting. As a result of these changes, it is possible that dental providers will abandon the practice of personally administering large amounts of sedation to patients, and focus instead on careful case selection for lighter in-office sedation techniques.
Design for a 3-D deformable brain atlas

The 3-D deformable brain atlas (DBA), an integrated image database/knowledge base system is proposed. Major aims of the DBA are to integrate spatial and symbolic representations of anatomical knowledge, and to create an open system of information which the user can both search and append additional information. An object-oriented and landmark-based registration and integration scheme that fulfils these goals is described. Landmarks are chosen for image registration and atlas integration. The registration approach, which treats images as elastic materials, uses Gaussian radial basis functions. Registration is both simple and efficient and can be applied to both 2-D and 3-D imagery. Sets of landmarks, called frame points, allow new images to be integrated into the DBA through an existing parent image (2-D or 3-D). A web structure is used to track and update the information needed in the registration and integration process. The major features of the DBA system are illustrated. >
Foster Parents Speak: Preferred Characteristics of Foster Children and Experiences in the Role of Foster Parent

ABSTRACT Foster parents play a pivotal role in the child welfare system. A study that employed focus groups with foster parents was conducted at a private foster care agency with the initial purpose of understanding the characteristics of foster children that foster parents both preferred and not preferred. In the qualitative research tradition, their answers addressed the topic of characteristics and expanded to provide additional data on their experience as foster parents. Using theme analysis, the following themes were generated: foster care as service; foster parents' preferences of foster children's characteristics; foster parents do not feel valued or trusted; increased caseworker and foster parent partnership; problems in the foster care and related systems; and focus group as support. Implications for research and practice are forwarded.
Constrained-Equilibrium Modeling of Ethanol Combustion in Air

The rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium technique is used to study the ignition characteristics of mixtures of ethanol/air in an isolated batch reactor. A set of 16 constraints was identified which is able to reproduce the ignition characteristics very well within the specified range of thermodynamics conditions. The detailed kinetic scheme involves 37 species and 238 reactions without nitrogen chemistry.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Control of ventilation in climbers to extreme altitude.

Blunted chemosensitivity has been found in successful endurance athletes and some high-altitude natives. This characteristic, however, may not be beneficial to climbers at extreme altitude, where a...
Abstract A110: Kinase gene expression profiles are associated with clinical outcomes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma patients

Abstracts: Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research 2008 A110 There are 516 known kinases in the human genome. These proteins are involved in regulating nearly all cellular processes through phosphorylation of target proteins. Because of their important role maintaining proper cellular function, they are often misregulated during tumorigenesis and associated with clinical outcomes in cancer patients. Similarly to other cancers, several kinases have been found to play key roles during development of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, less is known about the global expression status of these genes in RCC and their association with clinical outcomes. To identify variation in the RCC kinome, we performed a systematic analysis of gene expression for 503 human kinases using Illumina whole genome arrays in 93 tumor samples. Expression levels were analyzed with regard to associations with recurrence and overall survival. Six kinases were found to be significantly associated with an increased risk developing a recurrence, while two kinases were protective (p < 0.01). Furthermore, an expression signature comprised of these eight genes was able to identify low risk and high risk groups of patients (HR: 26.83, 95% CI: 3.77-190.78, p = 0.0010). These two risk groups also had significantly different recurrence-free survival times of 67.6 compared to 37.9 months (p = 0.0003) for the low and high risk groups, respectively. Expression of one of these eight genes, IKBKE, was also associated with a 5.3-fold increased risk of dying (95% CI: 1.93-14.59, p = 0.0012). Interestingly, this kinase was constantly associated with a poor prognosis in both univariable and multivariable analyses with similar HRs, indicating that expression levels of this gene may be a candidate, independent prognostic marker for RCC. IKBKE is a member of the NFκB signaling pathway and is responsible for regulation of NFκB-mediated transcriptional activation of genes involved in inflammation, immunity and stress responses. Overall, these results suggest a major role of global kinase gene expression in modulating clinical outcomes in RCC patients while identifying several candidate genes, including IKBKE, for further study. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):A110.
α-tocopherol downregulates gulonolactone oxidase activity in sturgeon

Gulonolactone oxidase (GLO) is the enzyme responsible for the last step of ascorbic acid biosynthesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid on GLO activity in a lower vertebrate, the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus). Both alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid modulated renal GLO activity. The increase of dietary levels of alpha-tocopherol and/or ascorbic acid significantly raised the liver concentrations of these two antioxidants and concomitantly lowered kidney's GLO activity. The results suggest that the enzyme of ascorbic acid synthetic pathway responded to the animal's antioxidant status and that its activity was downregulated by alpha-tocopherol. This is the first record of alpha-tocopherol being involved in the regulation of ascorbic acid synthesis. This new observation may provide a hypothesis for the evolutionary loss of GLO expression in teleost fishes.
Electron, Electron-Bremsstrahlung and Proton Depth-Dose Data for Space-Shielding Applications

A data set has been developed, consisting of depth-dose distributions for omni-directional electron and proton fluxes incident on aluminum shields. The principal new feature of this work is the accurate treatment, based on detailed Monte Carlo calculations, of the electron-produced bremsstrahlung component. Results covering the energy region of interest in space-shielding calculations have been obtained for the absorbed dose (a) as a function of depth in a semiinfinite medium, (b) at the edge of slab shields, and (c) at the center of a solid sphere. The dose to a thin tissue-equivalent detector was obtained as well as that in aluminum. Various results and comparisons with other work are given.
The effects of chronic administration of T4, growth hormone and epidermal growth factor on hepatic lipogenic enzymes in hypophysectomised rats.

The effect of daily injections of T 4 , growth hormone and epidermal growth factor on the activities of the 3 hepatic enzymes malic enzyme (E.C.1.1.1.40), 6 phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (E.C.1.1.1.44) and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (E.C.1.1.1.49) in hypophysectomised rats was examined. T 4 was shown to increase the activity of malic enzyme in a dose dependent manner from a basal level of 3.55 umol/min/liver to 48.97 umol/min/liver at a dose of 75 ug/Kg/day. A smaller increase in the activity of 6 phosphogluconate dehydrogenase was also observed over the same range of T 4 dosage. Growth hormone in the current study increased the total liver enzyme activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase by 84% when given with a replacement dose of 35ug T 4 /Kg/day and 6 phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activity by 19%
DISCOUNT RATE CHOICE AND THE APPLICATION OF DURATION FOR CAPITAL BUDGETING DECISIONS

ABSTRACT The duration measure of weighted average life has been applied in the capital budgeting literature as a measure of project liquidity. Duration is superior to payback methods because it considers both the timing and present value of the entire cash flow stream. However, the literature is ambivalent on the choice of discount rate in calculating project duration. For duration to properly serve as a project liquidity measure, the internal rate of return should be used to discount future cash flows. Examples show that using the firm's cost of capital to calculate duration fails to measure the time to recover initial project outlays in present value dollars.